"Can you tell me more?"
Merlin floated in mid-air with his hands behind his back, following the mark he had set on that nightmare, and asked Calcifer.
"The specifics of that thing."
"Nothing much to say, just an ordinary nightmare. It usually operates in dreams, feeding on human energy.
Although they operate in dreams, the master of dreams is the Sleep God, not the nightmares. Their control over dreams is limited; they are low-level things.
They are not allowed to appear in the present World and are classified as something similar to demons, but in reality, they are not on the same level as demons at all."
"So, in this World, demons exist, hell exists, and even gods exist as well?" Merlin keenly noticed the problem within this.
"Not sure, but in my memory, they do exist," Calcifer said. "I was classified as a type of demon, but it seems I'm not very good at coming up."
Merlin fell into contemplation, "The manifestation of the Power of Fate will rationalize your existence. So… were you classified as a hell demon under this World's worldview, or was the entire demon myth system created to rationalize your existence?"
"I don't know about that. You should know better than I do."
"If it's the latter, I wouldn't be surprised at all," Merlin said.
He raised his head and looked at the distant sky. Dawn was breaking, and faint sunlight streamed through the clouds onto the City. The City's streets were still languishing in a sleepy haze of mist and dew.
The streetlights vaguely outlined the streetscape in the fog, and the City, stretching its limbs, gradually shed its watercolor-like appearance.
"The appearance of this evil spirit seems unrelated to Herbert. It neither brought him any trouble nor any help," Merlin said.
"You mean, this nightmare appeared because of your fate?"
"It should be to divert my attention."
Merlin turned his head and gazed into the distance. At the end of the dense houses, a huge courtyard was exceptionally conspicuous, containing hills, streams, and even forests.
In the center of the vast courtyard, an incredibly magnificent palace stood, which should be the Britannia Imperial Palace.
He said nothing more, but turned his head and flew in the direction of the mark.
"Get ready, Calcifer. The Castle might have guests."
"Before that, can you come back tonight? The firewood you gave me is almost burned out."
"Don't worry, I'll definitely make it before I die," Merlin said.
Soon, he flew out of the City and landed in the jungle on the outskirts of the Imperial Capital. This was the last place the mark showed.
The trees were not dense, but there were many bushes, so it was difficult to see anyone for a while. Merlin's gaze searched around, sensing the aura of magic.
Soon, movement in the bushes ahead caught Merlin's attention. Amidst the rustling bushes, the injured Marquis Os rushed out.
Merlin saw him, and he naturally saw Merlin. His expression first froze, but then, it turned to terror and despair.
He tried to turn and run in another direction, but then, behind him, a pitch-black iron chain shot out. The chain, as if it had a soul, quickly wrapped around his body, binding him tightly from bottom to top, including his mouth.
Then, a ball of black mist slowly appeared beside Os, finally forming a human figure.
The person wore a black hooded robe, covering their entire body, and a very ferocious bone mask on their face. Black mist lingered around him, and he was deathly silent, like an underworld envoy collecting souls.
He looked at the nightmare on the ground, then at Merlin standing not far away, and spoke.
"Thank you. This kind of nightmare is very troublesome to catch. I've been chasing him all the way."
His voice was surprisingly young, sounding like a young man in his twenties.
"You're welcome. Actually, I was chasing him too," Merlin said.
He looked up in some surprise, carefully sizing up Merlin, "So, the injuries on him are your doing, right?"
Merlin nodded, then he asked in return, "Will I have any trouble for injuring him?"
"Not at all. I should thank you. This saved me a lot of unnecessary time," the person said.
He pulled down his hood and raised the bone mask to his head, revealing a delicate face with black hair and black eyes. However, he was not East Asian; his nose bridge was high, his nose was long and convex, and his nose tip pointed downwards, somewhat resembling a Mediterranean person. He looked very young.
"You are a Wizard, right?"
"Something like that," Merlin said.
He looked at Merlin again with some curiosity, "This is the first time I've seen a Wizard in the human World. I thought people like you no longer existed in this World."
"Your appearance also surprised me," Merlin said. "Can you tell me what you are?"
"God of Death," the person said. "You can call me by my name, Sebas."
"God of Death?" Merlin raised his eyebrows, looking even more surprised.
He also looked Sebas up and down, teasing, "Then where's your scythe?"
"That's something only a formal God of Death has," Sebas said. "I'm just an apprentice God of Death."
"Apprentice God of Death?" Merlin became even more curious. "Are there many Gods of Death?"
"In the past, there was only one."
Sebas spoke truthfully, perhaps because Merlin had helped him, so he answered patiently.
"However, the number of humans is increasing day by day, and the number of deceased is also increasing.
One God of Death is far from enough, so He established a screening mechanism, recruiting some talented souls, teaching them, and bestowing upon them the name 'God of Death' to share a part of His responsibility."
It's probably something similar to a soul reaper.
Merlin stroked his chin and said, "So, 'God of Death' is more like a 'position' for you, and you are not true gods, right?"
Sebas nodded. The nightmare on one side was still struggling. He stepped on the nightmare, and with the sound of chains clashing, he tightened the chains even more.
He continued, "More accurately, we should be considered demigods. The true God of Death, who can truly be called a true God, will always be only one."
Merlin nodded. He looked at the nightmare under Sebas's foot, "Besides being responsible for guiding the deceased, are you also responsible for managing the demons of hell?"
Sebas also looked at the thing under his feet and said, "Nightmares are strictly under the management of Sleep God My Lord, but Sleep God does not interfere in human affairs, and nightmares occupying human bodies fundamentally interfere with 'death,' so they fall under our management."
Sleep God? God of Death?
Merlin muttered these two divine names in his heart. In his memory, only one pantheon had both of these gods.
"Is your original God of Death named Thanatos?" Merlin asked.
Upon hearing this name, Sebas was first stunned, but then, his brows furrowed slightly.