Chapter 154: Come and Don’t Leave
As night fell, the lights at 14 Ronin Street were finally turned off at half past ten.
Two hours later, when the campus fell into silence, a group of people walked quietly to the nearby area.
They had not been lurking at Aiwas's door before.
These demonologists didn't even hide anywhere on purpose; they just entered a bar and have been drinking ever since.
No one would have thought that four drunkards would pose any threat - besides, this wasn't their first time here. They had been coming here almost every day for the past week or so to drink and play cards. They had even become acquainted with some of the students.
But this time is different.
After leaving the bar, they found a small alley and used the half-planned sobering ritual to get rid of the drunkenness in their bodies.
"Get ready to act."
The leader of the team was a blond man with slicked-back hair, wearing a white suit and dressed like a lawyer.
He said in a deep voice, "Jim, you go set the curse. Braden, you go cut his phone line. Pero and I will set up the ritual to summon our two demons first. Then you two come over and summon your demon dogs."
"Are you sure you only want the sleeping curse?"
Jim, the shortest and youngest, retorted, "A sleeping curse can be nested within a weakening curse... Didn't you say that cripple is a master swordsman? I still think a sleeping curse nested within a weakening curse, and then a suffocating curse, will kill him. That's the safest way, and we can report back to the higher-ups."
"I'm sure."
The leader replied confidently, "It would be fine if I were the only one in Moriarty's dormitory... but there's also his maid and his sister. With three people, the power of the curse would be much diluted. That way, they wouldn't be able to sleep too deeply."
"And the Curse of Weakness makes people aware of it. If one of them is a light sleeper, the sudden feeling of weakness might wake them up, and wake the others up too. Don't waste your time, Jim. More curses aren't always better."
"Or else..."
Jim continued, "Or we could fill his bedroom with poison gas after casting the curse. That way, no one would even realize he was murdered. They might think it was gas poisoning... and we wouldn't be tracked down by the authorities."
"Do you think that the dormitory where the young master lives is the same as your little shabby house?"
Fatty Perot scoffed, "How could his bedroom be connected to the kitchen? Don't you think about it?"
"...I just feel a little uneasy, mentor."
Jim whispered, "Isn't this going a little too smoothly?"
The team leader shook his head. "It went smoothly because we were well prepared. It has nothing to do with him. You're overthinking it."
After about half an hour, everything was almost ready.
The sleeping curse was properly activated, the telephone lines were cut, and two demons and two demon dogs were summoned.
Although Jim was a little uneasy.
But the team leader felt that this was only because his apprentice was too timid.
Jim was only sixteen years old, even younger than the man they were trying to assassinate, Aiwass. He hadn't graduated from high school, but had become involved in a gang. His wit caught the eye of Lloyd's, and because he possessed adaptability beyond the realm of the Tao, he became the leader's apprentice.
Powerful demonologists are often accompanied by their apprentices.
Curses and rituals are, in a sense, very similar to cooking—not much time is actually spent on cooking; the most time-consuming part is preparing the ingredients and cleaning up afterwards. These apprentices are specifically designed to replace their mentors in doing these meaningless, repetitive tasks.
It's like helping in the kitchen.
But in fact, the team leader didn't like Jim very much.
Demonologists generally need a somewhat uninhibited and unbridled mentality. Otherwise, advancement is difficult. Jim, on the other hand, is far too timid, constantly making pessimistic predictions... At first, the team leader might have paid a bit of attention, thinking perhaps this guy was truly a compatible person, and his words held a certain prophetic quality.
But after many times, none of Jim's predictions happened, and the team leader finally decided that he was simply too cowardly.
——Aren’t they cautious enough?
They had set up an ambush a full week in advance, employing four transcendents, two of whom were elite third-level beings. They also had an incredibly powerful Blade Devil, capable of confronting fourth-level transcendents head-on, and a Whiplash Devil, capable of assisting the Blade Devil. They had also cursed Aiwass in advance, cutting off any possibility of him contacting the outside world.
For a transcendent being who was only at the first level of energy and on the path of dedication, the team leader felt that he was being ridiculously cautious.
In other words, he takes Evans so seriously because he is the one who can kill the deformed-limbed demon instantly.
Although Aiwass's own strength was not strong, he was a member of the Moriarty family after all. The extraordinary items he possessed were very powerful, and he might even have other items...
So their plan was to curse Aiwass into an unawakenable sleep, and then sneak into him and assassinate him.
Aiwass has classes tomorrow, so at one in the morning, he must be asleep.
Since he was already asleep, he wouldn't be aware that he was under a sleeping curse. That would only make him sleep more deeply and soundly, and even if a thief broke into his house and took away everything that could be moved, he would definitely not wake up.
If everything goes well, it would be best to kill them with one shot. This would make them look more like killers who have mastered the art of curses, making it difficult to investigate them.
The demons they brought with them were only used to fight against possible hidden ambushes, helpers, and bodyguards.
What a pity.
The team leader thought.
After all, this was an away game, so many of the ritual props he had prepared couldn't be used. Otherwise, he wouldn't have to be so cautious.
For example, the [Cursed Infant], crafted from a cursed infant, can deliver a guaranteed blow powerful enough to destroy a person's heart. The [Nightmare Vision], crafted from the scalp of a migraine sufferer, can cause someone to experience uncontrollable, intense pain and drive them mad. The [Zombie Bait], crafted from a hanged old man, can chill everyone nearby, slowing their movements.
These are consumable items that allow him to kill other transcendent beings of the Dao above his level.
