Merlin twirled the glass of champagne in his hand, a second after he spoke, the top of the drink glistened slightly and a figure was reflected on it.
Mordret—
Just as Mordret opened his mouth to speak, Merlin rose the cup and drank the entire content inside, then he brought down the glass and looked at it, Mordret was now reflected on the cup itself.
"I felt like if you stayed on my champagne any longer, it would be tainted," he said with a smile.
"You were the one who asked a question," Mordret said with a blank face.
"Yeah… you haven't answered either"
"On your left" Mordret replied then his figure vanished from the cup.
He raised an eyebrow, then turned to his left, a distance away, he spotted Mordret calmly chatting with an Awakened.
He picked up another cup of champagne and walked towards him and stopped just when he was a few meters away, the reason being that out of the three people beside Mordret, two of them were Mordret, or rather his mirror creatures, and the last was the Awakened he was talking with.
"I didn't think you like yourself this much…" Merlin chuckled as he walked to Mordret's side.
The Awakened bowed respectfully and greeted.
"H-hello there Prince Merlin… I-I'm Awakened Morales sir"
'Sir?' Merlin raised an eyebrow as he turned to the Awakened, the guy looked like he wanted to bury himself in the ground.
'I don't think I'm that intimidating am I?'
He turned to Mordret who wore a black suit and white shirt, and saw that he was watching the Awakened with amusement in his eyes. He now realized why Mordret had kept this guy around.
Mordret turned his attention to Merlin then replied with a smile.
"Ofcourse I like myself, these ones are simply here for protection"
"Protecting who from who?"
"Me, from whatever scheme you're planning to pull off ofcourse…" Mordret answered with his signature smile.
Merlin opened his mouth, closed it, then shook his head.
"Two things… first, why the hell will I throw a party just to do anything to you, and second, even if I wanted to do something, do you really think these weak things can protect you?"
"Protect me… not really" Mordret shrugged, "but they can buy time till I escape"
"You know… if I wanted to chase you into the mirror realm, I could" he chuckled briefly, then waved his hand.
"That's not why I came here today, the reason I want to talk is because of our trip to Bastion…"
"What about it?" Mordret asked calmly.
"The reason we're going there is to repeat what's happening today" he explained as he stood side by side with Mordret.
The party was still ongoing and the congregation had entered a second dance period, Ki Song and her daughters were still paying attention to him, although seeing he hadn't made any move, they were being subtle about it.
His mind naturally drifted to the marionette that was still hidden, but Mordret's words drew him back.
"Are you going to throw a party in Valor's domain too?" Mordret gave him a flat look.
"No… I'm skipping the party, straight to the presentation at the end"
"You're not even trying to hide it anymore" Mordret chuckled as his eyes drifted across the room, stopping on those who were listening in on their conversation.
He shrugged, "If everyone knows, then there's no need for me to bother hiding it, I'll just leave to think of ways to wiggle myself out of the consequences"
Hearing his words, Mordret showed a rare face of curiosity, "is it so important that you'd risk facing consequences?"
He thought for a moment, then replied.
"Actually, there's a more subtle way to accomplish what I want to do, but it's going to take quite a lot of time, and time's one thing I don't have"
He twirled the glass in his hand and sighed, truly, one of the things he lacked was time. Currently people joined the Song clan as a clan, so they could get benefits and all that, but after Antarctica, the entire dynamic would change, and the animosity between both clans would come to light, forcing people to pick sides.
At that point, if a secret organization approached anyone, they would automatically assume that it is a trap from the other clan and then reports about it would begin flying around, and then his plan would naturally fall apart, that was why he had to finish his preparations before the chain of nightmares.
"So… when are you planning to make your move?" Mordret asked with an expecting smile.
"Let's just enjoy the party…" he clinked his glass with Mordret's then turned to Awakened Morales.
If before the Awakened wanted to hide himself in a hole, now he looked like he could already tell how many syllables would be on his epitaph.
"See you around Morales…" he patted his shoulder and walked back the way he came.
When he arrived, he met with Seishan, Hel and Cara still talking, they were seated on a table with drinks and delicacies on it.
"You all look like you're having fun" he interrupted their conversation as he pulled a chair and sat down.
