Ok, guys. mini-cliff at the end... just a little jump down... and next chapter Merlin will finally get out of the cave!

So, yeah... enjoy the chapter...

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 20 – Grani (II)

[The only way the gods had to deal with the situation was to seal the devils in another dimension, along with the hexad who supported them. However, the gods were even in power, and that meant that if they wanted to seal the hexad along with the demons, six of the other gods would have to sacrifice all their power to create the seal, which, in the case of beings made of pure power as the gods were, meant death. To create the seal they would have six casualties, and it wasn’t certain that the seal would work, for the overpowered devils were too powerful, and the gods didn’t know how their power would affect the seal.

Asmodea, the only goddess aside from the hexad who liked the devil race, came up with a solution for that problem, if the power of the devils would disrupt the seal, then as long as that power was weakened, there would be no problems at all! When the other gods heard about her idea, they looked at her in disbelief! If that were possible, wouldn’t they had done it already before the situation got that bad?! But after Asmodea explained in detail the plan she had thought of, they changed their opinion: genius!!

Asmodea’s plan was elegant in its simplicity, yet they wouldn’t have ever thought of it for it implied a new concept, and the gods usually had great difficulty to think outside the box. She proposed that instead of sealing the devils and the hexad simultaneously, they should first seal the hexad, which would halve the power of the devils, and then, seal the devils. As the devils’ power, although weakened, would still risk to disrupt the seal, Asmodea had thought of a way to weaken them even further: they would sever the part of the devils’ souls which had been corrupted by the power bestowed by the hexad, and introduce it into animals. That way, the power would still exist, but without a conscience with the ability to wield it, it could be sealed without affecting the seal in any way whatsoever.

Asmodea’s plan had several flaws, but at that moment, neither she or the other gods realized they existed, only after having implemented their plan would they realize the consequences said plan would leave for the future generations. The devils with damaged souls became no better than animals, and Asmodea, taking pity on them cured their souls, but in doing so changed them into the race who is known nowadays as the asmodians. Another blind spot of the plan was how the power of the hexad would affect to the animals used as vessels for it prior to the sealing. Those animals mutated into what is now known as monsters, and those who mutated even further and gained a conscience are now known as devils…]

Merlin had a hunch that what he was being told would be important for him in the future, but he still couldn’t see how that was related to his family, or to the “Cult of Abaddollyon”, so he couldn’t help but ask.

Merlin: “I’m sorry for interrupting you again, but could you please explain to me how exactly is this related to my family, my family name, and the ‘Cult of Abaddollyon’ ?”

Grani: “Little one, you are very impatient… You should learn to calm your heart, for being hotheaded in a battle will only lead you to your demise… Allow me to continue telling you the story, and you’ll soon understand how this is related to you and your family. The part about the ’Cult of Abaddollyon’ will come later.”

Merlin decided not to say anything else and wait till the dragon finished telling the story before asking him again, but he didn’t know if his impatience would get the better of him again before then.

[…The gods carried out their plan and the ones sacrificed to create the seal were Natura, Minutorars, Fera, Asmodea, Bastheth and Lokiseth, five goddesses and a lonely god who heroically gave up their very existences to protect their chosen race, with the exception of Bastheth, who just didn’t want to let go of her twin, Fera, and decided to accompany her into the oblivion…

But here, a happy miscalculation happened. Due to severing the corrupted part of the soul from the devils, according to the plan laid by Asmodea, the ones weakened weren’t only the corrupted fragments of soul, but also the members of the hexad: Nex, Bellum, Fames, Debellum, Cruciatus and Pestis, which in turn decreased the consumption of power when creating the seal. The difference was negligible, but for Natura, Minutorars, Fera, Asmodea, Bastheth and Lokiseth, it meant the difference between existence and utter destruction!

The six deities were really happy to be able to continue existing, but they had been greatly weakened, so much so, that if they didn’t find a vessel soon, their existences would vanish! They decided to incarnate into the strongest member of their races of choice, living in symbiosis with them, and becoming the guardian spirits of their bloodlines, accumulating power little by little with each generation, until the day the hexad returned and their power was needed again to seal them away once more.

That was something they considered a fact, the hexad would undoubtedly return. The seal required their sacrifice to be “perfect”, in other words, if they didn’t die, the seal would maintain its function and trap the hexad and the corrupted fragments of the devils’ souls on the other dimension, but a bit of their power could leak into this world from the other side, and on the long run, it would allow them to come back to this side! Unfortunately for the world, time proved them right!

Unbeknownst to the seventeen gods and goddesses, Nex, one of the gods from the hexad, had caught wind of their plan, and he made a countermeasure for it: he severed a minuscule part of his own consciousness and implanted it into an unborn human baby. That human baby was named “Abaddollyon” after his birth, and when he was in his teens, he started his own cult under the influence of Nex’s fragment of consciousness. He recruited humans of the worst kind and those who due to mistreatment by their own kind, or by their life circumstances, blamed the gods for their misery.

