Heavenly Demon Holmes: London’s Subjugation

God does not practice boxing with both hands.

-British Proverb-

I had not expected James Moriarty to come in person, and I had no other way to keep a thread connecting me to him.

‘Good. It doesn’t seem I’ve aroused any particular suspicion.’

Just as in the world before my regression, Irene Adler in this world too would have sought Moriarty’s crime consulting.

Assuming the two had met before, and considering Irene Adler’s temperament, it would be perfectly natural for her to send a subordinate to arrange their next appointment.

If there was anything that might give Moriarty pause, it would be this.

The moment he revealed his true face, after infiltrating Westminster Palace disguised as a servant’s subordinate, a man presumed to be Irene Adler’s subordinate appeared.

Yet even that would likely seem perfectly natural to Moriarty, who had eyes and ears planted all across Europe. If this were some ordinary back alley of London, it might be another matter, but this was Westminster Palace, where government officials gathered. It was hardly strange that a criminal’s subordinate might be hiding his identity here.

<You mean to say Irene Adler sent you?>

<That is correct.>

Just as I expected, Moriarty did not seem to feel any great sense of incongruity.

Dr. Watson, having watched me throw something at Moriarty and then exchange glances with him, could only stare blankly as though she understood nothing.

Meanwhile, the guards of Westminster Palace climbed onto the roof and, one by one, made ready to strike Moriarty.

Yet seeing that none of them readily unfolded lightness skill to approach him, it seemed they had already grasped the gulf in ability.

‘Well, after seeing that, even a fool would understand Moriarty is an impossible monster.’

There was no need even to point out that only above his head did the night sky appear.

The mere fact that Moriarty was floating in the air without moving at all was, by itself, an absurdity that shook the very foundations of lightness skill.

Footwork could be applied in countless ways, to guard one’s body with subtle movement against an opponent’s techniques, to close distance in an instant and continue an offensive, even to lend force to one’s very step and cripple the enemy. But consider lightness skill.

At its core, lightness skill exists to move quickly, higher, farther, within a short span of time.

In other words, it presupposes travel between two points.

Every movement art in the martial world remains within that concept.

Even ascending lightness arts such as Jacob’s Ladder or ~Tinker Bell~, ultimately only ride the sky by methods like emitting a lightness frequency from acupoints.

But what of the Moriarty before me?

For some time now, he had worn a perfectly relaxed expression, simply standing still in empty air.

A layman might insist he was using Poltergeist to move his shoes or clothing and hang himself in the air, but the truth was entirely different.

-Pzzzt.

When I unfolded my eye technique and observed closely, I saw essence and air mixing where his shoes met the empty space, producing a physico-chemical reaction.

Just as I had once constructed an essence circuit in fabric and flowed power through it, Moriarty injected internal energy directly into the air and transformed it into a solid.

That was right.

He fused gas and essence into one, made a firm floor, and then joined it to the building.

In this world, the Danube River was closer to a solid than a liquid, and it flowed at one inch per year.

It was because high-density natural essence spilling from the Black Forest altered the water into something like hardened glass.

Sir Newton’s famous distinct weapon, the Prism Sword, was made by cutting the Danube by some method. Therefore, knowledge of the Danube was, to the British, practically common sense.

Now then, let me think for a moment.

What transformed the Danube was an enormous quantity of natural essence flowing from an entire mountain range.

And not just any essence, but the aura of the Black Forest, one of Europe’s foremost Forbidden Areas.

Only with that much could a river be warped into glass.

And yet, Moriarty, by his power alone, hardened the atmosphere and stood upon it.

A phenomenon that, among Europe’s countless waterways, occurred only in the Danube, was being produced by a human being.

And using not liquid, but gas.

‘…I’m beginning to doubt whether he is even human.’

Perhaps reaching the same conclusion, the guards of Westminster Palace watched Moriarty and seemed to be waiting for stronger masters to arrive.

But the cabinet ministers, save the Home Secretary, would have gone to Buckingham Palace to make up on periodic reports delayed during the Royal Palace ball.

The members of the House of Lords and the House of Commons were not attending Parliament today either.

Even if a few great heroes of London heard of this and came running, it would still take several minutes.

Seeing Homeless Clan beggars gathering with cameras, it was only a matter of time before the Homeless Clan’s Dragon Head, the great hero Ol’ Dirty Bastard., learned of it, but even if he arrived, he would not be able to seize Moriarty.

‘To think the self-collected Home Secretary of all people would make such a mistake.’

This was why, in my note, I wrote that, just in case, when interrogating an agent of the Church of Asteroid disguised as a servant, he should bring other masters with him.

Enraged by the fact that Clark was dead, the Home Secretary was ultimately swayed by emotion and ended up facing Moriarty alone.

‘At least he didn’t die…’

To have survived against that creature at all was sheer providence.

