D.I.O DIO 디오 - Chapter 148

Chapter 148

‘I need to get up….’

However, Merlin’s body wasn’t responding. His vision was also blurry, so he couldn’t see much. He felt as if he was thrashing around blindly after being thrown into a pool of water.

‘Woah! Is all of this my blood?’

Having spent most of his time on Dynamic Island, Merlin was used to seeing blood in a gaseous state rather than as a liquid, so seeing such a vast pool of blood was a new experience. He couldn’t believe his inability to move was from his blood loss. Moreover, he was surprised at how much blood surrounded him, as he didn’t think it could all belong to only one person.

“Phew… phew… if I don’t get up, then… hmm?”

However, at that moment, Merlin realized that he had somewhat recovered. His vision slowly returned, and he could move parts of his body.

‘By the way, why is it so quiet?’

Something strange was occurring. His enemies had been attacking him and Miho relentlessly as they ran away; they wouldn’t have just stopped after seeing him fall. In fact, it should’ve taken them less than a minute to dispatch Miho and himself once he collapsed.

“Are you alright?”

“Mi…ho?”

It took Merlin a moment to recognize the speaker, as Miho had changed her physical appearance. For whatever reason, she took on the image of a late teenage high schooler.

“Ugh! How could Magic Eye….”

“You monster bitch!”

The holy knights and Steel Cross Division soldiers, all of whom had their physical bodies hijacked by Miho, gritted their teeth as they glared at Merlin and Miho. However, as if it didn’t matter what was happening around them, Miho continued to look down at Merlin before smiling.

“Great, I thought something bad happened to you.”

Her smile was dazzling. The monster qi surrounding her seemed to have doubled, and Merlin saw seven tails gently swaying from side to side behind her.

“You….”

“What? Now that you see my true form, are you falling head over heels for me?”

With an alluring smile, Miho helped Merlin get up. Whether it be from her treatment or some other reason, Merlin felt that his body had nearly returned to normal. Although he wasn’t in the best shape, he had no trouble moving around.

“You’ve acquired your seventh tail?”

“Yeah! I’ve also opened my Jeweled Magic Eye. The only being that can rival me on Phantom Monster Magic Island is probably Ms. Heavenly Flower alone.”

After stating this, Miho turned her head towards the holy knights and soldiers staring daggers at her. Of course, Miho couldn’t have done this if the entirety of their enemies were present; these were only a part of the holy knight and Steel Cross Division’s total forces. The main armies were still fighting the dwarf and fairy factions. Moreover, the holy knights and Steel Cross soldiers weren’t exactly on the same side, so there was a lull in the battle.

“…”

However, Merlin couldn’t rejoice. Without even saying any congratulatory remarks, Merlin continued to stare at Miho. Yet, she didn’t seem to notice Merlin’s burning stare and continued to speak.

“I’ll hold these guys off, so activate the skill you used before to leave.”

“Miho.”

Merlin called out to her, but she continued speaking as if she didn’t hear.

“I can escape by myself. Right now, you’re akin to extra baggage, so don’t worry and-”

“Miho!”

“Let’s meet at the northern shore. Alright?”

“You foolhardy girl….”

Merlin stood and hugged Miho. Though she had grown, she still fit like a glove in his arms. Miho started grumbling and complaining.

“Damned Enhanced Eyesight. It seems my fox species’ illusion magic doesn’t work on you anymore.”

Miho’s illusion shattered, and her appearance suddenly changed. She was still in a matured state, had seven tails, and possessed the Jeweled Magic Eye. However, she wasn’t doing well.

Miho’s body was riddled with long spears, and blood was dripping down from every injury. She had lost her right eye, so she could only see through one eye. In terms of modern medicine and even magic, it was impossible to go back to normal after sustaining this wound. Furthermore, and probably most important, her genuine qi levels had dropped considerably.

‘Is it because she took on her Seven-Tailed Fox appearance?’

