In the shabby room, Crane's hat had fallen to the side, and his clothes were damaged. He stood about four meters away from the massive demon, Gilsheias, who bore bat-like wings, facing him in a quiet, still confrontation—like a puppet show being performed. In reality, Crane still had some reserves to perform other actions. When the "Master of Secret Puppets," Rosagho, had forcibly controlled both him and Sharon, Crane had managed to simultaneously resist the projections of the "Spirits of Resentment" taking hold of him, manipulate flames, summon streams of fire, and eliminate the shadows summoned by Sharon—all without major errors. Had Rosagho not focused primarily on the Sequence-5 "Spirits of Resentment" lady as his main target, he would have been able to shift his attention and eliminate Crane long before Crane had the chance to use the "Speech of Filth" incantations. Now, although Crane is undoubtedly outmatched, he faces only one opponent. Of course, the things he could do were not many. While maintaining control over Gilsheias, he could move—but not too swiftly or urgently. He could draw upon his own, more spiritually manageable extraordinary abilities, yet he could not simultaneously focus on operating the magical items he carried, nor execute large, dynamic movements such as drawing and firing his weapon. Until Gilsheias was sufficiently controlled, many attacks would push or stimulate him, amplifying the force opposing the manipulation of the "spiritual thread," sometimes even causing signs of escape. Thus, Cline had to wait. At that very moment, his heartbeat suddenly accelerated by two beats, and a growing, uncontrollable sense of fear and tension surged through his mind. He found himself unconsciously doubting that his companions, whose intentions had been subtly altered, were about to return! Not good—his emotions were wavering! Cline was momentarily stunned, then immediately employed meditation techniques to forcibly calm the fluctuations within himself. Ha—ha… he’s appeared… his emotions have shifted… an opportunity! Gilshias felt a surge of delight, a slow thought forming. Then, drawing upon his own exceptional abilities, he sought to amplify Gelman Sparo’s fear and tension, sowing the seeds of emotion. Should he succeed, all he’d need was a complete "explosion" to leave his opponent half-disabled, unable to influence him again! Not… how could this be?… no effect… his emotions… gone… Gilshias’ crimson eyes contracted slowly, gradually filling with astonishment, bewilderment, and growing anger. He had expected that, after calming the "Apostle of Desire" completely, something would have happened—yet nothing had. The curved horns atop his head, which had been blazing with emotional energy, had burned out completely, yet he had not even attempted to harness that emotional shift! With a sudden realization, Caine probably understood what was going on: Gilshias wasn't unwilling to manipulate his fear and nerves—he had simply failed! From the moment he sensed the emotional shift, it took him several seconds to process the situation, then a couple of seconds to make a decision, followed by even more time to organize his thoughts and summon the corresponding extraordinary ability. Altogether, it took him at least ten seconds to respond. Caine, on the other hand, went from noticing the issue to calming down, taking only three or four seconds total. Therefore, Gilshias's extraordinary ability was ineffective against a normally composed opponent. In short, the response was too delayed! Under such circumstances, there was no point in attempting delicate maneuvers—Caine made a few comments on this, then settled his sense of satisfaction and continued deepening his control. After another ten seconds or so, Gilthiess seemed to finally grasp the source of the problem, abandoning any attempts to address his desires and emotions. Relying instead on the demon's robust body and spirit, he steadily and laboriously扇ed his bat-like wings behind him, against the manipulation emanating from the "spirit line," gradually coalescing the pale blue flames that were wrapped around the wings into distinct fireballs. Klain could almost anticipate a wave of saturated, fireball-based bombardments to follow, so he promptly diverted a portion of his spiritual energy, and with his right thumb and middle finger, gave a sharp clap. Crack! The pale blue flames suddenly surged upward and completely dissolved before fully forming, as if a grand ceremony had been held behind Gilthiess. "Magician!" "Master of Flame!" Though Gilthiess continued to struggle, his movements grew increasingly sluggish, more and more like a rusty puppet. As a result, Klein effortlessly shifted his steps and evaded the demon's full-force incantations. Three seconds, two seconds, one second… suddenly, Caine paused, his gaze locked firmly on Gilshiac's head, where the curved horns had lost their shape. At this moment, it would still take at least two minutes and thirty seconds to fully control this "Apostle of Desire" and transform him into a puppet—yet Caine had no intention of doing so. From the very beginning, he had never planned to! This would take too long, and Gilshiac's allies would surely return before then! Caine's sole objective throughout had always been to exert sufficient control so that attacks within a certain range would not aid Gilshiac in escaping his predicament. The crimson eyes, the fierce features, the sharp teeth glistening with saliva—all of them now vividly framed in Caine's vision. He opened his mouth and uttered a single word: "Boom!" A burst of air, a Sequence 5 air blast! This was already comparable to the bullets fired from a steam rifle. Boom! The air blast struck precisely