I continued the desecration of Nyneve under Morgana's orders. She, in turn, applied tattoos, cast curses, administered potions and other substances, while simultaneously extracting something from her — which was why she no longer allowed me to suck her breasts, fearing I might accidentally draw something out.
In truth, this "torture" wasn't aimed solely at inflicting pain. It wasn't just that Morgana wanted to see her enemy humiliated, although she certainly enjoyed that a lot. No, all of this was to weaken her and destroy her strength — physical, mental, and spiritual — in order to extract that "essence" which was, in fact, the remnants of the divine power in her lineage.
This was doing Nyneve no good; I saw her go from a beautiful elf to… this. Her immaculate aura had completely vanished; her body, now dirty and marked, no longer showed the former glow in her hair, skin, or eyes. Everything had dimmed while a depraved energy emerged from her being. She no longer acted as she had at the beginning, when she showed desperation, pain, resistance, even resilience. No, now she only seemed like a mad woman, desperate for me to move my hips harder, her expressions more those of a whore than the saint she once was. And all this with clear mental deterioration, at least since Morgana stuck that needle through her ear. I don't know what it contained, but the damage it caused was evident.
When Morgana told me to stop, I did, though somewhat reluctantly. Nyneve lay on the ground, exhausted, murmuring incoherently. She no longer seemed the sacred figure of legend, but a distorted, empty shadow.
Morgana sat astride Nyneve's desecrated and corrupted body, resting both hands on her tattooed chest while beginning to intone a low chant, almost a whisper, which activated the magic circle drawn beneath our feet.
The sacrifices — both living beings and inorganic objects carefully placed at specific points on the circle — began to slowly consume themselves, disintegrating until no trace remained. Even that divine lineage essence we had forcibly extracted from Nyneve rose as pure energy and was absorbed by the spell.
I could feel an immense power starting to alter the environment. Currents of unknown magic streaked through the air, forming strange patterns, almost like the gears of a much older and more complex celestial machinery. It was a magic beyond anything I had witnessed.
Hours passed. Morgana didn't stop chanting for a moment, sweating heavily, as if the ceremony demanded superhuman effort. I could only watch silently, perhaps stand guard, not knowing if there was any way to help her.
Finally, it was over. Morgana ceased chanting and the perpetual glow that had lit the place began to slowly fade until it vanished completely, as if it had never been there.
In front of me, Morgana rose from Nyneve's lifeless body, drenched in sweat. The victim lay on the ground, almost motionless, with slight muscle spasms… but no breath. She was dead.
"Are you going to tell me what you did?" I asked, in a tone sadder than I intended. The loss of a woman like Nyneve left a bitter taste in my mind. Maybe she didn't deserve this… Maybe I could have taken her with me…
Morgana laughed, that twisted smile so characteristic of her, as she pulled out a potion and drank slowly to regain her strength.
"What do you think would be worse for Merlin: dying by my hands… or being betrayed by one of his most faithful allies?" she asked with malicious irony.
After pressing her several times, she agreed to explain what she had done. And she did so while continuing to work on Nyneve's corpse, refining it carefully as if it were still a useful piece.
Morgana knew she couldn't defeat Merlin in this life or the next ones. So, instead of seeking a direct victory, she chose a path she had been considering for years, although even now she wasn't certain it would work.
She had modified the ancient reincarnation spell used by both her and Merlin, adapting it for a third person, much like Merlin had done with Arthur. However, this new spell was designed for a single reincarnation. It fed both on a fraction of the divine energy Morgana still possessed and the sacred power dwelling in Nyneve's lineage — the one we had extracted.
Everything else — the curses, the torture, the violation, the physical and mental desecration — was not mere cruelty: it was the method to break her soul, corrupt it, and leave it vulnerable to the next step.
Nyneve was no ordinary creature. In the past, Morgana had tried to kill her, only to see her return to her lake. Even destroying the lake was useless. She tried to destroy her soul… but it was too pure, too deeply rooted in the natural cycle. So she devised a more perverse plan: not to destroy the soul, but to contaminate it.
Morgana fused a fragment of her own soul — not like a horcrux, but an impurity, a scum she could shed without risk — and joined it with the soul of an ancient apprentice of hers, one she had kept. That double soul would act as a parasite within Nyneve's weakened soul.
Normally, Nyneve's soul would be freed from that reincarnation magic to be born again, as it always had been. But now it would be different. During the process, her parasitized soul would perfectly merge with that of the apprentice, creating an abomination. This new entity would no longer be able to use the Lady of the Lake's previous method, but it would reincarnate alongside Morgana, Merlin, and Arthur in the next life—the one that would unfold during the years at Hogwarts.
