In the dilapidated room, Klein, whose top hat had fallen to the side and whose clothes were damaged, faced off about four meters away from the enormous Devil Gillschies, whose back was covered in bat wings. The scene was so quiet that it resembled a Puppet show.
Actually, Klein still has some energy left to do other things.
Back when " Marionettist " Rosago forcibly controlled him and Sharron, he was able to fight off the " Wraith's" projection while simultaneously Flame Manipulation, summoning fire currents, and annihilating the Specter Sharron had attracted. If he hadn't focused on the Error target, prioritizing the Sequence 5 " Wraith," Rosago could have easily taken down Klein long ago, and wouldn't have given him the chance to use the " Words of Filth " spell. Now, although Klein is certainly no match for his opponent, he only has one enemy!
Of course, there's not much he can do. Without giving up control of Gillschies, he can move, but not too quickly or abruptly. He can use his own extraordinary abilities that place little burden on his Spirituality, but he cannot be distracted by driving the magical items he carries or drawing his gun to fire with large movements.
Before the target is controlled to a certain extent, many attacks can push or stimulate the opponent, thereby increasing the power to resist the Manipulation of the Spirit Body Threads " and even showing signs of breaking free.
Therefore, Klein must wait.
At that moment, his heart suddenly skipped two beats, and an overwhelming sense of fear and tension surged into his mind.
He couldn't help but suspect that Gillschies's companions, whose intentions had been " Distortion," were about to return!
Oh no! My emotions are fluctuating! Klein was taken aback at first, but then used Cogitation techniques to forcefully calm his inner turmoil.
Haha... He appeared... His emotions fluctuated... An opportunity... Gillschies overjoyed, and a slow thought flashed through his mind.
Then, relying on his extraordinary abilities, he attempted to amplify Gehrman Sparrow's fear and tension, planting the seeds of emotion.
If successful, he only needs one complete "detonation" to cripple the opponent and render them unable to influence him any longer!
No... how could it be... no effect... his... emotional fluctuations... are gone... Gillschies's crimson eyes slowly contracted, gradually filling with emotions such as surprise, astonishment, and anger.
After Klein calmed down, thinking he would be attacked by the " Apostle of Desire," he realized that nothing had happened. Gillschies's curved ram horns had clearly burned out, but he did not try to take advantage of the emotional fluctuations!
A thought flashed through Klein's mind, and he roughly understood what was going on:
Gillschies didn't lack the will to Manipulation his fear and tension; he simply failed!
From the moment he senses the emotional fluctuation, he must first take several seconds to process the situation, then two or three seconds to make a decision, and finally spend even more time organizing his thoughts and mobilizing his corresponding extraordinary abilities. It takes at least ten seconds in total to complete the response.
From realizing the problem to calming down, it only took Klein three or four seconds in total.
Therefore, Gillschies's extraordinary abilities were ineffective against enemies in normal condition.
Simply put, the latency is too high! In this situation, there's no point in trying to make any precise maneuvers... Klein muttered a couple of complaints, then quickly calmed his gloating mood and continued to intensify his control.
About ten seconds later, Gillschies seemed to have figured out where the problem lay. He stopped considering ways to deal with desires and emotions, and relied on the Devil's powerful physical body and spirit to fight against the Manipulation originating from the " Spirit Body Threads." At the same time, he slowly and laboriously flapped the bat wings on his back, allowing the pale blue flames wrapped around them to gradually condense into a fireball.
Klein could almost foresee the saturation bombardment of fireballs that was about to follow, so he didn't hesitate to spare a bit of his Spirituality and snap his fingers with his right thumb and middle finger.
Snap!
The pale blue flames suddenly rose up and completely disintegrated before they could truly take shape, like a grand fireworks display behind Gillschies.
" Magician ", " Flame Manipulation "!
Gillschies continued to struggle, but his movements became slower and slower, more and more like a rusty Puppet, so much so that Klein easily moved his feet and dodged the Devil Language he was trying so hard to utter.
Three seconds, two seconds, one second... Klein suddenly stopped, his gaze fixed on Gillschies's head, which had lost its curved horns.
At this moment, there were still at least two and a half minutes before he could completely control this " Apostle of Desire " and turn him into a puppet, but Klein had no such intention; he had never had such an intention from the beginning!
This is too time-consuming, and Gillschies's accomplices will surely be able to get back before then!
Klein's goal from beginning to end was singular: to manipulate the situation to a certain extent, ensuring that attacks within certain limits would not help Gillschies escape his predicament!
Crimson eyes, a ferocious face, and spiky fangs caught Klein's eye. He opened his mouth and uttered a single word:
"Bang!"
Air Bullet, Sequence 5 Air Bullet!
