The detective is dead, I did it.

Chapter 44 There are no winners

"I see."

The sound came from the direction of the steps, and the two of them looked in that direction at the same time.

Under their gazes, Charlotte emerged from the shadows outside the door, descending the steps step by step, her long white hair dazzling in the dim light.

It turned out that she had been following behind and had witnessed the entire confrontation and battle between herself and Helena.

Thinking of this, Li Ang quickly said, "You've finally arrived, Miss. I almost managed to capture this evil witch."

In response to Li Ang's words, Charlotte just looked at him with a strange gaze that made him feel uneasy.

After a long silence, she slowly spoke: "What an assistant who likes to take matters into her own hands."

Charlotte's tone was ambiguous, neither angry nor not angry, but she didn't give Leon a chance to speak. Instead, she walked past him, her skirt brushing against his arm, and without pausing, she came to Helena.

The two were less than three steps apart, close enough that Helena could take down Charlotte with a single strike.

So Li Ang subtly moved forward to prevent Helena from resorting to desperate measures and trying to use Charlotte as leverage.

However, the other party did not make a move immediately, but calmly stared at Charlotte.

She was half a head taller than Charlotte, so Charlotte had to tilt her head slightly to look at her. Thinking of this, Charlotte looked past her and at the magic circle behind her.

The lines are crooked and twisted, like a child's scribbles, but they give people a feeling of unease, with dark red light spreading from the edges to the center.

"Life alchemy magic," Charlotte said, immediately revealing the spell's name. "The kind that turns a person into a puddle of water. Tsk tsk, haven't seen that in years."

Helena didn't speak, but shifted her body slightly, trying to block Charlotte's view in order to buy time for the magic to fully activate.

"Do you know what needs to be sacrificed to use this magic circle?" Seeing that her vision was blocked, Charlotte finally turned her gaze back to her face. "It requires the lives of the four people behind you."

Upon hearing this, Li Ang immediately looked at the four maids. One of the maids twitched her finger, and the candle she was holding swayed slightly.

"Your life alchemy skills are not up to par; you can't activate this array on your own. Therefore, you need the lives of the other maids as a source of magic power."

"The moment the magic circle is activated, their blood will be drained and fed to the core of the circle, and everyone in this mansion will instantly turn into a pool of pus."

"I'm very curious now, how did you convince these people? And why did you insist on targeting this mansion?"

"It's none of your business."

Helena took a step forward and rushed towards Charlotte with both hands, but was blocked by Leon, who was prepared.

Seeing that the surprise attack had failed, Helena looked at the black knife in Leon's hand: "I've been curious for a long time, you, could you be a power user?"

The seemingly ordinary black knife in Li Ang's hand appeared and disappeared mysteriously, and could even change shape. At first, Helena did not think of him as an armed detective, but assumed it was an alchemical weapon.

Generally speaking, when two armed detectives work together on a case, they are in a superior-subordinate relationship, not a detective-assistant relationship.

Although detectives and assistants can be in a superior-subordinate relationship, the latter is limited to ordinary people; armed detectives would never stoop to be someone else's assistant.

Even if the other party's level is higher than yours, it won't work.

"No, sister, you're only realizing this now?" Li Ang asked, somewhat surprised.

So after fighting you for so long, you still haven't realized I'm an armed detective?

How did you grow your eyes like that?

Helena remained silent for a moment, unsure how to respond.

It took him a long time to finally manage to utter a sentence: "What a shameless bastard."

Who would have thought that an armed detective would be so shameless as to become someone else's assistant! Pah! How disgraceful!

"Does that statement seem a bit out of place in today's context?"

If it had happened yesterday in the garden, and they had insulted him like that, Li Ang would have accepted it. But now, he was handling the case normally, and even helped them in other ways, and yet he was still being insulted?

Who can he complain to? Does that mean I, a good person, am just destined to be bullied?

"Surrender," Charlotte suddenly spoke up. "If you stop now, I can spare your life. Not as a detective, but in the name of Charlotte Holmes."

"Impossible!" Helena retorted without hesitation.

After saying that, she took out a small glass bottle from her waist.

The bottle is dark brown, making it impossible to see what's inside, but the opening is sealed with black wax, on which is imprinted a strange symbol.

He held the bottle up to his eyes and then slammed it to the ground.

The sound of shattering glass was particularly jarring in the basement.

A strong, putrid stench exploded out instantly, and black liquid splattered from the fragments, landing on the edge of the magic circle on the ground.

The dark red light at the center of the formation trembled violently, then surged even more fiercely, like a flame doused with oil. The blinding red light made it almost impossible for the people present to open their eyes.

Leon instinctively stepped aside to shield Charlotte, his black knife held horizontally in front of his chest.

Because Helena had her back to the magic circle, her vision was not obstructed, and she rushed directly towards Li Ang.

After barely managing to catch a glimpse of this scene through a crack in his vision, Li Ang pulled Charlotte aside and led her to a corner against the wall.

After distancing himself from Helena, he turned his body to the side to avoid the magic circle's glow.

To his surprise, Helena had no intention of continuing the fight. After the two of them cleared the entrance to the passage, she disappeared in a flash.

Li Ang wanted to chase after her immediately, but Charlotte reached out and grabbed his arm.

"No need. I've already arranged for Sherry to guard the door."

At this moment, the blinding light on the magic circle began to fade, allowing Li Ang to turn around without having to squint.

"That's fine then."

Since there's a Sequence 6 armed detective guarding the entrance, he probably won't need to do anything further.

He glanced at the original location of the magic circle. The markings on the ground had faded and were no longer visible. The four maids who had been standing around the magic circle were now lying on the ground, their faces pale.

He walked over to the group and checked their breathing, then shook his head. "They're all dead."

Just as Charlotte had said, these maids were sacrificed by Helena to that life alchemy magic.

"Sometimes don't be fooled by appearances," Charlotte said, uttering a seemingly nonsensical remark.

Li Ang remained silent, unsure of what to say.

The perpetrator is dead, the victim weeps, the avenger sacrifices his life, and the bystander is condemned to hell.

There are no winners in this case.

Except for Helena.