Sword of Salvation-Chapter 51: - Pieces on Chessboard (3)

Shin didn’t know whether he should feel grateful or angry. He had been at death’s door, but his life was saved. For that, he should be thankful. However, he had woken up next to a pile of trash, which made him feel irritated.

"Haaa..."

Shin sat up and decided not to do anything. A negative plus a positive equals neutral, so there was no need for gratitude. After all, if whoever saved him wanted his thanks, they wouldn’t have left him next to a pile of trash. No need to do anything unnecessary. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

"But, who saved me?"

As the question left his lips, Shin stood and walked away—he didn’t want to linger next to the trash pile.

The possible answers to his question were limited.

Mariel was in the same situation as Shin, so it wasn’t him. His only options were Lasyana and her group. He ruled out Lasyana too; the empress’s dislike for Shin was obvious. Girhamvell was out of the question as well. That left Delphia and Mariel’s allies.

However, if one of Mariel’s comrades had decided to help him, Shin wouldn’t have woken up next to a pile of trash. So, Delphia was the answer to his question. She must have convinced Lasyana to help him, likely wanting to interrogate him about what had happened.

"Maybe she already got that information from Mariel," Shin muttered, concluding that was why he had been dumped.

Realizing his assumption was likely correct, Shin felt the urge to head straight to the palace and claim the throne for himself—not because he wanted to be emperor, but to show that he could destroy them with ease. Still, Shin wasn’t ungrateful. Being tossed aside like trash was irritating, but it was better than losing his life.

Pushing the matter aside, Shin recalled the event that had nearly cost him his life.

Romero... that bastard was incredibly strong. Not only could he use Mariel’s abilities, but he also had Shin’s power. On top of that, he wielded high-level illusion magic. Shin had nearly been killed because he couldn’t see through Romero’s illusions. He’d faced illusion users before, but Romero’s illusions were on an entirely different level.

The question was, how could Romero use all those abilities?

As Shin pondered the question, he spotted a bench near one of the small rivers that cut through the city. The sun was already setting, but Shin ignored it and sat down, focusing on finding an answer to the puzzle.

After a while, he narrowed his thoughts down to three possibilities.

First, Romero had an ability that allowed him to create new abilities he observed. Second, Romero could copy any ability he witnessed. Third, Romero possessed every possible ability.

Shin dismissed the third possibility. While it wasn’t impossible, it was highly unrealistic. He refused to believe anyone could wield the abilities of all existing spirits. Merlin could do many things with her magic, but even she couldn’t do everything. If he could, he would have taken decisive action against Great Human Council.

Only the first and second options remained. However, Shin leaned more toward the second: the ability to copy every power he saw. That seemed more plausible to him.

"But, can he also use the spirit unification mode from the powers he copied?"

If Romero could do that, Shin would immediately give up dealing with World Order and Great Human Council. No matter how much Shin improved, defeating Romero would be impossible if he could use the unification mode of every spirit power he copied. It would be like trying to drain a lake with bare hands—utterly impossible.

"I’ve been looking for you."

Shin sighed when he heard the voice approaching.

He didn’t pay any attention to the person sitting beside him. Imagining Romero fully using his powers made Shin lose all motivation. If he couldn’t defeat Romero, how could he ever conquer the world? It felt like all his efforts would be in vain. So, what was the point of trying?

"I come for information about Merlin. I hope you haven’t forgotten our agreement."

This time, Shin turned to look at the speaker.

"You seem unmotivated. Did last night’s events weigh on you too much?"

Shin sighed again and leaned back against the bench, tilting his head upward. The sun had already set beyond the horizon, leaving only streaks of red in the sky. Soon, the red hue would fade, and the curtain of darkness would fall.

"It’s not that," Shin said after a while. "I don’t care about what happened. I’m just frustrated imagining Romero using the same unification mode as me. Imagine him fully using your power, even a unification mode you haven’t mastered. Do you think you can beat someone like that?"

"Romero’s ability to copy others’ abilities is indeed troublesome." Mariel seemed to have reached the same conclusion as Shin. "But I doubt Romero can do what you fear. If he can use all powers, he’d be the strongest. But he claimed to be the second strongest in World Order."

Romero had no reason to lie. He wouldn’t gain anything by lying. If he said he was the second strongest, there was almost a 100% chance it was true.

