Cor stared straight at Merlin's face, the Saint was looking for any hint of a prank or pretense in his expression, but he simply smiled calmly back.
"Are you not going to ask questions?" He gestured for Cor to continue.
Cor sighed as he looked through the notes he had taken during Merlin's description.
"My first question is about that city, Civilth, you called it, you described it as a lawful city, except it's filled with creatures of corrupted, great and cursed rank am I right?"
"Yeah, that's about it" Merlin nodded.
"And you stayed in such a city as a sleeper, for two weeks, and survived?" Cor asked as he pinched his temples.
"Well, yes, technically" Merlin answered.
"How?"
Merlin chuckled as he said.
"Well you could say Thorax gave me a VIP pass"
Cor looked him in the eye and asked.
"Now that's what I'm curious about, why would a cursed terror go out of its way to keep a sleeper alive? And not only that, also force you to awaken without returning from the dream realm…"
Merlin shrugged and replied with a smirk.
"Well he's not dead, you can always go and ask him, well he helped me out a bunch, so the best I could do for you is pointing in the right direction, as for being bait… I'll have to consider it"
Cor's lips tightened, but he held himself back and asked.
"And how exactly did you escape?"
"Same way I killed off a thousand nightmare creatures in ten seconds… I used my trump card" Merlin answered calmly, he wasn't lying, after all, Celestial Worthy had used the cloak, so it was his body, and his cloak that handled the escape, even if it wasn't his consciousness.
"A trump card so powerful that it could let you escape the clutches of a Cursed Terror, that detail will need to be recorded" Cor said as he sharpened his gaze.
Merlin's smile widened as he spread his hands.
"Sure I wouldn't mind showing you, just that it'll probably be the last thing you see, and if anyone tries to force me to show it, I'll simply use it and go on a rampage, after all if it can escape a cursed terror, it sure as hell can wipe out half of this city"
Cor's eyes narrowed as he released the pressure of a Saint and spoke in a deep voice.
"You shouldn't push your luck young man"
Merlin chuckled as the pressure washed over him, after all can a transcendent beast's pressure compare to that of Azarax, or that of Thorax that Merlin just finished tanking.
His eyes turned cold as he released blood lust, true killing intent, and a complete one, because he was confident that he could kill the Saint in front of him.
His killing intent immediately overpowered the pressure from Cor, he could even feel Silver tighten around his body, For who was on the receiving end had already turned pale, as he stood a distance away summoning his sword, the moment Merlin released his killing intent, the Saint had already made distance.
'Well that's very effective..' Merlin smiled internally, he was proud that his months of falling unconscious under sheer will was not wasted.
He immediately stopped emitting the killing intent as he turned to Cor who stood by the side of the room with his weapon in hand.
"Please don't mistake my kindness for weakness Saint Wake Of Ruin, the things I've experienced and survived in the dream realm is much more than you can imagine or even survive as a transcendent" Merlin reverted to his calm smile.
Cor stared at him for a few seconds, then he unsummoned his weapon and walked back to his fallen chair, he picked up the chair and sat down, but he wore a cautious look as he looked at Merlin.
Merlin sighed and said.
"Well that settles the issue on my trump card, so, anymore questions?"
"..." Cor hesitated then he eventually answered "All that's left is your experiences in your second nightmare"
Merlin nodded and started telling the experience about his second nightmare, he also told them about his happy time with Ariel, and the description of their society.
He then moved on to describe the war, the fight against the Great Monster and also that against the immortal Corrupted Demon, but he didn't add anything about Ariel's involvement in the main nightmare, as he finished, he looked at Cor, waiting for the Saint to offer his questions.
Cor sighed then asked.
"So what you're saying is that you, and an ascended killed a Great Monster alone?"
"A greatly injured Great Monster… but yeah we did" Merlin nodded as he clarified.
"And then only you fought an immortal Corrupted Demon?" Cor asked as he read through the report.
"It was quasi-immortality the Corrupted Demon had, but yes, I fought it and killed it" Merlin answered calmly.
