The Devil's Cage

Barso's dry face started to look twisted.

It became uglier than ever under the stimulation of pain and killing intent, but he did not panic because of the pain.

"Kill me and Pierre and the others will die!"

Barso raised his tone while withstanding the pain from his skull.

The words were not meant for Kieran, of course, but for Herbert behind him.

Barso clearly knew who among the three individuals before him could control his life and death.

"Dear Sir Herbert, surely it doesn't mean that you will give up your friend and students, right?"

Barso hastened his words when he felt another dense killing intent erupting from Kieran.

The disappointing fact was, Herbert didn't react to his words, while Kieran was blocking his view. He couldn't see what Herbert's condition was and what expression was hanging over his face; it made the ugly man anxious.

He knew the control of the situation was slipping away from his grasp.

From the upper hand from the beginning to losing control over the situation, everything happened within an instant just because of the actions of the young man.

Aside from that, the palm that was seizing his skull was still tightening by the seconds, the agonizing pain cause him to stop thinking.

As a decent interrogator and his sensitivity towards killing intents, Barso was not doubting Kieran's intentions; he really wanted to kill him.

So Barso instinctively was forced to proceed with the actions that would benefit him.

"Think of their suffering faces, doesn't it hurt your heart? Or you would prefer to look at them first? I can make that happen!" Barso managed to open his mouth and spoke out his intentions.

Although his tone were still unyielding, everyone could sense the begging between the lines.

Herbert couldn't stay silent anymore.

"Where are they!?"

The elderly scholar went around Kieran to Barso for the question.

"A very safe place… UGH!"

Barso was trying to trick his way out with his skillful tongue again, but the pain from his skull reminded him of the condition he was in.

Barso changed his manner of speech right away.

"Inside a small square in Charlie Street. Sir 2567 here can trail us, but only you alone can enter the area. Sir 2567 here would remain in my sight at all times! At the same time, your visit will be limited to thirty minutes, which actually had started from the moment I walked into this mansion. Once the time…"

"Lander, prepare the wagon now!"

Before Barso could finish, Herbert interrupted him.

The small square of Charlie Street was not too far from Lander's mansion.

It would take at least twenty minutes to walk, but from the moment Barso appeared, ten minutes had passed; walking was no longer an option.

Lander quickly make his move and Herbert took the small window to signal Kieran where Barso couldn't see, asking whether Kieran was confident to take them down.

Kieran replied silently with an affirmative answer before looking at the person before him.

Those monsters that kidnapped Pierre and the others, why would they send this old geezer forth?

Kieran was pondering upon this question the moment he saw him. After the small scene previously, he had a general idea about their actions.

Obviously, it wasn't because of his vicious tongue. If it was because of his manner of speech, Barso would already be dead without an intact body.

It was his spirit! Or rather his willpower!

Barso had exceptional willpower that surpassed one's imagination.

If it were any other common native under the pressure of Kieran's grip, even if they didn't suffer a meltdown, their hearts would suffer extreme fear. But not Barso.

Although the pain was disturbing him, but that was it. He didn't show anymore negative emotions other than the disturbed feeling.

"So they have taken precautions?" Kieran muttered in his heart.

With his Spirit rank getting higher each dungeon, the Rare ring [Half-dead's Gaze] was getting stronger as well, but it wasn't invincible.

After the battle with the Night at the suburbs, Kieran knew his unique attacks would soon be taken under precautions.

Similar to Allen from the Blood Alliance, merely a glimpse allowed him to understand the biggest weakness of [Half-dead's Gaze], which was direct eye contact. The effect would only take place after the targets had direct eye contact with the ring, otherwise Kieran's effort would be futile.

Maybe the natives wouldn't know the secret of [Half-dead's Gaze], but it wasn't hard for them to speculate some countermeasures as well.

The simplest and most direct way was to find someone with strong spirit and will to face him or even someone with some special protective gear, though the latter was uncommon. Hence, Barso the barely qualified liaison stepped forth.

If [Mesly Ring] wasn't in cooldown, Kieran wouldn't mind providing a more direct lesson to Barso, dominate him and ask for more information regarding their lair.

Kieran believed even if the monsters had some protective measures, it still wasn't enough for his S rank Spirit attribute.

However, even without the support from [Mesly Ring], Kieran still could obtain the information he needed.

From the last words that came out of Barso's mouth, the monsters who kidnapped Pierre and others had their decisions made early on and were not as tough as Barso presented them to be.

The reason for Barso's action was simply actions by nature, or he wanted extra appreciation from someone.

The man named Barso before Kieran tried his best in presenting himself as a high-ranking person, but a true high-ranking person would never take the risk and appear before Kieran.

Barso was nothing more than a middle or a lower class goon.

As for the true higher ranks of the opposite forces, they must be someone with utmost carefulness. The reason for their choice of location, choice of time and everything was linked together tightly. They were creating a sense of urgency for Kieran and Herbert all the time, causing them to be stressed over the matter in a short period of time.

Not only would the stress from anxiety caused one to lose all their judgment, it could also lead one committing mistakes that would never happen.

In other words, they came with malicious intents!

Kieran was confident enough that Barso and the monsters wouldn't release Pierre and others even after Herbert revealed the location of the king's seal but kill the hostages instead!

The existence of such secret was best to be known by a few, and just for that reason alone, the monsters would definitely plan meticulously ahead.

"Well, let's see what we'll run into!"

Kieran took a deep breath quietly and threw Barso down. He needed to adjust his body's condition for the upcoming battle.

Kieran would never dare underestimate his enemies, even more so when he knew the upcoming enemies would be the successful products instead of the failures like the Nights and the Apes.

Even though according to his guess, they shouldn't possess any extremely powerful battle capabilities, who could confirm that it was not just a smokescreen, diverting his attentions?