This wasn't because Iver wanted to show off by praying this way.
Rather, this mechanism had a special feature--
--Stage Rules.
Because the Earl of Orleans had never truly tamed the Swan King's will.
The Void Box had a subconscious judgment mechanism: all "beauty" skills—for example, dazzling effects and flashy tricks—were more likely to receive favorable results.
This was treated as a stage! In other words, within the Void Box's area of influence, style could serve as a special priority bonus! The bats struggled to fly, only for a layer of White Mist to suddenly spread before them.
Bats should not have feared being obstructed by fog, yet the White Mist made them lose their sense of direction. Frost formed on their wings, and they flew slower and slower. A bullet repeatedly arced through the air, shattering every bat into bloody ice mist before merging into the frigid White Mist.
"Wake up, Sherlock, Arsene."
Iver's voice drifted through the mist. "Don't forget why we came here."
"--Damn it, my memory was rewritten again!"
Sherlock froze for a moment, then instantly remembered.
At some point, he had suddenly begun to think that he had come as a guest. His hostility had vanished, replaced by goodwill toward the Orleans Family. He had even wanted to reveal his entire investigation so they could quickly patch up the loopholes.
Sherlock would never do such a thing--back when Edward was his only friend, even after realizing that Old Moriarty might be connected to Lloyd's criminal activities, he had still wanted to continue investigating.
That was the kind of person he had always been. Truth came before friendship.
...Yet now, he believed that "the Orleans Family came before truth," as though he had entered a dream at some unknown point and accepted every premise as a