This meant the pink-eyed man’s power had its limits. Shin might still have a chance. If unification mode wasn’t enough, he could try origin mode like Emperor Gilgamesh—the only human so far who could use origin mode. It would be difficult, but Shin would do anything to achieve it.

"That’s good news, Mariel. I appreciate it. So, I’ll tell you anything you want to know about Merlin."

Knowing Romero wasn’t the strongest erased Shin’s pessimism. His efforts wouldn’t be in vain. He would be able to avenge last night’s defeat.

"Where is Merlin?" Mariel asked.

"Merlin left the island where she built the Tower of Babel a long time ago. I don’t know her exact location now; she moves frequently. The last time I saw her was on the Eastern Continent."

"What does she look like?"

"If you think Lasyana is beautiful, Merlin surpasses that. I’ve never seen a woman more beautiful than Merlin. If I didn’t know she was thousands of years old, I might have become her loyal bodyguard. Her eyes are violet. Her long, wavy silver hair—"

"Her assets aren’t bigger than Lasyana’s. She’s shorter too. And she’s accompanied by a blonde woman?"

Shin didn’t mind being interrupted; instead, he looked curiously at the teenager beside him. "If you already know, why ask?"

Shin wouldn’t ask about something he already knew. So, he found Mariel a bit odd.

"Haaa... Technically, I already met her, but I didn’t know her name was Merlin at the time. I was told her name was Nilrem. If I’d thought a bit more, I would’ve realized Nilrem is Merlin spelled backward."

That brought back memories for Shin. When he first met Merlin, she also introduced herself as Nilrem. He only realized Nilrem was Merlin spelled backward after three months—and it was by accident. No one would have guessed they’d run into the legendary mage.

"Where did you meet her? When?" Shin asked.

"Londinia. Over three months ago."

"In that case, Merlin is no longer in Camelot. She may not even be on this continent anymore. Did she invite you to join her?"

"Join her?"

"Like me, Merlin wants to gather strong individuals to help her fight Great Human Council. But unlike me, Merlin isn’t serious about it. Her efforts are only in words. So, since you met her, I thought she might have asked you to join her."

"She didn’t ask me."

Shin found that response strange. Mariel had a strong spirit; there was no way Merlin wouldn’t notice it. Merlin had gone out of her way to help him because of his strong spirit. So, it felt odd to hear Mariel’s words. Was there a specific reason Merlin didn’t try to recruit Mariel? Or, had Merlin given up entirely?

"I see. I didn’t expect that."

"Last night, you mentioned that Romero might be on par with Nessthanovla. Are you sure? Have you ever seen Nessthanovla’s power?"

"I did say that, but I’ve never seen the demon’s power myself." Shin was honest—there was no point pretending here. "I only based it on what I’ve heard about Nessthanovla. I’ve long wanted to test it, but no one knows his location."

"Merlin?"

"Merlin might know, but I left before I could ask. Meeting Merlin again is as hard as finding Nessthanovla’s location directly."

Mariel nodded in understanding. "Thank you for the information," he said, then stood up—he felt he’d asked enough. "You’re useful, Shin. I’ll make you a pawn on my chessboard."

"What did you say?" Shin’s expression changed—he felt he’d found the perfect target to vent his frustration. "Say that again?"

"I’m kidding." Mariel waved his hand, signaling Shin not to take him seriously. "Let’s postpone our battle until Romero is dealt with. I also plan to take him down, just like you."

"That’s better. Right now, I want to focus on mastering my spirit to the highest level, so I don’t have time to play around. You too, Mariel. It would be a shame if you can’t master your spirit. Your potential is too high to waste."

"I know that." Mariel turned around and walked away. "We’re heading to Mangolla tomorrow. So don’t die until our business is settled."

Shin snorted, shouting that it should be him saying that.

If Mariel heard, he didn’t show it. The young man continued walking away from the bench where Shin sat. It wasn’t the direction to the teenager’s inn; Shin didn’t know where he was going. But that didn’t matter to him.

Shin snorted. He cleared his mind of unnecessary thoughts and focused his consciousness into his soul’s core. The red eyes of Wrathful King Satan greeted the young man. Shin needed to understand his spirit more deeply.