"—it's a curse."

Aihuas's face was grim, and he immediately judged the category of the curse: "It's the Curse of Stained Blood." ”

This is a painful curse that uses poisonous scorpions, poisonous snakes, and living poisonous toads as materials, and uses menstrual blood as a medium to cast a curse. It can make people feel the pain of triple menstrual cramps continuously, and can torment people for half an hour to six hours, depending on the resistance to the curse.

Sherlock's face suddenly turned pale, and his pupils instantly bloomed with a deep blue glow.

An icy, rational, mysterious light shone from the bottom of his pupils, and he stretched out the little finger of his left hand and streaked a cane-like rune through the air.

"Water is better than blood, just as the pure is better than the unclean."

He muttered in a low voice as he picked up the bottle of pure water from the table.

Sherlock flipped it upside down, but the water did not fall to the ground, but filled the rune.

When it filled, it suddenly shrank into a ball of water. Then it flew forward and slapped Lulu in the face.

As the water splashed, the pure water turned into rancid blood and dripped to the ground as it splashed out of his face.

Lulu's low cry of pain suddenly subsided. But she was still vomiting and vomiting blood.

Ivus reached out and probed it, and found that the back of her neck and chest were unusually cold.

He frowned: "You didn't solve it cleanly, only half of it." ”

Sherlock glanced at it, judging from Lulu's symptoms, "This curse is a bit complicated. It looked like her esophagus and stomach were being corrupted by the curse, and it wasn't just menstrual blood. Is this a compound curse, or do you come on...... Professional people do professional things. ”

"Well, I'll do it."

"Do you still have enough mana?"

"At least it's enough to cure her."

Ivas replied.

He lifted Lulu up, half-seated and her face down, preventing choking on the dirty blood she coughed up and causing suffocation.

Then Eivas stretched out his left hand, and the five fingers sank into the thick and dense white-blond hair of "his wife", and held the somewhat cold back of her neck with the root of his palm, and pressed the fingertips of the middle finger of his left hand against the back of her head.

His expression was heavy and solemn, and his azure blue pupils lit up like a sunset.

When he resonates with the path, he blooms with a crimson and golden brilliance, symbolizing the excess of the fire element of the dedication path.

- This is the most obvious response to the treatment of Ivace's "Illumination Technique".

Pitch-black smoke continued to pour out of the back of Lulu's head, dyeing even her white-blonde hair a little dull. Her body spasmed violently and trembled at an extremely high frequency. But she gritted her teeth and didn't make a sound, for fear of waking up little Ivus...... It's just that there is still a muffled grunt that can't help it.

"It's a guest, it's not very friendly."

Sherlock said faintly, "Leave it to me, you continue to heal." ”

He reached out and threw the sulfuric acid out of the table, letting it land on the wall.

But the moment the bottle shattered, he stretched out his right hand and clenched it into a fist, and suddenly pointed a fist at the sulfuric acid bottle.

I saw that the transparent oily concentrated sulfuric acid did not splash out, but was poured into some dark green gas, causing it to bulge slightly...... It's like a fist, it's like a beating heart. Compared with sulfuric acid, it is more viscous, but the volume has increased a lot.

The next moment, Sherlock's right hand opened into a claw, and it grabbed the corner not far from the place where the sulfuric acid bottle landed.

There was an unnatural shadow there, which was gradually becoming clear and reddish.

Teleportation over long distances requires manifestation time. After Lulu was cursed, Sherlock kept an eye on her surroundings.

"Fox" picked a good place. In this closed factory, the brightness should be uniform.

As long as somewhere suddenly darkens or brightens, it's a sign that the Iron Hook Demon has teleported in!

The oily green viscous liquid suspended in the air also formed a sharp claw at the same time, grabbing at that position!

It's like a baby crying, and it's like an old cat crying for spring. A terrible and unusual voice came...... It's a high-pitched sound that penetrates your eardrum and makes you feel like something is buzzing in your ear.

But even so, the sleeping little Ivas was not awakened. It's just like I'm having a nightmare, struggling in pain.

"I hate children who are rude."

Sherlock whispered gloomily, "Especially the kind of ...... that is loud and loud"

His spells deal very effective damage and control-

He is only calf high, his body is red, and his legs are four arms...... The little devil who looks like a bald fat man and the head of a vicious baby is grabbed by sulfuric acid claws just after he appears!

There was a sneering burning sound, and it couldn't break free for a moment.

The sulfuric claw made of liquid seemed to have an entity in it, and it was fiercely held in place, burning continuously!

- It seems that the situation is good, but Sherlock has no joy in the slightest.

