Chapter 251: Approaching the End
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 251: Approaching the End
A few hours had passed since Adler had reunited with Charlotte, Inspector Lestrade, and Watson.
“Hey, uh, guys? Why did you suddenly tell me to hold my breath?”
Adler, who had been following the women’s instructions to hold his breath in a secluded corner of the street, started feeling faint and finally voiced his question.
“Shh. Quiet.”
“You need to focus.”
“One small mistake, and it could end in disaster.”
At their curt responses, Adler tilted his head in confusion, his expression bewildered.
“What exactly are you trying to do…?”
“…A large-scale teleportation spell.”
“Wait, what?”
“I am trying to teleport all of us to London at once. It’s difficult, but doable.”
Hearing Charlotte’s tense voice, Adler’s eyes widened as he repeated her words in disbelief.
“But that’s… that’s an ultimate-tier spell! No, it’s the very pinnacle of ultimate-tier magic! You’d need at least three highly skilled archmages to pull something like that off…”
“……”
“……”
“…Ah.”
However, as Charlotte and Princess Clay silently stared at him, Adler’s face shifted into a look of dawning realization.
“But… even then, we’re still one person short.”
“…That’s where you come in.”
At Adler’s doubtful murmur, his gaze wavering with uncertainty, Charlotte responded in a low voice.
“I’m just a regular person now, though. If someone like you so much as flicked me, I’d drop dead in an instant.”
Adler frantically waved his hands in protest, his face pale as he voiced his objection.
Swoosh—
“……?”
Just then, without a word, Princess Clay gently intertwined her fingers with Adler’s left hand.
“I—I shall lend you my mana.”
“Ah…”
“…Do not fret. I’ve stored enough mana through extensive feeding over the years. Even if I give some of it to a pitiful wretch like you, it won’t even make a dent in my reserves.”
Princess Clay spoke with a grumbling tone, her expression more annoyed than anything else.
“I-It’s not because I pity your pathetic state or anything. It’s just that, as someone under the professor’s wing, I need to at least pretend to cooperate… just so I don’t get into trouble later…”
As Adler stared blankly at her, she began spouting excuses no one had asked for.
“Thank you, Princess.”
“…Ahem.”
When Adler flashed her a warm smile and expressed his gratitude, the princess paused mid-sentence and coughed softly, averting her gaze.
“I-It’s nothing.”
She then began transferring her mana, deliberately avoiding Adler’s gaze for no apparent reason.
[Honestly, you’re so oblivious sometimes.]
What was I supposed to do? Not thank her?
[Just keep living like that, then. See how that turns out for you.]
Caught in the sudden chill of the atmosphere, Adler found himself silently bickering with the system once more, his mood slightly dampened as he turned his gaze away.
……..?
However, his body suddenly flinched as an eerie chill crept down his spine.
…Did I just imagine that?
Standing to his right, he looked up to meet Charlotte, who was wearing a smile so chilling that it sent shivers down his spine.
“Uh…”
“Alright, refocus. Hold your breath again. I’m about to cast the spell.”
“O-Okay.”
“You there, detective. You’re helping as well. You’ve got the highest firepower here.”
Startled by Princess Clay’s commanding tone, Adler hurriedly pulled himself together, his momentary confusion giving way to focus as he prepared for the spell.
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A few minutes later, on a secluded street somewhere in London.
Bzzzt—!
“Ugh!?”
A sudden burst of black and crimson light appeared, causing the nearby thugs loitering in the area to collapse to the ground, foaming at the mouth before losing consciousness.
“Huff… Hooooh…”
“………”
Amid the chaotic scene, the sound of heavy panting broke the silence.
“Did it… work?”
Adler, who had been in Rhode Island, USA, just moments ago, gasped for air as he glanced around the shadowy backstreets of London.
“It seems… it did.”
“…Miss Holmes.”
“So it’s actually possible. I’d only ever theoretically calculated the possibility of intercontinental teleportation before.”
