A/N: Italics -> 1st person. 'italics' -> new whisper. 'Italics and Bold' -> 'It'(old whisper). 'Bold' -> Narration

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'FUCK' I thought just as the bloodied and bone-thin beast killed me. Wait... I'm back...

I can think as well. No muddled thoughts, no overwhelming curiosity, no need to hear a constant description of what I see and feel from a 3rd person's point of view.

'It' must have been behind all of this. Must have. I don't want to experience that again. Please Please Please Please Please. I don't want to live in a body where I don't even have control of what I do. I need to do something. Anything.

Merlin held a grip on a nearby rock as he began banging his head on it with fervor. He changed his mind before causing any 'serious' damage.

Wait...Not again... No No No No No No No No No. I DON'T WANT TO GO AGAIN.

***

Merlin forgot what he was thinking about just a moment ago. 'Why does my head hurt so much?' He dismissed the thought and decided to focus on the current loop. After, he tested the Lumina spell and his mana sense and found out they still worked.

He needed to reach the temple again. And so, Merlin waited until he heard the familiar noise of a carriage stopping. He decided to put on a new act.

He made his footsteps loud on purpose. He saw the glint of the crossbow and continued with his act. "WAIT! Wait! I'm a wandering mage. I've been lost in this forest and starving for days. Thank god I found you people. I promise I'll pay you. Please, I need your help."

Edith agreed, quite quickly as well, Kell agreed to help but only after he heard that there was payment. Fie agreed as soon as she heard I was a mage. All of them also believed my story about not eating for four days; Although not as malnourished as the last loop, Merlin still was pretty skinny and a bit frail.

"What spells do you know? Can you show me one?" Fie asked some questions with the same nasally voice. "I only know the Lumina spell but I do know how to make artifacts that can do the same job as other spells," Merlin answered while noting down Kell's eyes filled with greed. Fie asked for proof, and Merlin complied.

The conversation went on and, after questioning him for a bit, the group continued on the road after a small break.

The road felt more twisted than before. He heard a different whisper than before. 'GIVE ME BACK MY BODY! YOU RAT!'

'I'm in your body?' Merlin thought as he had an unnerving sense of anxiety come from nowhere. His heart quickened its pace. the whispers explained.

'YOU THINK JUST BECAUSE YOU, ZOTHOZEFT, HAVE CHOSEN THIS BODY. YOU CAN STEAL IT BEFORE ME, YOU KNOW WE HAD A DEAL!' Merlin blacked out as soon as he heard the last sentence.

'Well, you are surely mistaken to think that.' the new whisper said.

-xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx: loop 22: Not Merlin.-

I don't have much time. Zothozeft and the other 'thing' both are fighting in 'MY' body for control. I need to make a plan.

Merlin started to lose control of his body again, but not to Zothozeft, the now-named main controller, another being noticed the new mark and took control.

***

Merlin. No. Arthur was in his chosen body. Not Zothozeft or 'Merlin' as he likes to call this body. The mark brought him to this body just before Zothozeft could take it. He forced the mana around him to invigorate his body. His frail body soon looked acceptably nourished.

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

Arthur tested if the 2nd Jolt would work. He only could force the mana to enter its 1st Jolt, which although invigorating his body, wouldn't allow him to send mid-range mana waves.

He ran with an increased speed boost from the 1st Jolt. He needed a specific item to help enter the 2nd Jolt.

He ran past the dark trees and the many faunas. Arthur decided to go in a specific direction which would lead to the mountainous northern part of the Greyserf Empire: The Highlands.

It would take seven weeks on foot. The increased speed would shorten it to six and a half. He didn't need to run the whole distance.

Arthur only needed to reach the capital and get a traveler's carriage to take him the rest of the way. He couldn't survive just off of mana like Zothozeft with the help of Hyftri the personification of mana, or in other words, his beloved.

'That rat. He asks Hyftri for help as soon as he's not in control.'

Hyftri whispered: "As long as Zothozeft wishes for that body, Wrath will fall upon you."

