Chapter 127
"You've come." A voice echoed softly in his ear. It was a middle-aged man with a refined appearance, appearing almost like a phantom, looking very unreal.
He was tall and thin, seemingly frail, resembling the memory of Merlin that appeared during the trials, but looking older than that memory.
"Who are you?" Although he had his suspicions, Soren still wanted to hear him confirm it.
"I am the one you seek," the phantom replied.
"Are you Merlin himself?" Soren furrowed his brows. "Are you still alive?"
The phantom before him was clearly a product of some kind of magic that Soren did not understand. This magic reminded him of magical paintings, but it was far more advanced. While magical paintings could last for thousands of years, they could be destroyed, moved, or hidden. This method of preserving a memory in a secret chamber, only to be activated by special means, did not have such issues.
Moreover, Soren had not forgotten that during the trials, this so-called memory could cast spells and possessed considerable strength, which was not something a magical painting could compare to.
"If the Merlin you speak of is the one with a physical body, then he is indeed dead," Merlin's gaze locked onto Soren's eyes as he said, "Strictly speaking, I am Merlin's memory, but I am also Merlin himself. I used some special magic to leave a piece of memory in this chamber. How long has it been now?"
"About... nearly a thousand years," Soren replied.
Upon hearing this, Merlin paused for a moment, his usually calm and wise demeanor fell silent. After a long while, he sighed, "A thousand years, huh..."
Merlin examined Soren and nodded in satisfaction. "Your aptitude is not bad; the power of chaos has already awakened faintly in your bloodline, your mental strength is quite impressive, and your body is brimming with vitality. It seems you have had quite a few adventures, young man!"
Soren nodded humbly but said nothing.
Merlin waved his hand dismissively. "Since fate has chosen you to stand before me, you are now my successor. This may be a good thing for you, but it could also be a bad thing; you need to be mentally prepared." Without waiting for Soren to ask, Merlin turned and walked toward a small wooden door. "Come with me; I will pass on everything to you."
Following Merlin, Soren entered through the wooden door into a very small secret chamber. What came into view was a stone wall, on which hung three items: a brown, tattered spellbook with no title on the cover; an ancient-looking ring with a dull black wooden band; and a staff about the length of a forearm, its shaft covered in mysterious ancient runes, with the tip resembling a horizontal grip set with a deep purple gem.
"These three magical items have accompanied me in battles for many years; they are the most powerful artifacts from a thousand years ago, and now they all belong to you. Take them..." The voice was not loud, yet it was particularly enticing to Soren.
In an instant, a sense of urgency to enhance his strength and a desire for powerful magic flooded his mind.
His thoughts became chaotic, but his hand instinctively reached for the spell-book that radiated infinite allure. Merlin observed his actions indifferently, his expression unchanged.
Just as his hand was about to touch the cover, Soren suddenly felt an uncontrollable surge of magic rushing into his mind. A sharp pain shot through his forehead, and he felt as if he had been struck by lightning. His hand retracted unnaturally, and he lost his balance, sitting down hard on the ground. When he looked up again, his eyes were filled with intense vigilance, and the staff reappeared in his hand. "Are you really Merlin?"
Merlin's gaze flickered for a moment, but he did not answer the question, instead asking, "Why do you ask that?"
Soren gasped for breath as he got up and took two steps back.
If it weren't for that sudden, intense pain, he would have already picked up the spellbook. In that moment, he had only one thought: something unusual must be amiss. He believed that his willpower was not that weak, capable of being easily deceived.
"I don't believe in free lunches," Soren scoffed, his tone losing much of its previous respect.
Merlin raised an eyebrow and slowly said, "I am not lying to you; they are indeed very powerful artifacts. I merely amplified your emotions slightly."
Soren pressed his lips together, gaining a further understanding of Merlin's strength.
This so-called memory entity can cast spells. It is almost identical to the humanoid shadow from the last challenge Merlin set.
That it can cast spells is one thing; the fact that even a memory entity that has existed for over a thousand years can perform silent and wandless magic to such an extent shows just how terrifying he must have been a thousand years ago.
Merlin smiled, "Don't forget, I was once a student of Slytherin too. Like you, I was full of ambition and thirst for great power..."
Then he became serious and said, "However, the significance of these three magical artifacts is not something everyone can bear. I must remind you in advance—if you wish to inherit my artifacts, you must have the corresponding awareness, because inheriting the artifacts also inevitably entangles you, even burdens you with the fate of a thousand years ago... Now, make your decision!"
