dmims Chapter 124: Escape
Chapter 124: Escape
Chapter 124: Escape
"Haa, haaaa..."
- Gooooooo...
The fight between Charlotte and Professor Moriarty, which had been going on for dozens of minutes already, had begun reaching an impasse.
"You're quite good at this, aren't you?"
Normally, with a higher concentration of mana and far superior skills and experience, Professor Moriarty should have landed an overwhelming victory in the duel.
"Has some sort of trigger led to an increase in your abilities?"
"... Quiet."
However, for some unknown reason, Charlotte's dark-black mana, which seemed several times darker and more ominous than usual, was barely able to successfully defend against Professor Moriarty's all-devouring deathly grey mana.
"Just, just a little more strength!"
"... Charlotte! Hang in there!"
Of course, this miracle wasn't solely due to her absurd growth.
"Tch..."
"While she’s not the easiest opponent, given her high proficiency in hand-to-hand combat, I will take them down soon and join you as fast as I can. So just hold on a little longer!"
Inspector Gia Lestrade, who had stepped in to block the werewolf that was on her way to eagerly target Charlotte Holmes under the command of the devil that had enabled and empowered her existence, didn’t forget to split some of her attention to reducing the concentration of the all-engulfing grey mana in real-time.
"Grrgrrgrrrrrr..."
"He-Here, you see this, right? This is loaded with... sil-silver bullets, yeah... It will hurt really, really bad, like really bad if you get hit with it, right? So don’t come close!”1
Meanwhile, Dr Rachel Watson had somehow overcome the crippling fear that was immobilizing her to some extent, all for her partner’s sake. Thus, she was now busy aiming the pistol in her hand at the demonic hound who was circling the room, keeping it at bay.
"Wow."
Meanwhile, at a distance from all the chaos, Isaac Adler was watching the whole chaotic fiasco with sparkling eyes; his hands were still hovering over the return ticket icon though, just in case.
"Magic is truly amazing..."
"Mr. Adler."
Inadvertently, he closed his mouth shut upon hearing Professor Moriarty's voice, which hadn't lost its leisurely, bemused tone from the very start.
"Six women are fighting over you, and you're watching it as if it’s a play. Quite intrigued, are we?"
"Uh... technically, isn't it five?"
"........"
"... Hehe."
At the prolonged silence, Adler couldn’t help but scratch his head with an awkward smile.
"In that case, it makes the effort of coming here to save you pointless, doesn’t it?”
Unlike before, Professor Moriarty was now gazing at him with her head tilted to the side. Puzzled by the unusually cheery demeanour he was showing as they fought over him with full force, the professor unexpectedly relaxed her grip at the next moment.
- Tssssss...
At that moment, Charlotte Holmes' ominous black mana surged in, swiftly engulfing Professor Moriarty's grey mana.
"Professor...?"
"... Hmph."
The bewildered Adler couldn’t help but wear a slightly dazed look as he heard the sulky voice flowing out of the professor’s lips while she gazed at him with a slightly sullen gaze.
"You still seem to be quite at ease, huh...?"
Just then, a chilling voice echoed from the front.
"Of course, I do appreciate your arrogance."
"........"
"You must have realized by now, that you can no longer suppress me as overwhelmingly as you used to."
"That doesn't mean you can win, though."
Briefly, Charlotte’s mana seemed to have dominated over Professor Moriarty’s overwhelming and all-encompassing presence. And the professor, undeterred, began increasing her mana output once again as their gazes intersected.
"Your eyes are still grey, Professor. It seems your love for yourself is greater than your love for Adler."
"My heart is several times wider than the narrow and prejudiced thing beating on your chest. However, no matter how big the heart, some constitutions are too hard to dye. There’s nothing one can do about it."
"Don't try to pass it off as a joke."
Charlotte, having said that, lowered her voice and whispered out a question to the professor.
"... Do you even understand the emotion called love?"
And then silence ensued between the two.
"See..."
Charlotte quietly looked at the silent professor with a gaze far colder than anything she ever projected, and soon began to speak with a sneer stretching her lips.
"You're just playing at love. Because it seems... fun. Isn't that right, Professor?"
"Your words are a bit too extreme, don’t you think?"
Jane Moriarty glared at her in the silence, the voice leaking out of her lips colder than glacial ice.
"Apologies, but I'm not in the mood to indulge a child's tantrums."
"I never thought I'd say this to you but..."
"My dearest ladies, please do your very best to bring us down."
"Stop..."
"At this point, it can’t be any clearer regarding what you need to do from henceforth.”
"Stop it!!!"
Charlotte exploded just as she heard Adler's last few words.
"I don't want to bring you down!!"
"........"
"I like you! I love you, Adler!!"
More and more tears started streaming down her face, more than she had ever shed in all her life.
"Ah, yes, yes. I was a bit too harsh with you earlier, wasn’t I? Sorry for that. Since I was a bit too excessive, let's find another way, okay? Let’s start over... yeah, yea...."
"Miss Holmes..."
"Marrying someone else for my sake, I won't accept such a doggone ending!!!"
And then Charlotte, shouting those words at the top of her lungs, tried to step forward.
"... This doesn’t seem to be a very fitting way to conclude this case.”
Adler – witnessing the scene of Gia Lestrade exerting her superhuman strength to bring down the main culprit, Mortimer, behind him – squinted and muttered to herself.
"The only problem is Miss Baskerville, who witnessed everything..."
"... That won’t be a problem.”
Amidst the rapidly deteriorating situation, a shy, whispery voice was heard.
"I've already made arrangements to cover up this case..."
"Is that so?"
The professor, who had once proposed confidently but was now avoiding Adler's gaze with flushed cheeks, muttered those words. And, hearing her, Adler merely nodded in silence.
"Then, let's get out of here."
- Swish...
Suddenly, Adler wrapped his arm around her waist.
".........?"
As he scooped her up in a princess carry – Professor Moriarty, who had been flicking her head side to side like a lizard, unable to grasp what was happening to her for a moment – froze on the spot.
"... It seems you still haven't accepted it, so I should give you time."
"A, Adler."
"But if you still can't accept it in the end..."
Gently stroking her hair, Isaac Adler quietly raised his hand.
"The next mystery you face won't be so kind."
"Stop it. Stop already!!!"
"Prepare yourself well, Miss Holmes."
"... Ugh."
Charlotte, staggering from the oppressive atmosphere filling the cavern, eventually lost her balance and fell to the ground.
"... Don't waste your energy trying to catch me."
Looking at her with a hint of pity in his eyes, Adler then snapped his fingers and concluded.
"Unless you discover the true name, binding a devil is impossible."
"Wait!!!"
"... Goodbye."
In the next moment, the professor and Adler had disappeared from the cavern in an instant.
.
.
.
.
.
After their disappearance, a heavier silence than ever before began to flow inside the cavern.
"Strange."
In the midst of that silence, Charlotte, who had fallen to her knees on the cave's sharp rocky floor, her knees scrapped and bleeding, began to mutter quietly with lifeless eyes.
"He promised to be with me, to be by my side, forever... back then."
As if it were a lie all along, the storm ceased the moment Adler had stepped out of the wilderness. However, at that very instant, a terrifying message appeared before Adler’s eyes, making him puzzled.
"... Did I forget something for a moment?"
– Probability of being Shared — 10% → 69%/genesisforsaken