Chapter 416: The Gamble

“Madam Dee3, you know it’s not possible unless the captor lets the prisoners out or the captor dies, leaving the curse tool ownerless,” Janice answered the obvious, knowing Dee3 was too worried about her friend to think straight right now. She found the concerned Dee3 appeared like a cute little hamster and even made her protective of her. She couldn’t believe what the government did to someone so cute, pure, and helpless. She could just hug her and never let go. She almost asked Delores if they could keep Dee3.

“I see,” Dee3 nodded, learning what she already suspected. Then she eyed Delores and Janice, requesting, “Please, skip the formalities.”

Delores and Janice nodded, seeing their formal speech was making Dee3 uncomfortable. Honestly, their politeness towards Dee3 wasn’t necessary, but they offered because they genuinely respect Dee3 for her selfless service to the Country and because she was the McSuile family benefactor. Even though the government rewarded her selfless service by adding her name to the wanted list, the McSuiles would never forget her contribution in helping their country and family grow into what they were today.

“A curse unveiling and suppressing prison dominion with a slave catcher and add a curse caster to mix, I’m willing to bet they are not here to pick a fight but on a manhunt,” EAD Matthews speculated based on the information they had. After all, who better than a curse-caster to find someone?

“So, what do you suggest?” Janice asked, feeling she might have been wrong about the curse terrorists here for EAD Matthews. She couldn’t help but wonder, ‘Were they here for the Sol ring? Did the Duke’s power-hungry relatives send them?’

She did place a ring in the family vault, it’s just happened to be a very convincing replica of the Sol ring. Coming in contact with it, she had come to suspect there was a mystery surrounding the ring that she needed to solve, and until then, she couldn’t return the ring to the family vault. Her curiosity didn’t allow it.

“We stall them till the reinforcement arrives. We don’t want a scenario where the curse caster is forced to sacrifice the locals,” EAD Matthews grimly said.

Having fought her share of the Curse Casters, she knew better than to force one into a corner, especially when they had too many innocent souls nearby that a curse caster could use as a sacrifice for a curse ritual. Not only will they be responsible for the innocent souls lost, but they also couldn’t guarantee a win if such a scenario were to transpire. The power one can gain by sacrificing so many souls wasn’t to be underestimated.

“No, we will take out the curse caster even before they realize what hit them,” Delores announced as she took the Rail Rifle to the sky to recharge it.

Eyeing the rail rifle, EAD Matthews did not protest and gave her consent with her silence. She and her colleagues were well aware of what that rifle was capable of. Sonia almost recoiled at the sight of the rifle as if it were the bane of her existence, recalling the terror of being shot by it. It wasn’t the pain that scared her, but the miraculous speed and effect of the mischief bullet.

She hates the feeling of not being able to use her curse energy and being cut off from her abilities, even if it was just for a few moments. She recently had nightmares where she was lying in a pool of her blood, her nemesis would just stand above her body and shoot her with that rifle again and again and again until her innate curse art finally gave up, and she would walk up in horror.

“Hey, you good?” Ava asked her friend in concern, seeing the latter’s face turned ashen and kept flinching, staring into the void.

“Yes, I am good, I’m great,” Sonia repeatedly assured before popping a weird request to her friend out of the blue, “Ava, watch Ace’s rifle closely as they are about to make the shot and see if you are fast enough to dodge it before it nears you.”

Due to the curse abilities she awakened, Ava, if she chose, was basically a condensation of light. Gaining the properties of the light to a certain extent. So, Sonia wondered if her friend could dodge Ace’s rifle. That would mean they should make a change against him in a head-on fight if it ever comes to it. Sonia still believed that without the rifle, Ace wasn’t her match.

“All set, I am taking the shot. If there is anything else you guys want to add, now would be a good time?” I reported aloud, returning from using Delores’s abilities to charge the rail rifle and taking aim using the Leprechaun scope. I double-checked because it would be of no use after I pressed the trigger.

Curse Casters were known for being tricky and hard to kill. I was worried about getting caught in a hostile’s trap. After all, there were too many weird curses in both worlds. Most of the stereotypes about them weren’t. Especially, if they had signs of taboo toll on them. It was a clear indication that this person wasn’t afraid of using extreme and cruel means.

“If none of you are you going to say it, then I will say it. Can’t we just wake Agent Hundred Eyes up?” Agent Sugarmite took the opportunity to propose what was on everyone’s minds, but no one dared to say out loud.

Rocking the boat wasn’t her style, but she decided to jump in front of the gun barrel because thousands of innocent souls in the town were dependent on this. She was worried that targeting the curse caster would put the townsmen in danger of being used as sacrifices in some curse ritual to strengthen the effect of the curse. If it were life or death, she would fight the curse caster head-on, but it wasn’t, so she felt there was no reason for them to stir the hornet’s nest.

However, no one responded to her. Even her superior, EAD Matthews, looked away, not meeting her gaze. She should have known. She had been with the C.I.B. long enough to know that a capable curse caster was worth more than this entire town combined to the C.I.B. They would rather watch all people in the town be sacrificed than wake up Agent Hundred Eyes from her enlightenment.

“Ace, just give me the rifle,” Delores said, grabbing the rifle from behind, trying to pry it away from its current wielder without hurting him. Knowing he was too cautious to make this gamble. Also, having missed the Void-tier curseling last time she used the rifle, Delores wasn’t reconciled. She wanted a retry.

“Pickles, don’t you have any curse tools to check if the curse caster had marked the townsmen as sacrifice?” I asked, struggling to stop Delores from snatching the rifle from me. I hugged the rifle to my chest using my weight only to find Delores lift the rifle with me on it and began to slowly shake the rifle to and fro, to shake me off of it like shaking off some sticky trash that you don’t want to touch.

I knew Delores had done questionable things that needed to be done for the McSuiles, but she did not have to do the same for me. Right now was the first time I regretted not being capable of peeking into the mysteries of the world. If I did, we wouldn’t have to struggle with this decision this much.

Fortunately for me, I was the Toymancer. Unlike the others who had to live with this regret for the rest of their lives, I could just animate a Toy Summons with similar abilities.

“No, I don’t. Even if I had such a curse tool, I wouldn’t dare use it so openly,” Janice answered eyeing Matthews with a frown, the latter would use this to gauge the limits of her abilities as a curse crafter.

Curse tools with abilities related to mysteries of the world were as rare as a curse master with dual profession, a curse caster, and a curse crafter. This was because only the curse caster could peek into the mysteries of the world, so only they were able to use its power and craft tools with related abilities. Curse Masters with the Curse Caster profession were already rare, and one who was also a curse crafter was impossible to find even in the world of curses. After all, both disciplines required a lot of patience and talent. Trying to master both simultaneously would be foolish, regardless of how talented one was in either of the disciplines or both.

EAD Matthews knew this, but Aurelian Eyes was capable of creating miracles when it came to curse crafting, so she couldn’t help but wonder if Aurelian Eyes achieved what other curse crafters believed was impossible.

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