Chapter 185: True Power
In principle, no one really counted on the original plan, for it was almost unrealistic to stealthily approach Arkane with a huge crowd and suddenly attack him with magic and darts with toxin against Rot, to then allow Abby to simply finish off the weakened opponent. Still, Swampy's uncle, before becoming a prisoner of the "most secure magical prison", had the title of the strongest blacksmith, which, together with the title of Black's avatar, should raise his danger level to at least the level of a fake Doomsday, who could hardly be defeated without the use of kryptonite. In our case, the kryptonite was the energy of the Forest. By the way, it could even be delivered inside Anton's body in a similar way: with the help of thick flexible vines, like in some anime about girl wizards. But now Abby couldn't use her powers because of a magical valve restricting access to mana.
Naturally, a hastily created spell would not be able to withstand even a tenth of the power of Green's avatar, because the enormous amount of natural energy would simply destroy any obstacles in its path. It would be like trying to stop a multi-meter tsunami with a sand dam. However, the green-skinned beauty was incredibly afraid of her uncle and unconsciously strengthened the spell John had cast, preventing her body from being used as a guide. It was a good thing that I had thoughtfully asked Zee's father to enchant a simple artifact to remove the spell. In principle, I could remove them myself, because it was really nothing complicated, but it was better to entrust it to a professional.
A small silver coin appeared in the palm of my hand and formed the basis of the artifact. The weave was not embedded in it, as I usually did when enchanting my crafts, but was literally melted into the inner structure of the metal itself. It was a similar method to the one I'd used to create the seal to destroy the millipede, only more graceful, not surprisingly, given his experience.
I was about to put a coin to the green cutie standing next to me, when suddenly my hand was intercepted by Konstantin.
"Not yet," the warlock whispered with only his lips and stepped forward, thus attracting the attention of his opponents and avoiding the fate of being hit by balls.
I still didn't trust John, and I was ready to use such a dirty trick, as my other hand was in Abby's grasp, who was clinging to me for support, which was causing Green Lantern fits of jealousy and Flash embarrassment.
"Is it really Felix Faust himself?! - The wizard exclaimed joyfully, revealing his opponent's real name. - I never thought I'd meet you in this hole! Although, I must say, you're rather hard to recognize. New hairstyle? Or have you fallen under the influence of modern fashion and had a facelift? - he lowered his voice slightly, mimicking a whisper. - I'll tell you a secret, your surgeon did a great job, and now you look like a real evil sorcerer, only instead of baldness, I'd recommend you keep your long greasy hair.
"Laugh while you can, John. You and your friends will join the lord's army anyway," Felix replied, his mouth curving into a wicked grin. Really, that might be him smiling like that now, happy for the compliment. "The Blessing of the Rot, though it hadn't taken away his skin, it was as if it had destroyed all his fat, turning him into some kind of creepy freak."
When Abby realized that the bald man wasn't Arkane, she loosened her grip on my palm, which would hardly be intact if I hadn't activated the protection. But I, unlike the girl, didn't relax, because I knew that this was no ordinary opponent.
Felix Faust, along with such well-known figures in magical circles as Uotan, Brother Night, and Tannarak, is a fairly powerful sorcerer specializing in summoning otherworldly creatures and fire demon magic. Though I'd be interested to see a blacksmith who isn't proficient in the most basic of the dark arts. Faust's personality is known to me thanks to the books I've read from the Shadow Peak library, and in ancient history, because the mage is over five thousand years old at this point. And fortunately, most of the time he was not rubbing his Dian-Tian somewhere in a secret cave, developing the Seventh Beginning and enslaving new demons for his army, but was imprisoned in another dimension by the African wizard king Nommo. Therefore, although he can be considered a pretty strong witch doctor, but to the level of the same Arkane, he seriously does not reach the same level, and he also laid his soul so many times that even the lower demons will not be able to get a hold of it. Given the connection between the Fourth Element and the other Shells, it's not strange that the mage has serious problems with offensive power. However, due to his deep knowledge of dark magic and secret ancient knowledge, after his parole (some idiot decided to summon a demon to his service, having messed up the summoning ritual) he was able to join a mystical organization called "The Cult of the Cold Flame", the purpose of which is to seize power over the world. However, the most curious thing is that one of the founders and ideological inspirer of the Cult is Giovanni Zatara himself. It's worth noting here that he did this back in the days of his turbulent youth and long before Zee was born. Then he tried to destroy his own brainchild more than once and more than twice, but the remaining members could spoil the blood of even the wearer of the Helmet of Destiny, and they hid perfectly. In the end, it all came down to the occasional skirmish, when the witch doctors lost their way, organizing mass sacrifices or summoning powerful demons.
