Shadow of the Beautiful World

According to Merlin's experience, ordinary people have no resistance to sleeping spells.

This spell is not a lethal black magic, so there is no immunity. Even strong-willed people are easily affected by the sleeping spell. Even if they can't fall asleep immediately, they will become exhausted because of the sleeping spell.

So in the actions of the Aurors, the sleeping spell is one of the most frequently used attack spells, but with advantages, there must be weaknesses.

The weakness of the Sleeping Curse is that the sleeping person's sleeping time is uncertain.

Some people may fall asleep all day because of the spell, but some people may wake up after a few minutes.

The most troubling thing is that this time limit is almost invisible. Of course, for wizards, this is hardly considered a weakness. Even if they are awake, throwing another sleeping spell won't waste too much time.

swish

After being hit by the sleeping spell, the little girl who was holding a bowl of porridge almost immediately lay down on the table. The porridge bowl in her hand fell to the ground, but before it broke, it was caught by a hand that suddenly appeared up.

Merlin put the bowl on the table, and he emerged from the shadows, walking over to the old man who was sleeping on the chair. He reached out and opened his eyelids, looking at each other.

legilimens! (Instigmatism)

Accompanied by Merlin's incantation, the next moment, his will entered the thinking of the old man in front of him.

The first scene he saw, and the one that the old man remembers most deeply, was the scene when his father handed him the Hydra ring on his hand when he was a child.

Bloodline brings glory, but also responsibility.

The old man's father said this to him.

Merlin snorted disdainfully.

The phrase Blood brings glory is a famous saying of those racist lunatics who hate the theory of blood. It seems that the identity of this old man is really not innocent.

At least his father was a diehard Communist.

After realizing this, Merlin no longer held back, and with the maintenance of magic power, the memory fragments he dug up also increased.

Merlin quickly browsed through it. Merlin didn't care about the trivia about the banker. What he was looking for was the connection between this guy and Hydra.

Yes!

Merlin saw a picture, several people, including the old man, met at a high-end reception with luxurious decoration and bright lights. They all seem to be very well-known people, and they seem to be good friends with each other.

Merlin noticed that these people were all wearing some kind of special symbol, either a ring, or a bracelet, or a necklace, or a brooch. Those logos use different patterns to cover up the body, but if you look carefully, you can see the logo of the skull octopus surrounded by those patterns.

However, most of these people's skull and octopus logos are slightly different, perhaps representing different factions in the Hydra organization.

Moreover, when they meet, they will whisper a sentence similar to a code to each other in a soothing and serious tone.

hailhydra! (Long live Hydra)

You really are a Hydra!

Now, Merlin no longer showed any sympathy for this kind-hearted old man, and he once again stepped up his reading of memory.

The next moment, another memory fragment buried deep in the Hydra banker's heart was unearthed.

It was a heavy round table meeting.

The old man was sitting at the table, the light was very dim, which fit the atmosphere of the secret society. Merlin saw at a glance that there were at least 10 people sitting at the huge table!

We found important information.

A guy with a mask said:

The information that allows us to have powerful fighters is like a super soldier like Steve Rogers in World War II. And this thing is different from the 'Death Warrior Project' that has been failing, and Daniel is obsessed with it. The very unreliable Inhuman project is not the same, it has entered the final experimental stage.

Then find a way to bring it over.

Sitting at the other end of the table, a woman with a charming and husky voice said:

But you're here to break the news, I guess, you need help?

yes.

The first person to speak said:

I can't use our deeply buried power, and I will be discovered by the difficult Fury. I must use external power. Ma'am, can the wizards under your command complete the task I need them to do?

If it's torture and murder.

The woman called Madame said casually:

no problem.

very good.

The man was very satisfied and said:

Besides that, I need something else.

He said:

Children are always the weakness of adults. If we want loyal and capable people to serve us, we must grasp this weakness. Banker, those 'dark' friends you have made recently should be able to easily accomplish this One thing. Let them do it, and it can still deceive people, so take this as an expression of sincerity before we cooperate with each other.

no problem.

The old banker replied briskly:

Give me the information, and I will arrange it, Mr. Speaker.

Next, we should talk about the situation in Eastern Europe. Regarding the demands of the Ten Rings Gang, I think their thinking is very dangerous, not

Merlin was reading this memory quietly, but at this moment, the speaker's voice suddenly disappeared, and the review of this memory also became blurred.

It's like the banker can no longer maintain normal thinking.

Merlin interrupted the Dementia Curse, and he saw that the old face of the banker had begun to take on a strange blue color.

It's like being poisoned!

Merlin frowned, and threw a healing spell on the old man, trying to help him delay the spread of the weird toxin, but unexpectedly, the healing spell had no effect at all.

The cyan brilliance spread extremely fast, almost in the blink of an eye, the old man codenamed banker completely lost his breath.

It's not a toxin

Merlin took a step back. He carefully inspected the banker who was still gentle and looked as if he was asleep.

After a while, he couldn't help but clenched his fingers tightly.

It's a curse. It was my reading of his memory that triggered the curse.

In Hydra, there are wizard powers. No, not necessarily wizards, but definitely related to magic.

