At this moment, there is less than an hour left before the ceremony ends.
Twenty minutes to be exact.
Even if Aiwass could control the Iron Hook Demon and let it lead him, it was too late.
Not to mention how scary it would be to ride in a carriage with this thing, even if he could find a way to ride in a carriage, he would not be able to make it in time.
The ritual was scheduled to last four hours, and upon entering, little Aiwass was already cursed.
According to the "ideal situation" calculated by the Pillar God who created the dream, Aiwass should take Lulu out of the cathedral and go directly to Legal Square, a journey of half an hour.
When they arrived, the Iron Hook Demon appeared for the first time. After cooperating with Sherlock to repel it, they still had more than three hours left for them to gather their partners, follow the Iron Hook Demon to find the murderer, and defeat it. What was needed was Sherlock's wisdom.
This means that his location is not that easy to find. It may require reasoning from the path of wisdom to find it.
However, Aiwas felt that he had a good brain and should be able to find it with the help of the Hook Demon.
The only thing Aiwass miscalculated was that this enemy was a bit stubborn.
After trying to attack the bone sculpture once, the curse master still did not give up and sent the hook demon to try again.
But this time they failed to defeat him, and instead injured the Iron Hook Demon. This shows that the "Bone Sculptor" is indeed a very powerful transcendent, and he should be the force in their team. This directly led to the time being almost over when Aiwas was attacked.
This should have been a good thing. It meant that he only needed to dodge and he would be able to run out of time and win.
However, what Aiwas wanted was to fight back.
Even if I can't find out who is behind this, at least I want to see with my own eyes what this curse master looks like.
… So, now we can only hope for “possibility”.
He still had one more chance to meet the curse master in less than twenty minutes.
It's not teleportation. Because Aiwass has no means to curse the curser in return.
—It’s a counter-summoning.
After the Hooked Fiend completes its mission, it will be recalled by the Curse Master, just as it was recalled after its failed attack on Lulu.
Suddenly appearing in front of the curser, this can certainly be regarded as a kind of "teleportation".
All we need to do is let Aiwass merge his soul into the Hook Demon like Jack the Ripper.
This ceremony specifically emphasized that it was not necessary for one to survive.
Well, he could do an experiment now.
An experiment that would definitely not be a loss even if it failed... an experiment that could not be carried out in reality.
—How powerful can the “pastoral skill” of offering one’s entire life as a voluntary sacrifice be
Without using any auxiliary materials and without being strong itself, can efficient self-sacrifice be as effective as Jack the Ripper's serial killing ritual in strengthening the Hook Demon
Anyway…
"Eat in silence, my Lamb."
Looking at the Iron Hook Demon staring at him with wide eyes, Aiwass whispered, tightening his grip on the paper cutter: "I am the Eucharist, this is mercy."
He had no essential oils that could be infused with magic, and he did not have a sterling silver ritual knife in his hand, but a paper cutter.
It's like a meal without the spices. It's also without the garnish.
But as long as the food is delicious enough and there is enough of it, its original taste is enough to move people.
What's more, the one who enjoyed the delicious meal was not a proud upper-level devil, but a despicable hook devil born from the embryonic soul crushed by the hook.
It was a little devil that broke free from the hatred of the predetermined death and became out of hatred and anger in order to defy the will of "not being able to be born".
There is nothing haughty about it.
"Drink the blood from my neck like sweet wine—"
Aiwass chanted loudly, opening himself up like a zipper.
—From left to right, he firmly cut his throat with a paper cutter.
What he cut was the artery above the clavicle.
Aiwas's consciousness immediately became blurred and his vision became dim.
My brain seemed to become clearer, as if the flow of time had slowed down.
He clearly felt his life slipping away quickly. But it was not that his life was being pulled out of his flesh and blood and sank into the void... Instead, his entire soul and fiery mana flowed out along with the blood on his neck and condensed into crystals.
Boom—
“… He should have committed suicide.”
