The martial world is a compendium where every passing wave lives and breathes.

-Thomas Carlyle-

After the first sword dance of the ball ended and the lights dimmed, two masters silently opened the ballroom door and entered.

Inside the ballroom, martial artists who had been dancing stepped back and listened attentively to the royal attendant’s voice announcing the special performance.

“Was it Irene Adler? I think she has had a decent reputation since her days in Russia.”

“Louise isn’t interested…”

Behind the radiant enhanced energy crafted from an unknown divine technique stood Sir Isaac Newton.

Beside him, Louise A. Carroll, having chosen a suitable royal attendant to mimic his appearance, quietly watched the singer in a pure white dress enter.

“I don’t understand why Louise insists on seeing the Little Heavenly Demon again… couldn’t we just call him out later…?”

The reason these two, who were treated as quite alien even among the Knights of the Turntable composed solely of superhumans beyond ordinary men, came here was simple.

They worried that the Little Heavenly Demon Sherlock Holmes, whom they had met earlier in the reception room, might break the strict rules of the Forbidden Palace and be forcibly expelled.

-Lotus flowers remain pure wherever they bloom.

-Under sunlight, one does not darken.

Irene Adler began to sing, but the two were not particularly interested.

“Are you nervous again because you came to a crowded place so suddenly?”

Newton glanced at Louise and clicked his tongue softly.

This was always the problem with Louise Carroll.

She agreed to go see the Little Heavenly Demon and the Discharged Medical Maiden, but upon arrival, she was restless, wanting to hide or escape to a corner.

“No, but this is just too, too, too, too much… whenever Louise comes to places like this, all her essence gets drained…”

“You always talk nonsense. Anyone listening would think everyone here is using Gravitation on you.”

Louise, who was once Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, had stuttered and found it difficult to appear before people since his days living as a mature gentleman.

Even after ‘that incident’ transformed his appearance to that of a girl’s, Louise would tremble like a leaf whenever she came to crowded places like the ballroom, proving her inner self had not changed.

The maximum number of people Louise could be with without becoming very nervous was about fifteen.

In contrast, this second-floor ballroom of the Old West Wing was filled with hundreds of martial world figures.

No matter how much she disguised herself as a common royal attendant, it was nearly impossible for Louise to behave normally in such a place.

Newton understood this but still decided to bring Louise into the ballroom.

This was because he realized Louise Carroll showed a special curiosity and interest in the Little Heavenly Demon Sherlock Holmes, just like himself.

‘I never expected Dodgson to take up teaching again, but it’s not a bad thing if someone can understand his progress even a little.’

It was natural for Isaac Newton to be interested in the Little Heavenly Demon.

It is little known, but he once fought and lost a duel against the Little Heavenly Demon’s master, a man who called himself the Heavenly Demon.

This was a secret history even less known than Queen Victoria, the Sword Queen’s defeat by the Heavenly Demon.

The Heavenly Demon’s notorious reputation for challenging clan leaders and elders to duels and stealing secret techniques is a secret shared only among the top martial artists.

The Heavenly Demon himself has lived concealing his existence and actions from the public.

The same applied to Newton.

To the ignorant in the martial world, he was nothing more than the corpse of a great man who had been buried 150 years ago.

Even if they heard the rumor that the Heavenly Demon fought a duel with a great man born 270 years ago and won, most would dismiss it as fantasy.

Therefore, Newton’s past defeat had never spread through the martial world, whether he intended it or not.

However, how Newton himself thought about that day was an entirely different matter.

“You know, you pathetic old man. You still can’t let go, can you?”

“…What do you know to talk like that?”

Though annoyed, Newton’s lips curled quietly into a smile in response to Louise’s question.

Others could not see his expression due to the distorted light, but Louise was an exception.

Having reconstructed her body like a puzzle with Kung-Fu, she created a pit organ to observe Newton’s expression.

-The flower accompanies the moonlight’s reign.

-When the light awakens.

“Hmm?”

It was then that the two masters sensed an anomaly.

When they activated their eye techniques, they saw an invisible technique slashing at the Little Heavenly Demon while everyone’s attention was on the singing.

Someone seemed to be plotting, but Louise and Newton could not help Sherlock Holmes in front of the crowd due to their positions.

Nor was there a need to help.

“…Kids these days are so reckless.”

“Indeed. This is the royal ball, after all.”

Among martial artists, passionate love affairs often escalate into duels or life-and-death battles.

The two concluded there was no need to intervene.

“You know, you pathetic one.”

Watching the Little Heavenly Demon respond calmly without showing signs, Louise turned back to Newton and spoke.

“Louise has a piece of advice. Curiosity killed the cat.”

Louise quietly expressed unease upon seeing Newton’s demeanor.

“It’s fine to be curious about the Heavenly Demon and his predecessor, but don’t try to uncover what lies at the end of that mystery.”

Due to a certain incident in the past, Louise Carroll had completely opened her Upper Dantian and embraced its mysterious abilities. As a result, her intuition far surpassed that of ordinary martial artists, both in accuracy and reach.

Though she knew nothing about the mysterious beings the Heavenly Demon opposed, she sensed that it was related to his departure from London.

And Louise felt that the Little Heavenly Demon they met earlier did not know who his master’s enemy was.

This meant the Heavenly Demon had not even told his disciple who his adversary was.

“Louise knows everything. The old man is still using every means to gather information.”