Cara looked at him and scoffed, "says the guy who walked off in the middle of a conversation"
"Why do I feel like you're less polite than you were a few minutes ago?" he raised an eyebrow.
Cara rolled her eyes while Hel explained.
"Mother has officially stationed her at Ravensong, so she can be considered half a Song sister"
Then Seishan added, "plus Hel has been telling us a few of your deeds in the castle, so her reaction seems normal"
"Normal… no no no, what do mean normal, the Song sister part I understand, but what do my deeds have to do with anything?" He asked in bewilderment.
"Who knows…" Cara sighed, then changed the topic, "you're really popular tonight, many eyes following you around"
"It's not exactly what you think it is," he shook his head helplessly.
These guys weren't interested in him in the slightest, they were out here waiting for him to pull out whatever plot he was cooking.
Honestly, he couldn't understand Ki Song at all, she clearly knew about the marionette he was hiding, but she didn't do anything about it, almost like she was welcoming him to give her a hold over him, but at the same time, she was having way too many people keep tabs on his movements.
Every single Transcendent in the building always kept him in their line of sight, and her daughters were straight up trying to figure it out from his mouth.
'It doesn't matter anyways… since I have the chance now, I can't not take it'
Seishan looked at him curiously, "then how is it, I know you enough to figure out that this party is simply a means to an end… so what are you planning to do?"
He looked at her for a few seconds, then sighed.
"It seems your attachment to this party is less than I expected, that means I don't have to delay anymore"
Although he spoke in a low calm tone, he could feel as his observers in the audience locked eyes with his back.
'I thought you were expecting it, and now I want to move, you're feeling tense…' he mocked inwardly.
Merlin sighed again and was about to use his marionette when a voice sounded behind him.
"Are your preparations complete?"
He turned around and saw Ki Song who had at some point, arrived behind him.
"Mother×2"
"Your Majesty"
The three sitting with him greeted respectfully.
Ki Song nodded to them, but her eyes were still fixed on him. Merlin stared at her for a few seconds before answering.
"My preparations were complete a long time ago, I just avoided making a move because it felt rude to crash someone's party so early… but now, I don't have to bother anymore"
"I see… Do you know why I haven't tried to stop you?" Ki Song asked softly.
"Motherly love I guess?" He chuckled.
Ki Song smiled, "there's a little of that involved, and a little curiosity, but most of all is trust"
"Trust?" Merlin looked at her like she just invented a word he never heard before.
Ki Song ignored his look and continued, "yes, trust… I've watched you for a while, and I noticed that although you haven't fully committed to the Song domain, you still have a sense of attachment"
"Plus you care a lot for my daughters, so I trust that you wouldn't do anything to harm them"
'Now I just feel bad… if this doesn't go the way I expect, we might end up hanging from my soul sea, by then it wouldn't be mine anymore'
He took a breath then nodded.
"Since you're deciding to trust me, you might as well just wave off the questioning that would come later…"
Ki Song's smile widened, "this is this and that is that"
'It is what it is I guess…' he sighed inwardly.
"Man I really wish I could divine the success of what I'm about to do, but seeing as what it's connected to, no matter which angle I try it from, it wouldn't bypass 'His' anti-divination" he complained as he downed a glass of alcoholic wine.
Ki Song looked at him, staying silent, while Seishan asked.
"Who's He?"
"I'm guessing you'll find out soon…" he stood up and turned to the stage as he said to Ki Song beside him.
"If I happen to survive this, I'd love to apply for Cara to be my attendant"
"Why me?" Cara turned to him sharply.
"Call it Fate if you will, but it doesn't matter, one way or another, you're going to end up as my attendant" he grinned.
Ki Song looked at him, "why would you want an attendant?"
"I mean all your daughters have one, and I'm a Prince, so is there anything wrong with having an attendant?" He took his eyes off the stage and turned to her.
"If you say so…" Ki Song sighed softly.
He turned back to the stage as he began to channel his essence into the [Cloak] that disguised as his suit jacket. Immediately, his sequence went up one level, bringing him into the level of a demigod, a powerhouse as far as the Song domain was concerned.