The fate of a thousand years ago... A thousand years ago, that was the dark medieval period when the four founders existed... An era rampant with powerful dark wizards and dark creatures...
Indeed, Soren is a qualified Slytherin; he is full of desire and ambition, but he will not lose his reason because of it. He will assess the situation and protect himself. It would be a lie to say he is not tempted by these three obviously extraordinary artifacts, but he already has enough troubles; he does not want to attract more.
"I give up!" There was no hesitation in Soren's eyes.
Merlin nodded in approval, a satisfied expression appearing on his face for the first time, and then said, "It's just a pity; this time I was lying to you. You have no other choice."
Before Soren could comprehend the meaning of this statement, he widened his eyes and watched as the three artifacts soared into the air and flew toward his embrace.
Merlin slowly reined in his smile and said, "If you hadn't resisted my temptation just now, I wouldn't have given them to you; if you had chosen to accept, I also wouldn't have given them to you."
"You have the initial qualification to wield them and understand how to protect yourself, avoiding dangerous situations, which is good." Merlin gazed into the distance with a melancholic sigh, "Moreover, I don't have much time left to wait. I have existed for a thousand years, and it took me a long time to find you. The dissipated magical power over the millennia is no longer enough for me to continue. I know you have many questions in your heart, so let me unravel all of this for you now!"
After saying this, Merlin's shadow transformed into a beam of colorful light and flew into Soren's mind. Soren felt a wave of dizziness as a large segment of memories that did not belong to him flooded his mind.
It was a spectacular scene of war.
Behind Merlin, dressed in a white robe, stood countless human wizards and knights, each warrior exuding an astonishing wave of magical power.
Leading the opposing side was a stunningly beautiful witch, clad in a tight-fitting black robe that showcased her graceful figure, a pure black rose on her head. Behind her stood countless skeleton warriors, three-headed six-armed half-snake beings, and lava giants covered in green flames...
In the instant the two sides clashed, Soren, as an observer of this memory, could still feel the earth-shattering sensation.
Merlin raised his staff and loudly chanted an ancient spell. A spell-book floated in mid-air, flipping open to a certain page on its own without wind. From the book shot out numerous white fireballs filled with a holy aura, crashing fiercely into the opposing camp, each enormous white fireball incinerating over ten skeletons into ashes.
The beautiful witch soared into the air without any flying apparatus, letting out a sharp long cry, and suddenly transformed into an enormous, brutal dark dragon!
Soren instantly realized who she was. She was Morgan Le Fay, Merlin's greatest nemesis!
Morgan Le Fay is the only known animagus in history capable of transforming into a magical creature—a dark dragon. According to what Professor McGonagall said in class, an animagus can only transform into ordinary, common creatures like cats, dogs, birds, or mice; transforming into a magical creature would lead to unknown disasters. Even someone as powerful as Dumbledore gave up the animagus transformation because his Patronus was a phoenix.
Merlin shouted loudly, "Morgan, you have actually violated the taboo—transforming into a demon dragon, your soul will fall, be cursed, and never return to annihilation!"
After Morgan transformed into a demon dragon, she couldn't speak, but she could understand Merlin's words. She let out a long howl and flew rapidly towards Merlin, the strong winds generated along the way knocked a whole row of human warriors off balance, disrupting their formation. As she approached Merlin, she opened her mouth and spewed forth a violent and fierce black flame, which was constantly flashing with the aura of a curse. This was a cursed flame, extremely terrifying.
Merlin rubbed the ring he wore on his hand, and the onlooker, Soren, suddenly recalled the name of the ring—Ring of Protection. Suddenly, a colorful palace illusion appeared around Merlin, and the black flames collided with the palace, making a hissing sound, but could never break through. Merlin pointed at the floating magic book in mid-air and shouted, "Return to annihilation!"
The magic book flipped open to a certain page in the latter half without wind, projecting a very complex magic circle. As soon as the magic circle appeared, a deep black hole appeared in the sky above the battlefield, emitting a strong suction force powerful enough to visibly distort space. The entire battlefield was affected, and both sides immediately ceased fighting for a tactical retreat.
