"Ding Dong"
The ringing of the doorbell resounds in the quiet room, and Merlin, who was lying on the bed, abruptly opens his eyes.
He looks towards the window, it was already nighttime.
Although he had been sleeping from dawn until now, Merlin was still exhausted, the exhaustion did not come from his physical body, it originated from his restless soul.
He gets up from the bed and finds the pillow soaked with blood, Merlin wipes his nose with his finger, and thick blood is smeared on it.
"It's getting frequent."
Merlin frowns as he wipes the blood from his nose, then folds the pillow and bedsheet together before throwing them into the washing machine.
The doorbell was still ringing, so Merlin shook his head as he tried to sober himself.
He felt dizzy as if he hadn't woken up and he walked towards the door; he opens the door and finds Garrett waiting outside in casual clothing.
"Kid, it's time to eat."
The elderly cowboy-like agent tells Merlin this, he notices the bad shape Merlin was in and asks with concern:
"Did you not get a good rest? Or are you sick?"
"I'm fine."
Merlin presses his glasses and smiles at Garrett, he says:
"Maybe I'm just not used to London's weather, anyway, I'm fine. Wait a while, John, we'll leave after I get dressed."
"Alright. I'll be waiting for you downstairs, the restaurant is close, we can walk there."
The elderly agent knows that Merlin wishes not to disclose his situation, so he stops asking.
As a senior agent, Garrett knows that everyone has their secrets, and delving into their secrets is offensive behavior.
"Bang"
The door closes again.
Merlin takes a few steps backward, turns into fog, and reappears in the bathroom a few seconds later.
He clenches his fist and looks at himself through the mirror, his abilities were unaffected, his body was still strong, even his dark senses were running smoothly, he was also completely uninjured.
But what appeared in the mirror was a soul slowly sinking into the darkness.
The corruption of the dark mana towards his body and soul has reached a breaking point. The nosebleeding and nightmares that were getting more and more frequent meant that Merlin was ever so closer to turning to the dark side.
Like a train that's slowly speeding towards the darkness.
As the water showered onto his body, Merlin clenches his fist, he's been searching with great effort.
But he can't find a way to slow down, he can't find a way to weaken the dark mana; he had pieced together a lot of information he gathered from different sources like a puzzle, yet he was missing a vital point that would link those pieces together.
He could only sit in the train helplessly and watch himself as he slowly breaks and speeds into the darkness.
He wouldn't turn half-demon immediately, it was still a transformation process.
But like some malicious diseases, once it enters the onset period, the transformation and corrosion will begin to speed up. And one day, Merlin Reilly will permanently disappear, and what's left in this torso, would be a distorted soul of darkness.
Half-demon Merlin.
A monster that was soon to be born.
After nearly 10 minutes, Merlin walks out of the hotel wearing a gray casual shirt and jeans, Garrett was already waiting for him outside.
This commander of the European Branch had a tough temperament, it gave those around him a sense of security, his every move was powerful and once you get to know him, you would subconsciously follow his command.
This was a very charismatic agent, an excellent leader.
But, agent Garrett had secrets too that couldn't be hidden from Merlin's eyes.
In his eyes, Garrett's vitality was strange, although it was stronger-than-average, it gave a rough, unsmooth feeling.
Merlin presses his glasses, with his second sight, he could see that in agent Garrett's waist was a section that was not made of flesh, instead, it was some kind of delicate bionic instrument.
It had merged with Garrett's flesh as it was responsible for a part of his circulation system.
"In 1988, in the outskirts of Vienna, agent Garrett and Fury were carrying out a mission, but there was an accident. Agent Garrett was heavily wounded, supposedly he lost his intestines.
Such information appeared in Merlin's mind.
This was not imagination, it was a fact Merlin had inferred from Fury and agent Garrett's conversation back when they were rescuing Alexander Pierce.
And in front of him, the odd metal organs must be the 'souvenir' from that mission.
