The Devil's Cage

The surprising cry attracted everyone’s attention instantly.

If it was from some normal player, it might be nothing but the one who cried out in surprise was the leader of the Guardians, Ling!

The heir of the legendary Witch, whose power level and strength was at the pinnacle of the big city!

“Nothing is impossible. You think you are so strong and powerful, but when you are in front of another powerful force… you are too insignificant to even mention,” Broker said with a laugh.

His laugh was filled with contempt.

Broker then pointed at the surroundings and said word by word, “Absolute safe room? What a joke, it’s nothing but a cage! Outside this small little cage, there’s a bigger cage and these cages exist to only shackle down our freedom, and layer by layer, we will eventually become… slaves!”

His words were loud. Broker then glanced over the Guardians’ members, the two Supervisors and all eight magistrates, his eyes showing a sense of ridicule once more.

“Do you all want to know the truth about the Guardians? Do you?”

“SHUT UP!” Ling stopped Broker after he regained his senses from the shocking scene.

The leader of the Guardians had brazen killing intents overflowing from his eyes. He said with a cold chuckle, “You are playing with your tricks again. Do you think we will listen to you? You traitor! You betrayed the lord!”

Ling then raised his hand and swung down powerfully.

All eight of the magistrates dashed towards Broker at once.

“Repent for your sins in the afterlife,” said Ling.

Ling was very confident in his eight magistrates.

Even though Broker brought several hundred men over, they were mostly veteran players, the high-rankers were less than one tenth of the number.

The eight magistrates were the elite of the elites among the high-rankers, they could easily kill the normal high-rankers in a matter of seconds.

Chang!

The Magistrate of Sword, Lee, drew his sword first, the aura of his keen sword extending for ten meters!

Fuuung!

Amid buzzing that shook even the air, a spear with a sharp glare pierced space itself and went straight for Broker.

Sou Sou Sou Sou!

An air-breaking whistle sounded, several hundreds of arrows raining down from above, sealing any possible retreat for Broker.

Fuua!

Fire burned from the air and a powerful wind blew.

The wind catalyzed the fire and the fire borrowed the might of the wind.

A cone-shaped, fiery cyclone spiraled towards Broker with blistering speed.

Broker couldn’t dodge at all. Not only did the land beneath his feet suddenly sink, the hole that caught his feet had a layer of frozen solid ice that sealed his movements, binding him down on the spot.

Front and back, left and right, top and bottom, all the attacks were going after Broker in every possible angle, there was no way for him to escape.

More importantly, the seemingly simple attacks didn’t just compliment each other very well, the power of the attacks were more than met the eye.

“Protect the lord!” several members of the Resistance shouted loudly. Advanced Rank items on him shone and force field barriers appeared in front of Broker, in hopes of shielding him from harm, but…

Puk, puk, puk!

As if the barriers were made out of paper, right after the keen sword aura came in contact with the barrier, the barrier was torn into shreds, followed by the barrier’s owners, they were also cut into pieces. There wasn’t any bit of resistance at all, the keen sword aura was a hot knife cutting butter.

The only good that came out of this clash was that when the keen sword aura cut them, its near rank IV’s power exploded on the spot.

The Magistrate of Sword was a powerhouse nearing rank IV.

As for the other seven magistrates shared the same status and position, they were also powerhouses of the same level.

The thought of facing eight powerhouses of nearing rank IV sent the normal members of the Resistance into heart-pounding fear.

They knew what kind of organization the Guardians were, but knowing and truly experiencing themselves were two very different concepts.

Even those elite core members of the Resistance shared the same fear, only Broker maintained his countenance.

He didn’t even stop talking, as if the incoming attacks were nothing.

“What’s wrong now? Trying to kill the witness? It’s so you, Ling.” Broker exclaimed.

At that very moment, the spear of the Magistrate of Spear had overtaken the keen sword aura, the tip of the spear inches away from piercing Broker’s throat.

The minimal distance seemed fatal, the Magistrate of Spear, Elder, showing a trace of delight in his eyes.

Of course he didn’t think he could kill the infamous Broker, but as long as he could hurt the man, he’d be happy about that. Even landing a scratch would be good enough!

It was notable that his spear was a special one: as long as his spear could cut Broker, even if it was a tiny cut, a continuous Bleeding status will be inflicted.

Elder believed even THE Broker would be unable to dodge such an attack.

