>>5143078"Will there be no end to this madness?!" You ask, not sure if you wanted to hear the answer, but Merlina gave you some hope to live through this encounter.
"Yes, look!" She pointed to the eclipsing sun, which was starting to move away from the moon, hopefully meaning that all the supernatural forces would cease their attacks when the eclipse was incomplete. Wishful thinking, but after seeing the horrors around you, your wishes were the only thing keeping you from giving up.
"Hedwyn is waking up, and my hands are already tied with our current events. I will need you to redo the circle I've placed on top of him."
"Can't I kill him now? Isn't this what you've been training me to do?"
"Yes! Two years in the future! In his sleep! I could barely fight him in my peak when he was full of energy! You are not ready, just do what I say!" She entrusts you with her scythe to scratch the lake over to make a giant incantation rite on top of him. "All you have to do is to open the wounds I've placed on the lake and let his own blood seal him inside. It shouldn't be long before the eclipse is over, but he will stay awake even when this bloodbath ceases! Cut him over his scars!"
You agree to help as you are brought down again by the gargoyle, walking on top of the infested lake while cutting deep into the heart of the swamp.
<span class="mu-s">VLAAAAAD!VLAAAAAD!</span>
His screams are incessant, but you manage to follow your instructions easier now that the rats were following only one of you. The scratches perfectly formed the right runes, but his movements were still speeding up, and the placenta did not seem to be hardening.
>Wait for it.>Strengthen the seal with your blood.>Weaken Hedwyn with your blessed touch.>Run away and hope that was enough to take care of him. 