The Whale Man drooled profusely, its massive eyes fixed on Naimes and the others' stomachs—clearly craving their internal organs. Its enormous body charged forward, the sheer weight causing the cave to tremble slightly.

The Shadow Hound lunged upward, sinking its teeth into the Whale Man's neck. Tangs also mustered his courage and crashed into the creature head-on. At this moment, Kullog sealed within his body fully unleashed its power. Dark demonic energy surged through Tangs' entire being, pushing his physical capabilities to their limits while temporarily granting him undying attributes.

Upon impact, Tangs was forced back several steps. In terms of pure physical strength, he was no match for the Whale Man. Clearly, though the creature hadn't fully transformed into a whale, it had already reached the peak of Black Stone grade and consequently gained supernatural traits like massive size prematurely.

The Whale Man's charge was halted by the collision. Its fat, inflexible hands kept clawing at its own neck, trying to tear off the Shadow Hound biting into it. Yet the hound's agility completely outmatched the Whale Man's. Its body frequently dissolved into shadows to evade the grasping hands while continuously leaping across the Whale Man's broad shoulders—its front claws and sharp teeth constantly targeting the creature's face and neck.

Naimes' true demon form belonged to a variant demon species, making him a special type of demon. Small demons were equivalent to peak Black Stone grade beings with early supernatural traits. Regular demons matched Steel Seed grade. Variant demons were a demon subspecies that somewhat surpassed normal demons, slightly inferior to high-tier demons equivalent to Gold Seed grade. New ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄhapters are published on ⓝovelFire.net

The Shadow Hound summoned by Naimes using his true power was an abyssal creature distinct from demons. Unlike demons that evolved by devouring souls and killing, these creatures survived in the Abyss through their own unique abilities. Its nimble body persistently harassed the Whale Man, who didn't dare open its eyes fully—knowing claws would immediately stab toward them to gouge out its eyeballs.

"Raaaaagh!" Forced into this situation, the Whale Man opened its mouth and roared. The tremendous bellow carried waves of Whale Song within it. The Shadow Hound's body rippled unsteadily as the sonic waves disrupted its form.

Though the Whale Man's rationality had diminished, its animalistic combat instincts had sharpened. Seizing this opportunity, it slightly opened its eyes to locate the Shadow Hound and grabbed it with one hand while swinging the other to meet Tangs' renewed charge.

Just then, an arrow shot accurately into the Whale Man's barely-opened eye. Pur, hiding near the cave entrance, proved himself an excellent archer. The pained Whale Man turned its head, sensing the Shadow Hound in its grip liquefying and slipping between its fingers. Meanwhile, Tangs—unfazed after taking a punch—charged again and grabbed the Whale Man's enormous thigh. Demon energy surged as Tangs strained to lift the leg, destabilizing the creature's center of gravity.

"Damn beast!!" The village guard screamed hoarsely, instinctively wanting to turn and help his daughter. But numerous ropes swiftly coiled around his body, instantly sealing his movement, strength, and even voice.

"Save your energy. I'll need you to explain some things later." Seeing the guard still struggling, Naimes tightened the Oath Rope's grip. "Both your lives are in my hands now!" As he spoke, a heavy thud sounded—the Whale Man had finally toppled from losing balance.

The Oath Rope writhed, quickly binding the Whale Man completely. Only then did Naimes turn his attention to the village guard. Comparatively, both the Whale Man and the guard represented valuable assets. While Whale Transformation Disease was rare, cases could still be found. But controllable Whale Transformation? This was currently the only known instance.

The combat power from Whale Transformation Disease meant little to Naimes—its true value lay in the "whale transformation" itself. The White Whale Church, a heretical cult, worshipped Floating Whales as world miracles unrelated to gods, obsessively venerating everything about them. Spread across major Floating Whale cities, they deeply researched Whale Transformation Disease, with most members transplanting whale flesh and organs to gain power and elevate their species grade.

If they learned of controllable Whale Transformation's existence, they'd pay any price for it. Used properly, this cult could become a powerful ally. Therefore...

"If you don't want your daughter to suffer inhuman treatment, cooperate fully. Say exactly what I tell you to say!" Naimes' tone remained calm, but his words carried undeniable firmness that clearly reached the guard. He then gave the guard time to think before releasing the silence control.

"Speak. You have at least three things to say."

"You beasts! Demon lackeys! I'll kill you all... Aaah!!"

"AAAAHHH!"

Naimes tilted his head slightly, revealing more of the Whale Man's predicament behind him. The ropes twisted violently, forcing agonized screams from the creature before silence control muted them again. Soon, only the village guard's pained cries for his daughter echoed through the cave.

*Snap!* Naimes' fingers clicked, and the guard—bound like a hunched shrimp—became a silent screamer. His mouth gaped wide, face flushed red, drool dripping from his voiceless shouts.

"Not those words." Naimes remained utterly composed. "I can control pain perception. Any more nonsense, and I'll make your daughter experience tenfold her current suffering."

The guard glared at Naimes with bloodshot eyes full of hatred—to which Naimes remained indifferent as a passing breeze. After several minutes waiting for the guard to calm down and regain rationality, Naimes lifted the silence control again, awaiting his response.

"I summoned the demon..." With rationality restored, the guard reluctantly confessed under pressure. Once the words started flowing, everything became manageable. Soon Naimes extracted all desired information—details about controllable Whale Transformation, Op's secrets, and the guard's knowledge about the old priest.

The Whale Transformation data involved too many complex factors requiring later experiments. While the guard knew little about the old priest, he provided a breakthrough regarding Op.

"So you're saying... he's mining whalehide ore?"