The Great Demon Holmes

*Bang!* A loud boom!

Of course, that was not the sound of the old priest's head exploding!

On the contrary, Minister Bader's robust body suddenly flew backward in a bizarre manner!

First, he knocked away several guards, then continued to smash through a row of steam valves by the roadside, and finally crashed forcefully into the wall of a nearby building.

It was only at this moment that people noticed a pitch-black spike, as thick as a finger but over a meter long, impaled right at the location of his heart!

This spike was undoubtedly extremely hard, with a glossy black metallic-like keratinous surface, and it was incredibly fast. By the time Minister Bader had been embedded in the wall, the bricks and stones were already emitting a cracking sound, and the whooshing sound from the spike had just caught up, sounding like a peculiar and distant echo.

Sherlock watched this sudden turn of events and, in an instant, his mind completed extremely complex calculations and deductions. Such speed, compressing immense impact force within the narrow range of a thumb's thickness—just how terrifying would the resulting injury be...

But even with such a terrifying injury, the spike had not pierced Minister Bader's chest!!

Sherlock turned his head and looked in the direction from which the spike had come. Under the illumination of the Zeppelin's bright lights, a slender figure stood quietly atop the highest tower in the entire street.

Catherine...

Beside her, there was a mass of pitch-black vegetation crawling—no, it would be more accurate to say it was growing.

Similar to some kind of vine, but each branch was as thick as an arm, intertwined and entangled with each other, covering almost the entire top of the tower. The growth of these vines was silent and imperceptible. When not illuminated by the lights, they blended seamlessly into the darkness, even eluding Sherlock's premonition.

At the center of the entwined vines, a dark black spore sac was growing, rapidly expanding...

The surrounding air was swiftly sucked in, and within a second, the sac had swelled dozens of times its size. Even in the light, one could vaguely see the black vascular network within the spore sac, resembling blood vessels.

Sherlock was somewhat astonished. The books he had read before had never mentioned that covenanters could control not only abyssal creatures but also plants.

Well, the authors of those books probably only collected information on low-level covenanters. How could a bunch of smelly writers ever come into contact with second-stage covenanters?

As he was thinking...

Suddenly, the enormous spore sac on the tower contracted, instantly unleashing an explosive spew! Simultaneously, another pitch-black spike shot out from the spore sac, swiftly surpassing the visual limits of everyone present, including Sherlock, and surpassing the piercing sound of the wind. Only the recoil-induced resonance caused Catherine's long hair to dance wildly in the night.

*Boom!*

An even louder sound, as the jet-black spike pinned itself into Minister Bader's heart once again. These vine-like plants undoubtedly possessed more precise targeting than mere visual perception. The two spikes almost hit the same spot, instantly causing the wall to emit billowing smoke, with cracks rapidly spreading.

Catherine did not give the other party a moment to catch their breath. While the aftershocks remained, the third spike arrived, followed by the fourth and the fifth.

Boom! Boom!! Boom!!!

The continuous explosions merged into an indistinguishable roar!

The wall bearing so much impact collapsed with a thunderous crash, smoke billowing forth. Then came the sixth spike, the seventh... countless spikes pierced through the smoke, relentlessly bombarding without mercy.

The deafening booms seemed to last an eternity. Just as Sherlock felt his eardrums were about to be torn apart, the onslaught finally ceased. Looking at the collapsed structure within the smoke, it resembled the aftermath of a dozen catastrophic gas leaks, completely ruined and turned into a pile of debris!

Under such circumstances, even if the opponent was a covenanter, they should be dead.

Those horrifying spikes should have turned them into a bloody mass of flesh and thorns.

It seemed that everyone thought the same way. Catherine stood atop the tower, finally exhaling a breath, and the esteemed Lord Priest felt the abyssal beast that had formed a symbiotic bond with Minister Bader quickly weakening in the distance. It whimpered, collapsed, motionless. Finally, the exhausted Lord Priest opened his weary eyes.

The deafening sound of the turbine on the street gradually ceased, and the remaining exoskeletons began to vent steam as they cooled down.

Finally, it was over... The taut nerves could finally relax.

In truth, everyone knew that this was a battle whose outcome had been predetermined from the beginning, for those who violated the Church's laws could only die!

...

However, Sherlock, hidden in the shadows, remained motionless. His eyes seemed even brighter, staring fixedly at the collapsed wreckage.

The gunfire and smoke carried by the bullets, the terrifying force when tearing through armor, the terrifying impact when the spikes sliced through the night... all the information once again spun rapidly in Sherlock's mind at an astonishing speed!

In an instant...

No, it didn't match the deduction's conclusion...

Almost in the same instant, countless possibilities flashed before his eyes—some good, some bad.

He grew increasingly silent, increasingly alert, increasingly calm.

Finally, at the moment when the first raindrop fell on the street...

This detective, who had been hiding in the shadows all along, made a move!