The legend of King Arthur, set in Celtic mythology.
The one who is described as the most powerful druid in the legends was named Merlin.
Merlin — the legendary druid, advisor to King Arthur, and the Great Prophet of Britain.
Though countless interpretations of King Arthur’s legend were passed throughout history, the story of Merlin has been quite vague.
There were three famous theories about him.
‘The first theory was that he went into an observatory and continued to observe the stars after seeing the disastrous Battle of Arthuret. The second was that he was just saddened about the death of his brother and his friends. And the third…’
The theory is that Nimueh, the Lady of the Lake and Merlin’s disciple, eventually became a stronger druid than Merlin and she sealed him under a rock.
It was said that Merlin, being a great prophet, knew that one day, Nimueh would seal him.
Nevertheless, Merlin did not reject his fate.
There are many kinds of theories about Merlin’s demise, but this world seems to follow the third theory.
He has existed since he was sealed by Nimueh, the Lady of the Lake.
‘Merlin is, according to the laws of this world, considered a descendant.’
Merlin was a half-blood, between a succubus and a human.
In other words, Merlin is a descendant of the Demon Race, and in this world, descendants are not immortal but are unaging.
Merlin survived the era of legends but has then been sealed.
However, he managed to get a new disciple.
Merlin was trapped in his own body, but since he has the blood of a succubus, one of the more powerful demons in the Demon Race, he managed to get a disciple and teach her by reaching her through dreams.
And Merlin’s student, that lady over there, is my playable character.
Merlin’s disciple liked to attract people’s attention just as much as Phantom Thief Neon.
“Tch…!”
“I won’t lose!”
Both of them seemed upset that their entrance and opening lines overlapped, and intense energy waves began to surround the two of them.
Phantom Thief Neon’s energy wave shone brighter, and the shadows of the beasts guarding Merlin’s disciple grew bigger.
It was a situation where the total energy wave in the room was overwhelming, but I don’t understand why they’re doing such a thing in this situation.
‘…What in the world are they doing this for?’
The attendees, caught between the egoistic attention seekers, opened and closed their mouths repeatedly as they looked at the smashed windows.
In the meantime, the two did their best to draw more attention to themselves.
Sung Gukeon gathered energy waves around his eyes and observed the two before smiling to himself.
He must’ve noticed that both of them were human.
The two didn’t talk for long, but since they were spurting energy waves like that, their identities were surely seen through by people with similar abilities as Sung Gukeon.
“I don’t think this is part of the entertainment prepared by the Fomorians. Those two are serious. Reminds me of my school days.”
Indeed, being an alumnus of Class Zero and a re-elected lawmaker, Sung Gukeon wasn’t phased by this chaotic situation at all.
‘That druid’s disciple is in Class Zero too. No wonder she reminded him of his school days.’
Unlike Phantom Thief Neon, the man who was portrayed as a mysterious thief from PMH, Merlin’s disciple was shown as a student spending a normal day at school.
As a student of Class Zero in Eungwang High.
‘Something about getting into Eungwang High being an assignment from Merlin…’
She said that her teacher, who appears through her dreams, told her to enter Eungwang high.
In any case, Merlin’s disciple travels around the world to solve and do assignments that her teacher gives her, so she didn’t start going to school until her sophomore year.
Her tasks weren’t described in detail, but looking at the beasts that she has with her, I could guess what it is to some extent.
‘From their silhouette, I don’t think those are ordinary animals. It’s highly likely that they’re all rare, endangered, or even known to be extinct.’
In a world where otherworld collisions occur, there are many bizarre incidents that cannot be explained by conventional common sense, and some of those were covered by the news.
The beginning was the sighting of a ‘turtle migration’, and the reportedly extinct animals that the students from the newspaper department saw when they went on an overseas coverage trip.
The sightings from Yekaterinburg Russia later led to an article written by Moon Saeron.
That article was featured by Danish media, and the seeming migration of rare animals continued in the North Sea between Denmark’s Iwolan Peninsula and Britain.
And when we entered England, the rare animals had been seen in the Celtic Sea.
‘The routes didn’t make sense. They disappear and suddenly reappear in a different location.’
So it seems that it was Merlin’s disciple who led those animals, and it was understandable if her purpose was to infiltrate and attack this auction.
Although he was sealed, Merlin was still a descendant of a succubus.
He had strong enough power, and if it is for the purpose that serves the Tuatha de Danu, even superior beings would lend their power to Merlin and his disciple.
With his power and help from superior beings, Merlin could put himself in other people’s dreams, though for a very limited time.
‘It would be difficult for me to borrow the power of that playable character since I don’t dream.’
