Ch.233Chapter 233 – The Final Case (8)

“Haa, haa…”

“Cough, cough…”

“…Ugh.”

The rough groans of three women echo through the thunderous sound of the waterfall.

“…You’re quite skilled in physical combat, aren’t you?”

“I’m different from those fools who rely only on magic.”

“If my body wasn’t so heavy… I could have overwhelmed you…”

The Professor, Sharlotte, and Lestrade were already wounded all over their bodies.

Strangely enough, their abdomens—typically one of the most vulnerable areas—remained unharmed on all three.

It seemed there was an unspoken agreement between the three related to the purpose of their fight.

“Shall we continue, Professor?”

“…We’re ready, but it seems you’re struggling against the two of us.”

During this brief lull as Sharlotte and Lestrade catch their breath, they begin taunting the Professor, who is also breathing heavily.

“You…”

“Please don’t call us cowards. This is for London’s peace.”

“…I’m not talking to the amateur detective, but to the officer standing there.”

“Me… you mean?”

At this moment, Professor Moriarty opens her mouth with a cold smile.

“Are you really sure you want things to continue this way?”

“What do you mean?”

“Let’s say you and Holmes cooperate to eliminate me. What do you think will happen to you then?”

“Well… um…”

Lestrade, who was about to answer with a look that suggested the question was obvious, suddenly hesitates and stumbles over her words.

“Right now, you’re weakened compared to ordinary people due to the waterfall’s energy. However, Holmes, being a mana user, is only unable to use magic… she’s in relatively good condition.”

“……”

“Of course, I know you have expertise in physical combat. But you’ve seen it with your own eyes, haven’t you? Holmes is no easy opponent either.”

As the Professor continues her attempt to drive a wedge between them, Lestrade’s eyes begin to waver.

“What… are you trying to say?”

“It’s simple.”

“…If you’re suggesting I should join your side now, I must firmly decline.”

When she asks the question with a trembling voice, the Professor smiles and whispers in a low, snake-like voice.

“I’m not asking you to cooperate with me against Holmes. But shouldn’t you start considering Holmes as you continue this fight?”

“…Bullshit.”

“It’s a very basic strategy. I’ve taken the most damage from your joint attack. In this situation, shouldn’t you, who has the least injuries, try to gain the maximum advantage?”

As she finishes speaking, a momentary silence falls over the waterfall.

“…Officer?”

When Lestrade begins to glance sideways at her in the silence, Sharlotte opens her mouth with a slightly bewildered expression.

“Surely you haven’t fallen for that nonsense…?”

“……”

“Hey. Answer me…”

But before she can finish speaking, the officer steps back while glaring at her.

*Swish…*

“Are you serious?”

As she raises her baton, Sharlotte lifts her whip with an incredulous expression.

“…We’re not playing games here.”

“I know that. But…”

“Adler is my husband to begin with!”

Lestrade raises her voice, frowning at Sharlotte who stares back with wide eyes.

“Strictly speaking, aren’t you having an affair with my husband?”

“…Are you done?”

“No, there’s more. But since we don’t have time now, let’s skip it.”

At these cold words from her mouth, Sharlotte stares at the officer with icy eyes.

“I didn’t realize London’s justice had fallen so far.”

“…Fallen? Well, let’s say it has. I’m tired of disguising things with a sense of justice anyway.”

To this, Lestrade adds without batting an eye.

“…But when I think about Issac, my heart races—what am I supposed to do?”

“……..”

“I’m a woman before I’m an officer!!”

At her outburst, Sharlotte bites her lip with a slightly anxious expression.

“That’s… the same for me.”

“You were a man-hater just a few months ago!”

“…Hmm.”

Watching this scene, the Professor mutters with a sinister smile.

“Now it’s one versus one versus one.”

Her gaze was now directed toward Adler, who was sitting at the edge, breathing heavily with a sickly expression.

“…Just wait a little longer.”

“But this person… I can’t believe it.”

“…Informal speech?”

“I’ll have you soon…”

And a few seconds later, a chaotic melee began as the weapons of the three women clashed together.

.

.

.

.

.

“Ugh…”

“Cough… hack.”

How much time had passed like this?

*Thud…*

“…Finally.”

As Sharlotte and Lestrade, who had been gritting their teeth through the melee, finally collapsed to the ground simultaneously, Professor Moriarty, who had been watching on her knees, staggers to her feet.

