Does it hurt? Are you hungry?

You okay? Are you hungry? Iver retraced his path.

He crossed the barren hills and the Filth River.

By the time he reached the abandoned warehouse where the stones had been stored, a full half-hour had passed... before Iver felt the curse take hold.

Deep within his body, a sudden and intense discomfort arose.

As if he had a fever from a cold, his body began to feel cold, and he couldn't stop shivering. Then his limbs began to weaken, his breath became hot, and his skin began to ache—that was the subcutaneous nerves beginning to suffer from the curse.

A truly familiar feeling.

"...You're slow, only arriving now."

Iver murmured softly, his pace gradually becoming slow and heavy.

He felt his eyes turn red and swollen with pain, and a heavy, dull ache gradually spread through his brain.

He chuckled softly to himself, "It's almost like going back to childhood."

This was the "Fever Curse." The same curse he had previously dispelled from Little Iver.

It was also the same curse that Iver had suffered as a child.

It was the same level as the "Poison Food Curse" that had caused Lu Lu to vomit blood, though slightly weaker than the "Filthy Blood Curse."

"...A Demon Scholar specializing in the curse school."

Iver identified the person in his mind: "This doesn't seem like a Stibnite Person."

Demon Scholars from Stibium Kingdom are actually best at ritual magic. Secondly, demonology.

And curse studies are not in the official textbooks.

Because even the Stibium Kingdom, which allows the existence of Demon Scholars, does not want anyone to be able to easily curse their nobles and officials to death.

Iron Hook Demons are not very useful demons either.

Their intelligence is low and their attack methods are simple, which means that many complicated tasks cannot be entrusted to the little demons; and because their Level is low, Demon Scholars cannot strengthen themselves by signing contracts with Shadow Demons to gain attribute Affinity, as Iver did.

Generally speaking, the demons that Demon Scholars sign contracts with are stronger than themselves. Otherwise, there would be no point in selling their souls.

—Why would I sign a contract with a weak chicken with a bad temper when I could just take in a hardworking disciple?

This Demon Scholar is proficient in using a variety of curses, indicating that his level is definitely not low. At least at the upper Second Level, or even the Third Level. But the demon he contracted with is obviously weak; the fact that he always hides in the dark and doesn't come out to attack in person shows that he probably isn't as good at ritual spells as Big Purple.

Demon Scholars who are particularly good at curses are a characteristic of the Desert People of the East. In the high-intensity desert wars for sacred water sources and oasis areas, Curse Masters who can attack important enemy figures through vicious means are very important human resources. And in the resource-poor desert, it is difficult to gather enough materials for complex rituals, so ritual magic has not developed among the Desert People.

This also fits the situation of him working for the mastermind, and even more so the ending that Jack the Ripper said, that his master eventually left Avalon and went east to the desert.

—A Curse Master from the desert, who traveled to Avalon Kingdom. He took refuge with a big shot, took money to "curse on behalf," and earned money and benefits by cursing designated targets for a fee. After earning enough, he ran back to his country. This is probably the whole truth.

...This shows that That Lord is quite kind. Knowing so many of his secrets, he was not silenced, and was even allowed to leave.

Of course, it is also possible that he has been silenced. It's just that Jack doesn't know.

This Iron Hook Demon is only a part of the mastermind's mature curse ability system.

After weakening the target with curses, he teleports the Iron Hook Demon over to deliver the final blow. The Iron Hook Demon is only his ability to end enemies, but not the core of his ability.

——No wonder he didn't specifically cultivate Iron Hook Demons.

He had the knowledge, but he didn't do it himself.

Because it wasn't necessary.

This demon was just a tool—as could be seen from the fact that he could casually give it away to a student he had just met.

If he cherished the Iron Hook Demon too much, like Jack the Ripper, and strengthened it through rituals, it might cause him to become too famous.

Although after the Iron Hook Demon was strengthened, Jack could temporarily project his consciousness onto the Iron Hook Demon, using his own brain to control this little demon who was retarded but indeed tanky and dealt high damage.

