The lofty question went unanswered as expected. It wasn't just that Alaric received no response from Evil Moriarty; more significantly, the moment Evil Moriarty blurted out the question, the words seemed to vanish from his memory.
It was as though he had never spoken.
That intense, fiery expression quickly calmed, replaced by the same knowing smile as Moriarty's, as if everything was under control.
The transformation was astonishing, as though he had become a completely different person.
Alaric, with a gentle smile on his face, commented, "So it's you. You know me, don't you? You're not Moriarty, are you?"
From the tower-like structure of the gun barrel emerged only the servant unit called "Evil Moriarty," with no other spiritual presence detected.
Yet this contradicted the familiar spiritual signature that Alaric had sensed earlier.
Alaric was certain the entity within the tower was someone familiar, but it couldn't possibly be this Evil Moriarty.
After all, Alaric had never encountered Moriarty before. The two were strangers, with no connection whatsoever—let alone a spiritual resonance that could be called "familiar."
Still, the spiritual presence of Evil Moriarty was identical to Moriarty's, as if declaring that Alaric had been mistaken.
Even at the start, Alaric refused to believe it. After experiencing Holmes and Yan Qing's near-perfect disguises, he was almost certain this Evil Moriarty was someone impersonating him.
If Evil Moriarty was someone in disguise, then the real Moriarty—
At that thought, Alaric cast a glance to the side, at the one who called himself "Good Moriarty," and said with a smile, "Do me a favor—step away for a moment."
The clueless Moriarty wanted to protest, but under the combined intimidation of Holmes and Alaric, he slunk off to the corner like a dejected old man.
Watching this scene unfold, Fujimaru Ritsuka didn't intervene but couldn't help wondering why Alaric would send Moriarty away at such a critical moment.
"Your plan has failed. Three thousand years of obsession, destroyed by you, Alaric—"
The person claiming to be Evil Moriarty stared directly at Alaric and continued, "Hmm? What am I saying? Never mind—it doesn't matter. The plan has encountered a setback, but there's still a chance to recover."
As he spoke, Evil Moriarty shifted his gaze to the last Master of humanity.
Because of Alaric's actions, the New Shinjuku Phantom Alliance had been destroyed, and the gun-barrel tower—essential to the Shinjuku plan—had been cut down.
The bullets meant to be guided by the barrel toward their target, the act that would destroy the world, had been interrupted.
But there was still hope.
As long as Fujimaru Ritsuka was killed, everything would end.
It wasn't about destroying the world to kill Fujimaru Ritsuka—it was about killing Fujimaru Ritsuka, and the destruction of the world was merely a means to that end.
"This is the end. Since you refuse to reveal your true form, I'll help you—"
Without wasting more words on Evil Moriarty, Alaric declared his intent. Not far away, Artoria Alter stood between Moriarty and the others, ready to decapitate him at the first sign of unnecessary action.
Jeanne Alter, who had originally intended to attack Evil Moriarty, hesitated, unable to understand Artoria Alter's actions. Still, out of a sense of competitiveness, she ultimately chose to stand with Artoria Alter to keep an eye on Moriarty.
Holmes, taking in the entire scene, had a deep and thoughtful expression, as if piecing together the truth that had eluded him.
Before Holmes could reveal the ultimate truth, a field of blossoming flowers appeared.
A sea of pure white flowers—a miracle in its own right—was the manifestation of someone's full strength.
With spiritron-constructed armor adorning his body, replacing his suit, and a pitch-black holy sword in his grip, Alaric braced himself. With a single step, he surged forward like a missile.
The roaring aurora propelled him, and in an instant, he crossed the vast distance.
Evil Moriarty barely had time to react, let alone fire his gun, before a thin blade of light flashed across his vision. The coffin-shaped firearm known as Reichenbach, which Holmes had described as surpassing multiple armaments, was instantly severed.
Tap, tap.
