0% “Uuuuuuugh...”
When Jas Moriarty clutched the back of his neck in response to my outrageous statent, I considered it the perfect opportunity.
After all, there was no way I could confront soone of his calibre – capable of effortlessly overpowering even the professor – head-on.
Against a foe of that strength, even the briefest mont of vulnerability was a gift from the heavens.
And here he was, clutching his neck and staggering. How could I not seize this chance with glee?
- Crackle... zap...
Please, let this work...
Without hesitation, I activated the scroll Miss Mycrony had prepared and hurled myself forward, fully determined to make use of this once-in-a-lifeti opportunity.
A thousand years? That would take at least a year to craft.
What? Only 20 minutes to spare?
You’ve got to be joking! You said the opponent is on par with Jane Moriarty, didn’t you?!
As I charged toward the staggering Jas Moriarty, fragnts of my earlier conversation with Miss Mycrony bubbled up in my mind.
With just 20 minutes? At best, I can make a sealing scroll that lasts 30 years. No, maybe 25 years.
Don’t look at like that; it’s not like I can work miracles! Even I, a genius, have my limits.
If I’d had just one full day, I could’ve made it last over a hundred years...
It was London, after all, the ho of the top three geniuses in the world. If Miss Mycrony said that, it had to be true.
With a re 20 minutes, buying any more ti was an impossibility.
Of course, the fact that she’d managed to craft a scroll capable of sealing soone for 25 years in just 20 minutes was nothing short of extraordinary.
But on the flip side, it was a stark reminder of just how powerful my opponent was.
Moreover, with only half of his power, as he admitted.
“... Huff.”
As I stretched the activated scroll toward him, lost in those thoughts, a sudden shift in the office’s atmosphere made gasp for air.
“...... Impudent.”
Jas Moriarty, now sowhat composed, was glaring at with a cold and nacing gaze.
“Impudent wretch!!!”
His frost-laden roar made every hair on my body stand on end.
“A re mortal... an inferior being... how dare you...!”
... What is he even going on about?
To be fair, I’m the Creator. Isn’t calling an inferior being a bit much?
I an, he’s practically a bug – an unplanned anomaly – existing in a system I designed. Should soone like him really be talking to , soone akin to a god, like that?
“Tch...”
But regardless of how outraged I felt, my entire body began to seize up.
It seed to be sothing similar to the Draconic Fear the professor occasionally employed.
However, unlike the professor, who would unleash her killing intent directly, this man’s re roar was several tis more oppressive.
- Crack, crackle...
And in the brief mont, my body refused to cooperate, an ominous sound began to echo from above .
- Crackle, fzzzt...
“... Ah.”
When I instinctively looked up, I saw it— a grey, crackling mass shaped like a sharp bolt of lightning, aid directly at .
- Shhhhhhh...
For a mont, I froze in place, stunned by the unexpected attack. But then, a black aura surged over , shielding .
“Haa... haa...”
Charlotte, standing behind , was pouring every ounce of her strength into blocking the attack hurtling toward .
“You dare...”
Jas Moriarty, his piercing eyes glowing a chilling blue, glared at her. Then, slowly, he raised his other hand.
- Flash...!
But in that instant, soone darted low to the ground, striking at his side with calculated precision.
“That won’t happen.”
It was Inspector Lestrade, her eyes burning with a fierce, cold light, as she lunged at him, wielding her baton.
- Crash, crackle, grind...
Yet, sohow, even as her baton collided with his hand, Jas Moriarty continued to exert his power effortlessly.
“You... Did you really think I would fall to such a petty trick?”
“.... Ugrgh?”
“Tell ... who do you think created that curse you carry?”
True to his words, it beca clear that it was not Jas Moriarty but rather Inspector Lestrade who was being overwheld by sheer force.
I have to... I need to quickly get this scroll... to touch him...
I knew I had to press the activated scroll against his heart, no matter what. But my body, still frozen by fear, refused to move.
“D-Damn it...”
Even so, I clenched my teeth so hard that blood began to seep from my lips and willed my hand to move forward, inch by inch.
- Grab...!
“Khuhk?”
But before I could make it, Jas Moriarty’s hand, having already dispelled Charlotte’s black aura completely, clamped around my throat.
- Squeeze...
“Keuk? Kugh, guh...”
As his grip tightened around my neck, the world around began to darken.
What kind of old man has this kind of strength?
Was he amplifying his physical power with magic or sothing?
“Grk... guh... urgh...”
