Iver froze for a moment and instinctively reached out to touch the red powder remaining on Yulia's temple.
His fingertips felt scorching hot—as though he were touching freshly poured hot water through a glass cup, causing his fingers to instinctively recoil from the burn.
The sweat Yulia had exuded had now transformed into the Fire Essence leaking from the Phantom Demon within her, the Paradox Flame Butterfly! Iver suddenly remembered that on the day after the first warehouse fire—in other words, the day Hai Na had visited his home—Yulia had not woken up until nearly dusk, and had appeared exceptionally weak.
And just now... it had clearly only been a warehouse fire, yet Edward had abandoned his attempt to take Iver home, immediately sent Sherlock away, and dealt with the matter alone. In the end, he had even returned before Sherlock.
Iver immediately realized who the "culprit" behind the two warehouse fires was—
There had never been a Demon Scholar trying to summon a demon.
It was because the Paradox Flame Butterfly within Yulia had lost control!
The flames within her had leaked out uncontrollably, eventually causing the two warehouse fires... And the Fire Essence collected from the warehouses had not been Imitation Fire Essence synthesized by alchemists, but traces left behind after the Paradox Flame Butterfly's activity!
"...All right, it's fused back together."
Edward let out a weary sigh of relief. "I'll leave the rest to you, Iver. I'll take a short rest and explain everything to you later... Help your sister with her treatment first."
As he spoke, the invisible chains around Yulia dissipated. Her scorching body fell into Iver's arms, and he was surprised to find that the unconscious girl felt rather heavy.
The cracks covering Yulia's skin no longer glowed red, nor did they spit out