The Devil's Cage

Tsssk!

The keen sword aura slashed the assaulting freezing aura like it was tearing an animal pelt.

The freezing aura shattered upon contact but didn't disappear, instead reforming into a frost cloud, enveloping everything within a 5 meter range.

Gak, Tss Tss!

A layer of ice quickly formed on the ground.

The magistrate moved outside the icy range in a flash, looking at the frozen sleeve on his left hand and unable to hold back his smile.

"Ickart, you are much more creative than I last saw you, but you are still too slow."

The magistrate raised his right hand, which held his sword. A dash of red was slowly fading off on that glaring longsword, as though the blood was being absorbed by the blade.

The sharp longsword buzzed and a painful sensation appeared on the side of Ickart's abdomen.

Puk!

A large amount of blood gushed out.

Ickart moved his hand over the wound on his abdomen, casted a layer of ice to freeze the bleeding.

Cold aura lingered on his bloody hand after the patch up. The freezing aura in the area then spread a few times quicker, the freezing range expanding several times and catching the magistrate in an instant.

"I was just saying that you are being creative. Seems like I was wrong… You and you little tricks, sacrificing the power of your freezing aura and going after speed and range. Too bad, it seems like you've forgotten powerless ice is nothing to me!"

Amid the spreading freezing aura, the magistrate's smile didn't change. He lunged towards Ickart, appearing in front of him in a flash, his sword swinging down.

The sharp stinging sensation from the blade appeared again on Ickart and before the sharp sword even touched him, multiple bloody cuts had appeared all over his body.

The sharp sword of the magistrate didn't land on Ickart though, blocked by a bloody ice sword right in front of his face after a loud clunk.

Chang!

The ice sword that Ickart formed from his hand firmly received the slash from the magistrate.

"Eh? Is this a new trick? Not bad!"

The magistrate was stunned for a moment before praise came out from his mouth.

"Better things are yet to come!" the quiet Ickart said coldly.

The second his cold words subsided, layers of freezing aura spread from his bloody ice sword. It didn't just freeze the magistrate's sword, it froze his palm too and that was not the end, the freezing aura starting to spread further on the magistrate's arm.

"Praise-worthy! You should really utilize your powers this way, it's more flexible!"

The magistrate nodded and spoke like a senior praising his junior, though the tone of his words infuriated Ickart.

"SHUT UP!"

A loud shout later, a brand new ice sword formed inIckart's other hand and was thrusted towards the magistrate's throat.

However, when the second ice sword was a fist away from piercing the magistrate's throat, he sighed.

"Seems like you are still unable to face your past."

Wung!

Amid his sigh, the frozen longsword buzzed violently.

All the frozen ice was shattered to pieces instantly, the bloody ice sword that engaged with the buzzing sword breaking into multiple pieces and falling on the ground; the owner of the ice sword followed soon after.

Bam!

There wasn't any fancy technique involved. Ickart, who was blasted off by the buzz, fell on the ground heavily. The frozen wound on his abdomen broke and the broken ice sword of his plunged into the ground right beside his face.

Pak! A clear impact sound was produced when the ice sword struck the ground.

Ickart, who wanted to get up and counterattack, quivered when the ice sword grazed his face.

He looked at the broken ice sword beside him and quickly reacted to the situation, as he wasn't an idiot. He looked up with clenched teeth and words escaped the seams of his teeth, "Are you pitying me?"

"No. I just didn't control it well enough…"

Before the magistrate finished his words, he appeared before the fallen Ickart in a flash, the sword in his hand stabbed towards his chest.

Ickart was stunned, never thinking death would arrive so suddenly. He shut his eyes.

The choices he made back then allowed him to know what kind of danger-filled path he had chosen; death was inevitable, so dying under the sword was nothing for him.

At least he had done his part.

However, the expected death didn't arrive. Instead a warmth appeared on his face, Ickart opened his eyes.

The magistrate's sword was stabbed into his shadow. The shadow, which should be an inanimate object, started to twist.

At the same time, the magistrate's shadow stabbed his own chest with the shadow sword. The warmth that Ickart felt on his face was the blood from the magistrate's mouth.

"LEE?!"

Ickart cried out loud and fired an ice sword at the shadow, but the shadow was much more cunning and agile.

After the shadow condensed itself into a ball, it returned to a normal shadow. Further away at the street corner, a figure donning a heavy and thick outfit walked out.

Beside the bulky figure was Aligino, laughing in delight.

"Magistrate Lee. One of the Resistance that opposed the leader, Ickart. Are you both a little surprised?" said Aligino as he walked forth.

Aligino stopped when he was around 10 meters from the two of them, the optimal safe distance that he came up with after meticulous calculations.

"Surprised? A little I guess. Who would've thought you bastard would still have help from the outside."

Magistrate Lee was seriously injured but he was still looking happy and joyous as ever.

"Traitor!"

Compared to the magistrate, Ickart was much more direct.

"Traitor? I've never betrayed you bunch of naive fools, for I have never truly joined you people! All of you are just pawns that I've been using," said Aligino with a predominant bearing.

Aligino waved his finger at Ickart and poked himself on the cheeks, his blurred out face becoming twisted and his voice wicked.

"That slap just now is really painful! But I don't mind because I'll take all four of your limbs as compensation! My lord, please…"

Aligino turned around to ask his collaborator for help, not willing to put himself through the trouble.

However, the moment he turned around, he was stunned on the spot, because the bulky collaborator that he relied on the most was in the hands of another person.

No extra words were needed to describe that person because the black feather mantle was his iconic look.

2567!

Without a second thought, Aligino turned around and ran for his life.

Aligino had obviously activated some items, running with explosive speed and flying away like a beam of light. His figure instantly became a small dot within sight.

