Back at the Ikrego city, the Hunter Guild Team had managed to wipe all the dungeon dwellers that were killing the citizens. They took all the credit from the citizens before they left back for the guild.
Citizens praised them for their fast action in saving their lives. No one knew of the involvement of APF in saving them.
...
"What did the captain say?" The other Variants asked Flourance.
"He said we are done here. We can go back," Flourance replied as he smiled.
Two more military helicopters landed near them.
"Get inside. We are leaving now," he commanded others.
"Shouldn't someone stay behind to make sure that there are no problems with the cage and that he doesn't escape?" a variant asked. "I believe that some of us should come in the helicopter that is carrying the cage. Only the pilot and Cui are inside there."
"There's no need. It's not like the kid can break the cage. This cage's bars are coated with a special material that protects it against decaying, so the kid's powers are useless."
"And the cage is strong enough to handle the full strength attack of a strength type Variant. Even though the kid's ability has the potential to be S-Rank like his father, he can't bring out even a fraction of that power."
" His strength would barely be equivalent to a B-Rank strength Type Warrior from what I tested. There is no need to worry. Even if something happens, we still have Cui to update us," Flourance answered, shaking his head.
"Also, that helicopter will be in the middle, so in reality, half the team can keep an even better eye on Lucifer from behind than they could from inside the helicopter," he continued. "Don't delay now. Get inside."
All the variants of the Delta Squad entered the helicopters.
The helicopter carrying the cage was already in the air, but the other two also started rising in the air. All three helicopters got in position before they started leaving.
...
Three military helicopters flew in a straight line, leaving the airspace of the City of Erygas.
The helicopter in the middle carried the cage, which had Lucifer entrapped inside. The helicopter in the back carried most of the Variants of the Delta Squad. The one at the front carried Flourance along with the few of the most influential members of the Delta Squad.
Flourance sat inside the helicopter, resting.
"Even though he was a kid, it was really tiring to catch him. Fortunately, everything's over now," Flourance lamented as he sighed.
He brought his phone out of his pocket, unlocked it and opened a small game on his phone, and started a Snake Game.
The snake got bigger the more items it ate, but it died when it hit the screen's border or its own skin. The game was entirely in 3D graphics.
With a faint smile on his face, Flourance acknowledged, "Old game but still just as soothing."
The Variants sitting near Flourance noticed him playing games. They couldn't help but smile as they thought, 'Hah, vice-captain is just like a child in this regard. After every mission, he plays such classic games.'
In the last helicopter, Delta Squad members had also started relaxing and stopped keeping an eye on Lucifer as they started getting complacent.
After hearing Flourance's words and how sure he was that Lucifer couldn't break the cage, they also stopped caring.
"Cui is already in the middle helicopter. He can keep an eye on the cage. It's just useless work anyway since the kid can't break out of there," One of them muttered, giving himself a justification to be lax as he started relaxing in the back.
...
Lucifer was inside the semi-transparent barrier, which itself was inside a metallic cage; however, the barrier was getting weaker and weaker because of his Decaying Power.
"Just a few more seconds. Once the barrier stops working, I can break the cage and escape. I really underestimated the resources of humans."
" I should have listened to my heart when I felt that something was wrong. Never again. I will wipe every single one of them once I am free," Lucifer declared in a grim tone as both his hands rested on the barrier decaying it faster.
Just as he expected, the barrier soon stopped working and disappeared.
Lucifer was finally able to step out of the barrier. He could touch the bars of the cage now.
He was somewhat relieved as he touched the bars of the cage, thinking that he could finally step out and be free but as soon as he touched the cage bars, a perplexed look appeared on his face.
"The bars aren't decaying? They aren't changing even slowly. Just what is this material?"
Time kept passing as he placed more and more effort, but nothing worked.
"Was that man really right that I am naive? I don't know much about the outside world and their technology. I always stayed inside the facility and only watched the mock battles between people with power and their battles with the Dungeon dwellers."
"I should have known that wasn't all to their abilities. This cage, the materials… if these don't decay, then these could have even captured my mother, who was one of the strongest," he muttered as he frowned after constant failures.
Being trapped inside the cage, he was strangely calm. He had been thinking about the words of Flourance that he said when they were both inside the whirlwind- a calm beast is more threatening than an enraged beast.
He realized that he wouldn't have acted so naively... if he had listened to those words and understood them carefully. He wouldn't be trapped if he hadn't lost his sense of reasoning.
That has been one of the main reasons Lucifer had been much calmer after being trapped inside the barrier. He had realized his shortcomings slowly.
He needed rage, but he needed to use his brain just as much. He was strong, but his father was even stronger. If his father could die, then why did he believe that he couldn't be defeated? Why was he so complacent and naive?