In the living room of the apartment, Richard sat quietly, his face showing a look of sorrow before he let out a heavy breath.

"Sorry... I was too cocky"

Those were the only words he said before he sunk his body into the cushions.

The stunning revelations the Goddess gave him was more detailed than those given to Cindy and Hana.

Richard was made to learn of the conversation that happened between Ragnar and Scathach, about the mysterious figure that took away Ragnar’s hammer and the things that Scathach did to the spear...

"I’m in danger"

Richard was unable to help himself as he whispered the iconic meme, but his muttering didn’t go unnoticed as Cindy and Hana asked.

"Obviously, that spear carried a curse that only the Goddess could heal! For such a weapon... it may even be an artifact from the age of Gods! A weapon meant to slay mystical beings!"

"It is, by the way it worked, it’s likely the famous Gae Bulg"

"That... so that’s why that curse was so insidious! Damn it! I’m totally going to unravel that mystery!"

"Good luck on that"

Richard did not add the fact that the wielder was likely Scathach who was chasing after him because he was the reincarnation of Merlin.

After all, the revelation still hasn’t set in, especially after he was informed by the Goddess that his status was a bit on the edge due to his evolution due to the nephilim blood.

While he had a guess as to who the gay man was he didn’t try to think too deeply about it.

Although it happened all so suddenly, things weren’t all that random.

With his pact with Nyx completed, Richard was able to learn a lot of things from the Goddess, though some of her secrets remained, Richard did get a good grasp on the many things she learned about the current situation.

First- he learned that Nyx had actively tried to sabotage him. She was manipulating his "prophesies" from the start.

Using Richard as a tool for Prophecy through his inheritance, Nyx was able to see the future in which Richard saves Andrea. That future would lead to him meeting with Freyja and other women from his past as Merlin.

In that time, Andrea would also awaken her own inheritance.

While the Prophecy did not reveal that Andrea was the reincarnation of a Goddess, it did show that Andrea had deep connection to Richard. His fate had long been tied to hers and for Nyx to achieve her "goals", Andrea’s connection to him had to be severed.

The only way to do that was for either of them to die.

It was a connection forged through a lifetime and it had to be broken through the death of one side.

That was why Nyx had Richard charge forward like an idiot. He had to force the hand of Robert, corner the woman who pretended to be Andrea and then have either Andrea killed or Rirchard severely injured for which she would use the method she used today to completely transform him.

By then, even if Andrea awakens her own inheritance, she won’t be able to do anything.

Nyx’s plan went well but she fundamentally lost to a seer, it was the seer who manipulated things to lead to the current situation.

Manipulating the vision of others, leading people to less capable seers by the nose.

That was something those in the practice of prophecy were masters of.

Unfortunately, despite Nyx being one of the strongest in that field- her conduit to prophecy was Richard who was not fully awakened to his ability.

As such, even the Great Primordial Goddess Nyx got led by the nose.

It is also likely that Scathach had a connection to the prophet or seer, that or she had her own method to predict the future.

Either way, Richard was led to this spot and his "death"-

That was something that was beneficial for Nyx but at this point, the Primordial Goddess believed that it was nothing more than a coincidence that her own desires and that of the mysterious seer manipulating the events coincided.

But the biggest problem was what happens now.

This leads to the second thing he learned.

The fact that Richard Rex, formerly Damien Dixon, is in fact the Reincarnation of the Legendary Sage, Merlin...

That long background made Richard’s head spin for a moment but the core of the matter was the fact that he was the reincarnation of Merlin.

There was nothing else to think about now.

Richard decided to let go of his past... not that he had any other choice.

Nyx had already made him do so, although it felt weird to have his own emotions severed...

’The obsession I had with Andrea... with her reincarnation... well that’s that’

He still felt that he had to "say something" but words won’t come out. His mind lost focus whenever her name came up and the memory of her fogged up- forcefully at that.

Richard could only accept that he was now going to satisfy Nyx- whatever it was that she wanted but...

’I still need to finish what I started’ 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

While his obsessive love for Andrea and her existence was gone, the need to know the truth, to have answers did not disappear.

The fact that there were people who would want to kill him because of his choices still existed.

Even if he chose to abandon the search for Karen, Scathach won’t just stay silent. Moreover, she now had a spear that is highly likely to be gungnir.

