"I suppose so." Replied Aoi. "I never thought about it like that."
So she never even considered him a father...
What's with this world and parent problems? Well, it's not like I can say anything. I also had parent problems.
"Well, anything else important I should know?" I wondered.
Aoi closed her eyes in thought, before opening them and warning me. "He has his eye on you."
"What does that mean?" I asked for some more detail.
"I don't see him, or talk to him often, but I do know that he finds you the biggest threat out of anyone here on Earth." Aoi stated.
What an honor...
"And watch out for The Alchemist. He's dangerous." Aoi added.
The Alchemist. This is the second time I've heard of him. According to Stryker, The Alchemist is who gave him that nightmare potion thing which put me to sleep back during the tournament.
"Who's The Alchemist?" I asked.
"He's the highest up of the Demon King's allies." Aoi stated. "Higher than me."
He must be pretty important then.
"He creates many inventions, and is also very strong. He's a human with his own arcana, just like you." Aoi explained.
I closed my eyes in thought. While I hadn't seen the last episode, in the episode before it Erica and the others confront the Demon King's main threats.
Cyrus. Likely ordered by the King. I don't know why he still followed the King when he obviously didn't agree, but he's dead now. No need to worry about him.
Aoi. The person who we were led to believe was the Demon King's right hand. Maybe the twist from the final episode was that she wasn't the closest to the Demon King.
The final one was a psycho in a lab coat named Kurebai. His first appearance is in Arc 7, so we haven't encountered him yet.
My best guess is that he's The Alchemist. Demon King Lupercio's true right hand man.
"Well, thanks for the info." I replied.
Aoi gave me a nod. "Oh, and..." She started to say, before changing her mind. "...never mind."
She was hiding something. I don't know what it was, but she was. I wasn't going to pry though. She's already given me some pretty handy info.
I just really do hope she is on our side.
While I wait for Principal to arrive, I should go see Merlin. Let her know that we obtained Avalon, even though she's probably already seen from her clairvoyance.
"Keep an eye on Aoi." I whispered to Irene. "I'm going to talk to Merlin."
"Okay." Irene nodded.
I walked to the door of the tower. The door slowly opened, letting me into the tower. Climbing up the stone steps, I crawled through the trapdoor to Merlin's room.
"Ken." I heard Merlin smile. "If you're here you must have gotten Avalon already."
"Don't you know? You have clairvoyance and all." I asked.
"I do. I just wanted to say that." She giggled.
"Of course..." I sweatdropped. "Anyways, there was something I wanted to ask you about."
Merlin's face became serious as she nodded at me, gesturing for me to state my question.
"What happened? What really happened? How are you here trapped here? What happened to Arthur?" I asked. "The Lady of The Lake said that it's your story to tell. So please, tell me."
I couldn't help but be bothered. All of Merlin's offhand comments about "him". The insinuation that Arthur is dead from her reaction to Erica's Excalibur.
Things just didn't make sense. It was bothering me. I just had a feeling it had to do with the Demon King, and if so, I wanted to know.
Merlin sighed. "I knew you were going to ask that. I guess I should begin before that day..."
"My world was a lot like yours. Except, history never got as far as yours has. Arthur was king when the tragedy happened." Merlin stated.
"Rifts started to open in our world, and through them, the Demon King Lupercio invaded our world." Merlin continued. "And he destroyed or enslaved everything in his way. He ruined our world."
"Naturally Arthur, his knights and I, the strongest force in the world, went against Lupercio. But it wasn't enough." Merlin sadly stated. "He killed Arthur, my student. And I couldn't have been more distraught."
"However, I was a lot stronger back then. He wouldn't have been able to kill me without exhausting his resources. So instead he opted to seal me in the island of Avalon." Merlin continued. "In a tower which was enchanted so that only special 'Chosen' could enter."
"I was forced to be stuck inside of a tower in a ruined world. I thought that would be my end. Eternity stuck in this tower, unable to die due to the island's unique healing properties." She stated.
"But the island drifted. And it ended up going through rifts. And one day, thousands of years after Demon King Lupercio destroyed my world, I went through the rift that led to his original world." She continued.
"Demon King Lupercio had died thousands of years ago, but was being resurrected. But many of the current people didn't want him to return." She stated. "They didn't want a ruthless dictator."
"Many people tried to enter my tower, believing that there may be some sort of dormant power inside. But none entered. Not until a group of four did." She continued.
"The Four Great Sages." I realized.
"Yes." Merlin nodded. "And so I trained them. So that they could do what I couldn't; kill Lupercio and end it all."
"But...it didn't work." I slowly guessed.
"He was stronger than they imagined. And I couldn't help, stuck in here. And most of my powers have long faded, drained by the thousands of years I've been stuck. Only Clairvoyance and basic magic manipulation are left." She explained.
"They were cornered, even with the help of the new world they entered. So they did a desperate move. Using most of their power, they created a seal that would keep Demon King Lupercio stuck in their original world." Merlin continued.
I remember the seal from the anime.
"And then what happened?" I asked.
"I...I don't know. They disappeared. I don't know if they died, were vaporized, or went into hiding. But it doesn't matter now." Merlin sadly sighed.
I felt my fists tighten. My blood boiled inside. Just hearing this story of tragedy made me hate the Demon King even more than I did before.
Merlin had lost everything. And then when she tried to make everything right, she lost everything again.
Thousands of years she had been stuck in this tower. The fact that she was still sane was incredible. I couldn't imagine being stuck here for even one year.
I felt my rage inside bubble, turning into something. I wanted to get Merlin out of here. I wanted to undo her seal.
She hadn't done a thing to deserve her sealing, unlike the Demon King. At least one thousand years she was stuck. 10 times the maximum lifespan of a human. And that's only one thousand. And she said thousands.
...
I've decided. Before I knew it my body started to move, my raw emotions subconsciously directing my actions.
Red lightning sparked from my hands.
"Ken?!" Merlin exclaimed.
I slammed my fist onto the floor of her room. Red lightning coursed through the floor, sparking off of the walls and ceiling as the tower started to shake.
And then a piece of the ceiling fell down.
Merlin's eyes widened. "You-!?"
"I'm getting you out of here."