Shadow of the Beautiful World

swish

The moment the phantom of the figure of Aikon in the mysterious room dissipated, Merlin walked out from the shadows at the edge of the room.

He had just finished talking with the priest. Father Paul's set of logic did not conform to Merlin's usual views on things, but he did help.

And, so far, everything that should be done has been done.

Merlin looked at the empty house. After all the decorations in the room were put away, the place became empty and strange.

There are no more familiar people here, and there are no more things to worry about here.

This place can no longer be called home.

Merlin reached into the refrigerator and took out a can of beer.

He strode over to the sofa and turned on the TV.

In the news being broadcast, scenes of chaos throughout New York echoed.

Those out-of-control superheroes who are disturbed by fear and spiritual power have become the source of turmoil in the city again.

And those criminals who escaped the first purge, they too, were hunted by the tyrant through the city, doing everything they could to escape, and then making everything worse.

Wave after wave of high-voltage rays continued to shoot into the sky.

But after the initial chaos, when the fear and malice in people's hearts were stimulated and released by the chaotic outside world, all kinds of crimes emerged one after another.

Some of them were not even intended by the people, but some of their irrational actions would also be judged as crimes, and then the rays shot down from the sky would knock them to the ground.

Instead, it is the powerful villains who have escaped from the observation of the seeing eye time and time again.

The insight system is flawed after all...

It is very effective in deterring ordinary people from committing crimes, even by forcibly intervening in them before they begin.

But for those superhumans, it's not so magical.

Whether it's a bullet or a ray, as long as someone escapes the first time, as long as the aura of omnipotence is broken...

There will be a steady stream of malicious comebacks.

Merlin was drinking cold beer, staring at the screen in front of him.

He looked at the city struggling in chaos, and he didn't need to close his eyes to hear the wailing and pleading from the city.

But now, not yet.

A few minutes later, Merlin, who was leaning on the sofa, felt an irresistible drowsiness. He closed his eyes and fell into a dream.

The familiar feeling of falling hit him, and he stretched his body in the drifting clouds. This always gorgeous dream world was as colorful as before.

Just like the novice graffiti of children, it looks weird, but it is full of freshness.

Imbued with a certain eccentric vitality.

Merlin fell to the ground, and the fog in front of his eyes turned to both sides.

The golden palace appeared, and on the balcony of the palace, Merlin leaned against the railing, and he looked at the sad Zatanna who appeared in front of him.

Miss Magician's appearance this time was unusually dignified, and she no longer had the coquettish posture she had before.

She also seemed to foretell something was going to happen.

Why are you so sad?

Merlin waved to her, and he said softly:

I've come to say goodbye, Zatanna, and you should at least smile.

Is it really this far?

Zatanna looked at Merlin, she took a step forward, and she said:

Is there no other way? Maybe you can hide here, or I send you to a dimension they can't find...

Avoiding won't solve the problem.

Merlin stretched out two fingers, stroking Zatana's smooth long black hair, and said:

This is a game for winning. In the past, I always thought about how much I have to give to win. Now it seems that I may have to give everything for it.

I felt uneasy last night.

Miss Magician says:

I did divination for you, all kinds of divination, from the most common tarot cards, to summoning the omniscient. I tried to peep into your fate, Merlin, but I couldn't see anything.

She looked at Merlin, her beautiful eyes were full of worry and powerlessness, she said:

Your fate is like being wrapped in fog. I can't see it clearly, and I can't predict its direction. There is neither good nor bad.

That's unpredictable, maybe you should avoid it.

Hehe, we're talking about destiny, Zatanna.

Merlin didn't care about Miss Magician's persuasion, he said:

The more you want to escape from it, the more it will speed up to catch up with you on the other side of the gap. It is better to fight now than to wait until the end of the mountain.

Merlin turned around, and he looked towards the edge of the dream world.

Outside the curtain of mist, the black glare has expanded to a terrifying level, and it has already begun to squeeze the dream, as if roaring with malicious intent.

Here, like the present world, is not peaceful, and horrible things will happen here.

Here, too, there is an impending war.

Merlin says:

This is fate. It made me born in a weak posture and go through hardships. So presumably, it is looking forward to a story of breaking out of a cocoon and becoming a butterfly...

The end has come...

How can I let it down?

The moment his voice fell, Zatanna hugged him from behind.

The two had been intimate many times, though only in dreams, and despite being driven by the power of the Sandman, that intimacy changed their relationship.

But this time, the hug this time was not too sexual.

It's like another farewell.

Miss Magician put her face on Merlin's back, and she said:

Why always you? Poor thing.

Because I am the source.

Merlin put his hand on Zatanna's fingers, and he said softly:

When I came to this world, disasters followed; I never stopped moving forward, and neither did the bad things that happened because of me.

It's like a moving storm that's brewing with power and will eventually drag everyone into it.

Only when the storm dissipates will there be peace.

Zatana didn't answer Merlin's emotion-like words.

She just wanted to hug him again.

Remember that familiar taste, maybe...

This is the last time.

The power of the nightmare is increasing day by day, maybe it will invade this dreamland soon.

The two maintained this rare silence. After a few minutes, Merlin looked at the black glare in the distance, and said:

I was supposed to work with you on this threat, but...

In short, if I can come back, I will do my best to help you, but if something unfortunate happens, then you have to be prepared in advance.

