The Devil's Cage

What was scarier than death?

Living a life worse than death!

Even more so for an undead like Bloody Mary, the freezing air freezing its soul for a moment and the next moment healed by the golden radiance. The process repeated itself so many times that it couldn't even keep count, Bloody Mary almost crying.

In the past, dying was just a momentarily experience, but now, the process repeated itself almost infinitely.

"Boss, what are you trying to do? Can you please hurry up?" Bloody Mary said loudly.

Kieran quietly looked at Lady Thorn.

Bloody Mary was anxious. It knew its boss loved observation and figuring things out, but no matter how he was fond of it, he should at least try to read the atmosphere and situation!

Bloody Mary was suffering an endless torture like never before.

A word suddenly popped up in Bloody Mary's heart, but it didn't dare voice it out loud.

It really didn't dare to put the words through its mouth!

With the existing contract, had it really said it out loud, it would be the end for the High Demon.

What would it choose between torture and real death?

Just follow my instinct.

The decision was made without the slightest hesitation.

Bloody Mary then looked at their enemy, since all it could do now was accept the torture passively.

"Huh?"

A cry of shock later, Bloody Mary widened its eyes, hit with the realization that Lady Thorn was only attacking itself and neglected its boss, who kept healing it.

'What is going on? Why is she neglecting boss? Am I that attractive?'

Doubts rose in Bloody Mary's heart.

"Insult her."

Suddenly, Kieran's voice came through the special link that Bloody Mary shared with him due to the contract.

"What?" Bloody Mary was stunned.

"Insult her! Use your most vicious words to insult her!" Kieran repeatedly said.

"Got it!"

A firm answer later, Bloody Mary turned to Lady Thorn. It took a deep breath and using its loudest voice, said "HEY, BITCH!"

Fuuu!

The blizzard grew fierce and drowned Bloody Mary in an instant.

Kieran waved his hand and allowed [King's Praise] to cover Bloody Mary before he strode towards Lady Thorn.

There was something he wanted to know.

Kieran suddenly stopped when both of them were less than 10 meters apart, an exploding frost fired at him.

However, after he shattered the frost attack and stepped back, Lady Thorn returned her attention to the High Demon once more.

After multiple attempts, Kieran finally got an answer: the Lady Thorn before him had no intellect whatsoever, all she had were some action patterns, which Kieran was quite familiar with.

The insults were weak and unforgivable.

A chance should be given to the wrongdoer.

Brambles only prevented advance, blizzard was the weapon that would rip foes apart.

All sorts of description were floating in Kieran's mind.

Before becoming the archpriest of the real Lady Thorn, Kieran had went through the codex of Thorn Temple and many of the records had descriptions that perfectly described the Lady Thorn before his eyes.

'A Lady Thorn that fits the temple codex? No, not the codex alone, it should be the expectation of the people… So this is the problem?'

As the theory came into his mind, Kieran didn't delay anymore, telling Bloody Mary to keep insulting her before he strode up to her again.

Fua!

The spine-chilling freezing air, together with the blizzard, attacked Kieran again. The blizzard was like small knives, it didn't just drown Kieran's body but also the path of retreat and possible dogging spots.

She foresaw the outcome!

It was one of her abilities that was heavily looked upon by the people of Naveya.

No attacks could escape Lady Thorn's eyes, any whispers would enter her ears.

Her abilities were enough to send people into despair and frighten people before they even made a move.

Frightened based on a single glance.

The saying was used to describe Lady Thorn for quite a long time.

It was also one of the important points that made her one of the top four Gods in Naveya.

But Kieran, who had broke free from the wrongful impression, feared nothing!

'So what if you see through my attacks?

So what if you can see a part of the future?

As long as I am faster than your sight, your ability to see the future is useless!

My body can sustain any kind of damage you throw at me!

My flames can burn you into cinders!'

Kakrooom!

