"By the way, how are we getting this feed?" Now that she could use the scrying magic without getting overwhelmed by the flood of information, Lucy started trying to understand how Merlin’s magic worked. Even though she is learning magic from Gojo, every wizard eventually develops their own style. Until she develops her own style, she should learn and see how multiple wizards use the same spell and use whatever method suits her best.

So far, Merlin’s way of magic was far too complicated for Lucy to use.

Merlin lifted her hand, and a pale pigeon landed on her wrist. "Magic familiars, snow pigeons. They are fast, can endure the cold, have great endurance, and are quite suited for magic. Most wizards can only summon a couple, but thanks to my abundant mana and this labyrinth, I summoned several flocks."

"Ho! Ho! Can I control one? I got a great idea!" Lucy looked back at Merlin with an excited face, and Merlin sighed. Right now, Merlin controlled all of the pigeons at once, and Lucy only looked through the eyes of one. There was a huge difficulty curve between just observing and actually controlling the familiar.

Merlin had looked through Lucy’s notes before, and she could tell that Gojo was drilling several magical theories into her head. She should be able to handle one or two pigeons on her own, but allowing her only one is better for her safety. Those pigeons don’t just share their vision after all, but all of their senses and emotions, including pain and fear.

"Fine, just one. Make it quick since we have work to do." Losing one pigeon won’t harm the mission anyway, so she just said that so Lucy would be careful and end whatever she wanted to do quickly. This was like giving a kid a saw and letting them try to cut a small twig; it should be safe unless something happens. A part of why Merlin wasn’t that worried was that Lucy was a goddess, and she should be able to endure any pain.

"Thank You! I love you! Aunt Merlin!" Lucy quickly closed her eyes with a large grin on her face and took control of one of the pigeons, not seeing the face Merlin made. She was just an inch away from skinning her alive. "Who are you calling aunt? I’m your big sister."

Merlin was aware of her own age and knew that she was old enough to be Lucy’s grandmother, not just an aunt, but it still stung a bit. She was probably the last one of Arad’s wives who would care about her age, but she always got a bit happy when people thought she was younger than she actually was.

When Lucy opened her eyes, she was a pure white pigeon flying over the city, free from all shackles. She could feel the freezing air, the warm sunlight, and see all of the people going about their daily business down below.

She smiled, "Gotta make this quick." She quickly turned around and flew back toward the castle, flying past the wall guards who didn’t suspect anything. Snow pigeons weren’t that uncommon around here, as they are one of the few birds around that could actually survive in the Arctic North. In the past, long before magic telecommunication was a thing, they were brought here from the south and bred specifically to deliver letters in the harsh Arctic storms.

But it was something else that amazed Lucy. It was that this pigeon wasn’t just a white bird. The castle’s automated spells didn’t even register her. By this time, she should’ve already been locked on by the fire mages. Merlin’s pigeons were immune to all known detection magic, and they were surprisingly quiet and fast. The underside of the pigeon’s belly matched the color of the white clouds above, so it was nearly invisible from the ground.

She flew across the garden without being spotted and soon found herself heading directly toward the window of Liliana’s office. For a moment there, Lucy thought about giving the castle mages an earful about their lacking security, but then remembered whose magic she was playing with. It was unfair to ask the mages to match Merlin’s magic. As human as that woman looked, she was the kind of mage that would make other shit themselves on sight.

Even Arad and Gojo would struggle against her in pure magic skill, so this result was expected.

"Target Locked ON!" Seeing Liliana sitting at her desk and dealing with a huge pile of papers, she turned and flew right in through the open window. "Deploying the load!" Flying by, she unleashed the pigeon’s main weapon, and Liliana found herself getting hit with something sticky and nasty right on the forehead.

"A direct hit! A direct hit!" Lucy cheered, but her happy smile didn’t last long as she felt something grab her, and in that instant, what was a harmless prank turned into a nightmare. She could feel her ribs shattering and her guts getting crushed; the pain traveled right back to her body, and she cried on the golden throne.

Gug had caught the pigeon mid-air, and as Lucy cried, she only saw the barbarian’s mouth open wide before everything went dark. Unlike Nina, who was highly civilized and considered one of the barbarians’ geniuses, Gug was still more beastial than mannered. She still ate food raw and cared little about many things people consider normal. Liliana was the only one keeping her looking like a woman instead of a wild beast.

Lucy stumbled out of the throne to the floor, puking a flood of holy water as her entire body twitched... "I died! She ate me alive..." She then threw up again. She had felt everything; all of it jolted her divine back and made her feel mortal. She had never experienced the agony of death before, but she had felt it today.

"Why... didn’t you tell me that pain is also sensed?" Lucy glared back at Merlin with tears flowing down her cheek, and Merlin smiled. "You know the spell Summon Familiar, and I believe you also can cast it on your own. I told you they are regular familiars, so you should’ve known." The spell was indeed in Lucy’s notes; she just expected the great wizard Merlin to have removed such nasty drawbacks.

"In all of your genius wisdom, did you ever think that it might be good to remove the pain sensors?" Lucy growled, and Merlin laughed. "Why would I? I’m controlling thousands of those pigeons; pain is a clear signal that tells me that one of them is having a problem. But really, Gug still eats birds whole, feathers and all?"

"Wait... you felt that? Did you feel it as well?" Lucy growled, surprised more than anything else.

"Of course, Miss Bird Strike. I’m already used to such agony, so I’m fine. Take this as a lesson: always understand the magic you’re using before committing to anything risky. You should’ve known that Gug would catch you in there, am I wrong?"

Merlin was right; Lucy knew the spell and knew that, by default, all features are turned on, like senses and motor control. The caster turns them on and off at will to serve different purposes. She was also right about Gug. Thinking about it now, Lucy should’ve predicted that Gug would at least strike her down.

"I’m sorry... I’ll be careful next time." Lucy made her way back to the golden throne, and Merlin gave her a second pigeon. "Since you played enough, shall we get back to work?"