Demon's Virtue

Merlin and Gabria looked at each other for a moment, before turning back toward Eiro. The Demon crossed his arms and stared at them.

"First, to clear this up, I am correct in the assumption that Merlin is the one that created the barrier, right? Barrier magic is generally possible through other ways, but it's a lot easier to create a larger and more powerful barrier using Arcana." The Demon pointed out bluntly, and Merlin slowly nodded his head.

"Yes, it was me that created the barrier. Although Gabria is my student, she-"

"That's a lie. She's not your student." Eiro said bluntly, and Merlin stopped for a moment as he was confused, "No, it is not a lie! She is my student!"

"Well, you say so, but you clearly don't believe it." Eiro replied, "What is she to you?"

"I..." Merlin muttered as he stared at the ground, "During my journey to try and achieve a Master Grade of the Arcane Magic skill, I did many things to find out its true nature. And in the process, I happened to... destroy an elven village in the east. I didn't mean to do so, of course, but many people had lost their lives. I brought the survivors with me, and Gabria is one of those survivors. I had to make sure she could live a proper life while supporting her fellow elves, and pretended that Gabria was the creator of the barrier. He is a good man, but even Solomon would not give such fugitives such a prosperous position for no reason..."

Eiro stared back at Merlin. Most of what he said was true, while other parts were blatant lies. The Demon ground his teeth, angry at this old man, as he spoke, "Solomon has a special ability that allows him control over the domain of truth. A lesser version of one of my cards, basically. I don't know how much he knows exactly, but he must be quite aware that Gabria is not the true creator of the barrier, so that whole lie had little reason."

Merlin opened his eyes wider in confusion, "What? But- How do you-" The old man was confused, and realized that something far worse was now going to happen. He was clearly growing more and more nervous the whole time already, but Eiro was trying to ignore it somewhat.

"Merlin... What did 'The Magician' steal from the academy?" Eiro asked, and the old man stared back.

"Eiro, you have to believe my words, but I did it for a good reason..." Merlin said in a pleading voice, but Eiro had enough.

"You did what for a good reason? Act as a spy for a royal in the academy, and try to let Gabria take the fall for you? How long has all this been planned?" Eiro asked with a deep glare, and Merlin's worried expression soon turned into a deep glare.

"You don't know what you're talking about, Eiro. My memories were sealed too, weren't they? How could I be working for a royal?!" Merlin exclaimed, and the Demon clicked his tongue, "You know, Bavet worked under one of the best, if not the best, Sealing Arts practitioners in the world. They're the ones that actually sealed 'the world'. As far as I'm concerned, he may as well be one of the greatest experts in the Sealing Arts currently left alive, at least in relation to his knowledge on the topic. He said there was a switch built into the seal, that only came apparent once all of you had been gathered. The caster of the seal could release it instantly, whenever he wished. That was probably the plan, wasn't it? They would leave you here, and then when the time was right, release the seal and get to the next step of the plan."

"I don't think you should continue speaking. For the sake of my brother, I ask you to stop." Merlin said in a growling voice, but Eiro didn't care anymore, "Merlin, what did they steal?"

"I don't want to dishonor Jura, Eiro. Please..." Merlin pleaded, this time actually being genuine with what he said. Eiro clicked his tongue, and stretched his hand forward toward Merlin. He manipulated his own aura, as well as his ability that let him control the domain of truth. He infused the 'truth' into his mana, and then spoke the spell in the Ancient Language.

"Lognir, force this being to speak no lie and bring me closer to the truth." Eiro said, and Merlin's eyes widened again as the mana shot at him in the form of a small glowing orb of truth.

Merlin waved his hand to the side once, creating an impenetrable wall. But it wasn't Merlin that Eiro was targeting in the first place.

"Gabria, tell me. You know, don't you? What did they steal?" Eiro asked, and the elven woman pressed her hands onto her face, trying to force her jaw shut. Within an instant, Eiro reached her and pulled her hand off her face, pulling the ace of cups around him and her in a way that Merlin was unable to fully interact with them.

"A... They were trying to... no, I don't want to... a grim... no!" Gabria exclaimed, but that was already enough information for him. He didn't expect the Ace of Cups' liquid to work for long, but it was enough for Merlin to have to think for a few moments.

The liquid soon fell to the ground, having lost all its power. Eiro didn't know how he did it, but it was an impressive spell if it was able to influence an artifact like this.

"What do you think you're doing?!" Merlin exclaimed, "You fool, you have no idea what you are talking about!"

"I don't know what I'm talking about? Well, fuck you, then, because I know what it was 'The Magician' was looking for, and it's in my possession!" Eiro exclaimed, pressing his hand to the side. Within a moment, he pulled an old, ripped-up book out of his treasury. He only let it be out there for an instant, before pushing it back into his treasury.

"That fucking Grimoire was what you were looking for? All those people were killed for a shitty spellbook that fills itself up?!" Eiro asked angrily, "How can you do something like slaughter all those children just for this book that makes life a little easier?!"

"Because it is the only thing that might have brought me to a new level, Eiro! That Grimoire not only lets the user compile their knowledge within it, but at a certain level it will reveal new information! Fill in the gaps, make your magic... perfect! 'The Magician' promised to bring me to new heights, never seen before! That I would become the greatest sage ever seen, after the Monster King eradicated him back then and took his soul!" Merlin exclaimed, "You're a Mage too, you must understand that desire!"

"Of course I get why you'd want to be more powerful, but why would you do something like this for that?!" Eiro asked with a deep, angry glare.

"Oh, don't pretend as if you never did something horrific for your own gain! You're a Demon, it's literally in your blood!"

"A demon that used to be a person! I have children, I mostly have my emotions under control, and most importantly, I regret those things!" Eiro replied in anger, his emotions soon overtaking him. But luckily, Eiro was still fused with Bavet, who overstimulated Eiro's senses in specific ways once again, helping him calm down a bit.

"Merlin, under my authority as a Baron of the Skyhart Kingdom, I hereby arrest you for high-treason..." Eiro said in a growling voice, but Merlin simply held his hand forward.

"I don't think that's going to happen, Eiro." The mage said, "I'm sorry that I have to do this, but..." Mana flowed out through Merlin's hand, forming a mass in front of him. The arcane mass approached Eiro faster than he was even able to react. Merlin wasn't a Master, but he still had immense skill in magic. Like chains, the arcane mass slung around Eiro's body and tied him down to the ground.

"Gabria, please secure the room, and prepare for a diversion."

"Y-Yes, Merlin..." Gabria muttered, utterly in fear of the man she was being commanded by. The Demon took a deep breath as he tried to escape from this.

"Ba...vet..." The Demon growled, and the slime already acted as quickly as it could. It had created an extra layer around Eiro's skin, so that the Demon could slip out from these Arcane Chains. The transformation was released, and Eiro slipped away as he pushed his feet into the ground.

Merlin was more skilled in terms of magic, but Eiro was more physically powerful. He jumped toward the mage, and while pulling his dagger out of his treasury, stabbed it forward into Merlin's stomach. But instead of cutting through flesh, the tip of Eiro's dagger hit a barrier that he was unable to penetrate.

Merlin was still pushed back quite a bit, hitting the wall on the other side of the room, but he hadn't been damaged at all. Not even by a single point.

"Sarius!" The Demon exclaimed, and pressed his arm to the side. Sarius dove into his flesh and the two fused, as Eiro's body became that of a half-spirit. He drew on the power of the magical gateway within his mana core to strengthen this fusion, and once more tried to attack Merlin.

This was a battle that he didn't want to, but had to fight.

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