"" - Speaking

'' - Thinking

[] - Dragon

...

When the glow faded, Merlin looked around to find that they were in a large dark corridor, medieval torches lining the passageway as Merlin glanced back at the trio of girls behind him.

"Someone should go tell the Phenex Clan" Merlin spoke as they each nodded in agreement before Murayama spoke up

"I'll go…" She summoned the magic circle behind her as Asuna spoke, tightening her grip on her rapier.

"Try to be quick…" The brunette nodded as she rushed into the magic circle which took her to the Phenex Castle. Merlin starting to walk forwards as Yukihana asked

"Did your work with those holy bullets finish?" Merlin shook his head as he answered

"The magic circle got delayed so it's still working…"

Asuna sighed as they started walking towards large doors, holy bullets would've made this easier but she trusted her friends as they continued forward, noticing that Yukihana had made two kunai out of her Yuki-onna powers.

Entering the room at the end of the corridor they found themselves in what looked to be a training hall, each surprised to see the waiting Nimueh, who had changed into her normal clothes, was stood near the other side of the room.

She clapped her hands with a mock impressed look on her face as she spoke "I didn't expect that you'd break it that fast, Emrys-kun…I must say I'm impressed that your that strong to overcome Fairy magic"

"Where is Reina, Nimueh? Tell me or else…" Merlin spoke seriously as Nimueh laughed

"Or else what…? You're going to attack your love…Don't make me laugh" She clicked her fingers and from out of the shadows a trio of ten foot tall rock golems charged at them.

"One each then" Asuna spoke as she gripped her rapier tighter as she struck out with it towards the golem charging at her, her superior speed allowing her to dodge its large slow swings. Yukihana nodded in agreement as she started to use her kunai and her Yuki-onna powers, her Rook strength allowing her to fight strength with strength against the golem.

Merlin raised a hand towards the remaining golem which was coming at him before clenching his fist, the rock creature caving in on itself before it resembled a large boulder as he turned back to Nimueh

"So it's you and me, Ermys-kun…Care to dance?" Nimueh asked with a mock coy smile before she flew to dodge the large boulder from the mage.

"How could you use me? I loved you and abused it all" Merlin roared as he blasted lightning magic at the fairy, Nimueh easily ducking and weaving around his attacks as she giggled sinisterly

"I always wanted power…and I could sense it inside you" She took a moment to sketch her fingers in the air before pointing to the floor, vines erupting from the ground around him as Merlin quickly blasted them all away with a blast of flame at his feet.

"I figured if I learnt all your spells I would have it but I seem to have been mistaken" Nimueh continued as Merlin summoned his Chaos Cannon and started unloading rounds at the Fairy only for them all to miss before Nimueh shot a bolt of energy at him, Merlin managing to put up a magical shield in time to block it, which disappeared as soon as he started shooting again to little avail.

Nimueh held her hands above her head as she formed a bolt of white flames before throwing it at Merlin who quickly put up a familiar magic circle up. Her attack hit the shield before bouncing back towards her. She managed to dodge her own attack before taking an ice round to one of her wings, which was now frozen over.

"By now…Vine-sama probably already had his way with your master"

"Shut up…" Merlin spoke angrily as he channeled mana into his weapon. The Chaos Cannon glow nearly blinding as the Sacred Gear reacted to his wish to win, getting encased in blue ball of light which consumed his hand as well.

He put his other hand into the ball as he gripped onto something inside the ball of blue light, withdrawing both hands as the ball dispersed in sparkles of blue light to show that Merlin was now holding another identical version of the Chaos Cannon in his right hand as he pointed both guns at Nimueh, her eyes widening in curiously and worry at him as both chambers turned a coppery colour

"Meteor Rain!" He roared, a magic circle appearing a few inches before both barrels as he pulled the triggers in sync, the pair of rounds multiplying into dozens once they hit the magic circle, peppering the area where Nimueh was floating, several hitting her as she tried to dodge most of them.

Merlin panted as he looked at the dust cloud formed by his attack as he felt Tiamat sweatdrop

[That might be going over the top….but at least you hit her…its too draining though]

"Oh my….such a destructive attack" Nimueh spoke as the cloud dispersed, several bullet wounds covered her body yet she was still able to move as she pointed her hand to him before a blast of pale light shot at him.

Merlin put up his magic circle again to block it before firing at her, only managing to score a few hits as Nimueh continued to easily dodge them and managing to clip him with some of her own magic attacks on his arms and sides.

