"Then how did you do it?" Jet asked curiously.
'Ah… me and my big mouth…'
He thought for a moment, then decided to trust them with the details.
"Well, my Ascended ability allows me to kill and turn people in marionettes you guys almost fell victim when I returned from the dream realm, then I sent a Worm of Spirit into the marionette and the marionette gains my abilities, so all I had to do was split my consciousness into it, and boom, two Merlins" he explained.
"I understand the process, but I don't understand how it is possible. How did you manage to even use your Transcendent form as an Ascended?" Jet asked.
"I have a very suitable memory," he smiled faintly.
"Fine, keep your secrets…" She scoffed.
"Wait…" Effie spoke up, "you're saying that if you didn't regain yourself earlier, you would've killed everyone when you returned from the dream realm?"
"Something like that" he scratched his head in embarrassment.
"Wait a moment, you mean that thing where you don't even have to touch the person is strong enough to kill even a Transcendent like Saint Cor?" Jet asked.
"Yes, given enough time, it can" he nodded.
"How near do you have to be for it to take effect?" Nephis asked.
"I can kill anyone from over 200 meters away without moving from my position, I don't even have to see the person to use it" he answered honestly.
"Isn't your skill a little too deadly?" Jet said.
"Well there's a limit on how many people I can turn to marionettes at a time, 5 is the maximum" he explained, then continued, "and with my memory, it can become 50…"
"And with a Transcendent Shard?" Nephis asked.
"500" he answered curtly.
Kai turned his head, "then back at the siege of the Crimson Spire?"
"Yes… I took control of 500 nightmare creatures and used them to kill the others, until I reached my limit" he nodded.
"Ah… so that's the secret behind the deeds of the strongest sleeper" Jet said in enlightenment.
He shrugged, then spoke up.
"Alright, that's enough sidetracking, let's get back to the Antarctica discussion…"
"Right… you were just about to get to the part about the Great clans" Jet nodded.
"Yes" he nodded, "the Sovereigns are about to turn Antarctica into their first official battleground for the coming war"
"Wait what!?" Effie shot up surprised.
"That's the reality of things though, did you really think the Sovereigns were going to stop at Neph's dad? No, they trapped one on the moon, and the two remaining active ones are looking to end each other" he sighed.
"When I said we're going against the Sovereigns not for revenge, but for necessity, this is what I mean"
"But why can't we just let them fight against each other, that way at least the winner will still end up holding all of humanity together?" Kai asked calmly.
He shook his head and explained.
"Honestly, that seems like an ideal choice, except for a few problems, first, the current Sovereigns are not willing to challenge the fifth nightmare and become Sacred, meaning they won't allow anyone to challenge the fourth nightmare either, and if anyone does so, then another war would break out…"
He sighed and continued.
"But that's not the main problem, the main problem is the fact that the dream realm is swallowing the waking world"
"Wait a minute, the dream realm is swallowing the waking world?" Sunny asked.
"Yes, the chain of nightmares about to happen is an example of that… all the places found in the dream realm were once individual realms of the gods, much like ours, until the dream realm swallowed them…"
"And here comes the problem, around the world, in America, Africa and the rest, there are Cursed Rank nightmare creatures being held down by the force of the waking world, but by the time the dream realm catches up to them, they'll be free to roam around, that way, nothing is stopping them from destroying most of humanity"
"And as someone who has lived with a Cursed Rank nightmare creature, I know that those things are enough to wipe out entire civilizations, Sovereign or not, it makes no difference to them… but that's just talking about Cursed, they're also a few Unholy ones out there, if they so much as breath in our direction… I don't think I need to explain the consequences"
He shook his head helplessly.
"Now even after knowing all this, the Sovereigns are still dead set on not challenging the fifth nightmare, so if we leave our future in their hands…" he left the rest unsaid.
"I understand now," Kai nodded in resolution.
The cohort had also gone quiet, at first they had viewed killing the Sovereigns as a set goal, but now, Merlin had just enlightened them on what came after, if they took down the Sovereigns, the problems they had would now be theirs to take care of, and from what Merlin described, it was a very huge load of problem.
"Thank you for enlightening me, this way, we can be more prepared" Nephis spoke up to which He nodded.
"So does that mean we'll have to fight in the war?" Effie asked.
"Neph's participation is a must, after all she's a princess of Valor, Sunny would probably stick with Neph, as for the rest of you guys, it's optional" he explained.
"What of you?" Cassie asked.
"This body of mine will join the fight with Neph and Sunny, but the one in the Song domain has a different task… if there's no change of plans, then he'll be deployed to eliminate one of Valor's Saints" he answered calmly.
"Hold on… they're sending only you against a Saint?" Jet spoke up surprised.
"Yeah… as long as there's not more than one, I'm more than capable of dealing with them alone, but if there's two, I might have to use the memory… any more than that, I'll just leave completely" he replied confidently.
"I think Song would assign a Saint to me too" Neph spoke up.
He shook his head.
"I've already come to an agreement with Ki Song, She leaves the cohort out of their squabble and I'll fight for her, but I can't be sure that a Saint won't try to kill you anyways, so at least be prepared to fight a Transcendent"
"If things don't change, it should be Saint Direwolf you guys will face, but I can't be sure since Merlin would be on the battlefield" Cassie spoke up.
"You made a deal with a Sovereign?" Nephis said as she turned to him.
He shrugged and replied.
"I don't know about Anvil, but Ki Song is very approachable, atleast she seems to be"
"Merlin…" Kai called out, "Since we're already sure that the Great clans are going to battle, who's going to be the winner?"
"No one, " he answered.
"No one?" Sunny asked.
"The battle came to a stalemate, a gate opened on the battlefield and a Great nightmare creature came out, so everyone was forced to escape to the dream realm… and that's where we challenged the third nightmare" He replied calmly.
