Chapter 813

“Hmm….”

Merlin tightened her grip on the acorn in her hand and looked up at Lust.

‘What the hell is this now?’

She had been quietly enjoying small moments of happiness by watching Raon through the eyes of a squirrel family. But after briefly tending to her main body’s affairs, she returned to find yet another bizarre event had unfolded.

The now-blind Lord of the Holy Sword Alliance lay beaten and sprawled on the ground, while Raon had exchanged a few words with a mysterious woman before descending the mountain.

She hadn’t been able to hear their conversation clearly, but judging by their expressions, it was far from ordinary. A boiling frustration rose within her.

“Who the hell are you?!”

Merlin pointed a tiny squirrel finger at Lust, shaking it fiercely. Of course, given her squirrel form, the action only looked adorable.

“A squirrel?”

Lust tilted her head as she looked down at Merlin.

“It’s clearly just a normal squirrel… yet it speaks?”

Even Lust couldn’t recognize Merlin inside the squirrel and took a sharp breath.

“What are you…?”

“I asked you first!”

Merlin snapped, throwing her acorn to the ground—

“Ah!”

—only to immediately regret it. Realizing the acorn wasn’t actually hers, she scrambled to retrieve it as it rolled away.

“This is your fault!”

“I see….”

Lust watched Merlin for a moment, then slowly nodded.

“You dissolved your soul so it wouldn’t burden the squirrel’s body? If you hadn’t spoken first, I wouldn’t have noticed.”

She let out a quiet murmur of admiration, seemingly impressed by the technique.

“Yes, yes, I’m amazing. Now, who the hell are you?”

Merlin growled, baring her tiny front teeth. But even as she expressed her frustration, she remained as adorable as ever. (T/N: This is too cute. WTH)

“I am…”

Lust started to answer but suddenly turned her gaze downward. She smiled softly as she spotted Raon arriving in the village below.

“Hey!”

Merlin stomped her foot. But since a squirrel’s foot was smaller than a flower petal, it left no mark on the ground.

“Why are you stopping mid-sentence?!”

Fuming, she kicked Lust’s shoe. A faint tap sound echoed, causing only a speck of dust to fall from the polished surface.

“…….”

Lust no longer seemed interested in Merlin. Her gaze was fixed solely on Raon, her cheeks flushing as if she were lost in a dream of the future.

“Answer me!”

Merlin infused mana into her teeth and bit down on Lust’s leg. However, Lust didn’t react, her eyes remaining locked onto the village below.

‘This woman….’

Merlin narrowed her eyes as she scrutinized Lust.

‘She’s not human.’

Her face was undeniably beautiful, but oddly enough, it seemed to reflect the most ideal beauty Merlin could imagine.

It wasn’t magic. It wasn’t a spell. It was an innate power—a trait that could only be described as an Authority.

But that alone wasn’t why Merlin was convinced this woman wasn’t human.

‘Her soul’s size….’

The soul writhing inside her body was larger than Glenn’s or even Darkhan’s. No human could possibly possess a soul of such magnitude.

“What exactly are you staring at?!”

Merlin bit her lip and lifted her squirrel body into the air. This would place a strain on her main body, but she couldn’t stand idly by.

‘Raon?’

Floating in the air, she followed Lust’s gaze and spotted Raon. As expected, whatever conversation they had was far from ordinary.

“You! Why are you looking at what’s mine?!”

Merlin flailed in front of Lust’s line of sight, shaking her tiny head furiously.

“Yours?”

For the first time, Lust, who had ignored Merlin’s biting and kicking, turned her gaze downward. A cold, chilling energy replaced her previously gentle expression.

“Squirrel. Watch your words. That might be the last thing you ever say.”

“So, you’re finally showing your true colors!”

Merlin flipped through the air before landing lightly on the ground. She knelt on one knee and struck the earth with her tiny fist, assuming the pose of a hero ready for battle.

“Come at me!”

She jabbed her tiny fists forward, challenging Lust.

“How ridiculous… Hmm?”

Lust watched Merlin’s antics, but then suddenly tensed. She had sensed Wrath’s gaze from below—he had just noticed her lingering presence.

‘Damn!’

She immediately suppressed her aura, lowering her posture to evade Wrath’s line of sight.

‘That was close….’

She had promised to wait patiently, and now she had nearly broken that promise.

Disappointing Wrath would be worse than death.

Woooom.

Lust retracted the Authority of Lust into the guise she had crafted to resemble Wrath. She then turned back to Merlin.