at Gilshiac's forehead, sending him reeling back and lifting his head, tugging slightly at the "spirit thread." A somewhat shallow crimson hole appeared at the center of his forehead, indicating no fatal injury. To the "Demon" and the "Apostle of Desire," their bodies seemed enveloped in a thick, resilient armor, with blood and flesh displaying remarkable elasticity and resistance. Thump! Thump! Thump! Kline continuously generated air bursts, sending them in succession to strike Gilshias's forehead, gradually merging into a continuous impact. At the same time, he steadily maintained control over the "Spirit Thread," preventing Gilshias from using it to pull or weaken the effect. Gilshias emitted a stammering roar of fury, desperately advancing to counterattack, yet Kline's movements proved far more agile. His plan to liquefy was undoubtedly thwarted by Kline's firm control of the "Spirit Thread." Thump! Another air burst struck home, completely shattering Gilshias's frontal area and piercing into his brain. Thump! Thump! Thump! Subsequent projectiles followed one after another, each striking in sequence. Thump! Finally, Gilchies' skull was lifted, revealing a brain covered in deep, dark furrows, now blurred and indistinct. The "Slayer," who had earned a reward of 9,500 pounds, began to fade rapidly, yet his eyes remained open—because they had already been lost. He fell slowly, in uneven intervals, as Caine approached step by step, extending his left hand. At the palm of the glove, two fresh, vivid red eyes instantly split open. A cold, eerie breeze then surged forth, carrying Gilchies' ethereal form and the dark, misty qualities of his extraordinary nature, which cried out as they were drawn into the "Thriving Hunger," settling firmly onto the now-empty finger. Soon, the glove darkened again, this time deeply and purely, as if countless small points of the same hue were slowly coalescing, layer upon layer. Caine sensed this for two seconds, feeling both a sense of disappointment and delight, and then walked toward the window where the glass had shattered. During the process of tending to his pastoral duties, Gilthias actually reflected on the extraordinary abilities he wished to acquire and those he wished to avoid. His most significant desire was to avoid the unsettling sense of danger associated with a "demon," as this would necessitate maintaining a constant state of "creeping hunger" within his soul—meaning he would need to feed a human being to each pair of gloves every day, which proved highly inconvenient, and also overlapped with his inherent "seer" abilities. Regarding whether the sense of demonic danger would remain useful after the creation of puppets, Caine believed it would, but only for the puppets themselves, not for the one controlling them. The extraordinary ability Caine most desired to "draw" was the utilization of emotional fluctuations by the "Apostle of Desire," as well as any of the elements from the "Speech of Filth"—preferably either "death" or "falling into decay." At this moment, he fortunately acquired three extraordinary abilities. One of them was "The Language of Filth," not one of "death" or "decline," but rather "slowness"—this ability would instantly stiffen and even halt the actions of all targets within a range of seven to eight meters, though the effect would last only for about two seconds. The second extraordinary ability was "The Lava Sword," which generates a powerful, blade-shaped flame giant sword capable of cleaving through thick stone pillars with a single strike, leaving a melted appearance at the cut—this was precisely the choice he made during Gilshias's relentless assaults. The third ability was "The Sulfur Fireball," which not only produces a strong explosion but also causes poisoning to any creature or object that comes into contact with the flames. When combined with his demonization ability, he could launch up to fifteen or twenty fireballs at once; otherwise, he could only manage three at a time. It's decent—the "Blaze Sword" deals noticeably more damage to non-immortal, non-impure beings than the "Holy Priest's" "Divine Light." Kline reached the window just in time to see his companion Gilshias' figure fade into the distance. Hasn't escaped the influence yet? No—by timing, they must have already escaped and returned to a nearby location. Now they're fleeing? Can they sense Gilshias' death? That's rather odd. Kline turned back and observed Gilshias' corpse still retaining the demon form, not reverting to human upon death. He stared for a few seconds, and then a hunch formed: "Capabilities resembling demonization reflect a state close to losing control. As long as some sense of reason remains, the transformation can be reversed. Once that sense is lost, it persists." Klein didn't hesitate. He turned over the demon's body and found that due to Gilthiess's great enlargement, his clothing and pants had been completely torn, causing his wallet, cash, and other items to scatter across the ground—damaged further by the previous fireball attacks and the sulfur flames. As Klein was about to shift his gaze, he suddenly noticed something glowing on the demon's chest. It was a slender, crystalline structure composed entirely of blood, emitting a faint sulfur scent. "What is this?" Klein furrowed his brows, unable to come up with an explanation. Gilthiess's extraordinary characteristic had clearly entered the stage of "creeping hunger"—so why was something unusual still being released from his body? This thought crossed Klein's mind with curiosity. Moreover, as Gilthiess, the second-in-command of the King of the Immortals, had no magical artifact or seal at all, this was beyond what Klein had expected.