“It’s useless.”
As the sudden lack of oxygen made every muscle in my body twitch, I began to thrash wildly, but Jas Moriarty’s icy voice drilled rcilessly into my ears.
“You dare... sully the blood of a dragon...?”
“Wait... urgh... ugh...”
“That pure, untouched blood... that has remained untainted for thousands of years!!!”
Isn’t this becoming a bit too intense for a family gathering?
I wanted to hurl so retort back at him, but even forming words was now beyond .
“M-Master...”
Through my dimming vision, I caught sight of Moran’s pale face reflected in the window.
She had already aid her gun at Jas Moriarty’s head but seed incapable of pulling the trigger, likely because I was being held hostage.
“The cri of defiling sacred blood... atone for it with your death.”
“Damn... it...”
Was this really the end?
I had just reunited with everyone— even t the professor again.
Was it truly going to end like this?
“H-Help... ...”
I hated that thought so much that I muttered those words with all my remaining strength, and that was when it happened—
- Flash...!
Suddenly, sothing darted between and Jas Moriarty.
“... Kraaaagh!!!”
Monts later, a scream echoed through the office.
“You... you vermin scum...”
Jas Moriarty, who had montarily let go of and staggered back, now had his eyes tightly shut, with thin, crimson lines slashed across his eyelids.
“... Ah.”
My gaze shifted to the side, following the source, and I montarily froze with a dazed expression.
“That’s...”
Embedded in the wall of the office, after grazing the professor’s eyes, was none other than a familiar-looking playing card.
“... Lupin?”
- Shhhhhhh...
I muttered in disbelief, but at that very mont, a bone-chilling killing intent radiated from ahead of .
“Enough... this has gotten too tireso.”
Jas Moriarty, his wounds now completely healed, glared with a ghastly grey light in his gaze, exuding a murderous aura that filled the room.
“.....!!!”
For the first ti, he unleashed the full extent of his killing intent, and all of us were overwheld, our legs giving out as we collapsed to the floor.
“Die.”
He aid sothing grey and incomprehensibly sinister at us— sothing that could only be described as death itself.
- Boom...!
But just before the grey sphere could reach us, it was devoured by an inexplicable shadow that suddenly appeared and swallowed it whole.
“No, no, no, nonononono...”
“.....?”
I was wondering who had stepped in to block that attack, but the voice now resonating through the office made it clear— my long-ti stalker had finally tracked down.
“That bastard... only I get to kill him...”
Ah yes, none other than the one who had long transcended death— Jill the Ripper.
“... There seem to be an awful lot of flies around today.”
“Kkhhk?”
However, no matter how powerful she was, it seed Jas Moriarty saw her as nothing more than a slightly larger fly.
“I never realised my daughter had such a fondness for such vermin.”
“Graaaaaaaahhhh!!!”
With a casual wave of his hand, he summoned a dazzling radiance that seed ready to engulf everything in its path. The encroaching shadow that had threatened to cover the room flickered like fire and began to dissipate almost instantly.
“You.”
Amid that terrifying spectacle, Jas Moriarty, his face cold and impassive, looked down at while whispering in a bone-chilling tone.
“No matter how many flies a mosquito calls upon, it cannot bring down a dragon.”
Yeah, those words might actually be accurate.
But here’s the thing.
This man underestimated my connections.
“... Poppy.”
And most importantly, he underestimated my judgent.
“Bite.”
“... Yes.”
If he hadn’t, he might have been more wary of the fact that, despite the blinding light filling the room, my shadow was now stretching to cover half of it.
- Grrrrrrrrr...!
“.......!”
At my command, Poppy, who had erged and grown massive enough to fill half the room with her shadow, lunged at Jas Moriarty, her glowing blue eyes fixed on him.
“You... the hound of the underworld...!”
“Immortals like you... have always been so disrespectful towards ...”
His eyes widened in shock as he hastily tried to retract the radiance ant to fend off Jill the Ripper.
“I’ve always hated that.”
“... Urgh!”
But it was already too late— Poppy, now monstrous with her shadowy form, sank her sharp fangs into his arm.
“Haaaargh!!!”
“Khuhk.”
With that, Inspector Lestrade, now freed, drove her baton with all her might into his stomach, causing Jas Moriarty to cough up blood for the very first ti as he collapsed.
- Bang...!
Before he could raise his other hand, Moran fired an air bullet at maximum output, shredding it to mince at.
- Goooooooo...
