Demon's Virtue

Eiro got ready to attack, entering his combat stance. His upper right hand and lower left hand were holding onto the daggers, while his other two were held in his unarmed combat style. The Demon slid over the ground, and Merlin raised his ethereal, magical hand forward. Eiro watched closely to see what was about to happen, when Merlin opened his mouth.

"Wait, wait, wait! I have no intention of fighting you right now," Merlin said bluntly. Eiro was taken aback; he looked at the man in front of him startled.

"What? What do you mean you have no intention of fighting?"

"I'm only here because the Devil still thinks I hadn't seen through his pitiable attempts at controlling me after I was reborn..." Merlin explained, as though it were obvious, "That's why, why, why, there's really no reason for me to follow along with what he wants. Rather, it's better for me if you concentrate on his fight with him."

Eiro frowned deeply. He stared at Merlin's face, trying to figure out if he was telling the truth. But everything about him was so distorted, so wrong, that Eiro had no way of knowing, even using the domain of truth. The aberration mage quickly continued, "If you and him fight, it's certainly going to be an impressive battle, right, right, right?

No matter who of you is killed, the other will rise to a whole new realm! I know what you've been trying to do in that little playplace of yours... Once the Devil is gone, that place will become a new haven for monsterkind! You will have the freedom to make them become something new altogether! And if the Devil wins... well, you are a Legendary Monster, are you not?

If you're killed, the Devil might finally rise to the level of a Lord of hell! Either way, one of you will become, become, become... a whole new monster!"

Finally, Eiro understood why Merlin was saying these things. Merlin was obsessed with monsters, completely and utterly, and that hadn't changed even after he became one himself. Judging from the keys that Merlin still carried with him, he was the one that created all those weird and unusual monsters that Eiro spotted on his way here.

He really just wanted to see what was going to happen once the fight between Eiro and the Devil was over.

"So what, you'll be neutral from now on?" Eiro asked with a frown. He didn't believe what Merlin was saying, and that was carried along with his tone of voice quite well. Merlin began to laugh, louder and louder every succeeding moment, until he suddenly cut out altogether, ready to speak again, "Neutral? No, no, no, that's not the right word... I shall be... 'sitting this one out'?

That is what children these days say, correct?"

Eiro listened to Merlin's words, trying to figure out what exactly was going on right now. Though, he didn't need to wait long; Merlin didn't seem to consider Eiro a particular threat anymore, apparently, "I just want to see how far monsters can grow! The beauty behind the despair that a Lord of hell like the Devil will bring about, about, about...

the terror in the hearts of your town's monsters when they realize there is no way for them to overcome their true nature! The forms they will take... the new evolutions that will come about as your monsters try to act more... human. And, and, and, of course, your own growth, should you manage to kill the Devil. The struggle, the change, the brutality...

That is what it means to be a monster!"

Merlin looked solemnly at the ground, "Of course, I could just do so myself... kill you, kill the devil, evolve, and become a monster that has never been seen before, but... well, in truth, am I not just still a man in the body of a monster?" the creature in front of Eiro asked, its teeth fletching awkwardly. Eiro couldn't believe what he was hearing right now. Merlin, a person?

That was the furthest from the possible truth. Merlin was a monster in every sense of the word.

He was abhorrent in body and soul, to the point where Eiro couldn't even bare being in the same room as him for too long. And worst of all; this was by choice.

Other monsters were redeemable to an extent, as they were born with a force they couldn't overcome even if they tried, not until many years later in their life, and only if they managed to somehow get the willpower to suppress their own monstrosity.

But the ones that were capable of suppressing it, often doing so, just for the benefit of being able to stay more rational as they caused chaos and destruction, like the Devil, were truly irredeemable. And then, a man like Merlin, who would take on monstrosity, and let it flow within his veins as if it were the blood fueling his body, was the worst possible monster that Eiro could imagine.

But Merlin himself didn't seem to think so. Eiro knew that Merlin himself would never be able to see himself as a monster; much like no matter what Eiro did to try and change who and what he was, he would never stop seeing himself as a monster.

"So, so, so... I figured the only thing I can do is watch. Make sure that I can somehow get front-row tickets to see the birth of a truly never-seen-before monster... is that not a wonderful idea?" Merlin asked with a broad grin on his face, before a thought seemed to pop up into his head, "Oh, that does remind me. Your ploy, it was to grow in power, and become the monster king, correct?

And if I'm right, then you were going to try and use the artifacts of the minor arcana to, to, to... become the Hero as well?"

Eiro's heart skipped a beat. During the time that Eiro still trusted him, he had indeed spoken to Merlin about his plans to become monster king, but he had never told him about becoming the hero. How could he possibly know? Did he simply figure it out on his own?

Merlin smiled broadly, showing off his multiple rows of yellowed, sharp teeth, "Then let me give you some motivation. It takes until that child's fifteenth birthday for the hero-factor to awaken, right, right, right? And then, you shall take it from him, and then... well, let's just say...

you have until a month after the hero's fifteenth birthday," he said, as though he was still a teacher at the academy, giving one of his students an extra-credit assignment.

"...To do what? And what if I can't do what you want me to do?" Eiro frowned. He hated the idea of playing along, but at the same time... if he could avoid a fight with Merlin right now, so that he could preserve his strength for his fight against the Devil, then he would do anything. That was his priority right now, after all. Not to mention...

Eiro wasn't totally certain he could beat Merlin right now. He wasn't prepared for this at all.

Merlin continued, happy to answer the demon's question, "You have until then to kill the Monster King," he pointed out bluntly, "And if you don't? Then I'll do it. Then I will become the Monster King, and then, instead of being as passive as the current Monster King, I will do my best to actively eradicate all personkind."

Eiro's heart skipped a beat. Or well, it would have, if he still had a heart. What Merlin was saying was ridiculous. But at the same time... it wasn't. The hero was currently eight years old.

In the next seven years until that point, Merlin could grow to a ridiculous point. He had reached this level after only being a royal for a few months, after all. It seemed ridiculous, but he certainly had a chance. And... if Merlin considered the current Monster King passive...

a being that sends out hordes of monsters when necessary in order to capture just a single toddler, then Eiro couldn't imagine what sort of ruler Merlin was going to be.

"You can do it, right? You won't act like that's too much of an ask now, right?" Merlin asked, tilting his head to the side. If he were still human, his neck would have had to break to achieve that kind of angle, "You tried to kill the Monster King in the past too, haven't you?"

Eiro was taken aback. What? Eiro had never tried to kill the Monster King before. He had only encountered them briefly just once at the beginning of his life. Unless...

"I couldn't tell before... I had forgotten, but, but, but I do recognize you now that I can see that wicked shape of yours," Merlin pointed out, "I had only met you once, but frankly, you were a great inspiration to me. A true 'Master' of not only Arcane Magic, but you had even gotten close to mastering elemental magics."

Eiro stayed silent.

He knew what Merlin was talking about. All records about that person had been erased; it should be impossible, right? If anything, then the tower of books should still hold a tiny bit of information of who that person was... but it didn't. Or at least, if it did, then only at the very topmost part of the towers, that Eiro had yet to reach.

He had guessed that they had been a master of magic, all things considered. That was the only way this would be possible; some kind of spell to erase their name from everywhere had been cast. Maybe even from the minds of others. But maybe, now that Merlin had become the Fool, that spell had been undone on Merlin's mind.

"If you do not kill the Monster King before I do, I will bring this world to utter ruin. I, I, I swear this as an oath to the name of the Great Sage of the past generation, who had been reborn ahead of me into a more supreme form... I swear this to the name of Morgan le Fay."