I have a preliminary idea.

Zatanna let go, she took a step back, and she said:

You don't need to worry about me anymore. At this time, you should focus on your future.

Merlin...

As a friend, I hope you are safe and sound, and I look forward to seeing you next time...

A smile appeared on the corner of Merlin's mouth, another warm blessing.

He recovered and said to Zatanna:

Well, I'll try my best.

———————

Drip, drop

The black mobile phone was beating on the empty coffee table, it kept buzzing.

After a few seconds, Merlin, who had returned from the dream, reached out to pick it up. He looked at the number beating on the screen, and he put the phone to his ear.

After a moment's silence, he said:

I thought we had nothing more to say.

Of course there is!

Pierce's hoarse voice came from the other side of the phone, and he said:

To this day, I still haven't given up my efforts.

effort?

Merlin looked at the flames bursting out on the TV screen in front of him. At the scene of Louise's interview, some thugs set fire to an apartment, and the flames shot up into the sky.

He said calmly:

Try hard to destroy the world?

It's to protect it!

There was a stubbornness in Pierce's voice, and he said:

Things will always get worse before they get better, but the chaos in this city is being suppressed every minute and every second. Those criminals are stubbornly resisting, but they have been cornered.

This is their last madness!

I did not see it.

Merlin modulated the voice of the mobile phone and put it on the coffee table. He said:

I've only seen peaceful cities turned into battlegrounds, with vacillating fear driven to the side of chaos.

The people who swore to protect have become destroyers, and the protected can only cry helplessly in the ignited flames.

One city has become a battlefield, another city is about to become hell, and it's all because of your reckless behavior!

I don't see you protecting order and I don't see you trying to restore it.

I only see destruction...

Pierce, all I see is chaos. Is this the new order you're after?

Merlin shook his head, he said sarcastically:

Something like shit!

Be patient, Merlin.

Pierce wasn't offended, explaining:

Anything great takes time.

You have also been a member of this system, and you also know that this system of order is not a caterpillar, it declines, pales, and lags behind. It will not cocoon itself, then turn into a butterfly, and become more beautiful!

It has no life, someone has to push it, it has to die once, and then it can be reborn in the fire that we ignite!

Come back, Merlin.

The old man said in a sincere tone:

Come back and stand with me. What happened in Raccoon City was an accident. It makes people feel sad and painful.

But you see, after your s.d.o.l.d. is combined with the insight system, we can easily control the situation.

We saved 600,000 people in just a few hours! Proof that when we stand together, we can move the world!

You are a believer in order, and so am I. We all have an obsession to make the world better and more perfect. We are natural allies.

Merlin, come back, we can fulfill our common ideal together.

Pierce paused and said:

Look, something went wrong with my plan, an unexpected problem, which means I can't do it all by myself, and I need help.

I need your help! I will give you all the power in my hands, and you will turn bad things into good things.

You will turn the tide as before, and become the hero who saves this country, this continent...

You insult me ​​now just because you feel the same way, watching a city go through the torture of change, it makes you feel pain, that's a beautiful character.

But I know, deep down, you understand too... that when the chaos is over, something better comes out of it.

This is a decisive moment, Merlin, this city, this country, this world, it has come to the brink of order, we only need a little push!

The new world we long for will come!

Having seen hell come, you will long to return to the world. Indulging freedom and comfortable safety, after all, you can only choose one...You and I both know how the people we protect will choose.

You know, that's right!

If you still feel cheated, if you feel pain, then it's no big deal if I give you my life!

Come on, Merlin!

The old man emphasized his tone:

I have set up all the stages for you, and I will also bear all the responsibilities, take my life, let me make up for the deception and concealment in the past, and then you will do what I should do for me... .”

You will be a hero, and you will be my best successor!

I've arranged everything for you.

I beg you, take it!

...

Pierce's words silenced Merlin.

After more than ten seconds, he sighed and said:

What's wrong with you? All of you...

I don't need it, and I don't want it, Pierce. I have done a lot of things for order in the past, but besides the desire for an order that will not be destroyed, I still have a conscience, and I can tell right from wrong.

It's wrong, you're doing the wrong thing!

Ideals are not the reason for you to destroy the world and hurt other people; and whether the perfect order in your heart is good or not is not up to you.

What's the difference between you and the thugs who ravaged the city?

Pierce, if I choose to go with you, what's the difference between me and you?

Merlin coughed a few times and said:

Many people insult me ​​as a cruel conspirator, but I know that I am not, I am not blind, I am not drunk, and I still know what is right and what is wrong.

I reject!

Pierce, I will destroy everything you have worked so hard to build, I swear!

Wait for me in your hiding place, I'll be there soon.

Merlin stood up, he stretched out his finger, and a emerald green ray burst out from his fingertips, obliterating a howling superhuman thug flying across the sky on the spot.

The windbreaker behind him fluttered at this moment, and the blood-red cane jumped into his hand.

He said:

I saved you with my own hands, Pierce. I don't know if it was another conspiracy arranged by you, but it doesn't matter now.

I unleashed a terrible bug, and now I will fix it and everything it created.

Pierce, we used to be friends, best friends...

But now, we're not!

A sharp blade rose in Merlin's heart, cutting off all worries at this moment.

In an increasingly indifferent voice, he said:

Today, we...

Severe kindness and righteousness!

Then...

I will personally send you on your way!