The Devil's Cage

Kieran's words had doubt, but his eyes held realization.

Everything was exactly as he'd expected.

After he killed the God of Lightning, who seemingly was the mastermind behind everything, Kieran had been working hard to chase after those sea monsters, trying to make up for his loss. Amid the furious hunting, he had recalled everything that had happened since he stepped into the dungeon, not just this time, but the previous one as well.

Kieran was a person who liked to think back, because there was a lot of motivation and inspiration in his memories to make him work harder and fight fiercer for things he felt were important.

He had been through countless hungry nights, so he understood what he must do to prevent that from happening.

Hunger was very scary, to the point that it forced him to have good memories and he'd remember everything to his heart.

Therefore, he was clear on how he first came into this world filled with Gods and how he stood firm in this ferocious world.

The God of Earth, Nikorei, the person who Kieran still couldn't surpass until now.

It would be safe to say that Kieran followed Nikorei's steps into this world and with her help, Kieran used [Thorn's Deceive] to get a firm standing.

As he combed through his memories, a question appeared in his heart.

Why had Nikorei did what she did?

Why had she led Kieran into this world?

More precisely, why had Nikorei chosen Lady Thorn?

At first, Kieran thought Lady Thorn was chosen because she had the ability to see through fate, which was prioritized by the God of Earth.

However, with the appearance of the Devourer and the fall of the Naveyan Gods, Kieran realized he had been thinking in the wrong direction.

It was true that Lady Thorn could see through fate and even a part of the future, but what use would it be?

Seeing didn't mean she could change the future!

With the absolute force in play, the vision would only increase despair, therefore Lady Thorn wasn't a decent candidate.

Instead, the God of Lightning, who controlled the Devourer, would be a much more decent candidate, and yet, Nikorei choose Lady Thorn over him.

It allowed Kieran to relate into more things, for example: how did Nikorei find out about this place?

Was it because this place was connected to the West Coast?

There might be another possibility but it was less than 1%.

One had to remember the seemingly normal West Coast City had a lot of outstanding forces hiding in it. Why hadn't they discover Naveya then?

Kieran wouldn't think they couldn't find Naveya or they didn't possess the ability to do so.

He knew what kind of forces were hiding in West Coast, they were the pinnacle of what that country could achieve!

Kieran's power level when he opened the stone door back then?

Although it might be decent enough at that time, based on the current statistics, Kieran was still quite far away from those power houses of the respective factions.

More so, had strength been a factor, the God of Lightning of Naveya was definitely not weak during his prime, so why hadn't he notice the passageway between worlds?

Did the God of Lightning keep the secret to himself despite noticing the passageway?

Unlikely. Given God of Lightning's character, once discovered, he would take action against it and once action was taken, regardless of how subtly or secretive, traces would be left behind, but Kieran got nothing.

Therefore, there was only one answer left: the passageway was created by Nikorei herself and only for herself.

How'd she do that? Kieran had no idea.

The knowledge he masted couldn't allow him to understand the meaning in between, but based on such a theory, Kieran was sure Nikorei had quite the understanding of Naveya.

Meaning, the God of Earth must have selected Lady Thorn for a reason and it was a choice made after deliberate understandings.

Why?

After thinking for quite some time, Kieran formed a fairly impossible answer and yet which made sense: work together!

Two different worlds, two ladies with the title of Gods working together to achieve a certain goal.

In other words, the so-called [Thorn's Deceive] wasn't used to deceive Lady Thorn since she was part of the plan, it was used to deal with other people in Naveya.

This also clarified how loving and tolerant Lady Thorn was to Kieran.

Kieran possessed [Thorn's Deceive], meaning he was with Nikorei from the very beginning, he was one of them, hence Lady Thorn showed extra care to him.

As for why Kieran appeared in Rinya Mountains?

To solve the problems!

Lady Thorn, the collaborator of Nikorei, ran into some problems, thus Kieran.

He was sent here by Nikorei, who was unable to be here to solve the problem.

Likewise, Lady Thorn also knew that, thus the hint to 'north'.

As a matter of fact, the hint happened more than once, because Tiki had hinted at Kieran too.

The thousand-men riders around Weiss Valley was the most obvious hint of all. The riders didn't just tell him where the danger lies, they also told him where the exact danger, hence Bloody Mary was sent out.

Kieran wanted to test the water, and it proved that he was right.

Lady Thorn before him was the best proof!

Her power and aura shared resemblance to the image of Lady Thorn in Kieran's mind, but there was a slight difference and it was enlarged under Kieran's sharp Intuition.

She was cold, and wasn't as familiar as the Lady Thorn that Kieran remembered.

"Ants."

Cold words came from Lady Thorn and she raised her hand again.

Fuaa!

The special energy in the blizzard was gushed towards Kieran but was quickly suppressed down by a loud roar. A blazing fireball was fired out from Kieran's hand.

The raging blizzard was melted again and so was the energy inside it but the Devil Flame was extinguished by the follow up attack.

The blizzard was endless in the north and with the control of Lady Thorn, she gave the blizzard a will of its own as it was targeted at Kieran.

Bone-chilling freezing air spread around Kieran, even Bloody Mary shivered. It felt like its special gifts were further restrained by the harsh environment.

A thought ran through Kieran's mind… [King's Praise]!

Unlike the quiet [King's Step] that allowed Kieran to teleport, when [King's Praise] was activated, a gold radiance shone from [Lionheart]. The golden radiance enveloped the High Demon, not only healing it completely but also buffed its abilities.

"Stay back," Kieran said softly.

Bloody Mary turned around and ran for its life without a sound.

As it was healed and gained buffs, Bloody Mary flew away very fast. A breath's time later, it became a small dot within sight and was going away further.

Lady Thorn grunted without the slightest expression.

Then, Bloody Mary appeared beside Kieran again, as if it hadn't left.

Bloody Mary was dumbfounded.

If its body wasn't freezing again, Bloody Mary would've thought it had fallen into some kind of illusion.

Wait!

Freezing?!

Fortunately, the golden radiance expelled the freezing air and Bloody Mary heaved a long breath of relief, but… the blizzard seemed to have locked onto the HIgh Demon as it assaulted again.

"Not again!?" Bloody Mary cried in shock.

The golden radiance then shone and expelled the freezing air once again.

The blizzard attacked again, the radiance expelled again, attacked, expelled...

Bloody Mary's face started to twitch as it felt the freezing chills on its body.

It felt like it was cheated by its contractor.