Meanwhile, Kieran wasn't too concerned about Aligino's absence, instead placing his attention on Magistrate Lee and Ickart.

When he caught Kieran's gaze, the calm as water magistrate who would even smile despite suffering heavy injury no longer smiled.

The magistrate clearly felt a faint aura emanating from Kieran.

The aura from Kieran bore endless pressure, putting his mind through a never before felt mental impact.

The hand holding the sword started to shiver, his blade producing a low chime.

The magistrate knew he had to say something, otherwise, under Kieran's pressuring might, the core system that he scarcely completed would crumble.

Just as the magistrate opened his mouth, Ickart beat him to it.

Ickart, of course, knew Kieran and understood how ridiculously powerful he was, but he would not tolerate a traitor.

"Sir 2567, leave immediately…" Ickart clenched his teeth and mustered up enough strength to squeeze out his mouth.

Kakrrrom!

His voice, however, was overpowered by a clap of thunder. Amid the blue sky, a lightning bolt fell down from the heavens and struck Aligino, who had almost ran out of sight.

He was instantly electrocuted into crips.

Amid the flashy lightning, Ickart widened his eyes uncontrollably.

He was shocked at how powerful Kieran was and astonished at the power that he had showen.

Lightning?!

Shouldn't it be fire?!

Other than the Unique Title 'Blade of the Daybreaker', Kieran was known as the Flaming Devil and Flame Emperor in the big city, but lightning?!

This was a first!

Had he acquired some new powers again?

Some thoughts appeared in Ickart's mind but before he could relate into them more, he felt heaviness on his body; Kieran was looking at him.

Without even a proper glance, Ickart knew what was going on, especially when Kieran's gaze changed. Ickart could feel the pressure from his eyes increased, the not-so-friendly kind.

As if Lady Luck was on his side, Ickart said "I am one of the Resistance, an organization that opposes the Guardians! I have a way to remove the Witch's Gift!"

The moment his words subsided, the pressure on his body vanished instantly.

After a breath of relief, Ickart turned to the magistrate, wanting to know how this long time rival of his would react to the situation.

Other than smiling bitterly, the magistrate had no other reaction or idea.

Although he didn't sense killing intents from the man before him, the pressure was getting bigger and it was obvious that he would not be able to even resist should the man choose to kill him.

It was undoubtedly a terrible feeling, but the worst was yet to come.

A contract appeared before the magistrate.

"No! I will not... Fine, fine, I'll sign it."

The magistrate wanted to reject instinctively but after he sensed the killing intents from the man, he changed his attitude.

What's worse than death?

Kieran then received the signed contract.

It stated:

Without defying the conditions of the previous signed contract, I will help 2567 with all my efforts for one. No deceits of lies shall happen in the duration—Lee.

…

Kieran nodded in satisfaction after he saw the name on the contract.

Before he figured out the truth behind the Witch's Gift, he would simply not touch other players that bore the same gift, but that didn't mean he would allow the players to roam freely.

He wouldn't kill the magistrate though. There were too many ways to kill a person, especially in the big city. It was near infinite.

He could have heavily injured the magistrate and allowed others to seal the deal.

According to the rule of splitting loot in the city, a lot of players would do it in a heartbeat.

Kieran was also confident that Ickart beside the magistrate would take his life right away.

Both of them seemed to have a complicated relationship.

In the previous fight, the magistrate obviously held back a lot while Ickart was being furious about it. Plus Ickart's identity, Kieran had a general idea of what was going on, but he had no further interest in that.

He was more concerned about how to deal with the Witch's Gift.

Likewise, a contract was passed to Ickart.

A quick glance over the contract and Ickart wrote his name without a thought.

It wasn't just because of the contents were what he promised Kieran earlier, the magistrate beside him had set up a good example.

When he saw the magistrate compromising to the situation, Ickart had a complicated state of emotions.

He felt loathing towards the magistrate but also a very complicated sense of depression.

He couldn't really tell what it was or where it came from, but it lifted the burden on his mind.

"I'll look for you two," Kieran then left.

After Kieran left the place, Ickart stood up and looked down on the magistrate, not saying anything else and also leaving.

Why not kill the magistrate while he was weak?

Aside from the fact that the magistrate was injured because he tried to save him, the ideal that was rooted in Ickart's heart wouldn't allow him to commit such a despicable act.

"As old fashioned as always."

The magistrate saw Ickart off before he climbed up himself. As he was troubled by the injuries, he recalled the contract that he had just signed, unable to hold back his mumbles.

"I am really in big trouble now. Hope I can slip away, or else…"

As the thought lingered in his heart, the magistrate limped back to the dome clock tower.

On the other hand, Kieran arrived at Aligino's room.

The room wasn't far from the dome clock tower, only two street blocks away, but it was hard to locate: it was hidden in the middle of a dark alleyway.

"Hope you won't let me down!"

Kieran said to himself as he glanced over the kill notification that provided him with 1,500 Points and 2 Skill Points.

It was far less than he had expected. Given how Aligino had hunted multiple people down, some thoughts appeared in Kieran's mind uncontrollably.

Now, it was time for him to verify his thoughts.

Kak!

Kieran placed his hand on the doorknob and the door slowly opened. The click and screech of the opening door echoed in the room.

Kieran stepped inside.

The room, which was as big as a football field, was revealed before his eyes.

Despite the huge room, it was empty except for a black stone pillar that stood in the middle, as thick as a barrel and taller than a man.

Many sharp-fanged ghosts and ferocious monsters were carved on the pillar.

Kieran lifted the corner of his mouth when he felt the hidden aura within the pillar.

He knew he was getting a sizable gain this round.

Before Kieran could check the details on the pillar, Bloody Mary sent him a thought through the contract's link.

It wanted the stone pillar.