Looking at Fisher—two meters tall, covered in red hardened skin, with fangs, claws, and bat wings—William grinned and said, "I'm looking for a skeletal demon. If you can't help, then go back to Hell and find a place to hide."
"N-no, no, no, Master, I—I…" Fisher definitely didn't want to go back to Hell at such a dangerous time. After stammering for a while, as if making up his mind, he trembled a few times and transformed from a two-meter-tall monster into a forty-centimeter-tall bully dog.
Then, a magical spirit, resembling a soul, appeared above the bully dog's head.
William knew that if he accepted this magical spirit, it would mean having complete control over Fisher's life and death, with the ability to force him to do anything.
After thinking about it, not wanting to be directly tied to a demon, he pulled out an empty soul coin from his storage space and sealed Fisher's magical spirit inside it.
The skull on the soul coin instantly turned into Fisher's demon head, and then William stored it away.
From the bully dog's eyes, William immediately caught a flicker of disappointment and regret.
As expected, no demon is trustworthy. They're either plotting against others or thinking about how to turn the tables.
But Fisher had no chance to back out now. He could only act like a real bully dog, panting and wagging his tongue to please William, and even suggested, "Master, if you want to find a skeletal demon, you can go see Freddy. He's a nightmare demon who was once human—perfect for tracking skeletal demons who take human form."
"Freddy?"
William chuckled. "Damn, you demons really do sell each other out in the blink of an eye."
With that, he kicked the bully dog flying and then cheerfully asked the tense Wong and the others, "Are you coming with me, or going back to report what you saw and heard to the Ancient One?"
Sensing that William hadn't shown any hostility or intention to silence them, Wong and the others felt a slight sense of relief.
But that only made them more afraid. The calmer William appeared, the more cautious these already half-scared sorcerers became.
If what that demon—who had been kicked away and then ran back like a little lapdog—said was true, then the young man in front of them was someone who had stirred up Hell and played two demon lords against each other.
Not to mention, they had just seen William pull a demon's true body into Earth with their own eyes.
Never mind how obedient Fisher seemed in front of William—if they encountered him alone, now that he was a mid-tier demon, the outcome would be uncertain.
Seeing Wong and the others silent and constantly on guard, William chuckled and with a wave of his hand, sent all four of them flying back to the New York Sanctum Sanctorum, into the same tea room where he had been drinking tea with the Ancient One earlier.
Thud, thud, thud, thud.
The sounds of four bodies crashing to the floor rang out in succession. Holding her teacup, the Ancient One only had to think for a moment to realize that her four subordinates had been tossed back by William.
Dazed and aching, the four sorcerers immediately got up and assumed defensive stances.
When they saw the Ancient One calmly sipping her tea, they finally relaxed completely and collapsed to the floor, trying to steady their racing hearts.
Setting down her teacup, the Ancient One gently tapped her fan on the table and asked in a low voice, "What happened? And why did you offend William?"
"Apologies, Your Excellency," Wong and the others immediately stood and bowed to the Ancient One before recounting everything. "William Devonshire just pulled a demon's true body from Hell. That demon said he was acting on William's orders and had successfully stirred conflict between Cyttorak and Mephisto. Hell is now on the brink of war. Your Excellency, shouldn't we start preparing? And perhaps consider limiting William Devonshire's recklessness?"
The Ancient One paused, her expression showing a mix of admiration and pity as she looked at Wong.
Then she shook her head with a sigh. She knew full well that unless William truly fell into darkness, she couldn't lay a hand on him—not when he held the Space Stone.
Even setting aside whether she could defeat him, if William wanted to escape, no one could stop him.
After frowning and thinking for a moment with her eyes closed, she finally said, "Don't worry. The longer a demon's true body stays out of Hell, the weaker it becomes. Otherwise, without the restraint of Heaven, those demon lords wouldn't have behaved so tamely over the last millennium.
As for that demon—it's just a mid-tier demon. It won't change anything."
Wong and the others recalled that the records at Kamar-Taj did note that demons weakened the longer they stayed outside Hell.
Seeing their expressions relax, the Ancient One smiled and said, "Do you think serving under William is easy? One wrong move and you could be killed—or worse, have your magical spirit completely and permanently sealed away on some cold, desolate alien planet, like Benar Darius."
"Benar Darius?" Wong exclaimed. "Mephisto's descendant? That's impossible!"
"Nothing is impossible," the Ancient One said with a smile as she sipped her tea. "These demon princes long to sneak into our world to wreak havoc and absorb as many souls as possible, all in hopes of returning and overthrowing their fathers.
So for those demon princes who show ambition, the demon lords have no sentiment to spare.
William sealed Benar Darius to prevent Mephisto from devouring him and gaining more power."
Upon hearing of such a feat, Wong and the others, though still uneasy about William, no longer viewed him as a pure enemy.
As for William himself, he couldn't care less about what Wong and the others thought. With a teleport, he brought Fisher to Clark County in the US—a place he had been to before.
He kicked the bully dog at his feet. "Where's Freddy?"
"O-on Elm Street, Master," said the bully dog as he came trotting back after being kicked, panting and wagging his tongue. "Just stand on Elm Street and shout 'Freddy, Freddy, I came to play with you,' and that guy will show up in your dreams."
"Oh? In my dreams?"
This time William gave him a full-power kick like a soccer ball, sending Fisher flying dozens of meters until he smashed into a large tree, making it tremble.
But Fisher only lay there gasping for a moment before scampering back. "M-Master, if I go looking for Freddy myself, that guy might get scared and not show up."
"That's your problem, isn't it, Fisher?" William said, narrowing his eyes.
"A-all right, Master."
Terrified by William's cold stare, Fisher quickly dropped his little scheme, spat out a soul coin and bit down on it, then led William to Elm Street.
At a small park, William disguised himself with a baseball cap made from Sentinel materials and sat on a bench. He waited for over two hours. When night fell, he watched Fisher summon a soul.
"Freddy, Freddy, we came to play with you."
Using a child's voice, Fisher called out over and over in the park.
Soon, a cold wind blew through the area, and invisible William immediately felt a chilling aura brush across his skin.
Freddy had arrived.
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