And since in that next incarnation everyone would have vague or no memories, Morgana hoped that this new Nyneve would approach Merlin again. With their past and destiny intertwined, it would be easy for them to trust each other once more. But over time, the hatred implanted deep in her soul would emerge, and just when Merlin least expected it… bam, stabbed in the back by someone who was once one of his most loyal allies.
I listened silently to that twisted plan that made me shudder. It not only reaffirmed how venomous Morgana was, but also how lucky I was not to have her as an enemy. She would do anything to those who stood in her way. And yet, something clicked in my mind… I couldn't help but chuckle a little.
"What's so funny?" Morgana sneered, assuming my laughter was at her plan. "Does it irritate you not to enjoy your new hole of flesh a little longer?"
"No… I was just thinking that maybe, even without my appearance in this era, you would have tried the same thing. And you probably would have succeeded," I smiled, just as the refinement of Nyneve finished. Where her body had floated before, now only a vial with a bright red liquid remained.
"What do you know…?" she asked, narrowing her eyes suspiciously.
Although I didn't know the full story—Merlin's legend never interested me much—I told her what I knew: how Nimue, Merlin's apprentice, after learning from him, ended up imprisoning him in a tree or something like that.
Morgana burst out laughing like few times before. A laugh full of joy, pride, victory, and arrogance. For the first time in a long while, I saw a genuinely happy smile on her face. Knowing that detail seemed to confirm an inevitable fate for her… and it intoxicated her.
She was so euphoric that she threw the vial of "refined Nyneve" at me without hesitation.
"Keep it," she said disdainfully, but without losing her cheerful tone. "You can use it as lubricant when you play with your dick, or refine it into a beauty potion for some whore you want to prettify. Do whatever you want with it."
And with that, she turned to leave the underwater palace, carrying that imposing presence that always accompanied her, but now more energetic and happy.
...
After that incident at the lake, time seemed to speed up, as if the end was rapidly approaching. The great battle between Avalon and Camelot broke out: the final battle.
Whole armies clashed, but the focus was on the great figures. On one side, Merlin, Arthur, and the Knights of the Round Table. On the other, Morgana, her former apprentices, Elise, and me.
It was a battle worthy of legends, one that razed cities to dust. Morgana, knowing that in the future her method would work, did not hesitate to spend what remained of her divine power. After all, if Nimue managed to imprison Merlin without killing him, and if Morgana reincarnated twice in a row without Merlin doing so, the cycle could be broken.
The war was so brutal that even Elise, whom I didn't want on the front line due to her lack of experience, ended up fighting. Though, of course, not without protection: Avalon's magical smiths forged her exceptional combat armor. Her inexperience and lack of resources limited her, but her horn fired useful bolts against low-level enemies, and her charges wreaked havoc among common knights. Still, more than once I had to intervene when she was attacked by several foes at once.
The battle devastated Avalon. It was a massacre. The screams of pain, the clash of weapons, the cries for fallen comrades… everything filled the air with absolute sorrow.
Many of Arthur's knights perished. I myself killed several trying to reach Elise. I even faced Arthur directly, without using magic, like two knights. It was a fight worthy of respect. When he asked my name—I had never said it—I answered with an ironic smile after an idea struck me:
"Mordred."
Arthur was a worthy rival. His sword… an enviable relic. But that only mattered in a fair duel. When I saw Morgana disadvantaged against Merlin, I stopped playing. I used all my skills and mortally wounded Arthur.
Merlin reacted and tried to intervene. The battle between the most powerful intensified, and although no winner was defined at that moment, the losses were severe.
Morgana was wounded as I had never seen before, by Merlin's magic. She even aged suddenly. Her hair turned ash gray, her skin filled with wrinkles, her body lost much of the beauty she had proudly displayed.
Merlin, for his part, would probably die soon. We managed to pierce his heart with an anti-magic arrow, along with other serious wounds. Though he disappeared, I doubt he could survive much longer. Arthur also disappeared. According to Elise, one of his knights rescued him and took him to a village among Avalon's ruins, but she never saw him again.
And so, the battle ended. It was a victory, yes… but a bitter one.
Morgana lost the most. She was Merlin's destined enemy, and she fought without reservation. I learned in our previous battle that you cannot face high-level enemies directly without paying the price, but she ignored that rule. She knew it was her last battle.
I carried her in my arms like a princess, bringing her back to what remained of her tower. Seeing her like that, so aged, was sad. I still had some time left in this world, though not much. Elise, her apprentices, and I stayed with her, trying to help her recover. Though we knew there wasn't much to be done.
With the right materials and care, she might live one or two more decades. At best.
I promised I would try to take her with me… but she had to cooperate.
And, as part of my efforts to earn that free passage… I kept making love to her, again and again until the last day. Though she now looked like a grandmother, had a dry pussy, sagging breasts, and wrinkled, flabby skin, she still knew how to keep me from softening completely.