Thunder! Thunder! Thunder! Those silver-white lightning bolts, thick as giant serpents, struck directly upon the semi-transparent black velvet "curtain," shaking it violently and causing it to warp and twist. Seizing this opening, Renette Tiniocer's silhouette reflected in the castle's glass leapt—then returned, back into Caine's coat pocket, settling onto the surface of the gold coin inside the iron cigarette box. Caine, already prepared, raised his right arm calmly, pointing the "Staff of Stars" steadily at the floor tiles of the hall. In his mind, a vivid image emerged—representing a remarkable ability belonging to the "Druid." Instantly, the ground beneath Caine softened, transforming into a "mire," and his body sank swiftly, as if plunging into the ocean. "Earthborne Movement!" Thunder! As the mire solidified once more, the semi-transparent black velvet "curtain" could no longer endure the onslaught of the lightning storm, and it collapsed suddenly, folding into a compact mass and falling back within the castle. Thousands of thick lightning bolts no longer posed a barrier, pouring down upon the ancient castle like a sudden, relentless rain. The towers collapsed, the halls shattered—each and every one of the delicate figures, under the force of this thunderous assault, proved as fragile as shadows, instantly blackening, cracking, and turning to ash. When the silvery glow that illuminated the entire mountain range finally subsided, the castle of the dark magic wolf Kotal was entirely reduced to ruins, with many areas still burning with clusters of crimson flames. Cain immediately rose from the bottom of a deep trench, witnessing the dark, short-furred magic wolf nearby perform the same action. With the aid of three "Druids" within the figures, He too had managed to reach the depths and survived the lightning barrage. At this moment, the independent "kingdom" created by the "curtain" had completely dissolved, yet the wishes pledged by the dark magic wolf had not yet fully faded—divine restoration would still require some time. Without hesitation, both sides renewed their fierce combat. Cotal lifted the crumpled "curtain" and flung it over himself, thus shielding against the relentless attempts of the spirits to possess him. After all, his only three secret figures remained. Of course, this meant he would no longer be able to exchange positions with them. Meanwhile, Reniet Tynicol detached herself from the gold coins in Caine's coat pocket and drifted toward the magical wolf with eight legs. Abandoning the plan to be possessed, she suddenly expanded her arms, gray short fur sprouting from her forearms and her nails growing long, sharp, and sturdy. "Wolf-personalization!" The doll-like creature transformed into a massive "wolf-man," swiftly moving and wielding his claws in fierce combat against the dark, mountain-sized magical wolf. With each clashing impact, Caine was struck by attacks from Cotal's remaining three secret figures. One surged upward, roaring fiercely, his short brown fur bursting through his clothing and instantly transforming him into a towering, terrifying bear nearly twice his original height. Another knelt down, pressing both palms firmly into the ground, while a third lifted his right hand and tugged at his hair. At that moment, a tidal wave of crimson flame surged from within Clary's garments, swiftly engulfing him. His figure then emerged within a cluster of flames beside him, leapt out, raised his staff, and charged directly toward the massive "brown bear." Where he had stood, slender, mutated vines of deep green erupted from the earth, rapidly spreading and weaving through the remaining embers. Thud. Thud. Thud! The colossal "brown bear" advanced without hesitation, moving with the steady, determined pace of a high-speed steam locomotive, charging straight toward Clary and spreading his arms wide—intending to give him a passionate, bone-crushing embrace that would compress his chest and shoulders together. Thud. Thud. Thud! The black trench coat swaying backward, Caine did not retreat either—his path was clearly heading straight for the massive "brown bear." Suddenly, he drove his left foot hard into the ground, twisted at the waist, and launched himself upward, clearing the bear from above diagonally. Thwack! As they passed, Caine swung his black staff downward and struck hard against the bear’s shoulder. Normally, such a blow would do little to harm the thick-skinned, fur-covered creature. But Caine wielded the "Staff of Stars," whose physical attacks often exhibited unpredictable mutations or odd effects. Of course, under the suppression of the "God of Wishes," these anomalies and effects never surpassed the level of an extraordinary ability equivalent to Sequence 4. Thwack! With the echo of the staff’s impact, the great "brown bear" split diagonally along its shoulder—its half without a head suddenly materialized several dozen meters away, while the remaining portion remained in place. Hoo! The organs and blood of the "brown bear" spilled onto the ground, creating a most startling scene. Yet the "brown bear" was not yet dead—his two bodies writhed and struggled, trying to steady themselves and continue the assault. ——As a "secret figure," he had essentially passed away long before; thus, such injuries were nothing remarkable. At this moment, Caine had leapt to the back of the "brown bear," his feet now firmly planted on the ground. Waves of crimson flame surged forth, engulfing his form. A flame that had nearly gone out suddenly surged upward, and Caine launched himself into the air, landing near the secret figure whose hands were pressed firmly against the ground. With a silk hat on his head, he dashed past without turning, sweeping his staff out sideways. Crack! Golden flames erupted within the figure's body, and his form vanished instantly. A stream of flame rose into the air, and though the figure leapt down, the golden flames did not subside—they swiftly consumed him, turning him to ash. Klein didn't even glance this way—he was already rushing toward the masked figure who had just plucked a strand of hair from his head. The masked figure immediately tossed the hair aside. Each strand began to burn on its own, releasing