Subjugation

With a snap of his fingers, Merlin made the artefacts fly out to every corner of the room facing towards the centre where a crudely drawn magical formation was laying, with the materials used for it being blood.

"Now, all we have to do is wait," Merlin said, heading over to the bed in the corner as he sat on it. Running his hands over the sheets, a sad smile was formed as he thought to himself, 'This is the bed where I last saw my parents at, right after mother gave birth to me…'

Sebastian waited in the corner of the room with both hands behind his back, watching over his master. Both of his hands were clenched tightly, causing them to redden.

Time flew by as the two waited for the fateful encounter. As things were getting boring, Merlin was about to manifest some Mana creatures to play with but was interrupted as he felt a foul and nefarious aura spread out from the magic formation in the centre of the room.

"He's here…" Merlin said, causing Sebastian to spring into action as he brought out his pitch-black Grimoire.

The same voice that Merlin heard inside of his subconscious echoed through the room, "Ahhh, I missed the air from this world… although it would've been better if I came under more advantageous conditions. No matter, this won't take long-"

However, with a wave of his staff, Merlin interrupted the Devil's speech as its body started to manifest, with a dark swirl forming the body of something similar to a human, but its upper body was much large than its lower body, completely out of proportion, giving out a grotesque shape. On its head were 4 eyes on all 4 sides of its elongated skull, shaped like a cone.

The artefacts around the room exploded forward, releasing all sorts of different spells and Mana fuelled explosions as they bombarded the Devil in the centre.

"Arghh!! You dare to ambush me, you lowly Human?" The Devil cried out and ripped its own arm off, throwing it towards Merlin. Through the air, the arm broke apart as numerous locusts and bugs bombarded the room and spread out, creating a thick and dark miasma.

Running in front of Merlin, Sebastian clapped both of his hands in front of his body and spread them outwards. A low shrill cry resounded out as lightning spread from his fingertips and spread widely across his body.

'Servants Retaliation'. With a spell Sebastian chanted, he manifested the lightning in his palms into a wall in front of him, electrocuting the numerous blood-curdling insects by the thousands. As they were killed off, they turned into dark smoke, retracting back towards the Devil and rebuilding its lost arm.

Unfazed by this, the Devil scoffed and gave a maniacal grin. Fully standing in the room, its upper body stretched from one side of the room to the other, while its tiny legs somehow supported him. Speaking in an unknown language, the back of the Devil burst open, as 4 pairs of arachnid legs stretched out from behind it, embedding into the wall and floor.

It then shot itself forwards at high speed like a cannonball towards Merlin and Sebastian.

"Relying on physical strength now?" Merlin said with a smile, as he manifested his staff, holding it with his left hand, drawing a magic circle with lightning speed that glowed with numerous colours of the spectrum.

'Restraining Magic: Angel's Restraint'

Pressing his right hand on the circle, he chanted. From behind Merlin, white wings expanded outwards, stretching to both sides of the room. The wings, instead of attacking the Devil, expanded and attached themselves to the room, covering it with thousands of intricate engravings full of words from every language currently known by him.

The Devil now fully manifested himself, Its eyes were pure red and black intermixed. Seeing the formation on the walls around the room, it grew weary but persisted in its attack.

Grabbing Merlin, Sebastian chanted his next spell. 'Lightning Magic: Master's Recall'. A surge of lightning gathered under Sebastian's feet as he manoeuvred past the Devil to the other side of the room.

The artefacts that were situated behind their original position unleashed numerous spells, bombarding the Devil, pushing it back and holding it in place.

Using this opportunity, Merlin tapped his staff onto the ground, shouting, "Restrain!" Sparkling tendrils of magic shot out of the walls, ground and ceiling of the room, clasping itself onto the Devil, holding it in place.

"Ahahaha, what fun!!" The Devil cried out, its muscles on its upper torso bulging, loosening the restraints on it.

Spreading its large arms outwards, it chanted another Spell. 'Well of Sorrows' From underneath Merlin, a large pool of black Mana swirled, as hundreds of arms started to crawl out of it, grabbing onto his clothes and limbs.

'This is going to be more difficult than I thought.' Merlin said inwardly, frowning at the Devil's toughness.

Just as Merlin was about to act, 2 faces emerged from the black swirl beneath him, throwing Merlin's mind into disarray.

While this was going on, from outside of the Caliban Estate, Julius appeared on his broom as he wanted to come and show Merlin a new discovery that he found in a forest.

However, as he tried to move forward, he felt his head get lighter as he started to lose consciousness. Quickly stepping back a few paces, he recovered himself and felt absolutely normal once again.

"What was that? I was just hit with a bout of dizziness… Is that one of Merlin's spells? Is something wrong?" Julius asked, but then his eyes sparkled as he exclaimed, "What an interesting spell indeed! Able to cause a hallucination effect while also acting as a sedative, influencing a person's mind to compel them to leave the area."

However, just as he was about to proceed forward, he could feel the air around him tremble with a low quake, as his vision started to shift in front of him. The illusion that Merlin created had started to crack due to an unknown factor, being that Merlin himself was the one causing it unconsciously. With a frown, Julius raised his hands and tried to sense the Mana around him, sensing that it was somehow distressed.

"What's going on? Merlin once told me how he had a deep connection with Mana itself, and how it was able to reflect his emotional state. Does this mean that he's in trouble?" Julius muttered, then rushed forward through the gap that the illusion created and barged into the house towards Merlin's position.