When the death knell rang, Sherlock said in a deep voice.
Lulu nodded somewhat sadly.
In the abandoned warehouse, the lifeless body of "Julio" fell heavily backwards.
But his blood did not soak the surrounding ground. Instead, it spurted out upwards like a fountain, defying common sense of physics.
It wasn't even liquid, but rubies one after another, flying into the air and solidifying into red pearls.
Like a puppy or kitten in a hurry to eat, the Iron Hook Demon made a whimpering sound, and the anger and ferocity on its face completely disappeared, leaving only the purest greed and obsession.
One after another, crystal blood beads flew towards it and landed on it.
The Iron Hook Demon ate greedily.
The frost marks on its body faded at a speed visible to the naked eye, and its body gradually expanded, from the size of a hound to the size of a human teenager, and then to the size of an adult.
The blood-like red on its body gradually faded, revealing its white and smooth skin, with only scarlet lines like sutures left. Even its four arms had grown some muscles, and the four rusty iron hooks stained with blood had disappeared.
Its face was hideous and ugly, with its facial features completely misplaced on its huge head, and its four arms pointed in different directions.
The size, thickness, joints and directions of its six limbs were completely different. It lay low on the ground, like a fragmented human being drawn by an abstract artist.
Its ignorant yet hateful eyes became a little clearer, revealing some incomplete humanity.
And that anger and hatred also precipitated into more solid grief and hatred.
The blood was quickly licked up by it.
It whimpered, squatted on the ground, and lay on Aiwas's body, continuing to lick the bloody wound on Aiwas's neck.
As it licked, it suddenly howled to the sky. It made a roar like a wolf looking at the moon.
Then, as if it had made up its mind, it began to eat Aiwas's body.
When Aiwass gradually woke up from the chaos, he saw his body disappeared on the scarlet ground.
And his perspective at this moment has become that of the Iron Hook Demon.
—Or in other words, it is the evolved "Deformed Limb Demon".
That's because the demons born from the souls of those who were born with limb deformities or died from persecution have a deep hatred for almost the entire group of "normal people".
This is already a high-level demon.
This was an elite who was over level 40, only ten levels lower than Shadow Fiend.
While losing the ability to teleport around the cursed, it possesses an almost immortal vitality, powerful strength and speed, as well as the ability to temporarily reshape its six deformed limbs at will according to its own wishes.
And an equally low level of intelligence.
Aiwass felt very clearly the seemingly endless vitality coming from his body, the surging power like the sea, and his three hearts beating strongly.
He is now confident that even if he is chopped into pieces by a chainsaw or crushed repeatedly by boulders, he will never die easily.
However, the ecstasy, joy, sadness, hatred from the "Deformed Limb Demon"... were also continuously transmitted to it, proving that it did not die after being possessed by Aiwass. Instead, it voluntarily became his partner...
… and “bearers”.
Carrying Aiwass's soul like a turtle until he finds a chance to be reborn.
"So after using the pastoral method to feed myself completely to the devil, I will temporarily become one with the devil?"
He lowered his body, and his two mouths uttered a vague and moist low voice: "Its 'nutrition' is even enough to allow a low-level demon to directly evolve into a high-level demon..."
No wonder the demons follow the "shepherd". For the demons who have transcended the Tao, this is indeed an irresistible temptation.
According to the normal evolutionary route, it would take several years to evolve from a hook demon to a deformed limb demon, or according to the extreme training method of Jack the Ripper.
Aiwass originally thought that the growth of ten ceremonies would be enough, but he never expected that he had greatly underestimated the value of pastoral skills and "voluntary sacrifices".
It's not that Shadow Fiend is greedy.
But he really smells good...
The three eyes on the completely dislocated head looked in different directions. He adapted to this new and different vision and gradually became familiar with his instinct to use his "deformed limbs".
After a long while, he finally heard the urgent call from his "master".
