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"How strange, how utterly strange!"
Merlin rested his chin on his hand, observing Asher, who lay beside Tiamat. Asher was still clad in his black robe, his hood obscuring most of his face, but without a doubt, Merlin was certain that Asher was currently in a deep slumber.
But why? Merlin knew well that Asher wasn't like him, someone who would falter at a crucial moment. How could Asher be lazy, even lying there sleeping, when hypnotizing Tiamat was such an important matter?
"Something must have gone wrong!"
After a careful observation, Merlin scanned his surroundings, then snapped his fingers. "Of course!"
So, he accidentally entered Tiamat's dream? What, someone still doesn't know how Merlin figured it out? That's common sense, my friend.
"But speaking of which, this guy's magical talent is truly exaggerated," Merlin clicked his tongue. He had taught Asher a spell to create a sweet dream for Tiamat, yet Asher managed to get himself into Tiamat's dream.
...Perhaps Asher was an indispensable part of Tiamat's sweet dream? Merlin mused to himself with a self-deprecating thought.
"No choice, I'll have to bring him out. After all, I was the one who tricked him into coming here."
Merlin muttered to himself, raised his staff, and gently tapped the ground. "To grow up properly, time to rest, Al... Tsk, bit my tongue. That's why I hate chanting spells." Merlin stuck out his tongue, then raised his staff and chanted the spell again. "To grow up properly, time to rest, Artoria!" This time, he chanted slowly, afraid of accidentally biting his tongue again.
The scene before his eyes gradually blurred, enveloped in
a white mist. Soon, what appeared before Merlin was no longer reality, but someone's dream. Or rather, a god's dream, Tiamat's dream. Most people usually don't realize who they are when dreaming, or rather, they don't pay attention to it. But Merlin remembered everything; he was a court mage, and he had only one thing to do: find Asher.
"So, where do I find Asher now?" Merlin looked around, then saw a shallow footprint on the ground.
"Over there, then."
He stepped towards Asher's direction, but at that moment, a column of water suddenly burst through the ground, sending Merlin flying into the air.
Then, countless water spheres in mid-air smashed towards Merlin. Merlin drew a sword from his staff and displayed incredibly skilled swordsmanship, cutting the incoming water spheres in half.
"Whew... It seems Mother Tiamat doesn't welcome me,"
Merlin wiped the sweat from his forehead and continued forward with his staff towards Asher. His clothes had sustained considerable damage in the previous battle, but fortunately, this was just a dream; there would be no impact in reality.
He had just walked a short distance when the earth suddenly vibrated violently. Fireballs in the sky, in an incredibly exaggerated number, covered most of the firmament, then smashed towards Merlin with a fierce whooshing sound.
"First water, then fire... This 'Mother' is quite self-willed," Merlin murmured to himself, stepping aside to avoid the attack. But it was understandable; after all, he was the culprit who hypnotized Tiamat. Tiamat probably knew who did it, so it was normal for her to launch such aggressive attacks upon seeing him.
"It's impressive that Asher hasn't left the dream even under such catastrophic attacks. His willpower is truly firm," Merlin thought to himself while dodging the attacks. Frankly, after encountering two such terrifying attacks from Tiamat in a row, he was already starting to retreat. He didn't know how Asher could stay in this dream for so long.
"Should I just go back?" he suddenly muttered to himself.
He had originally intended to summon Asher to prepare for the final battle against the Demonic Beast Goddess Gorgon, but since Asher was hidden in this dream and difficult to find, perhaps it wasn't a bad idea to go back and think of other ways.
Thoughts aside, Merlin continued to move forward, and the path continued to extend before him. Boom! A new round of attacks struck again. Merlin "hup!"ed to avoid the attack and quickened his pace.
The sky was still murky. Although there was no sun, the temperature was still moderate, and a cool sea breeze brushed against his face, bringing a refreshing sensation.
"I think I felt a magical fluctuation. Did you just do something?"
Asher tidied his wind-blown hair, then turned to Tiamat. He had just heard Tiamat make a few sounds, a meaningless song, clearly using magic, but he didn't know exactly what she was doing.
"Aaaa (Something annoying came in)"
"Something annoying...?" Asher repeated.
Although it sounded like a thing, since it could move, it must be a person? Among the people Asher knew who could enter Tiamat's dream, there seemed to be only one.
"Aaaa (Ignore him, we sleep)"
After speaking, she clung to Asher again, treating him completely like a soft pillow, kissing his face and
stroking his head.
