A few moments earlier:

ORC Clubroom: 3rd Person POV:

"Are you sure you haven't played poker?" Meredith asked Asia with a surprised look as the girl placed down her 5th Royal Flush in a row, Asia giving a nervous giggle as she nodded.

"N-Not at all. Gambling is a sin and sin leads only to temptation which leads to even further sin."

"And yet you have more luck than about every Poker player I've seen?" Gasper said and Asia just smiled shyly as Samson chuckled.

"The girl has lived a blessed life before being excommunicated and is still praising the OG even after becoming a devil.. This is probably just him making sure that her life is nothing but perfect for her devotion." He said with a shrug and Asia smiled happily as she nodded as Meredith sighed.

"Fine, I guess that makes sense." She muttered and Samson smiled before Bardou's ears perked up, the hound looking up and sniffing the air as Samson's smile slowly disappeared.

"Meri."

"On it." Meredith said with a bored look as she snapped her fingers, a series of defensive sigils appearing around the room just before a barrage of light beams impacted them.

The old school building was completely eradicated from existence as the beam disintegrated everything and yet, the clubroom was kept in tact as Meredith's sigils helped it float down to the ground before her sigils disappeared.

"Huh, you guys didn't tell me that they had a runic expert with them." A young man said with a frown, his shoulder-length blonde hair done up in a short ponytail and his dark green eyes glowing brightly. His body was covered in a dark blue robe, under which he wore a light blue Japanese school uniform, and grasped in his right hand was a staff made out of a dark grey oak with a light green orb at the top of it.

"Merlin, she's the reason we brought you. Stop complaining and get on with it." A muscular man dressed in a Japanese school uniform covered in Greek armour said with a frown as he crossed his arms, his shoulder-length grey hair swaying in the wind as Merlin just rolled his eyes.

"You hearing this, Leonardo? Heracles think that runes can be easily taken care of?" Merlin said to the young boy standing next to him and the boy just stared at him before back at the ground. He had dark skin, greyish-blue hair & purple eyes and was dressed in the same school uniform as the muscular man with a long coat over it.

"Enough, you three. Cao Cao gave us our orders. Be sure to fulfill them." A handsome young man said with a frown, his silver-white hair hanging loosely to his neck and his red eyes staring directly at the grinning visage of Samson.

Like the others, he was dressed in the same school uniform, though over his outfit he had a dark blue priest outfit with gold accents and a silver belt was around his waist.

"Take Valerie Tepes alive, or at least steal her Sephiroth Graal, right?" Heracles asked, grinning as the white-haired man nodded before Samson spoke.

"Catgirl, Meri, the wizard is yours. Bardou, take on the big guy. Valerie, Femboy, you keep the kid busy. I'll handle the rogue priest."

"I am not a femboy!" Gasper exclaimed and Valerie nodded along with him.

"That's right, Gaspy. You're not A femboy. You're THE femboy!"

"You're not helping, Val!" Gasper shouted at his fellow former dhampir, the girl just giggling as Samson just rolled his eyes.

"Fine, Gasper. You and Valerie take on the kid. Happy?" He asked, Gasper just grumbling under his breath before he turned and pulled out his cleavers.

In an instant, he was in front of the white-haired guy, the ground under them cratering as Samson's cleavers clashed against a long sword with a darkish purple colour and a double-edged sword coloured black with four green diamond-shaped patterns on the centre.

"The name's Samson, inheritor of the spirit of Samson of Ancient Israel! What's yours?!"

"Siegfried, descendant of Sigurd." Siegfried said through gritted teeth as he felt the power from Samson's blow slowly pushing him into the ground before Samson's eyes widened as he quickly pushed away from Siegfried, barely dodging a light sword slashing at his waist as he flipped backwards.

Meredith & Koneko vs Merlin:

Battle BEGIN!

"So, how good are you at getting close to mages?" Meredith asked Koneko as they both walked towards Merlin, who was waiting leisurely for them as he leaned against his staff.

"Not much. I can't get close to them." Koneko said with a frown before she looked down as a series of runes appeared on her arms and legs, feeling power flooding through them as she turned to the smiling Meredith.

