If West still has any expectations for his character, it must be at every desperate juncture, he can always seize the slightest hint of opportunity, do his best, and return to the world from the edge again.

But now, for the first time, the boy had real doubts about whether he could still get out of this forest alive.

“……”

Silent stood on the mossy roots, confronting at least a dozen wild wolves around him. West flicked the strange black stud earring in his right ear, making sure that there were no human brain waves in his sensing range, and his face became even more ugly.

- If I had the life to go back, the first thing I would do would be to break Tony Stark into pieces of steel...... You can't buckle it if it's embedded in the wall.

In my heart, I scolded that unreliable dwarf radish and his unreliable converter. West sniffed at the smell of blood in the wind, and he really didn't know whether to rejoice that he had passed through the space-time fault unscathed, or to lament that he had fallen into some inaccessible forest as soon as he was squeezed out of the spatial rift, and that he had just happened to run into a nest of hungry wolves foraging for food.

…… God knows how long these wolf cubs have been hungry and how aggressive they will be in the face of delicious food. West thought blankly. And look at his current state: he is blind, his mental power is greatly weakened, and even if there is an increase in black technology, he still can't search anyone's brain waves so that he can assimilate his consciousness and exert his ability...... For God's sake, if he is unlucky enough to be so unlucky, if he doesn't die here today, I'm afraid he himself will find it incredible.

Quietly moving slowly. With every step back, the wolves in front of him also slowly moved forward, forming a rather strange confrontation. For West now, it is indeed very difficult to capture the brain waves of animals on a large scale, let alone control them, and it is very difficult to even give them a little instinctive fear...... I tried my best to expand the damaged mental power to the limit, but I still didn't get anything. He carefully picked up the branch under his feet, and was on guard, deciding that even if he was seriously injured, he would give these hungry brutes a little bit of a taste.

Leaning over slightly, lowering the center of gravity, protecting the vital point of his neck. At the same time, the roar of the beast seemed to be getting closer and closer. West leaned against the mossy trunk behind him, and was about to dodge a wild wolf that was already coming at him from the right, but his movements slammed down.

"Whoa—"

The sharp sound of arrows breaking through the air suddenly rang out from several different directions, streaking long streaks in the air. Including the leading male wolf who was roaring and pounced on the boy, most of the entire wolf pack was killed and injured in an instant. And it didn't take long for more than a dozen chaotic brain waves to break into West's sensing range, shouting one after another, driving away the remaining beasts, and soon sweeping away the danger in the nearby jungle.

"Hey, are you alright......!"

Not far away, the neighing of the horses was heard, and across the half gentle slope, the knights wandering in the barren mountains and mountains had already seen the figure under the tree that had just escaped death.

Unconsciously taking a few steps forward, West blinked suspiciously and happily. Although he couldn't see anything and couldn't be determined with his eyes, there was no doubt that these familiar brain waves-

"Serena Williams? …… Merlin! Isn't this Serena Williams?! ”

Sure enough, after seeing the young man's appearance clearly. Arthur, who was the first to stop, shouted incredulously. The corners of West's mouth twitched, and just as he was about to say something, a shocking intensity suddenly erupted from the chaotic group of brain waves, which was also mixed with the muffled sound of something heavy falling to the ground, the exclamations of the knights, and the footsteps of stumbling and running among the fallen leaves, which made him startled. When he came back to his senses, he had already been grabbed by someone, and the force was so strong that he could even hear the wail before the wrist was broken.

“Merrrrrrlin！！！”

The pain made his voice tremble, and at the same time, there was a hint of inexplicable weakness. West stepped back unconsciously, clinging to the damp trunk of the tree, unable to see anything with his eyes, but that didn't prevent him from accurately recognizing it from his brainwaves.

He didn't speak, he didn't move, he just stood there with his reddened eyes. If West could see Merlin's expression now, he would never have imagined that the black-haired mage, who had never been afraid of anything, would have such undisguised fragility and happiness on his face. Just as a drowning man finally grasps the driftwood for survival, the desert finally receives a torrential rain, leaving the whole heart soaked under the surface of the water, and redeeming from the regret that almost drowned.

"Williams ......"