’Ragnar was obviously using Mjolnir, the spear he had... what else could it be but Odin’s Gungnir?’

From what he could tell, Merlin had formed a brotherhood that consisted of Ragnar, Vlad the Impaler and whoever it was that carried the Longinus.

Based on the battle that Nyx was able to record as it occurred in the middle of the night, Scathach was capable of merging the power of spear-type artifacts.

If the spear of Vlad the Impaler which Ragnar called "Tepes" had the power to manifest out of nowhere and "Longinus" had the power to break magic itself- then the Gungnir that... according to myth, "never misses", then Richard was facing against a woman who could strike him from anywhere, guarantee a hit, break through magical defenses and imbue a curse on its target...

’The first enemy is already fucking raid boss...’

Richard would have started to panic if it weren’t for Nyx assuring him that he was safe so long as he was in the darkness.

Even if Scathach was known as the Goddess of the "Land of Shadows", Nyx is the "Primordial Goddess of the Night".

The two were not on the same field and for good reason.

The fact that Scathach did not notice Nyx peeking at her from the shadows was enough proof.

But Richard won’t get complacent, now that he had the blood of the Nephilim, his mystical abilities had increased significantly.

He could wield and manipulate the rules with even more precision and ease but now he had to learn how to use that rule bending and turn it into spells.

That was the third and final thing he learned from the Goddess.

If the lessons Ragnar gave were "how to train your body", the knowledge the Goddess shared to Richard after their completed pact was a complete guide on how to learn a thousand martial arts.

Ragnar’s method was strong, it was oppressive and it had its uses.

But that was just akin to improving one’s physical might.

The magic that non-mystics learn does not need the "physical training". Not because it was useless but they can’t.

It would be akin to soldiers training how to remotely operate drones instead of improving their strength by crawling through mud and shooting with guns.

While the latter was still a necessary skill, the former was more efficient and more likely to take over the standard.

That was how modern magic was made.

Just like how drone warfare allows crippled soldiers to fight on the battlefield, modern magic centered around Merlin’s system allowed non-mystics to wield the power of magic.

Of course, mystical beings, should they get access to these methods, could also use it to an even greater effect.

Some could even argue that Merlin’s method was derived from these complex systems that mystical beings used.

After all, God’s had already been using curses and other techniques to fight against each other.

All Merlin had to do was learn those techniques and rewrite them in a way that allowed even those without mystical blood or heritage could manage to use them.

With that said, the knowledge that was forcefully imprinted in his mind was truly expansive.

The amount of information he got would take quite some time to process but the goal was not to simply "understand" the new magic but also to "apply" them.

With all that, Richard’s next course of action would be simple-

"We’ll create sanctuaries... Japan, US and... let’s stick with these two first. The ranch, we’ll talk with Nova Munda, pretty sure that blonde-"

Richard felt his chest hurt, the fact that he was stabbed in the chest by a blonde did not leave his mind and it even haunted him.

Although he thought he was better than that...

"The leader of Nova Munda should help us, we need to make deals... I don’t mind spreading my seeds... is that fine with you?"

Richard turned to Nyx who nodded.

<As intended>

’So Alexander the Great failed to create proper offspring... the history... maybe some liars... I guess Nyx was pissed that he didn’t continue the bloodline of the Nephilim but... what does Nyx need more nephilim-’

He paused his thoughts, Richard already had a good guess as to what Nyx was planning but... for now, he won’t address it- not yet at least.

’It seems she’s become wary of me... I expected that much’

The blood of a nephilim was strong, and Richard could feel its effects.

Moreover, the blood did more than just prevent Nyx from reading his mind, it also improved his abilities as the Reincarnation of Merlin and the things he perceived...

’And here I thought that this would be a story of me being an underground powerhouse in a world where only I am mystical... but I guess not everyone could be S*ng J*nw** huh?’

Richard thought as he turned to Hana and Cindy-

"From now on, we’ll work hard to take down the problem children of the mystical world"

"Problem Children?"

Richard smirked, he never thought he’d say it to Cindy but the fact of the matter was that he was now going to start his hunt.

Dangerous individuals who threaten his life and society, individuals willing to go to any lengths to get what they want...

"Witches... from now on, We’ll be Hunting the Witches that Haunt this world"