"Sannomiya looks down on the Seven Lords of Hell, and it sees them as a weak group of cowards and conspirators who are trying to rule Hell in a political game and try to make the dark world truly unified.But the Seven Lords of Hell have their own ideas about each other, and there are also the constraints of Heaven and other forces, and the so-called unity is impossible to achieve a grand situation. ”The Phantom Stranger's finger tapped on Merlin's forehead, and he spoke to Merlin as if he were talking about strange things that mortals could not know, and probably could not understand.It's like a madman caught up in self-delusion.But at least his power is real.Bound by the dark blue light, Merlin couldn't move a finger, not even blinking.He watched as wisps of something like dark red smoke were "sucked" out of Judas's body, like some strange detoxification ritual."
But the arrogant Sannomiya aspires to become the true king of hell, and although it has several dimensions of hell, it is still a little bit inferior to the authority of the true king of hell.Since many years ago, it has used a very cruel way to carry out a difficult increase in its self-strength. ”"You know, the stronger the power, the harder it is to improve."
The Phantom Stranger's fingers clasped on Merlin's heart and jerked outward, a struggling dark red force was pulled out, struggling in the palm of his hand like a bug, but it was easily crushed by Judas, allowing it to dissipate into the air."
Trust me, Merlin, you won't want to know what kind of future it means to be the 'son' of Sannomiya."
Judas let out a low laugh, and he turned behind Merlin and struck him three times on the back, and Merlin's restraints were lifted at this moment.Merlin himself, who had been freed, suddenly felt a strong desire to vomit, and he covered his mouth and rushed into the bathroom of the café.A moment later, a pale Merlin walked back, taking the tissue from the Phantom Stranger and wiping his mouth, as he looked back at the bathroom in fear.He was shocked and said, "Those bugs...""
Soul parasites, no means on the table."
Judas explained to Merlin with a relaxed face: "Mortals will always think that demons or demons are omnipotent, but in fact their activities in the human world are more limited than you think, and the farther away they are from hell, the more their power is weakened. ”"That's why they like to play this trick, to keep the parasite or something in your body, and then manipulate the parasite to make you feel like they're in control.""
But in fact, you can live in peace in the world, as long as you don't go to death yourself, those demons, including a powerful monarch like Sannomiya, will be very difficult to really hurt you.Unless you're crushed by the fear in your heart, that's what the demons want to see. ”"It's always easier to manipulate the walking dead who have a broken heart."
Phantom Stranger poses as a marionette, but this explanation hardly reassures Merlin.Merlin's concern was noticed by Judas, and the mysterious man paused, changed the subject, and said to Merlin: "I have just removed the magic mark left on you by the third house, and it can no longer 'see' you, don't worry." ”"But the contract!"
Merlin couldn't help but touch his neck, and he said, "Is it true that it says that the contract can take my soul?"
”"Well, in a sense, it does."
The Phantom Stranger took out a pocket watch from his pocket, he looked at the time on the pocket watch, and then explained to Merlin: "Sannomiya behaves roughly, like a barbarian, it rarely uses contracts to collect potential souls, and this time what happened to you is purely because of the rivalry between Sannomiya and Mephistopheles.Both guys are ambitious and competing on all fronts. ”"Mephistopheles is very good at making powerful warriors for himself with contracts, but in this regard, Minomiya is a true layman.Let's put it this way, that contract is actually incomplete, at least not as strict as the devil's contract, it has loopholes to exploit. ”Judas reached out and pushed his hat, took a sip of his coffee, and said, "But now I can't tell you how to take advantage of it, because even if you did, you wouldn't be able to." ”"As for your soul, don't worry about this, Sannomiya said that your soul is very peculiar, it's true, and you will survive this tribulation unharmed.But how can you cross the door of death without leaving something behind?
”The Phantom Stranger reached out and patted Merlin on the shoulder as if saying goodbye, and he said to Merlin, "I'm going to tell you in advance that you're going to lose something. ”"Get ready.Don't ask more, you already know what you should know by now.You will probably find it difficult to see me in the future, but I will not be late if necessary..."
Judas stood up, straightened his hat and clothes, and said to Merlin: "Go and see your father, and get along with your family, Merlin, cherish them, and the time left for you is really short." ”"Also, at midnight tomorrow night..."
The figure of the Phantom Stranger faded little by little in Merlin's eyes, and before he completely disappeared, he winked at Merlin: "At the moment when the contract takes effect, you better stay away from mortals, if you don't want them to be affected." ”"Hmm" Judas left silently, as he had come, and Merlin was the only one left in the whole café.He stood in the empty house, and there was no evidence of Judas's presence other than two cups of coffee on the table in front of him.It's all like a dream, like last night's dream, so real, yet so unreal.Merlin's mind was in turmoil, and he didn't know how to deal with it all.It seemed that overnight, the peaceful world disappeared completely, and what appeared in front of his eyes became a bizarre world, a world that was difficult for people to like.Does he have a choice?
No!
Never.There wasn't even an option to escape.Merlin took his wallet out of his pocket and put it on the counter, he glanced back at the table, where there were two cups of coffee.Merlin was stunned for a moment, then took out another piece of money, which was considered to be paid to the Phantom Stranger who had escaped the bill.Well, let's just treat him to a cup of coffee.Ten minutes later, a belated Merlin arrived at Madison's hospital.Mrs.