His voice shook louder than his. Merlin muttered, as if he wanted to say something more, but was silent.

With a movement of his fingertips, he put the mage's wrist into the palm of his hand with his backhand. West sighed silently and hesitated, but slowly raised his unrestrained arm and tried to give his former cohabitant an incomplete hug.

"It's a pleasure to see you again, Merlin."

He smiled and patted the mage's straight back comfortingly. It seems that since the first encounter, Merlin has always had a taste that fascinates him, just like his favorite heavy rain in the middle of summer, gently reflected in those light gray eyes, wet, and instantly drenched every inch of his soul.

"You ...... guy"

The stiff body gradually relaxed, and he also raised his hand to tighten West's slender but by no means thin waist. Brunette mage moaning from his throat. groaned, I don't know whether it was intentional or unintentional, but suddenly put the weight of his whole body on the young man's body, and as a result, both of them were unstable, so they sat on the ground together against the trunk of the tree in a hugging posture.

"You're too skinny, Williams." Grunting at the bones of the boy's body, Merlin lowered his head in displeasure and grumbled in his ear.

“…… Merlin!! ”

Feeling the warmth of the human body on his body, he instantly cut off the cold and damp cold of the forest, and covered every inch of rushing blood. West shuddered, and nudged the mage's shoulders with a good-natured chuckle from the knights, and the tips of his ears turned red for a moment.

"Alright, alright, you guys." has long been tortured by the low pressure of his own manservant for more than half a year, and now that he has accidentally found the long-missing West, Arthur can finally breathe a sigh of relief:

"In that case, let's go here for today's hunting...... I think Merlin and Serena Williams should have a lot to say. ”

"yes, maybe I won't be able to finish it until tomorrow."

Turning around, he glared fiercely at Gao Wen, the knight who was smiling the most. Merlin didn't hesitate to pull West up from the ground and turn towards his mount. In the ranks of the knights, the big Percival had already taken the initiative to ask for help without waiting for Arthur's command, and led the last empty horse to the young man.

"Fortunately, there is an extra set of horses today, maybe it's because I have a hunch that Xiao Wei is coming back."

Wink happily. The black-haired mage smiled and spoke, and was about to put the reins in the boy's hand, but suddenly noticed that he had a sad face, and the corners of his mouth pursed uneasily. It seems that he wants to say something, but he is a little difficult to say.

Merlin raised his eyebrows in confusion: "What's wrong?" ”

“…… My eyes can't see, Merlin ......"

I don't want to talk about it in public, but there's really no other way. West sighed, reached out and touched the big white horse beside him who was rubbing his cheek aggrievedly, and his tone was a little helpless:

"So, can you bother any of you to bring me back to Cheng? …… What if it still had the surname Pendragon? ”

……

In fact, the road back to Carmellot is not a long one.

Due to the routine hunting activities of the king and the knights, and at the beginning he rescued West from the wolf's mouth. Therefore, they had no cumbersome prey to transport other than weapons, and they traveled lightly, and soon saw the magnificent outline of Camelot's castle.

"You're back, Serena Williams."

Giving West a courtesy hug, Gwen happily took the young man's hand and looked him up and down, and smiled a little slyly, not knowing what she remembered:

"That way, our Merlin won't have to be sad every day, always refusing the girls who want to ask him out."

I was a little lamented that I hadn't seen her for more than half a year, and that smart maid had actually become the queen of the entire Camelot, but I couldn't hear such a sentence. West's eyes widened in disbelief:

"Want to ask him out? Or the girls? Gwen, are you sure you're talking about Merlin?! ”

“……”

King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table burst into laughter.

Compared to Gwen's obvious joy, Gaius's relief was more restrained. The moment West entered the door, he dropped the medicine pestle in his hand, and the old doctor looked at the young man in a daze, as if he wanted to take a broom and beat up this little bastard who made him scared, but in the end he just stepped forward and patted him on the shoulder.

"It's good to be back."

As he spoke, he carefully examined the young man's gray eyes and the haggard face that could not be concealed. He sighed silently and shook his head at the mage next to him, who couldn't see where to go.

With a gasp, West felt Merlin's grip on his wrist clench tighter.