The icy blizzard was blasted up to the sky after a loud bang. A 6 meters tall devil with horns as sharp as daggers, blazing fire as wings, and a body of magma descended upon the icy hell as though it had just crawled out from the abyss.

The extreme temperature distorted the surroundings.

The blizzard swiftly vanished and the freezing air was disintegrated.

Lady Thorn, who controlled all those, coldly grunted again.

"An…"

Kabooom!

Before she even finished, a fiery blastwave that scorched everything within a 100 meters engulfed her. Then, a beheader sword 3 meters long and 1 meter wide, as thick as the gate plank of a city, appeared in the devil's hand. Another explosion later, the magma devil raised his beheader sword and swung it in a flurry, the fiery cyclone further wreaking havoc in the icy mountains.

The ic and cold was burned away completely, together with the figure of Lady Thorn.

The victor had been determined.

The score had been settled.

Kieran curled his lips into a smile, savouring the power that he had in his new devil form. He then scanned over the notifications before his vision.

[Transform Devil III]

[All attributes + rank I]

[All attributes +5]

[Acquired Perfect Devil Lord Constitution ( Devil Armor, defense automatically set above rank III, able to mitigate 35% of energy damage) ; Acquired Devil Body, extra +6 Strength; Every attack is added with rank III burn damage and has a certain percentage to trigger Fire Splash and Exploding Flame with a 10 meter radius range; Fire Splash damage is ranked at rank I and Exploding Flames is ranked at rank III and above; When receive damage, attacker will suffer rank II burn damage from Scorch Rebound; Secondary Elemental Damage Resist + rank I, HP +2000, Stamina +2000]

[Acquired Grand Flame Blast: By flapping your flame wings, form a 150°, 100 meter blast range before you. Rank IV flames, rank IV blast wave, 3 times per transformation]

[Acquired Ruthless Beheader Flaming Sword: Summon greatsword of flames, rank III fire damage and rank IV sharpness, 3 minute duration, 1 time per transformation]

[Acquired Venomous Blaspheme Whisper: Any target you kill will resurrect temporarily and fight for you with extra buffs. Resurrected target will have the skill Secondary Fire, 3 minute duration, 1 time per transformation]

[Acquired Sulphuric Blaze: Overlord level flames will not just burn your enemies, their breathing will be tested like never before. Any targets will undergo a -3 Constitution authentication to yours; if failed, target will suffer extra 500 poison damage each time they breath and each breath will further weaken the target's power.]

[Acquired Light of Fear: As the Devil Overlord, your dignity is unchallenged. Any living target that sees you will have to undergo a not lower than S rank Spirit authentication, if fail, induce Fear debuff]

[Devil Libra: The true promotion of your bloodline allows you to gain the true gifts of the Devil Overlord. You can choose any stats at will and add them onto other stats with a 1:1.5 ratio. Added stats should not be lower than A rank and the added stats will not exceed the limit of Spirit level +3. Duration 3 minutes, 1 per transformation.]

…...

Unlike the level III skills from before, after Fusion Heart truly evolved, the real Overlord rank Devil Bloodline was presented before Kieran.

It was very powerful!

The increase in all the attributes wasn't just a minor rank anymore but a true leap in major ranks. This would give Kieran the ability to turn the tides around against a powerful enemy.

With [Sulphuric Blaze] and [Dawn Sword]'s combined attributes, together with the new level of the Devil Bloodline, Kieran now had the power to truly face a rank V enemy.

[Devil Libra], the newly boosted Overlord gift, also allowed Kieran to have more options during a battle. He wouldn't even need techniques anymore against a certain enemy, he could convert everything into Strength temporarily and go all out against his enemy. His newly enhanced Devil Body allowed him to sustain more damage and the sheer power would allow him to crush his enemies to the ground.

If [Transform Devil] had reached such ridiculous heights, then what about Creature of Desire?

Even with Kieran's calmness, he was eager to see the new Creature of Desire.