"Why don't you use that fancy little attack again…or does it use too much energy for a repeat performance?" Nimueh asked with a knowing smile, figuring that if she could endure another of those attacks she could easily finish off Merlin.

[It's done…] Tiamat spoke, Merlin mentally smirking as he gripped both guns tighter as he closed his eyes to think for a moment, taking a deep breath before opening them. His eyes looking sharply at her, the chamber of his left gun turned pure white while the right one turned coppery.

"Holy Meteor Rain!" Merlin roared, the two bullets joining before hitting the magic circle which rained out numerous white bullets which caught Nimueh off guard as they smashed her into the wall which cratered around her as she suffered the attack, the dust soon settling to show that's where she remained unconscious from the pure force she'd been hit with. Merlin dropping down to one knee as he panted heavily as he tried to recover his breath so he continued on.

[Combining different bullets… Interesting] Tiamat spoke surprised as Merlin looked over the girls to see them each tiredly looking at three piles of rubble before turning to look at him as he asked

"Are you all alright?" Both replied with a nod, either too tired to speak or not wanting to as he pulled himself to his feet as Asuna asked

"How about you Merlin-san?" Merlin just nodded, despite the pain coming from his hands, the use f holy energy having made them, as he forced himself to start towards the only pair of doors in the room, blasting them open with some wind magic before rushing down the corridor as fast as his body would allow.

…

Reina wished that she could use her powers at the moment but the seals which covered the room seemed to block any devil power from being used. Vine was approaching her with a superior smirk on his face even if his devil powers was sealed he could still overpower the girl and continue on his family line.

Reina had already lost her uniform's waistcoat and cape to the silver haired devil and half of the buttons on her shirt had been pulled off when Vine had forced her shirt open, showing her pink lace bra that she was wearing underneath.

"You should just give up, Reina…no one's coming to save you" Vine spoke with a knowing tone as Reina shook her head defiantly

"Some one will come save me…if it's not my servants then it will definitely be my family" She retorted as she tried to keep as much distance from him as both turned there gazes to the doors as something hit them.

Vine's face darkened while Reina's brightened, her savior was trying to get in as she turned to see Vine charging at her as a shout came from the other side of the door

"Dragon Bolt!" Reina's face broke out into a happy smile as the doors burst open under the force of the attack, revealing Merlin standing there with his two guns trained on Vine as he spoke

"Are you alright Phenex-sama?" Sparing her a glance to see her happily nodding, tears welling up in her eyes as her knees buckled underneath her.

"Emrys…" Vine hissed angrily, throwing his open palm at the mage, blue lightning shooting out which hit Merlin's newly erected magic shield as it forced him back into the corridor.

Vine walked after him as he smirked back to Reina as he spoke "I'll be back in a minute dear…"

Reina tried to use her own fire powers only to find that the doors closed and the seals reappeared over the room.

…

Merlin dodge another bolt of lightning as closed in the distance between them so he could finish this fight quickly, summoning a magic shield to block another bolt launched at him as he concentrated on using his Holy rounds despite the pain in his hands from using it.

"You can't defeat a high class devil like me by yourself boy" Vine spoke proudly as he continued to used magic against his shield which started to crack under the force

"Well this should help" Merlin retorted pointing both Chaos Cannons at him before firing a holy bullet from each, the two white rounds striking Vine in his shoulders as he shouted in pain before realizing that Merlin had the barrel to his forehead as a familiar voice called out from behind him

"Stop Bishop…" Merlin kept his weapon pressed to the high class devil's head as he looked back to see Raiser looking angrily at Vine, in his right hand was Nimueh who was still unconscious from the attacks she'd taken from him, Merlin sighed before firing a round into Vine's groin. The silver haired devil dropping to the floor as he screamed in pain like a girl, Merlin smirking slightly as Raiser shuddered slightly, his face paled then it had been.

"Why'd you do that?" Raiser asked as Merlin shrugged, dismissing his weapons as he spoke

" Didn't want him to get away" With that he headed to get Reina again, opening the door before he soon found himself on his back and enveloped in her hug as she buried her head into his chest as she spoke "Thank you, Merlin-kun…You come just in time to stop him"

Merlin smiled tiredly as he finally saw the vulnerable side of Reina, wrapping his arms around her waist, rubbing her back as he spoke to calm her "Don't worry Reina-sama…Your safe now"

"Are you alright, Reina?" Raiser asked as he hefted Vine up by the collar despite his pained protests and complaints.

