As soon as they left, Compton went off to sneak into the castle. I did my part and got tickets for Lily and Rebeccah on the first train out of Warwick. Once that was taken care of I headed to Warwick Castle and made my way to the Agency’s entrance. As soon as the two guards standing against the wall that hid the secret entrance saw me they pointed their halberts at me.

“We cannot allow you to pass Mr. Barret. The Concil forbid it. We ask that you leave now or else we’ll have to kill you.” the guards threatened as they pointed their weapons at me. Though it was easy to see that they were shaking. Normally they were so calm and collected but they were afraid of me. Perhaps, Merlin told them who I was? It didn’t matter though.

“I only wish to speak with Merlin. I can’t exactly have him destroy the world without a failsafe. Can I?” I said in a nonchalant way that showed how little their threats did. They both looked at each other before looking back at me.

“Again, we have to ask you to leave. We don’t know what you’re talking about but we have our orders.” the guard on the left said as he tightened the grip on his halbert. Once he finished talking I let out a sigh and focused a little bit on forming the blue-ish black mist around myself. In less than a second of their perceived time, I snapped the ends off of their halberts like they were twigs between my fingers.

“Go home. If you have any family then I suggest you go to them and pray the world doesn’t end. Though if you get in my way further you will not leave this spot for the rest of eternity.” I threatened before giving them each a glare.

“O-of course…” the one on the right said as they both backed away from me in fear. After that, they ran off and I had to open the door myself.

Inside, I walked down the corridor until I entered the large circular room. Strangely there wasn’t anyone in the room and it had been completely cleared out. As I looked around the room I couldn’t help but feel as if something was off. Usually, there were at least a few people running around here. Yet, there was nobody.

“Hey, is anyone here? It’s Lou Barret! I want to speak with Merlin!” I called out loudly. My voice echoed through all the halls only for silence to fill the space once again. I was just about to start rummaging through everything when I heard footsteps approaching me. They didn’t sound like Merlin’s though. They were heavier and more aloof. Almost like Scott’s.

“You finally showed up? About time.” Scott said as he entered the circular room from one of the corridors with a carefree swagger. Unlike before when he looked to be healing from his injuries, he looked to be the pinnacle of health.

“Hey, Scott. Thank goodness you’re here. Now I need you and Silva need to get out of here and help us take down Merlin.” I said with a glad look. To be honest, before I saw him I was afraid that Merlin was gonna show up ready for a fight.

“Are you an idiot? Like hell, I’d ever take orders from a bastard like yourself!” Scott said as he cracked his knuckles.

“What are you talking about? Merlin is going to kill off most of the world. We need to stop him as fast as-” I started to say before Scott interrupted me.

“Do you think I care? I don’t care what Merlin does. What I do care about it is killing you.” Scott interrupted with an inhuman glare of hatred.

“What are you talking about? Why would you want to kill me? We’re friends, right?” I asked with a confused look.

“You took the one I loved from me. You made me think someone else killed her which resulted in me killing so many. You made me suffer for five long years. I feel betrayed by both you and Silva. Hell, even Elysif and Compton were part of it, weren’t they?” Scott yelled as if he was breaking down.

“...” I couldn’t say anything. He was right and there was nothing I could do to change that. Though, I didn’t have time for this. If he wanted to hate me then that’s fine but he can do that after I kill Merlin.

“It doesn’t matter. I asked Merlin to clear out this part of the castle so that I could fight you once you arrived. He’s setting up some kind of ritual outside in the inner court so if you beat me you can do whatever you want. I’ll even tell you where Silva is. However, I don’t plan on letting you leave here alive.” Scott said as he got into a ready position. His stance made him look like a bare-knuckle boxer.

“Sorry, but I made a promise to save you. Even though I keep making that promise I don’t plan on backing down from any of them.” I said as I drew my sword, causing the spirit armor to appear on my body. As I did I focused on covering myself in the blue-ish black mist as well. My goal at the moment is to absorb the runes covering his body with my sword. Nothing more, nothing less.