It's hard to imagine someone surviving such a perilous injury. He should've died, but he stayed alive, and he's living tougher than anyone else.
"Mmm, a respectable warrior."
A thought arises in Merlin's mind:
"A warrior that has crossed death."
This was his first evaluation of agent Garrett, he walks forward and greets the elderly agent, then the two walk along the streets of old London together towards the restaurant they had ordered.
This was a welcoming banquet, as well as a gathering to deepen the relationship between warriors that have fought alongside each other. In his time in the SSR, Merlin had learned something from Fury's constant preaching.
Friends are like tissue paper under the sink.
Nothing bad comes from having a few more rolls of tissue paper.
"Hahaha, you have no idea that back in 1988, on the battlefield in the outskirts of Vienna, Fury, who ran out of bullets, made an expression when he saw me."
In the restaurant, the slightly drunk Garrett slams on the table and tells Merlin the story of his past, he had a vivid expression as he told Merlin:
"It was like he'd seen a ghost, he shouted:"
"Oh my god! Did you crawl out from hell?"
"Hahaha"
Garrett imitates Fury's tone, the lifelike voice made Merlin chuckle. After he finishes, Merlin raises his glass towards Garrett and says:
"It must've hurt? I mean, crawling all the way to the safe zone from the site of the explosion, all while having your intestines dangling out?"
"It hurt, it was really painful."
The elderly agent lets out a breath and subconsciously strokes on the piece of metal on his waist, he tells Merlin:
"Even now, I still remember that pain. For a while, I thought I was already in hell...I even felt as if I saw hell, but I still got out while gritting my teeth."
"I crawled all the way from hell to the human realm and terrified those retreating bastards."
The elderly agent sips on his wine and tells Merlin:
"You youngsters nowadays are much more blessed, you never need to experience missions on the bloody battlefield; back then, missions like these were common, especially in Eastern Europe, in Soviet territory, we usually leave suicide notes before we go on missions there."
"Anyone around you, especially yourself, may leave and never return, you'll still have family, children, even loved ones waiting for you back home. It was brutal."
Garrett seems to be reminiscing about his past as he lightly laments:
"The brutal feeling of being left to die, the pain of being deep in hell, you don't get to feel that anymore."
"What if I say, I have experienced it before?"
Merlin finishes what little wine was left in his glass; he was slightly drunk from the wine, so he coughs lightly and says:
"Garrett, your body was torn apart in 1988, but in 1989, my soul was the one being torn apart. I don't know which hurts more, but if we're talking about the view of hell, I might've seen it in the wilderness of Wisconsin..."
"Magic, the thing that shouldn't exist; it ruined me, yet it created a different me."
Garrett quietly listened as Merlin talked about his past, he calmly refills Merlin's glass, and as Merlin finishes, the elderly agent raises his glass and says to Merlin:
"Come, another glass!"
"This glass, to the pain we've experienced, and to the past, that's never to be remembered!"
"No."
Merlin shakes his head, raises his glass, lightly collides it with Garrett's glass, and says:
"To new friends!"
"Haha, yes! You're right! To new friends!"
Garrett chuckles and finishes his glass, Merlin also finishes his glass after seeing him do so. The kick of the wine gets to Merlin, so he coughs several times, causing Garrett to laugh a friendly laugh at him.
"Cough, I don't drink wine all that much."
Merlin stops coughing and explains:
"When I was young, J...I mean, my foster father, he was a traditional man, so he didn't like kids drinking."
Merlin nearly called out James' full name, but the reason in his mind caused him to change terms, he looked at Garrett and finds the latter looking at him with an odd expression.
"What's wrong?"
Merlin asks confusingly.
Garrett picks up the napkin on the table and hands it to Merlin. The elderly agent's expression becomes serious as he says:
"You're bleeding."
"Hmm?"
Merlin lowers his head, the table cloth in front of him had been soaked in blood, he grabs the napkin and stuffs it into his nose, but...this time, the nosebleeding did not stop.
