Chapter 940 Merlin's Summoning Ritual

After obtaining the fragments of the red-handled sword, Aiwass began to prepare the ceremony to summon Merlin.

In reality, there was no such ceremony. However, when Aiwass had met Merlin before, Merlin had given Aiwass the prayer to call him, which was considered an exchange of phone numbers.

Although Aiwass is not a great wizard, his attainments in rituals are definitely not ordinary.

With this prayer as the core of the ritual, Aiwass can directly construct a ritual to summon Merlin:

The core information is that Merlin is a "knight", a "half-demon", and also a "mage".

For this reason, the key numbers for summoning Merlin are 4 for wisdom, 7 for strength/authority, and 8 for transcendence. Combined with Merlin's fondness for mystery, beauty, and travel, his enjoyment of delicious food, beautiful women, and fine wine, and the fact that "Merlin" sometimes means "Prime Minister," the ingredients for the ritual are clearly defined.

Aiwass prepared flowers with four, seven, and eight petals, mixed them together, and planted them in fresh soil. He also repaired the broken white cane of Minister Hermes, who was the Lord Chamberlain when Isabel ascended the throne, and brought a statue of Sister Sasha, which Aiwass had used before, to the side.

When the time reached four in the morning, Aiwass began the summoning ceremony.

He added sapphire powder, which deepened the resonance with the path of wisdom, to the transparent wine and sprinkled it on the statue of Sister Sasha. He then sprinkled the remaining little on the cane.

At the same time, face the direction of the rising sun and chant in a low voice: "Respond to me!

"Apostle of the Great Master, wise man of the Round Table!

"A traveler without shackles, a wise man who advises the king in his dreams, a person who loves everything in this world and is loved by the world—"

Aiwass chanted and stuck the cane into the ground.

As the ceremony progressed, the flowers, which were now somewhat dry, came back to life and held their heads high.

The wine separated from the cane and the statue of Sister Sasha, and the transparent liquid mixed with sapphires turned into a tide as blue as the sea.

That tiny amount of wine expanded dozens of times in size. The seawater, gushing out from nowhere, surrounded the flowers in a circle, but it didn't disperse them or drown the soil. Instead, it condensed into a ring, gradually swelling into a tornado-like shape.

"I call upon you in my name—Elwas Moriarty, son of the Candlelighter, former Eternal Pope—come at once!"

“…Yes, yes, here I come.”

A somewhat helpless and lazy voice sounded: "There's no need to call me by such a grand title... If I don't come for something, Lord Weizhe will scold me again..."

The vortex seemed to come to life, splitting and dissipating. However, they did not vanish into thin air. Instead, they transformed into a few hopping bunnies, which looked around, were startled by the man who appeared in the middle, and then sped away.

Merlin appeared among the flowers.

The young man, who looked to be in his early twenties and not much different in age from Aiwass, was smiling bitterly.

He had short, messy black hair and a round monocle in his left eye. He held a staff in his right hand, and a short sword hung from his right waist. He wore a dark blue robe, the long sleeves of which completely concealed his left hand.

He looked like a scholar with little experience in the world, but his deep eyes gave people an unpredictable and dark feeling. His wry smile made it seem as if he was really in trouble, but his expression was inexplicably frivolous - the perfunctory feeling of a handsome guy touching his nose and smiling when he was late for a date.

"I say... Your Excellency the Former Pope. From now on, please just call me by my name. If it's not urgent, I'll definitely come when I hear you. It's just a matter of when."

Merlin complained, "Even if I didn't respond to the call immediately, given our relationship, I would have teleported to you as soon as I was free."

Once the ritual is established, the person being called will feel it.

Even if Merlin didn't respond to the call, he could still be teleported over afterwards... just like seeing a missed call, he would call back to ask about the situation.

"I don't think our relationship is that close, Mr. Merlin."

Aiwass complained, "It's because the only way to be safe is to summon you during the summoning ceremony."

——Otherwise, who knows when Merlin will reply.

Even Wei Zhe himself had a hard time catching Merlin—this apostle who roamed the world, just like his summons: "The Unfettered Traveler." He could easily be so carefree as to "read a message but never reply."

Looking at Merlin now, Aiwass sighed.

The "young Merlin" I saw in the promotion ceremony was so cute and honest...how come he has become a greasy scumbag now?

There is a kind of good student who seriously participates in various extracurricular activities, never skips classes, and even listens carefully to meaningless meetings in his freshman year. However, in his junior and senior years, he has to skip required courses and elective courses. When he is scolded, he is like a piece of meat on the chopping block, saying "You can say whatever you want, I won't change it anyway."