"Are you saying in a few months, we'll be challenging the third nightmare?" Jet looked around surprised.
"That's the reality of things, I suggest you prepare the best you can" he said helplessly.
"Why do you guys look like all this is normal?" She asked around.
"Well Merlin's the plan maker in our team, plus if what he says is true, then challenging the third nightmare is our only hope of Survival" Sunny explained.
"So what next then… what comes after the third nightmare?" She asked again.
At the mention of after the third nightmare, everyone kept quiet, and for a good reason.
He had already told them that after they became Saints, they would forget about Sunny's existence, and although he assured them that they would be reunited, it still wasn't easy to let go of years worth of memories.
In his case, he had been getting visions about the third nightmare, but he couldn't make sense of them, in one of them, he held Weaver's mask, in another he was chained to the ground with Cassie's Rapier, Quiet Dancer lodged right in his heart, and in one of them, he was already on the verge of losing control and becoming a monster.
All he could conclude from the visions was that his third nightmare would be a rollercoaster of trouble.
Seeing no one was answering, Jet asked again.
"Why's everyone quiet?"
He sighed and spoke up.
"After the third nightmare, we might get separated for a while, Sunny and I will have some business, and you guys will continue living as usual, till we reunite…"
He had a feeling that wouldn't be bothered by Sunny losing his fate, after all, Sefirah Castle can allow him to see through the graftings of fate, so he could always remember Sunny whenever he wanted, as for whether the others would remember if they were brought in, he really had no idea.
"Some business? You really keep a lot of secrets, I mean look at the Sunny, he looks like he doesn't even have an idea of what business you're talking about" Jet grumbled.
"I didn't even do anything…" Sunny raised his head.
"Well that as much as concludes our meeting for today… we'll meet again whenever there's an issue to be discussed" he spread his hands.
"By the way, I have a question, do you share a consciousness with your other body in the Song clan?" Jet asked.
"No… we usually just keep each other updated on important details, I don't really have much information about his private life, and he doesn't know much of mine," Merlin explained.
"Oh…" She nodded in understanding.
At that moment, he remembered something that Cassie had told him about, but he hadn't really had the time to talk about.
"One more thing before we go, I just remembered that I haven't told you guys the details of my flaw, so I'll do so now…"
He started.
"My flaw is called Apathy, it's description is… the stronger you get the more of your humanity you shed until you become a being of only divinity"
"Although it's a process everyone goes through, mine is more profound, I reckon that by the time I get to Supreme, I'd have lost interest in humanity as a whole… and anything above that, I might not be the Merlin you remember anymore"
"That's somehow not a bad flaw and is still a bad flaw at the same time…" Effie spoke up.
"Well that means everyone's flaw is out in the open then…" she added.
"Everyone?" Sunny looked around confused.
"Well your flaw wasn't really difficult to figure out Doofus…" she rolled her eyes then turned to Jet, "and she mentioned hers earlier, she's dead right"
"Ah…" Sunny lowered his head in defeat, he really didn't expect everyone to already know his flaw even though he tried so hard to keep it to himself.
"Master Jet… Neph's flaw is that anytime she uses her aspect, she suffers pain akin to being burned alive" Cassie explained to Jet as she was the only person who didn't know Neph's flaw.
"That's painful" Jet hissed.
"Wait a minute… Cassie, you can see me? I thought you couldn't see?" Jet sounded surprised, after all this time, she just noticed Cassie wasn't with her blindfold and she didn't have a distant gaze.
"Normally I can't, but in here, all our flaws are taken away," Cassie explained.
"Seriously!" Jet turned to him in surprise, "what the hell are you?"
He simply chuckled and didn't answer, because if he was being honest with himself, he had no idea what he was, whether he actually transmigrated, or was stuffed with memories of another world, it had all started to become blurry.
"That's all for today, let's head back for the tour…"
With that, he cut off the connection between them and sent them back to the dream realm, at this point, the drain on his essence wasn't as much as it was when he connected the traveller's door, but it was still noticeable.
What's more, in the Song domain, Merlin seemed to be spending his essence aura farming with Bin, anyways, that wasn't his problem to deal with.
After sending them off, he followed them, immediately after checking on Silver and Ariel.
When he returned to the familiar dark space, everyone was already staring at him.
"What?" He asked.
Effie replied to him with a light tone.
"Well? Are you going to turn on the light or not?"
He sighed and snapped his fingers, creating multiple balls of flame to serve as light in the lightless abyss of the Forgotten Shore.
"At least this way you can put your skills to good use… we shouldn't rely on Princess here, she's a real Princess after all" Effie sneered at him.
He rolled his eyes and replied calmly.
"And I'm a Prince…"
"That's obviously the other you… this you is nothing more than a regular government worker, and not even a steady one at that, in a few years I'll be your superior" Effie puffed her chest confidently.
"With your attitude, I'd have become a Supreme before you get that promotion…" he roasted her with a flat voice.
"Okay you guys stop arguing…" Cassie stepped in to settle them, "don't we have a tour to get to?"
"Ugh… just thinking of this place gives me bad memories" Effie groaned.
"I thought you said you preferred the dream realm to the waking world" Sunny chuckled remembering her words from their time as sleepers.
"Well stuff happened, and now I've had a change of heart Doofus" Effie countered.
"In a few years, your change of heart won't matter, either way, we all need to set up something important on the Forgotten Shore, it'll help a lot in the future" he said as he led them out of the room.
"What's that?" Kai asked.
"Epitaphs…"
"Are we dying?" Jet asked.
"No"
Then Nephis spoke up.
"So we can be remembered?"
He shook his head.
"No, it's so you can remember…"