Most likely, Sir Harcourt’s internal injuries came from exposure to a small leak of energy that escaped as Moriarty released his disguise art and returned to his original form.

If Moriarty had truly struck, it would not have ended at that.

‘How strong must I become to face him?’

To be honest, I had no sense of it at all.

I had never imagined Moriarty would be such an irrationally overwhelming being, and I was more shaken than I cared to admit.

Until now, if asked to name the strongest of mankind, I could think of no one but the Heavenly Demon, Phileas Fogg.

But even my master had never produced such a phenomenon.

At least, not before my eyes.

‘Would I need to reach the Unrestrained Realm just to trade a few blows?’

Even as my resolve and competitive spirit boiled, swearing that I would by all means bring James Moriarty to justice, I grew impatient at the thought that I could not even measure the distance remaining to that goal.

Even so, having met him like this, I had to do what I could.

The one consolation was that I had confirmed he did not come here to kill anyone, meaning I could prepare a slightly bolder move.

The reason I had just thrown another person’s handkerchief at him and sent a Direct Message so abruptly was because I was certain he would not open a killing prohibition today.

I meant to trade on Irene Adler’s name, set the next meeting as I pleased, and, whether by persuasion or threat, draw her into my plan and use her to pry out information on Moriarty.

Even if I failed, so long as I did not tell Irene Adler of my exchange with Moriarty, there would be no problem.

If Irene Adler failed to appear at the appointed place, Moriarty’s anger would fall wholly upon her.

Whichever way it played out, it was a plan in which I would not lose.

Only one thing worried me, whether proud Moriarty would truly let go of one who had committed the insolence of throwing a shard of glass at him.

Moriarty looked down at me with eyes as though he were regarding a worthless insect.

The corners of his mouth were lifted, yet I could not afford carelessness.

In the world before my regression, he was a great villain who ordered murder with a smiling face.

That would not have changed here.

So long as he possessed power that might rival a mountain range, one misstep would mean death for both Dr. Watson and me.

<Well……. Perhaps it does not matter. We would have had to meet at least once more anyway, and there is something I must collect from your master.>

There was one thing that had been bothering me.

Somehow, even though we were merely exchanging Direct Messages, whenever he let emotion slip into his voice, interest, curiosity, my skull vibrated so violently it became difficult to endure.

I could not even guess what kind of overwhelming intent made such a thing possible.

An opponent with whom I could not even sustain a long conversation.

Today, it seemed my limit would be to finish the business quickly and send him off before I collapsed.

<Thank you. What date would be suitable?>

<…It happens the predecessor’s death anniversary draws near. We shall meet then.>

This was it.

I shouted in triumph within my mind.

I still did not know what crime Irene Adler had committed in this world with Moriarty’s aid, but the word he had just used, ‘predecessor’, was surely entwined deeply with them both.

A death anniversary meant that the one Moriarty called ‘predecessor’ was already dead.

Was he speaking of Irene Adler’s father?

Or was it a matter of her master?

The information that Moriarty had something to extract from Irene Adler also seemed highly useful.

Etching these clues into my Niwan Palace, I listened closely to Moriarty.

Moriarty’s expression lost its color once more.

For a moment he had shown interest at the thought of Irene Adler, but now that the message was delivered, it was as though he were saying a mere errand-runner was no longer worth his attention.

‘If only he had taken the handkerchief into his own hand…’

As I watched Moriarty’s body slowly rise into the air, I could not quite hide my regret.

There was a reason Irene Adler had stubbornly given me a new handkerchief even after seeing me tear one before.

When I applied chemical reagents to the handkerchief I received at the Debutante Ball, I found it carried a tracking scent that could not be detected by ordinary means.

The handkerchief she placed in my hand again at Buckingham Palace would have been treated with the same substance.

If Moriarty had held the handkerchief himself instead of spreading it by Poltergeist, I meant to press Irene Adler later and learn how that tracking scent could be detected.

Had it succeeded, I might have found Moriarty’s hideout.

The guards of Westminster Palace fired Fingertips, but none reached Moriarty.

Just so, he vanished into the sky beyond the clouds, and as the tension broke, I collapsed where I stood.

“Are you all right! You……?!”

“Forget me. Tend to the minister at once…”

I waved off Dr. Watson as she tried to support me.

“It’s only that my legs won’t hold strength. What a fuss—”

I couldn’t finish.

A deathly presence behind me.

When I lifted my head, I saw Moriarty’s face.

“That shard of glass was rather sharp.”

I had seen him vanish into the clouds only a moment ago.

Yet somehow he had come close—near enough to breathe—and was looking down at me.

“I do not think it is an object one may throw at someone who deserves, at minimum, a polite request.”

“……”

“It seems you require instruction in manners.”

In the next instant, a formless force poured down upon the crown of my head.

-BOOM!

A golf club thrust itself between us.