By this point, Caine had roughly understood what had happened: thanks to the Law of Aggregation of Exceptional Properties, he had been spotted by this spirit predator as soon as he entered the outer region of Caldrun—a realm where even ordinary spirits were absent. First, it had transported an unknown golden disk from somewhere to beside the prophesied path, making it visible through the secret doppelgängers so as to shift the focus toward Caldrun's transformation of living beings. Then, leveraging a giant blacksmith that was not one of its own split souls, it further disoriented Caine. Finally, it had quietly settled within his operational range and executed its decisive strike. "If I hadn't personally witnessed the souls hanging like wind chimes within the small chapel—each one embodying an innate, instinctive fear of the high-sequence 'Seer's Path,' and had prepared several contingency plans for breaking control independently, without assistance, then the fragment of my consciousness that had just become a plunderer of the spiritual realm would have already been lost... Honestly, I should have anticipated this convergence of extraordinary properties before entering. After acquiring the 'Poseidon's Staff,' even with the 'Tyrant' card exerting pressure, I still acted too recklessly, overlooking such a crucial detail. On the surface, I remain as careful and cautious as always—but in reality, I've been gradually becoming more impetuous, without even realizing it myself." As Clary's thoughts raced, she lifted her arm again, holding the white bone staff, ready to execute another range attack with "Lightning Storm." One attempt wasn't enough—then two. If two weren't sufficient, then three. In any case, she would seize this opportunity and ensure that no fragment of the spiritual plunderers escaped the reach of her firepower!" This is the safest method, and it is the fighting style that Caine most reveres—had not the lightning strike weakened him somewhat in Caldrun, he would have doubted whether he could now go and claim his extraordinary traits. With half of his Sequence-5 elixirs already assimilated, his spiritual resilience still holds strong enough to sustain a full array! At that very moment, the "formless one," clad in a semi-transparent white robe, suddenly ignited pale flames across his body; hundreds of meters away, identical streams of flame leaped upward, soaring into the sky. Using a "Flame Leap" far more powerful than Caine's, the Spirit-Stealer instantly widened the gap between them! Meanwhile, within the very stone pile where it had been concealed, a towering, four-meter-high, dark green and black giant staggered to its feet. Though its chest and abdomen were open, its internal organs now invisible, it stood like a mountain or a fortress, firmly blocking the line of sight between the "Monarch" and the Spirit-Stealer. To Klein, the "spirit threads" of the other converged and extended uniformly toward the distant spirit-bound掠夺ers, clearly indicating a division of consciousness. At the tip of the "Sea God's Staff," a sapphire-blue gem flared to life, and several lightning bolts materialized mid-air, coiling into a bundle and transforming into silver-white arrows that struck the massive dark-gray giant's head with pinpoint precision. The intangible defenses shattered instantly, as if paper had been crushed, and the giant's head burst apart, scattering into countless blackened fragments that flew outward. The body, now deprived of its head, released pale, faintly greenish vapor that gradually evaporated, carrying away all vitality. All of this happened in the span of an eyeblink. With the white bone staff raised even higher, the cloaked and triple-crowned Klein, dressed in the papal robes, continued to advance. The sapphire-blue radiance expanded in concentric waves, and a soft wind rustled his cloak. In the outer region of Caldrun, vast stretches of sky rapidly gathered into thick, layered clouds, pressing down and deepening the gloom and sense of weight. Pattering, pattering, pattering! Raindrops the size of soybeans struck the ground one after another, stirring up a few dust particles accumulated over time. Plash! Plash! The rain grew faster and heavier, forming a deluge so severe it amounted to a disaster. The rain extinguished clusters of pale flames, gathering into streams that surged downward, flowing toward the city's lowest point and ultimately reaching the far end of the deep underground basin. Under such weather, Celine's "Flame Jumps" were completely rendered useless—so too were those of the Spirit Plunderers! Yet for the "Monarch," spirituality spread outward through the dark clouds, as if transforming into a deity gazing down upon the earth. Each cloud, each raindrop, became a sight for Celine, enabling him to effortlessly locate the Spirit Plunderers within any region where the weather changed. The "Formless One," dressed in a semi-transparent white robe, now hid behind a broken, pale giant pillar, remaining close to the outer region without venturing into the core. Thunder! A thunderclap roared so loud it was deafening, and streaks of lightning wove together into silver beams that surged forth from the clouds, sweeping straight toward the spirit plunderers. Thanks to an exceptional spiritual intuition, this "formless being" managed to slip beneath the ground by half a second. One beam, then two, then three—thick silver beams struck densely upon the area, melting the soil, sinking it into deep craters, and leaving behind blackened hollows. The spirit plunderer emerged from the opposite side, darting frantically toward other shelters, swerving right and left like a serpent in motion. Yet no matter where it fled, the silver lightning beams always caught up, sometimes even sealing off escape routes, thus shattering its plans to leave the rain-soaked zone. Roar! Roar! Roar! From above the clouds, the "divine being" overseeing the spirit plunderers—resembling a tyrant—wielded a silver staff, striking repeatedly at the target, nearly succeeding on several occasions. Klein grew increasingly anxious, eager to conclude the hunt immediately, and thus poured every ounce of power into the "God of the Sea's Staff," intensifying the frequency of lightning strikes. Suddenly, he felt a profound sense of exhaustion. This startled him, and he realized something was amiss: The Spirit Devourer had initially had the opportunity to retreat into the