In the Vermilion Estate, Mereo was currently outside of the city, training to further her skills with the beasts that scour the wilds. However, she felt an uncomfortable feeling welling up in her chest, and the necklace around her neck started to glow a subtle blue and red shine. She frowned and turned to where the Royal Capital was, muttering, "Merlin?"

Not just her, but Fuego and Nozel both respectively felt a change in the air. Around them, they saw that no one else reacted to this uneasy feeling, as though it didn't bother them in the slightest, or they were just unaware compared to them.

In the Witch's Forest, the Witch Queen herself felt the change in the air and put on an inquisitive and curious look. 'I've never felt nor seen anything like this before. Even Licht and the betrayal never caused this big of a stir in Mana. Boys. You should never underestimate Devils.'

Back underground, Merlin was staring at two very familiar faces, causing his emotions to fluctuate.

"Mother? Father?" Merlin said with a confused expression, but then it all clicked. Instantly, the very essence of Mana itself that existed in the Caliban Estate started to shake and boil, burning the black miasma that was clinging onto his body and Sebastian's.

The Devil itself was stunned at the pressure he was feeling, as it felt as though the Mana itself was furious towards him. He then tried to summon another spell, however, no Mana was willing to be channelled towards him, as if they refused to acknowledge his very existence, condemning him to the fate that Merlin would bestow upon him.

Trying to draw Mana from the underworld, it felt its connection being cut off. Feeling the situation spiralling into an unsavoury direction, the Devil surged forward to use its physical might instead.

Just as the Devil was about to open his mouth, a spear made of pure Mana pierced through its chest and into the ground below. It didn't stop at that, as 5 more rainbow spears manifested themselves through Merlin's will, impaling his limbs into the ground, restraining him.

"Arghh!! Unhand me this instant, you insect!!" The Devil cried out, struggling to free itself but to no avail. Turning to Merlin, he saw his body start to glow as a veil of Mana surrounded him, sticking to his body as it tried to calm him down.

Staring at the boy's eyes, the Devil started to feel a pressure come down onto its being, pressing down into its own subconscious, invading his head.

Merlin's eyes met with the Devil's as it changed from its Violet colour to rainbow, the same as his hair currently as well. He then slowly walked towards the Devil that was restricted, saying, "Although you kept my family alive for generations through your nefarious means, your despicable means sickens me."

Raising his arms, the Devil felt its arms pulled up, suspending him in front of Merlin. Looking into Merlin's eyes, it felt as though its mind was being invaded, and nothing could be hidden from the boy.

"W-Wait! W-We can still make a deal!! You know that the only hope your Caliban family has to live is through my magic! I-I can get rid of the curse if you let me be! We can sign a contract!" The Devil bargained, struggling with the chains that burned into its oversized arm, black charred ichor slowly dripping onto the ground below and sizzling on impact.

Walking up to the Devil, Merlin placed his hand onto its head, pouring his subconscious into the Devil's. The information he received was overwhelming.

The Devil race.

The Underworld.

Their Magic.

Their Hierarchy, starts from Low, Mid, High and Highest, with the last also being known as Supreme Devils.

Their enjoyment in Human suffering and the living world.

With the surge of information, Merlin's understanding of Devils and the Underworld grew, limited by what the Devil in front of him currently knew. The Devil in front of him was named Eurycantha, and he was a Mid-ranking Devil.

Having gotten everything he wanted from the Devil, Merlin retracted from its subconscious. Looking at the Devil in front of him, its consciousness was currently blurred after having his mind dissected.

Seeing this, Merlin knew that the Devil lost all resistance, having its body limped, hanging from Merlin's chains. Bringing his hands together and condensed the Mana within him into a colourful sphere which glowed with an intensity rivalling that of the Sun, which would've typically blinded Sebastian who was also in the chamber but had no adverse effects on the eyes due to its magical properties.

'Purist Magic: Enigma's Seal'

The Devil didn't resist and felt its presence being condensed into a small form, forced into a vessel that Merlin had prepared. After the light died down, what appeared in front of him was a small bell, black in colour. Merlin brought the bell into his hands and sent his consciousness inside of it.

In the dark space was the Devil he just interacted with, but instead of its original form, it now took the form of a small black silhouette, similar to that of a fat child.

Satisfied, Merlin went out of the bell and hung it from his staff, using a ribbon to wrap around it. Numerous seals engraved itself into the bell, making it night impossible to break.

Merlin's aura then calmed down, as the Mana veil that surrounded him disappeared, turning to his eyes back to its violet colour, as well as his hair to return to white.

Merlin then breathed out a sigh of relief, muttering, "Well, that went quite well."

*thud*

From behind, Merlin heard someone slump to the ground, bringing his attention to it. In the open doorway laid Julius, who was currently unconscious from the shock of what he had just witnessed. Although he already lost consciousness a while back when Merlin's Mana veil manifested, his body refused to give in, causing him to have to stand in place while his brain had already forced itself to put him to sleep.

"Well, it seemed that we had a visitor the whole time, Sebastian," Merlin said.

*thump*

Turning towards the corner of the room, Sebastian was also hunched over, unconscious.

"Well, I guess I overdid it." Merlin chuckled, with the tension from earlier dying away. Standing to move the two, Merlin himself felt his legs grow weak, causing him to be thrown off balance.

Managing to hold himself up by the walls, he muttered, "That state, it seems my body wasn't ready yet, and it overwhelmed me. A few hours of rest should get me back, I should be careful of that from now on.'

Turning to the bed in the corner, Merlin smiled and said, "It's done, mother, father. You can rest in peace now."