a dark gas that sent an alarm signal through Klein's spiritual awareness. A severe, potent toxin! Its effects were still unknown! With a sharp hiss, Klein used the "clown's" ability to forcibly halt his momentum, and, leveraging his body's inertia, extended his black staff forward. Inside his mind, a flurry of thoughts rapidly reorganized, swiftly forming a vivid mental image. — Prior to this action, Caine had asked the "Justice" lady to assist him with a certain kind of "hypnosis," enabling his subconscious to think in isolated thoughts without forming visual images. Only by actively controlling his mind could he construct scenes, thus allowing him to use the "Staff of Stars" for an extended period without being affected by negative effects. While he acknowledged the drawbacks of this mode of thinking, he believed they were manageable under the predetermined conditions. In silence, the gemstones embedded in the "Staff of Stars" began to glow, and a pure, blazing, sacred beam of light descended from the heavens, enveloping the dark gas and the corresponding figure. The toxic essence rapidly dissolved under the heat of the "Sun," just as the figure did. When the radiance still lingered in Caine's eyes, his body had already instinctively turned, aligning the "Staff of Stars" toward the now-separated "Brown Bear." A series of silver-white electric flashes followed, and the two-part body of the "Brown Bear" finally turned black and collapsed, unable to rise again. In just a few seconds, Caine resolved the remaining eidolons of the Dark Wandering Wolf, Kotar. Following the disturbances at the "Source Keep," both Caine and the "God of Wishes" found themselves pressed for time—no one wished to delay, for soon the high divine beings of the abandoned realms, such as the "True Maker" and the "Hourly Angel" Amon, would arrive. Seeing this, Kotar's body shuddered violently, and he flung forth a semi-transparent velvet "curtain." This "curtain" first vanished into nothingness, then suddenly appeared behind Caine, materializing just as Caine's spiritual senses registered the change—immediately enveloping him and sealing him within. Caine's vision dimmed instantly, his thoughts suddenly slowed, and his "spiritual threads" were one by one transplanted onto the curtain. He attempted to perform a "flame leap," to soften his bones, and to summon his "Staff of Stars," yet all efforts failed due to this unprecedented condition. The black velvet "curtain" wrapped tighter and tighter, highlighting the contours of克莱恩's eyes, nose, and mouth, as if molding a completely new human form. Rhenette Tynicol instantly leapt, materializing on the semi-transparent "curtain," forcing it to detach from克莱恩's body and shift to the other side. The dark magical wolf seized the opportunity, lifted its head, and roared. In response, the "curtain" rose upright, transforming into a cloak draped over an intangible figure. A powerful suction emerged, causing the "spirit threads" connecting克莱恩 and Rhenette Tynicol to drift uncontrollably past. Without corresponding extraordinary abilities, their "spirit threads" might have seamlessly merged into that cloak within just a few seconds, leaving them as mere shadows within it. Fortunately, Caine himself was a master of "mystery figures," and immediately focused his attention, manipulating the "spirit threads" connecting himself and the messenger girl, mimicking Zaratustra's initial method, causing them to loop around his body and return to their original positions, forming one circle after another. "Roar!" The dark-azure magical wolf expelled a burst of air, hurling it like a cannonball toward Caine. Since Caine was fully absorbed in managing his own and the messenger girl's "spirit threads," he could only barely evade the attack, and was on the verge of being struck when Lady Renette Tiniel drifted in, stepping in front of him. Thunderous! Renette's golden hair streamed out, and several of the strange vines缠绕ing her body snapped. The Udark Magus Wolf launched a continuous stream of attacks against Caine, seizing the moment when the "curtain" was desperately drawing the target's "spirit thread." Forced to constantly counter, Renette Tini科尔 could only hold back, and the sturdy, ancient entity—once so resilient—now trembled under the onslaught of claws, air bursts, and flames, bearing visible wounds across its body, as if it could not withstand much longer. At this critical moment, Caine, maneuvering the "spirit thread" to resist the curtain's pull, moved with somewhat labored grace, reaching into his coat pocket and withdrawing another iron cigarette box. Once the seal was broken and the box opened, a gold coin lay quietly inside, its surface bearing a spectral presence—this time, a faintly blurred female spirit, a true immaterial being, not merely a "spirit" born through the "strange species" pathway. It was Klein's strongest reserve card, previously unused because he had been isolated within a self-contained "realm" with no connection to the outside world, fearing it might not yield the desired effect. Only when the "curtain" launched an attack directly against him and the messenger maiden did he feel the moment had arrived. As the box opened, the vengeful spirit leapt suddenly onto a fragment of glass, its body radiating an array of nearly ethereal black tubes extending into infinity, seemingly connecting to distant unknown points. These were the marks of a synthetic Death God—now equivalent to the "Night Goddess." Klein's card aimed to recreate the very event in which the "Night Goddess" used the corpse of the divine "Honor God," Bradel, to disrupt Amun's efforts to seize the "Source Citadel." For this purpose, he deliberately sought out a spirit-being creature in the abandoned lands, imprisoning it and placing it alongside the white feathers summoned from the synthetic Death God's initiative within the historical haze. Through Klein's repeated experiments and his special prayers made back in Bekland, this "spirit of resentment" has finally established a connection with the synthetic Death God, enabling the "Goddess of Night" to exert a more subtle influence! PS: An additional chapter at 7 PM—please support with your monthly subscription!