Possessed Sherlock Was Still Sherlock

The swirling flames burst forth like a vortex, and the Ash-Haired Queen, draped in a black veil, was summoned—

Even inside the palace of the Flame Demon, the body has gradually adapted to the high temperature of the environment.

But even as Iver used that strange divine magic, everyone still felt a suffocating heat.

She floated in the air, with fiery butterfly wings behind her, similar to those of the Flame Tail Beast.

She stretched out her right hand, and golden-red flames instantly coalesced into a beam, shooting forward with a roar after a brief delay! The heat wave rippled through the air, creating visible waves in the space. Iver, standing behind the Paradox Flame Butterfly, raised his hand slightly to shield himself, his long platinum-gold hair billowing and flying up behind him.

The consultant was forced to retreat by the hot air, his face showing horror.

Because he himself was Fifth Level superhuman, he knew it all too well.

Without a doubt, this familiar pressure... is even slightly stronger than the Fifth Level! — This is divinity! It is the power of those "gods" of the Dream Realm!

The strange phantom summoned by Iver's divine magic was no less powerful than the Balrog—no, considering the Balrog's ability to multiply its minions and create territories, even the Balrog probably couldn't defeat Iver's summons head-on! He was only Third Level bishop! In a daze, the advisor thought of another rumor.

It is said that the Theocracy is about to select a group of human bishops from Avalon to teach them "Advanced Divine Arts".

No one knows what Advanced Divine Arts are, because they are powers that only bishops of elven birth can obtain, requiring a long period of study to master. They are also a prerequisite for becoming Cardinal Bishop and for running for the Eternal Pope.

With a mere Third Level body, he was fighting head-on against a powerful demon like the Balrog, a being that even Fifth Level superhuman would find difficult to contend with...

This is probably what is called Advanced Divine Arts!

The gate, sealed by the grape's preservation technique, could not be broken even by the full force of Fourth Level superhuman.

Those knights she had locked out of the door had their bodies controlled and assimilated by the Balrog. Although they had lost their souls and were merely puppets being driven, their pure power was only greater than it had been in life—because they had now become the medium through which the Balrog transmitted its power, receiving the fiery power shaped and infused by the Balrog's "sacrifice."

Their attack had almost reached the limit of the Fourth Level. Not to mention gates, even walls made of fine steel could be shattered with a single blow; even the thickest city gates could not withstand their assault.

However, the grapes' preservation technique completely blocked these attacks, which were powerful enough to destroy the building. This meant they had lost their intelligence; otherwise, they could have easily bypassed the gate and breached the wall.

However, the gate, which had withstood several attacks without a scratch, was completely melted like paper by a technique called "Guiding Flame Stream"!

It's like using a piece of cotton to block a burst of flames—it's burned out in an instant.

The "Fire-infused Knights," who had gathered and huddled together in the narrow and crowded passageway, were caught off guard and pierced by flames!

After the flames lasted for three seconds, they suddenly doubled in size again.

The original golden-red color became even brighter, transforming into a blazing white-gold. The white shockwave that roared out again caused the cabinets and chandeliers in the room to shake violently, and a storm was generated in this enclosed environment and blown outwards.

She slowly raised her hand, and the pillar of flame moved upward at an extremely slow angular velocity. The earth was scorched and melted, and the metal walls that had been solidified by the preservation spell also melted—originally there was no path here at all, but the flames of the Paradox Flame Butterfly had burned a path through it.

After a continuous spray lasting ten seconds, her body suddenly shattered and transformed into a flame butterfly, which landed on Iver's shoulder.

Iver pressed his hand to his chest, his brow furrowed, and for a moment his face showed pain. "I did my best... we should be safe now."

Grape, who was staring intently at Iver's expression, happened to notice this.

Her gaze shifted, and she remembered this characteristic.

... Does that ability... come at a price? That's to be expected, considering it involves using such powerful strength beyond one's level...

"Ten seconds..."

The advisor murmured.

He was secretly alarmed.

This humanoid phantom named "Lia" already possessed a power approaching that of the Golem's beams in just the first three seconds of its warm-up attack. After those three seconds, its power increased even further, completely surpassing the Golem's firepower—the pinnacle of Star Antimony Golem technology, a top-tier war machine whose every attack was equivalent to burning gold coins!... Perhaps its only drawback was its incredibly slow turning speed. It took about six seconds to raise its head by forty-five degrees, averaging only 7.5 degrees per second.

The consultant glanced at it—he roughly estimated the length of the burned tunnel with the naked eye and realized that the range was at least fifty meters.

It's about 55 to 65 meters... Fortunately, we should be able to escape at that turning speed; it's not too outrageous.

If her turning speed were comparable to that of Golem —she could probably burn a large number of enemies with just one sweep.

