The Devil’s Cage

Victor arrived back at the surface with You leading the way.

They came out 10 km away from Roze Farm and were very close to Ai City.

“One of the lord’s subordinates is around here. They had this entrance to the city watched at all times,” You said and then floated to the wood beside the entrance.

Victor followed right away, and soon, he saw another ghost hiding in the shadow of the trees.

He sized this new ghost carefully. Unlike You, this ghost was much more gloomier and shallower, it even felt a little dull, as if it was a puppet on strings.

“Sir emissary, I request a meeting with Lord Dark Dominator,” You said respectfully.

Victor also bowed slightly.

He did not feel anything unusual about this emissary. It was like any other normal spiritual beings but since it was chosen as the emissary for the Dark Dominator, it must have something stellar under its belt.

The reason why Victor couldn’t spot the difference was because of his own strength, he was too weak.

The ghost stood there without budging, as if it did not see them both.

No?

You sighed deeply. It wasn’t the first time she contacted these seemingly normal ghosts, but she would be astonished by their loyalty every single time.

Nothing could change their loyalty towards their master, not even death.

Of course, should anyone cause the death of these loyal ghost servants, that Lord Dark Dominator would surely take revenge.

Although You had no idea what it would be, she had no intentions of finding out.

Therefore, You chose a better and more appropriate approach: she took the shard of [Philosopher’s Stone] out.

When the rainbow glow came from the shard, the static ghost servant moved, or more accurately, it came alive.

“This is what my master seeked, you can enter and meet the great lord!”

The ghost servant spoke in a gloomy way and then led the two of them away.

Victor looked at the back of the ghost servant in shock.

Common ghosts or spiritual beings didn’t have the ability to communicate. In fact, not only common ghosts, even evil spirits and demons could hardly do so.

It was like You, the ghost lady beside him. Victor deemed her as a very special existence and he never thought he would meet another so soon.

‘I knew it!’

The ghosts that were selected as the Dark Dominator’s servant were something else!

Unknowingly, Victor had an extra sense of anticipation towards the Dark Dominator.

On the other hand, the ‘ghost servant’ who led the way took a deep breath.

‘THANK GOD I REACTED IN TIME! Otherwise I might have blown it!’

It was actually Bloody Mary in disguise and it muttered anxiously in its heart.

A while back, when Bloody Mary coincidentally met You, the special lady ghost, its sole purpose was to pull her under its wing, hence the made up ‘Dark Dominator’ story and other kinds of bluffs. So in order to make You buy its story, Bloody Mary used its quick wits to fabricate all kinds of arrangements.

However, never did it think this special lady ghost had something to do with Victor, and the more surprising thing was she had a piece of a shard from [Philosopher’s Stone]!

Everything was unexpected for Bloody Mary!

If it wasn’t for its habitual arrangements of placing its watchers around the city, the cover would have been blown by now.

BUT!

Since its first step wasn’t seen through, Bloody Mary regained the confidence to pull this through, because it wasn’t fighting alone, it still had its boss!

Using the power of the contract, Bloody Mary contacted its boss.

Kieran, who was training underground, stopped right away after he heard the shocking news.

“What did you say?” Kieran asked.

The power of the contract was slightly disturbed in this Unique Dungeon, hence Kieran couldn’t keep an eye on Bloody Mary at all times.

He knew Bloody Mary was roaming free and improvising but not to this bizarre extent.

Dominator?

Those who could live up to the title Dominator should be at least rank V or above.

“Weren’t you afraid that some Dominator in this world would discover your little trick and kill you?”

Kieran asked while he wiped his sweat.

“In my humble opinion, you, my boss, are far superior than those Dominators! And since you are here with me, I believe no matter what comes before you, they are here to deliver kills and give you loot!” Bloody Mary said with utmost flattery.

“Maybe, but I bet if that really happens, not even your ashes will be left,” Kieran said.

“Boss, what I do is for you and for you only! You know me, I have to make this move so that I can gather more men under your wing! And now, we are rewarded with an expected surprise! The good news is, it’s not a real Dominator,” Bloody Mary smiled.

“Don’t worry, if a real Dominator shows up, I will use the boxes that I store my loot in to make you a coffin. I’ll write ‘to my loyal yet stupid servant’,” Kieran’s calmness in his voice never changed.

“That’s something we will have to worry about later, what should we do now?” Bloody Mary asked.

“Bring them to your base, I’ll be there as soon as possible,” Kieran said before he headed upstairs.

O had left but Du was dutiful enough to stand guard in front of the treasure vault’s entrance.

“My lord,” Du bowed when it saw Kieran.

Kieran nodded and walked up, he had no intentions of revealing Du to the public eyes anytime in the near future.

Although he deemed himself secretive enough, he’d never underestimate people.

He couldn’t guarantee that others would figure out something based on Du’s natural talents and it had quite the possibility!

Du was in the monster camp before! Du itself was the lure in the camp!

Therefore, before Kieran settled everything, putting Du underground was the best option, like the Hounds he placed on guards around the restaurant.

After Kieran came back to the surface, the Elite Hound wagged its tail and pushed its head against Kieran’s knee.

“Good boy, stay here,” Kieran squatted down as he caressed the Elite Hound, making the giant dog wag its tail faster.

When Kieran stood back up, Elite Hound went back to Starbeck.

“I’m heading out for a while,” Kieran said.

“Mm. Hurry back,” Starbeck reminded Kieran.

One never explained, one never asked.

Their trust for each other granted them a deep tacit understanding for one another.

Kieran smiled at Starbeck before he went out.

At the door, the minotaur and horseman came out from the shadows.

“Boss,” the two of them greeted Kieran.

“Let’s go, time to work for a living,” Kieran said.

“No problem boss!”

The monster duo nodded repeatedly and followed Kieran into the streets.

…

Victor and You followed Bloody Mary around in circles.

Victor sharply noticed they were going nowhere but he didn’t say anything.

He thought it was normal of Bloody Mary. Should the Superior Demon bring them straight to the destination right after they showed up, it would feel more like a trap.

He didn’t know why he would think that way but he felt it was the right thing.

‘Are my past memories affecting me?’

Victor spoke to himself.

Promptly, he sighed.

His lost memories were affecting his thoughts and actions but not a single piece of the puzzle was in his head.

It was more difficult for Victor to accept it than others. It was like a voice telling him what to do but didn’t tell him why.

The feeling sucked!

Though soon enough, the little trivial emotions went away because Victor was captivated by what he saw.

Ghosts!

Countless ghosts!

A sea of ghosts appeared in Victor’s sight!

Victor had seen a lot of ghosts before but he had never expected so many to appear at once right in front of him.

How many were there?

Victor gazed upon the layers and waves of souls overlapping each other, his head feeling numb but the more astonishing thing was just happening.