Iron Hook Demon

The two sides of this abandoned chemical factory were cracked brick walls, but from the outside, it looked relatively tidy. Not too many ivy and weeds had grown, just a layer of grayish-yellow dust and sludge.

Rather than a factory, it looked more like an abandoned villa or warehouse.

The corridor was not wide, probably only enough for two or three people to walk side by side. Because there was no Illumination at all, even if it was noon outside, it was still pitch black inside.

As soon as Iver entered, he smelled a very strong smell of dust. There was also a pungent odor like durian, which was very choking.

Lu Lu held the child, coughing softly as she carefully walked inside.

Even though she knew there was no one here, she still tiptoed.

She felt her heart beating faster—even though she hadn't left Glass Island, she had an unprecedented sense of adventure. Everything here was so new, making her extremely excited.

"We came here..."

Lu Lu said softly, "To avoid that murderer? Since this is a chemical factory, should we get some chemical reagents for self-defense? What if he follows us?"

"He first needs to find the door."

Iver said without hesitation, stating overly precise information: "This chemical factory doesn't have a main entrance, because the back door here is actually a dead end, only the warehouse back door leads here. After it was abandoned, the original main entrance was blocked by the newly built stone warehouse, and eventually completely blocked as the warehouse expanded.

"This chemical factory is two stories high, and there are higher places that can be reached by ladders. Each floor has a large number of interconnected rooms, and there are three staircases to go up and down. If the intruder is only one person, we have plenty of space for guerrilla warfare..."

He was halfway through his sentence when he suddenly heard a death knell.

So Iver immediately fell silent, turning back to meet the gazes of the other two.

"The fourth one."

Sherlock said softly.

"The three of us, plus 'Bone Carver', that makes four people."

Iver narrowed his eyes and asked, "Who do you think can survive?"

"Ke Ke. I suspect she has a dual Path."

Sherlock softly reminded, "Do you remember, Fox? Erlini mentioned 'this time there are three advanced individuals with multiple Paths'.

"You, Knight, and Lu Lu are obviously newcomers. King and Cheese aren't very smart either. Besides me and Bone Carver, there should be one more person... either Luo Le or Ke Ke."

"I don't have much of an impression of Ms. Luo Le."

Lu Lu leaned over and said softly, "I can't even remember her features."

"That's one of the manifestations of the Path of Adaptation, gaining an advantage by hiding oneself and blending into the environment. Don't underestimate her—if you think carefully, you'll find that among the nine of us, only Luo Le hasn't revealed any information. We know nothing about her."

The newsboy reminded, "If this is the New Moon Ritual, the one I'd be most wary of wouldn't be Bone Carver, but her. Every Path of Adaptation transcendent is a professional hunter and assassin. I won't rest easy until she's dead."

"What about Ke Ke?"

Iver retorted, "Why do you think Ke Ke has a dual Path?"

"I'm not sure, I just lean more towards Ke Ke being the third person. As for the reason..."

Sherlock said, "It's what she said, 'My profession is not Demon Scholar'."

"She was one of the last two to be grabbed, even later than 'King'. If King is in Stibium, then Ke Ke definitely isn't in Avalon.

"But in Stibium, although the Path of Transcendence is legal, ordinary people can't acquire extraordinary professions other than Demon Scholar."

"Is it like in Avalon, where the extraordinary professions of the Path of Authority can only be Law Mage, Arbitrator, and Sky Knight?"

Lu Lu asked.

Sherlock corrected, "To be precise, only Law Mage and Inspector. Not all Inspectors can advance to Arbitrator, even if they reach the level, they are not allowed to advance without passing the Round Table Hall's review. The necessary condition for advancing to Arbitrator is to obtain 'arbitration rights,' which allows for individual trials bypassing the court system.

"Even if an Inspector enters the Inspectorate, they only have law enforcement power at most. They cannot meet the advancement requirements for Arbitrator.

"And the Sky Knight profession that 'Knight' advances from Light Cavalry is a unique advancement for the military system... Every Sky Knight is among the elite of the Avalon army."

"Ah, I know this!"