The demon dragon that Morgan transformed into let out an unwilling roar, its wings struggling continuously against the suction of the magic circle. She knew that this magic circle was a powerful sealing technique capable of sealing her, but the weakness of this magic circle was its extreme consumption of magical energy. Even Merlin, with his cultivation, couldn't sustain it for long. She only needed to hold on until Merlin's magical energy was exhausted, and victory would be hers.
Sure enough, after just a few minutes, Merlin's face turned pale, and he couldn't help but spit out a large mouthful of blood, staining his white robe a terrifying blood red. Merlin raised his staff and shouted, "Staff of Destiny, grant me your power!"
The dull bead on the staff suddenly emitted a crimson light, and Merlin's magical energy grew at an astonishing rate. From Soren's understanding, this was not a true increase in magical energy but rather Merlin using himself as a vessel to draw upon the magical energy stored in the staff. This method was extremely risky; a small mistake could cause his body to explode from the influx of external magical energy.
Indeed, it seemed that five seconds had barely passed when Merlin's hand began to turn charred black, a decaying aura spreading from the palm gripping the staff up his arm, corrupting the muscles and skin wherever it went.
After borrowing the power of the staff, the magic circle displayed its might again. Morgan could not withstand the suction from the magic circle and unexpectedly did something that no one could have anticipated!
The demon dragon Morgan transformed into let out a painful wail, dark green eerie flames igniting across its entire body. The dragon scales and skin cracked under the burning of the green flames. Taking advantage of the massive body of the demon dragon resisting the magic circle, a small black dragon broke through the skin from within the demon dragon's body and shot away like a black streak of light.
What a clever escape!
This memory ends here. Although the outcome of the war remains unknown, the clever Soren could easily deduce a few things:
First, the magic book is an artifact, not merely a reading material; it records some ancient spells that can be cast with specific incantations.
Second, the ring is called the Ring of Protection, which can create a palace-shaped protective barrier by rubbing its surface.
Third, the staff is called the Staff of Destiny, and the bead on it has a function similar to that of an old wand, capable of temporarily amplifying one's magical energy but lacking the stability of the old wand, posing considerable risks to the user.
Fourth, Merlin's so-called causality from a thousand years ago refers to the still-living Morgan le Fay. In this brief memory, Soren clearly heard Merlin's words: Morgan practiced the forbidden domain of Animagus, transforming into a dark magical creature. He also understood the consequences of this action, which is that the soul would be cursed, unable to truly return to annihilation or death. This means that Morgan le Fay is very likely still alive in the present world...
This is indeed a huge trouble!
One Voldemort has already plunged the British magical world into chaos, not to mention someone like Morgan, a witch from the Middle Ages, whose mastery of ancient magic is probably even more terrifying.
I wonder if there is a connection between Morgan le Fay and the Shadow of the Dragon.
Soren is very suspicious that there is indeed a relationship between the two.
From the name "Shadow of the Dragon," it matches Morgan le Fay's abilities so well that it seems too coincidental. Moreover, this organization has kidnapped Meredith, and Shelin knows that the Shafik family is actually descended from the bloodline of Morgan le Fay.
The purpose behind the Shadow of the Dragon kidnapping Meredith is likely greatly related to the not-dead Morgan le Fay.
In this memory, although Morgan le Fay is not dead, she is probably severely weakened, which explains why in later historical records, the figure of Morgan seems to have evaporated from the world, with no further deeds recorded.
Perhaps she had to fall into a long sleep to recover from her injuries due to being gravely wounded; her soul may indeed be immortal, but her physical body cannot last for thousands of years.
A terrifying hypothesis emerged in Soren's mind.
Morgan le Fay needs a physical body!
Soren recalled the scene of Trelawney's divination.
Looking back now, the two coffins placed on the altar—one is for Morgan le Fay, and the other is probably for Meredith!
Soren also remembered that the soul magic was engraved on top of the coffins.
This is bad!
Cold sweat broke out on Soren's forehead, and his hands and feet instantly turned icy.
The simplest way for Morgan le Fay to reconstruct her body is to find a physical body that resonates with her soul for possession.
The descendants of the Shafik family, who share her bloodline, are undoubtedly a very good choice.
He was mistaken before; the Shadow of the Dragon kidnapped Meredith not to seize her bloodline power, but to make her a vessel for Morgan le Fay's resurrection!
[The Book of Merlin acquired!]
[The Ring of Protection acquired!]
[The Staff of Destiny acquired!]
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