"How exactly did you kill something that was half-immortal?" Cor asking while quietly gauging his reaction"
"I had a little support from someone who didn't participate in the war, but apart from that, I just cut it till it couldn't regenerate again" he explained as he thought back to the gruesome battle that once cost him his life.
"I see, that would be all for your second nightmare Ascended Merlin" Cor nodded and closed the file.
He reached to the side and brought out a black box with the government logo on it.
"Please place your finger here, it's a necessary process"
Merlin placed his finger, and with a soft click, the box opened, inside was a slick communicator made out of flexible glass, a memory chip with the government seal etched on its surface, and a small iron badge with two stars engraved into it.
"Congratulations Ascended Merlin, you have officially become a citizen of the seventh rank, this communicator will serve as your aid during nightmare gate calamities"
Merlin picked up the items in the box then he paused, he brought out a coin and flicked it into the air, the coin landed on tails.
"Seems like there's no tracking device inside, thank you for the citizenship" Merlin nodded as he placed the items in his dimension ring.
Cor sighed helplessly and continued.
"Listen… of all the Sleepers that had returned from the Dream Realm in the last few years, there are only six whose files were marked as SS. And you are apparently not one of them"
"I'm not?" Merlin tilted his head slightly.
"No, you're not, due to your… numerous feats, you have been given a new official rank, and that is X… meaning extraordinary assets" For calmly explained.
Merlin, hearing the rank, sighed and said.
"I'm guessing that's not a good thing…"
Cor nodded in agreement as he spoke in a stern voice.
"This rank simply means that you cannot, emphasis on 'cannot', be left idle, you must ally yourself with at least one of the great clans or the government, but even with that, you might still face possible assassination attempts from the other side"
Merlin chuckled slightly as his voice turned serious.
"Well I'll trust the government to deal with the issues of the assassination attempts, because if one does take place and I happen to survive, I'll kill half the residents of the NQSC, then I'll take my challenge up with the great clans involved, I'm not confident in completely getting rid of them, but I'll definitely make sure that they lose about half their current number of peoples and citadels"
Cor looked him in the eyes as he said calmly.
"You might be strong, but you're greatly underestimating the power of the great clans"
"Hahaha…" Merlin laughed as he spoke with a smile "considering my status, the highest they will send is a Saint, and trust me, as I am now, killing one saint might be slightly difficult, but not impossible, and even if they call two or even three saints, I'm confident that if I want to escape, none of them can do anything to stop me"
He paused then stared straight at Cor as he finished.
"And if the sovereigns decide to make a move themselves, I'll just whip out my trump card and then boom, this world would be lacking one supreme, it'll cost me a lot, but it definitely isn't impossible to achieve… so please explain to me again the must part of that X ranking again"
Saint Cor was completely speechless, he could tell that everything Merlin said was the truth, and his trump card could really achieve such a feat, he pinched his temples as he replied.
"Telling me this now won't change the actions of the great clans…"
"I know" Merlin nodded "that's why the government should pass the message along to them for me"
"You do know that if I do that, the pressure from them would be much worse right?" Cor asked as he stared at him with tired eyes.
He sighed then replied.
"Yeah… knowing those proud guys, that's probably what'll happen, well it doesn't matter, I was expecting something like this anyways, that's why I made some preparations"
With those words, he summoned Ariel and Silver like liquid metal flowed off his body and reformed herself by his side, the appearance of two transcendents rank people made Cor raise his guard, but he still sat calmly.
"Is this the reason you wanted me to come along with you?" Silver asked as she looked around before her eyes locked on Cor.
Ariel walked closer to him, he held her hand as her eyes alternated between the three people present.
Merlin nodded and replied Silver with a calm smile.
"Well you heard, my life might be suffering future assassination attempts, so I'll be stuck with you guys for a while"
Silver stared at him for a few seconds then she nodded and walked to a nearby chair and sat down.
Cor stared at Silver and Ariel, before turning to him.
