The Devil's Cage

Looking at the flying gas tank, Chief Teddy was horrified.

The abyss was gone and the corridor was destroyed, the real street of the city returning to the restaurant front, and should the gas tank explode…

As the thought came into his mind, Chief Teddy opened his mouth, trying to stop it but…

"Wa-...HUH?!"

The moment he uttered a word, Chief Teddy realized the explosion had gone off on the street but the street was fine!

It was the exact same strange scene with the abyss and the corridor!

Chief Teddy instantly reacted to the situation, chills running down his spine.

He knew he would die a horrible death if he walked out like that.

Lucky! Lucky!

Chief Teddy was crying lucky in his heart, then looked at Kieran with a new gas tank. He couldn't help but ask, "Royan, how did you know it's a fake?"

Kieran looked at Chief Teddy in surprise before saying, "If it's the real street outside the restaurant, there should be police cruisers."

Kieran then pointed at the bodies on the floor.

Chief Teddy finally realized it. He fired multiple shots earlier, if they had truly returned to the real street, it shouldn't be this quiet!

Chief Teddy was embarrassed by his shortsighted view, catching the surprise in Kieran's eyes and knew what it meant.

It should be an obvious point yet he failed to notice it, failing as an officer even if it was his first encounter with the supernatural.

Fuuu Fuuuu!

Chief Teddy walked aside and adjusted his condition with deep breaths after realizing the unusual situation.

Four to five breaths later, he walked to the cart with the gas tanks and threw them out with Kieran.

Running away and avoiding the unknown fear wasn't the true way to overcome it.

Facing it directly was the best option and if he could blast it to pieces?

It would be better!

Kaboom!

Multiple explosions went off, the street before their eyes crumbling into pieces.

What came after the street was a mall.

The mall where Lin MiaoMiao disappeared!

Chief Teddy knew it right away but the shocking thing was, the restaurant now had become a part of the mall!

"H-H-How is this happening?" Chief Teddy asked.

"A desperate move when cornered," Kieran said blankly and pulled Starbeck closer to him. He took the rope which was used to hold the gas tanks together and used it to strap Starbeck on his back.

"Hang on tight," Kieran slightly turned his face and said softly.

"Okay."

Starbeck put his chin over Kieran's shoulder and answered softly.

Chief Teddy noticed Kieran's action, he knew something was going to happen so he ran over and helped Amy up.

Why didn't he strap her onto himself like Kieran to Starbeck?

The short Teddy had many similar experiences before, holding Amy up was already the best he could do, if he strapped her on his back…

Amy's feet would touch the ground and he would drag her around instead of carrying her.

His height was determined naturally! His genes played a big part! What could he do about it!

He was very disappointed and fell into despair, but what was worse was…

A moment after Teddy helped Amy up, the drunkard vomited and because of their height difference, the vomit all landed on Teddy's face, or more accurately, rained down from his head.

The disgusting smell almost knocked him out.

Kieran, with Starbeck on his back, quietly walked away from them.

While Chief Teddy was hesitating whether or not to throw the drunkard away, he suddenly realized the gangster that 'he' shot earlier suddenly climbed up.

The dead came back to life?!

Chief Teddy was shocked, holding the kitchen knife tightly and looking at the revived dead nervously.

The dead were fearsome, those who returned from the land of the dead were even more horrifying.

These revived dead represented death itself, plus their ferocious, disgusting faces were hard on the eyes.

Crack Crack!

The revived dead climbed up from the floor.

They wobbled left and right, front and back, their joints producing cracking noises, causing their body to twist in a strange and freaky way.

Some stood up straight, some bent over almost 90 degrees, some didn't even stand up properly but lifted their bodies up with all four limbs and their heads would twist left and right, producing even more cracking noise.

Although the looks and postures varied, their actions were unified.

Their eyes turned white and morbid and were growling at Kieran fiercely.

As for Chief Teddy?

It seemed like the revived dead neglected him.

Even though the chief was the closest to them, he stood there with Amy as though they were invisible.

The vomit repelled the wicked?!

The thought came into Chief Teddy's mind almost instinctively, but his sanity told him it was a ridiculous thought.

If the vomit could repel the dead and the wicked, this drunkard that he was holding up had blessed him with holy powers instead of vomiting all over his face.

So, the dead were being controlled!

The mastermind controlling the strings ought to remove Kieran, the true threat!

Chief Teddy wanted to help when he realized the situation but Kieran was faster than he thought.

After the fierce growls sounded, Kieran swung his sword at the dead.

[Sharp Standard-Issued Blade] sliced them up like tofu, the two nearest ones had their head chopped off. The blade went along with the motion to their waist and perforated their body.

Splat!

The blade stabbed into an eye socket, Kieran twisting his wrist and prying open the skull cap before slicing down at the body.

Stabbing, slicing, cutting, all these simple techniques looked exceptionally remarkable when performed by Kieran.

The techniques weren't beautiful or elegant and far from being extravagant, but all the techniques displayed a plain lethality.

Chief Teddy looked at Kieran as his jaw dropped. A few breath's time later, Kieran had dealt with the revived dead like he was cutting vegetables.

After being chopped and slashed, the dead did not come back to life again.

Looking down at the bodies that died a second time, Chief Teddy couldn't help but ask Kieran, "Are you a swordsman?"

"No, it's experience."

Kieran swung the sword in his hand, shaking off the blood on the blade and painting a straight line on the floor with his fierce motion.

He didn't brush off Chief Teddy, neither did he bluff.

Kieran honestly wasn't skilled in using longswords, his forte was with daggers, knives, broadsword, and greatsword, wielding them remarkably and transcending beyond the average.

Given his attainments in other weapons, comprehending by analogy wasn't something hard for Kieran.