Lu Lu's eyes lit up, "Is it about turning a red Griffin into a talking white Griffin to go from Light Cavalry to Sky Knight, right!"

"Correct. It's when their Griffin partners mature, their dangerous brownish-red fur completely fades into pure white, their physique rapidly increases from 1.8 meters to over 2.5 meters, their irritable habits become calm, and their intelligence increases to the point where they can speak simple human language... only then can the Light Cavalry advance to Sky Knight. And this requires them to constantly strengthen their partners with the Path of Authority. A white Griffin needs to eat thirty pounds of fresh meat every day without training, and double that during training and combat.

"Ordinary Griffins obtained by Inspectors, because of their different breeds, can only grow to a maximum of 1.5 meters in their lifetime and will never learn to speak human language. Their food intake only requires about five pounds of fresh meat per day, and their lifespan is only a short thirty years. They are more like loyal pets that can carry people in flight than partners. The white-feathered Griffins used by the military can live for hundreds of years—when their human partners grow old and die, the Griffins are still alive.

"In the Stibium Kingdom, the extraordinary profession corresponding to Inspector is Fiend, and the one corresponding to Law Mage is Demon Scholar. An ordinary person who enters the Royal Law University to become an extraordinary being cannot become a Light Cavalry upon graduation. Because the resources for pure Griffins are scarce, it is necessary to ensure the loyalty of the Light Cavalry, so Light Cavalry are only selected from Knight families—just like our 'Knight', he was wearing a helmet during the ritual."

"Knight" probably didn't realize that he was actually the first person to reveal himself. Even faster than Lu Lu.

Because in Avalon, people outside of Knight families are not allowed to privately possess armor. That would most likely be punishable by death.

This means that his father or mother must be a Knight of the Round Table Hall. That's why he was able to get a Knight helmet, and that's why he was able to become a Light Cavalry.

"...A noble from the Stibium Kingdom?"

Lu Lu murmured, "I heard that Stibium has 'nobles' who pass down their titles through generations. They have titles, and their own land and manors. I've read about it in many dramas and poems."

Avalon regards Stibium as an enemy country, but does not dare to directly launch a war... Part of the reason is that they cannot be sure whether the royal curse was initiated by the Stibium Kingdom. And Avalon's power is concentrated more in the Round Table Hall than in the Queen... Such a vague excuse is not enough for Avalon, which is much weaker, to actively declare war on Stibium.

The Stibium Kingdom is currently the most powerful country on this continent.

They were once the only empire on this continent. Even after splitting into four countries, they remain powerful.

The Stibium Kingdom, established by Valentine I, who wrote the sacred book of the Equilibrium Path, Triumph Chariot of Stibium, has now swallowed two fragments of the former empire, restoring eighty percent of the empire's territory.

Avalon can defeat Iris, but it certainly can't defeat Stibium. Alchemy research that is more than fifty years ahead of Avalon has made Stibium's technology exceptionally advanced. They just launched a war a few years ago and annexed another neighboring country that had previously split from the empire... The huge golems on the battlefield that can constantly regenerate are frightening.

Only when Avalon unites with Iris and Theocracy can they barely maintain a balance in the political landscape. But if anyone is really attacked by Stibium, unless they show strong resistance, other allied countries may not participate in the defense.

But Princess Isabel had another question in her mind: Why would a noble from such a powerful country only become an extraordinary being at this age?

Although she looks very young, as if she is only in her early twenties. But Isabel's keen perception as someone on the Path of Beauty, as well as her understanding as a woman, makes her certain that Miss Ke Ke... or rather, Mrs. Ke Ke, is at least thirty years old.

She must have used alchemy drugs that can preserve her youth to maintain such a young, pure appearance like a girl.

Isn't it a bit late to become an extraordinary being in her thirties?

Then she immediately reacted and said very certainly, "Ke Ke should be that person with dual Paths!"

"Why are you so sure?"

Sherlock asked.

"Because Miss Ke Ke is not as young as she appears, she should be over thirty years old. She has used alchemical drugs to maintain her youth."