The first to feel the change was Ki Song as she felt her domain strengthen. She turned to him in slight surprise. Earlier, just before the party, she had felt something similar briefly, but she attributed it to the multiple Saints that were arriving at Ravensong at the time.
But now, witnessing Merlin's rank rise to that of a Transcendent, it brought her a faint sense of achievement, after all, it was her domain that held the Ascended who was worth a Transcendent.
She didn't interrupt or question him about the process, instead she watched with a smile.
The next to notice were the Transcendents, they felt the presence of a Saint originating from an Ascended, if not for the fact that he was standing beside a Sovereign, they would have already jumped him.
Following just behind the Transcendents were Cara and Seishan who were close enough to feel the change around him, but just like the others, they held back her curiosity.
Merlin on the other hand, wasn't even paying attention to the party, his mind was on the marionette that he was controlling.
As he focused on the marionette, the dormant Worm of Spirit inside became active again as the marionette gained all his abilities. The first thing he did was use the [Faceless] ability to restructure the face to resemble that of Arthur Leywin.
He drew his attention back to the party as he turned his focus to the stage, with a little [Object Manipulation], he made the lights flicker slightly setting the stage and drawing attention, then using the [Wind] and [Fog] ability, he created the effect of a miniature tornado on stage, but it was all for show and wasn't pulling in anything.
After setting the atmosphere,the marionette blinked from its position and reappeared right as the effect dissipated, making it seem like he appeared out of the wind.
The crowd were tense for a moment, then cheered loudly feeling it was another presentation.
Ki Song looked at the person on stage, then turned to Merlin in surprise, from only looking at it, she could tell the person on the stage was a puppet, but what she couldn't understand was how he achieved it when she hadn't given him permission to borrow her ability, and another thing was that puppet on stage, was a Transcendent too, in a similar state as Merlin.
The thought of it made her smile, if Merlin could use this ability with an army of puppets, then even if it's for a brief moment, she would have access to an army made of Saint level puppets.
Merlin didn't know what was going on in her heart, he controlled the marionette to speak, using an illusion to transfer the voice to the ears of everyone present.
'I guess this is it…'
The marionette bowed slightly and spoke.
Ladies and gentlemen of the Song clan, I'd love to welcome you all to this wonderful party, and I would like to pay my respect to our Queen" the puppet turned to Ki Song and gestured.
"Her Majesty, Lady Ki Song…" he smiled and continued, "and I would also like to honor someone else, 'He' has no identity of recognition, so I would refer to him by his title"
The puppet took a breath and started.
"King of Space-Time: Beacon of Destiny…
Embodiment of Sefirah Castle…
Dominator of the Spirit World…"
Then with a low voice, he whispered the last part.
"Lord of the Mysteries…"
As the final words sounded, the cloak on his body stirred slightly, and his head felt like it was about to explode, multiple indescribable murmurs and whispers resonated in his head as he felt his eyes grow blurry.
Before he would possibly lose control, he commanded the marionette to leave the stage just the way it came, but this time he just dumped the body in the Spirit World, the moment he disconnected the marionette, he felt a gaze from far away being cast on him as his legs instantly weakened.
He fell to the ground on one knee as he instantly dismissed the [Cloak]. The moment it vanished, he felt the gaze retreat, but the endless murmurs driving him to lose control didn't stop, he looked at his hands and saw his skin had turned half-transparent as swirls of maggots writhed endlessly under them.
He was losing control again, just as his mind was about to slip, inside the Spirit World, the Worm of Spirit he hadn't recovered was destroyed by the multiple Spirit World creatures that were busy disemboweling the former marionette.
The pain felt like his brain was pricked with needles as his mind jolted back. He gritted his teeth and looked up slightly at Ki Song who was looking down at him with slight pity.
He smiled weakly and said, "I guess I'll be leaving first," without waiting for her answer, he immediately used [Travel] to appear on the outskirts of Ravensong, that way if he lost control, he would cause little death to the not so innocent people inside the Jade Palace.
As he laid down on the snow, he looked to the white sky, blood flowed from all his orifices, staining the white ground below, but all he could do was smile as his mind slowly descended into the darkness, as he was losing consciousness, the last thought he managed to form was.
'Damn it, it wasn't like this when I recited it in my soul sea…'