CHAPTER 82: SPIRIT REUNION

Andre's face was flushed with horror. Merlin smiled, causing his grip on his sword to tighten. The cosmic force revolving around his gleaming blade dimmed slightly. Still, his eyes were full of fire. He almost certainly knew that he had no chance against her, but there was no way he was going to back down and give up.

Merlin's smile widened when she noticed him steeling his resolve. She chuckled, "I have to say, that side of you has always been.... Extremely appealing to me. You are still not my type, though. Don't get your hopes up."

Andre grit his teeth. "Stop playing around and come at me!"

She crossed her arms tightly and swiftly teleported behind him. Before Andre could even finish his blink, she placed her palm over his head. Andre froze. His neck slowly shifted back. Merlin's figure, draped in cold, desolate darkness, reflected in his eyes. His mind was screaming to fight, but his body was as stiff as a rock.

Was it fear? Andre the Giant... Feeling fear? A fire was igniting underneath the layers of sweat piling above his face and back. He refused to back down. He refused to let her step all over him!

"AHHHHHHHHHH!"

Ignoring every bit of warning that his body was giving him, Andre roared, igniting every cinder of Cosmic Force within his body. The [Battle-Cage] shook. Numerous unclaimed items and abstract ideas trembled in the Spirit World. The very fabric of Rift Space was fracturing slowly due to Merlin's higher authority clashing against Andre's.

Merlin witnessed the spectacle and frowned. "Boring..."

Tendrils of darkness emerged from her palm, consuming Andre's entire body in its liquid abyss. The darkness draped over him like a curtain, and stars shimmered within its form. Suddenly, the darkness solidified into an orb, which Merlin held in her palm.

She looked at it with droopy eyes then quickly tossed it into the air in boredom. The orb left a swift afterimage before disappearing.

"Sorry about this Andre, but I am going to need your [Battle-Cage] for a bit longer... I won't kill you just yet. You still have some uses left."

She looked up at the ethereal skies of the Spirit World and smiled. "I will surely miss this place..."

Suddenly, her [Doom-Counter] ability flared up. An ability she had gained after switching to the Chaos Domain. She shifted her neck to the left and stared into infinity; her eyes squinted. A quick scan of the area made her frown and sigh deeply.

"It seems that thing is still active..."

Suddenly, a sound emerged from behind her, breaking her from her reverie: "Madam Merlin! Oh, how great it is to see you again! We really thought you were dead!"

Merlin turned to the source of the sound. The reflection of a small book with lightning strikes emanating from between its pages came into view. The book was levitating on its own; flapping its hard covers as if they were wings.

"Suj'lokin!" Merlin yelled excitedly. She could recognize that book even from a million miles away. He had been her contracted spirit for the longest time, after all.

Right behind the ethereally glowing book which had decided to spin around Merlin's new form were two silhouettes. Merlin squinted her eyes to get a closer look. On one side was a large snake with red scales. Its crimson irises were laser focused on the prize. Beside the slithering snake was a white fox with cyan spots over her furry ears. The pair moved swiftly after noticing their master.

Merlin's eyes began to glimmer. "Varus, Allena.... It's been a while!" The spirits of fire and ice lunged at Merlin. Varus wrapped himself around her neck while Allena purred softly before landing on her chest. Merlin embraced them with a hug in response. "Ah, I missed you guys..."

"It seems you have ascended, Madam Merlin. Though, I do not sense just Knowledge-force emanating from within you..." Slicing through her emotions, a guttural sound entered her ears from behind. Merlin turned to face the source while frowning.

"Arcus... It's been a while," she spoke while hiding her contempt. "I still haven't forgiven you, y'know?"

The beast reflected in her eyes was colossal enough to cast a shadow over her and all the other spirits. It was an enormous bear-like creature adorned with luminous lines that traced beneath its fur, weaving across its entirety. Across its left eye lay a scar, emanating a vibrant violet glow. In response to Merlin, the beast responded while gazing at her coldly.

"It doesn't matter to me whether you forgive me or not. I must still ask you, what domain do you belong to now? Clearly, you have swapped your divine pathway."

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Merlin shook her head and clicked her tongue. "Yes, you guessed right. I am now a Chaos Domain, Void Master. Don't worry, though, my original dimensionality has been preserved inside my secondary soul core."

Arcus nodded slowly. "Interesting... Although I did expect you to be insane, but not to this degree. You humans have a concept of psychologists, right? You should visit one."

"Hmph," she crossed her arms. "If you came all the way here just to lecture me, then go back to wherever you came from." She glanced down at Allena, who had practically merged with her chest. "I'd much rather converse with these fellows."

The crimson snake wrapped around her neck, Varus, glanced over at Arcus. "Friend, hisssss. You are always too harsh with Master Merlin, hisssss...."

Arcus sighed. "Children need to be disciplined, Snake of Blazing Flames. I cannot stand idly by and let her take such risks when she is bound to us by contract."

"However, Master Merlin had not failed in her ludicrous mission, hissss...."

Arcus nodded. "Indeed, as insane as it was, she had somehow managed to pull it off."

