My heart was in anguish. While my hands were already stained with blood, I could justify those previous killings on the basis of self-defense or the protection of the innocent. If I were to kill Merlin to claim his staff, it would be to further my selfish goal to return home. But if I faltered here and now, then the Gamemaster could ask a God to kill me and bring in another Player Character to continue the play.

In the end, I wanted to return home; therefore, I must win against Merlin to do so. My mind became clear, and my mental clarity was reflected in my eyes.

"Good," my predecessor said with an approving nod and a smile. "Whenever you're ready."

Knowing that my opponent was a Level 50 mage, I knew that I could not win a magical duel against Merlin. Thus, I had to rely on my abilities as a swordsman. I activated my Sprint skill to close the distance between us and then drew my sword. I made a high swing to decapitate him!

However, my opponent easily read my move. Merlin lazily lifted his staff and blocked my swing with just one hand!

I felt a small shock run through my hands and caused them to shake! As I hopped back, I glanced at my latest in-game notification: "Status: Shocked. -3 Health, -3% Attack."

"I forgot to mention that my magical staff can cause a random effect," my opponent gloated.

I activated my Charge skill. I propelled my body forward and slammed my blade toward my opponent's skull!

Again, Merlin casually lifted his staff to block my attack with just one hand.

I tried to knee him in the gut, but he merely sidestepped the sneak attack.

I continued to apply pressure on Merlin. I threw a left jab at his chin, but he calmly blocked the punch with his palm. Undeterred by the block, I pushed my chest forward and threw my weight into the punch!

However, Merlin's hand did not move at all. Instead, there was a look of amusement on his face. Suddenly, he grabbed my fist. With an incredible display of inhuman strength, Merlin pulled me off my feet and threw my body backward!

I sailed a good ten feet through the air and landed on my back. *SLAM* "-10 Health. Status: Stunned. Duration: 10 seconds."

While I laid on the ground, unable to move, Merlin levitated across the courtyard until he hovered above my chest. He peered down at my face and said, "I forgot to mention that my attributes have been maxed out to 50 across the board. You can't beat me in a contest of Strength or Speed or anything else." He smirked at me.

When the stun duration finally expired, I slowly pulled myself off the ground. I stared into his eyes with all the defiance that I could muster.

"Good," Merlin praised me with a faint smile. He truly admired my fighting spirit, and this encouraged him to fight me seriously. "Now, it's my turn. Do try not to die," he said with a laugh. Merlin flew high in the air and raised his hands. A handful of icy javelins appeared to his left. A few balls of fire appeared to his right. He threw both at me!

I immediately activated Sprint to dodge! The ground where I stood before began to explode.

"How do you like my tri-casting?" Merlin boasted as he threw another set of fireballs and ice spears at me.

I relied on Sprint to dodge again.

This attack and dodge repeated for over a minute.

I soon realized that Merlin was toying with me. In addition to showing off his ability to tri-cast, Merlin was pitting his enormous Mana pool against my smaller Stamina bar. If he had 50 points in both Intelligence and Wisdom, then his mana regeneration would be much faster than my stamina regeneration.

In other words, my opponent was whittling down my stamina to lock out my sword skills. Merlin was daring me to engage him in a magical duel.

I gritted my teeth as I ran for my life. When my Stamina bar was dangerously low, I abruptly stopped running.

Merlin flew until he stood above me. "Give up?" he taunted me.

I ignored him, sat on the ground, and cast Anti-Magic Shell.

Merlin's brows knitted together. He was expecting me to plead for my life; instead, I was going to do something different. He saw me cast the high-tier spell, but couldn't understand why. Merlin hated not knowing! He decided to pressure me into showing my hand. "Chain Lightning!" Within mere seconds, dark clouds gathered above us.

Suddenly, a thunderbolt landed on me! *CRACKLE-BOOM* However, the magical attack could not break through my protective barrier.

Another lightning bolt struck me followed by several more in rapid succession! *CRACKLE-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM*

I expected to be injured, but I discovered that I wasn't. My Anti-Magic Shell had repelled the powerful magic attack! Knowing that the barrier will not last long, I ignored any further attack from Merlin. Instead, I cleared my mind and meditated.

