Ch.251Chapter 251 – Toward the End

Issac Adler had reunited with Sharlotte Holmes, the officer, and Watson about a few hours ago.

“Hey, girls? Why am I suddenly holding my breath?”

Following the women’s request, Adler had been holding his breath in a secluded area of the street, but now he was feeling dizzy as he asked the question.

“Shh, be quiet.”

“You need to concentrate.”

“If anything goes wrong, it’ll be disastrous.”

Hearing their scolding, Adler tilted his head with a puzzled expression.

“What exactly are we trying to do…?”

“…A large-scale teleportation spell.”

“Wait, what?”

“We’re going to teleport all of us to London at once. It’s difficult, but definitely possible.”

Hearing Sharlotte’s tense voice, his eyes widened in surprise.

“But that’s a final skill… no, a final spell! You’d need at least three archmage-level talents working together…”

“……..”

“…Ah, I see.”

As Sharlotte and Lady Clay stared at him silently, Adler’s expression showed that he understood.

“But… we’re still one person short.”

“…We have you.”

When he muttered again with a doubtful expression, Sharlotte answered in a low voice.

“I’m just a normal person now, remember? I could die if beings like you just poked me with a finger?”

Adler waved his hands frantically with a horrified expression.

*Slide…*

“…?”

Lady Clay quietly slipped her hand into his left hand.

“I’ll lend you my mana.”

“Ah…”

“…Don’t worry. I’ve consumed enough blood that my mana is overflowing. Sharing some with a pathetic person like you won’t even make a dent.”

The lady spoke with a grumbling expression.

“I-it’s not like I’m doing this because I feel sorry for you. I’m still under the Professor’s command… I should at least pretend to cooperate so I won’t be held accountable later…”

As Adler stared at her, the lady started making excuses nobody asked for.

“Thank you, Lady.”

“…Ahem.”

When Adler thanked her with a smile, the lady stopped talking and quietly cleared her throat.

“I-it’s nothing.”

She began transferring mana while avoiding his gaze.

[You’re really clueless.]

‘What, should I not even say thank you?’

[Just live your life that way.]

As Adler was arguing with System again in the suddenly chilly atmosphere, he turned his gaze to the side with a sullen expression.

‘……..?’

He flinched with a startled expression.

‘…Did I see wrong?’

Sharlotte Holmes, standing on his right, was smiling in a spine-chilling way.

“Um…”

“Now, concentrate again. Hold your breath. We’re about to cast the spell.”

“Uh… okay.”

“Hey, detective. You help too. Your firepower is the strongest here.”

Startled by Lady Clay’s voice from beside him, Adler snapped back to attention and began to focus.

.

.

.

.

.

A few minutes later, in a secluded street in London, England.

*CRACKLE…!*

“Gah!”

The thugs passing by suddenly collapsed with foam in their mouths as black and red flashes of light appeared out of nowhere.

“Ugh, haaah…..”

“………”

From the center of the chaos came the sound of someone exhaling a long-held breath.

“Did it… work?”

Adler, who had been in Rhode Island, USA just moments ago, was now looking around a back alley in London while catching his breath.

“It seems… that way.”

“…Miss Holmes.”

“This actually worked. Continental teleportation was something I’d only calculated theoretically.”

Meanwhile, Sharlotte stood beside him with a calm expression, muttering to herself.

“…Then let’s go. As you said, we need to eliminate the world’s root of evil.”

“No, wait.”

She tried to pull Adler by the arm to leave the alley, but he stopped, forcing her to pause as well.

“What’s wrong?”

“Where are the others…?”

For some reason, their companions who should have been teleported with them were nowhere to be seen.

“…Good question.”

“Could it be a teleportation error!?”

Adler started looking around again with a panicked expression.

“I don’t think so.”

“……!”

As the dust cloud cleared with Sharlotte’s words, Adler’s eyes widened.

“What in the…”

“It seems they were affected by the shock of the teleportation.”

“…You mean side effects?”

All of Adler’s companions were lying unconscious on the ground.

“You were the subject of the teleportation, and I’m the strongest one here so we could endure it, but it was too much for the others.”

“That’s…!”

“Don’t worry, they’re all still breathing.”

Adler, who had been turning pale at the sight, showed some relief at Sharlotte’s words.

“But what should we do now…”

“We’ll have to leave them here.”

When he muttered with a worried expression, Sharlotte returned to her usual cold demeanor and provided an answer.

“What? But…”

“It’s okay. I’ll cast a perception interference spell. No one will be able to enter this place.”

“Still…”

“…And this might be for the best anyway.”

She looked at Adler with a serious expression and began to explain.

“I personally felt the fragment of that being who revived from the smoke.”

“…….”

“Perhaps… it’s an entity even the Professor would struggle to handle. Facing such a being would be suicidal for those who couldn’t even withstand the shock of teleportation.”

