The Devil's Cage

Screaming, Starbeck quickly hid behind Kieran. Sensing the familiar chilling feeling, Kieran turned around and unleashed a hard punch without even looking.

A lightning spark flashed as the formless soul was beaten to ashes.

[Lightning Punch: Inflicts 50 Damage to Target HP (25 Hand-to-Hand Combat (Pro) X2), Target is a formless wandering soul, Double Damage Inflicted, 100 Damage to Target HP, Target dies...]

His earlier battle with the formless souls had familiarized Kieran with their attacking pattern.

Although he might be in trouble if he encountered a whole group of them, a single soul was a piece of cake for him.

Still, Kieran frowned at Starbeck’s cowardly scream.

The sharp sound pierced his ears, making him feel as if his eardrums were being torn apart. It triggered even more of Kieran’s anger.

He turned to Starbeck and told him in contempt, "Stop it! Unless you want to attract even more of them! If too many of them appear, I will leave you behind and save myself!"

His angry words stopped Starbeck’s cowardly screams.

The well-dressed man looked at Kieran pitifully. The elegance he’d had when they’d first met was long gone.

"Th… This was just an accident! It won’t happen again!" Starbeck tried to defend himself.

"Make sure it doesn’t! If there’s a next time, I will leave you behind!" Kieran warned him.

He might not have minded the extra reward, but that did not mean that he would place himself in harm’s way for it.

"Remember what I said. Stay within three steps of me, and if anything happens, stay calm!" Kieran explained clearly once again for both their sakes.

"Ye… Yes, sir!" Starbeck nodded.

"Can you see the formless souls?" Kieran asked out of curiosity after a short hesitation.

Kieran was relying on his [Tracking] and the [Knitted Talisman] to see the formless souls. Lawless’s sunglasses had to have a similar use. Although he had not said what they were for, it was quite obvious.

No doubt, Starbeck could also see the formless souls and other ghostly monsters. He might have some kind of similar skill or equipment as well.

Kieran felt that he had stepped over the line with his question, though.

"Never mind. It’s none of my business," he added quickly.

Kieran shook his hand, preventing Starbeck from answering.

Starbeck was startled, but he kept his mouth shut.

Yet after a second, the man spoke again, "I think you might need this. I can’t go into battle, but I sure can support you!"

He took out two magazines from his pocket and handed them over to Kieran.

[Name: Bullets of Blessing]

[Type: Ammunition]

[Rarity: Common]

[Attributes: Effective against negative-energy monsters, be that spirits, werewolves or vampires. They can cause considerable damage to them!]

[Effects: None]

[Able to bring out of dungeon: Yes]

[Remarks: It’s a 11 mm magazine crafted with pure silver and made through complicated craftsmanship. It’s blessed with holy power, so it’s of very high value!]

...

After inspecting the [Bullets of Blessing], Kieran accepted them without any objections.

It was exactly what he needed to kill the formless souls from a distance. He might still have the [Lightning Tiger’s Finger], but that might not be enough if he wanted to protect Starbeck with it too.

Once again, he was in awe of Starbeck’s wealth and generosity.

It was two magazines with fourteen rounds of bullets. Although Kieran could not know their exact price, based on the remarks at the end, they must have been very expensive.

"Keep up!" Kieran quickly urged Starbeck.

He was still in awe of him, but he did not let it show on his face.

Activating [Tracking], Kieran followed the half-dead’s entry footprints, tracking them in the opposite direction.

Starbeck followed carefully behind him.

His eyes kept scanning the area around him. When they entered the corridor, Starbeck saw something and unconsciously opened his mouth wide, instinctively wanting to scream again.

Before the scream could escape his mouth, he quickly covered it with his hands.

It seemed like Starbeck had remembered his promise to Kieran, and his sharp screaming was reduced to a series of muffled noises.

As Starbeck was trying hard to keep his screams down, Kieran had already dashed out like a jaguar. Before the formless souls could even attack them, they were punched to ashes.

Kieran resumed following the footprints that had belonged to Zywane, the two of them moving forward.

From beginning till end, Kieran did not even spare a glance for Starbeck. He just kept signaling for him to keep up and stay close.

Formless souls were appearing out of nowhere, so Kieran had no time to even speak to Starbeck. His hand signals was the best he could do.

On their way from the third floor to the first floor, Kieran took out fifteen formless souls.

They were not as much as there had been during his first encounter. It was actually less than a tenth of them.

These formless souls were also slower and less smart than the previous ones, a fact that baffled Kieran.

"Maybe the ones I encountered earlier were special?" he speculated.

He could not gather enough proof to support his guess, though. After all, Kieran could hardly even see the monsters clearly.

With his [Tracking], Kieran could spot every small detail in his line of sight, yet he still could not see the formless souls or any similar type of monster clearly. They were only a blur, as if he was seeing them through a foggy glass. He was also restricted by distance. When the monsters were 20 meters away, the blurriness got even worse, and anything further than 20 meters was completely out of his range of sight.

Fortunately, the stairs could be used now. After stepping down the last flight of stairs, they reached the first floor of the cell area, and the footprints Kieran had been following disappeared.

They were stopping at the corner of a piece of wall. If they explained the sudden disappearance of the half-dead, it might have made sense, but the footprints had been left behind by Zywane before he had turned to a half-dead, and Zywane could not have possessed any abilities like that.

If Zywane had had the ability to disappear and reappear at will, he definitely would not have been a fourth timer. He would have had to be at least at the same level as Lawless or even higher. That was impossible, though. The system notification about the average dungeon entry had said it all.

That only left one explanation. There had to be a secret passage somewhere around that area.

A secret corridor that even the Warden and the guards did not know about.

Kieran raised his hand and touched the wall inch by inch, searching for any gaps.

Suddenly, a noise was heard. Kieran was really happy to hear it. It was what he had expected. There was a secret passageway behind the wall. Kieran inspected the wall with even more care, looking for a switch to open the secret door, until…

Crack!

The sudden sound of a switch stopped Kieran. He raised his head and looked towards the source of the sound.

Translator's Thoughts

Dess Dess

Kieran found the home to the missing link!