But because they must be saved in specific environments, they cannot be used in this kind of raid battle.
In other words, it was precisely because the ritual props he relied on could not be used that the leader was so cautious.
Because once you get used to the powerful power gained from using ritual materials made by your own kind, you will feel extremely uncomfortable when you leave it. It feels like you have suddenly become weak... even if this "feeling of weakness" is your true level.
Just as the thief Braden was prying the door lock, Jim, who was looking around, suddenly pointed to the sky and said, "What is that, a firefly?"
"That must be some kind of butterfly."
Fatty Pero crossed his arms and commented, "What a pity! It would have been nice if he had a net bag. This thing looks like it should be quite valuable."
"Jim, focus..."
The team leader said unhappily.
But at this moment, he looked up unconsciously and suddenly saw the butterfly flying slowly towards them.
It is so beautiful, trailing tiny sparks of fire as it flies.
Like scale powder.
The leader suddenly raised his right hand and pointed at the butterfly with his index finger.
He uttered no words, nor even expended any mana. The butterfly, as beautiful as a spark, seemed to be pierced by some dark, invisible object, split in two, and suddenly extinguished.
He smiled a smug and amused smile.
It's not because the butterfly has any meaning, it's simply because he destroyed something beautiful and felt happy about it.
"The mentor's curse is truly powerful..."
Jim flattered.
Pero shook his head with some regret: "It looks quite valuable. There's no need to curse it."
"How valuable can a butterfly flying in the city be?"
The team leader retorted, "At most, it escaped from the school lab... but that means it can't be resold. We should just curse it to death."
Pointing at someone is the simplest curse.
When someone points at you from behind, you sometimes feel a sharp sensation; it's the same feeling as being pointed at with the tip of a knife.
The leader's third path characteristic [Damage Curse] is a very powerful purple path characteristic.
He could inflict physical damage on all curses he cast—this was why he had his apprentices curse the target. If he cast a sleeping curse himself, it would become a nightmare curse, making it more likely to awaken the target. If he used a poisonous food curse, in addition to corrosive damage, it could also cause persistent, weak cuts to the esophagus. And if he used a foul blood curse, it would cause the target's uterus to bleed continuously.
He could even make the target bleed profusely with just a flick of his finger, as if it had been stabbed by a knife.
The damage wasn't very severe. A healthy person would have to be pointed at and hit forty or fifty times before dying from blood loss.
He figured this out himself.
When the team leader first obtained this characteristic of the path, he killed many people with curses in the Lloyds District before he summarized the rules of this characteristic of the path.
After all, he could only see the confusing phrase "[Damage Curse: All curses can harm others]". He would have to try it himself to find out the exact effect.
But this kind of thing would not be too much trouble for him.
It was like a child getting an interesting toy—what new effects would those curses he was familiar with have after being attached with this characteristic? He was very curious about this and conducted experiments accordingly.
It is precisely this unscrupulous heart, which takes pleasure in harming others with supernatural power, that allows him to successfully summon and tame the Blade Demon.
But at this moment, the leader suddenly noticed a flash of fire out of the corner of his eye.
In the dark night, it looks so bright.
He turned around and found that it was indeed a ball of fire in the air - the butterfly that he had smashed before fell from a position close to them and was reborn in the flames!
As the butterfly slowly flew towards Jim, Jim curiously reached out to catch it.
The leader's expression suddenly changed, and he felt a strong sense of crisis. He leaped up and rolled sideways awkwardly.
The fat man Pero felt the same way, but his body was too bloated and clumsy. He wanted to escape but couldn't.
When Jim touched the butterfly, a ball of blazing flames suddenly spread out in all directions with the butterfly as the center, forming a huge fireball with a radius of about three meters.
The fireball didn't explode, but instead spun around, engulfing Jim and Pero and pulling them in, making it difficult for them to escape. Their shrill screams pierced through the flames and echoed in the silent night.
“—What the hell?!”
The team leader's expression suddenly changed.
The next moment, the bodies of a demon dog and a whipping demon suddenly became blurred. They gradually collapsed and disintegrated at a speed visible to the naked eye - this was the expulsion phenomenon caused by the death of the contractor.
Just a glance, and Jim and Pero were engulfed in flames. Jim was fine, but Pero, who was at the third energy level, should not have died inexplicably in such a place - he was completely killed by Jim!
Only he who dodged the butterflies and Braden who was picking the lock survived.
At this moment, the same butterfly as before flew towards him again.
This time, the leader did not hesitate. He gathered a pitch-black magic ball emitting a chilling aura and fired it directly out.
It shattered the butterfly again...
But this time the leader saw clearly that after the butterfly was shattered, it was reborn in the flames soon. The leader used a different spell to shatter it again, but it was reborn again.
What the hell is this?!
The team leader became extremely fearful, as he had never heard of such an ability.
“It’s open, it’s open!”
Brayden shouted happily, pulling the door open.
"Go inside and hide!"
The leader said without hesitation.
But the next moment, Braden let out a scream and ran out crawling.
But as the gunshot rang out, he was shot in the calf and fell to the ground with a scream.
As the door opened.
Aiwass, who should have been asleep, walked out slowly with a dangerous smile on his face.
His left hand was behind his back, while his right hand was placed in front of him, bent naturally. A butterfly made of flames stood quietly on the tip of his middle finger.
"Here we are, guests..."
Aiwass said with a smile: "Since you are here, why don't you leave?"
The update was completed an hour ahead of schedule!
(End of this chapter)
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