Charlotte, standing beside him with her usual calm expression, murmured to herself as if still processing the feat.
“…Then let’s go. Just like you said, we’ll go and eliminate the root of all evil in this world.”
“Wait, hold on.”
She grabbed Adler’s arm, intending to lead him out of the alley, but he stopped in his tracks, forcing her to halt as well.
“What’s wrong?”
“The others…?”
For some reason, the companions who should have been transported with them were nowhere to be seen.
“…Good question.”
“Don’t tell me—there was an error in the spell!?”
Adler’s face turned pale as he anxiously spun around, scanning the area.
“I don’t think so.”
“……!”
As Charlotte spoke, the dust began to settle, and Adler’s widened eyes took in the scene before him.
“What the hell is this…”
“They must’ve been caught in the shockwave during the teleportation process.”
“…Are you saying this is a side effect?”
All of Adler’s companions lay unconscious on the ground, sprawled out as if struck by some invisible force.
“You were the focal point of the spell, and I’m the strongest one here, so we were able to endure it. But for the others, it was likely too much.”
“This can’t be…!”
“But don’t worry. They’re still breathing, so they’ll be fine.”
Adler, who had been growing increasingly pale as he looked at his fallen comrades, finally sighed with some relief at Charlotte’s reassurance.
“But what do we do now…?”
“We’ll have to leave them here.”
Adler’s face filled with worry at her suggestion, but Charlotte, now back to her usual cold and calculating demeanor, firmly presented her solution.
“What? But…”
“It’s fine. I’ll cast a perception-blocking spell. No one will be able to enter this area.”
“Even so…”
“…Honestly, this might be for the best.”
Charlotte turned to Adler, her expression serious, as she began to explain.
“I’ve personally felt the fragments of that being reborn from the ashes.”
“…….”
“It’s possible… that this thing may be beyond even the professor’s ability to handle. Sending people who can’t even withstand the shock of a teleportation spell to face something like that would be no different from a suicide mission, don’t you think?”
At her words, Adler hesitated for a long moment before eventually nodding, his expression showing he’d come to terms with her reasoning.
“Thank you for understanding.”
Charlotte, now linking her arm with Adler’s, whispered softly as they began to walk forward.
“By the way, it’s been a while since it was just the two of us, hasn’t it?”
“…Yeah, it has.”
“Just me and you. The two of us. No interruptions from anyone… Just our pure, unadulterated story…”
“Um, Holmes?”
Adler, walking alongside her, grew visibly uneasy as he noticed the dark smile creeping across her lips once again. He called out to her nervously, but it was clear his voice didn't reach her.
I’ve gotten rid of the riffraff. They won’t be waking up for at least a week.
“Holmes… What’s up with that terrifying look you’ve been giving?”
…Now, how should I deal with the professor?
Her mind had been entirely consumed by such thoughts from the moment they started walking.
If things go south, I’ll at least have to save Adler and get him out of there somehow…
Swoosh—
“……..!?”
Suddenly, she felt a presence behind her.
“And where are the two of you hurrying off to?”
“What?”
Charlotte’s instincts kicked in instantly as she spun around, mana surging through her in preparation. However, her expression flickered with unexpected surprise.
“What the… Is this a joke?”
“…Mind if I join you?”
“W-What… How…?”
It was none other than the inspector, holding her throbbing head, and Celestia Moran, who had somehow grown to match Charlotte’s height. They were both on their feet, brushing dirt off their hands as they approached.
“Well, I guess… I must’ve been stronger than you imagined me to be.”
“…….”
“Master, you’ll let me come along too, right?”
“…Of course!”
Standing next to Adler, Moran flashed a dazzling smile as she asked, and Adler, his face bright and innocent, responded without hesitation.
“Wow. I’m so happy I can be of help to you, Master.”
“……..”
“And you feel the same way, don’t you?”
Moran turned to Charlotte, her smile brimming with apparent joy as she addressed her.