“Enough nonsense.”

Lust spoke with calm certainty.

“He’s not yours—he’s mine. I’ve been following him my whole life.”

With an unshakable conviction, she flicked Merlin’s tiny nose.

“Your whole life?”

Merlin snorted at Lust.

“Your lips are as red as a liar’s! I’ve followed him night and day, and I’ve never seen you before!”

She shook her head furiously, refusing to believe Lust’s words.

“I don’t care what you think. I’ve followed him all my life. And soon, it will all bear fruit.”

Lust clenched her fists, her Wrath-like blue eyes brimming with unwavering determination.

“‘Him’? Did you just call him ‘him’?”

Merlin’s fury flared the moment she heard the word ‘him’—a term typically used by wives to refer to their husbands. The rage surged straight into her skull.

“You lying fraud….”

Merlin chewed on her lip as she glared at Lust’s composed expression.

‘I want to call her a liar… but she’s telling the truth.’

Years of living among animals had sharpened her instincts.

Lust wasn’t lying.

She truly had been following Raon all this time.

And she truly believed he would accept her.

‘No way.’

Raon wasn’t someone who would fall for a woman’s looks. That dense idiot wouldn’t act on anything unless there was a clear reason. If she asked him, he would explain.

But there was no way she was just going to let this slide.

“Oh, really?”

Merlin crossed her arms and swung her legs nonchalantly.

“I’m the same.”

“The same how?”

Lust, who had been idly stroking the flower that matched Raon’s eye color, turned her gaze toward her.

“I’ve also decided to stay with him.”

Merlin smirked and pointed at Raon.

“I even got an invitation to live together with him.”

Technically, he had just asked her to come to Zieghart, but that didn’t matter now—winning this battle of nerves did.

“On top of that, I’ve even spent the night with ‘him.’”

She grinned as she emphasized the word ‘him.’

Of course, that ‘night’ had been spent scouring the entire North Burial Mountain for a snake to feed a mole, but it was still a night spent together. She straightened her back with confidence.

“Hmm….”

Lust’s fingers trembled slightly as she looked at Merlin.

‘Is she telling the truth…?’

It was difficult to gauge sincerity from a squirrel’s face, but Merlin’s soul remained steady, without a hint of deception.

“Dare you….”

Lust extended her hand toward Merlin with a flicker of killing intent, but then she froze at the sight of the crimson flower.

‘Wrath….’

The flower’s red glow mirrored Wrath’s gaze from earlier.

She could not disgrace herself here.

“I see. You are the demon of my heart.”

Lust shook her head as she looked at Merlin.

“What nonsense are you spouting?!”

Merlin tilted her head, utterly confused.

“This flower was planted for me by him,” Lust said, her voice composed. “I won’t be swayed by your provocations.”

Suppressing her rising frustration, she carefully ran her fingers over the red petals.

“A f-flower?”

Merlin’s lips quivered as she looked at the flower before Lust.

‘Something felt off….’

A faint but distinct trace of Raon’s scent emanated from the crimson bloom—not just his scent, but his energy as well.

“Tch….”

Merlin grabbed her head with trembling hands.

‘Raon never planted a flower for me… No, wait!’

She had one too!

“A flower? That’s it? I was welcomed with an entire garden!”

Merlin scoffed, shaking her head.

‘Though it was his mother who made it, not him….’

During her stay at the annex, she had helped Sylvia tend the flower beds and plant flowers, so it wasn’t a total lie.

“And ‘he’ risked his life fighting to save me!”

Of course, she had saved Raon more times than he had saved her, but she conveniently left that part out as she raised her hand triumphantly.

“Hmm….”

Lust furrowed her brows deeply as she looked at Merlin.

‘Killing her would be easy….’

Even if her soul was merged with the squirrel, one flick of her finger would be enough.

But using brute force would feel like a defeat, so she couldn’t bring herself to do it.

“Grrr!”

Merlin, too, glared at Lust, her shoulders trembling.

‘What did she and Raon talk about?’

She was dying to know what words had been exchanged in front of that flower. But if she asked Raon directly, it would feel like losing, so she couldn’t do that.

“Then let’s do this.”

Merlin let out a short breath and jerked her chin up.

“You said you’ve been following him all this time, right?”

“Yes. For thousands of years.”

“Enough with the exaggerations!”

Merlin pointed at both herself and Lust in turn.

“You’ve been following him, and I’m excellent at sneaking around, too. Let’s settle this with a contest—who can tail him the longest without being caught?”