However, the ground scorched by this fiery stream had completely melted into magma. This heat... unless one is Fifth Level transcendent being who Dedication Path, mortals simply could not withstand it. Only bishops with sufficiently high resistance to fire could possibly resist this attack... no, it was impossible.

It might be okay to withstand it for a few seconds, but without additional Path Trait to increase fire resistance, no one could possibly withstand a full ten seconds of bombardment.

Even Greater Demon couldn't withstand it! Even Golem would be burned through! The advisor secretly calculated whether the most powerful of the elite assembled corpses he had created, "Little Fatty," could withstand "Lia's " ten-second impact.

The answer is no—but it can probably hold out for four or five seconds.

I wonder if this stream of flames has any physical impact. If it rushes over from the preheating stage, this range should be enough to get there before it's destroyed... No, it's probably better to deal with Iver himself with a ranged attack.

He considered the terrifying summoned creature "Lia" as his hypothetical enemy and subconsciously considered how he should deal with it.

He subconsciously activated his Super Intelligence state, his pupils overflowing with Deep Blue particles.

The blue light transformed into flames, drifting from the corner of his eyes.

With the boost of his familiar Super Intelligence, the consultant's mind became even clearer.

The known information coalesced in his mind, and in an instant, a more terrifying thought, one he was unwilling to admit, came to mind: if Iver of this timeline could summon such a terrifying "suspected apostle," then did Iver of the real world also possess similar power? The reporter had mentioned that he had prayed to "Constant Self" and killed the succubus-turned- Emma. Undoubtedly, anyone with even a slight understanding of deities would know that Constant Self wouldn't respond to prayers so easily... Although that goddess was gentle in nature, she was the most difficult of the Nine Pillar Gods to please.

But since the reporter said so, it's highly likely that a strong Path of Love was indeed left at the scene.

—Given that Iver possesses the ability to summon creatures stronger than Greater Demon, an ability that seems to originate from some kind of red card, could it be that the one who left that mark wasn't Miss Aleister of the Path of Love, but rather another phantom demon from the Path of Love that he summoned?

It is said that blood rained down at that time. Without a doubt, succubi do not possess this ability... the one with this ability should be the Night Demon.

So at that time, Iver used a similar ability to summon the Night Demon of the Path of Love ahead of time at the Third Level!

That matches up! This Night Demon, which appeared out of nowhere, is a summoned creature that Iver summoned using this method!

Thinking further—why would Iver, Path of Transcendence, summon the Night Demon; while those Dedication Path would summon humanoid Flame Butterflies?

One possibility is that the Night Demon is Greater Demon, which is related to Path of Transcendence. But there are also things that cannot be explained by this.

Another possibility is that Emma, whom he was fighting back then, belonged to the Path of Love, so he summoned the Night Demon who possessed the abilities of the Path of Love; while now he is fighting the Fire Demon Karl, who belongs to the Dedication Path, so he summoned the Paradox Flame Butterfly...

The consultant had a sudden inspiration and thought of an extreme logic.

If Iver could have summoned "Lia" from the very beginning, he wouldn't have needed to fear the Balrog at all. Therefore, he could only launch one attack.

Similarly, if he could normally summon the Night Demon, he wouldn't have been forced into this situation by the succubus. He could have simply summoned the Night Demon to accompany him, and Emma wouldn't have dared to make a move.

Therefore, his summoning must be temporary, and it must cost a lot of mana, and perhaps other prices as well...

At the time, Iver told reporters that he was "blessed by the scales of the Crowned Lord, the blood of the Serpent Father, Twin Mirrors"—it was normal for him to be blessed by the Silver Crowned Dragon, and all humans are Son of the Serpent Father... But as a priest, he shouldn't lie about this, so he really did have the blessing of the Twin Mirrors.

"Blessing" is no joke. It is a very serious blessing, bestowed upon those favored by the Pillar God.

So this ability might have been bestowed upon him by the Twin Mirrors! That's why, despite his close relationship with the Twin Mirrors, he used the power of the Path of Love to defeat Emma.

—That makes sense! When facing powerful enemies, Iver can briefly summon powerful phantoms of the same path and energy level to retaliate... This must be a blessing from the Twin Mirrors.

Perfectly, all the puzzle pieces were used; not a single one was wasted! I need to share this new information with Grape... in case I can't take it out with me.

Although Sherlock was thinking rapidly, his hands did not linger for a moment.

Sherlock's gaze was resolute and focused. The instant Lia stopped attacking and transformed into a flame butterfly, a blizzard swept forward.

The power of frost solidified and cracked the lava, sending acrid white smoke billowing into the air, which was then blown away by the blizzard.

In the blink of an eye, he coordinated with Iver's attack to create a new road that did not exist before but is now a smooth path!