"Energy conversion runes. The more you move, the faster and stronger you'll become, but unfortunately, my control with enhancement runes is not as good as Isaiah, so you can only go a bit past your limits before your body begins to tear itself down." Koneko frowned as she nodded slowly before she was gone, Merlin chuckling as a defence sigil appeared on his right to block a heavy hook from her that made the air tremble.

'So, this is how Isa feels? Feels nice.' Koneko thought with a slight smirk before it disappeared, Merlin frowning as a Touki aura appeared around Koneko while two white tails and a pair of white cat ears sprouted from her lower back and head respectively.

"Ooh, cat ears? Nice." Meredith said with a smile as a light sword appeared in her grasp and Merlin chuckled as both girls disappeared, twirling his staff around as a light blue aura covered his body.

In the blink of an eye, his leg snapped out to divert a punch from Koneko to his left while he spun his staff to parry an attack from Meredith's light blade, Meredith gasping as his staff smashed into her chest and sent her skidding back while magic sigils appeared in front of Koneko and quickly blasted her away.

Thankfully, Koneko leapt back with the attack and was able to minimize most of the damage, her arms stinging after blocking the attack before she flipped to her feet and dashed back at Merlin once again.

"You girls are pretty good." Merlin said with a smile as he predicted and moved around their attacks, Meredith and Koneko relentlessly attacking from all sides only for Merlin to either block their attacks with defensive sigils or parry their blows with his staff.

"Dragon Rampage." Merlin chanted as he stomped on the ground, the ground trembling before a giant magma dragon spawned from the ground.

"Chains of Nirvana." Meredith chanted as she slammed a rune-coated palm into the lava dragon, the dragon screeching in pain as vines ripped through the ground and wrapped around it before pulling it back down into the ground.

Koneko quickly took of Merlin glancing at Meredith to deliver a spinning roundhouse to his neck, the wizard gasping in pain before he grabbed her leg and duck to the ground, Meredith missing her slash towards his neck before he quickly did a leg sweep and knocked both girls unbalanced.

"Siren's Cry." Merlin chanted as he spun his staff above his head before bringing it down hard, a whirlwind of wind forming around him before twin funnels of hurricane-level winds sent both girls blasting in opposite directions.

"I see. Quite the impressive display of force cancellation runes." Merlin said with a smirk as he stared at the runic patterns on the ground where the girls previously stood, watching as the two girls pushed themselves up.

"Damn, you're actually pretty tough for a pretty boy." Meredith said with a smirk and Merlin chuckled as his staff disappeared.

"You say that, but I've never met a girl that can take a blow from me and get back up like it's nothing." Meredith just giggled at that before Koneko spoke up.

"Hey, Meredith. I haven't reached my limit yet, but my body is feeling strange."

"Oh, that's the kinetic energy storing runes that I hid inside the enhancement runes. The more & harder you get hit, the more energy gets absorbed and stored away for you to release in one big attack."

"…You actually talked about your trump card in front of your opponent?" Merlin asked with a deadpan and Meredith giggled as a sword-like nail appeared in her grasp.

"Well, to stop it, you have to block it, but you have to remember. She's not the only one you're fighting. Balance Break." Meredith chanted and Merlin's eyes widened as he quickly created stacks of defensive sigils around him only for all of them to be destroyed as Meredith appeared in front of him, her thin nail-like staff embedded into his chest before she spun and slammed a left heel kick into his jaw that made him flip head over heels.

"Memory Scramble." Meredith chanted and Merlin gasped as his mind shook, the world around him slowly fading before he gasped as it snapped back to colour, just in time for a foot to crash into his chest and sent him flying into the ground.

"You could have taken it easier." Meredith said with a giggle, Koneko rolling her eyes before both of them looked down, watching as a wheezing Merlin pulled him from the ground.

"Ah, I guess it was a bit arrogant of me to think that I could beat both of you by myself." Merlin muttered as he pushed himself up, cracking his back with a groan as the two girls landed in front of him.

"So, are you ready to surrender?" Meredith asked and Merlin chuckled as he rubbed the back of his neck.

"Not really. I owe the commander too much. So I guess it's time to switch. Merlin, you're up." Meredith frowned at that as Merlin's head dropped, a few seconds of silence hanging in the atmosphere around them before his head lifted back up and Meredith frowned at the serious glint in Merlin's eyes.