Alaric, now standing before Evil Moriarty, bent his body slightly, pulling his right foot back into a stance of readiness.
The artificial holy sword, tightly gripped in both hands, emitted a chilling radiance.
The moment Alaric locked eyes with Evil Moriarty, the sword was swung.
As blood splattered, Alaric's voice, tinged with a faint accent, echoed: "Honestly, you're so weak—"
He didn't hold back. This was a blow meant to kill.
As Evil Moriarty was cleaved apart, Alaric finally sensed where the familiar spiritual resonance had come from.
Evil Moriarty was far too weak. Compared to the so-called Good Moriarty, he was merely a fair approximation of a heroic spirit.
[Not in possession of a Holy Grail.]
This thought crossed Alaric's mind.
Creating a Singularity requires immense power. In a place like Shinjuku, filled with phantasmal beings, such power would typically come from an item like the Holy Grail.
Furthermore, the spiritual foundation of the phantasmal beings wasn't strong enough to sustain their power without an additional magical energy source.
But Evil Moriarty didn't possess a Holy Grail or anything similar. So where was the Holy Grail?
Before Alaric could find an answer, as Evil Moriarty died, the counterfeit façade over his spiritual foundation peeled away, revealing his true form. The spiritual reaction of a Demon Pillar reappeared before Alaric.
It wasn't just Alaric—everyone who noticed this spiritual reaction was stunned.
["This is impossible! Of all things, this—this is impossible, even if the heavens themselves were overturned!!"]
Da Vinci, ever the genius, was the first to deny the existence of what had appeared. It was something that should never have been possible.
Fujimaru Ritsuka's face was filled with disbelief as she stared at the towering figure now standing before Alaric and, almost involuntarily, muttered, "Goetia?"
["No, that's a Demon Pillar—though it seems to have taken on a humanoid form, the spiritual reaction is unmistakable…"]
Despite their shock, Da Vinci quickly analyzed the situation and concluded it was one of the seventy-two Demon Pillars.
The great battle in the Temple of Time had not completely eradicated the Demon Pillars. Some had survived.
Was this the only one?
Or were there more?
Da Vinci didn't dare to think further.
As Da Vinci and Fujimaru Ritsuka reeled from the Demon Pillar's appearance, Alaric faced it and spoke its true name: "Baal, so you're still alive."
Having once come into contact with the seventy-two Demon Pillars, Alaric was naturally able to identify it by name.
Still, Alaric hadn't expected that after Romani Archaman returned the Ten Rings, after Solomon's end, after the complete conclusion of the Age of Gods and the seventy-two Demon Pillars, there would still be a surviving Demon Pillar.
One that had even created this meaningless world for the sole purpose of killing.
By now, Alaric understood the purpose of this world's existence.
Indeed, as Moriarty and Holmes had speculated, this world was created to be destroyed. But it wasn't just the world that was meant to be destroyed—the primary target for death was humanity's last Master, Fujimaru Ritsuka.
Three thousand years of obsession—what could it have been for? A heart full of hatred had rejected the world itself, persisting for three thousand years with only a single goal.
From the moment the battle in the Temple of Time was lost, or perhaps even from the death of King Solomon three thousand years ago, this moment had been awaited.
"Alaric, our ally who witnessed our end—why are you here?"
The Demon Pillar Baal, who had fully regained his memories, suppressed the hatred in his heart and stared straight at Alaric before him.
Three thousand years had passed since their last meeting at the Temple of Time. Not only had Baal himself changed due to his hatred, but Alaric had also undergone a transformation.
But that wasn't what Baal cared about right now. What mattered to him was only one thing—
"This was an accident. I wasn't supposed to come here, but your spirit origin's reaction dragged me in."
Alaric, with an indifferent expression, said, "I came in by chance. And you, Baal?"
As if triggered by Alaric's calm demeanor, Baal erupted in fury: "We are a race doomed to destruction! No revival! No return! No restoration! It will never happen! Three thousand years of planning have completely collapsed!
