Shadow trail of the beautiful world

Chapter 961 15. The Voice of Ravens

In the dream world, the golden castle is still standing in place.

But the original beautiful garden in front of the castle has disappeared, replaced by a tree like a devil.

Low, twisted, hideous.

Just like a black stone pillar, planted in a complex magic circle.

It stretches out thousands of vines.

Those black ones, like vines that had been burned by fire, grew in all directions, forming a black crown like a spider web.

There are dark red charms on those vines, and the power of nightmares dances in those shining charms, making the scenery of this originally extremely beautiful dream world gloomy and weird.

It's like jumping from spring into late autumn and winter.

Except that there are no fallen leaves covering the ground, everything around is very chill.

The nightmare tree is still absorbing substantial nightmares from the dream dimension, but after the nightmare was born in another world, the number of nightmares overflowing from the dream world has decreased a lot.

Especially after the dream gate in front of the nightmare tree was destroyed by Odin's furious thunder, the dream gate connecting the two areas collapsed completely.

This completely separates the Nightmare from the Nightmare Dimension it resides in.

Like a king expelled from his kingdom.

Unable to return to Nightmare Dimension.

Nightmare should never try to devour the world.

Zatanna's adventurous plan has succeeded.

The price was that she almost died in the golden lightning that destroyed most of Niflheim.

She is very tired now, very tired.

But the wound on his body didn't hurt much anymore.

Miss Magician was lying on a deck chair by the edge of the nightmare tree, wearing only simple black underwear, and there were abrasions or puncture wounds all over her body.

A thin, ethereal-looking guy in a black hood was treating her wound.

Zatanna struggled to stay awake.

She leaned on the recliner and stared straight at the man in front of her.

It was as if in the blink of an eye, he would completely disappear, just like the last farewell.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

Merlin reached out and threw a healing spell on Zatanna's arm.

He also had some bandages and sutures on hand, not uncommon in this dream world of Zatanna and him.

"They all say you're dead."

Zatanna said in a hoarse and weary voice:

"I don't think you're dead, you won't die, it seems I guessed right."

"It depends on how you look at it."

Merlin replied calmly:

"In the traditional sense, I did die."

"But you're still here!"

Zatanna said stubbornly:

"Unless I think you are crazy, and when I didn't realize it, I created an illusion of you in the dream world, you..."

"is that true?"

"You can touch it."

Merlin raised his head, and under the black hood, he showed a smile.

他 说:

"But we don't have much time, Zatanna. It's not like I'm lucky enough to meet a high-ranking terror every day."

"Ok?"

When Zatanna heard Merlin's words, she blinked and said:

"Dreadfiend? Are you in hell now?"

"Correct."

Merlin held Zatana's hand, and he said softly:

"It's in the scorched earth plain between the Nu River, the Swear River and the Resentment River, in the gap between the fifth hell, and it's said to be in the lower level of Lucifer's hell."

"It is specially used to exile souls that no one is willing to accept. It is a very special hell dimension. I have been in that ghost place for a while."

"The flow of time there is also abnormal, so I can't be sure how much time has passed now."

"6 months!"

Zatanna rubbed her sore forehead and said:

"It's been six months since you died."

"Oh, that's fine."

Merlin smiled softly.

He stood up, walked behind Zatanna, stretched out two fingers, and placed them on Miss Magician's forehead.

While massaging gently, he gently injected magic power into her body to relieve her fatigue.

他 说:

"When I went out today, I was very lucky to meet a high-level fear demon wandering around. You know, that kind of demon also has the ability to enter dreams."

"So I 'borrowed' its body for a while, and wanted to come back to see you, but I saw you running to die."

"I'm not."

Zatana pouted, she said:

"The nightmare was sent to Asgard by me, where it gave birth to a personified consciousness. It tried to be born in this world, but was also stopped by Odin."

"The villain is trapped there. As long as it doesn't return to Earth, it can no longer infiltrate our dream world. We are safe... the world you have been protecting is safe."

"It's a bit of a risk, but it's worth it."

"You have also started to learn from me to protect the world? I am really touched...but how long can you trap it?"

Merlin said softly:

"One year? Two years?"

"No point, Zatanna, the Sandman gave you and me 7 years to deal with the Nightmare thing, and you're not going to solve it just by exiling it."

"What should I do?"

Miss Magician snorted and said quite dissatisfied:

"You left me here alone and let me face the nightmare alone. I'm just a weak woman. It's pretty good that I can do this."

"Don't make trouble."

"Didn't I come back?"

Merlin's fingers caressed Zatana's cheek, and the cold touch of the ghost made Zatanna shiver.

She held Merlin's finger with her backhand, and pressed it tightly against her neck and face.

"This time, do you want to go?"

Zatanna asked.

Merlin didn't answer right away. After a few seconds, he said softly:

"This time, don't leave, I will accompany you to the end...There is nothing that can stop us anymore."

"it is good."

With a weak smile on Zatanna's face, she said:

"I'll trust you again."

"But then again, you are locked in hell, do I need to find someone to find a way to release you?"

Miss Magician says:

"If hell is going to start, it may take me a while to prepare."

"no no."

Merlin leaned down and kissed Zatanna on the forehead, he said:

"The hell dimension that traps me is a peculiar place that cannot be opened from the outside. How to get out from there is something I have to consider."

"Zatana, I need you to help me with something else."

He lowered his voice and said to Zatanna:

"What you see is only a third of my soul."

"Ok?"

Miss Magician looked back at Merlin in surprise.

Under the black hood, the ghost's face was a little erratic, pale and very unhealthy, but the entity of the soul existed, and there was no lack of it.

She frowned and said:

"Are you sure? You look complete and there are no signs of being cut."

