Ch.192Chapter 192 – Battle for Possession

“What’s wrong? Are you too shocked to speak?”

“…….”

“Or perhaps you’re mentally reciting thousands of spells to kill me right now?”

Charlotte, who had been passionately making love with Adler in the hotel room all night, stares blankly at Professor Moriarty who suddenly invaded the room without warning, then smirks and begins to mutter.

“…What have you done.”

Then, Professor Moriarty, with a pale complexion, glares at Charlotte and speaks.

“Can’t you tell by looking?”

“Holmes, Holmes…”

“I’m in the process of receiving Adler.”

Only then does she fully comprehend the situation unfolding before her eyes and begins to display an expression filled with rage.

“I love youuu…”

– Swoosh…

“…Ugh.”

The next moment, as the professor’s gray mana envelops his head, Adler loses consciousness after a final convulsion and goes limp.

“Oh my.”

As he collapses into her arms, Charlotte smiles with her eyes and embraces Adler.

“”……..””

And then begins the silence.

“…Did you pounce on him.”

“You’re the one who pounced, you rapist.”

As Professor Moriarty breaks the silence with a terrifying expression she’s never seen before, Charlotte snorts and counters directly.

“What I did was pure love. Not domination built on possessiveness and obsession without a trace of love like yours.”

“My assistant… is giving off a terrible scent.”

“…Are you talking about the aphrodisiac I used as bath salts? That was just to heighten the mood. It didn’t even affect me…”

“I’m talking about your filthy body odor… you dirty thieving cat…”

The professor’s face, usually maintaining either an expressionless or slightly amused look. That poker face that never crumbles unless something significant happens, begins to slowly fall apart.

“The criminal sure talks a lot? How much did Adler tremble from your horrible sexual crimes that he made such a happy face when he was with me?”

“……..”

“What did Adler say to me while pressing his flesh against mine…? Hmm… Was it ‘This is my first time with someone I like’?”

Charlotte watches this with satisfaction, provoking her anger further.

“My assistant would never say such things… How strong a drug did you use to make him spout such nonsense…?”

“That’s rich coming from a rapist who insists it’s love after diligently raping someone.”

“How dare you… Did you think you could do such things to my assistant and escape from here unharmed?”

Glaring at her, Professor Moriarty begins to whisper with dark eyes.

“He is my possession. My possession in my territory. No one should be able to touch my treasure without my permission…”

“Ha, your words are quite amusing?”

“The reason I’ve tolerated your antics all this time… and offered to be your friend… was all because he liked you…”

“I can’t stand listening to this anymore.”

But as Charlotte sneers with a mocking smile, Professor Moriarty quietly begins to step forward.

“How did you take my assistant? My assistant would never betray his promise to me…”

“……?”

“I even placed a covenant just in case… How did you break my covenant…”

“Ha, now you’re openly being condescending?”

Charlotte, finding her changed tone interesting, smiles and answers.

“Well, the method was simple. I discovered Adler’s true name.”

“…What?”

Of course, she had only discovered Adler’s surname, but it was enough to bluff against Professor Moriarty, who had become more emotional than ever.

“What else? It means he’s no longer your treasure.”

And Charlotte, filled with venom, wouldn’t miss this opportunity.

“Issac Adler is now my man alone.”

“Bullshit…”

“He follows my orders, not yours; smiles looking at my face, not yours; and is happy holding my hand, not yours.”

“That’s bullshit…”

“Still can’t accept it?”

She, who had been firing words continuously, whispers in a low voice.

“Stop being pathetic and get out of the room, you fucking bitch.”

– Crunch…

Then, Professor Moriarty, quietly grinding her teeth while glaring at Charlotte.

– Tsuzuzuzuzu…

Just as the densest gray mana she’s ever seen flickers in her hand, killing intent settles in the professor’s eyes.

– Gooooooo…

“Right. The reason you’ve always been so composed no matter what I did was because you were confident you could kill me if things went wrong.”

But this time, without backing down at all, Charlotte begins to coldly mutter while drawing black mana from deep within herself.

“But now you know too, don’t you? That it’s impossible.”

“…….”

“My power is growing. I’ve finally discovered the source of this power.”

She looks at the transcendent being standing before her and quietly raises the corner of her mouth.

“The firm resolve to kill you, to erase you from this world. That was the key to growing my power.”

“……..”

“You know what? When you deliberately showed me you raping Adler last time, was it because you wanted me to realize that?”

At Charlotte’s continued words, Professor Moriarty silently begins to stare at her.

“What’s wrong? That was your plan, wasn’t it? Did you think I would become corrupted by power like you once I started growing stronger?”

“…….”

“Or maybe you thought I would be consumed by the darkness in my heart. Is that why you deliberately gave me the opportunity to become stronger?”

Charlotte, who had been staring straight back at her, slightly raises the end of her question provocatively.

“Or did you think I would understand you and become your friend, as you said? If that’s the case, it’s a bit pitiful.”

“So you intend to deny until the end that you and I are fundamentally similar.”