Even if I understand dreams as a concept, it seems difficult to use the power of Merlin’s disciple myself.
While I was lost in thought, the situation progressed further.
“You broke the party’s excitement — you didn’t give a notice that you’d be bringing beasts. Even thieves have rules that they must follow!”
“I am a great and wonderful druidess who inherits the will of my teacher. I am not a thief! Don’t pretend to be a noble and say anything about me being a petty thief like you!”
“A petty thief?! I’ve never heard such violent verbal abuse in my life…! Having no dignity is not cool or beautiful!”
“You can only see what your eyes know. You probably don’t see my dignity because you don’t have one yourself!”
A low-level verbal battle.
My playable characters fighting made it extremely difficult for me to uncurl my fingers.
Perhaps if they hadn’t met Jegal, Geum Chansol and Wang Chansol would be like them, competing with each other over people’s attention.
I felt like their childishness makes it entirely possible.
Though it seems like the host of this party wasn’t willing to continue watching this childish confrontation.
“Did you think you’d be safe after coming to our next?”
With his dismal voice, a fierce energy wave roared.
The gloved hands became equipped with weapons, and the blue-masked man clapped his hands and spoke.
Phantom Thief Neon and Merlin’s disciple looked and kicked their tongues as if they had finished the siege while they were talking.
Swaaaa…!
The moisture and heat swept through the broken windows.
The faint smell of salt air seemed to have activated a boundary.
Phantom Thief Neon snapped his fingers and jumped high.
Hit! Fwaaa!
And then, the lights at the party were switched off all out once.
The completely darkened surroundings blocked the view, and while my eyes were getting used to the darkness…
Phantom Thief Neon’s energy wave illuminated a small part of the place for one moment.
Without missing a beat, Phantom Thief Neon and Merlin’s disciple jumped into the party.
I’m sure this is their first meeting so this couldn’t have been planned, but they look like they worked well together.
Fwaaa!
The lights turned back on at the party.
While the sea fog was blowing right through the broken windows, the Demon Race’s hands were on guard with weapons.
However, it seemed like the two intruders disappeared.
Although no items for auction were stolen yet, the Fomorian demon’s face had already fallen to the bottom.
Surely the two are still in this huge castle, so they still have a chance to get anything back.
The blue-masked demon seemed to think so.
“Ladies and gentlemen, as this party’s organizer, I deeply apologize for this tragedy. I would like to postpone the start of the auction for a while until the surrounding area is cleared up.”
The demon’s voice was calm, but the embarrassment and anger couldn’t be hidden from his energy waves.
A dark energy wave surrounded his body.
“We ask for your understanding that the auction will be postponed until we deal with those intruders.”
His voice was polite, but I felt my ears perk because of his energy wave.
My playable characters won’t be beaten in a place like this, but I felt a cold chill somewhere in my body when I heard felt the demon’s gloomy energy.
***
A lounge and arcade room inside the castle.
The gloved hands led the party guests this way since the party hall was trashed.
The lounge and arcade were divided into smoking and non-smoking areas, and Sung Gukeon and I moved to the lounge in the non-smoking area.
Inside the circular lounge, there were private rooms that I think could be used.
Sung Gukeon spoke to me as we headed to one of the private rooms.
“It’s as you predicted. The starting time of the auction was postponed because of Phantom Tfief Neon.”
Considering his personality, he wouldn’t have let the auction start at all.
It’s obvious to see that it’s the first work of a genius-turned-thief, considering the whole embarrassment and lack of dignity he showed earlier.
“You’re here, right?”
Sung Gukeon asked no one in particular, and out of nowhere, Jeon Muyeong appeared.
It seems like Jeon Muyeong stuck around us after Phantom Thief Neon and Merlin’s disciple made their appearance.
“Did you enjoy sightseeing?”
“Yes, there were a lot of great works.”
“It’s a big castle. Did you get lost?”
“Of course.”
Although it wasn’t expressed directly, it has been confirmed that Jeon Muyeong successfully did his tasks.
“Sightseeing” was our code for “searching for Imoogi’s Exorcism”
Jeon Muyeong has the exact location of the painting.
Instead of explaining it in words, Jeon Muyeong drew a map and the route he took using his energy waves.
He must’ve found a secret passage or moved through a route that we had not seen when we looked around the party hall.
While memorizing the map and route, I spoke up.
“Since we’ve finished our rendezvous, can I walk around alone? I just want to check something.”
“Check something? You want to move alone?”
Since Jeon Muyeong’s mission is over, he will be with Sung Gukeon now.
So I have something to do on my own.
“I think I saw someone I know.”
I said those words as I recalled my two reckless playable characters.
