The Devil's Cage

Cheers echoed throughout the battlefield, Atrina, who was standing on top of the walls was so excited that her body started to shake uncontrollably.

"It's him!"

"It's really him!"

As she mumbled, her body shook fiercely; she had to hold onto the walls in front of her to prevent herself from falling on the ground.

Weakness spread throughout her body, she wasn't physically exhausted but mentally.

From death to life, from despair to hope, she felt like she was on a rollercoaster ride of emotions, even a strong woman and a priestess from Thorn Temple like her couldn't handle the rough ride.

As for the people around here?

They were much better than her because they made up their minds from the start and had the resolution to die.

While being unexpectedly rescued from death, all that was left were cheers.

"Victory! Victory!"

"Hero! Hero!"

"Ryan! Ryan!"

From the messy cheers to the united voices, it was but a few times, but it sounded like the soldiers and knights had practiced it countless times. They, who guarded the outpost, raised their weapons up high, cheered as they looked at the figure on top of the metallic horse rampaging around the sea of monsters with his own followers.

The monsters that everyone feared were like paper were quickly torn apart.

The blazing flames transformed into a long scythe, each time it swung and swept the field, the wails of death would be heard.

One against an army of many! Whether it was an army of humans or monsters, nothing would change!

Kieran was like a grinder, rampaging throughout the battlefield. His face was cold, and his eyes were sharp. His eyes would scan the battlefield from time to time.

He was looking for answers—when he came across this army of monsters that moved forward like a disciplined army, some guesses had formed.

A commander! This army of monsters must have a commander!

Otherwise, they wouldn't differ that much from the monsters in Naveya who hunted with their primal instinct. It was because of the guess in his heart that he attacked.

Enemies that scattered all around versus enemies with a leader, both were different concepts, to begin with.

As for befriending his enemy?

The side that he had chosen forbid him from having that choice. Therefore, Kieran was left with one option: kill them all!

Wuuu!

Two Devil Flames rose from Kieran's hand, fired out at his will, and landed amongst the army of monsters like two high-powered cannons.

Kaboom! Boom!

Fiery waves flew everywhere, blazing flames rumbled in every direction.

Dozens of monsters didn't even utter anything and were turned to cinders. The splash of the Devil Flame caught the other monsters, causing them to scream in agony on the ground.

They hoped to put out the fire using the dirt on the ground, which should be useful against normal fire, unfortunately, conventional methods were useless against the Devil Flame.

They couldn't do anything to the little bit of fire on their body, as the fire burned, it grew hotter and stronger. A moment later, hundreds of torches appeared on the battlefield.

Although the monster torches couldn't burn the others anymore, it still struck fear in their hearts, let alone Kieran's Devil Flame that hadn't stopped firing since it began.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Explosions sounded in succession, blazing lights were illuminating the land.

Riding [Dark Shadow Ride], Kieran was like a mobile heavy-artillery turret with unlimited ammunition, the entire battlefield was within his firing range.

Firing the Devil Flame would consume Stamina, but since Kieran's Constitution had reached the Advance Rank, as long as he didn't deplete his Stamina, he could recover what he used with two breaths of time.

Aside from that, after the last dungeon with its restrictions, Kieran had more experience in dividing his Stamina for usage.

Each breath he took would produce two balls of Devil Flame.

Each breath he took would burn almost a hundred monsters into cinders.

Numerous monsters were chased to the outpost, but no matter how many there were, the monsters wouldn't have been able to sustain the countless blazing hits.

Soon, only a few monsters were left on the battlefield, and the commander that rode with the monsters finally revealed itself.

It was a… human! A slightly illusory human figure! The man seemed like a soul but wasn't entirely one. He was more firm and stable compared to a soul but wasn't as strong as an evil spirit that could alter the temperature of the surroundings or create illusions.

Since the man didn't possess traits of an evil spirit or specter, he must have something else in his pocket.

Kieran clearly felt something under his feet move.

What would happen?

Kieran didn't know and didn't want to know. All he knew was that he had to take the illusory man out.

Wung!

The Devil Flame was fired at the man, but the man vanished from the spot with a disdainful look.

The illusory man was afraid of the Devil Flame from the bottom of his heart. His instincts told him that as long as he was caught by the fire, his body, which he spent quite the effort to go through a 'baptism' to get, would perish, he would not be able to survive the blazing strike.

But, he had to be caught by the flame!

With the speed his current body was moving at, the flame would never catch him!

Devil Flame crashed at the spot where the illusory man stood, a fire pillar rose up to the sky upon impact. However, a dozen meters away from the fire pillar, the illusory man coldly laughed at the scene. He continued chanting his spells and performed gestures but was quickly forced to a stop.

The metallic horse further away was still within sight, but the person who was riding it had vanished.

The battle instincts the illusory man had honed through a dozen battles didn't cause him to turn around; instead, he dashed forward.

But he was still too slow!

A kick from Kieran perforated the illusory man's body!

The man's body that could ignore any kind of physical attack perished under the transcendent strike.

Pak!

A slightly bigger [Soul Shard] fell on the ground, and besides this intact [Soul Shard] was a black medal with an orange glow.

[Name: Illusory Insignia]

[Type: Accessory]

[Rarity: Rare]

[Attack: None]

[Defense: Strong]

[Attribute: Illusify (2/2)]

[Effect: None]

[Able to bring out of the dungeon: Yes]

[Remark: Anxico used some secret spells to perform more 'baptisms' on his followers. This insignia is one of the best pieces of evidence.]

...

[Illusify: Illusify your body, ignore any kind of physical attack under rank III, immune to Strong rank Fire, Lightning, Ice, Poison elemental attack]

...

"So, it is them!"

The description of [Illusory Insignia] reminded Kieran of Anxico, who illusified himself before the fierce battle with the Devourer.

It seemed like Anxico had grasped even more spells and techniques, unlike this 'follower' who was killed by a single blow.

Anxico was a cunning old fox, as well. The last time Kieran was confused and lied to because of the name 'follower,' thus causing him to almost commit a fatal mistake.

This time around?

It was time for Kieran to repay Anxico's 'goodwill.'

One needed to know Kieran had an excellent memory, especially in remembering grudges.

But before that…

Kieran turned to Arya Outpost.

Atrina rode out on her horse.

He still had to 'play' the role for the act, though, because of his plan to seek the Power of Faith!