Merlin felt a little frustrated at this moment. His knowledge of magic was not deep enough, and he didn't even notice the curse that was released in the banker's body before starting the Dementia Curse.

But Merlin was not in vain.

He glanced at the banker who was out of breath, and then at his wife and granddaughter who were still alive beside him. He shook his head, turned around and turned into black mist, and disappeared into the restaurant.

He already knew why Richard and Mary died, and why little Peter was kidnapped.

S.H.I.E.L.D. was infiltrated, Richard and Mary's research was leaked, which led to their death, and they kidnapped Peter Jr. by the hands of the vampire radicals to try to blackmail, etc., no.

Merlin, who had already sat back in Dupont's taxi, rubbed his forehead and woke up suddenly.

He ignored an important issue, that is time.

Richard and Mary were killed at around 11 am yesterday, while little Peter was kidnapped near midnight last night.

If Hydra planned all of this, after knowing that Richard and Mary died, it would be meaningless to kidnap little Peter. These deeply hidden Hydra are very secretive, and they should not do this kind of thing. Extraordinary things.

Unless, there is a secret behind this matter that Merlin does not know.

pity

Merlin was sitting on the back seat of the speeding taxi, he looked at the shining sun outside the car window with a little sadness, and said softly:

The current clue is broken, but Richard, Mary, don't worry, before everyone with blood on their hands pays enough price

I won't stop.

I will take care of your children, and I will watch little Peter become a good person like you. He must become a good person, this is my promise!

Go at ease

A few days later, in a cemetery on the outskirts of New York City, Merlin, wearing a black suit and holding an umbrella in the rain, stared blankly at the coffin being covered with soil.

Beside him, the cousin was crying very painfully in the arms of her brother-in-law, and there were unstoppable tears in her brother-in-law's eyes.

Eric, Charlie, little Matt who just joined the Merlin family, and little Peter with a confused face, all stood in front of this simple tombstone.

Next to Merlin was Hill in a black suit, who came to mourn on behalf of Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D.

At the funeral, there was also a slightly unfamiliar person, Vivienne Graham, who came on behalf of the Emperor's organization. Over the past few months, they have enjoyed talking and working with the Richards.

Father Paul, who was wearing a priest's attire, was holding the Bible. In the falling raindrops, he said in a solemn voice:

Our God is a consuming fire, for the people of the nation shall be driven into outer darkness.

You returned to the ground, because from the ground you were born.

We don't have a permanent city here.

Father Paul's voice was filled with a kind of deep sadness. He was a qualified priest. In his voice, even Merlin couldn't help but close his eyes.

He raised the umbrella in his hand towards Hill, feeling the cold raindrops falling from the sky.

This is not the first time he has lost a family member.

After he was born, his parents died in a disaster.

But this is the first time Merlin has lost his family and friends after he gained the power to protect himself and others.

The sense of powerlessness that separated life and death filled Merlin with pain of self-blame.

Perhaps sometimes, peace is not the only answer.

he said softly.

Beside him, Hill heard this sentence, and Hill looked at Merlin, her chief was still the same as before, nothing changed.

But Hill could feel that Merlin had indeed changed.

In the period since his return from Afghanistan, Chief Merlin has undergone some transformations.

Like wine brewing in the dark, something invisible on the outside is slowly fermenting in his heart, but what it will breed, at least for now, no one knows.

A few minutes later, the funeral was over.

Ben, who cheered up, talked with Hill and Vivian, Eric took the hands of Peter and Matt and walked back to the car, and Charlie helped the sad May to leave this sad place.

As for Merlin, he stood alone in front of the tombstone, and he looked at the name on the tombstone with complicated emotions.

Everyone speaks well of the dead, but funerals are for the living. If the past is tampered with, it will weaken the lessons we have learned from death. Maybe you should learn some lessons, Your Excellency Merlin.

A strange voice came from behind Merlin, and Merlin didn't look back, he whispered in a cold tone:

I'm not in a good mood right now, and I don't have time to discuss philosophical matters with a half-vampire.

Give you 5 seconds to get lost!

I'm not here to discuss philosophical issues with you.

Behind Merlin, a man was wearing a black leather windbreaker, a black vest and military leather pants, combat boots, sunglasses, short hair, black gloves, and a straight-edged knife on his back. The half-vampire walked up to Merlin step by step in the rain.

He looked at the tombstone, and after a while, he said to Merlin:

I'm here to warn you.

What you did in Queens angered Dickon Forrest, the leader of the radical vampire faction, and issued a reward for you. He offered 20 million dollars to buy your head. You should be more careful recently.

Oh, is it so?

Merlin put his hands in the trouser pockets of his suit. He stood in the increasingly majestic rain with his eyes closed, like a sculpture.

Facing the weird half-vampire's warning, on his pale face, the corners of his mouth slightly raised, pulling out a sarcastic smile.

That's great, it's just what I want.

Come on, let them come.

Let me see, what kind of self-respecting mouse friends have been included in their sinking broken ship. Before leaving, don't you introduce yourself?

Behind Merlin, the half-vampire, who was as silent as when he came, had turned his head and walked several steps away.

After hearing Merlin's question, he stopped, and said without looking back:

Blade.

Vampire Hunter Blade!