When the plot-skips players into the game world

Chapter 69: Chapter 43: Then, Aiwass began to hunt _2

But even so, the likelihood that this could kill the Hook Demon was slim. They could only hope to injure and scare it away.

As long as "Fox" quickly dispels the composite curse on "Lulu," that would count as a victory!

Because without a cursed individual nearby, the Hook Demon could not teleport instantly. Hence, its threat... would at least be greatly reduced.

...Wait a minute?

Sherlock's expression suddenly changed as he realized something.

Curse?

Although he wasn't very familiar with this, he knew one principle.

That was, the difficulty of cursing the same person repetitively increased. The curse would also raise the cursed individual's resistance to curses, and a medium used once could not be utilized again.

In other words, within the limited four-hour time, perhaps the enemy could only curse each of them once.

If that were the case, maybe Coco hadn't constructed an anti-demon array... but like him, had directly dispelled the curse on herself, rendering the positioning ineffective!

Among the Alexander couple, the first to be cursed was not "Fox."

—But "Little Aiwass"!

Now that he and Lulu had both been cursed... the next one would be Fox!

Realizing this, Sherlock's heart sank.

This is bad.

This is the pitfall of the Path of Devotion.

He could easily lift curses from others, but he could not use Illumination Art on himself. It was a secret technique of burning oneself to light the way for others.

That's right, the Priest can use "Rite of Fire"!

...But there were no candles here!

"Fox!"

Amidst the Hook Demon's shrill screams, Sherlock suddenly shouted: "Can you use 'Rite of Fire' on burning wood or chemical reagents?"

He had instinctively thought of Lulu as a child.

Out of respect, Aiwass touched the side and back of her heart, rather than the front.

The searing light mana, flowing with the powerful pump of the heart, spread throughout her body, rapidly regenerating the corroded mucous membrane in her throat and stomach. Lulu's minor injuries were easily healed, using only a bit of Aiwass's mana.

After Aiwass withdrew his hand, Lulu's first action upon sitting up was to tidy up her clothes.

"...Thank you, Mr. Fox."

With a slight blush, Lulu seriously thanked Aiwass: "You didn't need to save me..."

"You mean, to kill you off?"

Sherlock was the first to react.

"I refuse."

Aiwass lazily said: "If it were Basil, maybe she would have done so. But I wouldn't."

With that, he walked back the way they came.

"—Mr. Fox?"

Lulu, startled, subconsciously wondered if she'd said or done something wrong again.

Aiwass paused, turned his head, and said leisurely:

"The demon can no longer find you. But it can still find me... There's one more hour until the ritual ends. So as long as I don't stay with Little Aiwass, we've already won.

"If victory requires a sacrifice at this moment, then it must be me. You two stay here and behave, do not move around."

As Aiwass spoke, he looked at Sherlock and casually asked: "Ah, by the way, do you have a dagger? I'm planning to take some personal items with me, otherwise, I feel a bit uneasy."

"...Would a paper cutter do?"

Sherlock produced a small knife.

It was a paper cutter carried by a newsboy, hardly a weapon of any significance.

But it was enough for self-sacrifice.

Sherlock thought that Fox wanted the knife for suicide after leading the demon away—so at least he could avoid the agony of being disemboweled.