Kieran wasn't exactly talented in this, but most of his time was spent honing and mastering his skill sets, including sword techniques.

"Experience?"

Chief Teddy was skeptical about the answer, he didn't want to believe what Kieran had said.

He wielded the sword so skillfully based on experience? How many men has he killed to reach such a level?

Given Kieran's age, it was all but convincing.

No matter how mature Kieran looked or how unusual his skills were, Chief Teddy did not buy what he said, assuming Kieran was covering up something.

Wisely, Chief Teddy stopped asking.

Kieran glanced over the disbelief on the chief's face, not explaining because the situation wasn't suitable.

After the dead fell back to the floor, the lights in the mall started to flicker, a cold and gloomy wind blowing from every direction and when the flickering reached a certain level…

Burst!

The lamps and lights started to burst and shatter!

The well-lit mall just a moment ago had fallen into darkness, but not entirely.

Kieran switched on a torchlight with his other hand, giving it to Starbeck before taking out another.

"You even brought torchlight? And there's two of them?" Chief Teddy looked at Kieran in shock.

"No, it's three," Kieran shook his head and tossed one to the chief.

"Why does a restaurant need this many torchlights?" Chief Teddy couldn't help but ask after he received the torchlight.

"Prepare for a blackout? It's good to be prepared."

Kieran said calmly and started to examine his surroundings with the torchlight. Chief Teddy was rendered speechless. He realized until now, Kieran had got further away from his understanding.

It seemed like this young man had anticipated everything that would happen and prepared beforehand. If the Chief Teddy wasn't with Kieran the whole time, he would have suspected that Kieran was playing with him.

Chief Teddy also used the torchlight to look around, realizing they were still in the mall, at least that's what he saw.

He started to doubt what his eyes saw, but when he shed light in the changing room further away, he skipped a breath.

The files on his desk clearly stated that the changing room was where Lin MiaoMiao went missing.

Tssst Gak!

Suddenly, a colder, gloomier wind blew in from the corner, opening the shut changing room door.

The quiet changing room door produced an irritating screech as the pivot moved, causing discomfort in Chief Teddy's ears, but he didn't really care.

He shed light over the changing room and saw three fingers: index finger, middle finger, ring finger.

The grayish white fingers latched on the door of the changing room and slowly came into sight.

The chief was completely captivated by the eerie scene, swallowing his saliva to ease the dryness in his throat.

The fingers moved further and revealed a whole palm.

The palm was the same color as the fingers, with green veins all over it, and it was unusually thin and withered.

Despite the horrifying scene, Chief Teddy could tell the hand belonged to a woman.

Was it Lin MiaoMiao's?

Chief Teddy wondered and held the kitchen knife tighter.

Spat!

A noise of a blade cutting flesh sounded in Chief Teddy's ears. He turned around and saw Kieran facing the changing room but the sword in his hand was stabbed diagonally upwards behind him.

A figure hanging from the air in a white dress and face covered by the long hair had gotten stabbed in the face.

Bam!

The figure hanging in the air fell to the floor after the sudden stab.

"This is Andie!"

Chief Teddy recognized the person after he shined his torchlight on the face, then looked at Kieran again.

"How did you know this time?"

Further away in the changing room, the hand froze mid-air without moving a muscle. Even an idiot knew it appeared to distract them, the real attack would come from this hanging dead.

However, Chief Teddy couldn't sense anything from this hanging dead, unless he could see it with his own eyes, otherwise he would never have noticed its presence.

Likewise, because of the angle, Chief Teddy was also sure that Kieran was looking at the changing room too, he did not even look upwards.

"Instinct from living in the jungle."

Kieran explained when he saw the curious gaze.

This time was a cover up, but Chief Teddy took it seriously.

He did go through Kieran's background before and he knew what kind of environment Kieran lived in. Cultivating super instinct from this kind of harsh environment wasn't something impossible, so he bought it.

When Teddy was still a mere officer, his superior chief told him before some men out there had natural sharp instinct and after some proper training or encounters, they could achieve something that average men deemed impossible.

"What should we do now? Or… can your jungle instinct lead us out?" Chief Teddy tested with his words, but never he did expect Kieran would nod to his question.

"Follow me!"

Kieran then turned around and headed towards a certain direction. Chief Teddy followed tightly without a second thought.

Kieran's actions had won Chief Teddy's trust.

Kieran carried Starbeck; Chief Teddy helped the drunkard.

Both of them soon disappeared in the darkness.

…

"Hehe? Instinct? If instinct is that useful, then what are we Eckertist? You really think your instinct can lead you out of my trap after breaking through a couple of hurdles by chance? Delusional!"

A sinister voice echoed in the darkness.

The voice was soft and unique, sounding like it came from darkness itself but at the same time sounding from the ceiling.

At the next moment, a pair of eyes appeared in the ceiling, a pair of eyes hiding in darkness.

The pair of eyes, similar to the voice, were hard to detect from the inside, but from outside…

Bloody Mary the Superior Demon stood behind this figure with its arms crossed, watching this figure crawling over the roof of Leaf Dining, controlling something that looked like a upside down bowl and sneering heavily.

It had no idea how it should comment on this arrogant bastard.

Its boss was already that powerful yet he followed his head and laid low. Its boss would never expose its trump card before the very last moment.

On the other hand, this kind of bastard, who knew a thing or two about true power, acted recklessly, disregarding the consequences.

Perhaps this was the reason why boss was so powerful?

Bloody Mary wasn't slow, even with thoughts lingering in its head.

Although it was also heavily weakend, its abilities limited to only a few, picking up something that wasn't too heavy was still quite easy for Bloody Mary, like picking up a tile.

It was a piece of tile from Leaf Dining's roof. Bloody Mary picked it up and aimed accurately at the back of the man's head before smashing it down hard.

Pak!