"" - Talking

'' - Thought

[] - Dragon

...

The next day, Merlin stood in the park with Saji, Koneko, Kiba and Issei. Each looked confused at the paper doll that they held in there hand as Merlin explained

"These will make a copy of yourself…all they need to start is your first name written in Kanji on it and Hyodo try not to make any mistakes cause they tend to go haywire if you do"

"Hey I'm not an idiot" Issei shouted back annoyed before Kiba asked

"This is what you used during the party…?" Merlin nodded with a smirk as he spoke

"That's right…now they will be identical to you to the point that only the aura would give them away and that would take a few days to notice but they can't fight"

Pulling the one he had used before out he let it float to the floor before it shone brightly and shifted into his copy version who bowed to him as he spoke "What do you want me to do, Merlin-sama?"

"Wait for now…" Merlin spoke, noticing Issei's shocked look as he turned back to them as he continued

"Now I'll have to empower yours to work seeing as none of you are versed in magician's magic so put them on the floor and I'll do the rest" Each of his fellow devils put down there paper doll before stepping back to give him some room. Merlin taking a deep breath before forming the magic circle around his own hand, waving over the four dolls which were then surrounded by its own individual magic circle before clicking his fingers.

Each paper doll glowed before taking the appearance and dress of who had written on it, the originals looking surprised at there copies looking back at them.

"That's all I need to see another damn handsome prince" Issei spoke annoyed as he looked at the two Kibas who both smiled back as Saji spoke up

"Wow…I could get all of Kaichou's paperwork done with this"

"Now give what you want them to do, just make sure they'll meet us back here when we've finished before our devil work starts up, and lets get to work finding the Excaliburs" Merlin spoke as the others nodded in agreement.

…

It had been a few days since they'd started looking, there copies had hidden what they were doing but he still had a feeling that Sona and Reina would find out eventually about it. Currently Merlin was sitting outside with Saji as they ate there lunch.

"So are you going to come along on the day out Hyodo's arranging?" Saji asked, Merlin taking a moment to think before speaking

"I might do…depends on what the girls say" He'd figured he should extend the invitation to Reina and the other girls considering it would interesting to spend some time with them outside of devil work.

Saji nodded in understanding before giving out a sigh, hoping they could end this charade soon and avoid Sona's punishment.

"I hope this ends soon, I don't like lying to Kaichou" Saji spoke, Merlin nodding in agreement given the longer they spent finding the Excaliburs the more chance they had being found out.

…

Merlin looked confused at his phone as it rang an unknown number, deciding to answer it as he looked around to see the students all heading home for the day.

"Hello…?"

"Please…come to the…park opposite Kuou…Emrys" The disjointed voice asked, his eyes narrowing in confusion as the line was cut. Part of him knew that it could be a trap but the voice seemed familiar in some way to him so he decided to investigate.

He was unaware of Saeko watching him as he started towards the park to find out who had called him, before deciding to follow him and maybe getting some time alone with the mage.

Entering the park he noticed the magical aura, preparing himself for a fight as he looked around before he spotted one of his old friends approaching.

Short spiky pink hair stood up with only two bangs over each of his brown eyes. A short sleeved red jacket and skinny jeans defined his slim male build.

"Natsu…?" Merlin asked surprised as he relaxed, Natsu stopping before him as he spoke

"Hey Emrys…Been a long time hasn't it?"

"Yeah…What are you doing here?" Merlin asked curiously as they started walking away from the school, Natsu slowing down slightly to give them some space as he spoke

"I'm alright...Been busy trying to avoid the council you know…" A dark glow started to form over his hands, Merlin nodding in understanding as he sighed, stuffing his hands into his pockets as Natsu whispered his spell chant before stiffening as feeling a blade press against his throat, his eyes looking down to see the blood red blade.

"I wouldn't do that if I was you..." A female voice spoke warningly before calling out to Merlin

"Merlin-kun!" The mage turned surprised to see Saeko standing there with Muramasa to Natsu's throat about to ask her what the hell she was doing until his eyes widened at seeing the black mana around his hands which faded before Natsu tried to swing out at Saeko who dodged it with her superior speed.