Last night, after kissing Asher, there were no more passionate confessions or anything. Tiamat acted as if nothing had happened, continuing to sleep while holding Asher.
However, today her attitude towards Asher was noticeably more intimate than in previous days.
Previously, Asher had some free time during the day, but today Tiamat seemed to have no intention of letting go of Asher even during the day.
"I can't sleep from morning till night like you, Mother," Asher said helplessly. He said this, but he had no way to persuade Tiamat to let go of him. This was probably a mother's authority, even if this mother seemed a bit willful.
Thump. A soft sound echoed as Merlin, after much hardship and Tiamat's incessant interference, finally stood before Asher.
"Ar-Arthur King... what are you doing?!"
Then, with an almost undisguised astonishment in Merlin's voice, Asher turned to see Merlin, leaning on his staff, looking at him with surprise. Clearly, this wasn't Merlin acting; he was genuinely a bit confused.
"Merlin, huh... it's been a few days since we last met."
Asher scratched his forehead somewhat awkwardly, clearly realizing why Merlin was so surprised. He turned to Tiamat and said, "Mother, can you let go of me for a moment? I want to talk to him."
Tiamat looked at Merlin, released Asher, then raised a hand to stroke his hair, watching him walk towards Merlin, and then watching them walk a few more steps forward. Tiamat stared for a while, then shifted her gaze
to the sea beside her, wondering what she was thinking.
"Um... Arthur." Merlin scratched his head, slightly tilting his head to look at Asher. "Can you explain what's been happening these past few days?"
"Wasn't this part of your plan...?" Asher couldn't help but ask. He had thought that his entry into Tiamat's dream was also within Merlin's calculations, but it seemed that
wasn't the case?
"Even I couldn't calculate to that extent!" Merlin exclaimed, striking the ground with his staff, almost hitting his own foot. "That's a Genesis God, one of Humanity's Evils, a Beast with the principle of regression! Why are you getting along harmoniously with her, while I've faced countless attacks on my way here?!"
"You're only indignant because 'Mother' attacked you, aren't you...?" Asher saw right through Merlin's thoughts.
"That's not the issue now," Merlin shook his head. "Can
you explain in detail what happened?"
Asher roughly explained, then looked at Merlin and said, "That's how it is. The Gorgon you're trying to kill is the real deal. Once she dies, Tiamat will awaken and destroy this land... but she's already abandoned that idea."
"You mean to say, Mother Tiamat was persuaded by you?" Merlin still seemed a bit unconvinced.
"I initially thought all of this was your plan," Asher retorted. He had thought a lot while staying with Tiamat these past few days, and after much deliberation, he came to only one conclusion it was all Merlin's plan.
Well... it turned out he was wrong.
"I'd love to say all of this was my plan; it sounds impressive, calculating everything... but unfortunately," Merlin gently shook his head, "I never expected such a development. I just asked you to hypnotize Tiamat, but... I never told you to sleep with her." And it seemed they even developed feelings for each other.
Humanity's Evils refer to major disasters that would destroy human history. They originate from the very wish to protect humanity, that is, human love. Simply put, Beasts love humanity in a different way; the essence of Humanity's Evils is extreme human benevolence.
And now, this Beast, who was supposed to try and destroy the singularity, was actually persuaded.
"But Arthur, can you really be sure she isn't trying to deceive you?" Merlin asked.
"Do you think... she needs to deceive me?" Asher retorted.
The current Tiamat was still in a self-sealed state. Once Tiamat released her seal, even with Gilgamesh and a few goddesses, plus Merlin's main body and the Old Man of the Mountain, it would be impossible to stop her.
Merlin paused slightly, looked at Tiamat again, then fell silent.
Then, a brilliant smile suddenly appeared on Merlin's face. He affectionately patted Asher's shoulder. "King Arthur, I knew you were the savior of the world."
"Cut the act," Asher brushed Merlin's hand away. "Is there any way for me to leave here?"
"You can't go!" Merlin immediately said. "Right now, for Mother Tiamat, you are an essential part of her sweet dream. Without you, she will immediately wake up."
"I know, and I'm not planning to leave right now. I just want to ask you, what's the method to leave the dream?" Asher asked.
"What? Are you planning more tricks?" Asher looked at Merlin, who had suddenly fallen silent, and his deep eyes, then asked unpleasantly.
"Ah, no, I didn't mean that. I was just thinking about something," Merlin quickly recovered, smiling. "The spell to leave the dream is... I will always love Tiamat."
