"Ah… here we go again"
As the mysterious voice sounded out, Merlin found himself in a place that could only be described as absolutely uncanny.
It was a room, a complete white room, devoid of anything, and at the center of that room stood a figure, he wore a robe that had an asymmetric look to it, his hair was long enough to reach his lower back and his face wore a look that simply regarded any other unnecessary action as useless.
Merlin immediately identified the figure, after all, it looked just like a mature but detached version of Merlin Hermes.
After confirming his state, he turned to the figure and asked.
"Who… are you?"
"I am you…" the figure replied calmly.
"Are you another representation of my divinity?" Merlin asked after hearing the familiar answer.
The figure shook its head twice and replied in the same calm voice.
"No… I am simply you from a few years from now"
"Is this some sort of time travel?" Merlin muttered subconsciously.
"That's the 409th time you have asked that question, and the answer is simply… no, this method of communication is a bit more complex than time travel…" The figure snapped his finger as two chairs formed beside them.
Merlin tilted his head as he asked.
"Not time travel, then… wait, did you say 409th time? I don't recall any of that…"
"You simply do not remember it, I'm sure you've been having nightmares for a long time… that has been the result of our previous conversation, I have repeated this exact series of actions 437 times since the first" the grown Merlin stated as he sat comfortably on the conjured chair.
The series of words left Merlin's already exhausted brain even more mentally stressed, he took a seat as he began to ask calmly.
"So all this time, the nightmares… were just us having this talk over and over again?"
"The conversation is the same, but the topics slightly differ each time" he replied.
"So first, how are you even here?" Merlin asked.
The figure sat up straight as his calm voice turned serious.
"I will explain that after, first thing first… Austin Brooke, what do you want to achieve?"
Merlin was stunned, this was the first time in over two years that he was hearing his real name, and the strangest part was that it was coming from himself, he thought about the question, he waited for a minute as his memories of this world flashed through his mind, finally he made up his mind and said firmly.
"Home… I want to return home, no matter the cost"
The older Merlin stared at him as a flicker of pity flashed through his eyes, the only emotion he had shown since the beginning of their talk, he nodded and replied.
"Good, then survive until you get there, that is all I can say to you"
"Don't you think this is a little awkward, my future self telling me to try to return home when he hasn't even achieved it himself" Merlin chuckled softly.
"Achieving that is not my purpose, I'm simply an avatar tasked with affirming your will to return, if you remember this ordeal when you leave here is entirely up to you…" The older Merlin calmly replied.
"An avatar… which rank are you by the way?" Merlin asked, genuinely confused.
"A Sequence 2 Miracle Invoker… or rather a Supreme, in this world's terms"
Merlin nodded as his suspicions were confirmed, as far as he knew from his pathway, only angels could split off avatars.
"So then how did you get to the past?"
"That's simple, through the historical void, I found the corresponding moment in time and using a loophole in time, I simply parasites the body of the historical projection effectively appearing at this moment, but since the level of deceit is not as powerful as fooling history, I can only interact with you during moments like this, if I push it further, it will only result in the destruction of this avatar" the other Merlin explained to situation.
"Ooh… that's completely understandable, but I have one final question" Merlin spoke up and the older one simply gestured for him to continue.
"What is it like? The future I mean…"
The other Merlin stared at him quietly, then turned his gaze to the ceiling as he replied.
"I've already warned Cassie about your awakening again through a vision, you really should get going now…"
Merlin knew that the older him was avoiding the question, but he didn't push further he just asked.
"I hope you haven't forgotten I'm dead right now… How am I supposed to return?"
"No need to be concerned, it should activate the moment your consciousness returns" the older Merlin replied then snapped his finger.
The next moment, Merlin's vision changed back to the battlefield, the moment he returned, he heard the spell echo in his ear.
[You have received an Attribute: Heart of a Pristine Soul.]
Heart of a Pristine Soul : [You have been blessed with the ability Quasi-Immortality, as long as you have essence, you will never die.]
Upon receiving the attribute, Merlin felt all the fatigue was off his body, all injuries on his body immediately began to repair themselves, returning him to his peak state, except the drain on his essence.
Merlin's left eyes immediately changed, taking on a grey color similar to Ariel's, leaving him with heterochromic eyes, gold for Silver and grey for Ariel.
He stared at the hardened spear lodged in his chest, then he immediately used his sword to slice it off the corrupted demon and he pulled it out, watching the hole knit itself at an eye-catching speed.
'Thank you Ariel…' Merlin smiled internally as he locked eyes with the demon.
"Are you pleasantly surprised… well judging from the attribute description, it seems you also have a health bar… hehe, come on, let's hurt each other" Merlin spoke with the voice of a madman.
He immediately used the scribe ability, he was about to use the recorded historical projection summoning, he guessed with his remaining essence, it was only a matter of time till his immortality would run out, and he also couldn't summon anything large or powerful due to his essence reserves.
He finally made up his mind as he summoned essence from the past, immediately his four soul cores were filled with essence again, then he turned to the corrupted demon as he pointed his sword at him.
"Let's see which of our health bar runs out first…"
With that, he lunged at the demon at great speed.
The moment Merlin's feet moved through the battlefield, the corrupted demon didn't hesitate as dozens of black tendrils erupted from its back like living spears, tearing through the air with terrifying speed.
Merlin didn't dodge, he wasn't scared of being impaled anymore, he stepped forward into its path, the stone sword intercepted three tendrils at once while the black katana carved through some, the remaining tendrils pierced straight through his shoulder, thigh and abdomen.
He didn't slow down as he moved through the pain, as blood began to glow, the next second, the wound started to heal itself at a rapid rate, the demon saw the scene and hesitated.
