Chapter 174: Snowball Effect (3)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 174: Snowball Effect (3)
“Cough, cough…”
“Professor, are you alright?”
With her head bowed and a hand covering her mouth, the professor began coughing up blood-streaked phlegm. Seeing her in such a state, Adler asked with a tinge of genuine worry in his voice.
“Don’t push yourself too hard.”
“… Yeah.”
Suddenly, the professor smiled and shook her head.
“But Adler, how can you look so concerned?”
“… What?”
“I just forced myself on you, didn’t I? You should be looking at me with terror, not concern.”
“Oh…”
At her words, Adler glanced around awkwardly and began to fake a cough of his own.
“Ahem, ahem…”
“Adler, could you help me out here…?”
“… H-Hieeek!”
In an instant, Adler’s expression shifted to one of pure fright and terror.
“What are you doing? Come over here and stand by my side.”
“Pro-Professor, but…”
“Come to my side.”
The professor extended her hand toward him, her gaze turning ice-cold.
Click—
Just then—
Bang!!!
A gunshot rang out from the nearby bushes.
“…Didn’t I tell you to wait for a better opportunity?!”
“So, you wanted me to just stand by and watch?”
“Tsk…”
Gia Lestrade emerged from the bushes with a stone-cold expression. She reprimanded Watson for firing the gun, then drew her police baton and rushed forward.
Fzzzzzzt…!!!
Professor Moriarty blocked the bullet with her mana, albeit precariously, only to be struck forcefully by Lestrade.
“While your body nullifies supernatural abilities—even my own—I can still manipulate natural energy through internal strength to a certain extent…”
“Argh…”
“To put it another way, it means I can land an effective hit on you using my internal energy.”
Drawing a deep breath, the professor whispered to her as she staggered back, a slight smile curling the corners of her mouth.
“And I’m sorry to tell you, but I, a university professor, am older than you.”
“………”
“Even if you have trained your internal strength all your life, you cannot beat me in hand-to-hand combat.”
Hearing this, a pale-faced Lestrade began to sweat profusely.
“…Even so.”
Despite the overwhelming odds, she glanced at Adler, who was held at Moriarty’s side. She clenched her teeth and pressed on.
“There are times when you know you’ll lose, but you still can’t back down…”
“U-Uhh…”
“……!”
But just then, a new voice entered the fray, coming from just ahead of the professor and Lestrade.
“What are you doing, blocking the way…?”
“…Tch, it’s getting late.”
The eyes of everyone present shifted in unison toward two women who appeared to be mere pedestrians.
“You mustn’t come this way!!”
“Both of you, stop! You’ll be taken hostage!”
The professor, who seemed quite injured from her earlier struggle with Charlotte, wore a wicked grin. Realizing the situation was spiraling out of control, Lestrade and Watson shouted urgent warnings to the women.
“What are you talking about in broad daylight…?”
“Hey, do you own this road?”
However, the pedestrians, seemingly oblivious to the danger, continued walking toward them.
“No!!”
“This is truly regrettable…”
In that explosive moment, Professor Moriarty quietly reached out toward the pedestrians. Lestrade prepared to rush forward, ready to risk her life to save them, but—
“…Stop.”
“……!?”
Suddenly, someone grabbed the inspector’s shoulder.
“Miss Holmes…?”
“Do those people look like ordinary pedestrians to you…?”
Charlotte, bleeding from her mouth, struggled to her feet and whispered in a subdued voice.
“What are you…”
As Lestrade murmured in surprise—
Clank…!
The sound of heavy chains echoed from up ahead.
Creeeak…
“Your disguises were quite perfect. Even I couldn’t find a flaw.”
The professor summoned grey chains from the ground to quickly bind the pedestrians, looking at them with a frigid gaze.
“But you see, it’s not the disguise that matters.”
“”………””
“What matters is that the entirety of Cornwall is frozen still, locked away from the world by my magic.”
“…What?”
Hearing her words, Adler stood gaping in shock beside her.
“Right now, the residents of Cornwall are either asleep or intoxicated by the pink scent I prepared for a special time with my disciple, spending passionate moments with their loved ones…”
“Professor, what are you…”
“Well, some might be spending passionate time with someone they don’t love, but that’s not the point…”
Meanwhile, the pedestrians, realizing their cover was blown, began to glare viciously at the professor.
“…Right now, within Cornwall, no one else should be able to wander around unless they are under my command.”