This is comparable to a bullet fired from Steam rifle!
Bang!
The Air Bullet struck Gillschies precisely in the forehead, causing him to tilt his head back and twitch the " Spirit Body Threads ".
A shallow, bloody hole appeared between his eyebrows, but he was not fatally injured overall.
To the " Devil " and the " Apostle of Desire," their entire bodies seem to be covered in a thick, hard armor, and their flesh and blood are extremely elastic and resilient.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Klein kept making sounds, creating Air Bullet that struck Gillschies's forehead one after another, gradually connecting into a single mass. At the same time, he steadily controlled the " Spirit Body Threads," preventing the opponent from using them to weaken the effect.
Gillschies let out a stuttering roar and desperately moved forward, trying to counterattack, but Klein was much more agile than him!
His plan to liquefy was undoubtedly thwarted by the control of the " Spirit Body Threads ".
Bang!
Another Air Bullet hit, completely shattering Gillschies's forehead and penetrating his brain.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bullets kept flying in, one after another.
Bang!
Gillschies's skull was finally opened, revealing a brain riddled with deep black grooves, now completely blurred.
The bounty of £9,500 for this " Slaughterer " began to fade rapidly, but he did not close his eyes, for he had already lost his sight.
He fell to the ground slowly, one slurred motion, and Klein approached him step by step, extending his left palm.
Two bright red eyes immediately split open in the palm of the glove.
A cold, eerie breeze followed, and the spirit of " Slaughterer " Gillschies, along with his Beyonder Characteristic, screamed as it burrowed into " Creeping Hunger," fixing itself to the empty finger.
Soon, the gloves turned black again, but this time deep and pure, as if they were made up of countless tiny dots of the same color wriggling and coalescing layer upon layer.
Klein sensed for two seconds, then walked toward the broken window with a mixture of disappointment and delight.
While Grazing Gillschies, he actually pondered which extraordinary abilities he desired and which he did not. The answer was that he least wanted the dangerous premonition of " Devil," because it required constantly maintaining " Creeping Hunger " at Gillschies's soul. This meant feeding someone every day, which was very inconvenient, and it also overlapped to some extent with his own " Seer " ability.
As for whether the " Devil's" sense of danger would still be useful after the puppet was made, Klein believed it would, but only for the puppet itself, and not for the Manipulator.
Klein most hoped to "draw" the extraordinary ability of " Apostle of Desire " to manipulate emotional fluctuations and any one of " Words of Filth," preferably one of "Death" and " Depravity."
At this moment, he was fortunate enough to gain three extraordinary abilities, one of which was " Words of Filth," but instead of "death" and " Depravity," it was "slowness." This ability could instantly freeze or even stop the movements of all targets within a seven or eight-meter radius, but the effect could only last for about two seconds.
The second extraordinary ability is the " Magma Sword," which can create a flaming greatsword shaped like a knife with extremely high attack power. It can cut through thick stone pillars with a single blow, and the cut looks as if it has been melted. It is Gillschies's choice when he launches a frenzied attack.
The third is the " Sulfur Fireball," which can not only create a powerful explosion but also poison anyone or anything that comes into contact with the flames. If combined with the ability to become Devil, it can fire a dozen or twenty at a time, or at most three if not.
Not bad. The damage of " Magma Sword " to non-undead and non-tainted creatures is significantly higher than that of " Light Priest's " " Holy Light "... Klein came to the window and saw the departing figure of Gillschies's companion.
They haven't escaped the influence? No, judging from the timeline, they must have already escaped and returned to a nearby place. Are they running away now? They could sense Gillschies's death? That's a bit strange... Klein turned around and saw that Gillschies's corpse was still in its Devil state, not having shrunk back to human form due to death.
He looked at it for two seconds and vaguely made a guess:
" The Devil ability manifests as a state close to being out of control, but it can revert back when there is still reason and control left; otherwise, it remains unchanged."
Klein didn't delay. He turned over the Devil's corpse and found that due to Gillschies's gigantification, his clothes and pants were all torn apart, causing his wallet and banknotes to fall to the ground. They had also been severely damaged in the previous fireball attack and the burning sulfur flames.
... Just as Klein was about to look away, he suddenly noticed something shining on the giant Devil's chest.
It was a long, thin crystal composed entirely of blood, with a faint smell of sulfur permeating the surroundings.
"What is this?" Klein frowned slightly, unable to come up with an answer.
Gillschies's Beyonder Characteristic clearly indicated he had entered the " Creeping Hunger " stage, so why were strange things still being excreted from his corpse? This thought flashed through Klein's mind with doubt.
Moreover, as the second mate of the " King of Immortality," Gillschies surprisingly did not possess a single magical item or Sealed Artifact, which was somewhat unexpected.