“Ha, I knew you would say that.”

But when Professor Moriarty answers in a low voice, Charlotte sighs and responds.

“Yes, as I said before, you and I are similar. Because we both must pursue the truth to survive. I can’t deny that much.”

“Are you finally admitting it?”

“But I guarantee you, we can never be the same.”

At her continued words, Professor Moriarty quietly closes her mouth.

“Both you and I pursue the truth, but I am in the position of uncovering hidden or buried truths, while you are in the position of hiding or hunting them.”

“…….”

“Also, I find pleasure in revealing hidden truths to the world, while you find pleasure in burying truths in the deepest darkness where no one can uncover them.”

Charlotte delivers an undeniable truth to her.

“Shall we talk about curses for a moment? The curse I have is that I cannot love anything except puzzles.”

“……”

“What is your curse, Professor Moriarty?”

When the professor remains silent at her question, a sneer appears on Charlotte’s lips.

“Shall I guess? Your curse is related to ‘perfect crime’, isn’t it?”

“……..”

“You recently started offering ‘consultations’ because everything became boring due to your curse. You clearly wanted to play a new game with the possibility of failure. Am I right?”

There was still no response from the professor.

“Your silence confirms it. See, even our curses are completely opposite. That’s why you can never corrupt me, and conversely, I cannot make you repent.”

“……..”

“We can’t even understand each other.”

In this situation, Charlotte’s confident voice continues to resound.

“Therefore, my conclusion is one.”

“…And what is that?”

“One of us must disappear from London.”

As those words end, a momentary silence descends upon the room.

“How coincidental.”

“…….”

“I was just thinking the exact same thing.”

In that silence, the professor, who had been looking at Charlotte with a completely expressionless face, whispers.

“Hey. Having come this far, you’re not going to be boring and settle this with brute force, are you?”

“………”

“The detective consultant should act like a detective consultant, and the crime consultant should act like a crime consultant… Either I uncover your truth, or you permanently bury the truth with your crime consultation. Shouldn’t we settle it one way or the other?”

Then, Moriarty responds with an expression that suggests this is exactly what she wanted.

“That would be interesting.”

“Right? It will be the most thrilling nightmare of your life.”

“Preserving the sight of your complete despair will be quite enjoyable.”

With a cold smile, Professor Moriarty responds to her words and quietly turns to walk toward the exit.

“From tomorrow, London will become hell for you.”

“…….”

“I hope you won’t regret it.”

And with that terrifying threat, the professor was about to leave the hotel.

“Oh, by the way… Did I mention that there’s a time limit to this bet?”

“……?”

“The control I gained created an unexpected situation for Adler. So a time limit has been imposed on our bet.”

From behind her, Charlotte’s voice, tinged with amusement, flies in.

“Well, it’s nothing special… Earlier, while sharing passionate love with Adler, caught up in the moment, I ordered him like that.”

“What did you…”

“To ‘impregnate’ me.”

The professor’s mind turns completely white upon hearing those words.

“So I could clearly see our cute boy removing the ‘contraceptive magic’ on his lower abdomen right before my eyes.”

“……..”

“So…”

Charlotte, looking at her, taps her own swollen lower abdomen with a sinister expression and throws a provocation.

“Do you think you can finish me off before I give birth to Adler’s child?”

– Crunch…

Then, Professor Moriarty, holding the doorknob, grinds her teeth and begins to glare at Charlotte with a chilling gaze.

“Go ahead and try.”

Charlotte waves her hand at her, leaving a powerful provocation until the end.

“Though it seems you’ve already lost to me, considering you couldn’t get pregnant after doing it so many times.”

– Tsuzuzuzuzuzu…

As a result, the battle of wills, clashing each other’s mana, continued persistently for dozens more minutes after her words ended.

– Rustle…

The killing intent was so intense that no one noticed when Adler, who had awakened from sleep, briefly observed with drowsy eyes before grabbing his clothes and slipping out of the room.

.

.

.

.

.

“Strange… a really strange dream…”

A few minutes later.

“Miss Holmes speaking Korean and discovering my surname… Being called to the hotel and getting devoured… Naked Holmes and the professor glaring at each other in a battle of wills…”

– Thud…!

“Yes… this is definitely a dream… it must be a dream…”

Adler, who had escaped the hotel and had been staggering for a long time through the still dark streets of London just before sunrise, collapses weakly.

“The signal was definitely around here…”

“…….”

“…Ah?”

And someone spots him from a distance.

“A-Adler…! What was that message about…”

“Ah, Officer…”

Adler, who had been hanging his head with tired eyes, notices Lestrade appearing before him with a pale face and speaks with an expression like a rain-soaked puppy.

“…Are you going to pounce on me too, Officer?”

“…….”

“I don’t want to be raped anymore…”

Having blurted out nonsense due to the intense lovemaking that continued until morning and the lingering effects of the drug, he loses consciousness after finishing those words.

“……..”

Lestrade looks down at Adler with an even paler complexion.

“…Did you just say rape?”