He then said something else, and Asher immediately looked up at Merlin: "Are you messing with me?!"
"No... absolutely true, that really is the spell to leave the dream," Merlin said very solemnly. "I wouldn't lie to you about something like this, trust me."
"So you just changed the spell on the fly?"
"Hehe."
Asher resisted the urge to punch Merlin and said, "Anyway, after defeating the Demonic Beast Goddess who now calls herself 'Tiamat,' Tiamat will awaken, and I'll persuade her then."
"Then I'll leave everything to you, King Arthur." Merlin suddenly stopped smiling, his expression incredibly serious. "Although you just happened to enter the dream, this is indeed a crucial opportunity. There's only one thing you need to do"
He glanced at Tiamat, who was staring blankly at the sea, and whispered, "Make her more dependent on you."
It was a very serious matter, but why did it feel so odd?
"So, Arthur, bring out your senior seduction techniques! And then, persuade Tiamat!" Merlin suddenly became
impassioned.
"Mother and I are not in that kind of relationship!"
"I didn't say it was that kind of relationship," Merlin shrugged. "I just said to try your best to make her like
you more."
"Oh my, oh my, the fact that you think that means you do have romantic intentions, doesn't it?"
"Can I punch you in the face?" Asher smiled, no longer deliberately lowering his voice as before.
"If you can, then it's fine," Merlin fiddled with his staff. "But my escape skills are top-notch"
Boom!
A column of water from a distance struck Merlin's face like a heavy punch, sending him flying backward several times.
"Aaaaaa"
As Tiamat let out another low growl, hundreds and thousands of fireballs instantly spread across the sky, filling the entire firmament. Merlin quickly raised his hand and waved it. "Ah, I know, I know! I'll leave immediately, I'm so sorry for disturbing your time together, esteemed Mother Tiamat."
Merlin respectfully bowed his head to express his deference, then without another word to Asher, he left the dream.
The seawater gently pushed Asher back towards Tiamat.
Only then did Asher react, shaking his head and chuckling, "He's not an enemy; I was just joking when I said I wanted to punch him."
Tiamat lowered her head slightly, seemingly feeling remorseful for her impulsive action.
"Don't worry about what just happened. I really did want to punch him, thank you for fulfilling my wish," Asher said, raising his hand to stroke Tiamat's head.
Tiamat didn't speak, simply pulling Asher back into her embrace, then rubbing her face against his like an affectionate kitten.
"Aaaa (Continue sleeping)"
________________________________________
The afternoon light was bright, the breeze gentle. Merlin swiftly walked towards the direction of the Divine Tower, wiping the cold sweat from his forehead as he reported the earlier events to Gilgamesh.
"Mother Tiamat... could awaken at any moment?"
Gilgamesh leaned back on his throne, pondering Merlin's report, then looked at Merlin. "Since you came to me, you must have thought of a way to stop Mother Tiamat, correct?"
"Yes, and the method is actually very simple," Merlin said. "Mother Tiamat's awakening is inevitable, so from start to finish, there's only one thing we need to do."
"This King is quite interested to know, if the Genesis God returns, what method could possibly stop her? Tell me," Gilgamesh said, a hint of interest in his eyes as he looked at Merlin.
"King Arthur... that is, the Divine Spirit Asher whom you summoned this time, his current relationship with Tiamat is quite ambiguous, so..." Merlin slowly explained something.
"You want this King to fully support her and Asher's romance when 'Mother' awakens?!" Gilgamesh burst into laughter. "What a colossal joke!"
"I am proposing this very seriously, King," Merlin smiled.
"Self-sealing, huh..." Gilgamesh murmured to himself, falling into thought. If Merlin's words were true, there might indeed be a chance to stop Tiamat when she awakened, but only if Tiamat could maintain her self-seal. Once Tiamat broke her seal, the world might truly turn into a hell. But fortunately, Asher had accidentally entered Tiamat's dream and was not driven out; instead, his relationship with that 'Mother' was quite intimate.
But this wasn't enough. Such a degree of intimacy still carried a certain risk. For humans, Tiamat was a terrifying invader, but for Tiamat, humans were equally terrifying aliens. If Tiamat could change her ingrained notion that "humans are threatening creatures," perhaps she could become an existence like Fou.
Gilgamesh lightly tapped the armrest of his chair with his finger. After a brief period of contemplation, he finally looked up: "Very well, this King agrees."
"After defeating the Demonic Beast Goddess, spare no effort, and fully support Asher and Tiamat's romance!"
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