The Devil’s Cage

The growls were unlike those of common hunting hounds and shocked the man who caught Amy.

When the man was about to turn around, a canine bigger than a calf jumped on him and pressed him to the ground.

It’s growls sounded more like a tiger or a lion than a hound. As a matter of fact, it was fiercer than a lion and tiger.

The moment the man was pressed to the ground, his neck was ripped away by a powerful chomp and his lifeless body was flung left and right like a ragdoll.

Amy was freed from the captive and when she got back on her feet, the man who tried to pull her back to the villa was left as a pile of meat.

It felt hard to breathe as she froze in front of the huge and weird looking dog with the bloody teeth.

She stood still until Kieran slowly walked out from the shadow.

“W-Why? Why are you here?” Amy was surprised by Kieran’s arrival.

“There’s something that concerns me,” Kieran replied.

“But weren’t you on the phone just now… That’s your brother?!”

Amy quickly reacted to the situation.

After she screamed for help, her phone was taken by the man and destroyed, she barely heard who was on the other side of the phone.

As for the unlucky bastard who got chomped to shreds?

He would never know whether it was Royan or Roye who answered the phone.

“You came here for Carrie? She didn’t hurt me! She didn’t hurt anyone! She’s just a… and them, I…”

Amy regained her senses, she quickly explained and when she mentioned Carrie, she tried to find an appropriate word to describe the ‘bad princess’ in the eyes of the public.

Too bad she couldn’t find any.

She instinctively changed the topic and switched her gaze to Tom and Jerry, the two guard dogs.

Tears rolled down her cheeks again.

Kieran squatted down and checked on them too.

The guard dogs had lost all signs of life, the lingering warmth on their body fading slowly.

The bloody Hound walked over to Kieran and whimpered sadly.

Although a Hound was a combination of alchemy and witchcraft and in some aspect it was no longer within the canine category, it never hated the canine which shared resemblance to themselves.

“Is there any possibility…”

“No,” Kieran shook his head.

His hand was tied in reviving the dead, it wasn’t possible for him even if he was in his prime form, let alone now, in this weakened state.

After listening to what Kieran said, Amy couldn’t hold back her tears anymore but she covered her mouth.

She weeped and tears kept falling on the two guard dogs.

More and more tears showered the two guard dogs, because other than Amy, Carrie was also weeping!

An illusory figure which had merged with Amy was also weeping for the deceased guard dogs.

Both of their tears merged into one!

When more and more tears drenched the guard dogs body, the bodies suddenly moved, or more accurately, two translucent dog souls jumped up from their body.

The two dog souls were a little confused but when they saw Amy and Carrie, in her special state, they ran over happily. They jumped and hopped, their tails wagging like a windmill.

The dog souls didn’t go to the ‘faraway land’ though, neither did they disintegrate, instead they started to materialize at an exponential speed.

If it wasn’t for the bodies on the ground, Amy would assume the dogs were still alive and nothing had happened to them.

“W-What is this?!”

Having mixed feelings, Amy looked at Kieran with teary red eyes, asking for an answer.

“I don’t know. Maybe you should ask her,” Kieran replied honestly and then looked at the other figure, which almost merged with Amy.

Due to the time spent in this world, Kieran had limited understanding of the mystical system of this world. He was just scratching the surface, but he was still able to tell the good from the bad, like Amy and Carrie becoming one.

Carrie’s soul bore no ill intentions, it kept Amy inside and protected her, and Kieran could sense the intention perfectly.

“Carrie?! You’re fine?! You escaped?!”

With Kieran’s reminder, Amy finally noticed the new difference with her body in surprise.

“Em. Hello Amy,” Carrie spoke.

Only Amy could hear her words.

“Can I have a few words with this mister here? I’ll have to borrow your body, is that okay? I won’t do anything to your body,” Carrie said.

“Sure,” Amy who knew everything about Carrie agreed without a second thought.

At the next moment, Amy and Carrie truly became one.

“Hello,” Carrie greeted Kieran.

“Hey,” Out of manners, Kieran replied but he did not ask questions, he waited patiently for Carrie’s explanation.