With curiosity, comes madness. With madness, comes enlightenment. With enlightenment, comes Zothozeft, our beloved. Even with his sealed memories, he still wishes to take that body and become our chosen avatar again."

As soon as Hyftri finished, 'Wrath' fell upon Arthur. He felt the ambient mana constrict his body. It felt as if he was being crushed. He tried to force the mana in his body to protect himself instead of boosting his health.

Until... *snap* 'Arthur' or his real name, Solteq, cracked under the pressure. The mark started to vanish as Solteq was pushed out of the body due to its impending death.

***

I feel everything. The cracking of my bones and the snap of my legs. Well, they aren't my legs as much as they're Solteq's legs. I wish I weren't in this time loop. I wish I were back in my world where I could meet my parents... Why can't I remember my parents' faces? I can't remember what my home world looked like...

I can feel my body dying as Solteq continues to fight as a spirit or 'elemental' as they like to call themselves. Those fuckers... This loop is a waste. Zothozeft will control my body if I don't succeed in the next loop.

-xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx: loop 23-

I'm back. Again, as always. Zothozeft was the one that was in my body this whole time… These past fifteen loops were hell with Zothozeft being a naïve child and Hyftri needing to help him on every step after the first ten loops. I forgot that I'm on the twentieth. Twenty-third loop? I forgot what specifically happened between loops eleven and nineteen.

I need to stay through enough loops before Zothozeft or Solteq gives me enough power to banish or seal them at the start of the loop.

All I need to do now is wait…

***

Merlin forgot what he was thinking about. He felt weird. He felt the forced mana in his body. The 1st Jolt was activated, he didn't know who did it. "Solteq must have done this before he made the deal. Although your memories are sealed and you didn't know about the deal made, he does though. I would advise caution and look out for Solteq's attacks."

Merlin thanked the whisper. "You even forgot my name… No worries, my beloved, the inheritor of the stars. My name is Hyftri."

'Hyftri. Thank you.' He thanked silently. He tried casting his spells and hoped that, even with the 1st Jolt, he could use the spells ingrained in his body.

[Lumina] worked. The mana still listened to his suggestions. Even with the forced mana imbued with the 1st Jolt in his body, the mana whirled around him as if he were still a mage.

His frail body was invigorated. He asked Hyftri where to go. "The ruined temple made in your name. I will tell you the location in your mind."

So he ran and ran. He didn't need food. Mana was pushing him forward with a maddening curiosity. He reached the temple and saw the broken-down walls.

Hyftri told him that his actual name was Zothozeft, but Merlin could name himself whatever he wanted. Hyftri told him more. He felt his curiosity fill to the brim. It was akin to a dam overflowing. The drops that went over the edge fell down a cliff called madness and at the bottom was enlightenment, or in a way himself.

He was enlightenment itself. He started to remember. Solteq's Jolt added with the spells and Hyftri was enough to bring his memories back.

He was Merlin as well as Zothozeft. He was back.

"Zothozeft… The seal is gone… You're back!”

'Yes. I am. Even if I am back, Solteq is still there. He won't give up just this body that easily. That won't change what I have planned though. I won't let him take my only chance at ascending and reaching the stars.' Merlin sent his thoughts to Hyftri.

He walked into the temple. He went down the hidden stairs and made the Serf symbol with his hand and let out a [Graviton] spell which crushed the bloodied beast.

The beast died without any thought. He went deeper into the halls that his followers made. Merlin saw the old altar. He had the blood of a thousand-year-old elemental which Hyftri was, so he had that covered already. He still needed the dew of a celestial leaf and the corpse of an elemental at the same level as myself.

'The only one that fits the last criteria is Solteq. He doesn't have a physical body currently so I could let him in this body just before the ritual and kill him. The altar will trap him in this body and will allow to me reach the stars.' Merlin planned.

With the plan set on how to capture Solteq, Merlin began setting a trap for him in preparation for the ritual.