"Curse?" Roland couldn't help but repeat, the word sounded ominous.

"Please follow me. Pasha turned and led the group into a cavern next to the main hall, where the stone walls had been carved out in uniform grooves, and were filled with books and scrolls of all kinds, even more than the Privy Temple. "Selene, Your Majesty is here. 」

"Got it," before they could see him, Selene's voice had already come to mind. Then a tentacle fell from the bottom of the cave, snapping a pile of books and quickly shrinking back into the darkness.

Before that, the tentacles symbolically bent towards Roland, presumably as a sign of salute.

"Ahem—I'm sorry, she's more selfless when she meets a new research subject. Pasha was a little embarrassed, "After all, there are very few witches who are as lucky as Lightning, who are cursed but not mortally wounded. 」

"She's not going to do anything to lightning, is she?" Roland can't help but think of the guinea pigs that have been fiddled with in various poses.

"Rest assured, the main means of magic research at the moment are still observation and recording, but with the help of the core, she can see the flow of every wisp of magic more clearly. Pasha said as she rolled up the book on the floor and spread it out in front of the crowd, "Look here...... And here. 」

Roland noticed that most of the pages had been yellowed, apparently from the Tachira era, and that in the place pointed out, in addition to the ontology recorded in witch script, there was also a translated note, undoubtedly improvised for the purpose of reading.

He looked closely and saw that it was an account of two wars.

"During a siege in the Dawn Realm, eight wounded witches were rescued by reinforcements and were supposed to be able to save their lives, but they all died one by one. The cause of death is the ineffectiveness of all treatments, the delay in healing the wound, resulting in excessive blood loss and infection by evil diseases. Before they died, they both endured terrible torture, so much so that in the end, the two chose to commit suicide. "The details of that battle are too long ago to be known, and the writer has only recorded this bizarre scene, and it is here that the devil's curse is first mentioned. 」

"On another occasion, close to our time, a high-ranking devil known as the Imperian by the Federation engaged in a fierce battle against the army of witches in Thousand Lakes on the edge of the Fertile Plains. This ruthless monster attaches its magic to the Blackstone Spear, and when hit, it will decay until it withers. Pasha paused, "Three transcendent witches have died at its hands, and the Quest has found strange magic in the wounded. 」

Roland had already guessed the conclusion, "That magic comes from the enemy?"

"That's right," Pasha nodded, "That's why we speculate that these abilities may be of the same type, and that they will remain within the target's body and cause ongoing damage. Conventional medical treatment methods are ineffective, and it is difficult to eliminate it by external forces. 」

"It's like a curse," Wendy said sadly, "it's terrible......"

The nightingale noticed the other party's wording, "It is difficult to eliminate by external force, that is...... Or is there a way to get rid of it?"

Pasha then flipped the page, "If we don't make a mistake. 」

Roland quickly finished the last account: just as Thousand Lakes was in danger, a witch named Semanga stepped forward, awakened to the transcendent in a desperate fight, and slashed the Imperius by the sword. As the high-ranking devil was split in two, she survived as if the curse had never existed, as if she had never been there. Due to her proximity to the Red Mist Zone, Thousand Lakes City was still declared lost a year later, but she had bought enough time for the evacuation of the people. Later, with a very strong will, Semanga made the federation adopt the three-seat system and became one of the first three seats.

Seeing this, he instantly understood what the other party meant.

If the lightning is really affected by the magic curse, then killing the other party may be the only way to get rid of it at the moment - but it is indeed "difficult" to do! The Battle of the Snow Mountain Camp and the Battle of Wangbeipo have proved the amazing ability of the high-level devils, and it is better to insist on going head-to-head with the First Army, if they do not intend to fight head-on, it is too risky to catch up and destroy them.

In the Tachira era, this was an almost impossible task.

High-ranking devils usually act with large armies, like the core of an army, and it is difficult to achieve victory alone, let alone annihilate the enemy?

Roland couldn't help but think of the nameless witch who wrote to Nataya.

Now that she thinks about it, she is probably also hurt by a similar ability, so she left those last words.

The person who can talk to Sanxi's letter will never be a general, and her ability and status should be at the top of the federation, but even she can only silently accept the arrival of the final ending.

Just because she wants to find the powerful enemy who has hurt her among thousands of demons and eradicate it, she needs to take the lives of more witches, and it is already clear what choice to make under the power of two evils.

Nightingale probably thought of this too, and her hands unconsciously clenched into fists.

Roland pondered for a moment before speaking, "It's really difficult, but I will never give up this possibility. ”

"......," Pasha was silent for a moment, "if that's what you want." 」

"Until then, I want to know a few more things - what happens if the high-level devil that Lightning encounters has the ability to cast a curse without touching it?"

"It's going to be much worse than a witch. Selene's voice suddenly interjected again, "Magic has given us greater resilience and resistance, making it difficult for the regular plagues, the tiny creatures you mentioned in your book, to infect us. But mortals can't, as long as the wound does not heal, they are in danger of deteriorating or even dying at any time. 」

"Can the Stone of Divine Punishment resist this ability?"

"Of course you can, in fact, if the Imperius monsters mentioned in the ancient books had not possessed strange powers no less than those of transcendent witches, they would not have caused such a great loss to the Federation. But—" Selene's tone paused, "Based on Lightning's information, we can't rule out the possibility that the other party is still a demon slayer. In that case, the Divine Punishment Stone would be of very limited use. 」

The more powerful the devil, the closer it is to humans in appearance, which is the experience that the Federation summed up in the two battles of divine will.

Roland took a deep breath.

Selene's reminder is not alarmist, and according to Lightning's description, the new high-level devil is likely to be more problematic than all enemies in the past.

There is no doubt that the expedition to Taqira had to be planned with sufficient precision to make it possible.