But this strengthening ritual itself was risky.

Because for a Curse Master, fame was not a good thing. Just like Sherlock dispelling his own curse... when a person knows they will be cursed, then the curse will not be so terrible. Because different curses have corresponding solutions.

The Curse Master's existence being unknown is the key to success and victory.

"The target died in an accident" is the highest praise.

"So... that's how my biological parents died."

Iver murmured.

The increasingly severe fever made his thoughts drift, but his memories were gradually being sorted out.

Judging from the Jack the Ripper incident, there should also be a combination of this Curse Master and Iron Hook Demon in real Historical.

When Iver was a child, he was afflicted with the "Fever Curse," which caused him to faint and lose consciousness. That's why he didn't remember what happened afterward.

But as a fragile child who suddenly had a high fever and lost consciousness, he ultimately did not die from it—there could only be one answer: his curse was dispelled.

The difference is that the one who dispelled the curse should not be Julio, but Bishop Mathers.

In real Historical, Julio could contact Mathers because he wouldn't be banned for being too high Level compared to this instance.

This also explained why Mathers was so concerned about Iver, being so enthusiastic when they first met... even willing to lend him the key to the chapel. He said it was to repay Professor Moriarty for his help, but the real reason was probably Julio.

When they first met, he recognized Iver as the child of his student Julio Alexander. Because Iver had obvious traces of "Julio" and "Annie" on him.

He felt regret and pain for not saving his student back then. In order not to repeat the same mistake, he was determined to protect Iver at all costs.

And from his attitude, Iver could infer in reverse—it was precisely because Bishop Mathers thought he could solve this incident but ultimately failed that he was so regretful.

Combined with the requirements of this mission.

They need to leave the cathedral and go to Legal Square.

—This place name could not have appeared out of thin air. And it is first of all unlikely to be the location of the Curse Master, because there is no space here to place a complex ritual platform; then this can only be a place related to the death of Iver's biological parents.

In other words, after the curse on Iver was dispelled, Julio chose to go to Legal Square for some reason.

And at this time, Iver had already fallen asleep, so he didn't know what happened afterward.

The story afterward should be the same as the story happening now.

The difference is probably that the other ritual participants who were not related to the Iver family were not cursed by the Curse Master—just as Annie could not be a Path of Beauty transcendent in the correct Historical; of course, there would not be a Newsboy who was a Mage. On Glass Island, there could not be so many transcendents of different Paths.

Only the Iver family should have been cursed.

And perhaps one of them was cursed and killed first, or perhaps they were cursed together. In the end, the sleeping Little Iver was placed aside, while the two of them lured the enemy away.

This illustrates one thing. The murderer didn't want to kill Iver or his cousin at all—his target was Julio or Annie, which is why Iver survived and was safely sent to the orphanage.

Now there's only one question left.

—Why exactly did he want to kill his own parents? "It seems I'll have to ask him myself..."

Iver murmured softly, his lowered gaze turning gloomy: "I wasn't planning on doing this yet.

"But you're too incompetent.

"You're really giving me trouble. I gave you so much time, but you only started cursing me when the ritual was almost over..."

—Could he still be trying to kill the Bone Carver? He stared intently at the corner of the abandoned stone warehouse. There, deep red traces were gathering.

The Iron Hook Demon's crimson, terrifying outline had partially appeared. Iver saw it revealing a ferocious smile full of murderous intent towards him, with slender iron hooks in all four of its arms, enough to easily tear apart a body.

And it had obvious frostbite and frost marks on its body, traces of being damaged by the Path of Twilight's abilities.

"Ah, hello. Child..."

Iver politely greeted it, without the slightest fear or disgust.

He slowly asked, "Are you in pain?

"Are you... hungry?"

Without waiting for the Iron Hook Demon to fully manifest, or for it to make any response, Iver nimbly drew out the Paper Knife.

Taking the initiative, he backhanded it into his own neck!

—Blood spurted out!