The Devil's Cage

The man never thought an attack would come from behind, so he was smashed on the roof by a hard tile.

The upside down bowl-like item on the roof cracked when the man lost control over it and when the cracks appeared, the unconscious man twisted violently.

Spirits or souls appeared around the man, one after another. GThey were the 5 girls that went missing and the gangsters who Chief Teddy shot, plus some other unfamiliar souls.

They looked at the unconscious man with a grudge.

Bloody Mary wisely stepped back.

As though the souls of the dead were released from their shackles, they threw themselves at the man frenziedly, tearing him apart, literally.

The man woke up from the pain and tried to scream but Andie's soul bit his throat off.

As the first victim of the series of events, the torment she faced far surpassed everyone else's.

Pain provided her strength.

It was the famous saying passed down from the Witchcraft Sect.

Although not all recognized the saying, the man was not one of them.

The pain Andie suffered was unimaginable, hence the hatred that came with it skyrocketed. The same went for the other girls.

In fact, the 5 girls became the main force in tearing the man apart, the gangster and other souls just helping.

Dozens of pairs of hands ripped the man's flesh.

Less than half a minute later, the man was torn into a pile of bloody bones and not much else.

The souls munched on the bloody bones.

After that, all of them stood up and flew down to Leaf Dining's entrance.

The door opened.

Kieran, with Starbeck on his back, came out.

A group of 20 souls bowed and thanked Kieran before they disintegrated into firefly light, flying towards the faraway land.

The Origin Forces in Kieran's body were enhanced again, and after a few times, this enhancement came with an obvious result.

[Spirit broke through a layer of seal, increased from D → D+]

…

The increase in Spirit refreshed Kieran's mind, like he had woken up from a power nap. His mind was clear and energetic.

At the same time, Kieran flipped his finger and a [Crossing Copper Coin] appeared in his palm.

He used the lighter to slightly burn the coin and a formless energy came out, covering the presence of the souls and dispersing the left over traces.

His Spirit had broken through one seal and his guess was verified but he did not let joy get the best of himself.

He knew that with his current power level, he was still too far away from facing the truly powerful.

The presence of 20 souls leaving for the faraway land might very well attract the dead spirits which would cause him a headache.

Before his power reached the next level, Kieran would not want to face some powerful dead spirits, especially when there were still outsiders around him.

Kieran turned around to Chief Teddy.

"What's that just now…"

Chief Teddy also saw the souls leaving, and without a doubt, it left quite an impact on his head.

"They left for the place they should go to. What are you going to do now?"

Kieran pointed at the restaurant.

Despite being messy, there weren't any bodies inside, which was good news to Chief Teddy.

A floor of bodies and missing a few bullets were two different stories, even though the dead bodies weren't some kind souls.

"I...I'll deal with it."

Chief Teddy thought of reporting honestly but after what he had been through, he couldn't help but smile bitterly.

"Good luck then," Kieran then turned around, the meaning obvious.

Chief Teddy bitter smiled again, putting the drunkard down on the restaurant floor, wiping his dirty face with his coat, and walking out.

Kieran saw the chief off into the night, then turned back to the restaurant, locking the door and loosening the rope on him.

"Let's go up and have a look."

The rope was released but Kieran did not let go of Starbeck. He wasn't sure whether or not the situation was safe, so he grabbed Starbeck's hand and walked to the second floor.

"Boss, everything is as you expected," Bloody Mary said in flattery when it saw Kieran come up.

"Em. Continue to watch the area in the dark," Kieran nodded.

"As you wish."

Bloody Mary bowed and vanished.

Kieran then walked to the spot where the man was torned apart by the souls.

He wasn't there to say his prayers for the man, he was there to check the things the man left behind, or more accurately, his spoils.

There were a total of three items and two of them were very eye-catching.

The first one was the upside down bowl-like item; the second one was a chain as small as a bracelet.

[Name: Vengeful Spirit House (Broken)]

[Type: ETC]

[Rarity: Rare]

[Attack: None]

[Defense: None]

[Attribute: 1. Illusion; 2. Control]

[Effect: None]

[Prerequisite: Spirit E+, Mystical Knowledge (Witchcraft Master)]

[Able to bring out of dungeon: No]

[Remark: This is one of the witchcraft spell passed down to a certain sect, it's only the fundamentals. (Your current Mystical Knowledge level is too low, unable to further read related information)]

…

[Illusion: Consume ingredients and own blood to create a hyper realistic illusory realm (The realism of the illusory realm depends on the ingredients offered and amount of blood.)]

[Control: Extract the soul of the victim and put them into service in the Vengeful Spirit House. The more the victim is tortured before they die, the stronger their soul would be. Those who died in the illusory realm can be directly controlled but their strength won't change. (Each usage required a Spirit authentication. If failed, the trapped souls will devour the user, the repulsion is determined by the number of trapped souls.)]

…

[Name: Gordor's Chain]

[Type: Accessory]

[Rarity: Rare]

[Attack: Average]

[Defense: Average]

[Attribute: 1. Lash; 2. Constrict]

[Effect: Personification]

[Prerequisite: Spirit D]

[Able to bring out of dungeon: No]

[Remark: Gordor is a warlock skilled in witchcraft and alchemy. He likes to combine both in his studies and create gold by extracting the tortured soul from the victim. It was his most famous theory, like how famous his chain was—This isn't the first chain Gordor created personally, it is created by the students of Gordor Academic Sect in the later days]

…

[Lash: The lashing from the chain will not just inflict actual damage but also damage to the soul, +1 extra damage to the soul. 2 times per day]

[Constrict: Select a target no bigger than 25 meters and constrict it. Target has to go through a Strength E authentication, Spirit E+ authentication. Failed once and target will be constricted; failed twice and target will suffer an extra Strong attack to the soul and then will be constricted. 1 time per day.]