It was just a burning eagerness though, Kieran wouldn't waste his resources like this, especially when the situation hasn't cleared itself yet…

Fua!

A fiery breath later, Devil Kieran looked at the scorched land which Lady Thorn had stood before.

A smaller figure took her place after Lady Thorn was slashed to her death.

The figure had brown hair, brown eyes, young, no older than 10 years old; her dress was a simple brown and she had no shoes on.

She looked like a common little girl from the slums.

"What a scary fella."

Praise that didn't match the little girl's image came from her mouth. She then walked up to Devil Kieran righteously.

She didn't just ignore the scorching air, she tried to touch the magma body, but Kieran moved away.

"Lady Vanessa?"

Devil Kieran's voice was coarse and heavy, sounding like the earth trembled.

"Yes, it's me."

The little girl nodded and acted maturely, as if she was trying to maintain her temperament as Lady Thorn but the joy that rose from her heart made her lift her hand again, trying to touch Kieran's magma body. The curiosity on her face was unconcealable.

Kieran once again moved away.

"Ahem… Pardon me. I'm still not used to this body after breaking free from all the restraints."

Vanessa coughed to cover her awkwardness.

"Restraints? The previous you?"

Kieran didn't care about the awkwardness, he only asked what interested him.

"Yes. The ideal image of 'me' created by all of Naveya. You should know how I came to be right?" Vanessa nodded and asked.

"Yes, through some miraculous items," Kieran answered honestly.

"Yes, through some miraculous items, we got on a shortcut and gained powers commoners only dreamt off. But in the end, it became our restraints. No, I should say it's a cage for us, a cage that wipes our own will away. You wouldn't want to become something like that, it really is a sad ending."

A frightening gaze appeared in Vanessa's eyes.

"The Power of Faith?" Kieran didn't ask about the outcome, he once again only asked about the things that interest him.

"I know you have a lot of questions right now, but I can't give you the answers. It's time for me to go. You can find the old lady for answers later!"

Vanessa nodded and wanted to leave, but Kieran stopped her.

"What?"

Vanessa looked at herself, trying to spot what was wrong after Kieran stopped her with his blazing eyes, but other than bare feet, there was nothing wrong with her.

"Payment! I helped you! I should get rewarded!" Kieran said without the least scruples.

Vanessa was stunned right away, never thinking Kieran would ask her for payment.

"Aren't we on the same side?" she asked.

"Yes, but no discounts," Kieran said seriously.

Due to his devil form, his serious face looked extra frightening, or rather, extra ferocious.

Vanessa was frightened. She took two steps back but she felt like she was losing her temperament, thus she stepped back up. She didn't answer right away though.

She carefully thought about what Kieran said. There wasn't any precise plan about Kieran in the promise between her and Nikorei.

In simple words, the promise mentioned nothing about paying a reward, neither did it say not to give one.

Whether to give or not, it depends on her, but…

When she saw the ferocious magma devil and the blazing beheader sword in his hand, Vanessa, who had lost most of her powers, didn't want to bet on it.

She believed she shouldn't toy him, the beheader sword will swing down right away.

"Fine, I'll give you something."

A few seconds later, a sudden thought came into Vanessa's mind. Her youthful face showed a joyous smile and before Kieran could further ask, she waved her hand.

A never before felt formless energy touched Kieran's right eye after the motion. His right eye was once blinded by Lady Wealth and was regrown after Lady Thorn threw him into the River of Fate.

A numbing sensation spread from his right eye, as if something was happening but at the same time feeling like nothing.

When the sensation faded off, so did Vanessa.

The surroundings also changed in a drastic way.

Kieran suddenly appeared in a familiar study room in his human form. The fireplace at the wall, the rocking chair, the carpet, and the old lady sitting on it; other than the fat, yellow striped cat, everything was exactly the same as the study room in Black Street 1st.

The old lady in the rocking chair placed the book down and showed a smile.

"Not too shabby, 2567, you've passed the test.