"Natsu…What the hell are you doing?"Merlin shouted confused as he summoned his Chaos Cannon to his hand pointing it towards Natsu. His supposed friend's body glowed brightly before fading to reveal himself to be a tall, purple pineapple haired young man, dressed in a modified green uniform.

"I'll get you for interrupting my plan" He spoke darkly, creating a trident out of purple mist before he charged towards Saeko as he twirled it.

"Stay away from her, Muruko!" Merlin shouted, firing off several thunder rounds towards the young man who turned and used his trident to deflect the bullets before moving it to deflect Saeko's strike with Muramasa.

"Fufu…Looks like Emrys is growing soft" Muruko spoke with a laugh as he launched himself at Saeko who used her superior speed to dodge as Merlin shot up a pillar of rock to knock the purple haired young man off his feet, but failed as he seemed to faze right through it.

"An illusion…" Saeko spoke surprised as Merlin slammed a hand onto the ground, launching a shockwave around him which only caused the ground to wobble as Merlin added annoyed.

"All around us as well…Muruko, what are you doing here?"

"I was charged with destroying the traitor…so you can't interfere with the council's plan to duplicate the Excaliburs' powers" Mukuro replied with a dark tone, Merlin and Saeko standing back to back as they looked around the darkness that was growing around them.

'Multiple versions of Excaliburs would cause even more problems for everyone not alone the devils' Merlin thought to himself as he tried to see if there was any out of place in the illusion before he picked up the purple pineapple head's aura, directing both handguns in the direction as he spoke

"Dragon Bolt" The two beams of black energy merged into a larger attack which created a large explosion, breaking the illusion to find themselves in the park with Mukuro standing in front of them. In front of the young man was an intricate magic circle which had blocked Merlin's attack. A long furrow ran between Merlin and Mukuro, the latter speaking up with an interested tone

"Impressive…seems like I underestimated the power of the traitor…I wonder how much stronger you'll get… maybe strong enough for that…" The latter he spoke to himself as steam started to rise from his form which started fading from the feet up as he added

"I will spare you this time, Emrys…I want to enjoy our next fight all the more"

Once Mukuro had completely faded, Saeko and Merlin sighed in relief as they dismissed there weapons.

"Thanks for saving me, Saeko-san, I owe you one" Merlin spoke, noticing the weird glint in her eye as she replied, a predatory grin growing on her face

"Well…if you say that…" Saeko started, reacting quicker then Merlin could and captured him in her hold as she gave him a chaste kiss on the lips, the mage freezing for a moment before he responded on instinct as his arms wrapped around her waist before a familiar voice broke the moment.

"So this is where you two are!" Reina shouted angrily, her cheeks red as she looked between her Knight and Bishop who broke there hold on each other, Saeko smiling victoriously as the blonde she-devil turned on Merlin

"How could you give her your first kiss?" She asked outraged that it hadn't been her as Merlin replied confused

"Did you forget about me going out with Nimueh?"

"That's not the point…" Reina retorted grabbing his arm as she started to pull him back onto the school grounds, Saeko smiling happily as she followed behind them, a finger gently trailing her lips as she sighed happily.

They entered there new clubroom which had been furnished for there needs. Several sofas were sat in the room, along with a large television that was mounted to the back wall, speakers stood on either side of it and a DVD player sat on a small table below it.

"Wow this looks great" Merlin spoke, looking around the room as he picked up several books on the desk along with a laptop. Asuna, Katase, Murayama and Yukihana were already watching some romantic movie which Merlin for the life of him didn't know about, Saeko moving to take a seat as her attention was gripped by the movie.

Reina blushed as she looked away from the television, finding Merlin looking confused as she decided to ask "What's wrong?"

"Nothing" Merlin answered as he turned away before heading to take a seat on a free sofa opening a magic tome that appeared in his hands. Reina guessed he didn't like romantic movies as she moved to sit down at her desk to work on the script, her cheeks flushing red as she read her own romantic scene between the Heroic Mage and the Princess.