"... William? William? Great, we've got in touch... Come back soon if everything goes well, kid! Be careful not to scream too loudly and reveal your presence—"
The hideous demon lying on the ground showed a terrible and terrifying smile.
"Woooa ...
He imitated the former hook demon and made meaningless sounds like a baby crying and a puppy whimpering in response.
The curse master on the opposite side obviously did not expect this.
"Hey, hey, hey, stop shouting. I'll pull you back right now, don't move..."
He launched the anti-summoning spell without any precautions.
The space around me seemed to be dislocated and cracked. It was like the feeling of weightlessness and overweight in an elevator, except that the "source of direction" of that feeling was behind me.
It was as if I was suddenly "pulled back" by a huge force and dragged to a far place behind.
Suddenly appearing in front of Aiwas was a middle-aged man with a brown face and huge gem rings on all ten fingers. He looked to be in his fifties.
He looked slightly overweight, with a round belly and a slightly hunched back. His black curly hair was a little greasy, and his small eyes were dark and focused, with little white in them. If it weren't for his rich clothes, his face would only remind people of an honest countryman. Even if the things he wore looked expensive, he would just be a wealthy country gentry.
"William, very well done..."
The curse master habitually wanted to appease the hook demon.
But when he saw the twisted demon emerging from the ritual formation and crouching on the ground like a spider, his expression suddenly froze.
Fear froze his face, and his whole body could not move, making him like a dumb stone statue.
This is…
—A deformed limb?!
How could the race of demons suddenly change? !
Or rather, it... is it really William
Or was it that some other demonologist had seized and modified William's contract, allowing the limb demon he controlled to be teleported here through the anti-summoning ritual
But he didn't have time to think about it.
Aiwass controlled the deformed limb and pulled out a twisted and dislocated limb from his body at a speed invisible to the naked eye.
The "right hand" that originally looked normal was suddenly stretched rapidly - it became only two centimeters thick, but it grew into a claw that was more than two meters long.
The hideous claws like bones grabbed his face, pushed him against the wall, and slowly lifted him up.
"Who are you… "
The deformed limb demon made an indistinct sound, a sound that seemed to come from a nightmare.
Can talk…
The curser, whose face was frozen with fear, looked like he was about to cry.
He tried his best to hold the "right hand" of the deformed-limbed demon with both hands to prevent his throat from being torn apart due to his own weight.
The one who could make the Devil-limb speak so clearly...
…Did I meet a senior
"Say your name..."
The deformed limb demon repeated the question.
It stretched out its deformed limbs and slowly exerted force, trying to crush the curser's head like a pair of steel pliers.
Under the intense pain, the curse master couldn't help but scream:
"—Aziz! Aziz bin Abdul—save me... Senior, spare me!"
But the deformed limb demon did not let go.
Instead, he increased his strength, feeling the skull "in his hands" gradually deforming and making creaking sounds.
"Who do you work for..." The deformed limb demon changed his tone and asked in a sharp voice.
"—Moriarty! It's Professor James Moriarty!"
The curse master named Aziz screamed miserably and abandoned his employer without hesitation: "It has nothing to do with me. I just took the money to do the job. Spare me, senior, sir, please, it's not me... Spare me! Help - help -"
Puff—
The deformed limb that the deformed demon stretched out easily crushed the curser's head.
It's as easy as crushing a tomato.
—Even if everything in the ceremony was fake, Aiwass had no intention of letting him off.
"It's just a little interest, Aziz. I wish you weren't dead."
The Deformed Devil made an indistinct sound: "I will remember you...
"I will find you."
Having successfully obtained such important information, Aiwass felt that perhaps he should be happy.
He confirmed the upper limit of the "pastoral law" at no cost, and finished all the things he had to do before the end of the ceremony... He should relax and celebrate.
But at this moment he was somewhat unhappy.
What made Aiwas feel bad was that he heard another name from the curse master Aziz that he didn't want to hear... but was also a name he had expected.
—James Moriarty.