Merlin smiled as he said.
"So you understand now…"
The next moment, the demon disappeared as Merlin's danger sense screamed at him, he immediately crossed both swords to block the incoming attack.
BOOM!
A hardened fist smashed into the blades as the impact launched him a few meters backward, crashing through the battlefield before he planted the katana into the ground to stop himself.
As he looked up, the demon was already there preparing its attack, its tendrils descended like rainfall.
Merlin immediately raised his swords as he parried and slashed the endless flurry of attacks, his swords severed the regular ones and redirected the hardened ones.
The attacks were endless as a few lodged themselves in his body, the demon used the lodged tendrils to pin him down as it attacked with a punch, but Merlin's body had already regenerated around the hardened tendrils, giving him just enough freedom to twist, making the fist graze his cheek instead of crushing his skull.
With his katana, he immediately severed the hand of the demon, then he grabbed the stone sword and slashed with both blades, as an X-shaped slash erupted across the demon's chest.
The demon regenerated instantly, Merlin's regeneration also followed suit, the two separated then rushed each other again ready for round two.
Minutes passed….
Hours…
The battlefield no longer resembled the one from a moment before, scores of severed tendrils littered the ground, the earth itself looked like it had survived divine punishment from above.
Merlin's breathing grew heavier with each exchange, his regeneration wasn't as immediate anymore, his summoned essence had begun to reduce, the demon's regeneration had changed too, a severed arm now required a while before reforming, large wounds remained open long enough for its black blood to pour from them.
Merlin narrowed his eyes as he smiled.
"Looks like you're finally feeling it…"
The demon answered with violence and destruction, every remaining tendril fired simultaneously, and Merlin ran directly into the barrage of incoming attacks.
One sliced off his left arm…
Another pierced straight through his stomach…
But he ignored everything including the pain as body continued repairing itself as he ran.
Merlin immediately reached the demon that had hardened its skin, he slashed with the stone sword, but the blade bounced away leaving only a dent, he followed up with the katana that had been strengthened by blood work.
Immediately a line appeared across the hardened chest as blood splurged through it, the demon roared and retaliated, the endless duel repeated again, with each clash, his essence reduced, and his regeneration slowed, the demon's movements became less powerful as the two continued their battle of survival.
Finally, Merlin noticed it, the three shards lodged inside the demon, not cores, shards, that meant they could be destroyed by physical attacks not soul attacks.
"So that's your weakness…"
The demon lunged again, but this time, Merlin intentionally lowered his guard, causing a tendril to pierce straight through his chest, Merlin didn't give the demon time to react as he ran forward, the tendril moved through his body, until he was close enough to the demon.
He changed the formless into a spear as he stabbed forward, aimed right at a shard, he thrust the spear deeper until he heard it.
Crack!
The first soul shard shattered, causing the demon to wail loudly, its attack and regeneration immediately slowed and the hardened skin became thinner.
Merlin took that chance and stabbed with his stone sword, the second shard scattered too and another shout left the mouth of the demon, but even with all that, it refused to die.
The demon flung Merlin away from its body as it intended to flee, but Merlin didn't give it that chance, he immediately flame jumped into its path as he stole its thought causing it to pause, then he lifted the stone sword and slashed down, splitting its body and shard into two.
The demon froze, then its body began to unravel, its tendrils dissolved first, followed by its arms, then the rest of its body fell to the ground dead.
Merlin remained standing, both swords planted into the ruined earth, his regeneration had almost completely stopped as dozens of wounds still remained on his body.
A tired smile appeared on his face as the spell spoke to him.
[You have slain a Corrupted Demon, Shadow of a Pristine Soul.]
[Your soul grows stronger…]
…
Merlin turned his head away from the battlefield as he began returning to the city, his body was battered as his essence had run dry, his suit was riddled with holes as his bare skin shoes underneath.
He walked until he was near the walls, then he stopped, he sighed as he stared right in front of him, Ariel was standing there with a bright smile.
'Carol really should get fired if she can't even keep a child safe…' Merlin sighed inwardly.
"You won…" Ariel celebrated as she clapped.
"Ofcourse… I told you I'd win didn't I" Merlin offered her an encouraging smile as he ruffled her head.
"Your eye is just like mine…" Ariel pointed to his left eye.
"Yeah I'll keep it that way from now…" He smiled.
Ariel smiled back at him then she spoke calmly.
"Big brother… Will you kill me now?"
Merlin sighed as he gave her a weak smile.
"Yes…"
He was already on the verge of years, as he stared right at her chest, right there were six transcendent shards, a terror.
"Thank you…" Ariel smiled as a tear dropped from her eyes.
Merlin simply clutched his katana tightly, and as Ariel closed her eyes, he slashed her, separating her head from her body, but the spell stayed silent, and he knew why, Quasi-Immortality.
Merlin sighed tiredly as he placed her body carefully on the ground, judging by the fact that she had not regenerated, it seemed she was actively suppressing it, but she would never truly die, not until every part of her has been killed, and one part still remained.
Merlin immediately turned the sword to himself, then he sent it through him, right where Ariel had placed her hands before, as he had no essence to regenerate, he immediately fell to his knees weakly before falling to the ground, as his vision was fading, the spell spoke up with a soothing melody.
[You have slain an Awakened Devil, Heart of a Pristine Soul.]
[You have slain a Corrupted Terror, Pristine Soul.]
[Your soul grows stronger…]
[You have received an echo…]
Then the darkness came just as he heard the last words.
[Wake up Awakened Merlin… Your nightmare is over]
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[End of Volume II : The Chosen One.]
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A/N: Finally… we're returning to the cohort… guys please give me a break to get back myself, this second nightmare left a hole in my heart…