“I’m dead and due to some special conditions, Amy and I have become one. In order for me to truly leave this place, I’ll need my doll—it’s a present from my mother and it holds my memories. I want to ask for your help to retrieve my doll. I won’t ask you to do it for free though, I have some savings and collections that only I know of. It’s not much, but also a considerable amount and if you help me retrieve the doll, they will be yours,” Carrie explained.

“Sure,” Kieran agreed without hesitation because even without Carrie’s request, he would run this place down by himself.

It was not because of curiosity, it was to prove a certain guess in his heart.

“Thank you. Amy and I will wait for you in a safe place in the meantime. This is what I know about the villa.”

Carrie briefly explained the structure of the villa and then vanished.

Amy regained control of her body again.

“I’ll go back to the restaurant first.”

It seemed like when Amy was placed in an observer seat, she was able to see and hear the conversation between Carrie and Kieran. She knew everything and also knew where the safest place was.

Given how nervous this man was about his little brother, since he was able to come here by himself, there must be an impenetrable defense line set up around the restaurant.

Kieran didn’t stop her, he saw Amy and the two guard dogs off before he went into the villa.

He chose to go in through the side door though, not jumping in through the window.

The reason why he snuck to the second floor, not through the window but the door, was because the villa was equipped with a very advanced security system. Although it was a piece of cake for Kieran, it was better safe than sorry.

Other than the surveillance camera, according to what Carrie told him earlier, each window of the villa was equipped with two infrared sensors that formed a cross—not even a cat could sneak in unnoticed.

Kieran managed to sneak past two batches of security guards and got spared from Amy’s lousy experience, arriving in the villa without any hindrance.

Standing in the shadow of the hall, Kieran saw Richard Mayden, but he was much more concerned about the person opposite the owner of the villa.

All the guests had left, leaving Richard Mayden alone with the man opposite him.

The man was in his early 40s, had a trimmed beard, and slightly whitish hair; he wore a decent looking black suit with a gray wind coat over his arm.

His eyes were looking sharp, the keen gaze on par with an eagle seeking for prey.

Kieran didn’t look the man in the eyes because his experience told him so.

He glanced over the man with the corner of his eyes before he went back into the shadow.

The conversation between Richard Mayden and the man continued though.

“I got the big picture now. I’m sorry about Carrie, leave the rest to me, I’ll give you a satisfying answer.”

The man’s voice was firm and steady, sounding very reliable and convincing.

“I don’t need an answer! I want that guy dead! AND! The reason I funded the Herders every single year is for you people to protect me and my family but you’ve failed to deliver the promise! Aison Den, you better give me a reason to continue funding you people, or else…” Richard Mayden said coldly.

“The reason will arrive soon. I’m sorry once again.”

The Herder named Aison Den then stood up and walked out.

After the man left, Richard Mayden sat down in deep thoughts.

Some time later, the millionaire stood up and slowly walked to the second floor.

He did not return to his room, but to Carrie’s room.

Kieran was certain because Carrie told him about the structure before.

However, the moment Richard Mayden entered his daughter’s room, the calmness on his face went off and it started to twitch in an unknown anger.

“Do you really think you can escape by death! Too naive, girl! There is nothing in this world money can’t solve!”

Richard Mayden then walked to the cabinet beside the bed as he grumbled.

On top of the cabinet was a broken doll that did not seem fit in the room.

He grabbed the broken doll and looked menacing.

“I guess you are better dead! At least I can worry less now and we can play something that we couldn’t before! Don’t worry, you seem to have found a nice vessel! Mark my words, I will find her! Your soul and body is mine and it will never change!”

Richard Mayden wanted to bring the broken doll out of the room but just when he turned around, intense pain struck his neck and he blacked out.

Kieran had no intentions in holding him, allowing the man to fall on the floor before he took the broken doll into his hands.