"That's not an echo"
"Ofcourse she's not, Silver's a friend I picked up… cough… that accompanied me during my time in Civilth, she's someone who has survived a fight against Thorax more than once, so I'm pretty sure she can kill a transcendent or four…" Merlin smiled as he offered a light introduction.
Cor stared at him for a while, then he turned to Silver and he eventually looked away and sighed.
"Well that's where the procedure ends… the rest is up to you and your decisions"
Merlin nodded and stood up from his chair stretching his body, he ruffled Ariel's hair as he spoke to her.
"Come on, let's go, I promised to show you Sunny right, he's outside"
"Alright big brother" Ariel spoke in a small soft voice, stunning Cor for the second time.
"Well this has been fun, till next time Saint Cor" Merlin waved as he walked out of the room with Silver behind him and with Ariel in his hand.
As he emerged, he walked towards the outside only to see the cohort and Master Jet staring out through the window, well it was most of the cohort, since Cassie was still sitting down on a chair.
Sunny, sensing him through his shadow, turned around and spoke up.
"Merlin, you're done…." Sunny's voice trailed off and the end as he stared at the group he was bringing along.
"Ari, that's Sunny there" He pointed to Ariel who was sheepishly nuzzling close to him.
As she heard his voice, she immediately looked up, then she turned to face Sunny and waved slightly, stunning everyone around.
He chuckled inwardly and did a quick introduction.
"Hey guys… this is Silver, and this little one is Ariel" then he turned to Silver and said "these are my friends, that's Sunny, Nephis, Cassie, Effie, Kai and Jet"
Silver offered a light nod and stayed quiet, but Effie seized the moment and spoke up in a teasing tone.
"Hey pretty boy… we're not around for only a year and you already got yourself a wife and a kid~"
"A big sister and a younger sister Effie, it's not whatever scenario you're cooking up in that head of yours" Merlin sighed helplessly.
"Anyways, so what did I miss?"
Sunny sighed as he shook his head.
"Alot Merlin… a whole lot"
"But before that…" Nephis chimed in "you'll need to deal with the situation outside…"
"Situation?" He tilted his head.
Nephis gestured to the window, and he walked closer to check it out, and as he reached there, the first thing he thought was.
'Are we announcing the discovery of a new S-rank hunter?'
The scene outside could only be described as every celebrity's worst nightmare, well in some cases, but outside was a whole armada of sleepers and reporters, anyone who wasn't aware would think that he was planning a coup.
He turned to face the cohort and said with a blank look.
"Hell nah, there's no way I'm going out under that much pressure"
"They're here for you… I don't know how, but the news of your return spread far, wide and fast" Jet said as she walked towards the office he just left.
"Sigh… I guess I have to represent now huh" Merlin pinched his temples as he repeatedly considered using travel to return to the forgotten shore.
"Uhm big brother… my necklace is gone" Ariel spoke up as she touched her neck, the necklace she wore before was bought in the nightmare seed, and couldn't be brought out, but she had no way of knowing that.
"Ah that…" he thought for a second then he retrieved an identical necklace, one that he picked up before entering the nightmare "here… is it better now?"
As he wore her the necklace, she beamed with a smile and nodded.
He smiled and ruffled her head then he turned to the cohort.
"Well let's deal with this stuff first, then we'll meet up at Sunny's place before discussing more details"
The cohort nodded in agreement, then he took a deep breath as he walked towards the door and pushed it open, he walked forward and squinted his eyes slightly to block out the sun, as he opened it, the scene was exactly as he expected, cheering crowd, flashes from cameras and waves and greetings from the sleepers he knew.
He faced the crowd with a smile as he brought up his hand, immediately the noise quieted down, leaving only the clicks of the cameras.
With a loud voice, he spoke up.
"People of the waking world, I, Attendant Of Mysteries, Merlin has returned!!"
And the crowd erupted with cheers and claps, he smiled brightly at the scene as he thought.
'Damn… it feels good to be famous…'
.
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Sorry for the delay, I was caught up reading a new book...