"So, my psyche could not even beat two girls? How low you have fallen." Merlin scoffed, his voice having dropped a few octaves and Meredith's staff glowed before she unleashed a barrage of astral hands towards the wizard.

"You don't desire to slap me." His voice echoed through the air and Meredith gasped as the hands stopped just short of grabbing him, trying to force her body to move, but she couldn't.

"The power of suggestion is a beautiful thing, isn't it?" Merlin said with a smile as he stared at the glaring Meredith before lifting a hand up and blocking the axe-kick from Koneko with ease, grabbing her by the ankle and smashing her into the ground.

"You desire to lay there for a few moments." Merlin chanted as Koneko moved to jump to her feet before her eyes widened as her body went limp, falling back onto the ground as the wizard stared at them.

"You know, being an Incubus is quite fun, especially when you can force your desires onto someone just by speaking. Then again, the legends and stories about incubi are not all sunshine and rainbows, so I guess it makes sense."

"What are you?" Meredith asked and Merlin chuckled as he shrugged.

"An Incubus-Human Hybrid. My human side is in control most of the time, but if needed, he can switch control over to me, the Incubus side."

"So, when he switches, that means you change species?"

"You're very perceptive." Merlin said with a smirk and Meredith giggled before she spoke.

"That's all I needed to hear." She said and Merlin's eyes widened as he spun around, barely blocking the hook kick from Koneko, but that's what she wanted as she used it as support to leap onto his shoulder, an elbow smashing into the top of his head that had him disoriented before he gasped as Koneko flipped and buried him headfirst into the ground. He was then pulled out of the ground as astral hands wrapped around his body, the holy energy from the hands severely burning his body.

"H-How?" He wheezed and Meredith shrugged.

"I theorized that your 'Desire' ability works only if we understand the meaning and intent that you were trying to give across, so I made Koneko forget everything she knew and regressed her mind to just her animal instincts. Fortunately for us, it appears that it worked.

"A-Ah, I see. Not bad." Merlin muttered and Meredith smiled as she snapped her fingers, Merlin's head dropping as runes crawled across his body and knocked him out.

"Ow~Ow~ That 'Desire' really puts a strain on your mind if you try to break out of it." Meredith frowned as she rubbed her head before glancing at Koneko, who mewled as she licked her leg.

"Ah, right. Forgot about that." Meredith said with a sheepish smile as a nail-like sword appeared in her grasp, Koneko blinking a few times as Meredith sunk her nail into her chest before she shook her head and frowned.

"Why can I taste sweat?"

"Don't worry about it. Let's just get back to the others." Meredith said quickly before she walked away while dragging Merlin behind her, Koneko frowning as she followed after her.

Meredith & Koneko vs Merlin:

Winner: Meredith & Koneko

Battle Time: 1 minute 15 seconds

Bardou vs Heracles:

Battle BEGIN!

"A mutt? My opponent is a damned mutt?" Heracles asked with a frown and a scoff, Bardou rolling his eyes before Heracles raised an eyebrow as the hound transformed into a lycan that was nearly as tall as he was, a ribbon of azure flames floating above his shoulders and behind his neck and azure flames wrapping around his wrist and shins.

"You will find that I'm not like most mutts." Bardou said with a grin before he opened his maw, a torrent of blue flames spewing out towards Heracles.

"Please! As if that is enough to harm me!" Heracles growled as an orange glow covered his body, pulling his fist back before punching forward. The air in front of him warped before a devastating explosion ripped through the air, Bardou raising an eyebrow as the force & winds created by the explosion snuffed out his flames and pushed them to the side.

"Huh, not bad. Not bad at all." Bardou said with a nod as he lowered himself to all fours, Heracles just rolling his eyes as he rolled his shoulders. It was silent as the two fighters just stared at each other, neither moving as they waited for the other to attack first.

Flames crackled in the air around Bardou and bones cracked as Heracles rolled his neck and cracked his fingers before an explosion went off in the background. In an instant, Bardou was in front of Heracles, his right jab being blocked by a forearm that quickly tried to grab at his wrist.

Bardou pulled his hand back before feinting for a leg sweep, Heracles falling it as he lifted a leg up right before Bardou leapt into the ground and the hero barely blocked the following thrust kick.

