Imp to Demon King: A Journey of Conquest-Chapter 319: The Price of Prophecy

Merlin coughed blood for ten seconds, yet no one helped him. Instead, they all taped their fingers on the table, their impatient glares drilling holes into the stained mage’s robes.

Annoyed by the delay, Adam slammed the table. "Speak now!"

Honestly, if not for Mab, he would have pummeled the man black and blue and shattered every single bone in his body. Once at death’s doors, he would have returned Excalibur’s scabbard to heal him, just so he could do it again.

Noticing the dangerous glint flashing in Adam’s blue and scarlet eye, Merlin coughed one last time before he snapped his fingers.

Green energies engulfed him, their sparks filling the room with a soothing scent of nature. It faded a second later, revealing Merlin’s clean looks as if his earlier wounds were a mirage.

Well, the others would have believed it if he wasn’t massaging his cheek with a deep frown. "Before anything... allow me to apologise. No matter my reasons, you didn’t deserve to suffer for ten years."

Seeing Adam’s eyes narrow, he skipped this part. Even if he was genuine, he knew he had hurt Adam. Not physically. After all, flesh wounds eventually healed, but those on the heart? They lingered for decades, more often than not, rotting until the person transformed into someone else. But he had bet on Adam’s mental resilience and won... even if his friendship was the price.

He clenched his fists under the table, his eyes firming and his lips thinning into a line. "I’ll start from the beginning. To reclaim her lost throne and gather faith from mortals, Mab designed my existence. My mother was a pious human, my father was... Satan."

The six former imps narrowed their eyes. Why had they never heard about him if he was someone important?

But Muramasa and the three sisters leapt back in horror. Even Adam’s pupils constricted as he recoiled on his sofa, a pensive frown creasing his brows.

Legends often speculated about Merlin’s origins, most representing his father as a demon. But the devil in person?

"To think those few wild stories were true." He muttered. "Was that how you knew about the brazier?"

Merlin shook his head. "My prophetic powers came from my parents’ opposing natures. Through them, I saw your future three times marred by ruin." He raised a finger. "The first after the fragment of his throne consumed your mind. You became his avatar, an agent of destruction who razed realms to the ground relentlessly."

Adam’s face darkened as Merlin raised another finger.

"The second time, he freed himself. You tried to resist, but... his command over fire is absolute. He beheaded and feasted on your essence in the middle of your burning city."

Adam’s jaw twitched. It was never comfortable to learn of his own death, especially such a gruesome one.

"Shit... When will it happen?" Adam pinched the bridge of his scrunched nose.

"I don’t know." Merlin exhaled. "But I couldn’t let this vision happen. That’s why I conveniently helped Mab stumble upon clues about Ahriman’s location. She shared them with Tiamat. The rest is history."

He stretched his hand out, his palm trembling. "Please tell me you secured the brazier. We can still retrieve it before the spatial crack to the abyss closes if you didn’t."

Hesitation flashed in Adam’s eyes. Mimir had already confirmed Satan’s absolute authority over flames, supporting Merlin’s alarming concerns.

His neck tensed, the muscles on full display. ’This bastard will come for me? I shouldn’t have provoked him when he tried to brainwash me...’ He shook his head, his eyes narrowing into blazing slits as the fear budding in his heart melted. ’I’m the one who’ll devour you.’

He unstrapped the god slayer’s hilt from his belt and showed it to Merlin. "I reforged the brazier. Flames channelled through this hilt can’t be drained, absorbed, or stolen."

Horrified, Merlin lunged to observe the hilt engraved with runic patterns, praying Adam hadn’t ruined the brazier or doom would become unavoidable.

With each tense second crawling by, his sweaty expression shifted until his jaw dropped in disbelief and he gasped for air. "How does it have the other six devils’ powers?!"

Adam shrugged as he strapped the hilt back. There was no need to share the information if he didn’t know, not when he still didn’t understand why Merlin shrouded his goal behind a veil of omissions.

"If the brazier was this important, why didn’t you tell me and instruct the others to keep the secret?"

Merlin massaged his brows, a heavy sigh escaping his lips. "Tell you what? That we planned to let the gryphon banish you the second you conquered the realm, that you had to carve a path of blood and despair through the seven layers all by yourself, or... that if the exit remained close, you would have had to wait for Tiamat to recover and rescue you after at least another decade?"

His lips twisted, guilt gnawing at his heart. "Wouldn’t you have called me a madman? This was the only option."

Adam paled before he clapped his hands in sarcasm. "I would have flicked you a middle finger. But you bastard! You planned to leave me stranded for another ten years?"

His lips curling down in rage, he summoned Excalibur’s scabbard and slammed it on the table.

"I’m not your pawn, Merlin. And instead of spreading your false wisdom, why don’t you look back at your past mistakes? You allowed King Uther into a married woman’s bed before he killed her husband. In your guilt, you educated the bastard son born from this union, Arthur, only to fail him again."

He snorted in disgust. "Weren’t you the one who brought Lancelot to Camelot, the same knight who fled with Arthur’s wife after seducing her? I can go on about how you didn’t warn him about his sister until they conceived Mordred or how your disciple sealed you away."

Merlin’s eyes widened, his mouth opening to refute the accusations. Yet, no sounds came out. They were true.

"Take back your scabbard and piss off somewhere out of my sight. I don’t want to end like your other protegees—betrayed by your secrecy and their families."

Muramasa jumped between them, his voice quivering. "Please, calm down before you take such a drastic decision, Adam."

Despite his intervention, Merlin raised a feeble hand to stop him. His eyes dim and back hunched, he picked up the scabbard and walked toward the door.

"You’re right, Adam. Everything I tried to accomplish crumbled because of my mistakes," he muttered, tears trailing down his cheeks as he paused at the doorway. "What should I have done?"

Adam’s eyes narrowed, the answer as clear as water to him. "Trust the others as they trusted you. Who are you to force them into your scheme?" He pointed at the ceiling. "The gods tried. You’ll soon see their heads roll on the floor."

Merlin closed his eyes, scenes of his past flashing in his mind. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust them. Rather, he couldn’t let them fail, even if he had to manipulate the events from the shadows. But these meager results...

"I was the problem all along... "I’ll be in the tower west if you ever need me. I-I’ll repay you and change to regain your trust." He bit his quivering lips and stepped out. "My third dream happens in the demon realm. No matter the reason, don’t go before you reach the ninth tier."

With those last words, Merlin vanished, leaving Adam frowning in horror. After all, he had planned to reach the ninth tier in the demon realm...