Her unusual gifts and physique had made her grow far faster than an ordinary human infant. Judging by appearances alone, anyone would have taken the little girl for five or six years old. Especially when they saw her stretch out her chubby, greasy hand in an attempt to grab some sliced smoked beef, it was hard to imagine that this child, capable of devouring meat in great mouthfuls, was supposed to be barely over a year old and still babbling. But no matter how astounding the girl's gifts were, Salomon stopped her attempt with ease.
The Arcanist caught the little hand reaching for the plate, placed a fork in it, and closed her fingers around the handle. He taught her to eat with a fork in a somewhat forceful manner.
The girl's physical age was indeed advancing rapidly, but the Sisterhood's methods of education, along with the troubles only exceptionally gifted spellcasters encountered—hallucinations, nightmares, whispers from the shadows, inexplicable fear, and so on—had left her intelligence somewhat unable to keep pace with her brain's development. The Hellstrom siblings, hybrids of Marduk and humans, possessed every potential to become great demons. This girl, born after Marduk possessed Sister Gabby and conceived a child with its own son, Damon Hellstrom, possessed talents of unparalleled power.
Simply put, her immense magical gifts made her even easier to manipulate and corrupt than the Hellstrom siblings, and more susceptible to possession by Marduk. Marduk had done this because the Hellstrom siblings had, willingly or unwillingly, resisted corruption and refused to awaken their demonic blood. It therefore had to create a backup plan capable of interfering with the Material Plane. Now that backup plan had fallen into Salomon's hands. It would have been strange if he did not make proper use of her.
That was precisely