Merlin used Enhanced Eyesight to read Miho’s spiritual qi and concluded that she’d overused her monster power, leading to her inability to recover genuine qi. She could maintain her current form through sheer will, but even that was quickly slipping from her grasp. If things didn’t change, her spiritual pattern structure would collapse in about five minutes.

“Oof.”

Unable to hold back any longer, Miho vomited blood. Her spiritual state of being was at a critical level, but her physical body wasn’t much better. Her 165-centimeter and 50-kilogram frame had been struck by multiple bullets and spears. Additionally, her right eye, which was where she gathered her monster qi, had been blown off, putting her in a precarious and vulnerable position.

“Are you alright?”

“Don’t worry about me… take care of yourself. Ha…ha… I-I used a treatment spell on you, but that only blocked further bleeding. Your insides are a mess. You must be in a lot of pain.”

Merlin gritted his teeth. Obviously, he didn’t feel any pain; DIO’s pain control system, which was provided to safeguard users from the mental effects of pain, made sure of this.

“Hey, dummy, are you really in a position to worry about me?”

However, at this moment, Merlin couldn’t help but resent the pain control system. With its effects, he couldn’t share Miho’s pain.

‘If only I could use teleportation….’

The thought popped into Merlin’s mind. If he could use teleportation, he wouldn’t have been forced into this position. He could have sent Miho back to Phantom Monster Magic Island before escaping. However, Merlin couldn’t use teleportation. Even though he absolutely needed the spell, he could not cast it.

“Shut it. Common fields of study should be easier than arithmetic for people like you and me. It should be akin to breathing, but you’re saying that math is difficult. You’re not saying that it’s annoying, but that you detest it. Essentially, even in a life-or-death situation, you’re telling me that you still won’t be able to do it, right?”

Merlin gritted his teeth. If he had time, he could help Miho regain her genuine qi. If he only had time….

‘If I have time?’

A realization flashed like lightning through Merlin’s mind.

“… Hey, Miho. Release your Magic Eye.”

“What? Then we’ll both be killed. Don’t you see those guys eyeing us over there?”

“One second. Gear 4.”

When Merlin summoned his Mithril Bow, he took out a green emerald from his inventory. With no time to waste, he activated and operated the magic power within the gem.

Woong!

The jewels that Merlin made weren’t useable by anyone other than him. This was because they each contained an immense amount of unstable magic power. Activating the jewels started with the delicate process of combining his genuine qi with magic power to create an elaborate effect, and even the slightest mistake would cause a fatal explosion. Like a precision machine that couldn’t even move 0.0001mm out of line, Merlin had to exhibit perfect control over the magic power in the jewel to operate it properly.

Additionally, Merlin’s jewel only possessed unstable magic power. If this magic power were standard, then others could manipulate the jewel. Yet, Merlin had cast a spell on the jewel, so it wouldn’t properly function unless specific steps were followed to the letter. His jewel wasn’t a user-friendly item that could be used if it were cracked or broken into; actually, this would almost certainly create a chaotic explosion. For mages who always maintained stability over their magic power, a magic stone that required nearly the complete opposite would be impossible to manage.

‘If that weren’t the case, I would have sold these.’

Whoosh!

With a crackling sound, the jewel started crumbling as the magic power within wriggled chaotically. Since Merlin had used this Howling Spell twice already, he knew how to safely unleash the force contained inside.

“W-what is up with this magic power? What are you doing?”

“Don’t focus on anything else! Just release your Magic Eye when I tell you! We need to get you treated as soon as possible!”

“Wait, don’t speak nonsense! I’m untreatable! You can use Enhanced Eyesight, but you don’t understand this fact?!”

Miho screamed, but Merlin continued to draw his Mithril Bow’s bowstring. He was targeting a point in the sky.

Creak.

Merlin used his magic power to create a defensive barrier. Obviously, this was to protect Miho and himself from any damage during the fallout.

Bam!

Merlin’s arrow flew high into the sky at a 90-degree vertical angle. As it soared upwards, Merlin looked at the arrow, which would have fallen back on him if there had been no wind.

“Go.”

Merlin released the spell with the ignition word.

