Duke knew in his heart that the Crawford Clan must have sensed something; they must have been aware of Bell's death and sensed the presence of the curse on Duke's side at that fleeting moment.

They likely knew the exact location, albeit briefly, but it was uncertain if they could determine Duke's position in that instant.

Harbor City, just this one location, was enough for the Crawford Clan to ascertain a lot of information.

This place was Black Sail's territory, and also one of the locations of the Void Corridor's Teleportation Array.

The existence of the curse flickered briefly, appearing in Harbor City, making it nearly certain for the Crawford Clan that it was Black Sail who took out Bell.

Assuming the Crawford Clan could capture this fleeting information, otherwise, as long as the curse power on Duke could still be suppressed, the Crawford Clan wouldn't know who killed Bell for the time being.

Samuel certainly knew they were the culprits, but he wouldn't have thought Bell was angered to death by Duke.

Samuel naturally had ways to handle their household's curse but didn't have the chance to kill Bell personally before escaping.

Then Duke and Merrick split up; he went to find Lady Hela, while Merrick went back to find a solution to this curse.

He quickly contacted Lady Hela, but there was no reply from her side, possibly because she was busy refining magic potions and couldn't be distracted to respond.

Due to the pressing time, Duke could only contact Reela, sending a message asking: "Reela, is Lady Hela around?"

Reela was still working at Lady Hela's place, responsible for refining magic potions and other tasks.

Reela happened to be free and quickly replied: "Teacher Hela has already left and went to another plane, joining the scout team for assistance investigation."

"Another plane? And with the scout team..." Duke immediately felt somewhat uneasy.

Black Sail's scout teams were generally used to investigate newly discovered other planes, mainly to understand the strength of the plane and what valuable resources it possessed.

After these intelligence reports were gathered, a decision would be made on whether to conquer that plane.

Duke didn't expect Hela to join the scout team, most likely because there was work related to magic potions that needed her assistance.

"Did she say when she'd be back?" Duke asked.

"Teacher didn't say, it's been less than half a year since she went over, she might need some more time before returning. If you have anything, you can tell me, and I'll pass it on to her when she comes back," Reela replied.

"No, thank you." Duke said, feeling slightly heavy-hearted.

He definitely couldn't wait; if Lady Hela took too long to return, the curse would have erupted by then.

Duke could only think of other ways; the most direct one was to go to that plane to find Lady Hela. The Nightmare Beetle Momo must be with Lady Hela.

He then contacted Lucas: "Mr. Lucas, which plane is Lady Hela's scout team in? Can I join?"

"You want to join?" Lucas was somewhat surprised, "This plane, as far as I know, is quite dangerous. Like the Wizard Plane, it's a middle plane, called the Devourer Plane."

The intelligence on the Devourer Plane wasn't very complete, but it was confirmed that there existed a group of beings possessing devourer power.

They could kill other beings to absorb the energy within and enhance their own strength. When different people awaken devourer abilities, they also exhibit some unique abilities.

The preliminary investigation of the Devourer Plane was nearing its end, with about three months remaining before the preliminary work concludes.

"If you're looking for Hela, you could wait three months, she should be back by then," Lucas said.

Duke replied helplessly, "I have some trouble that needs Lady Hela's help, I can't wait that long."

"Hmm... If that's the case, I can help arrange it, but you should think it over, it's quite dangerous over there, so be careful yourself," Lucas said.

Duke had no other choice; he couldn't let too many people know about the curse on him.

Otherwise, the information would surely leak out, and by then, the Crawford Clan would definitely find out.

Duke was still too weak and had no ability to contend with such an ancient wizard clan.

He needed to remain low-key and lay low until he was strong enough.

Even Merrick didn't know the specific origin of this curse, and he didn't ask, only conducting some research on the curse itself.

Once Lucas confirmed Duke's intent to go, he helped Duke with the necessary arrangements.

This kind of work for scout teams was generally quite dangerous, so wizards who volunteered to go would receive a decent reward.

Duke then informed Merrick of this news, and Merrick said, "This curse can't wait that long; going directly to find Hela is indeed the safest choice. I already have some leads, just wait a bit, and once I'm done, I'll help you. It should help you suppress it for a while."

Combining his expertise in Curse Study and Alchemy, Merrick crafted a custom armband for Duke.

This was a Level 1 Witchcraft Artifact, made of a special dark, light-absorbing alloy, with the surface etched in layers of intricate and complex alchemical rune circuits.

At its core was a small piece of pure crystal shard processed multiple times, emitting a faint, mind-calming blue light.

This armband couldn't eradicate the curse but could act like a temporary dam, stemming the flood of curse power and significantly delaying its eruption.

The crystal at the core served as casting material for the Curse Element, capable of absorbing and converting some of the curse's corrosive energy, while the surface rune array formed an interference barrier, preventing others from remotely triggering the curse power.

Though Merrick hadn't asked, he knew that the curse was likely detectable by other wizards, so he specifically added a blocking mechanism.

Duke took the armband, feeling its cool heaviness as he fitted it onto his left arm, the armband automatically adjusted to size, fitting snugly.

Meanwhile, the curse power in his left arm was instantly suppressed, without a trace of movement, as if it had completely vanished.

But all of this was temporary; the armband could only suppress the curse power for a month, after which it would become ineffective.

Duke needed to find Lady Hela within a month and use the Nightmare Beetle's power to completely cleanse this curse power.

"How does it feel?" Merrick observed the faint light of runes on the armband closely.

"Very good!" Duke let out a long breath, feeling as if a heavy stone pressing on his chest had been partly lifted.

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