Narrator's POV.
"I hope my answers will satisfy you," Leylin Blight tried to answer his family's questions to the best of his abilities.
He had to admit that the task had been more difficult than expected, especially since he had to avoid talking about certain morally questionable experiments.
"I understand better now, you couldn't resurrect Willow directly because of your new obligations," Alador nodded, showing that he understood.
He seemed to be the only one in the room who had grasped a bit of the rules governing cosmic entities. The others hadn't quite understood Leylin's explanations.
"Yes, that's right. And even Willow's reincarnation put me in conflict with a being that rivals Bill Cipher in terms of power."
Leylin could have simply ignored the Guardian and continued his life, but he doubted the reverse was possible.
The other party had already shown its displeasure with Leylin's actions. He therefore had to find a way to beat it or get rid of it.
'The problem is that I don't know how far my opponent's power goes. He's shown simple but powerful abilities at the same time, but not everything.'
This time, unlike Bill Cipher, he was really going to face the unknown.
'I'll have to be careful and use the Amphibia heroine to deal with him.'
There was the option of a direct confrontation, but Leylin didn't really feel confident about facing an entity designated by the Creator of the multiverse as its Guardian.
The multiverse shown in the Amphibia series included worlds like Gravity Falls, The Owl House, and plenty of other strange worlds.
This immediately placed the Guardian's power at least on the same level as Bill Cipher and Axolotl.
So, it's possible that he's stronger.
"No wonder you didn't go looking for Willow directly, there are too many powerful creatures," Emira had perfectly understood.
Everyone here had clearly seen Golb in Leylin's memories. They instinctively knew that he was on par with Bill Cipher or the entity called the Guardian.
"We've talked enough about depressing things, Leylin should rest," Eldric gave his opinion, which was surprisingly well received by everyone.
"Anyway, it's almost dinner time," Odalia retreated to the kitchen.
Of course, she's not going to cook directly since the abominations will do it.
"Um... Leylin, I wanted to..." Amity had approached Leylin after Odalia and the twins left.
Only Alador and she remained by his side.
"You want to apologize? Sorry, but I can't accept it." Leylin's words turned Amity pale with fear.
'Why, why, why... WHY DOES HE ALWAYS WANT TO HUMILIATE ME?'
Amity had already developed an inferiority complex towards Leylin, and the end of her friendship with Willow hadn't helped. But she still wanted to repair things between them a little.
"Why?" she managed to articulate, despite her unstable mental state.
"Why? I believe in actions, not words. If you want me to accept your apologies, show your sincerity by becoming strong."
'You must become strong enough so that a situation like with Willow doesn't happen again.'
Amity wanted to scream with rage after listening to Leylin's words, but when she received a telepathic message right after in her mind, she was surprised before noticing an earring that wasn't there before.
'Okay, I won't let anyone direct my life anymore' Amity smiled at Leylin after responding telepathically.
She had accomplished two actions that she hadn't done since their conflict.
Leylin simply returned her smile, before receiving a little elbow nudge from his father.
"I see you've managed to sort things out between you, but why did you communicate telepathically?" Alador felt a bit left out.
"Sorry, it was a bit private."
"Haha, yes, I can understand that."
Alador and Leylin found themselves discussing new technological inventions and innovative ideas alone. Father and son entered their own world without realizing it.
Unfortunately for Dipper and Wendy, the person they were waiting for had forgotten about them.
...
World of Magus (Southern Continent)
"Is that all, Grimm?"
A few months had passed since Merlin's transformation into a new race. He had decided to get used to his new body.
So he had started resting a lot and training a little to quickly adapt to the drastic changes he had undergone. It must be said that Merlin had still underestimated the extent of the transformations he had gone through.
These changes were not only physical and spiritual, he could even feel his main soul's attention relaxing on him.
Even his personality had undergone strange transformations. He hadn't really noticed it himself, but Bradley had pointed out to him that he had become much more direct and open with his desires.
"Sorry, it's just that..." Grimm seemed a bit embarrassed by the situation. He had always beaten Merlin with the sword.
It was thanks to his abnormally powerful physique, even for an ordinary rank 3 acolyte. Yet this time, he had proved unable to compete with Merlin.
"It's just a sword match, he hasn't shown what he's really capable of yet, now..." Grimm couldn't help feeling a slight fear towards his adoptive brother and master.
'From now on, I won't have to worry during missions for the Leslie family under my false identity as a wandering acolyte...'
The current situation revived Grimm's ambitions. He no longer had to worry about Merlin and could finally plan his own advancement to the rank of official Magus.
"Just what? That I'm too strong? Haha!" Merlin reached out to help Grimm get up. After their training, the two men headed towards the manor.
"I'm 8 years old, and I'm still not an official Magus... sigh" Merlin's slight disappointment with his current level was simple: he remembered a certain rank 4 Magus who was only about fifty years old.
According to Leylin Farlier, he had reached the rank of official Magus around the age of 8. This meant that, despite the incredible knowledge Merlin had inherited from an archdemon and a quasi-rank 7 demonist, his evolution seemed slow.
This idea annoyed him. He could become an official Magus at any time thanks to the path of offerings or spirit beasts, but that wasn't the problem.
"I can't stay here any longer. I'll have to participate in the war as a wandering Magus after my advancement this year."
This place was simply too peaceful for Merlin's evolution. He remembered that Leylin Farlier had only experienced rapid evolution during periods of conflict, and surprisingly his original too.
It seems he will have to use the current war to accelerate his plan further.
"I just hope Vivianne will quickly reach rank 2. Otherwise, I can forget about trying to absorb the Gargamel or kill Leylin Farlier"
It must be understood that the Gargamel is a rank 4 being, but currently it is extremely weakened to the point of having a strength equivalent to a rank 2.
It should be around the peak of rank 2. If Merlin managed to absorb it, he could probably unify the southern continent under his control before the age of 15, or even 13.
He could even seize the Twilight zone, which is currently weaker than the southern continent since it only has two rank 3 individuals.
"For now, I need to leave the manor to accelerate my evolution."
Merlin already had a clear vision of the path he had to take, but he had to be more calculating than his main soul.
He couldn't invoke SCP-738 in this reality, this time. He didn't want to attract the attention of dangerous entities.