The Devil's Cage

Schmidt!

Kieran knew it was the West Coast chief officer with a single glance. He was wearing a thick winter outfit, walking off a boat and walking along the walled bridge to the docks on the island.

"Why is Schmidt here? Could it be…? That bastard Boller!"

A sudden guess appeared in Kieran's heart. Instantly, his decent mood plummeted.

Kieran believed that the reason Schmidt appeared on the island was somehow related to Boller.

Without Boller, Schmidt wouldn't even be here. Maybe he hadn't encounter any danger on the ship but once Schmidt stepped onto the island, his life would be on the line.

Even though Azinder didn't tell Kieran anything, among the lines and vague hints showed that it was clear the trials on Final Island was not a road trip.

Aside from that, Final Island and its trial were not the end. Schmidt's strength was only slighter stronger than the common natives, it would be suicidal for him to be here.

More importantly, with their relationship, if something should happen to Schmidt, Kieran couldn't stay away from it.

Boller should knew this well, yet he decided to bring Schmidt to the island.

So what were his intentions?

"What in the hell is he up to?" Kieran furrowed his brows hard.

Although they hadn't been in contact for long, Kieran knew Boller was also a person that would not do things without a reason. There must be something driving him to such a decision.

It may be well intended or for another purpose.

As Kieran was pondering the question, Azinder walked over.

"This is as far as I can go with you. You will need to travel alone from here onwards. There is a wooden cottage in the middle of the island and there is where your trial shall start. Remember, be at the cottage before dark, otherwise, you will be disqualified! May fate bring us together again!"

The elementary overseer had no intentions to step foot on Final Island, after bidding farewell to Kieran on the walled bridge, he returned to the ship.

The ship didn't stop at the dock but instead went back the way it came, the same went for the ship that brought Schmidt here.

It seemed like there was something specially arranged, or maybe because of something else.

Kieran couldn't think of precisely what at the moment because a sub mission had appeared.

[Sub mission discovered: Search!]

[Search: Search for Schmidt in the shortest amount of time possible, it is what you should do at the moment!]

[Note: Ratings will change according to time used.]

...

With the appearance of the sub mission and the relationship between him and Schmidt, Kieran sprinted off the moment he stepped on the walled bridge.

Without even activating Musou level [Tracking], Kieran could easily track Schmidt's footprints on the snow. He swiftly followed along.

However, the prints stopped abruptly after they left the docks.

Kieran halted before the last footprint and tilted his head down to inspect the prints.

The previous footprint was at least 10 cm deep into the snow but the one after it was shallow, as if Schmidt's feet barely touched the snow, then it disappeared completely.

All that was left were the footprints that came down from the ship but it didn't continue further.

Kieran frowned. He sized up his surroundings but there weren't anymore traces and tracks on the thick snow covered ground.

"After getting the same information as mine which is the wooden cottage in the middle of the island, Schmidt must have run off top speed without stopping until he reached his destination. Then he disappeared into thin air without any struggling? No, no, not only did he not struggle, he didn't even take another step forward and he vanished!"

Kieran painted the picture in his mind.

The footprints on the walled bridge showed the snow was splashed by heavy steps. It was the best proof of Schmidt running off full speed.

Only when a person was in a hurry would such splashing snow tracks be left behind but the snow covered ground was absent of further footprints.

Even if the person that kidnapped Schmidt could fly, it wasn't supposed to be like this.

When Schmidt lost his ability to resist, the footprints that he left behind weren't supposed to be this natural. With Schmidt's force from his body and the changes around him, there must be some extra traces left behind, such as imbalanced footprints, traces of leaning forward and so on.

The situation shouldn't be like this,leaving a slight footprint behind before it discontinued.

"Really vanished into thin air?"

Kieran scanned the surroundings again and he walked back the way he came, inspected the whole docks and walled bridge. There was nothing noteworthy but Kieran knew there was something that he missed.

Though, Kieran at that moment didn't have enough time to look for what he missed, the sun was almost setting, the night would come soon enough.

If he didn't reach the cottage before nightfall, he would be disqualified.

It had been a long time since anxiety rose and filled Kieran's heart.

One was just a common native in the dungeon, the other was the mission that affected his dungeon world rewards and might even punish him with a penalty.

With such a comparison at hand, Kieran should be able to easily come up with a decision.

However, after all the things that happened, Kieran realized that the decision was not that easy to make.

If it was just some random natives, Kieran would never hesitate but Schmidt wasn't.

Not only did they work together more than once, they've fought along side as well.

The familiar acquaintance forced a hard decision out of Kieran since his heart was not truly cold.

After all, everything before him was so real, it was hard for Kieran to treat Schmidt as a NPC that never existed.

Maybe among the players, when the word "natives" were mentioned, everyone shared a tacit agreement of whom they really are.

However, most of the players didn't realise it or might have even realized it but were unwilling to admit it that the natives were more than just empty NPCs.

Phew!

"So I need to give up my mission and look for Schmidt? Is there no way to make the best out of things? Wait! Hold on! Maybe…"

Kieran squinted his eyes when he suddenly thought of something.

After thinking about something for a few seconds, he then sprinted off towards the middle of the island without further ado.

...

Kieran's every move was monitored and projected in the crystal ball.

After witnessing Kieran's choice, the person in the cottage in the middle of the island sighed slightly.

The person had originally favored Kieran. After all, he was the one that he thought highly of and the one in the prophecy, there should be something extraordinary about him.

However, Kieran's decision was quite disappointing to the person.

"So even Nikorei would misjudge sometimes eh? Even though being crowned as the God of Earth, you are not really the omnipotent God right…"

BANG!

Before the sigh subsided, the cottage door was kicked open.

The winter wind gushed in through the cottage entrance and messed up the things inside. It even dimmed down the fire in the fireplace.

However, the thing colder than the winter wind was the dark red greatsword. Its sharp edge was pointing at the person who was sighing a moment ago.

"Spill it, where is Schmidt?"

Kieran said sternly.