“…Hey.”
Charlotte, however, offered nothing but a cold, sharp stare in response. Moran, undeterred by her glare, leaned in close to her ear and whispered in a low, mocking voice.
“You’re not the only one who’s gotten stronger over the past two years.”
Crrr—
The sparks that erupted where their gazes met were almost palpable, a fierce and silent battle igniting between the two women.
“…What the hell are you two doing in such a dire situation?”
Meanwhile, Lestrade, watching the scene with a deep frown, voiced her irritation.
“So, are we storming straight into the professor’s office, then?”
“…I’d like to, but there’s someone we need to meet first.”
Adler scratched the back of his head as he answered her question.
“Who could possibly be more important at a time like this?”
“…The White Veil of London.”
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Not far from where Adler had landed, there stood a grand mansion nestled in the heart of London.
Scratch, scratch, scratch…
“…Yes, this is it. This is it.”
Inside the mansion, a lone figure had barricaded herself in, tirelessly working on something for an entire week without sleep.
“This time—this time I’ll succeed. I have to succeed, no matter what…”
The woman, who had even stopped her usual routine of gulping down lethal doses of cocaine and self-harming, was none other than Mycrony Holmes.
“I must… ImustImust…”
Her bloodshot eyes darted over the intricate magic circle she had poured her very soul into for the past seven days, obsessively checking it again and again as she muttered to herself.
“…I’m down to just two strands of hair left…”
How much time had passed? Her trembling hand reached for a test tube.
“If this fails too… the next attempt will be my last chance…”
From the tube, she extracted strands of golden hair and carefully laid them onto the magic circle.
“Please, please, please, please, please…”
Zzzzzt!
“Open, open, open, open, open…”
The moment the magic circle spun, emitting a tremendous surge of energy, she clasped her sweat-drenched hands together, muttering like a madwoman.
Boom!
“…Ah.”
But as gray smoke enveloped her desk and the balance of energy collapsed, her deadened eyes let out a short, despairing groan.
“………..”
A heavy silence descended soon after.
“…Theoretically, it was perfect. The gateway should’ve opened without issue.”
Breaking the silence, Mycrony’s eerily calm voice echoed through the room.
“So, it’s true, isn’t it?”
Crumple…
“There’s an entity interfering with the interaction between this dimension and the other.”
As she crumpled up the magic diagram she had painstakingly created, a chilling smile crept onto her lips.
“Ah, so I’ve been approaching this the wrong way from the start.”
Swoosh—
With a sudden realization dawning on her face, she picked up her pen and began scribbling on a fresh sheet of paper.
“First… I should have dealt with that before anything else…”
Scratch, scratch…
And so, it seemed that an uncontrollable villain of the century was about to emerge in the very heart of London.
Creak…
“…Mycrony?”
Thankfully, the potentially catastrophic course of her actions was abruptly cut short mere minutes later.
“Don’t worry. I’m not self-harming or doing drugs anymore, so you don’t have to be concerned.”
“………”
“Because I’ve found a purpose in life. So, from now on, I’m going to be very busy.”
She turned her head, her gaze now fixed on something—or rather, someone.
“Which is why…”
It was the very cause of what could have been a multidimensional catastrophe, the very goal she had been obsessing over.
“…It’s been a while, Miss Mycrony.”
“……..”
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
For a moment, Mycrony Holmes simply stared, her face blank. But soon, tears began streaming down her cheeks.
“I told you, didn’t I? Devils don’t die.”
[Forget that! Destroy that thing first!!!!]
(The System is in a state of shock because Mycrony was actually plotting to destroy the System itself, believing it was the entity blocking her access to Adler.)
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Meanwhile,
“…Is this the place?”
An elderly gentleman, having arrived at the entrance of the Auguste Academy, gently bobbed his head from side to side, a faint smile playing on his lips.
“The fortress of the kingdom my daughter built?”
The end was approaching closer and closer.