Even so, I've still come here, disgracing myself in front of everyone!
All of this, just to kill her. As long as I can do that—"
The anger in Baal's words was entirely directed at someone—a seemingly ordinary young girl.
"This revenge is all for killing Fujimaru Ritsuka—"
Alaric, leaning on his sword, locked eyes with Baal, seemingly able to see the flames of three thousand years of resentment burning within.
"You're right!! This pain tearing at my chest, this scorching agony tormenting my body—it's not because three thousand years of plans turned to ashes, not because the incineration of humanity was stopped by the Heroic Spirits, and not because Solomon returned the ring to the heavens!
The perfect plan, the perfect execution—all of it was rendered futile because of her, Fujimaru Ritsuka!!"
Fujimaru Ritsuka bore a solemn expression. She could sense the overwhelming rage and resentment from the Demon Pillar Baal.
"I'll admit, this is unjustified blame, venting my anger irrationally—these words are just decoration."
Baal did not attempt to hide himself and instead poured out his hatred under the weight of endless resentment:
"Hatred! Hatred! Hatred! Nothing but hatred!!! I can feel nothing else!
Fujimaru Ritsuka, why did you come to this planet, to this era, to that place?
If it were a hero surpassing humanity, I could accept it. If it were a demon king devouring humanity, I could understand. But why is it someone like you?
The reason I endured the shame of a miserable retreat was so that, no matter what, I could kill you—"
"The assassination plan—from the moment I escaped the Temple of Time, I began designing it anew, perfecting it continuously over three thousand years!
The distortion of human history that Charles Babbage identified through his calculations—the true identity of the anomaly in the corner of the incinerated humanity—is this, isn't it?"
Finally understanding the nature of the commission, Sherlock Holmes immediately provided the answer:
"Charles Babbage summoned as a Heroic Spirit and joining the ranks of the Demon Pillars, obtained all the data.
From there, calculations were necessary. As a mathematician, it was only natural to calculate—not to prevent the incineration of humanity but to hypothesize a future after the incineration was abandoned. That's when we learned that even if the Demon King didn't incinerate humanity, the future after 2018 would still collapse!"
'The future disappearing… just as he said—'
Listening to Holmes' deductions, Alaric recalled someone who, as the King of Humanity, had spoken to him in their final conversation.
As Holmes concluded his reasoning, the Demon Pillar Baal, in an all-too-familiar manner, began explaining to Holmes:
"You're right. Over three thousand years, I mastered the technology of fusing Heroic Spirits and Phantasmal Spirits.
Countless scraps of discarded and abandoned history, lacking belief, lacking significance—within them existed entities of incredible value: urban legends, fairy tales, destroyed beasts. In the past, I never understood them until the end.
Now, the existence I require is this! The fervor for retribution, the vow of vengeance—these are what make up the essence of me, the Demon Pillar Baal!"
Clink, clink.
As Baal's words fell, black chains extended from the void, not to attack Baal, but to bind the restless James Moriarty.
"So, you're the villain, after all, Moriarty."
Alaric glanced sideways at the tightly bound Moriarty. Though his spiritual energy response hadn't increased significantly, his aura and gaze had undergone a dramatic transformation.
If before, he was just a suspicious middle-aged man in his fifties, now he was an exceptionally suspicious middle-aged man in his fifties.
Clink, clink.
To prevent Moriarty from having any backup plans, Alaric activated the Chains of Heaven to pull him away from Fujimaru Ritsuka and the others.
"What a pity. This plan could have succeeded—"
Knowing he couldn't escape the restraints, Moriarty's expression was resigned. Faced with overwhelming strength and speed, even his intellect was useless at this moment.
"So this was your plan, Moriarty."
Having narrowly escaped disaster, Holmes stared at Moriarty and said:
"The Demon Pillar Baal is not the Evil Moriarty. That means you, the Good Moriarty, must be the fake.