“Yeah, well, instead of bothering with this cumbersome act, we should have just pounced on them…”
“This is the first time my preliminary research has been so lacking…”
Then, in the next moment—
Tssssss…
As their disguises melted away like flowing water, Jill the Ripper and the Phantom Thief Lupin were revealed, their expressions chilling.
“H-How did you two get here…!?”
“…Lupin, weren’t you arrested by Inspector Ganimard?”
As Watson and Lestrade recognized them, they cried out in shock. The two oddities merely muttered in annoyed tones.
“I didn’t want to come here this time either… To kill that crazy woman, I needed to be better prepared…”
“…I, too, was planning to enjoy a thorough rest in prison for a while.”
Then, they shifted their gaze to Adler. This time, he was genuinely trembling.
“Don’t worry, Adler… I’ll definitely save you from that lizard and kill the bitch…”
“Hmm… Did I use formal or informal speech with you last time? My identity changes so often I tend to forget how I talk.”
“…That’s interesting. I feel the same.”
“Ugh. Ew, ew, ew. It’s disgusting to find common ground with the worst serial killer in history…”
As they surveyed their target and exchanged banter, they noticed the gun barrels of Watson and Celestia Moran aimed at them and smirked.
“Are you trying to attack us?”
“It’s a bit of a blow to our pride, but focusing on us is what you should be doing if you want to leave this place alive…”
“Yeah, how about we all join forces first to take down that dragon?”
“Nonsense!”
Jill the Ripper’s suggestion was immediately rejected by Gia Lestrade.
“I will never join hands with a criminal—especially not a ruthless murderer like you!”
“Really? But you did marry a criminal whose reputation is as bad as mine…”
“At least Adler isn’t a disgusting murderer like you!”
At her fiery retort, Jill the Ripper shook her head and muttered.
“Well, then… Guess there’s no choice but to dive into the chaos.”
“””……….”””
As soon as those words were spoken, the surrounding atmosphere was swallowed by a heavy silence.
“I personally welcome it. No sides, just stabbing and slaughtering everyone… It’s a total murder party, isn’t it?”
“…Um, I’m actually one of your teammates.”
“Let’s do it! A bloody, gory slaughterfest!!”
In that chilling atmosphere, Jill the Ripper wildly swung her shadowed knife, screaming at the top of her lungs.
“…If only I had my sniper rifle.”
“Don’t get cocky, kid. Get behind me.”
“Grrrrrrr…”
Quietly, Isaac Adler’s three henchmen fanned out, aiming their weapons at both the professor and the oddities.
“This… could turn out to be quite the challenge.”
“…I’ve never been this tense, not even when I was carrying wounded soldiers through a battlefield every day.”
“……..”
Similarly, Lestrade, Watson, and Charlotte Holmes prepared for battle, their gazes fixed on the professor and the supernatural entities.
“Well, this is a chance to trample everything that’s been bothering me.”
Without a specific target, Professor Moriarty enveloped Adler in a protective shield and aimed ethereal grey spears at everyone else.
“Slaughter! Slaughter!!”
“…Sigh.”
Jill the Ripper began to swing her knife at everyone in sight, while Lupin sighed, already calculating how to snatch Adler amidst the upcoming carnage.
“………”
And, though it was unclear when it had arrived, the Hound of the Baskervilles crouched in the nearby bushes, intently observing the scene.
Gooooooooo…
The situation was a ticking time bomb; the slightest movement would ignite the fuse.
“…Khuukk, ghaaa!”
Suddenly, the man at the center of the chaos began making choking noises.
“Ugh…”
Spitting out a red liquid that looked suspiciously like blood, Adler collapsed where he stood.
“…Uh, hmm.”
Seeing that all eyes were fixed on him, he let his head thud against the ground.
…Thud.
With that ridiculous noise, Adler quietly closed his eyes.
“””………..”””
A profound, heavy silence fell over everyone gathered there.
.
.
.
.
.
Swoosh…
An unknown amount of time later.
“Ugh…”
I, who had been feigning unconsciousness, opened my eyes to find myself in a room reeking of disinfectant. A single whiff was enough to tell anyone this was a hospital.
“………”
And the first thing I saw upon opening my eyes were the women. Each and every one of them was staring down at me expressionlessly—the same women who, moments ago, had been ready to engage in a blood-spattered slaughter.
…System, save me!!!
What could I possibly do?
I quickly shut my eyes tight again and fervently prayed for the system’s help, but it was evidently a futile effort.