By the age of 20, Abaddollyon had several thousands of followers but the fact that they massacred villages from time to time, killed the men and enslaved the women (who were later imprisoned in the basement of the base of the cult, and forced to have babies non-stop for the sake of the blood rituals of the cult) didn’t sit good with the cults of the other gods, so in the end an allied force attacked the base and tried to eradicate the heretic cult, leaving only 6 people: Abaddollyon and his 5 most trusted followers.

Abaddollyon and his followers learnt the lesson and went into hiding, then started to recruit people again, but this time, they bid their time and didn’t recruit into the cult only those who fitted their previous criteria, they also recruited people belonging to the nobility, but who couldn’t inherit, and helped them to raise in their position, from the shadows, they steadily infiltrated the high society of several kingdoms…

Several millennia later, when Abaddollyon was in his last breaths, chaos reigned all over the continent as the “Cult of the lost gods”, which was known to the allied forces as the “Cult of Abaddollyon”, came into the open and started a war against the believers of different faiths. In the end, the five races joined hands to fight against the “Cult of Abaddollyon” and destroyed the cult, but the six leaders of the alliance knew that it wasn’t over, even after they learnt about Abaddollyon’s death.

After the battle, the six leaders of the alliance used the power of their guardian spirits to reinforce the seal, and then led each of their races into a period of prosperity and peace… but they were well aware that the fight was far from over, they could just hope to prepare their people the best they could, so that in the next battle they would fare better and have less casualties…

The human leader, Merlin Pendragon, founded the Kingdom of Avalon, developed magic to new heights and even stablished a gate network between the capitals of the different regions which conformed his kingdom, to promote commerce between them… All that, while he was training his clan members in secret, and preparing them for an eventual clash with the “Cult of Abaddollyon”… Little did he imagine that his kingdom would one day disappear and be forgotten, his legacy lost, and his clan reduced to a family of eight…]

Grani: “I participated in that war as Merlin Pendragon’s friend and mount. Soon after the war ended, Merlin and I created the space in this cave and sealed me inside, this way I could give a hand to future generations in their fight against the ‘Cult of Abaddollyon’… but to this day, there has been no one worthy of getting my help. You are the one who has been the closest to do so, but you are too weak now. By my calculations, given the information you’ve provided me with, I’d say there are 10 to 16 years before the ‘Cult of Abaddollyon’ actively recruits scumbags and openly declares war against the five races again.”

Merlin: “You’ve gotta be kidding me! Are you seriously telling me in 10 to 16 years there’s going to be a war between the five races and those bastards?!”

Grani: “That’s correct. Besides, the current situation is far worse than it was millennia ago… back then, the five races had their conflicts, but they were more or less united. On the other hand, right now, all five races have some kind of conflict with the others, and even worse, members of the same races are warring against each other… creating an allied force like the one back in the day… is highly unlikely at the present time.”

Merlin: “What can we do then? I want to protect my family, and I don’t want them to get involved in a war! Is there really nothing we can do?”

Grani: “Hmmm, there might be something… I can think of two methods by which you could protect your family in case that the war breaks out… but not in your current state, you are far too weak right now… ”

Merlin “But the clock is ticking! Is there really nothing you can do? Can’t you help me in any way?”

Grani: “I hate people who push their responsibilities onto others! But I do admit that the world has changed, and right now your strength might be on the upper side among your fellow humans, but if you were to fight an ancient devil at its full strength, you wouldn’t last even one second… Argh! The people of this world were supposed to grow stronger with each generation, not the other way around!”

Merlin: “So we are doomed then…”*fuck, now that I finally got a good family who loves me, and three beautiful girls who will unconditionally love me and never betray me, the world is going to end… damn, just my luck!*

Grani: “Not necessarily… You know what? I’m going to give you something that might be of help to you… to what extent it helps you will depend only on your hard work!”

Merlin: “Oh?! What is it?”

Grani: “The original Merlin Pendragon’s training methods! Try to follow them, as the inheritor of his legacy you should be able to. I’ll give you 3 years. In three years you shall come back here, and if you’ve reached the level of strength required, I’ll make a contract with you and become your magical beast! Maybe then we’ll have a chance to stop what is to come…”

Merlin: “What?! Wow, ok, I’ll do my best”

The dragon extended his right claw towards Merlin and touched his forehead. At the same time, Merlin felt a little dizzy, because a lot of technique manuals and training regimes went directly into his brain… It took him about a minute to organize the newly acquired knowledge in his head and to get rid of the dizziness… but after he did, he started shivering due to the contents of the training regimes, but for the girls, and for his family, he’d persevere…

________________________________________________________________________________

You can always read a chapter ahead, or support the story, at http://merlinpendragon.blogspot.com/ !