…

[Personification: This is why Gordor's Chain is so great. It doesn't need the user to control it personally, it is controlled by the user's willpower. It can transform into a 3.5 meter illusory chain and complete any action one time. (Unable to exceed 35 meters range, consume Stamina when in use.)]

…

Looking at the two items in his hand, Kieran quickly put the broken [Vengeful Spirit House] aside and carefully checked [Gordor's Chain]

"Not bad," Kieran commented.

Perhaps these items were incomparable to his original equipment but his original equipment was sealed back in his room and this chain, which could not leave the dungeon world, became his only aid.

Especially against the traits of a soul, it was an indispensable help.

Kieran put on [Gordor's Chain] around his wrist and controlled it with his thought.

A 3.5 meters illusory chain flew out from [Gordor's Chain] and circled around him and Starbeck like a snake at his will.

With another thought, the chain vanished into the air.

Kieran nodded as he felt his Stamina decrease. It wasn't a lot, still within acceptable range.

After getting a grasp of this chain, Kieran looked at the third spoil.

It was a black bag the size of a palm.

When he picked it up, he heard unique metal clunking and he had a guess what it was holding inside.

His guess was proven correct.

[Crossing Copper Coin]! A total of 20 pieces!

Kieran squinted his eyes at the twenty pieces of [Crossing Copper Coins], thinking about how he had enough to test out the ideas that he had.

However, Kieran did not get carried away.

"We need to clean here and downstairs. It's nothing big but for the sake of safety, better disinfect the place with peroxide," Kieran looked at Starbeck.

"Em. I've bought some and it's in the kitchen," Starbeck allowed Kieran to hold his hand and nodded.

"We still need to replenish some supplies after dawn, do we still have enough money?" Kieran brought Starbeck down stairs, asking as they came down.

"Other than refilling the ingredients, we still have some left but it's a little bit hard to reach our previous level. Those gas tanks weren't cheap," Starbeck replied.

At the same time, a strange feeling rose in his heart, the second time Starbeck worried about money. It was strange and heart-racing for him, plus a little bit unusual. It was definitely not because of Kieran holding his hand.

"Running out of funds, eh?"

Kieran walked in front and talked to himself without noticing anything, his hand still holding Starbeck's hand.

The man Bloody Mary killed didn't seem to care about common currency, all it found was some [Crossing Copper Coins], otherwise the Superior Demon would have saved some for Kieran, since both of them shared a link.

"Exchanging [Crossing Copper Coin] for money?"

The thought appeared in Kieran's head for a moment, but after some consideration, Kieran discarded the thought.

Despite not knowing what [Crossing Copper Coin] could buy or its true value in the market, the fact that the coin could make the Origin Forces lively had decided that the coins were not for sale.

Everything would be smoother when he got stronger, otherwise no matter how rich he was, he would only be a fat lamb and Kieran knew where that would lead him.

"Then…"

Kieran thought for a while and then thought about Chief Teddy.

He wasn't going to borrow money, he thought of the bounty for apprehending John Dickson!

20,000 dollars bounty was sufficient for him and Starbeck to overcome some hard days ahead.

Should he call the chief?

The answer was self-explanatory. If the bounty belonged to him, he had to fight for it.

Kieran and Starbeck cleaned the restaurant from top to bottom and just when he was about to call the chief officer, Chief Teddy arrived at the restaurant along with the morning sun.

The smell of peroxide entered his nose when he stepped into the restaurant, he sniffed but didn't say anything. Chief Teddy tossed the leather bag to the bar counter.

"John Dickson's bounty and the wallet you guys lost, there should be 1204 dollars extra inside. I tried my best to fight for you guys before I was suspended from duty, consider it a gratitude for last night," Teddy said honestly.

Kieran took the leather back, checkin it before he passed it to the happy Starbeck.

It was the first time Starbeck felt happy because of earning money, it was also a very strange feeling, but… it felt food.

Starbeck carefully put the money into the money box, then turned into the kitchen to prepare breakfast for Kieran.

"I would advise you to keep it in the bank, if some bad guys see it... Uh... Fine, forget about it."

Teddy reminded Kieran out of kindness but when he remembered how the young man sliced the ferocious dead spirits like cutting tofu, he shut up.

If someone was onto the brothers, he would never have to worry about them, instead, he should be praying for that someone to not die a horrible death.

"Well then, I'll be taking my leave," Teddy waved, ready to leave, but when he was about to step out the door, he turned around suddenly.

"Those things won't come out in the day, right?"

"They won't. They prefer the night, but of course, there are some special spots that they would hang around."

Kieran was in a good mood after solving the financial problem.

"Let's say if, and I mean IF, I run into them, what should I do?" Teddy asked after some thoughts.

"Run," Kieran replied.

"What if I can't?"

"Then you better pray they aren't onto you, or you should bring along an electric baton, a torch, or something else for protection. Is there anything else? We are closing."

"That's about it, thank you. All the best in the business."

Teddy waved and took out a holiday brochure. It seemed like the chief wanted to have a holiday while he was being suspended.

Kieran's good eyes saw the big title on the brochure: Hot Spring Cultural Trip.

"All the best to you."

Kieran waved at Teddy and walked out the counter. He wanted to take in the little blackboard outside and replace it with the 'Closed' sign that Starbeck prepared.

The door closed and the signage wobbled a little.

Things slowly returned to the way it was and the city slowly woke up from its slumber.

The long night finally came to an end as a new day was starting.