"...I see. That makes sense... The fifth survivor should be Ke Ke."

Sherlock nodded slowly, his expression becoming serious instead: "That might not be good."

Iver raised an eyebrow: "Are you saying the enemy might be a Demon Scholar?"

"Listen, you two. I remembered an incident."

Sherlock said in a low voice: "Ten years ago, in 1888, which is four years after this timeline, there was a series of murders in Lloyd District. Every eight days, a pregnant woman was killed, the baby in her womb was cruelly cut open and taken out, and the kidneys in her body were also taken. This is an obvious trace of ritual killing.

"The Bureau of Supervision called it the 'Jack the Ripper' incident. I was sixteen years old that year and participated in the investigation of this case."

The detective with the face of a boy slowly opened his mouth: "The murderer in this case was a young Demon Scholar who inherited an Iron Hook Demon from his mentor. That was a demon born more than a hundred years ago from the image of 'surgical abortion'. Therefore, he tried to strengthen this image and strengthen the demon he obtained through this ritual.

"He was eventually arrested and executed by us. But before Jack was executed, he confessed to us that he had another master.

"—He confessed that his master stayed on Glass Island for a long time, seemingly serving a certain person. In the past few years, he killed many people for that mastermind. And recently he went abroad, supposedly to the Horus Empire or the Parthian Ancient Kingdom. 'To pass through the desert, he needs to keep himself clean, so he transferred the demon to me.' After that, his master never returned.

"According to the timeline, that Demon Scholar should be on Glass Island now. The Iron Hook Demon itself is a low-level demon, not strong in direct combat, but particularly good at sneak attacks..."

Speaking of this, Sherlock suddenly asked: "Did you have any curses on you when you appeared?"

Iver and Lu Lu looked at each other and said, "We didn't, but Little Iver did. It was a curse that wasn't very powerful, but it was used for positioning."

"That's right!"

Sherlock affirmed: "I had it too when I appeared, the exact same type. I dispelled it myself with magic. This may be why we haven't been attacked yet... Curse positioning restrains the Path of Adaptation's ability to hide. The person who just died should be Luo Le. She persisted for a long time, but still couldn't escape.

"The Iron Hook Demon can locate targets through curses and jump directly across space. Similarly, the Mirror Demon that meets this requirement needs a mirror as a medium, and the Shadow Demon cannot appear at noon. Moreover, both of these demons are high-level demons..."

"Ke Ke is only at the first level, right?" Iver asked.

"The Path of Transcendence itself is proficient in demon knowledge. The anti-demon ritual she casts should be able to dispel low-level demons. It is also possible that she transferred the curse on herself to others."

"In other words, our enemy is the Demon Scholar who controls the Iron Hook Demon?" Lu Lu understood.

"Yes, to be precise, it is the Iron Hook Demon remotely controlled by him. The only problem is that although the Iron Hook Demon only has the strength of the second level, it is too fast and good at sneak attacks... It is almost impossible to defeat for a second-level transcendent. Unless one of us is a Law Mage who can suppress it instantly, it is possible to kill it."

Sherlock frowned, and scolded in a low voice with some dissatisfaction: "I don't know how much Bone Carver and Ke Ke have raised the difficulty of this ritual—they raised the difficulty, but they are not cooperating with us! The three of us will definitely not be able to defeat the Iron Hook Demon, and probably not even with the 'Knight'. He is not an Inspector or a Law Mage, but a Light Cavalry, without suppression ability. According to the difficulty of this ritual, it is estimated that at least one of Ke Ke or Bone Carver must be willing to cooperate with us to have a chance to defeat the Iron Hook Demon.

"Now we can only hope that you have not left behind any other cursed items... A second-level Demon Scholar can only curse one person once a day. I have already been cursed, and there are still you two as a couple. If we are lucky, maybe we can delay the time until the end... There are only two hours left."

Hearing this, Iver subconsciously touched his nose.

...To be fair.

Not to brag.

If the enemy is a demon... then the difficulty of this ritual may have been raised by me accidentally.

A seven-thousand-word update, please give me some monthly tickets~