Coulson wept and hugged her son as she saw Merlin walk into the room, and Merlin looked at her father while comforting her grieving mother.James was lying in the emergency room in front of him, behind the heavy glass, dozens of tubes were inserted into him, these medical instruments, maintaining James's life like a candle in the wind.He survived, but only alive.Phil.
Coulson sat on the side, the young man's face filled with uncertainty and confusion.He hadn't been able to accept what was happening in front of him, and there was a hint of self-reproach in his gray eyes.When he saw Merlin walking towards him, Phil subconsciously stood up, he looked at his brother a little nervously, and said, "Merlin...
Really, it was because I rejected the demon that I let my father...""
No!"
Merlin reached out and held his dazed and frightened brother in his arms, he patted Phil on the back, and he whispered, "It's none of your business, forget about it, Phil, it's just a dream." ”He looked at the haggard look on his brother's face, Merlin sighed, he put his hands on Phil's shoulders, and he said to the 15-year-old, "You have to grow up as fast as you can, you have to take care of mom and dad, can you do it?"
”Phil gritted his teeth and nodded, "I can!"
”"Good!"
Merlin looked left and right, lowered his voice and said to Phil, "Help me stabilize my mother, don't let her go home first, and then wait for me to come back, okay?"
”"yes, okay."————————————— the day after James' car accident, Merlin had been busy.At 9 o'clock in the evening, Merlin, looking haggard, walked into the hospital with a black handbag.Phil was still waiting outside James's hospital room, while Anna, Mrs.
Coulson, lay in her chair and pretended to sleep, she had been so sad for the past two days that she was very tired."
Come here, Phil."
Merlin did not disturb his mother's rest, and he called his brother over.Around the corner of the ward, he handed his handbag to his brother.Phil took the somewhat heavy handbag, opened it and looked at it, and his eyes immediately widened.The handbag was filled with a wad of green dollars, and it looked like there were more than 100,000 dollars."
Where did you get the money?
Merlin!
”Phil lowered his voice and asked his brother, "Did you go to borrow money?"
”Faced with his younger brother's questioning, Merlin, who has never smoked, rarely took out a pack of wrinkled cigarettes from his pocket.He opened the window, lit the cigarette, and in the smoke he took a hard breath, coughed a few more times, and said in a hoarse voice, "No, I sold the farm." ”After the death of Merlin's parents, Merlin has the inheritance of the Riley family's ancestral home.But the house was demolished, and Merlin's adoptive father, James, used the indemnity to buy a new farm for Merlin as an inheritance for Merlin in the future.The ownership of the farm had always been in Merlin's name, and he was 18 years old, and he was fully entitled to dispose of the property freely.Although, due to the urgency of time, the sale of the farm was severely suppressed by the intermediary company, but a sense of urgency due to instinct made Merlin have no time to take care of this.He had to arrange everything as quickly as he could, Merlin had never forgotten the warning of the Phantom Stranger when he left, and Judas had told him that his time was running out.Merlin could easily sense a sense of foreboding in it.He didn't know what he was going to face, he didn't know how he was going to end.Therefore, before the end comes, he has to do his best to arrange the future life for his family."
You!"
Phil was really shocked at this moment, and as soon as he grabbed Merlin's wrist, he scolded, "You're crazy!
That's what your father left you!
”"I know, brother."
Merlin looked at Phil and said, "But I don't need it to live well, James needs surgery, and I've seen a lot of patients like this in Roubes' private hospital, and they still need a lot of money to maintain after the surgery."
You have to go to school, and your mother has to take care of your father.James' pension and insurance simply weren't enough to cover that. ”"I don't want you to live in poverty.It's just a deposit, and some of the money will go to James' bank account, which should be enough to last you until you reach adulthood.At that point, you and I will have jobs, and everything will be fine. ”"Anyway, don't tell your mother yet, okay?"
Phil lowered his head, looked at the handbag in his hand, felt the weight of the handbag, and finally, he nodded.This little bit of a child seems to have grown up overnight.Merlin looked down at the time, he coughed, snuffed out his cigarette, and said to Phil, "I'm going to go out, maybe after midnight, and take care of them for me, okay?"
”"Midnight?"
Phil looked at Merlin suspiciously, "What are you going to do?"
”"Don't ask."
Merlin patted his brother on the shoulder, and he said vaguely: "I'll deal with the intermediary matter, those bastards took advantage of our urgent need for money to lower the price of the farm, but we can't let them take advantage of the loopholes." ”Phil believed it, and the young man didn't notice the nervousness in his brother's eyes as he turned to leave, and the slight fear in his eyes.Merlin walked out of the hospital, the summer night was not too cold, but when he saw the light and the deep and flowing night, Merlin still subconsciously wrapped his coat tightly.He felt a chill, born of fear of what was to come.Midnight on the third day is approaching, and the contract of the Three Palace Demons will be fulfilled.Merlin wasn't dealing with any kind of intermediary.He is going to face his fate.Just tonight.()