deeper layers of Caldrón, yet it remained in the vicinity. As a spirit-being without physical form, capable of slipping beneath the ground to evade lightning and escape the gaze of the "King," why did it keep reappearing, circling around him periodically? It was deliberately drawing him into attack—detecting through his "spirit threads" and the subtleties of his manipulation of the spectral figures that his own level had not yet reached that of a half-god. Klein was struck by this revelation. Reflecting on his initial encounters, he now clearly perceived the Spirit Devourer as a wise and highly cunning creature. At the same time, he thought of another question: could the just-passed "lightning storm" and the thick clouds and heavy rain have triggered the core region of Caldrón's persistent, watchful gaze? He had been so impetuous, consistently overlooking crucial details... As the thought flickered, Caine withdrew the "Poseidon's Staff." The torrential rain ceased abruptly, the overcast clouds swiftly dispersed, and the weather around settled back to normal. Caine then asked his secret figure, Enzo, to return with the "Voice of the Sea" staff to join him, positioning himself and the "Duke of Hell," Ludewil, on either side for protection. Together, the three—man and two figures—moved step by step toward the entrance, seemingly intending to leave Caldrón before their spiritual reserves were fully depleted. Throughout this journey, Caine maintained his "Spiritual Thread" vision, ever vigilant against the approach of spiritual predators. He had just noticed that this creature's "spirit threads" were quite distinctive—some emerged from within the body, extending outward normally, while others came from outside, gathering into thick bundles and penetrating the semi-transparent white robe. Cain suspected this might be the state in which the spirit-robbers controlled the fragments of their consciousness, differing from the "Master of Secret Doubles." As his gaze shifted, he suddenly saw a bundle of ethereal black threads emerging from a collapsed house, some of them coalescing into thick clusters, their origin seemingly distant. Cain raised his "Ocean God's Staff" slightly without hesitation, summoning a tremendous thunderclap. Boom! The resonant sound that struck both heart and spirit caused the "Duke of Hell," Ludewil, to suddenly lift his left hand. Half of his body instantly became translucent, his arms and forearms extending infinitely, reaching toward the collapsed house. Along the way, his palms grew unusually pale, and phantom faces emerged, projecting a tongue resembling a serpent's tongue, covered in white fur. This tongue shot out swiftly, piercing through the walls and reaching directly into the gathering point of the "spirit threads," where it instantly drew out a distorted, blurred soul. Around that soul, certain "spirit threads" suddenly vanished, as if they had never existed—precisely those that had formed thick bundles arriving from afar! They were false! The spirit beings of the spiritual realm could not only fabricate false "spirit threads" but also instantly swap the positions of fragmentary souls and the central soul! Kline abruptly turned his head, looking elsewhere, and indeed, he saw another cluster of "spirit thread" aggregates speeding up from beneath the ground. He raised his "Sea God's Staff" once again, causing thunderous resonances to burst out along the ground, powerful enough to shake the spirit entities. At the same time, Enzo, the "winner," expended his remaining fortune of luck, bestowing misfortune upon the target and causing a silver-white lightning to surge from the tip of the "Voice of the Sea" staff. This lightning, fortunate enough to pass through a narrow crevice, entered the earth directly and struck the attacker, severing part of the "spirit threads" instantly. It's a fake! As soon as Kline reacted, his thoughts stalled and his body went numb. While he struggled to open his mouth, attempting to summon the magical artifacts, the "Formless One"—dressed in a semi-transparent robe—suddenly descended from the sky and landed before him. The spirit plunderer had been hiding in the upper air all along, concealed by the gray-white cloud layers! As soon as the "Formless One" appeared, transparent worms, each adorned with strange patterns, began to crawl out from the collar area, where the head remained unseen. Klein merely glanced at it, and his thoughts instantly exploded. Though he had broken free from the control exerted by the "Line of the Spirit," he had completely lost his ability to think. Under the shadow of his triple crown, small flesh outgrowths emerged on his face, each slightly translucent, as if tiny creatures were slowly crawling within them. Had it not been for the support of the "Monarch" seat, he would have already collapsed, rolling and struggling desperately. The Spirit Plunderers possessed a certain mythic biological form! Now, the "Formless One" within the white robe finally gained full, unimpeded control over Klein's "Line of the Spirit," and within just a few seconds, had nearly achieved success. As the prey seemed poised to become one of its own soul fragments, the Spirit Plunderer suddenly observed Klein struggling to open his mouth and utter a single word. This recovery came earlier than expected, from a state of near collapse, and the word was an ancient Hermes term: "Fate!" This was precisely the incantation that activated the "Steward of Fate" sigil! If Caine truly intended to withdraw, he would have already seized the two spectral duplicates, ended the summoning immediately, and returned to the gray mist above—instead of moving step by step toward the entrance of Caldrun City. He's been setting traps for the spirits of the realm! His ability to recover swiftly from the wounds of a certain mythical form and to utter the required words on time stems from having experienced such situations countless times. Though he didn't know exactly what methods the opponent would employ, there was always a broadly effective strategy: making the target unfortunate. ——When Caine first entered his sluggish state, his initial reaction wasn't to have the magical items sing, but to have the "winner," Enzo, expend all his remaining luck, rendering the spirits of the realm sufficiently unfortunate! PS: Thank you to Jiang Nan Nan and another silver alliance donation, plus one more appreciation received in the evening.