However, this kick unbalanced him and that was all Bardou needed as he leapt forward as soon as he landed, spinning through the air before landing a vicious snap kick that flipped Heracles through the air.

Unfortunately, the kick was not nearly enough to stun him as the giant was quickly back on his feet, Bardou raising a cross guard to block a heavy punch only for his eyes to widen as the follow-up explosion sent him flying backwards.

Quickly feeling his danger senses blaring, a cloud made out of blue flames appeared under Bardou as he sent himself blasting upwards, just in time as Heracles crashed into the ground where he would have landed before setting off another devastating explosion.

"Not bad for a mutt. I suppose you should do for a warm-up before my real battles begin." Heracles said with a grin as he walked out of the smouldering crater, Bardou chuckling as he stretched his body before a monstrous aura erupted from him, azure blue flames dancing through the sky as the hound grinned down at him.

"I don't have time to waste on you and you don't have time to waste on me. So why don't we just hit each other with our best attack and decide the winner like that?" Bardou proposed and Heracles didn't say anything as he stayed silent before a manic grin appeared on his face as a large orange-gold aura appeared around him.

"Balance Break: Variant Detonation – Mighty Comet!" Heracles roared as he stretched his arms out to the sides, the aura around his body glowing before it transformed into numerous missile-like objects around his body.

"A literal cluster-bomber? Okay, I can work with that." Bardou muttered with a smirk as the spirit inheritor aimed at him with a wide grin, flames spewing out from under the missiles before he roared as he sent them all flying towards him.

The missiles flew rapidly through the air, Bardou staring at them before he held his arms out to the side. Twin blue fireballs appeared in his palms, Bardou frowning in concentration as the orbs began to spin more and more until they looked like miniature suns spinning at a blistering pace in his hands.

"Immolation." Bardou chanted as he aimed before throwing the two suns forward, watching as the two orbs crashed into each other and fused into one large azure sun. The missiles didn't stand a chance as they impacted the sun, the force and winds created by the missiles not even slowing it down a single bit as the sun kept roaring as it flew down towards the grinning Heracles.

"Heat Wave." Bardou chanted as he clenched a fist before unclenching it, watching as the sun shrunk before expanding rapidly. The air burned as heat wave after heat wave scorched the air, the ground cracking and cratering while all plant life in their vicinity were burned to a crisp.

"Didn't expect it to be that strong." Bardou muttered with a sigh as he rubbed the back of his head, staring at the giant crater filled with bubbling lava under him as well as the charred ground surrounding the outskirts of the crater.

"N-Not…not bad, mutt." Heracles gasped out as he stood on the outskirts of the crater, 2nd and 3rd degree burns covering his body and yet, the giant did not fall back nor was he unconscious.

"Damn. Not many could have survived that blast with just a few burns. You sure you're not actually Heracles himself?" Bardou asked, making him chuckle before he coughed up blood and the lycan sighed.

"This is the part where I ask for your surrender or kill you. Which do you choose?"

"D-Death…is far better…than surrender." Heracles gritted out, Bardou just nodding as flames condensed around his right hand before transforming into a sabre.

"Well, I wish you good luck on the other side." Bardou said with a nod before he raised his hand and as he was about to bring it down, his eyes widened as a silver magic crest appeared under Heracles before he disappeared, the lycan frowning as he slowly transformed back into his hound form.

'A teleportation crest that activates when the person it is on is near dead? Maybe, but this is not my field. Better to let the others know.' Bardou thought to himself before he turned, heading to where he last saw everyone else.

Bardou vs Heracles:

Winner: Bardou

Battle Time: 1 minute 34 seconds

A/N: And another chapter done!

Now, I know people are going to get mad so let's get things straight.

Firstly, this is not the original Merlin with his countless of years of experience. This was just a boy who inherited the spirit of Merlin, so he has all the knowledge and magic; he just doesn't know how to use it yet.

Secondly, while Heracles was powerful enough to go toe to toe with Sairaorg in his Balance Breaker in canon, this is also Bardou, a guy who spars on a daily basis against Samson, who can relatively keep up with Isaiah in Storm King's Aura.

So him beating Heracles is not something anyone should not have expected.

Now that I've said that all, as always, read, enjoy, review and until the next one(which is going to be a long chapter)…

Ba-Bye~!