Soon the exchange of pleasantries between the mages was finally over, and it was time for an epic battle. Of course, the first move was made by the enraged blacksmith. At one moment he raised his hands to the ceiling and a meter-long fireball appeared between them, with dark energy prominences on its surface.
Apparently, comparing his new appearance to a shabby, sickly macaque was the last straw.
"Shit, sideways! Ignis Obex!"
Konstantin erected a complex barrier in front of us, consisting of several cells glowing with orange light, but Faust's spell, instead of splashing over the surface of the mystical structure like a normal fireball, shot a thin beam of plasma in our direction. The defense spell lasted for a second, but it was enough time for us to jump back.
"Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! - The sorcerer's eerie laughter echoed off the walls. - For the sake of such power, one could really sacrifice one's humanity!
"You and humanity? Really? Ugh," the black smoke from the burning flesh that rose up and clung to the surrounding walls was blown away by the wind. - Even my deal with the Three Lords was smarter than messing with Arcane and Rot.
"We'll find out in practice! Attack!"
The monsters surrounding the sorcerer burst upon us in a unified mob, and he began summoning demonic fire to create a new fireball.
Fortunately, we had a strong team, so the first onslaught of monsters was repelled without any problems. Lantern simply created a fence with spikes on the outside, and when Black's creatures slowed down, the rest of the superheroes stepped in. With a flap of her wings, Eagle deftly flew over the barrier and brought her artifact mace down on the enemies, tearing the creatures apart and causing the incredibly strong floor of the Tower to crack. Flash, who had gone into acceleration, lobbed Velcro grenades at a couple of monsters, and after the detonation, began firing his borrowed pistol at them. Barry had obvious problems with marksmanship, but it was better that way than trying to get into close combat with incredibly tenacious mutants with a wide arsenal of abilities and unfamiliar anatomy. Konstantin did not get distracted by all the petty things and focused all his attention on Faust, but the sorcerer who had accepted the blessing of the rot successfully resisted the sorcerer's magic, crushing him with his naked power.
The rest of the squad naturally did their part as well, but not too actively. Simon with the Stone of Visions tried to prevent the monsters from attacking, as most of them had too strong armor, which even expansive bullets could not always damage, and the use of tentacles was hindered by the flurry of comrades, and the call consumed a lot of energy, and it was better to save it for more dangerous situations. Bats was just controlling the situation and occasionally tried to get Faust with his gadgets. It didn't work well, for the sorcerer was using magic and the abilities granted by the Rot, constantly erecting defenses of bone plates covered with nasty red growths of rotted flesh. Abby didn't participate in the battle at all, mentally preparing for the final boss battle, but I helped the dryad deal with stress and acted as a support, casting debuffs on enemies, shooting off the limbs of too annoying monsters, and watching the battle of the real mages.
Unlike the recent clash between the air elemental and the Beast, the spectacle, while less epic, was a hundred times more educational. At least the space metric was stable, allowing him to keep track of his surroundings.