I realized that I could not defeat Merlin through either martial skills or magic spells. I had to attack him via an alternative means. I remembered that the great barrier protecting Merlin's home had required 12 ley lines to maintain. If Merlin had formed a soul pact and took over the body of a Ph'laen robot, then what source of energy did it consume? The Anti-Magic Shell will give me a few precious minutes to discover his energy source and shut it down.

I used my sight as a Spirit Magi and looked at Merlin again. I saw that there two "strings" attached to his back: one was white and the other was black. The white line represented Matter while the black string represented Anti-Matter. Aha! I quickly activated Matter and attached it to the black line.

The black string immediately fizzled and disappeared.

I repeated the process and activated Anti-Matter to wipe out the white string.

*BOOM* The ground shook.

I opened my eyes and saw that the robot had dropped to the ground and splattered like an egg.

"Well done," Merlin said as the robot's flashed red once more. And then it stopped moving.

I was surprised that my gambit had worked! A part of me believed that the android-with-a-human-soul carried another power source on his person. I would carry an alternate source of energy if I were him. However, it was evident now that Merlin did not.

I pulled myself off the ground and approached the remains of Merlin. I bowed deeply to my vanquished opponent. There were so many questions that I wanted to ask Merlin. For example, he still hadn't told me why I had been picked to come into this world as his successor.

Instead, I will need to ask Lord Bane about his service as Merlin's assistant and what he witnessed on the day of the Zorxilixian invasion. However, there was something more urgent at the moment.

I reached for the magic staff and grabbed it from the ground. "Bind to your soul? Yes or No." I clicked "Yes." "ACQUIRED: Staff of Merlin, Soul Bound, +10 Intelligence, +10 Wisdom, +1 Skill level to all magic, Generate random minor spell effect upon a successful block. Major faction quest COMPLETED. Title ACQUIRED: Merlin's Successor. +5,000 XP, +5,000 Reputation, +10,000 XP."

I was shocked by the different properties of this magical staff. It was practically a cheat item because this staff increased the skill levels of all the spheres of magic I had access to.

There was a bright flash of light, and then my six Patron Deities appeared before me.

"Kekeke. Congratulations, Larry!" Lord Bane praised with a thumbs-up.

The other Gods and Goddesses were smiling at me. They were genuinely happy that I had overcome this challenging test of my worthiness to become Merlin's Successor.

I stared at the gathered divine entities for a moment. Merlin's warning echoed in my mind: "We Mortals dance on the palm of the Gods."

Seeing my blank facial expression, Gaea approached. "What's wrong, my child?" the Goddess asked with great concern.

I took a deep breath and shook my head. "I was surprised by my in-game notification," I replied. With all due respect to Merlin, I had good relationships with my patron deities. I needed them as much as they needed me. It was a give-and-take relationship. I will not follow the Gods blindly. But I won't scorn them either.

The Gods approached the remains of Merlin and surrounded him.

Lord Bane held out his right hand. Abruptly, the body was engulfed in flames!

My body twitched, but I immediately stopped moving. What was I going to do? Stop them? For all I knew, this could be a special ritual. Instead, I sat cross-legged on the ground and meditated.

The Gods stared at the fire and waited patiently for the flames to burn out. It was a funeral pyre for a former hero, and they wished to pay their respects to the late Merlin. It took several hours for the fire to die.

I sat down and meditated.

Finally, the demon lord approached me. Bane placed his hand on my shoulder.

I immediately felt hellfire in his touch, and I opened my eyes in alarm.

"Kekeke. Relax, Larry," the demigod said as he pulled back his hand.

"You were with Merlin for a long time," I stated.

Bane nodded.

"Was he always this . . ." I couldn't find the right word to finish the sentence.

"Bitter?" the demon lord chuckled. "No. Originally, Merlin was very arrogant. He became bitter after the soul pact because he lost the fight against the Zorxilixians. The Ph'laens gave him a second chance to fight them, and Merlin took it. But the fact that Merlin needed help to finish his mission grated on him over the years. He did not like being helpless," Bane explained.

