Chapter 143

[Third Person's PoV] 

Since the author is a dumbass and unable to keep track of their numbers and is too lazy to go back and check who was who, we will refer to them by name.

Rose, Alexia, and Sherry were seen standing on top of a building, each of them lowering their presence as they wore the signature Shadow Garden outfit with their masks and hoods.

"Was it really smart to send three people who have never been on a mission before together for something so important? What if we fail?" Sherry whispered nervously.

Alexia shook her head. "We've been training and taught everything we need to know about missions. They decided to entrust us with this mission, which means they believe we can do it."

Rose nodded in agreement. "Failure isn't an option, much less a possibility." She then opened and closed her hand. "I've learned a lot in Shadow Garden. Even though it's only been a short while since Alexia and I joined, I can confidently say that I've learned more there than I ever did at school."

Alexia then turned towards Sherry. "You've been in Shadow Garden the longest out of all of us, so you've been given the role of leader. Saying we're going to fail and feeling depressed isn't what a leader does."

Sherry looked a bit ashamed. "But I'm just a researcher; I've never been a leader before."

"Well, Shadow Garden chose you to be the leader for a reason. They wouldn't make such a decision lightly. I'm sure that when it counts, you'll pull through," Rose said in a comforting way.

Alexia nodded in agreement. "You might be the leader, but we're a team. If you feel unsure about something, come talk to us."

Sherry smiled in appreciation. "Thank you."

Just then, a cart from the Snow Fox Trade passed by, causing them to turn to each other, realizing they had their target in sight.

Sherry gave them the go-ahead, so they jumped from rooftop to rooftop, following the cart closely.

Rose and Alexia then turned to look at Sherry, who nodded her head. Seeing her signal, they both jumped and charged their swords with magic before sending a Crescent slash towards it.

But as it made contact with the cart, it exploded into a bunch of sakuras. The sakuras then spun around and came together.

"I'm afraid I can't allow you to do that, my dears," they heard the voice of a man with an odd accent.

As he fully appeared, his cape fluttered in the wind while he held his cane in place and the top of his hat.

Alexia and Rose landed on the ground and looked at the scene in surprise. Sherry wasn't any different.

"What happened to the cart?"

Merlin pinched his fingers and made a zipper motion across his lips. "Sorry, darling, my lips are sealed. I can't say."

Alexia looked at Merlin in disgust. "We're not your 'darlings,'" she said, mimicking his accent in disgust. She then pointed her sword towards him. "And you're going to tell us where that cart went."

Alexia and Rose then both began to blur as they rushed towards him with their swords out.

"Come on, mates, you're just going to attack me? What happened to getting a cup of tea and having a good ol' chinwag?"

"You can take your chin wagging elsewhere!" Alexia shouted as both she and Rose swung their swords right through his body.

Instead of seeing blood, they saw his figure break apart, then saw multiple of his figures appearing everywhere.

"You two are kinda feisty. It's not really my cup of tea," they all said at the same time, his voice on top of another.

Merlin then turned towards Sherry, who was trying to hide. So she quickly jumped back and took out two black-colored pistols with red crystals shining around them.

She held the trigger for a bit before releasing two laser shots of pure fire magic. The figure she shot shattered as well.

Rose, who was next to Alexia, took the form of Merlin. The image of Merlin leaned towards Alexia and whispered, "Salutations."

Alexia jolted in fright and swung her sword towards the image of Merlin next to her.

The image flickered before it disappeared, revealing Rose who was looking around. Seeing Alexia attacking her, she blocked it with her sword before attacking back.

"Wait, it was an accident!" Alexia yelled as she blocked Rose's sword.

Rose didn't listen. "Yeah right, you just happened to attack me by accident. You poser, stop using my friend's face and face me like a man!"

Alexia clicked her tongue. "He turned your body to look like his, which was why I attacked."

Sherry was jumping all over, aiming her guns everywhere, destroying the illusionary figures. She quickly checked the statuses of her two teammates and clicked her tongue, seeing what they were doing.

She poofed into black smoke and reappeared by their side, her eyes closed as she went and slapped both of them in the face.

They turned to look at her in shock. "Are you two out of it now?" she asked, a bit pissed.

They nodded their heads as they held their cheeks, staring at Sherry in disbelief.

"Whatever he's doing, he's creating illusions of himself. We don't know how many or how powerful his illusions could be, so stay on your toes."

"Oh my, aren't you an observant one," Merlin said in a teasing tone.

"Just who are you?" Rose asked, narrowing her eyes.

Merlin gained a happy expression as he clasped his hands, and the rest of his figures shattered except for the one they were staring at.

"I'm so happy you asked." Merlin took off his top hat and bowed. "My name's Merlin, Merlin the Grand Magician! At your service, my ladies."

Merlin then lifted his cane into the air, which shot a bolt of pink light. They all took a defensive position, thinking it was an attack, until the pink light exploded into fireworks with his face and name.

When they looked back towards Merlin, he was gone. Alexia clicked her tongue upon realizing, "It was a distraction. He's gone."

They all felt a shiver run down their spines as they heard Merlin's voice behind them.

"What are you on about? I'm standing right behind you, aren't I?"

They jumped back and turned to see Merlin leaning on his cane, smiling at them.

They both looked at him in shock, unable to detect him. "Why the shock? What I did was fairly... look, I'll demonstrate again."

Merlin snapped his fingers, and his figure disappeared. They quickly turned but saw nothing until they heard his voice behind them once again.

"And Bob's your uncle," he said with a smile.

As they turned around, Alexia conjured an icicle spear and shot it. Merlin had a look of surprise as the ice spear shot through his head. 

There was a gash on his forehead with blood coming out and parts of his brain exposed.

His figure leaned and fell to the ground, but as it fell, it exploded into millions of playing cards.

They once again heard his voice behind them. He was holding a deck of playing cards in his hands, "Pick a card, any card."

Merlin covered his eyes with one hand and presented the cards to them while turning his head away. "I promise not to look, I swear."

But they saw him peeking through the gap of his fingers.

Seeing them preparing another attack, Merlin let out a sigh and dropped the cards, except for three that were between his fingers.

He flung all three cards at the same time. They became a blur as they flew and scratched each of their cheeks.

They felt the pain and slowly checked with their fingers. Seeing their blood, they looked towards Merlin, who was looking at them coldly.

He slightly and slowly spread his arms, causing the cards on the ground to fly back to him. They all stood floating behind him, surrounded by a pink hue.

"Look at what you did now... You made me pick for you."