'I can't wait to get to rehearse this…' She thought lecherously, she'd managed to sneak a few from Merlin while he was asleep but she imagined that it would be on a whole different level when he reciprocated.

…

When club activities ended that day the group to destroy Excalibur headed to the park and Merlin instantly swapped into his priest clothes along with the others which had fake crosses to avoid injuries and to suppress there powers. Merlin also casting the magic for the paper dolls and sending them on there way before they started there search again. Erza was joining them for today as Merlin explained what he'd learnt from Muruko earlier which had made the group realise how dangerous it was getting.

They'd been searching for a while and would soon have to head back to avoid suspicion as Saji spoke with no interest "Fuu. No progress today as well."

Merlin's eyes narrowed as he felt holy energy nearby, Kiba who was walking in front of the group stopping before Koneko spoke up "…Yuuto-senpai."

"Look up!" Merlin shouted, switching his clothes without a second thought as he turned around to see a small group of robes figures moving towards them as Erza added seriously

"Tch…Looks like mages as well" Using her R-Equip magic Erza's body shone bright yellow, her hair flying up before it faded to reveal her in her now garbed in her Sea Empress Armour.

"Damn" Saji spoke looking at Erza in awe, being broken from it as Merlin spoke "Help the others…We'll deal with them"

Saji quickly switched his clothes back to his school uniform as he spoke "Alright, Merlin…"

"Boosted Gear!" Issei called, his gauntlet appearing instantly as Saji summoned his own Absorption Line.

[Boost!]

"Stretch my line!" Saji called as he shot a black hand at Freed, Merlin putting up a barrier between him, Erza and the others to avoid them getting interrupted as he faced down the group of about six mages all lead by Noah.

"So…You still stand in our way Emrys, Erza" Noah spoke as he stood near the back of the group, Merlin smirking as he summoned both his Chaos Cannons, glancing over to Erza as she slipped into a fighting stance.

"Well you aren't exactly leaving us alone are you" Merlin retorted as he pointed both guns at the group as Erza added

"You can't expect that we'll let you duplicate the Excaliburs"

"So that smart aleck assassin Mukuro told you that…Well how else did you expect the magic council to start a war…?" Noah sneered back, unimpressed at the illusionist freely giving them details.

"That would be mutual destruction…The last war only stopped due to lack of numbers on all sides" Merlin retorted confused as Noah smirked

"Not if we make it seem like the Angels attack the Devils…" The six mages' hands started to spark bright white light as Erza's eyes widened in shock as she spoke

"You wouldn't deceive both factions with such a ploy" The six mages shot out arrows of light, Merlin quick to throw up a shield in front of them both as he thought to himself

'How'd they learn to use Holy energy…?' He was broke from his thoughts as Tiamat spoke up

[They were probably taught by a Fallen]

Erza ran towards the edge of the barrier swinging her sword out as a wave of water was released from it, Merlin quick to drop the barrier as he added thunder to the redhead's attack which struck two of the mages before hitting a large barrier the others had erected. The two that had been hit, slammed against the shield before dropping to the floor, twitching from the electricity that was running through them.

"I didn't think you could R-Equip armour, impressive" Merlin asked Erza, who looked over to him with a slight smile, her cheeks slightly red as she nodded and answered

"Yes…My magical armour works like the magical weapons and can be changed at will" She swung her sword to cut a fireball in two, water erupting from the weapon to snuff out the rest of the flame as Merlin aimed the Chaos Cannon at a casting mage, the barrel turning orange as he muttered and pulled the trigger

"Bomber Round" The orange bullet shot out, hitting into the chest of the mage before the bullet exploded covering him in smoke as Erza asked curiously

"Explosive magic…? Magician?"

"Demonic actually…I learnt it from the Bomb Queen" Merlin replied, turning his new round onto the three other mages who were forced to dodge the variety of explosions that shot off towards it. Erza looking confused as Merlin explained

"Well that's the nickname they gave her…and Demonic magic happens to be more imaginative then Magician's" Erza nodded in understanding slashing her blade across a mage's chest while Merlin hit another with explosive rounds.

