"The lock... is it because of my dragon blood?"
Sovell sat down against a tree, gathered Barghest into his arms, and stroked her fur, hoping to find a little comfort in the feel of the puppy.
"I honestly never imagined your mental state could be this bad.
Ever since Orkney, you've killed so many members of other races along the way without a moment's hesitation.
And yet one 'monster' from that unlucky bastard was enough to make you lose your mind on the spot."
"I'll try my best to keep it under control from now on... hopefully."
"You remember what just happened, don't you?"
"I saw myself turn into a real White Dragon, and then something appeared beside me... tsk!"
Sovell clutched his head. His pupils narrowed slightly into vertical slits before returning to normal, but he could no longer hide the pain on his face.
"All right, it looks like the lock is still working.
I used the dreams between you and Lia to construct those chains.
As long as you still remember Lia, those chains won't break from outside provocation.
The chains will cover up those memories of yours, keeping your mental state stable."
Sovell took several deep breaths and tried to cast magecraft to suppress the pain, but...
ROOOAR!!!
▇▇▇ ▇▇ ▇▇▇ ▇▇▇ ▇▇ ▇
"Ugh! Merlin!"
Barghest jumped in fright. Sovell was now clutching his head with both hands, trembling all over.
"My image... Merlin, I need an explanation!"
Merlin held his palm close to the top of Sovell's head and channeled magical energy into it, helping ease the searing pain in his brain.
"Use that rusty brain of yours, Sovell. I sealed that part of your memories. Do you really think your image would remain intact?"
A mage's image was the key to activating and deactivating their Magic Circuits, and everyone's image was different.
Something they had experienced, something they had never experienced, or even something a blood relative had experienced could become their image.
Sovell's Magecraft Image was "the White Dragon roaring within a blood-red valley."
It was the other part of the illusion that Merlin had sealed away and severed inside the barrier earlier.
When Sovell had just tried to activate his Magic Circuits, the image he saw contained only a White Dragon roaming through an endless void. The blood-red hills and sky had vanished completely.
"Those seals can weaken as you gradually come to terms with those memories. Once you fully accept those misfortunes, the seals will cease to exist.
But if you agree, I can also erase that part of your memories outright, right now.
Your Magic Circuits would become impossible to activate, but all I'd need is a little 'weaving' to give you a new image that's kinder to you.
For example, eating sweets with Lia, practicing swordsmanship with Lia, or..."
As Merlin spoke, light flickered in his hand, as though he was already preparing to get to work.
But before Merlin could continue with something that might not get past the censors, Sovell swiftly rejected his proposal:
"No. Leave those memories."
"Oh? Tell me why."
At Merlin's question, Sovell paused for a moment before replying:
"Those memories are the responsibility and blood debt I bear.
Without them, I'd have no reason to grow stronger, and even less right to take up arms against the royal father who raised me for seven years."
"Mm. An impeccable reason."
That was Merlin's assessment.
Sovell shook his head, stood up, and asked Merlin:
"So my Magic Circuits won't activate until I accept those memories?"
"Yes. For humans, that's theoretically true. But you don't fall within that theory."
"Merlin... plain language, please. Thank you."
Sovell gripped Merlin's shoulder and offered his advice with a smile.
Faced with such a "sincere" smile, Merlin naturally began explaining in detail:
"The Magic Circuits of humans and dragon kind differ in several ways, including diameter, resilience, and structure.
Because their structures differ, the images needed to activate their Magic Circuits also differ. Your image is a combination of human and dragon-kind Magecraft Images.
Even if you discard the human portion, the part belonging to dragon kind will remain-that White Dragon roaming through the void.
Right now, you can't use magecraft because the human part of your Magecraft Image is missing.
But you can still use your dragon-kind Magic Circuits to strengthen your body and perform Mana Burst. Of course, Mana Burst is the only thing you can perform."
"What a pain.
Anyway, thank you for this, Merlin."
In the end, Sovell still expressed his gratitude to Merlin.
"Hm? That's all?"
Merlin asked.
"Yes. That's all."
Sovell answered, then continued:
"Honestly, I suspect that if we weren't so close to Lia's home, you might have kept watching from Avalon and only come out after I'd wrecked the forest and everything around it."
As he spoke, Sovell cast a suspicious look at Merlin.
Merlin immediately denied it:
"How could I! Sovell, you're my dear student. I'm none other than your big brother Merlin, the Magus of Flowers.
How could I bear to watch my own student suffer? Right? Hahahaha."
Cold sweat poured down Merlin's back. Just as Sovell suspected him of wanting to enjoy the show, he now suspected that Sovell might use his Mystic Eyes to interrogate him at any moment.
Sovell certainly wouldn't hurt him, but it would still be awkward if he actually dug something up.
After all, Merlin really had been spying on Sovell's rampage for entertainment at first. Only after remembering that this place was close to Sir Ector's territory had he come racing over.
Besides, it was nearly dusk now. When Merlin had first examined Sovell's Mystic Eyes eight years ago, Sovell had said that they were amplified under "certain conditions."
Over those eight years, repeated experiments by Sovell and Merlin had confirmed what those "certain conditions" were-moonlight.
Under moonlight, Sovell's Mystic Eyes were amplified. The degree of amplification varied with the strength of the moonlight-in other words, the cloud cover and the phase of the moon.
On a clear night with a full moon, Sovell's Mystic Eyes reached their greatest strength.
The degree of amplification also affected how well Sovell could overcome others' resistance to magecraft when he activated his Mystic Eyes.
In short, Merlin definitely couldn't withstand Sovell's Drowning Mystic Eyes under moonlight now.
Faced with this miserable truth, Merlin's response was:
Comparing an incubus's resistance to magecraft with a White Dragon's? You really do think highly of me ՞˶･֊･˶՞.
In the end, Merlin was lucky enough to bluff his way past Sovell... probably? Really, Sovell had most likely just chosen not to pursue the matter.
Time slipped by as the two talked. The sun sank in the west, and the bright moon rose in the east.
Before you continue