It was like, somewhere in his body, a valve had been opened up.
"Pa"
Merlin stands up in a panic and tells Garrett:
"I need to go to the restroom."
"You look like you need help, son."
The elderly agent stands up, but Merlin waves his hand at him:
"No! I'm okay alone...don't follow me! Garrett, don't follow me...just wait right here, just wait!"
Seeing Merlin stumble towards the restroom, Garrett squints his eyes, a flash of curiosity shines ever brighter in his eyes.
He was getting more and more curious about the secret this young man was keeping.
"Pa"
Merlin storms into the restroom, opens the water tap, and tries to stop his bleeding by rinsing his nose with cold water.
But it was useless.
Soon, the water basin began to look horrifying as blood splattered around it.
Merlin raises his head and looks at the mirror, he saw his blood-stained face and his miserable condition.
With his vision ghosting like the aftereffects of his soul being torn that day, Merlin felt as if the entire world was spinning and rolling.
"Bam"
Merlin collapses onto the floor powerlessly, he struggles and tries to reach for the nearest handrail.
He could still feel his powers, but right now, it was like his consciousness had been locked in a prison, those powers would not respond no matter how hard he tried to call for them.
What's worse, is that the ghosting in his eyes had become worse, and the world before him seemed to be distorted.
In Merlin's eyes, everything around him had turned into flames; in the crimson ash flames, he could vaguely see a floating island atop a lava sea.
And on the center island, was a throne of bones, a familiar figure sat on it.
Trigon!
The corruption of the dark mana had reached a breaking point, the dark mana that had become stronger in Merlin's soul begins to call for its source instinctively.
"No! No!"
Merlin struggled, he screamed as he tried to stop the dark mana inside his body from spreading.
Don't go any closer, any closer...and Trigon will discover him!
No!
At least not now!
"Stop!"
"Someone help me! Stop!"
"Kwa"
At this moment, a strange sound resounds in Merlin's mind, it was like...a rolling dice falling onto the table.
"Kyaa!"
A sharp scream resounds in front of Merlin, it was the scream of a female.
The sharp scream temporarily awakens Merlin's consciousness, he raises his head with difficulty, and sees a young girl, standing in front of him, looking at him with curiosity.
The girl...
Looked familiar.
"Merlin!"
As she opened the door to the restroom, Miss Hermione looks at the man who had fallen into the blood puddle in surprise.
Although he seemed to be more mature than the face in her memories, and he was taller, Hermione still recognized at a glance, that the man in front of him who was in a terrible condition, was the hero who saved her and a train of people in North America.
"Merlin! Why are you in the female's restroom?"
Hermione hurriedly squats down and tries to help Merlin up from the floor, but just as she touched Merlin's body, irritated dark mana sends sparks flying at her finger, surprising the girl.
"This mana? What's going on?"
Hermione takes a step backward and looks around, there was no one else in the restroom except for her and Merlin; she grits her teeth, and under Merlin's fading consciousness, a black wand appears in young Hermione's fingertips, and following her chanting, golden sparks began to enshroud around Merlin.
Just like a curtain, it quickly cuts off his senses with the outside world, and with difficulty, cuts off the connection between the dark mana and the distorted dimension.
"Shwa"
Just as the mana calmed, Merlin regained consciousness. He stood up, opened the water tap, and rinsed his bloody face, both to clean and calm himself.
A few seconds later, Merlin looks back at young Hermione, and the magic wand that's illuminating a golden light; he asks with a coarse voice:
"Little girl...you, you're a wizard?"
"I am!"
Hermione shrugs as her identity was revealed, she looks at Merlin, whom she has not seen for 3 years, pulls the corners of her skirt, and makes a proper curtsy, she says:
"2nd-year apprentice witch of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizarding, Hermione Jean Granger, greets you."
"Mr. Hero Merlin."