…

"…Is it you old-man Balba?" Freed spoke to the old man that had suddenly appeared, everyone else was looking shocked.

"…Balba Galilei!" Kiba spoke as he glared at the old man with eyes full of hatred.

"I certainly am." The old man admitted normally before turning to Freed as he continued

"Freed. What are you doing?"

"Old-man! I can't run away because of this guy's weird lizard tongue!" Freed replied signalling to Saji's Absorption Line which Balba looked over for a moment before shaking his head as he spoke

"Hmph. You still can't use the holy-sword perfectly yet. Use the "element" I gave you more wisely. I'm researching because of that. Gather the holy element that is running throughout your body to the blade of the holy-sword. With that, you should be able to cut it."

"Yeah, yeah!" Freed muttered as his holy-sword had started to gather auras and started to glow before he added

"Like this! Hroyah!"

Saji's Sacred Gear was cut easily before Noah appeared next to Balba, his staff resting on his shoulders as Merlin called from behind the others "Noah, get your cowardly ass back here"

"I don't think so, Emrys…I still have to make plans for the final show" Noah spoke up with bravado before Freed nodded and spoke to the others

"I will be escaping now! The next time we meet will be the time of our ultimate battle!"

"I won't let you escape!" Xenovia shouted as she clashed blades with Freed, Erza soon joining in, garbed in her Flight Armour, as she tried to use her superior speed to cut at Freed.

"Yaho! Ise-kun"

"Irina!" Issei replied, Merlin's eyes widening at noticing the ball of light that was now taking form in Noah's hands

"Freed Zelzan. Balba Galilei. Rebels. I will cut you both down in the name of God!"

"Vile creature. I will cut you down"

"Ha! Don't say the name of the hateful God that I hate! You bitch!"

Freed exchanged swords with Erza and Xenovia before Noah spoke up "Old-man Balba, Freed! We are escaping! We are going to report to your boss, Kokabiel!"

"There's no other way."

"See ya! The alliance of Church and devils!" Freed spoke moments before the Noah's ball of light exploded, blinding everyone for a few moments befoe fading to reveal Noah, Freed and Balba were gone.

"We are going after them Irina."

"Okay!"

Xenovia and Irina nodded at each other and sprinted after them, Kiba quick to speak up as well "I'm going after them too! I won't let you escape Balba Galilei!"

"He…hey! Kiba! Geez! What's going on!" Issei shouted as Kiba ran after the two exorcists, Erza turned to Merlin who nodded as they started to run after the blonde only to stop as he noticed the presence of Reina, Sona and Rias was coming from behind skidding to a halt as he shouted to Erza

"Let me know what happens…" Erza nodded, part of her understanding that Merlin was already in enough trouble with his masters from helping her vendetta as well as the two Exorcists.

Merlin headed back to see Issei, Koneko and Saji all relaxing before they noticed the presence behind them.

"When I thought that the flow of power becomes irregular…"

"This is certainly troublesome."

"Agreed"

The trio turned around to see the three third years standing there with stern looks on there faces as Rias asked "Ise. What's the meaning of this? Explain."

Rias standing there with serious face in front of Issei, Sona and Reina looking at Merlin and the latter asked "Merlin, what are you doing?"

"Yes, please explain why you had to make duplicates to hide what you were doing?" Sona added as Merlin decided to start explaining, noticing his Copy was standing a few paces behind them with a sorry look on its face, Issei's, Koneko's, Kiba's and Saji's were also showing up as if sensing that they'd been found out.

…

Author's Note

It took quite a while to work this out given I'm easily distracted by other ideas. Anyway next chapter will have a lot of action in it with Kokabiel's and Noah's attack on the school. I had planned to show Merlin's Scale Mail against Noah who'll by fighting with Take Over magic.

Thanks for all the ideas and I will try and work in some side stories in once I've done with Vol 3 of the light Novels, so Erza will be amongst them and one will definitely be a beach one cause it'll help Saji more. Any other side story suggestions are welcome and the funnier the better.

Hope you enjoy it and please review, good or bad.