The Devil's Cage

Symende Augen's was staying at the outskirts of Edland City.

The outskirts here wasn't the typical slums for the poor but a real place for the wealthy.

From the main road of Edland City, another road was branched out leading towards a dense green forest.

After shuttling through the forest, the cobblestone road was connecting towards a manor a dozen acres in size.

It was surrounded by a long bronze fence and in the middle were marble gate pillars with the architectural style of the olden age.

In fact, Augen's manor was once a duke's castle a hundred years ago.

After Symende Augen bought it, he changed it to Augen Manor.

He spent a huge amount to renovate the whole place. Although adding modernized equipment, he maintained the architectural style of a hundred years ago.

The security level around the manor would cause a headache for anyone who wanted to infiltrate the place, especial Teresa and Hoskin who knew exactly what was going on inside.

So when Kieran suggested he go alone, both of them declined intensely.

"No! It's too dangerous! It's different from the fights in the day and you've never been into Augen Manor before. You don't even know the structure inside and if you go in just like that, you will be walking straight into their trap! I've been here before, I am more suitable to go in!"

Teresa refuted Kieran's suggestion and volunteered herself.

"That's right 2567, fighting and infiltrating is two different thing!"

Even Hoskin was refuting him.

"So, do you have the confidence to sneak in without a trace?" Kieran looked at Teresa and before she could say anything, he questioned her further. "So who do think will have it harder once getting caught infiltrating the place? You or me?"

Teresa and Hoskin went quiet.

The chief officer was now a wanted criminal because of the serial murders of the mayoral candidates, once she was caught, her ending would be self-explanatory.

Though with Teresa's temper, she wouldn't just compromise like that.

She wanted to speak with her actions so she instantly reached out to her gun with her right hand without moving her body but before she could draw her gun out, she froze.

[Interrogator Knife]'s sharp edge was already on Teresa's neck without her knowing.

"See, I am more persuasive now."

Kieran said with a smile and quickly put away the knife.

Same as before, Teresa didn't even see Kieran's movements clearly and it made her frown unconsciously.

She disliked the feeling of being weaker than a man, but unwilling to submit was a thing and the current situation was another. She knew clearly what should she do at the moment.

In the end, Teresa chose the best way to compromise.

"Fine! Bring this with you!"

Teresa opened her backpack and took out a handgun equipped with a silencer, two magazines, and a new phone.

Kieran glanced over the supplies Teresa brought from her safe house and took them from her.

Since he was lacking crucial weapons, Kieran wouldn't reject any type of weapon that he could use.

As for the phone, it would be useful to take a picture of evidence and recording conversations.

"I'll tell you everything I know about Augen Manor and you must remember all the important points that I am about to say!" Teresa urged him.

Kieran nodded.

Any kind of detailed information would increase the success rate of his infiltration.

In fact, Teresa didn't only just describe the layout of Augen Manor, she also drew out a simple map.

After comparing the map and his memory after Teresa's explanation, Kieran exited the car and vanished into the darkness.

Hoskin parked the car in the shrubs at the other branched off road from the main road to Edland City.

Kieran would need to cross the main road to reach the other branch road.

There was two surveillance camera installed on the road, one being clearly visible and the other in the dark.

The visible camera was the highway camera to snap speeding cars and the one in the dark was the one belonged to Augen Manor.

To any regular people, it would be a huge hassle to slip past these two cameras but it was useless against Kieran.

Musou level [Undercover] was not something the camera could catch a glimpse of.

Then, Kieran slipped past the visible and hidden outposts in the shrubs, shuttled through the cobblestone road and took a detour from the manor's main entrance to infiltrate side garden inside the manor. The whole process was too easy for him, however, the upcoming route would prove more difficult.

There was a sudden increase in patrolling guards and tall watchtowers in addition to surveillance cameras.

The most surprising thing was the swift and powerful presence from a person standing in front of the manor's main gate entrance.

"A fighter?" Kieran guessed.

Although Teresa didn't want to speak much about these, under Kieran's relentless questioning, she spilled a little.

Those were the powerhouses hidden in plain sight.

Some were extremely gifted, some possessed outstanding techniques, some even had a long history of legacy inheritance.

Regardless of which, those powerful men had strength beyond what a regular person could imagine.

At the same time, their strength brought them countless opportunities.

The military, politicians, and wealthy merchants would never be stingy in hiring one of them as bodyguards.

Symende Augen was no exception, and the fighter before Kieran surprised him.

More precisely, the person's strength made Kieran feel… that he dangerous!

The unusual feeling that was as sharp as blade caressing his skin made it clear that the person was a formidable enemy.

"I didn't expect Symende Augen to have such bodyguard!" Kieran exclaimed in his heart.

Still, it didn't stop him from carrying out his plans.

The fighter was only guarding in front of the main entrance, while Augen Manor was a dozen acres big and there was an absurd amount of places to infiltrate for a person like Kieran.

Kieran made a big round from the garden towards the attached building on the other side and climbed up the second floor silently.

[Interrogator Knife] easily pried open the edge of the window, removing an L shaped latch.

He entered after pushing the window and turned around to close it once more.

Kieran found himself in a small hall. There were two roundtables, dozens of chairs, three sofas, and a giant wine cellar.

"The small hall by the garden… it was Symende Augen's banquet hall, his family would gather here!"

Kieran realized where he was after a slight recollection. He then headed towards his goal: the study room.

The study room should be the place where Symende Augen hid most of his secrets or even a hiding place for himself.

According to Teresa's brief explanation and simple map, Kieran successfully arrived in front of the study room door after slipping past two patrol teams and four surveillance cameras.

Though, before Kieran could approach the room, S+ Intuition allowed him to pick up a clear argument between a man and a woman going on behind the doors.

The man's voice was sharper because of the agitated mood, causing frowns to anyone who listened to it.

The woman's voice was younger and more pleasant, despite facing an angry man, there wasn't any sign of stepping back or inferiority.

Kieran took out his phone to record the conversation without further hesitation.

'I've said it before, you should listen to me!'

'Listen to you? A mere secretary?'

'After Symende Augen's death, his secretary should be the one that you wanted to win over most!'

'So, SOMEBODY became so arrogant that they wanted to seize even more from this poor widow?'

'I am only taking what I deserve!'

'Deserve?'

PUK!

A light laugh later, the sound of a knife stabbed into the body was heard, followed by the knife pulled out and blood gushing, heavy objects falling simultaneously.

One of them died in the conflict and it wasn't the woman on the weaker side but the angry man.

Kieran standing outside the door squinted his eyes.

"Symende Augen is dead? The explosion case wasn't a self-conducted act?"

Guesses appeared in Kieran's heart one after another.

Until vigorous footsteps echoed in his ears, Kieran finally collected his thoughts.

At the next moment, the unusual skin cutting feeling came once more!

The fighter who was guarding the main entrance appeared at the other end of the corridor, his eyes were locked at the spot where Kieran was hiding!!!