After pondering for a while, Adler finally nodded in understanding.

“Thank you for understanding.”

Sharlotte linked her arm with his and began walking forward, whispering in a gentle voice.

“It’s been a while since it was just the two of us, hasn’t it?”

“…Yes, it has.”

“You and me. Just the two of us. Our story alone, without anyone’s interference…”

“Um, Holmes?”

Adler, who had been walking beside her, called out to her with a frightened expression upon seeing the dark smile forming on her lips again, but she was no longer listening.

‘I’ve gotten rid of the nuisances. They probably won’t wake up for a week.’

“Holmes… what’s with that scary expression?”

‘…Now, how should I deal with the Professor?’

She had been completely consumed by that thought.

‘If things go wrong, I need to at least save Adler and escape somehow…’

*Slide…*

“……..!?”

Suddenly, she sensed a presence behind her.

“Where are you two rushing off to?”

“What?”

Sharlotte immediately channeled her mana and turned around, surprise flashing across her face.

“What… was it an accident?”

“…Please include me too.”

“H-how…?”

Inspector Lestrade, holding her throbbing head, and Celestia Moran, who had somehow grown to match Sharlotte’s height, were approaching them, dusting off the dirt from their hands.

“Who knows? I guess I was strong enough, just like you.”

“…….”

“Master, you’ll include me too, right?”

“…Of course!”

When Moran stood beside Adler and asked with a smile, he answered cheerfully.

“Wow. I’m so happy I can be of help to you, Master.”

“……..”

“You feel the same, don’t you?”

Moran turned to Sharlotte with a pleased smile.

“…Listen.”

When Sharlotte remained silent with a cold expression, Moran leaned close to her ear and whispered quietly.

“You’re not the only one who’s grown stronger in the past two years.”

*Grind…*

Terrifying sparks began to fly where the two women’s gazes met.

“…What are you two doing in this urgent situation?”

Meanwhile, Inspector Lestrade watched with a frown.

“So, are we going straight to the Professor’s office?”

“…I’d like to, but there’s someone we need to meet first.”

Adler answered while quietly scratching his head.

“Who could possibly be more important in this urgent situation?”

“…The White Curtain of London.”

.

.

.

.

.

Not far from where Adler had landed, in a grand mansion in London.

*Scratch, scratch, scratch…*

“…Yes, this is it. This is it.”

Someone had been locked away there for a week, drawing something without sleep.

“I’ll succeed this time. I must, must succeed…”

It was none other than Microny Holmes, who had stopped her usual lethal doses of cocaine and self-harm to focus entirely on her work.

“Definitely… definitely…”

She had been reviewing the magic circle she had completed after pouring her soul into it for a week, muttering with crazed eyes.

“Only two strands of hair left…”

After some time, her trembling hand reached for a test tube.

“If this fails too… the next attempt will be my last chance…”

She took out someone’s golden hair from the tube and placed it on the magic circle.

“Please, pleasepleasepleaseplease…”

*CRACKLE…!*

“Open, open, open, open…”

As the magic circle began to spin, emitting tremendous energy, she clasped her sweaty hands together and muttered like a madwoman.

*Poof…!*

“…Ah.”

When gray smoke covered the desk and the energy balance collapsed, her eyes went dead as she let out a brief cry of despair.

“………..”

Then came silence.

“…It was perfect in theory. The portal should have opened without any problems.”

In that silence, Microny’s surprisingly calm voice began to echo.

“So there is something.”

*Crumple…*

“Something interfering with the connection between this dimension and the other.”

She began crumpling the magic circle she had painstakingly created, a chilling smile now on her lips.

“Yes, my research approach was wrong from the beginning.”

*Slide…*

With an expression of enlightenment, she placed her pen back on the paper.

“I should have dealt with that first…..”

*Scratch, scratch…*

And so, it seemed another villain of the century was about to be born in the heart of London, but…

*Creeeeak…*

“…Holmes?”

Fortunately, her actions, which could have caused dimensional chaos, were interrupted after just a few minutes.

“Sister doesn’t harm herself or do drugs anymore, so don’t worry?”

“………”

“Because I’ve found a purpose in life. So I’m going to be busy from now on.”

As she turned her head, her eyes fell upon…

“So…..”

The cause and target of what could have been dimensional chaos.

“…It’s been a while, Microny.”

“……..”

“Why are you making that expression?”

After staring with a dumbfounded expression for a long time, tears began to flow from Microny Holmes’s eyes.

“I told you demons don’t die, didn’t I?”

[No, forget that!!!! Tear that thing apart first!!!!!!!!]

.

.

.

.

.

Meanwhile, at that moment.

“…Is this the place?”

An elderly gentleman had arrived at the entrance of Auguste Academy, quietly nodding his head from side to side with a smile.

“The fortress of the kingdom my daughter built?”

The end was drawing near.