"Your stuff is still in your room."

He couldn't see it, and it didn't mean that Gaius couldn't see the guilt and pain in the black-haired mage's eyes. Camelot's court physician reluctantly picked up the medicine pestle, put it on the table, and motioned for Merlin to take the boy back to the house to talk:

"Don't think too much about it, go get some rest, Serena Williams. I'm going to cook your favorite dish tonight. ”

"Thank you, Gaius."

I was pulled by the mage and stumbled. Knowing that he was not feeling well now, West only had time to thank the old doctor, and stumbled up the stairs into the hut where he had lived for months. I don't know if it's psychological, but in this small space, he always feels a little difficult to breathe...... Especially, when there is a magician with a gloomy face and staring straight at you behind you, West swears with the dignity of a telepath, and after falling off a cliff in front of him, his life and death are uncertain for more than half a year, and he has made the wolf bèi unbearable, Merlin's mind is now absolutely thinking about how to roast him from beginning to end.

"Merlin."

The door was slammed shut with a bang, and a roar pierced the eardrum in the air. West sighed and didn't turn around, in this case, he didn't think it would be a good choice to let Merlin look into his eyes and speak.

"I've been looking for you for four months, Serena Williams."

His expression was a little dazed, as if he remembered watching the Necroknight's long sword penetrate the young man's chest and bring out a series of brilliant blood flowers in mid-air. Merlin's pupils trembled, his gaze fell on West's slightly messy short brown hair, and his voice was so soft that it almost murmured:

"I've gone through every inch of land beneath the cliffs of Barton Mountain, all the riversides, caves, villages, and all the rivers and caves you might be in, and I've used magic secretly...... But I can't find you anywhere. ”

"Later, I went to the tribe of the Druids and asked for the help of the most powerful soothsayer in the world. But he told me that the crystal ball does not predict your fate, you don't seem to exist in this world at all, and even the spiritual world in charge of the old lady who guards the door has never received your soul after death. ”

He smiled bitterly, and could hear the slightly jealous advice of the druid priest. It seems that from the very beginning, the Guardians of Nature had an inexplicable hostility towards West, as had repeatedly warned Emmoris that his fate had turned the teenager upside down. Even if West had already proved his loyalty to his friend to King Arthur and the ** master with life and death at that time, he still never gave up to persuade him to stay away.

Merlin believed that this must not be without reason. But he had already hurt West once because of those ethereal prophecies, and if the so-called fate was slowly practiced in this way, then for this amazing boy, he was actually more willing to follow the desires and instincts of his heart.

"So, I regret it now."

Unable to suppress the chagrin and bitterness in his tone any longer, Merlin took two steps forward and pulled the brown-haired boy's shoulders with a tough gesture that could not be refused. Even though West had reflexively closed his eyes, he could still imagine from the blue and black dizziness how cruel and desperate it must be for a once high-spirited son of heaven to be immersed in a world full of darkness.

"No one can restrain you, Serena Williams...... You have the ability to protect yourself, but you always disguise yourself as an ordinary person because of me, and you almost die because of it...... This is something that none of us want to see. ”

"After all, that's my fate. I shouldn't, and can't ask you to live my way. ”

He stretched out his right hand and put it on his chest, looking reverent, as if he was making the most solemn and irrevocable vow in his life. Just as he was ignorant and ignorant enough to set foot on the land of Camelot and go on a predestined fate, he will not stop when he sends Arthur to the throne and fulfills the future of Emorys and the Eternal King...... Whether it is a part of fate, or a variable that jumps out of reincarnation, all he cares about is West's existence.

- You've done enough for me and for us. Next, let me protect you.

It's not that it's the Ancients, it's just Merlin, the Merlin who once picked up West in the forest.

There seemed to be a sigh in the void, like a bridge connecting the past and the future, washed by the mage's constant flow of thoughts. The gears of fate are still spinning, but one day, the dusty box will be reopened, and souls from the distant future will pry the entire horoscope and save their loved ones from the desperate judgment given by the gods.

In the distance, there seemed to be a faint roar of the wheel of life breaking.

The moment the mage embraced the boy, their futures finally overlapped with each other.

At this point, there is no turning back.