“At last…”

She wipes the blood flowing from her head with her sleeve and begins to step forward.

“This moment has come.”

“No…”

“…It’s too late to give up.”

“…Kek.”

She kicks away Holmes, who was desperately clinging to her leg, forcing her to let go.

“Even if I can’t use magic… my species itself is superior.”

“Damn… it.”

“Despite my current appearance, I’m certainly more durable than the frail bodies of inferior species.”

She continues walking with a smirk, sneering.

“Isn’t that right? My assistant.”

“……”

Her gaze remained fixed on Adler, whose face had turned pale.

“The verdict has already been decided. Your prophecy that Reichenbach Falls would be my grave has been beautifully missed.”

“……”

“Your silence suggests you didn’t expect this outcome? Well, it doesn’t matter. I’m the winner.”

Standing in front of Adler with a limping gait, she extends her hand to her beloved assistant with a sweet smile.

“Let’s go home. And live together forever.”

“……”

“In our kingdom of crime…”

It seemed like the winner of the long, drawn-out war was about to be determined.

*Pak…!*

“……!”

An air bullet from somewhere struck the Professor’s arm as she was extending her hand to Adler.

“Ugh…”

Thanks to this, Professor Moriarty, who had been momentarily dazed, now sits down clutching her arm with a pained expression.

“From the… cliff?”

“…Professor.”

In this situation, Adler, who had stopped Moran from firing a follow-up shot by raising his hand, staggers to his feet.

“I have one question.”

“……?”

“As long as I’m alive, will you definitely kill Sharlotte someday?”

He begins to ask the Professor, who has collapsed in front of him, in a low voice.

“Of course… I will.”

“…And the same goes for you, right? Miss Holmes.”

When he asks Sharlotte, who was crawling painfully from behind, she nods with a venomous expression.

“I see… well, I have no choice then.”

After confirming this, Adler sighs and begins to move.

“In the end, it seems I’ll have to break my contract. I simply can’t choose one among you all.”

“What do you…”

“It’s a statement worthy of a beating, but… how can I choose just one when I love all of you equally?”

He walks toward the edge of the waterfall, where the spray swirls like smoke from a fire.

“So this is the unavoidable choice I’ve made. I’m truly sorry.”

The Professor and Sharlotte watch with anxious expressions.

“But I had to find it. Professor and Miss Holmes. A way where both of your hostilities could reach their peak, yet neither of you would die.”

“Issac?”

“A way to stop the anomalies that are eating away at this world.”

“Adler, what are you doing?”

“And a way for everyone I love to survive…”

Though they called out to Adler with anxious voices.

“Just in case, don’t feel guilty, okay?”

Ignoring them, Adler stands at the cliff’s edge and mutters with a slightly trembling voice.

“I was always terminal, with no cure anyway…”

“No!!”

“S-stop!!”

Only now realizing what he intended to do, the Professor and Sharlotte desperately try to get up.

“…Ugh.”

“Damn it…!”

But both had sustained injuries as severe as Officer Lestrade, who was groaning in pain, and couldn’t get up immediately.

“I wasn’t going to say this for fear of regrets… but I want to say this one thing before the end.”

A tearful voice comes from in front of them.

“All of you. For the first time in my life…”

Adler, now with tears streaming from both eyes, whispers with the brightest yet saddest smile he had ever shown.

“…I loved you.”

The moment those words ended.

“Truly.”

“Issac!!”

“Adler!!!”

His frail body tilted toward the cliff.

“I won’t let that happen…!”

The Professor, watching with her face paler than ever, finally rose and threw herself toward him, but.

“….Argh.”

Was it because of the bullet Moran had fired into her shoulder?

Her hand, extended with all her might, managed to briefly grasp Adler’s clothes but soon lost its grip.

“Ah…”

By the time Sharlotte and Officer Lestrade forced themselves up and peered over the cliff, it was already too late.

*Swoosh…*

The golden point of light that had been falling for a while was soon mixed with the fierce current of the waterfall and vanished without a trace.

“………..”

A terrifyingly quiet silence began to flow among the women who had watched this with blank expressions.

“….Haa, haa.”

Until Watson arrived at the edge of the waterfall a few minutes later, breathing heavily as she asked a question.

“So, where’s Adler?”