Until then, the victory of this battle would lean towards the Guardians’ side!

With that thought in mind, the Magistrate of Spear thrust his spear quickly, but a split second before the tip of his spear touched Broker’s throat, the spear… deviated?!

There were no external forces that disrupted the thrust, it was as if Elder was aiming to miss from the beginning. He was stunned.

Then, he realized in shock that not only had his attack deviated from the target, his seven colleagues also missed their attacks unknowingly, even the sinking ground and the frozen ice that caught Broker’s feet suddenly missed him entirely.

All eight magistrates looked at the spot where their attacks were deviated to.

A hooded player was standing in that spot without anyone knowing. He stood there quietly but those who saw him felt like they were looking at a monolith.

In fact, the hooded player was much sturdier than a monolith, because neither the keen sword aura, the spear, nor the fire and ice could harm him. Their attacks didn’t even wrinkle the mantle!

‘WHO IS THAT?!’

The thought rose in everyone’s mind instantly and then they saw an unbelievable scene unfolding before their eyes.

A sword aura! Similar to the one that the Magistrate of Sword unleashed, it appeared from the hooded player and was fired at Lee.

The Magistrate of Spear, Elder, was attacked by a lighting barrage, forcing him to retreat.

The raining arrows seemed to have a mind of their own as they flew back with the fiery cyclone.

A giant shield appeared in the nick of time. The shield, made out of composite iron, blocked all the bounced back arrows and the fiery cyclone.

Ding Ding Ding Ding!

Amid the clinks of the arrow hitting the shield, the Magistrate of Shield, Hark, didn’t even budge, but when the fiery cyclone crashed on to his shield, he was blasted away.

It wasn’t just the fiery cyclone that was bounced back, there was something extra mixed into it when it came back.

Dang!

The iron shield fell on the ground.

Those with sharper eyes noticed a crack in the powerful shield.

At the same time, the players who were very familiar with the urban myth of the big city thought of a single person.

The Enlightenment King, Acala!

One of the strongest Supernovas, second only to the Witch!

The man was known for his outstanding feat of going up against thousands of magical species’ army alone and emerging unscathed and victorious.

“Mirror Reflection! It’s the Mirror Reflection! He is the Enlightenment King, Acala!”

Amid the revelation cries, the hooded player removed the hood and the mantle, revealing his ascetic monk attire.

“Acala! You’ve sided with Broker now?” Ling’s voice was heavy as he bellowed.

Among the list of enemies that Ling didn’t want to face, other than Broker, the Enlightenment King Acala would certainly be on the top of that list.

He never would have thought Broker would be able to persuade the Enlightenment King Acala to team up with him.

“I didn’t side with him. I’m just returning the favour,” Acala said peacefully.

Right after he revealed his motive, several figures appeared beside Acala, the most eye-catching one being the Swordsmith Alisritter.

As one of the best, if not the best, smithers in the big city, Alisritter’s name was certainly widely known among the veterans and high-rankers, like a thunderous clap to the ear.

Yet none of them expected Alisritter to stand by Broker too.

“Don’t look at me like this. I’m also just returning the favour,” Alisritter clarified.

Truth be told, Alisritter had no intention of standing by Broker, who he deemed an utterly unreliable bastard. He was afraid that the cunning merchant would sell him out in a heartbeat, but what could he do? He was the one who owed Broker a favour, the same went for the others around Alisritter.

Their eyes showed helplessness, but they were forced to come forth.

After all, it was the power of the contract binding them to their promises.

Broker would never deal in a losing business.

“Do you think your victory is secure?” Ling said, then looked at his other two Supervisors.

Rynester was as warm as ever but Yu was looking ferocious.

After a glance from Ling, the two of them stepped up.

“I’m sorry. I don’t want to fight any of you but I have to,” Rynester said in an apologetic way, his body engorging like a balloon.

Blue scales appeared on his skin and wings bulged out from his scapulas. His warm-looking eyes instantly turned ruthless and cruel, his pupils constricted into a thin line. Robust hind legs grew and crushed the floor behind him.

Kak, ka, ka!

Amid the cracking noise of the floor, the figure grew bigger and bigger. The players were looking at the growing figure in utter horror and when a pair of horns appeared on his head, the players faltered away in fear.

“D-D-Dragon! Elder Dragon!”

A 200 feet blue elder dragon appeared where Rynester was standing.