You are the real Moriarty, but you erased your memories to create confusion. While Baal disguised himself as the Evil Moriarty, you disguised yourself as the Good Moriarty to get close to Fujimaru Ritsuka.
In doing so, you placed yourself on the good side.
This was your strategy for victory, wasn't it? As my eternal rival, you've always been the one to strike first. And since stories dictate that evil is defeated by good, you chose to become the good side for a chance to win."
All the clues finally allowed Holmes to unravel the final mystery behind Moriarty's actions.
"The Phantom Daemon Alliance—a coalition of demons and humans, correct?"
"Indeed. As expected of Holmes. Sadly, I never accounted for Alaric's existence.
All my calculations were correct—"
Moriarty did not attempt to struggle. With the collapse of the Gun Tower, he had lost both the weapon capable of firing bullets and the means to ensure precise targeting. The battle was already meaningless.
Even the Gun Tower, which could have resisted the holy sword, had been so easily destroyed. This reality was beyond Moriarty's calculations as well.
Despite this, Moriarty felt no urge to resist—after all, he couldn't defeat Alaric.
Even the Demon Pillar Baal had dismissed the possibility of Alaric appearing at the Shinjuku Singularity.
"That man will not appear here."
Of course, even though Baal was so certain, Moriarty had prepared contingency plans. Yet in the end, none of Moriarty's preparations worked on Alaric.
He had almost lost his life as a result.
"Why did you think I wouldn't show up here?"
Hearing Moriarty's words, Alaric curiously turned to Baal and asked, "Was the probability of me returning to this world that low?"
"According to the calculations of the Grand Order, the probability of you reappearing was incredibly low—you were deemed incapable of returning to this world—"
After a moment of silence, Baal still chose to answer his former ally's question.
Even after three thousand years, and even though Alaric now opposed him, the Demon Pillar Baal still regarded this man who had witnessed their end as an ally.
"Goetia, huh—"
Though surprised by Goetia's calculations, Alaric had to admit he never expected Goetia to estimate such a low probability of his ripple occurring again—
Wait.
Alaric suddenly realized that if he hadn't taken certain actions during the Fourth Holy Grail War, perhaps that ripple wouldn't have happened at all.
Could it be that the ripple he had always worried about was just the result of a highly improbable accident?
No way. That's quite frustrating—
Scratching the back of his head in mild exasperation, Alaric said, "Forget it, it doesn't matter. Are you ready?"
Alaric would not allow Baal's revenge to succeed, and Baal would not give up so easily.
For Baal, this vengeance was the sole purpose of his remaining existence.
So, in reality, there was only one choice left for Alaric.
To defeat, or even kill Baal, and completely resolve this Singularity.
Baal, who was also aware of this choice, decisively reverted to his true form as a Demon Pillar. The towering Demon Pillar was covered with the sorrow of humanity, countless fragments of grief forming scale-like structures, and the opened eyes upon it all turned to fix their gaze on Alaric.
"Let's settle this, Baal."
Alaric, holding the false Holy Sword, pointed its blade at the Demon Pillar before him.
...
...
...
The battle didn't last long. Once Baal's line of death was severed, the battle came to a definitive end.
What remained was the tightly bound James Moriarty.
Altria Alter and Jeanne Alter, who hadn't participated in the battle, surrounded Moriarty, while Fujimaru Ritsuka was communicating with Mash and Da Vinci.
However, even with Baal's death, the Singularity that was supposed to dissipate remained stubbornly intact, as if the source of the distortion still existed.
Curious about this, Alaric sought answers from Sherlock Holmes.
It turned out that the Holy Grail was indeed in Moriarty's possession, but he had used it to strengthen a bullet—the Seventh Bullet, which was supposed to be fired at this moment.
However, due to Alaric's decisive destruction of the Spear Tower, the bullet never had the chance to be loaded, let alone fired.