[Name: Carrie’s Doll]

[Type: ETC]

[Rarity: Rare]

[Attack: None]

[Defense: Strong]

[Attribute: 1. Locate; 2. Tame]

[Effect: None]

[Prerequisite: None]

[Able to bring out of dungeon: No]

[Remarl: This is the doll was given to Carrie by her mother when she was young. It has been with her since she was a baby and after Richard Mayden discovered it, he hired someone to do something to the doll.]

…

[Locate: The user of the doll can locate Carrie’s location, dead or alive.]

[Tame: Carrie has owned this doll for a long time, so her soul has been through a certain rearing process, she became different.]

…

“Just as I suspected!”

Kieran squinted his eyes at the description of the doll.

If it wasn’t for this doll, even if Carrie died in a ‘very coincidentally and timely manner’, she would not have been able to acquire such unusual strength in a short time.

She couldn’t even use those illusions on Amy, let alone possess her.

Surely, the ‘coincidentally and timely manner’ was also Richard Mayden’s meticulous arrangement.

He knew what his little daughter wanted to do, including his female butler’s contact with that mystical individual.

Though he let them happen, he allowed the female butler cause the accident and indirectly ‘created’ his little daughter’s death.

As for why?

To distract the Herders’ attention!

Kieran couldn’t think of anything else other than this!

In fact, when Bain mentioned something happening in the South Sector, Kieran already had some guesses in his mind.

He came all the way here to verify his guesses, not to purposely save Amy, and now with Richard Mayden in the mix, his guesses had been further solidified.

Why would he want to distract the Herders?

The North Sector!

Something concerning had happened in the North Sector tonight, the Herders had sent a lot of men there, and it seemed like Richard Mayden wanted the Herders to not find out the secret there.

In short, Richard Mayden was the person who funded the Herders, and not just the Herders alone, he should be the person behind the Witchcraft practitioners as well!

It was all that impossible for the likes of Richard Mayden.

Even a commoner knew not to place all his eggs in a single basket, let alone Richard Mayden, who expanded his business all over Ai City.

In fact, Kieran guessed that Richard Mayden was a supporter of the Witchcraft Sect before the Herders. He then cut all ties with the practitioners and waited for this kind of critical moment to effectively distract the Herders.

The doll in Carrie’s room was the best proof, it was probably a mastercraft from the Witchcraft Sect.

Should the Herders discover the doll, it was easy for Richard Mayden to come up with some excuses, as long as he played it carefully and staged a play with the witchcraft practitioners. He could use the chance to magnify his love for his little daughter, despite the disgusting, unusual hobby.

Kieran wouldn’t care about all these though, before all the connections were made clear, he was more concerned about the North Sector.

It seemed like the North Sector of Ai City played a more important part in all this than he initially expected.

However, Kieran didn’t rush himself from the South to the North right away, because he had already sent Bloody Mary the Superior Demon to the North as his ‘eyes’ before he came to the South.

He trusted Bloody Mary, or rather, other than himself, he trusted Bloody Mary the most.

Therefore, he was not in a rush to leave, the incident at hand hasn’t been solved after all.

He grabbed the unconscious Richard Mayden and headed to the highest floor of the villa.

The floor had a balcony, which was used for afternoon tea during normal times.

Looking down at the city from the balcony, even though it was late night in late autumn, it had quite the view. Kieran could very well imagine how beautiful the view might be during spring or summer.

Too bad the commoners couldn’t see such views and those who couldn’t appreciate it.

The unconscious Richard Mayden in his hand had too many weird fetishes.

Given Kieran’s personality, he wouldn’t care at all but when this weird bastard wanted to carry out his fetishes, hence creating this broken doll, it would be a different story.

Carrie and Amy had become one, and they were heading to the restaurant.

Starbeck was at the restaurant.

If this weird bastard wanted to bring Amy, with Carrie inside her, back to himself, he would pull some tricks.

Kieran wasn’t really worried about these tricks though, he was confident to deal with Richard Mayden’s little tricks but he didn’t want to put Starbeck in harm’s way.

Therefore…

Kieran held Richard Mayden over the balcony, and he released his hand.

Richard Mayden fell all the way down to the ground with his face down.

Bang!

Brains splattered.

Kieran glanced over the body from the balcony and then disappeared.