“…Me? What do you mean by information?”

Louise responded to Newton’s brazen lies.

“Didn’t you say that the Heavenly Demon is trying to find out who those enemies are—the ones he kept hidden even from his own disciple and Mycroft??”

“…”

Newton neither confirmed nor denied.

“…You pathetic old man, you’ll end up dead without anyone knowing.”

“I’m disappointed, Dodgson, that you think I’m just a martial artist of that level.”

“…”

Louise himself knew how ridiculous her words were.

The opponent was Isaac Newton.

He was a genius among geniuses who established the foundations of modern martial arts theory and was revered by all British martial artists as Mt. Ben Nevis & Big Dipper.

He was far from the kind of martial artist one could worry about.

Despite knowing this, Louise could not withhold her advice rooted in long friendship.

Her intuition kept warning her that Newton’s final moment was approaching.

“You’ve even gone through the Golden Basin Hand Washing1 ritual, so stop dragging up old matters and focus on your research. Don’t keep tiring me out.”

Louise was an excellent numerologist and a fairy tale writer with sharp insight and wit.

Her intuition was a type of insight born from a highly trained unconscious process that grasped context among clues, almost like the concept of ‘non-verbal transmission.’

In Louise’s view, no one in the current European Murim dared to confront the Heavenly Demon.

Among the Knights of the Turntable, no one could confidently claim victory in a one-on-one duel against the Heavenly Demon.

The only possibilities were Queen Victoria, the Sword Queen, who had reached the Unrestrained Realm, and Newton, who had advanced after the Heavenly Demon disappeared.

That Heavenly Demon had embarked on an 80-day world journey to confront an enemy whose identity he had revealed to no one.

It was clear what that man was thinking.

“Phileas Fogg left with only his maid because he didn’t want any martial artists he interacted with to get involved. I really don’t know what it means that he hasn’t returned yet.”

“…Dodgson.”

“It’s Louise.”

“…”

Louise focused on the worst possibility.

The great evil occasionally mentioned in passing by Phileas Fogg.

The Heavenly Demon, who had freely associated even with the bloodlines of demons rooted in Germany’s forbidden zone, the Black Forest, and with other beings like himself, was now openly burning with hostility and seeking to reject a particular existence.

If by any chance that mysterious enemy succeeded in cutting off the Heavenly Demon’s life.

It could develop into a disaster threatening the entire European Murim.

In such a situation, is there any need to hasten the end by seeking out destruction that could threaten Britain at any moment?

“It’s the Little Heavenly Demon’s duty to inherit the Heavenly Demon’s mission, not a pathetic old man or Louise. So please, mind your own business and do your best in your role.”

The letters the Heavenly Demon left to Newton and some martial artists likely contained new teachings or missions for the successor.

The unbroken wax sealed envelope Newton kept was probably the same.

The old man never won a duel.

He failed to uncover the secrets the Heavenly Demon held.

He could only deliver the letter left to his disciple.

A man who spent his life as a researcher of Kung-Fu and the energy governing all things was left with an unsolved mystery.

Louise, also a martial artist, knew well how great a loss this was for Newton.

However.

“What are you talking about? I just thought it was admirable that you, Dodgson, were finally taking care of your juniors.”

Louise could not hide her embarrassment at the old scholar’s reply.

“Why… why are you making Louise the excuse…?”

“Bringing you here like this was because you treated the Little Heavenly Demon specially, wasn’t it?”

“…Ah.”

Louise inadvertently made a foolish sound.

Listening carefully, Newton’s words were entirely correct.

Since mastering the Sunflower Manual2 and living as a woman, having committed acts that would get him defrocked as an Anglican clergyman, Louise had almost cut off contact with others.

Even substituting a lookalike for her university lectures and living in seclusion, rarely speaking to anyone except with the Knights of the Turntable, she suddenly approached the Heavenly Demon’s disciple and his assistant with kindness.

It was almost impossible to believe that the person who, when Queen Victoria wrote a letter asking for more fairy tales and poems, responded by sending an introductory text on determinants as applied to systems of linear equations and algebraic geometry would do such a thing.

Although the Little Heavenly Demon had embarrassed a Catholic Inquisitor hostile to the Anglican Church, it was not enough to explain her sudden action after long isolation.

“It’s true I’m concerned about the path the Heavenly Demon’s successor will take, but I also know this body isn’t what it used to be.”

“If so… that’s a relief.”

“I also know you acted according to that proud intuition again. But know this at least.”

As Irene Adler’s song echoed, Newton watched the scratches increasing on the Little Heavenly Demon’s body and spoke as if almost singing.

“You’re not the only one watching and hoping for him.”

“…”

Louise nodded slightly.

Her eyes had transformed into compound eyes like an insect’s, observing every move of the Little Heavenly Demon Sherlock Holmes.

“…Looks like he’s prepared a good show again.”

The show Newton referred to was not the special performance Irene Adler, the Mistress of Green Willow was performing..

“Let’s watch together. Let’s see what entertainment the Heavenly Demon’s successor will bring.”

The consulting detective who was plotting something with a phonograph.

The waves the Little Heavenly Demon would stir in the Thames were the new tide the old masters, weary of boredom, had long awaited.

1. TL/N: retirement ritual for people in the martial world ️

2. TL/N: 葵花寶典, a martial art originally developed for women. For a man to master it, they would need to become a woman ️