I shook my head. "Sounds like Merlin was a real headcase," I observed.

"More so than the Gods?" Bane grinned.

I wisely kept my mouth shut. I pulled myself off the ground. I saw that the Gods were still lingering in the courtyard for some reason. "So what now?" I asked.

Lady Musa approached me. "Now, you need to present the staff to Saint John," the Goddess replied. "The Twelve will convene a Voting Conference. They will see that Merlin's Staff has been soul bound to you. They will vote and proclaim you the Champion of Order. Then, you will fight against the Champion of Chaos for the right to rule the Kingdom of Merlin," she explained.

The Goddess kissed me on the forehead. A warm feeling enveloped my body, and I was pulled straight up into the air!

"Whoa!" I blurted out. I saw that I was trapped inside a white bubble and flying across the sky. My divine benefactors were also flying with me. "How high up are we?" I yelled out.

Gaea flew closer to my bubble. "We're 10,000 feet above the ground. The bubble carries the air you need to breathe at this altitude," she explained.

"Why didn't we teleport?" I asked in confusion. I didn't understand why we had to fly.

"Why did Merlin build his mage tower in Carmarthen?" Bane retorted.

I tilted my head and pondered the question. "Is it because the place isn't part of the continent of Britannia?" I asked.

"Getting warmer," the demon lord grinned.

Gaea shook her head. "You shouldn't tease the child so much," the Goddess admonished him. "The land beyond Britannia is infused with Chaos. Therefore, teleportation magic can err in setting the designation point," she explained.

"But I teleported into Carmarthen," I pointed out.

"Hohoho! When you arrived, you were near the magic barrier surrounding Merlin's tower. The barrier provided a stabilizing effect and extended the reach of Order. That's what allowed you to teleport to Carmarthen without any error. Once the stabilizer was removed from the land, the Balance was tilted in favor of Chaos once more," Lady Musa lectured.

"I see." I felt guilty for taking down the barrier. I didn't appreciate its effect on the surrounding region. However, I could not enter Merlin's mage tower to retrieve his staff without performing this action. Thus, even if I knew of the barrier's effect, I would still take it down.

I turned around and looked at the tower again. Considering what Musa had just said, in the absence of the magic barrier, the tower will soon destabilize and collapse. Merlin's tower could be regarded as a part of Britannian people's heritage. And I destroyed it with my own hands. I felt guilty for doing so.

Suddenly, I felt an overwhelming bloodlust. I peered at the ground under my feet. I saw a massive army of 10,000 demihumans on the march! Flying above them was a red dragon! Standing on its back was a familiar figure--Arthur William de Vere!

I stared at the Player Character. The last time we met was at the Melee Tournament in Bristol. The event occurred over a month ago. Back then, Arthur had a cheerful but carefree attitude. He was unpredictable like the clouds.

However, the man flying below me was vastly different now. For one thing, he was wearing a suit of black armor. His aura was chaotic, malevolent, and intimidating. His character was different from before as if he had been reincarnated with a different person occupying the old body. "What happened to him?" I gasped aloud.

Gaea gave me a look of concern. "That is the Champion of Chaos," she said softly.

Bane stared at Arthur with unbridled glee. "Kekeke! Excellent!" he praised and clapped his hands.

Lady Musa gave him a withering stare. Her eyes turned soft when they looked at me. "My child, I'm afraid that Gaea is correct. Once you are acknowledged as the Champion of Order, you will have to fight your former friend and defend the kingdom from Arthur's army."

"It is a pity that Chaos has consumed so many of my children," Leonus lamented as he stared at the beast kin marching with Arthur's army.

"Why can't I go down there right now and stop him?" I asked in an angry tone of voice. If I took out Arthur right now, the threat to the Kingdom of Merlin would cease immediately!

Leonus shook his head. "I'm afraid that the current you aren't strong enough to face him," the God admitted.

"You must train and develop your skills further," Gaea agreed. "You will fight Arthur sooner than you realize."

The magic bubble took me further and further away from Arthur and his army until they were just speckles on the horizon.