Roar!

As he lifted his head up, dragon Rynester roared fiercely. Blue electrical bolts were charging in his mouth as he was ready to unleash his dragon breath.

Everyone opposite him saw the bolts in the dragon’s mouth, and one after another, anxiety and nervousness struck hard.

An elder dragon was not something to be trifled with, especially a mature blue dragon!

Just feel the draconic might! Every single one of them might be electrocuted into ashes by the electrifying breath.

The thought ran wild in everyone’s mind, unconsciously moving towards the Enlightenment King Acala.

“Ha!” The scene caused Ling to sneer heavily.

Then—

A fierce downpour of dragon breath drowned Ling whole.

Immense pain! Numbness!

Ling was utterly shocked. Rynester betrayed him?

The immense pain told Ling that it would be best for him to avoid the dragon breath. He tried but before he could, a long chain tied his hands and legs, binding him on the spot.

Yu also betrayed him! Ling was further stupefied.

He couldn’t imagine why his right and left hand men had betrayed him.

The black chain on his hands and legs came with a Spirit blast, robbing Ling of the ability to resist, causing him to fall to the ground.

A while later, the dragon breath stopped.

Heavily damaged, Ling looked up to Rynester and Ling.

“W-Why?” Ling asked.

“I’m sorry, I don’t want to become a prisoner,” Dragon Rynester lowered his head in guilt.

“Hand over the leaving key! I don’t want to be here for another minute longer.”

Yu was much more straightforward. Since they had a fallout with Ling, courtesy was no longer needed.

The conversation ended quickly and it wasn’t loud at all, but those who heard the conversation were speculating.

No one present was a newbie, neither were they an idiot.

They were familiar with the big city and knew what was happening, a burning passion rising from their hearts in that very moment!

‘Key? The leaving key? The key that can let us leave the big city?’

The gazes of the players changed instantly.

Both the Resistance and the Guardians looked at Ling in a strange way.

Ling felt the strangeness despite his body being badly damaged. He gave his best effort to stand up and look down on everyone.

Everyone else looked away or lowered their heads at Ling’s gaze, not daring to look him in the eye but some were unswerving enough and among the stronger ones was Broker.

He wasn’t just unswerving, he even showed a sense of anticipation in his eyes.

“You really are a bastard! You pulled everyone into your little game of chess just for your own sake?” Ling said to Broker in a heavy tone.

He then looked back at the other players and said loudly, “What’s wrong with being alive? Even if we have to grovel and bow, at least we are still alive!”

His words made the players look at each other in doubt. They didn’t know why Ling would say such a thing but before they could think about it, Broker retorted loudly.

“If living like this is considered living, you are nothing but a walking body. Mr. Guardian, or should I call you… Mr. Gatekeeper? You can open the door now.”

Broker even bowed and gestured an invitation to Ling.

Ling looked at Broker.

He then looked up to the sun and moon in the sky of the big city.

“Using an inconceivable existence to break the inconceivable defense, my lord will surely sense the changes. I don’t need to open the door, my lord will be back. Didn’t you all realize the eagle on my shoulder is long gone?”

It wasn’t until Ling revealed it that the players realized the eagle was missing.

Broker, on the other hand, sighed with regret.

His sigh seemed to have invoked misunderstanding in Ling.

“What now? Is that regret?” Ling chuckled coldly.

“No, no, no! Why would I regret the things that I’ve done? I just felt a little pitiful for letting go of a precious ingredient.Otherwise, I’d apologize with even more sincerity,” Broker waved his hands and said with joy.

“Ingredient? Ridiculous! Still playing your little tricks on the verge of death?” Ling sneered.

He thought it was Broker’s plan to fool him again.

He then knelt on the floor. He sensed it, he sensed that the lord was… coming back!

A while later, everyone sensed it too because it was too irritating to the ears.

Gassssssssssstk!

The irritating screech filled the entire big city.

Everyone then looked up at the sky.

They saw the sky was spinning and then the sky was moving further away from them, as if they were inside a jar and its lid was being twisted open.

When the lid was covered, the big city was a place of it’s own but when the lid was opened, the land was open too.

It was opened by its owner and the land had to face its owner, including the lives that lived on the land.

Everyone’s heart skipped a beat.

What did they see after the sky was twisted away?

An eye! A blinking eye! As if the eye was peeking through the mouth!