"My soul is different from ordinary people."

Merlin explained:

"Bigger than other souls..."

"During that farewell ceremony, I used some kind of black magic to cut my soul and cut it into 3 pieces, so as to ensure that under no circumstances would I actually lose my soul."

"The other two pieces of my soul are sealed in two Horcruxes."

Merlin's body illusoryly crossed the reclining chair and appeared beside Zatanna. He hugged Miss Magician behind him, and the latter put her head on Merlin's shoulder cooperatively.

The posture of the two is very, very ambiguous.

But alas, these two can't do anything else...

Merlin came to the dream world in the form of a ghost, and he couldn't appear as an entity.

"The Horcrux?"

Zatanna frowned and said:

"It's not a good thing to hear."

"Indeed, it is not."

Merlin sighed softly, and said:

"The soul should follow the natural rules and maintain the unity of the whole. Forcibly splitting it will bring serious consequences, but the situation at that time...I can't think about it anymore."

"In short, I need you to help me find the two Horcruxes I left behind."

"After this piece of my soul escapes hell and returns to the present world, a special blood bone recovery ceremony will be used to reunite the fragmented me into one."

"After that ritual is over, I will be truly 'resurrected' both mentally and physically."

Merlin played with Zatana's long hair with his fingers, and said:

"After that, I'll start working on solving the nightmare problem...really solving it."

Under the hood, with a gleam in his gray eyes, he said:

"I already have a plan."

"I will help you."

Zatana didn't hesitate too much, she closed her eyes and hugged Merlin affectionately.

This guy's body is very light, like a gust of wind, like a cloud, and he no longer has the sense of solidity before.

He must be in pain right now.

As a mystic spellcaster, although Zatana had never heard of Horcruxes.

But she could understand what would happen to a complete soul after it was split.

Perpetual hunger, thirst.

Unable to touch the real thing, a ray of strong sunlight is enough to make him fly away.

There is also pain, the pain left after the soul is torn apart, that is enough to distort a person's will.

"Where is your Horcrux?"

Zatana yawned, she was seriously injured, she urgently needed to rest, she pulled herself together and asked:

"Is it among your relics?"

"No."

Merlin shook his head and said:

"It was a bit too conspicuous to just have it around. There were a lot of people watching me at the time. I had to reduce the risk. I put them somewhere else."

"The sacred weapon secreted by the Bloodstone family, a blood-red crystal cross, was placed in St. Matthew's Church in Hell's Kitchen, and Father Paul kept it for me."

Merlin stroked Zatanna's earlobe with his fingers, and he said:

"You just need to tell the priest that you come to pick up what I deposited, and you can get it."

"The second... Icarus."

Merlin leaned on the recliner, he whispered:

"A pair of glasses made of vibrating gold. There is an artificial intelligence that I am very familiar with. Before the war, I sent it out of the battlefield, and it should still be in the hands of my subordinates."

"It may not be so easy for you to find it, but I believe they will keep it safe for me."

"Ah."

Zatanna buried her head in Merlin's arms, and she said:

"I'll sleep for a while, and when I wake up, I'll go find it right away."

"No, you rest first."

Merlin flicked Zatanna's cheek with his fingers and said:

"You are seriously injured, and there is no rush to go after you recover. I returned earlier than I expected, so it's not a big problem."

"What's more, I still need to find a way to get out of that bound hell. That's not an easy task."

"Then shall I tell your friends and relatives the news that you are still alive?"

Zatanna looked up, she looked into Merlin's eyes, and she asked:

"They were all very sad, they gave you a funeral, I saw them, they all cried for you..."

"how about you?"

Merlin put his hand on Zatanna's delicate chin, and he raised the face in front of him, and said:

"Did you cry for me?"

"What do you say?"

Miss Magician blinked, and she said:

"After you died, I never wasted my tears again..."

"Hahaha"

Merlin smiled happily, he reached out and hugged Zatana, and he said:

"Don't tell them yet, it's not an evil concealment."

"Those powers have left this world, but the remaining ones are still there. I have some friends, but I definitely have more enemies than friends."

"If they know that the raven will come back, then they will definitely try their best to stop you, there is no doubt about it."

"I don't want you to take risks for me anymore."

"call"

A gust of wind blew by, and Merlin's figure was like smoke blown away by the wind. He frowned and looked at his floating body. He said to Zatanna:

"That dread can't take it anymore... I should go."

He stretched out his dissipating hand, stroking Zatana's long hair, his body leaned forward, and their lips touched each other.

Merlin said softly:

"Relax, Zatanna. I look forward to our next reunion..."

"Six months!"

At the moment when Merlin's figure was about to disappear, Zatana blinked suddenly, and she whispered:

"24 times...Counting this one, 25 times..."

"Next time we meet, you have to give it all back to me!"

"Wow"

An indescribable expression appeared on Merlin's phantom face.

He smiled and tried to kiss Zatanna on the forehead.

His figure was blown away by the wind, and those floating light spots revolved around Zatanna, and finally landed on her forehead, like a good-natured joke.

Merlin is gone.

But he is still alive.

"Well..."

Miss Magician stood up and stretched her body tremblingly.

Her mood became very good.

She looked at the light behind the castle, then glanced back at the quiet Nightmare Tree, and a heartfelt smile flashed across her face.

"Sleep for a while..."

Zatanna yawned, and as she walked toward her castle, she said:

"Then, it's time to get to work."

The wind blew Miss Magician's long hair, and the long black hair mischievously fluttered around her cheeks. Zatanna reached out and brushed the hair behind her ears.

At this moment, her eyes were full of spirits.

she says:

"Merlin..."

"Welcome home."

(End of this chapter)