The Devil's Cage

Her nose stinging her, Leanna stood up with gnashing teeth.

Her eyes, trailed the familiar figure, were filled with rage due to embarrassment.

She wanted to thank this bastard a moment ago?!

Outrageous!

However, Leanna did not attack Kieran because she knew who the enemy was.

“Aaargh! It hurts! It hurts! So you are the First Seat of this year?””

The man who fell down struggled as he climbed up, his chest seriously caved in and a big bulge appearing on his back. Such injuries for a normal man were surely lethal but for the attacker, it was just painful.

As the attacker spoke, the sound of bones cracking came from his body.

Kak Kak Ka!

A few cracks later, the attacker’s body returned to normal.

“H-How is this possible?!”

Pegis’ eyes widened out of horror.

He had never seen such a monster, even in the dangerous Mystic State, and if the 4th year student hasn’t seen something like this, the others wouldn’t have seen it either.

Joey was sweating heavily and Leanna grabbed her katana tightly.

The freshmen and the upper year students who had just gotten free from the dizziness were overwhelmed by the series of event, everyone standing blankly and feeling lost.

“M-Monster?”

The mutters started to spread in the crowd and it clearly entered the attacker’s ears. He widened his mouth as if his cheek muscles were absent and the sharp irritating laughter sounded again.

Everyone was shocked.

They had experienced how scary the attacker’s laugh was after feeling dizzy for the first time.

The smarter ones covered up their ears but there was no point!

The sharp irritating laughter caused tinnitus and dizziness as it entered their ears.

“Stop him!” Leanna shouted and surrounded the attacker in a closed angle with Joey. They were ready to strike but Pegis did not step up to the call, instead quietly stepping back and trying to run away.

However, just as he turned around, he was frozen on the spot because a group of 50 fully armed men appeared behind him without his knowledge, all of them pointing their assault rifles at him.

Pegis raised both his hands up in the air without a second thought.

If it was a few men with modern firearms, Pegis would have taken the risk but when the number reached 50, Pegis didn’t have the heart to resist.

Leanna and Joey were frozen on the spot as well.

‘The laughter was to cover the footsteps of these men?!’

The sudden realization rose in both the girls’ minds but it was too late and such a realization was useless in the current situation.

“You people are really a bunch of flowers in a greenhouse! You don’t even know the cruelty of real war! And you, little flower, feeling stupid now? You really think I’d appear here alone?”

The attacker mocked them and placed his full attention on Kieran but unfortunately, Kieran didn’t look at him but the fully-armed men instead.

The armed men were very familiar.

Earlier, when Kieran saw the commotion that went down at Professor Smith’s research lab through the special link with Bloody Mary, among the attackers, there one particular group dressed exactly the same as the armed men.

‘Luring the tiger away from the mountain? Then their goal... Hmmm? I see!’

When Kieran saw a few empty modified buses further away, he instantly knew what the attacker wanted to achieve, but Kieran’s behavior infuriated the attacker.

“What are you looking at? Did you know, as long as you freshmen played along, I wouldn’t have hurt you but now I’ve changed my mind! I will rip your limbs apart and dig your eyes out.... Aaaaaargh!”

The attacker threatened Kieran ferociously but before he finished, he was engulfed in flames.

Under the cries of agony, the attacker was burnt to cinders.

There wasn’t any resistance, there wasn’t any struggle. Newly leveled [Devil Burning] didn’t just get stronger, with the new [Devil Mastery II], Kieran could even save his left hand from performing the hand gestures. Devil Flame now appeared in a stranger way and the burning speed was a few times faster.

The sudden flame attracted everyone’s attention, including the 50 armed men.

All of the armed men then pointed their guns at Kieran.

Kieran’s lips twisted into a smile. He stepped up, walking past Pegis and looking at the group of men.

Then...

Bang Bang Bang Bang Bang!

Their heads exploded all of a sudden!

Blood gushed and brains splattered!

Blood shot up into the sky like a geyser and rained down moments later.

As the blood poured down, Kieran slowly turned around.

Pak!

Pegis was afraid of falling the moment Kieran turned around but no one was laughing at the 4th year student because they shared the same horrified expression.

The black figure looked like the devil laughing under the bloody rain.

The bodies and heavy stench assaulted the crowd’s senses like endless tides.

In the end...

Vomit!

A student couldn’t hold it anymore and threw up, starting a chain reaction among the freshmen as many more followed, including Maica, who told himself to hold it in.

Moments later, the upper year students were affected also.

As the crowd vomited it’s hearts out, Kieran looked at Pegis.

Pegis shuddered hard when he caught Kieran’s eyes.

“I-I am a student of Theorate, not an attacker! Look at my 4th year uniform! This is my badge!”

The 4th year student had discarded the disdain he had for Kieran earlier, completely terrified by Kieran and trying his very best to tell Kieran that he was on the same side.

“I know. Bento,” Kieran nodded.

Pegis was relieved when he saw Kieran’s nod but he questioned the last part.

Bento? What?

Bang!

While the question was lingering in his head, a heavy blow was delivered to Pegis’ abdomen. Pegis covered his stomach and shrunk into himself on the ground like a cooked shrimp, his eyes wide open— then passed out shortly after that.

Kieran didn’t care about the 4th year, walking towards Leanna.

“What do you want?! I’ll tell you...”

Bang!

“Second Bento!”

Leanna reacted like a furious cat, baring her fangs and claws as she screamed but Kieran’s fist delivered a blow to Leanna’s abdomen; she went quiet right away.

Kieran then walked to Joey.

