Not good! Emlyn White, following Argos's gaze, noticed the old newspapers and small wooden chest that he had forgotten to attend to. Though they had always belonged to the room, they had previously been stored in separate locations; now placed together, their arrangement seemed rather odd, as though someone had intended to use them for something but had ultimately abandoned the plan. Why had the plan been abandoned? Had it been disturbed by the just-occurred knocking? And did this imply that the murderer had not left, but was instead concealed somewhere in the room? Similar questions flashed simultaneously in both Argos's and Emlyn White's minds—though one arose in surprise, while the other speculated about the other's thoughts. Not good! Both vampires reacted at once. Argos leaped sharply to the side, black mist swirling behind him, taking on the form of bat wings, while Emlyn White's fingers swiftly skimmed across the open pages of the "Lehmann Travel Notes." Suddenly, a flash of silver erupted, illuminating the entire room once again. The proud lightning branches missed Argos, striking the ground beside the bed and dispersing into countless fine electric serpents that leapt toward objects with better conductivity around. Among these, Argos's wings, crafted from dense black vapor, seemed especially favored by the thunder, pursued by numerous silver electric serpents that hissed and shattered against them, spreading across his body. Argos momentarily lost sensation, unable to rise or land, and fell with a soft thud. Emlin quickly flipped through "Lehmann's Travel Notes," again gliding his fingers over a page labeled "Lightning Strike." Though he didn't understand why so many pages on lightning—occupying half the yellow-brown vellum—had accumulated, he was profoundly grateful at that moment to still be able to use them. A silver lightning descended from nowhere, striking Argos straight, causing a sudden burst of black smoke to rise from his body as he trembled uncontrollably despite having just shaken off the numbness. Seizing the moment, Emlyn White straightened his knees, pushed off with both feet, and closed the distance to Argos with near-silent speed, then wrapped his right arm around Argos's head, gently twisting to position himself behind him. Crack! Argos saw his back clearly. His eyes filled with blood, and the swollen,溃烂 areas on his face completely ruptured, from which a deep, ethereal darkness surged forth. Emlyn had no idea what had changed, slipped on his feet, and instinctively stepped back, continuously shifting his position. Argos did not pursue him; instead, a sense of irrationality seemed to have taken over his eyes, leaving only pure malice, frenzy, and unmistakable confusion. He lifted both hands and pressed them firmly against the sides of his head, twisting it with a sharp, crisp crack, restoring it to the correct orientation. Around the artificial vampire, the darkness deepened and surged, as though it were about to engulf everything. Then, Argos moved his neck side to side, unsteady and wavering, his body now fully swollen and decayed, with foul, thick pus oozing out. He had come to Galis Kevin tonight precisely because he himself was showing signs of losing control, seeking a solution to discuss—only to suddenly realize midway that the adverse environment, with its overwhelming impact on his extraordinary sense of smell and sensitive perception, might have been the real cause of the symptoms. Now, under the shadow of death, he had truly collapsed and lost all control. Emlyn White felt a jolt as Argos's gaze passed over him, sensing once again that trouble had arisen, and couldn't help but silently curse the "primitive moon" devotees for always making him feel like a monster. He didn't immediately appeal to the "Fool" gentleman—first, there simply wasn't enough time; the other was about to launch an attack, and second, in a one-on-one situation, Emlin believed he could handle the uncontrolled Sequence 7 without much difficulty. He quickly flipped through "Lehmanno's Travel Notes," pausing it once again on "Thunderbolt." Crack! A thick, twisted, silver-white lightning bolt, bristling with claws, crashed down squarely onto the transformed Argos. At that instant, the lightning seemed to shatter the surging darkness, yet also as if swallowed whole by the deep, profound presence of the other—both vanishing simultaneously, leaving only Argos now firmly locked onto Emlin. The uncontrolled artificial vampire finally broke free, leaving a lingering afterimage, and surged toward his target. Emlin bent low, rolled to the side, and narrowly avoided the deadly blow. At the same time, with his right hand—still holding "Lehmanno's Travel Notes"—he reached into his coat pocket and drew out a metal bottle. Thrust! Argos swiftly pivoted and closed in, instantly drawing near to the enemy. Plink! Without time to open the bottle, Emlin pressed his five fingers firmly, forcing the metal vessel to crack. Then, he hurled the bottle forward, sending the pure, radiant liquid cascading onto Argos who had charged toward him. This was Emlin's "Water of the Sun," crafted from spiritual materials—highly effective against vampires. It was a preparation made in advance by the "Professor of Potions!" "Ah!" Argos cried out in a sharp, piercing scream as he was drenched, black