The Devil’s Cage - Chapter 182

Chapter 182

Bang!

Kieran pulled the trigger at the monster . The bullet flew right through the gelatinous door and aimed at the spot between the monster’s eyebrows .

As the bullet crashed into the monster, sparks were ignited and the monster’s head was tilted backwards from the force before returning to its original position without a scratch . The monster growled again .

[Shooting: Lethal Attack, Inflicts 100 Damage to Target HP (50 Firearm Weapon, Light Firearm (Musou) X2; Bullets of Blessing: Extra 100 Damage to Negative Energy Being, Authentication failed, Lethal Attack revoked, Target has Immunity to Lethal Damage, High Dead-Man’s Skin, and High Iron Armor, Resisted 200 Damage, 0 True Damage inflicted…]

. . .

"It’s useless?"

Kieran went through the notification quickly before taking another look at the monster .

Then he reached for the last [Holy Water VIII] on his pack and turned his back to the monster .

If it could resist the effect of the [Bullets of Blessing], Kieran was not sure whether [Holy Water VIII] could inflict any damage to it . Even if it did, one tube of [Holy Water VIII] might not inflict enough damage to kill it .

Kieran made his choice . Rather than risking it, he chose to save the tube for a more difficult time .

He regretted it immensely . If he really was able to kill the monster, the rewards would be luxurious .

Considering he had no way to inflict damage to it though, he would rather explore the cave and search for a way out than stay where he was .

Kieran had no intention of getting trapped underground, as that would mean failing the Main Mission .

He had escaped death multiple times since he had entered this dungeon, and he did not want his life to end in a dark underground passage .

Kieran carefully inspected his surroundings .

The dim light source allowed him to see that the passage before him was a straight, 5-meter wide, 30-centimeter tall flight of stairs leading up ahead . The walls on both sides were firm and flat .

From where Kieran was standing, the darkness did not let him see the end of the stairs . He had no other options though .

After making sure the stairs would not collapse or activate any traps, he carefully ventured forward and up the stairs .

The process was slow, as Kieran was scared of falling into a hidden booby trap . He had to check every flight of stairs carefully .

Even though he had some theories about his current location, and there had to be no traps around, that did not stop him from being careful .

After almost an hour, Kieran reached the top of the stairs .

A sudden light flashed before him .

Two blue flaming skulls had appeared before Kieran . Deep in their eye sockets, blue flames were burning brightly, forming a faint whirlpool-like mirage that seemed like it was trying to suck the souls of the living . The open jaws below revealed extruding teeth that seemed to be letting out a dying howl .

"Evil spirits?"

Kieran instinctively reached for his gun and clenched the handle hard, but he released it after a moment .

Under the blue light of the fire, he saw what the blue flaming skulls really were .

Below the skulls were two big femurs and cervical bones that supported them .

The blue flames did not originate from the skulls themselves . but from an oil-like liquid within them .

Inside the skulls were two small containers that held the oil .

Kieran saw everything clearly as he lifted his dagger over the skulls .

"Is this a lighting brazier?" Kieran said after circling the eerie stand .

Although it looked crazy and absurd, Kieran could not come up with any other explanation .

What concerned him more was how the brazier had been lit if he had not triggered any trap or switch .

Kieran glared intensely at the weird-looking brazier, but got no further answers . He started to inspect his surroundings again .

Although the area was not properly lighted, it was not pitch-black either .

He found himself on an average-sized platform . In front of it were the endless stairs leading up, and behind him was the place he had come from .

The blue light that shone on the rock made the ground and wall reflect an even deeper lustrous glint that revealed a half-open door .

A weird part of the wall was sticking out on Kieran’s left side . It was only a finger high .

Kieran could feel some kind of breeze from the other side of the odd-looking spot . He was intrigued by the space behind it .

After he checked his surroundings carefully, he pressed the switch with his finger .

A clear clicking sound was heard, and the whole wall started to turn in the direction that Kieran was pushing .

When the wall stopped turning, a huge room revealed itself to Kieran .

The room was divided into two by a pathway, and both sides of the room were decorated .

The left side was filled with flasks, beakers, and other unknown instruments used for experiments . They had been placed there neatly and arranged nicely .

The right side was a messy bookshelf almost the height of two fully-grown men . Beneath the bookshelf was a desk . There were books all over the place, forming a small pile .

Thanks to the light coming from outside, Kieran could clearly see the two mummies buried under the pile of books .

After noticing them, Kieran instinctively activated his [Tracking] to look for clues . Meanwhile, he paid close attention to his [Knitted Talisman], looking for any signs of the paranormal .

Everything seemed to be fine though . The mummies were not related to spirits or spectres .

To make sure they were really okay, Kieran observed them carefully .

The fact that there were corpses in such a place proved the value of Kieran’s investigation . He didn’t need his intuition to guide him .

Kieran moved the old books away from the corpses, careful not to damage them .

A slight glimpse at the book’s runes and symbols was enough for Kieran to know that they were very valuable .

They were almost as valuable as the books back in Nikorei’s study .

Kieran made the comparison based on his experience in reading books on Mystical Knowledge .

The less he could understand, the more valuable the books were .

Although this was no proof whatsoever, considering he only possessed a Master Level [Mystical Knowledge], it was all he could do .

"Huh?"

Kieran was surprised when he moved the books away from the mummies and saw who it was .