Merlin frowned while patting Allena's head. "Hmph, I can hear the both of you." She continued to stroke her furry ears. "Besides, that was the only method for me to achieve my goals..."

Arcus' gaze softened. "Do you still hold trepidation toward this ethyric realm?"

"..." Merlin continued to stroke Allena's fur. Suj'lokin observed this and levitated himself in front of Merlin. "Madam Merlin, we know just how much you value your sense of responsibility. Not once have you ever even considered risking our contract. Could you please share it with us... Why do you wish to escape the clutches of this realm?.."

Merlin looked up at the ethereal skies of the Spirit World. Thousands of colors blended together into a mesh that was akin to the northern lights. The radiance seemed to emanate from all directions and could stretch out into infinity. A faint smile took over her face as she gazed at the familiar scene.

"It is because of that thing... The remnant of the Monarch's will..."

A shadow was cast over all the spirits. Silence held dominion until Arcus cleared his throat. "Are you speaking about the seed? That ignorant mass of concepts."

Merlin nodded softly, but beneath her cool expression was... Another emotion. "Indeed..."

Silence took hold once more. Suj'lokin sighed in defeat. "So.. What now?"

Merlin's smile quivered. "Naturally, I would have to revoke our contracts. I have already fulfilled my end of it, after all. The dimensionality present within my secondary soul core is still available for consumption. Each of you could acquire your respective piece right now."

Allena purred softly; her eyes gleaming up at her master's with indignation.

Merlin sighed. "I have no choice... Now that I have completely embraced Chaos, my Domain Singularity is, of course, going to reflect that. I hold no dominion or sovereignty in the Spirit World now. My secondary soul core has not been consolidated yet."

After a few minutes of silence, Arcus sighed. "Alright, I will be taking my portion of your soul as promised by the contract."

Varus and Suj'lokin looked over at him in shock. "Are you seriosssss?..."

Arcus glanced over at him for a bit. "Yes, I am. It is Merlin's wish, after all. Just one look at her eyes tells me that she has thought this through a million times before. No matter what you and the others will say, Merlin will stick firmly to her decision."

Merlin smiled in response. "Though you are annoying, I guess you can come in handy sometimes."

Arcus Ignored her remarks. "Still, I do not understand how it is that you are alive? We all felt a quiver within our souls and assumed the worst. Then, out of nowhere, the contract was activated only for it to return to its natural state...."

Merlin picked up Allena and placed her atop her head. "It is only natural for the contract to activate. I died, after all."

"..." They all looked at each other, puzzled. Arcus spoke up, "You have to be joking."

"I am not." She shook her head. "I was cut down by my enemy right here. However, that was exactly my plan. By allowing myself to die, my soul core would naturally separate from my astral projection, which houses my dimensionality. Through this method, I was able to temporarily sever my connection to the spirit world. Then, I used the pseudo-dimensionality present within a Chaos Domain stellar artifact I had, to construct a new Astral Projection."

"At the same time, I activated the Ascension Stone and took part in the test. From my studies, I knew that that Chaos domain's ascension trial revolved around allowing your body to deconstruct itself through pure Entropy and then to allow it to return to its original state successfully. However, for that to happen, I needed a secure location."

She looked back up at the ethereal skies and smiled. Arcus pondered for a second before casting his gaze back on Merlin. "I assume you used the enemy human's [Battle-Cage] to facilitate this?"

Merlin snapped her fingers, "Bingo!"

Arcus couldn't help but shake his head. "I was right. You are truly insane."

Suj'lokin flew over to Arcus. "I couldn't agree more... Truly reckless."

"Hey!" Merlin looked at them with furrowed brows. "At least it worked!"

The crimson snake tightened its grip around its master's neck. "Anything could have gone wrong, Master, hisss.... Do not repeat.... Hissssssss....."

All she could do was simply sigh and nod her head. "Alright, enough of that. It seems that the Spirit World is rejecting my presence. I will need to leave soon." She swiftly closed her eyes and poured out her cosmic force, revealing her secondary soul core, which she handed off to Varus.

She looked over at her close companions and smiled. "I wish the best for all of you. I truly mean it. Thank you for accepting a crazy girl like me."

Arcus glanced down at his former master and showed a faint smile. "You know our true names, so contacting us through ritualistic magic should still be possible. Never shy away from it, Witch of Twilight."

She nodded toward him and the rest of the spirits. "No worries, though, before that..." Tendrils of darkness emerged from beneath her dress. "I still have one final purpose for utilizing Andre's [Battle-Cage]. One that will be very important to a certain young man's plans."

Arcus glanced over at her with puzzlement in his eyes. "A young man's plans? Since when did a selfish woman like you ever care about anyone else?"

"Hmph, say whatever you want, but that kid is special. Speaking of which, all of you should try to get into contact with him. It will be fairly beneficial to all of you."

The crimson snake hissed. "What can a mere young man offer us, hissss?"

Merlin smiled. "Do not underestimate him. I can sense a presence within him that may or may not be of a higher authority than my current state."

End of Chapter