Infinity: Kill your way through the movie world.

“What if the Death Knight could directly take Castio’s soul?” Dean turned his head, a near-mad light flashing in his eyes. “Extract his soul at the moment of his death, preserve it, and then put it back after Leviathan is banished.”

“That requires the Death Knight’s consent,” Sam said. “And how do you contact him?”

Dean grabbed the dagger and ripped off the cloth wrapping.

The chaotic patterns on the blade shimmered slightly in the sunlight.

Dean stared at the patterns, took a deep breath, and then quickly parked the car on a secluded side of the road.

He then picked up the dagger again and began to chant in a low voice. It wasn't a proper incantation; it was something he made up himself, a mixture of prayers, pleas, and... somewhat disrespectful titles.

"Old man, listen up. I know you can hear me. This knife of mine has your power, which is like leaving a backdoor. Now I'm asking for after-sales service."

"Come out and let's talk about the question of who should possess the souls of an angel and a monster. Don't pretend you can't hear me; I know you're not that busy..."

He read for five minutes.

Nothing happened.

Sam sighed. "Dean, this won't work."

Dean, however, still refused to give up and began cursing at the dagger: "If you don't show up, I'm going to find Lor. I'm sure he has a way to make you show up."

"You don't want to either."

Before he finished speaking, the temperature in the car dropped sharply.

It wasn't the air conditioning that caused it; it was a colder, more fundamental kind of cold, as if time had stopped, or as if everything had come to an end.

A layer of frost formed on the car window, spreading and creating intricate ice crystal patterns.

A voice came from the back seat.

Aged, dry, like the wind blowing through withered bones in the desert.

“Young man,” the Death Knight said, “you should learn to respect the elderly.”

"Besides, I'm really busy. Death isn't as simple as you think. People die every second on this earth, and I'm only talking about this earth!"

Dean and Sam turned around at the same time.

An old man was sitting in the back seat.

The old man was dressed in a worn-out black suit and carried a bone cane. His face was hidden in the shadows, and only his withered skin on his chin and thin, knife-like lips could be seen.

“But you’re right about one thing at least,” the Death Knight continued. “I did leave a ‘backdoor.’ This dagger bears my mark, and you can call me through it, although I don’t usually recommend doing so, because frequent contact with death is not a good option.”

“We need help,” Dean pleaded urgently, his tone much more serious this time.

“About the angel who swallowed Leviathan.” The Death Knight gripped his cane with both hands, resting his chin on the back of his hands. “I know that the fate lines of all things that are about to die are on my ledger. Castio Miller’s lines… are tangled, intertwined with another, older, more chaotic line, tied in a knot.”

"Can we separate?" Sam asked.

“Yes,” the Death Knight said, “but at a price, a price you cannot afford, and it will interfere with the deaths of many people.”

"Because the power of that ancient soul is too great, it's like a safe that completely encloses and locks up Castio's soul. If I forcibly open it, it will cause a violent wave of death."

"Moreover, even if I were to intervene, the soul separation surgery is very delicate. If I'm not careful, Castio's thread will break. And even if the separation is successful, Castio's soul will be damaged. He may lose his memory, he may lose some of his abilities, and he may... no longer be the angel you know."

“As long as he lives,” Dean said firmly. The Death Knight shook his head and continued, “During this process, the rules will be briefly disrupted. The disruption may last for one second or ten seconds, but as I said before, people die every second in this world.”

"If one person's death trajectory changes, it may affect the lives of many other people around them, just like the fate of that little girl, which you experienced."

Do you want to repeat the same mistake you made before?

"I," Dean said, falling silent.

The Death Knight also remained silent for a moment.

Then he stretched out his withered hand, the skin clinging to the bone, and made a vague gesture in the air.

A semi-transparent line appeared out of thin air, with a pale golden dot at one end and a dark yellow twisted mass at the other. The dark yellow almost completely enveloped the pale gold, like a glutinous rice ball with a crack.

They were intertwined so tightly that they were inseparable.

“Look here.” The Death Knight pointed to the junction of the lines. “The fusion of the two is over 70%. It increases by 0.5% every hour. When it exceeds 90%, it will be irreversible. You have... about 40 hours left.”

He withdrew his hand, and the thread disappeared.

“What if we take another approach? We want Castio to realize the seriousness of the situation, and then it's up to him,” Dean said again. “That requires you to show him some possible scenarios.”

“I will help.” The Death Knight nodded slightly. “Not because I like you, nor because I pity that angel, but because if the complete Leviathan descends, it will cause a lot of ‘unnatural deaths.’ These unplanned deaths will increase my workload, and I hate working overtime.”

He took a pocket watch out of his suit pocket and opened the cover.

The dial has no numbers, only countless tiny points of light moving slowly, each point representing the fate line of a dying creature.

“I’ll show up when you’ve trapped Castio, but I can’t guarantee success.” He stared at Dean. “Do you agree?”

Dean's throat was dry.

He looked into the old man's eyes, hidden in the shadows, where there was only eternal calm, devoid of any emotion.

"I agree."

“Very well.” The Death Knight closed his pocket watch. “Then, do what you must do: find him, trap him, and then… pray.”

As soon as he finished speaking, his figure began to fade, like melting ice.

“Wait a minute,” Sam suddenly said. “Crowley… what role does he play in this, and why is he helping us?”

The Death Knight had become completely transparent; only his voice still echoed inside the car.
“Crowley is afraid of the complete Leviathan because it would threaten his control over Hell. He is also afraid of Lor because Lor has the ability to kill him. So he chooses to stand in the middle and push you to be his pawns. This is the devil’s scheme, as always.”

The sound disappears.

The temperature inside the car returned to normal, and the frost on the windows melted, turning into water droplets that slid off.

Dean and Sam sat in the car, remaining silent for a long time.

Finally, Dean started the car, turned it around, and drove out of the city.

"Where to?" Sam asked.

“South Dakota,” Dean said, staring at the road ahead. “An abandoned warehouse. We’ll wait for him there.” (End of Chapter)