I don't know if it's Arthur's problem, Lancelot's problem, or Wei Zhe's problem...

“Hmm…”

Merlin didn't deny Aiwass's words. Instead, he narrowed his eyes with pride. "That's true. You're quite smart, Aiwass. After only meeting me a few times, you've already understood this rotten man's hopeless nature.

"—By the way, what's the matter with summoning me here so suddenly? I have a date at Iris."

"Date? With whom?" Aiwass suddenly became interested.

"An ordinary shepherdess, born from a romantic encounter."

Merlin spoke of his itinerary without hesitation: "Compared to those witches, sorcerers, and fairies on the path of love, ordinary people with mixed desires are better. I'm afraid I'm like a butterfly. The heavy air will weigh me down and prevent me from flying."

"……All right."

Aiwass shrugged and said nothing.

Mainly because of their leniency—Vivian was currently caring for Bishop Mathers's sister, her nominal adoptive mother; and Morgan had gifted Aiwass with a "dreamland property." These two nymphs, who had a bad relationship with Merlin, both had deep ties to Aiwass, so he really couldn't join Merlin in speaking ill of them.

So Aiwass skipped the topic and went straight to the point: "I hope you can help remove its seal."

"Um?"

Hearing this, Merlin was a little confused at first - he was not very good at breaking spells, so why was there a seal that specifically summoned him to break it?

But he soon reacted.

He needs to remove it...it must be the seal he set up himself.

Because Merlin wasn't very good at sealing, his sealing techniques were often rough and chaotic.

It's like an incredibly complex and redundant program, one that's dizzying and lacks comments—they're designed to make it difficult to decipher. At a glance, it's impossible to tell where the valid statements are. Anyone trying to decipher it will be left wanting to strangle them.

Only those of the Dream Demon bloodline could see through the "redundancy" he set up. It would be easy for others to go around in circles.

The sealing techniques set up by ordinary people are like an elaborate and rigorous anti-theft system. In most cases, they rely on monitoring and alarm systems, complex locks that are difficult to open in a short time, and a small number of trigger-type mechanisms to prevent intrusion. However, even a skilled thief can easily break it.

Merlin, on the other hand, had simply dumped the safe into a massive maze, merging it with the bustling city. Under the immense flow of people, the winding maze made it impossible to find the correct path, let alone get close to the real treasure.

Merlin looked at the key Aiwass had taken out and immediately recognized it. "I see... the red-handled sword. This sword is truly powerful."

"Let me guess... you're planning to repair this cursed holy sword and use it to fight against the Fallen Angels?

"I declare this sword to be cursed by Eternity, and only the most steadfast and pure can wield it. Of the entire Round Table, only Galahad can wield it. Even Lancelot dared not use it, and another knight, Balin, was cursed and driven mad by wielding this sword.

"As long as one harbors evil thoughts when using this sword, wanting to kill someone or do something evil, these desires will be permanently amplified, causing one to become insane and paranoid.

"Do you think you're...suitable?"

Merlin's words were not subtle.

His meaning was clear—he didn't think Aiwass had the heart to wield the red-handled sword.

"Why does this sword bear my curse?"

Aiwass asked in return: "Or, why would I curse a sword like this?"

“I happen to have studied this issue.”

Merlin immediately replied, "Because the sword's power actually comes from its 'red hilt.' And the ruby ​​that makes up the hilt is a crystallized part of the Beast Master. Perhaps it's his bones, perhaps his eggshell, or perhaps something else... but in any case, it retains the primordial power of the First River.

"Strictly speaking, this isn't actually a curse. It's simply because this power contains the 'beastly nature' of the beastly path, and only the purest 'love' can suppress it.

"Because it was not cursed, I believed it could not be broken. That is why I smashed its blade into pieces, rendering it 'unsharp' and blunting its sharp claws. I also destroyed its scabbard, stripped away its fur and scales that protected it, and forged a prison of amber and sacred wood to imprison it.

"——So, I wasn't actually 'sealing a demonic sword', but rather imprisoning a vicious demonic beast."

Merlin said seriously, "That's why I'm warning you—it's definitely more than just a 'lord-killing magic sword.'"

I will update one chapter first, and the second chapter will be posted in the evening!

I have to catch a flight in the morning, and I feel like I can't type on the plane. I will be home in the evening~

I'll write the second chapter when I get home!

(End of this chapter)