The Devil's Cage
chapter-290

The [Fantos Manuscript] was undoubtedly very powerful.

However, such power came with a huge downside. Its cost was just too high!

Signing a contract with a demon required Points, Skill Points, Golden Skill Points, or Golden Attribute Points. The same went for summoning the contracted demon. Although summoning the demon would only require 1/4 of the contract cost, it was still a heavy burden for any player.

Another important factor was that demons were easily restrained by holy water and similar items with holy attributes. Such items were not just damaging, but also lethal to demons.

If [Holy Water VIII] was like acid splashed onto a demon, what about higher-quality holy water? Perhaps one tube of high-quality holy water would be enough to vanquish any demon.

Based on Kieran's predictions, even if a higher-tier demon was facing off against the best quality holy water, they wouldn't last long. It was a matter of time before they would be turned into ashes.

Any qualified veteran player would always carry such items on them.

As for facing natives, if Kieran was able to deal with them by himself, he wouldn't need the help of a demon. If he could not deal with someone, then a demon would also be of little help.

Even though the [Fantos Manuscript] had a lot of weaknesses, Kieran kept it anyway.

He knew perfectly well that no one could guarantee what he would come across in the future. More methods to defend himself meant more insurance.

Plus, that particular method was very powerful from a certain perspective, so Kieran would never give it up. He didn't even mind testing out the cost of signing a contract with a demon.

According to the description, different demons would have different costs.

Kieran glanced over the demon vessels bowing before him. He believed those demons were the more affordable kind.

However, when that strange growling sound was heard again, the whole ferry started to tremble.

A crack formed on the remaining wall of the captain's cabin, revealing a hidden stairway leading down to the lower deck.

"Come! Come forth!"

A slightly old voice, that Kieran was unable to tell whether it was a man's or a woman's, was heard from beneath the stairs. It lingered in Kieran's ears.

He did not feel anything when he heard it, but the demon vessels around him started to become frenzied.

Some of them lost it completely and started knocking their heads hard against the floor, crashing their skulls and spilling their brains all over the deck. Some of them were twitching non-stop, biting the main arteries on their wrists and letting their blood gush out like a fountain.

Other than the word 'frenzy', Kieran could not think of any other suitable word to describe their actions.

"What the…"

Kieran scanned his battlelog, but saw nothing unusual. However, the scene before him was telling him that something must have happened. Something that he could not understand.

"Is this something only effective against demons?" Kieran guessed.

However, Louver made Kieran question his theory. Louver was one of the vessels of the raised demons, yet he was not acting like the others.

"Maybe Louver is one of a kind?"

As soon as that thought bloomed in Kieran's mind, he unconsciously used [Demon Contract] on Louver.

The notification that followed shocked Kieran.

[Demon Contract used, Demon is Special, Faction unknown, Attitude friendly, Condition great, Calculating cost…]

[Cost Required: 2 Golden Attribute Points]

[Insufficient Golden Attribute Points!]

[Contract Unable to be completed!]

"Two Golden Attribute Points?"

When Kieran saw the required cost, he felt like his own flesh was being cut out.

Although he had expected that the required cost would not be a small amount, when he saw it with his own eyes, his jaw dropped.

"Is it because he is Special?"

Kieran unconsciously glanced at Louver.

Louver was dull and lifeless, allowing Kieran to inspect him all he wanted. He did not reply or avoid Kieran's gaze. If it wasn't for the long sword in his hand and his killing aura, one might have thought that he'd had a mental breakdown.

"Come! Come forth!"

The unisex voice that sounded slightly old came from a pitch black hole beneath the stairs once more.

The darkness around the hole was obviously of a supernatural origin. Despite his exceptional sight, Kieran could not see what was inside. His [Tracking] was also activated, but all Kieran could see was a blur. He could barely make out some shadows and shapes inside. That was the best he could do.

Other than Louver, all the other demon vessels had died when that voice had been heard. Their blood had flowed out of their bodies and turned into a small stream on the uneven deck. The blood stream slowly flowed into the black hole.

Suddenly, Kieran heard some sucking sounds from the inside of the hole. It sounded like something was sucking at an almost empty can of juice using a straw. Kieran frowned. His mind had already painted a picture of a vicious monster drinking the fresh blood of a victim.

What came to him right after that image was the auction list, or more precisely, the other items that shared the same value as the [Fantos Manuscript] and the Hell Spider Egg.

After glancing over the stairs, Kieran was certain it was those hidden stairs that led to the auction room.

All the valuable auction items were beyond those stairs, but so was that unknown powerful monster.

"So that's the secret of the Sunshine Mary?" Kieran thought.

His eyes were locked on the description of [Ghost Ferry]. "If you are able to solve the mystery of the Sunshine Mary, your dungeon rating will be boosted significantly."

The description had made Kieran try his best to solve the mystery. He needed the valuables inside the auction room really bad.

Any one of them was worthy of Kieran's full effort.

Kieran took out a [U-II] grenade, ready to test the waters.

Damaging the valuables inside the hole was preferable to Kieran losing his own life. Even though he was a stingy person, he valued his life more than the valuable items inside.

Two seconds after the pin was pulled, Kieran hurled it inside the hole. Nothing happened though.

No explosion, no clunking noise as the grenade fell down the stairs. It was as if the grenade had been swallowed into a void.

Kieran frowned again. He picked up some pieces of wood and hurled them inside, but he got the same results as with the grenade.

"Kicking up a cloud of mist, huh?"

Kieran believed that the grenade and the pieces of wood had not vanished into the void. They had just been shrouded by the darkness.

He'd had some similar equipment before, that could block light and sound, the [Pitch Black Ring], so he was no stranger to that effect.

Suddenly, Kieran changed his plans. He did not have an effective way to repel the kind of darkness that could block light and sound, but he had a viable solution to lure the monster out and force it to a fair fighting place.

Kieran wielded [Arrogant Word] around and chopped off the blood stream flowing inside the hole. All the directions of the blood stream were intercepted one by one.

The sucking sound he had heard before proved that the blood was a crucial element for the monster.

The outcome was exactly as Kieran had expected.

After a few seconds, a human figure slowly emerged from the darkness and walked up the stairs.

When Kieran got a clear look at the figure's face, he drew in a cold breath.

"How is this possible?" he cried out in alarm in his mind.

Translator's Thoughts

Dess Dess

The monster that came out will shock you!