She stomped her tiny foot, declaring that the loser had to grant the winner’s wish.

“Fine. That is one challenge I will not lose.”

Lust knew it was a ridiculous contest, but she couldn’t stand losing to this squirrel.

“I won’t lose either!”

Merlin held her head high, raising her small fist.

Smack!

Their hands met, sealing the start of a stalking competition between the Monarch of Lust and a transcendent magician.

—

“Hngh!”

Raon shuddered violently, as if someone had just brushed a cold hand down his spine.

‘W-What was that…?’

It felt like something had crawled over his back. This had never happened before, and it left him momentarily dazed.

– Y-You felt it too?

Wrath swallowed dryly as he glanced back toward the mountain.

‘You felt it as well?’

– Indeed. There was no detectable energy, yet an eerie chill ran down my spine.

Wrath trembled as if something had just caressed his very soul.

‘What the hell is going on?’

Raon spread out his senses, but he couldn’t detect anything.

‘I sensed Lust’s energy earlier… Is she still here?’

– Since I am currently in a spiritual state, it would be difficult to find Lust if she deliberately conceals herself.

Wrath admitted that she had momentarily flickered into perception before vanishing completely.

‘That makes sense.’

Raon nodded briefly. Not that it mattered—there wasn’t much he could do about it anyway.

“Hmm, but…”

He turned to see Runaan staring intently at his wrist.

“What are you doing?”

“…….”

Runaan didn’t answer. Instead, she fixated on the bracelet and suddenly brought her hand down—

Slam!

With a swift chop, she struck Lust’s floral bracelet.

However, it was imbued with the power of a Demon King, and it did not break.

“Tsk.”

Clicking her tongue in disappointment, she stepped back.

“Uh….”

“Looks like you made it back in one piece.”

Before Raon could react, Darkhan slowly sat up.

As expected of a transcendent warrior, he had already begun to recover.

“You’re not going to back out of our deal now, are you?”

Raon narrowed his eyes. He didn’t expect gratitude, but he would be disappointed if Darkhan reneged on his word.

“Of course not.”

Darkhan gave a small nod.

“A promise made with a sword is usually kept.”

He smirked.

“But not always.”

“As promised, I will leave without harming a single person here.”

Darkhan lowered his hand, stating that once the wounds on his soul healed, he would depart immediately.

“But remember, my promise only applies to those who were already here.”

His eyes darkened with a chilling gleam.

“Glenn Zieghart was not included in that agreement.”

“Do as you please.”

Raon shrugged as he met Darkhan’s gaze.

“You won’t win anyway.”

He had absolute faith in Glenn. Whether Darkhan chose to challenge him or not was irrelevant—Glenn did not lose.

“It stings a little that I can’t argue with that.”

Darkhan chuckled wryly and stood up.

“But there’s still one matter left unsettled.”

He gestured with his chin, indicating that things weren’t over just yet.

“Unsettled? What are you talking about?”

Raon smirked as he eyed Darkhan.

“Are you saying you want compensation for saving us from that female swordsman?”

Given the current situation, that was the only thing Darkhan could possibly mean by ‘unsettled matters.’ Even if he had acted on instinct, there was some truth to it.

‘Even if it’s true, I can’t let this slide.’

If someone like Darkhan gained the upper hand, things could become bothersome. Raon had to cut this off immediately.

“I know what you’re thinking, but…”

“You saved me.”

However, Darkhan’s ‘unsettled matter’ turned out to be the complete opposite of what Raon had expected.

“What?”

“You saved my life. Just before I died, you released that strange energy, which lured the female swordsman here.”

Darkhan laughed heartily, as if he had seen through everything.

“Then when you said ‘settle the matter’….”

“Yeah. It’s a debt I need to repay.”

He shook his head lightly.

“Getting killed by that woman’s sword wouldn’t have been so bad, but if possible, I’d prefer to die by Glenn’s sword—or yours.”

Darkhan expressed his gratitude once again before reaching into his coat.

“I am no longer the Lord of the Holy Sword Alliance, nor do I have any wealth. So, take this instead.”

He pulled out an old book and tossed it over.

“Be careful!”

“The book might contain a hidden blade!”

The Demonic Blade Master and the Melodic Blade Master both shook their heads, warning him that Darkhan was crazy enough to do something like that.

“Hmm….”

Raon remained on guard as he opened the book.

His pupils wavered like a ship caught in a storm.

“Could this be…?”

(T/N: Damn! Hahaha. I love the interaction between Merlin and Lust. I’m hoping for more in the future. )