Because he could clearly feel that when he guided and maintained the spell, the water attribute and earth attribute mana in his body were burning rapidly.

When he purified the curse on his body before, he used a little water attribute mana. There are only the last two points of water attribute mana left.

Even if he used his path characteristics to forcibly replace the water attribute mana with his richest earth-attribute mana to activate the bottle of concentrated sulfuric acid, build the "Water Demon Hand", and bear the subsequent half of the maintenance mana consumption. However, this spell still requires at least half of the water mana to maintain.

Two points of water-attribute mana, plus two points of earth-attribute mana, are only enough to maintain this spell for forty seconds.

It is more than enough for flesh and blood humans.

An activated sulfuric claw with speeds of up to twenty meters per second is enough to easily take out a squad of ordinary people. The Water Demon Hand is constructed of pure water, which can briefly melt and infiltrate the armor; And the Water Demon Hand he built with the mana of the earth attribute can easily pinch the tree and tear the leather armor.

But even so, there is a high probability that this will not kill the Iron Hook Demon. One can only hope to hurt it and scare it away.

As long as "Fox" dispels the compound curse on "Lulu" as soon as possible, it will be considered a victory!

Because without the Cursed being nearby, the Iron Hook Demon cannot teleport. So what does it threaten...... At least not that big.

…… Wait a minute?

Sherlock's face suddenly changed, and he realized something.

Curse?

Although he doesn't know much about this, he does know a principle.

That is, it will be more and more difficult to curse a person repeatedly. Curses also increase the cursed person's curse resistance, and mediums that have been used once cannot be reused.

In other words, in the limited time of four hours, the enemy may only be able to curse each of them once.

If that's the case, maybe Coco didn't build an anti-demon circle...... Instead, like himself, he directly dispelled the curse on his body and invalidated his positioning!

Among the Alexandrians, the first to be cursed was not the "fox".

- but "Little Ewas"!

Now that he and Lulu have been cursed...... Then it's the fox's turn next!

Thinking of this, Sherlock's heart sank.

Worst.

This is the downside of the path of giving.

He can easily lift other people's curses, but he can't use illumination on himself. It is the secret art of burning oneself to illuminate others.

By the way, priests can use "ritual fire"!

…… But there are no candles here!

"Fox!"

Amid the Hook Demon's terrible screams, Sherlock suddenly opened his mouth and asked in a loud voice, "Can you use 'Ritual Fire' on burning wood or chemical agents?" ”

“…… You're thinking too highly of me, aren't you? ”

Aihuas was helpless, and also responded loudly: "And the healing power of the fire ritual method is far less powerful than the illumination technique. Even if I can use it, I can't dispel the curse of the second level with the first energy level! ”

…… Speaking of which, too.

Sherlock didn't know that much about the path of giving. But he just remembered...... That Ivas Moriarty was also a priest, but he still had to use a wheelchair. Presumably, the source of the damage is too high, so the fire cannot be dispelled.

Because the essence of the pastor's "fire" is "restoration", not "healing" and "regeneration". This means that the higher the level of the source of the damage, the more difficult it is to heal. It can really be regarded as "regeneration", the ability to restore health by relying only on the self-healing power of the body itself, in the path of adaptation and equilibrium.

But hearing the fox say this, Sherlock knew that the clever and cunning young man was aware of the problem.

"And what are you going to do?"

Sherlock asked.

"What else can I do?"

Ivus replied briskly, "Aren't we all sure we're winning?" ”

As he spoke, he had successfully dispelled the curse on Lulu.

At this point, Sherlock knew what Ivas was going to do.

The Hook Demon's screams came to an abrupt end.

This is clearly not death – it is still in good health. This should have been recalled by its owner.

Ivas breathed a sigh of relief.

"Don't look at it, Mr. Sherlock."

He reminded and unbuttoned Lulu's coat and told her to lie on her side instead. And put your left hand through the waist of the skirt, directly touching the skin on your chest. With the few remnants of his light attribute mana, he activated the "Illumination Technique".

"You are."

Sherlock didn't look back, but replied in the same way, "Don't touch it—Miss Lulu is still a young girl." ”

He mentally added: "It's still a princess."

"Of course I do."

Ivus replied angrily, "Who do you think of me?" A beast that preys on a child? ”

He subconsciously regarded Lulu as a child.

As a courtesy, Ivas touched the side of her heart, not the front.

The scorching mana flowed through the limbs with the powerful pumping of the heart, and the corroded mucous membranes in the throat and stomach regenerated rapidly. Lulu's injuries were well recovered, and she used a little mana from Ivus.