vapor rising from his body, and he lost strength mid-air. Plink! Though he collided with Emlin, he could only knock him off balance, causing him to roll in two circles without sustaining actual injury. As he rolled, Emlin paid little attention to his own wounds, shaking his right hand—now tingling from the drops of "Water of the Sun"—and swiftly flipped the pages of "Leyman's Travel Notes." Plink! Another silver-white bolt struck down, cutting short Argos's cry. This uncontrollable artificial vampire, still seemingly exposed to the close rays of the sun, instantly fell into a state of intense paralysis. Emlyn seized the opportunity, pulled out another bottle of "Sun Water," opened the cap, and poured it directly toward the front. This time, Argos could not even cry out—his body melted like a candle. Emlyn finally exhaled in relief, allowing a thick black mist to rise from behind, which then coalesced into numerous phantom bats, each about the size of a palm, and surged toward the target in a crowd. The black bats landed upon Argos, completely enveloping him, then parted in a rustle, flying back to Emlyn and vanishing. Argos's body visibly shrunk, and finally, unable to bear it, slowly collapsed, half-melted. Only then did Emlyn raise her right hand to check the lingering pain, and found withered, ulcerated wounds on her palm and several fingers. Yet the flesh and blood within was rapidly pulsing, healing itself. It was over... I actually did kill him... Emlyn withdrew his gaze, gazing at Argos's body, still somewhat disbelief. Though the hunt had been full of twists, Emlyn had never truly faced any real danger throughout—the entire process had once again reinforced his growing realization that the Tarot Circle had made him far stronger than he had anticipated. "If Argos had first examined Galis Kevin's body instead of observing the newspaper and the wooden chest at the bedside, he would surely have realized I possess the extraordinary ability of 'lightning strike,' and thus wouldn't have used the 'Wings of Darkness' to evade, thereby being struck by the lightning waves. However, in that case, he would have failed to detect the anomaly, struggled to anticipate my attacks, and my 'lightning strike' would have directly hit him—making the outcome much simpler. From this perspective, no matter what, as long as my actions are flawless, I am certain to defeat him. They truly are weak. I never realized how strong I've become. It's no wonder the Primordial chose me to join the Tarot Circle. This gathering—designed to prepare for the end times and save each of the various peoples—is far superior to any other secret organization." Emlyn raised his chin slightly, a subtle smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. Then, he heard the footsteps coming and going outside the door, yet no one approached. Argos's earlier cry had roused the neighbors around him, but they hesitated to come in, fearing trouble... Someone must have already gone to call the police... I need to quickly attend to the scene and get out of here... Emlyn shifted his gaze from the door and walked over to Galis Kevin's body, picking up a piece of object the size of a clenched fist from the spreading pool of blood. It was uniformly bright red, resembling a heart, gently expanding and contracting, with a semi-transparent surface and a faint flow of liquid visible within—exactly the extraordinary trait left behind by the "Pharmacist" at Pathway Level 7, "Vampire." This is my prize... Emlyn found it a bit disorienting at first, steadying himself before carefully wrapping the extraordinary trait and Galis Kevin's head in an old newspaper and placing them inside the wooden crate. After securing the crate, he removed Galis Kevin's head, which had decayed to the point of being almost unrecognizable, and then drew out another bottle of potion, spreading it throughout every corner of the room. Throughout this process, Emlin remained calm, as if entirely unconcerned about the official extraordinary beings from the East District arriving. A few minutes later, he picked up Argos's subtly altered extraordinary trait, observed the darker surface layer and the faintly emerging human facial patterns, and behind him, a pervasive black mist began to rise. This mist then transformed into countless small bats, swirling within the room and blending with the previously sprayed magical liquid to create a quiet, spreading black flame. The black flame consumed blood, bodies, and the traces of lightning strikes, leaving behind a viscous, asphalt-like liquid coating various objects. Subsequently, this liquid solidified into heavy black bats that circled and hovered around Emlin. Emlyn didn't expect his actions to completely disrupt others' investigations. His sole objective was to present the scene as unremarkable, so that the official extraordinary agents who might take over would perceive the matter as insignificant and of little value—merely a routine inquiry that could be filed away and forgotten. That's the efficiency and approach of the East District police. ........ After leaving the East District, Emlin returned home first, discreetly hiding "Lehmann's Travel Notes," before heading directly to the O'Driscoll household in the West District, brimming with his accomplishments to declare victory and claim his reward!