Reina blushed at realizing her brother had heard and saw her, sitting up on him as she nodded with a smile "Yeah…Nii-san"

"Good…I'll take out the trash then"

Both got to their feet, Reina surprised as Merlin handed her his coat, revealing the white dress shirt that was underneath, slightly blood marks from where Nimueh's attacks had struck through his coat as she happily pulled it on.

Raiser dragged both of the devils he had a hold on back into the hall, Reina and Merlin close behind before the blonde devil threw them both in a pile before he lit his hands in flames as he spoke "How dare you kidnap my sister…You don't deserve to live any longer"

With that he torched both of them, Merlin surprised as Reina put her arms around his waist as she kissed his cheek, Merlin blushing despite himself as she spoke

"Thank you again…" She felt calmer already as she blushed at seeing Murayama, Asuna and Yukihana smiling at the pair despite feeling slightly jealous.

…

Saeko awoke in the infirmary; part of her knew that she hadn't dreamed of Merlin saving her as her cheeks tinged pink as his soft random gibberish rang through her head again, turning as Katase entered the room smiling upon seeing that she was awake.

"Nice to see you awake, Busujima-sempai" Katase spoke, mentally reminding herself to thank Merlin for healing her as she took the seat next to the bed as Saeko asked

"Where's Tsunagi-kun?"

"Tsunagi-kun? What do you mean sempai…you just collapsed earlier" Katase replied giving her a look of confusion, hoping that she was convincing enough as Saeko's eyes narrowed as she sat up

"I know he saved me…" She looked down to see her uniform was perfectly fine despite what she remembered had happened as Katase tried to sway her by asking

"How would Tsunagi-kun save you…he's nothing special aside from his smarts…?" Saeko mentally sighed, Katase was either being tight lipped or it had really been a dream. She could've sworn that it was real as the memories hadn't faded in her mind and even if it was a dream why would she come up with that, she'd only seen him around the school, never met Tsunagi or knew anything outside of what a few members of the club spoke about and that had been started by Katase and Murayama.

Saeko explained what she knew to be the events up to why she was currently there, noting that Katase was trying to push her to believe that it was all a dream. Finally the purple haired third year settled on going to talk with Tsunagi herself, feeling the pink haired girl was hiding something from her still.

…

Merlin stopped himself from yawning, with a hand over his mouth, as his master, Yukihana and Raiser explained what had happened to Lady Phenex, he was feeling complete drained between all the mana he'd used, along with his Sacred Gear powering up and his minor injuries as Lady Phenex spoke up to Merlin

"I take it you are who I have to thank for saving my daughter" She smiled as Merlin gave a tired nod, keeping his mouth clamped shut as he stifled another yawn before speaking

"Yes…Phenex-sama" She noticed his tired eyes as she spoke

"Well…we should let you go rest and come up with a suitable reward for saving her from those two" She turned towards her daughter as she added

"Reina-chan... I'd like to talk to you about something so can you stay here"

"Alright Oka-sama" Reina replied before turning to her servants as she added

"We'll have to find out from Katase whether Busujima-san believed it was all a dream…But she would be a good Knight if she would join us…"

Merlin gave a small nod in agreement before Yukihana spoke up "Sempai doesn't seem like the sort to want to become a devil without a good enough reason though"

Lady Phenex started to usher them off as she spoke "Go now and rest, especially you Merlin-kun"

He nodded in understanding, noticing that Yukihana was keeping him standing up at the moment, much to the annoyance of Reina, as Asuna activated the magic circle underneath there feet before they transported back to the human world as Lady Phenex turned to address her son

"You can go too, Raiser-kun… you've got to prepare for that ratings game still don't you?"

"Yes…but its not like its going to be much of a competition" Raiser retorted with a shrug as he thought over seeing Merlin using Holy energy with his Sacred Gear, a small shudder running down his back as he left the two to chat as Reina asked nervously

"What's wrong Oka-sama?"

"What do you think of Merlin-kun?" Lady Phenex asked with a smile which grew as she saw her daughter blush and look down embarrassed as she avoided answering it.

…

Merlin yawned as he woke, turning his blurry gaze around the room as Tiamat spoke up

[Looks like you've still got work to do with the Holy rounds]

Merlin nodded as he looked to his now healed hands, during the fight he'd felt some of the backlash from using the Holy rounds in his weapons as he mentally asked 'Could you reduce the backlash?'

[No...You're converting mana into Holy energy so your hands will suffer every time you used it]

"Guess I'll just have to avoid using it...at least until I've modified the formula to avoid the backlash" He spoke to himself thoughtfully, looking up as the door opened to reveal Reina holding a tray of food as she blushed at seeing he was already awake.