At the sa ti, Charlotte’s black aura wrapped around Jas Moriarty, binding him.
“D-Damn...”
As soon as I managed to shake off so of the oppressive weight, I began moving the activated scroll towards his heart.
“STOP!!!!!!!!”
“... Arggh.”
The roar that erupted from Jas Moriarty froze in place once again, my breath catching in my throat.
“””..........!!!”””
It wasn’t just — everyone else, though to varying degrees, was similarly paralysed.
“At first... I thought I’d show so rcy, keep a few of you alive to serve as my pawns...”
“Urgh...”
“But no... it seems you lot are beyond redemption...”
And then, before our very eyes, Jas Moriarty began to unleash a power far greater than anything he had displayed before.
“You’re telling ... he’s been holding back this entire ti...?”
“Shit...”
The realisation that he still had strength to spare – and that he had taken little damage – began to sap the will of everyone present.
“Pathetic wretches. Every single one of you... your lives end here, without exception.”
“””.........”””
“And you, especially... for the unforgivable sin of defiling the blood of a dragon...”
His deadened gaze swept over the others before locking onto , his expression twisting into one of seething hatred as he began to radiate raw power.
“But... I was the one defiled by the dragon though...”
“You shall suffer the most excruciating death this world has ever known!”
As his hand, brimming with an overwhelming and chilling killing intent, lunged toward my heart—
“Uwaa?”
“Eeeh?”
“... Huh.”
Out of nowhere, two bright-eyed children clambered onto Jas Moriarty’s knees, their innocent faces completely unfazed by the suffocating tension in the room.
“.......”
For a brief mont, Jas Moriarty stared at them, dumbfounded. Then, as if shaking off the absurdity, he tried once more to extend his hand toward .
“Granpa!”
“Grandpaa!”
The two children giggled happily as they crawled on his lap, babbling cheerfully. Their bright smiles seed to ripple through Jas Moriarty’s otherwise unshakable composure, causing his cold, piercing gaze to falter for the first ti.
- Clink, clatter, chaaaain...!
“......!?”
And in that exact mont, grey chains materialised and coiled tightly around his body, binding him completely.
“.........”
It was then I noticed, standing calmly was the professor – now free from her restraints – her hand raised as she cast the spell to ensnare Jas Moriarty with the chains of magic.
“... How long have you been waiting for this opportunity?”
“... From the very beginning.”
As Jas Moriarty’s dazed question hung in the air, the professor answered with quiet composure, her voice steady and resolute.
“Uwaaaahhh!!!”
Summoning every last ounce of strength, I slamd the scroll into his heart with all my might.
- Crackle, fzzzt, buzzz...!
A brilliant, multicoloured light imdiately began to flood the office.
“H-Ha... haha...”
And then, in the very next mont—
“WAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!”
From the once-dazed Jas Moriarty ca an explosive, boisterous laugh that echoed throughout the room.
“Yes... now that’s my daughter!!!”
“........”
“I almost started to feel disappointed in you...!”
Laughing so hard it seed tears might spill, his voice rang with pride. But then, as though flipping a switch, his expression darkened, and he fixed with a cold, nacing stare.
“... For soone like you to dare touch my precious daughter.”
“Hold on a second, excuse , I was the one being touched and ravished!”
“Prepare yourself, Isaac Adler.”
I tried, against all odds, to explain myself, clinging to the faintest hope for so understanding.
“The scroll’s effect will last no more than 20, maybe 30 years.”
“Wait, hold on.”
Yet whether it was pure rage clouding his judgent or simply his natural disposition, Jas Moriarty paid no attention to my words, leaving only his ominous warning.
“When I awaken, after that ti...”
“Listen to , damn it!!!”
I shouted desperately, my face contorted with indignation, but,
“First, I will thoroughly slaughter you.”
“I’M THE VICTIM HERE!!!”
The light from the scroll surged, wrapping around him completely.
“Prepare yourself... for defiling my grandchildren’s blood... y-you... you...”
“... I’m going to lose it.”
“You filthy, inferior being...”
With those final words, Jas Moriarty was swallowed whole by the scroll’s power, disappearing entirely.
“”..........””
And then, there was silence.
“Hoeng?”
“Uung?”
The first sounds to break the miraculous and temporary peace in the London office ca from the two children, now seated on the floor where Moriarty had been. They tilted bobbed heads from side to side, looking at with curious babbling.
“Da.”
“Dada!”
“... Yeah.”
At this rate, I think I need a break.
“It’s Dad, children...”
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