After Ivus pulled out her hand, the first thing Lulu did when she got up was to tidy up her clothes.

“…… Thank you, Mr. Fox. ”

Lulu's face was slightly red, but she still thanked Ivus seriously: "You didn't have to save my ...... in the first place"

"Are you mean, killing you?"

Sherlock was the first to react.

"I refuse."

Ivus slouched, "If it's Basil here, maybe she'll do it." But I won't. ”

And when he had said that, he went alone to the way he had come.

"-Mr. Fox?"

Lulu was startled, and subconsciously wondered if she had said or done something wrong.

Ivas stopped, turned back and said leisurely:

"The devil can't find you anymore. But he can still find me...... There is still an hour left before the ceremony ends. So as long as I'm not with Little Iwas, we've already won.

"If it takes a devotee to win at this moment, it can only be me. Stay here and don't move. ”

Ivas said, looking at Sherlock, and asked casually, "Ah, yes." Is there a dagger? I'm going to take some of my belongings, otherwise I'm going to get a little flustered. ”

“…… Do you want a paper cutter? ”

Sherlock pulled out a knife.

It was a paper cutter that the newsboy carried with him, and it had no power to speak of.

But suicide is enough.

Sherlock thought that the fox had asked for a knife to kill himself after luring the demon out—so that he could at least avoid the pain of being disemboweled.

"Okay."

Ivas took it: "It's better than nothing." ”

"Do you want me to help you? I can make your death a little more painless. ”

"I'd better die outside, or Lulu will be scared."

Ivus said briskly.

Of course, he wanted this knife, and it was certainly not to commit suicide.

As long as you can cut yourself, it is convenient for you to use the "pastoral method...... Otherwise, he might have to use a bite.

- Yes, the Pastoral Law.

The skill of "shepherding (flesh and blood)" belongs to the path of dedication. Probably because he had seen the shepherd's tantra and held the shepherding method, the ritual assigned them the demon "Iron Hook Demon" as an enemy...... will think that they may be able to kill strong enemies and find the murderer behind the scenes.

It's because in the difficulty of this mission, in addition to the bone carving and Sherlock, the shepherding method held by Ivus was also calculated, as well as the demonic knowledge he possessed!

As long as he successfully completes the shepherding method, he will be able to control this subordinate demon.

Not even the Shadow Fiend could resist the blood of Ivus...... The Iron Hook Demon is much weaker than the Shadow Demon.

Moreover, the Iron Hook Demon's intelligence is like that of a three-year-old child, and even among the lower demons, it can be regarded as the leader of the mentally retarded.

The Iron Hook Demon had not been specifically trained to be intellectually trained, and his master was obviously not equipped with this technique, or he did not think that there were anyone in Avalon who was familiar with the characteristics of the Iron Hook Demon.

When caught by Sherlock, it only screams at frogs, and does not know how to teleport to break free of its restraints, which can be done with training and special strengthening.

Jack the Ripper did this kind of augmentation, which made it a lot more difficult.

According to the original, ideal development, it should be that the Iron Hook Demon descended in front of the eyes of "Little Aihuas", and then was controlled by Aihuas.

After Sherlock uses his wits and finds everyone, it is only right to form a group of nine with distinct functions and follow the clues of the Iron Hook Demon to find the door.

That's really easy.

But just as the bone carvings refused to cooperate with them......

The ritual also failed to conclude that Ivas "did not want to reveal that he had pastoral practices"—especially not wanting to expose himself to Sherlock.

That's why the difficulty has increased so much for no reason.

After all, the identity of the fox still has to be innocent. This is the superficial identity that Ivas deliberately made to be exposed.

That's why he deliberately maintains his image in front of the two.

What he wants is to use the identity of a fox to hide his other identity beyond the path!

Ivas was right.

For Sherlock and Lulu, the ritual is over – they've triumphed.

Make sure little Ivus survives and make sure to play until the end. The two necessary tasks have been accomplished.

But for Ivus, who is looking for higher points and searching for the truth...... His adventure had only just begun.

Ivus turned his back to the translucent door, hiding his killing intent, smiling and nodding lightly.

said one last hello to Sherlock with a complicated expression and a somewhat sad Lulu, and issued the "last words" left by him before his heroic death in their minds:

"Optimistic about 'our children', Lulu. Sing him another lullaby, he doesn't seem to be sleeping well. It seems to be noisy.

"And, Mr. Sherlock. I'll go to you when I have time...... If you have time. ”

They will definitely be impressed with me.

- And now, I'm going to start hunting.

Ivas thought silently.