"I figured you would have trouble getting up considering you looked dead on your feet when Oka-sama was there" She spoke with a smile, Merlin reaching to his bedside table to pull his glasses on as he managed to pull himself to sit up.

"Darn it… I slept in" Merlin grumbled as he noticed it was about lunchtime as Reina set the tray on his lap as she spoke

"Relax… I've informed Sitri about what happened yesterday so you're off from doing your duties today"

"Oh…Thanks" Merlin spoke as he looked over the large meal before him, digging into it as Reina sat on the edge of his bed watching him for a few moments before he asked

"Heard anything about Busujima-sempai?" Reina shook her head as she spoke

"Katase said that she didn't believe what she said to her but she can't ask you about it till Monday so…"

"I'll have to explain things then" Merlin interrupted as Reina sighed as she nodded before asking

"Why'd you use ten years to save her?"

"She was in the wrong place at the wrong time…anyway you'd want to revive her as a servant I figured at the time, given she is the captain of the Kendo club" Merlin answered as Reina nodded in agreement before focusing back on his meal.

The door opening a few moments later as his father peeked around it with a smile as he spoke "Nice to see you're recovering, son…I got what your Uncle wanted to give you"

Merlin set down his chopsticks as he accepted the leather bound book from his father, flicking it open to one of the first pages as he looked through it while Reina decided to have a look herself

"…I could've done with this yesterday" Merlin spoke with a sigh as he looked over the page of healing spells, flicking ahead to see spells to cure poisons and bolstering the body.

"Well I'll leave you two to it" His father spoke with a teasing smile as he left the room, Merlin blushing as he closed the book and set it off to the side as he worked to finish the meal, looking up to find Reina staring at him with red cheeks.

"What's wrong?" Merlin asked as Reina blushed more as she spoke embarrassed

"Erm…I was wondering what you thought…of my cooking?"

"It's great…" Merlin replied, hiding his surprise that she knew how to cook in the first place, given she was a daughter of a high class family it made sense she wouldn't have know how to, Reina blushing more as she smiled at him.

…

The mage was even more surprised when Sona and Tsubaki came over during the evening, he may have been drained from yesterday but one good night sleep had healed his wounds, which he suspected was with Reina's help as well as recovering a good chunk of mana and other then that he was fine to move around.

They currently were sat in the living room as they chat, Merlin finding himself on the receiving end of a verbal beating by Sona

"You should've at least sent someone to tell us even if we weren't able to help you…I mean you didn't even know what you would be facing there for all you could've known you'd have to fight a full peerage with just two allies…"

"Kaichou…calm down" Merlin replied as he shrank in his seat slightly realising how close there faces were as he blushed, Sona soon following as she took a deep breath before moving to sit back in her seat as he continued

"If we waited any longer, Reina-sama would've been in more trouble then she was…fighting a full peerage would've meant I'd have had more targets to hit rather then just aiming at one, making my attacks more effective…and I trust Yukihana-san and Asuna-san to look out for me as well as they expect me to for them…anyway I would've done the same for you"

Sona blushed at his last comment, any reply dying in her mouth as a small part of her mind imagined Merlin breaking in like a heroic knight to save her from the big bad before silently cursing Serafall for her show putting ideas into her head. Tsubaki next to her had a similar blush and image running through her from Merlin's comment, managing to keep it partially hidden by the cup of tea she was holding.

…

Author's Notes

This chapter introduces another special shot which was inspired from the Megaman NT series, the Spreader although tweaked slightly. Figured that with Merlin understanding Holy energy would have a backlash considered he's channelling the energy into them, as well as him not being able to combine shots inside the gun although might tweak it as when he uses just one gun he can but dual wielding he can't.

Not sure what I'm going to give Merlin as a reward yet but I'll probably come up with something. As for Reina's peerage members will be Lucy Heartfilia, as a Bishop, and Erza Scarlet, as a Pawn x3, from Fairy Tail, Saeko from Highschool of the Dead as a Knight, Inner/Real Moka, as a Rook, and Mizore, as a Pawn x3, from Rosario + Vampire. Currently I've decided to introduce Erza when Xenovia and Irina first show up during the Excalibur hunt and I'll probably get Saeko to join next chap, the others I'm not too sure yet so ideas are welcome.

Issei will be keeping his standard harem considering Merlin got enough on his plate being between Sona and Reina to start with.