/Sky Island of Ouranus/

Crack! Crack!

“What the hell! What is that?!”

The arrow continued rising and grew in size. At some point, the projectile had developed into a boulder-like shape with a diameter of 500-meters. Of course, the sudden appearance of a small floating island wasn’t threatening to the onlookers, as they just felt that they were seeing some sort of weird spectacle. However, a massive amount of pressure then landed on everyone.

Boom!

“Ugh!”

“Ack?!”

In a radius of 500 meters, which contained the human and fairy factions, all beings felt tremendous pressure pushing down on them. In addition, all of the enemies surrounding Miho and Merlin were also within this range.

“Ack! What is this? How can such an insignificant being use a spell like that!”

“Ugh! Darian, my god!”

“Ack!”

The fairies raised their magic power while the humans summoned their internal energy and divine power to confront the downward pressure. They were able to escape death, but they were rendered immobile. For the sky island to remain floating, it was exhibiting enormous gravitational force, which worked out to be around five tons of force on each being. The ground was forcefully compacted, and those at Level 6 or higher were crumpling to the ground.

“M-Merlin? That spell….”

“It doesn’t last long, so wait a moment.”

As he said this, Merlin grabbed Miho’s hand and circulated his genuine qi using the Golden Pill Immortal Technique before imbuing it into her.

Woong.

With Enhanced Eyesight operating at its max setting, Merlin peered into Miho’s spiritual pattern structure. Though it was in shambles due to her low genuine qi levels, the spiritual pattern structures were still readable.

‘I can do this.’

Luckily, the structure wasn’t complicated. Of course, repairing a collapsing spiritual pattern structure and fixing declining spiritual qi levels wasn’t easy; there were even many transcendents that couldn’t do this. Yet, Merlin had done similar things in the past.

‘I need to base this on the process I took when I removed my gold core and made a new nucleus within me. It shouldn’t be too difficult.’

Though this sort of action would be complex if not impossible for anyone else, Merlin had gone through this before, so the process itself was relatively straightforward. However, earlier, he had collected internal energy to recreate a new gold core through the Golden Pill Immortal Technique. This time, Merlin had to create a new vessel that could house Miho’s genuine qi, which contained her spiritual power and soul. If he even made the slightest of mistakes….

‘No! I’ll definitely succeed!’

Gritting his teeth, Merlin started circulating his internal energy. Yet, when he stated to himself that he must succeed….

Thump.

Merlin felt something akin to a nightmare.

Shake…

“… Huh? What….”

His hands shook, his vision was blurring and shaking, and his breathing was getting ragged.

“T-this… doesn’t make sense… why now of all times….”

There was a time when Merlin, or Yongno, did archery. It started with a simple suggestion from Eunhye. She said she was trying archery as a hobby and found it fun, so he tagged along when she went to the practice range. Of course, the professional archers scoffed and belittled him and Eunhye when they saw the two rolling into the practice range. However, it didn’t take long before surprised gasps came out of those same athletes’ mouths.

Merlin didn’t hit the targets based on luck; he could recreate the path that the arrows would take within his mind. As if he had crosshairs in an FPS game on easy, Merlin simply aimed toward the target without worrying about the distance. Merlin knew where the arrow would eventually land. On top of this, his eyesight was exceptional, so not only could he hit the bullseye, but Merlin could also hit a peanut off another one from several hundreds of meters away. He was more skilled than an archer on the Korean national team.

After the initial commotion settled, Merlin eventually made his way to a national competition. Many people had high hopes for him, as Merlin had shown an unimaginably good showing during practices. At the national competition, Merlin didn’t hit a single bullseye. Actually, he didn’t even graze any of the targets.

‘Why are those memories flooding in….’

However, it was always like this. When he had fun doing something by himself, the expectation from others grew exponentially. And once those expectations were showered on him, Merlin lost interest in what he was doing.

‘No. Stay calm.’

Merlin shook his head to clear his thoughts. He then recalled the spiritual pattern structure within Miho’s body.

However, at that moment, he heard a whisper from deep within himself.