The Devil's Cage

Nobian carefully twisted open a bottle and poured out an unknown liquid on a soft piece of pelt. He rubbed the pelt with the liquid on his long sword.

He was serious, and his movements seemed very skilled.

He did not even spill a drop of the liquid. Every single drop of it was smeared evenly all over his sword.

The body of the sword was lustrous and dazzling but then its reflection had become dark blue and gloomy, and a faint smell of rotten fish spread all over as he wielded it around.

It was hard on the nose and repulsive, but Nobian nodded in satisfaction before sheathing his sword.

He looked at the empty bottle with a sense of regret on his face, but soon it was replaced by a vicious, greedy expression.

The thought of the Points and Skill Points his prey possessed excited him. He had not expected to get so many rewards out of a single mission.

"After this job, I will be able to level up my skills by a couple of levels! The next dungeon will be much easier!"

Nobian could not help but fantasize about his rewards. It was not the first time he had done something like this and it would definitely not be the last.

Compared to entering the difficult, danger-filled dungeons with the minimal rewards, Nobian was much more eager to earn bigger rewards this way.

He had been forced to do it the first time, but after tasting the forbidden fruit, he had been soaking himself in it.

All he needed to do was play a certain role and trick his preys into falling into one of his traps. The foolish players did not even know what happened until they drew their last breath.

As Nobian recalled his victims’ faces while they’d died, he started to laugh helplessly.

That twisted mind of his was filled with sick satisfaction.

A knock on the door signalled the arrival of his next target.

Nobian hid his malicious smile and tidied up his weapons and equipment before walking out of the room.

He welcomed no one in his secret premises, as there were too many secrets inside that foul den of his.

...

Kieran arrived at the address Nobian had given him. It was on the outskirts of the big city inside the game.

It had taken him almost two hours to get there from his place, despite taking the shortest route arranged by the conductor of the train.

Kieran had even had to walk another ten minutes after disembarking from the train.

After walking down a narrow alleyway, he finally reached Nobian’s place.

It was quiet and secluded.

That was what Kieran thought initially, but soon he thought of another way to describe it as he scanned his surroundings.

It was the perfect place to kill someone.

"Could he be a killer?" Kieran mumbled to himself softly.

He had been speculating about Nobian’s true identity, and one of his theories had been that he was a hitman.

Kieran had not confirmed his speculation until he saw Nobian’s place. He was also sure that this was not Nobian’s first time doing this.

Although the game provided the option of moving a player’s house, it cost a lot and it consumed a whole dungeon cooldown.

Nobian had ended his message conversation with Kieran with the intention of letting his prey off first and catching it later, but he had started to message Kieran again half an hour after Kieran had left Harvest Inn, and he had been quite chatty this time.

He would send Kieran messages about the progress of his discussion with General from time to time.

One of the reasons was to show that he was working hard and providing a valuable service, and the other reason was to keep stimulating Kieran to excite his eagerness even more.

Nobian had not stopped messaging him except for the couple of hours that he had after their first conversation.

From the look of things, Nobian had had no time to enter another dungeon. According to the game rules, once a player entered a dungeon, single or team, they were cut off from any communication with the outer game.

That communication would only return after the player came back from the dungeon.

A single player dungeon equaled one hour in real life, and a team dungeon equaled three hours.

The longest break between his messages with Kieran had been around 40 minutes, so it was not enough time for Nobian to clear a dungeon.

Maybe Nobian had spent only a little time in the dungeon, so the time had been shortened in real life?

This was not possible though.

Kieran had already known this right from the newbie dungeon. No matter how long a player spent inside a dungeon, a single player dungeon lasted one hour in real life and a team dungeon lasted three hours in real life.

The fact that Nobian had stayed in this part of the game for such a long time proved that his real target was not Kieran.

So who was it? Kieran was not interested in finding out.

All he needed to know was why Nobian was still alive and his target was not.

The facts reminded Kieran of what he had to do.

He needed to be more vigilant and careful.

He was going up against a veteran in killing, so even the slightest carelessness could cause him to lose everything. Even his own life.

Even though he was fully prepared, it was better to be safe than sorry.

Kieran took two deep breaths and knocked on the door.

The system did not notify him like it had when he’d arrived at the Harvest Inn. Instead, the door opened and Nobian came out, laughing coldly.

"2567! Just in time! General is also here! Come pick him up with me from the train station! Remember, he’s quite weird, so if you want the deal to go smoothly, don’t mention that you know Lawless!" Nobian reminded Kieran as he walked out of the house. He was acting all good and friendly.

"Okay."

Kieran pretend to agree with a nod. He knew what was going on, so he took big steps as they walked towards the train station, trying to act anxious.

As Nobian saw Kieran’s manner, he could not help but feel delighted.

It was exactly what he had expected. Another idiot who had fallen into his trap!

As soon as Kieran entered that narrow alleyway, Nobian pulled out his long sword.

He did it slowly so as not to make any noise, but his palm that was grabbing the hilt was very firm, pulling the sword out with exploding strength.

The sword was not only steady and firm, but also fast.

The sharp edge was exposed as it was aimed at Kieran’s neck.

The rotten smell of the blade spread out in the alleyway as the sword stabbed towards its target like a snake ambushing its prey with its venomous fangs,

Nobian was anticipating the moment when Kieran would turn around with a shocked expression.

However, Nobian’s prediction was completely off.

It was a strong kick and not a shocked expression that Kieran surprised Nobian with when he turned around.

Kieran followed up with a right kick.

Not only did he dodge Nobian’s stab, but his right kick also landed hard on Nobian’s incredulous face.

The immense force of the kick sent Nobian flying off his feet and crashing against the alleyway wall.

Bang!

Just as the heavy sound of the collision was heard, the counter force made Nobian’s body bounce off the wall.

As Kieran’s right foot landed on him, his left foot was already in mid-air, aiming for his target.

The second kick was much more powerful, quicker and vicious than the first one.

A strong wind brewed up the burning flames and engulfed Nobian completely before he could even react.