“Hey, 2567, the First Seat, remember me? I’m Joey, we met before during the entrance exam! I’ve been thinking about you since then! It’s really great to see you again today. Let’s go for a cup of coffee, shall we?”

After witnessing what had happened to Pegis and Leanna, Joey quickly changed her approach.

She held her chest up and looked at Kieran with puppy eyes—she was flaunting her feminine side but Kieran’s fist landed in her abdomen. Her puppy eyes were replaced by white eyes and she was twitching on the ground.

“No thank you.”

Kieran replied seriously as he watched the Fast Food fall on the ground.

He then looked at the other upper year students.

Everyone screamed in horror when Kieran’s gaze landed on them.

“We are just some observers!”

“Yeah, yeah! We are just observers, we are not representatives!”

...

Kieran frowned, looking at the pale Standler, who had just finished vomiting, for answers.

“Yes, they are just observers. Beating them will not result in any prizes,” Standler explained.

Kieran glanced over the upper year students with a pitiful gaze.

He then took out his communicator and dialed the number on his contact list.

“I don’t want to see you.”

Senile’s not-so-friendly voice came from the other side when the call got through.

“If I have a choice, I don’t want to see you either but we’ve been assaulted in the tutorial class...”

“Hang in there! I’ll be right there!”

Senile interrupted Kieran and hung up the communicator.

Three minutes later, Senile, Leonard, and a group of school security members appeared but when they saw what had happened on the field, everyone who came to support were stunned.

Even more so when the security members saw the 50 headless bodies, looking extremely ugly and the sourness of the vomit and blood assaulting their noses, their ugly faces looking even more twisted.

One of the school security member couldn’t hold it anymore and threw up; many more followed shortly after.

Senile and Leonard didn’t vomit though, despite looking extremely hideous.

“This is the assault that you are referring to?” Senile glared at Kieran.

“Isn’t it?” Kieran asked back.

“Why didn’t you say it properly?” Senile said loudly.

“You hung up on me first,” Kieran replied calmly.

“I really don’t want to see you in the next few days!”

A little pause later, Senile spoke his mind again.

Kieran didn’t answer, going over to Standler instead.

“I’ll leave all this to you,” said Keiran.

He then strode off of the field without a care.

Things were far from over.

The drivers of the modified buses were not around.

“Hope this won’t let me down,” Kieran muttered as he strode forward.

His figure soon disappeared from sight.

...

Professor Smith was leaning on a sofa, hugging his alcohol container and snoring. Beside his feet, the large canine, Bolt, was lying down as well.

However, when the slightest of movements entered the room, Bolt’s ears and body shot up, its eyes shining in vigilance.

The vigilance did not go away, even when the footsteps it heard were familiar ones.

“Smith, my place is not for you to sleep soundly. And this is my house Bolt! You and your master are just temporarily staying here! Don’t get the wrong idea!”

Principal Romuse of E Block walked into the room, raising a puzzled brow at Smith, who was sleeping on the sofa ,and reminding Bolt with a serious face.

Romuse knew Bolt understood their language but when he saw the vigilance in its eyes didn’t go away, he sighed helplessly.

He put his hand into the big sleeve of the coat and took out a big bone with meat.

Bolt quickly shook its tail.

The big bone was placed in front of Bolt. It happily picked up the bone with its mouth, munching on it a few times before swallowing the whole thing and yet it didn’t have the slightest intention of moving away from the spot—it raised its paw and displayed a ‘2’ sign.

“You are really a little rascal, just like your master! You’d move with one before this and now you want three?” Romuse grumbled.

However, when he saw Bolt wasn’t moving and Smith was still soundly asleep, Romuse compromised by taking two more big bones with meat for Bolt. When Bolt was chewing on the bones, Smith woke up.

“Smith, there is a limit to being a rascal in people’s house,” Romuse looked at Smith with an upset gaze.

“How are things?” Smith opened up his only eye and asked in a serious tone.

“You really think you can just simply slip away? I’ve sacrificed my research lab to lure out the disturbing parties in E Block!” Smith continued with a more serious tone.

“But isn’t this your...”

“I have no place to stay now!”

“I know! That is why I let you to stay in mine, but you...”

“My crops and plantations are all destroyed!”

“I’ll make it up to you, but...”

“I had countless good memories back there!”

“Fine, what are you trying to say?”

Romuse finally gave up and slammed the table.

“How are things?” Smith asked again.

“...”

Romuse shivered as if he was having a heart attack, his shaking hands pulling out a bottle from his sleeve, uncorking it and taking several pills from it before heaving a long breath.

“I swear this is the last time that I am working with you in this life!”

Romuse grumbled, but he did not take any detours anymore and told Smith what happened outside.

“A lot of people had their eyes on your research lab and some even tried to fish in muddy waters, but everything was messed up by the First Seat this year.”

“2567?”

“You seem to have quite the impression on him,” Romuse stated with interest.

“Yeah, I see a younger me in him.”

“Stop kidding.”

Romuse waved his hands at the bald, one-eyed, crippled Smith.

“Then, shall we bet on it?”

“Bet what?”

Romuse instantly got alarmed, since he had suffered more than once in such bets with Smith.

“Bet and see whether or not he will do what I did back then!” Smith laughed.

“What you did? Impossible! Just because you are a crazy man doesn’t mean others are!” Romuse shook his head firmly.

“So are we betting or not?” Smith laughed.

“What are we betting?”

After Smith whispered to him, Romuse hesitated before agreeing to the bet.

Both of them discussed and further perfected the plan before Romuse left.

Smith made sure Romuse had truly left before he threw an eye signal to his beloved Bolt.

The large canine stood up and vanished from the room.