Konstantin shot ice icicles with a magic dagger whose blade looked like a frozen blue flame, and used scarlet pentagrams, occasionally replacing them with small parchment sheets with ready-made seals in the form of the same five-pointed stars. Thanks to my true sight and knowledge of magical theory, in most cases I even managed to understand their purpose. Faust didn't mess around with spells. I would even say that he used the most primitive constructions from the arsenal of a novice magician. Although what else can you expect from a sorcerer, except some powerful demonic summoning? However, the energy Felix poured into the enchantments, my honor. Ten of my reserves for a banal fireball - it's really powerful, so even the energy of the blacksmith was initially more aggressive, which further strengthened the spell, clearly demonstrating that to stabilize simple weaves of normal magicians do not necessarily use prana. However, the dark wizard was not limited to magic alone and used the abilities granted by Black. The same bone shield was like a separate living organism, automatically intercepting dangerous objects and spells flying into it, and at the same time diverging to the sides when its owner was going to attack. The latter, of course, soon came to naught, for the inferiority of such a defense is obvious to anyone who fights with a blacksmith for more than five minutes. Though, given the power of the spells, there would not be many such individuals.
It was a good thing that John fit the criteria, having been fighting an unequal battle for the past ten minutes. During another call of demonic flame, the wizard slammed to the floor at the very last moment, launching into flight a large metal spike that he'd been preparing almost from the very beginning of the battle. I wondered why the blond was standing in one place and constantly casting defense formations, instead of moving to the side and saving mana. Even magic lightning, which was designed to break most defenses, he risked taking on a barrier that survived the attack only by a miracle.
Actually, the venture was a success. As the dangerous object approached, the petals of the bone shield instantly closed, except that Faust had already activated the fireball held in the air.
~Bah~
The plasma blob flew only a meter and immediately exploded, destroying the barrier from the inside and frying the caster himself to a crisp. And as the cherry on the cake, a long spike flew in at the end, breaking through the damaged defense and pinning the bastard who'd been thrown off by the blast right to one of the many large bloody growths, like some kind of bug.
"One, zero in favor of art," the warlock said smugly, reaching for the inside pocket of his coat where he usually kept his cigarettes.
"Look out! - Gloomy Mouse's voice rang out as the charred "corpse" suddenly raised its arm and launched its own pointed bone at the wizard. The batarang that flashed in the air slightly disrupted the trajectory of the dangerous projectile, but the bone still broke through the hastily cast shield and stuck into the wizard's shoulder.
"Shit," Konstantin clenched his teeth in pain and immediately ripped the unnecessary object from his body and applied healing charms. The wound was extremely reluctant to close, so he also had to put a magical bandage on his shoulder to prevent it from bleeding out.
"Do you really think you can win? - The blacksmith asked, slowly walking forward and gradually getting rid of the metal spike lodged in his body. His charred skin slid away in layers, revealing a view of renewed red flesh, covered by a translucent thin film like most of the Black One's creatures.
"Well, we have a good chance, considering that my companions have almost defeated all your minions, and you yourself are fried to a crisp and have a big hole in your heart. I think a couple more of these spears and you can forget about eternal life under Black's leadership," said the mage, starting to cast another pentagram. This time it was clearly something killer, because I counted five main layers alone.
"Heh-heh-heh-heh," Faust laughed nastily, surrounding himself again with a strong defense. - It doesn't matter how much you resist or how many times you can kill me. Just by coming to this place, you've already lost, and even Fait can't let it go.
"What? - Konstantin looked at his opponent perplexed, even interrupting the spell cast for a moment. - Did you lose?
His eyes lit up with blue light, and he actively turned his head, paying special attention to the large clots of flesh hanging from the ceiling, then stared at the dark wizard with shock.
"Bastard! Arcane will just sacrifice us all, including you!"
"Hehehehehehe, and that's where you're wrong... I heard the whisper of Rot and received a true blessing, so from now on, flesh is secondary to me. And now you will all see my true power!"
With the last word Faust's body began to grow, covered with disproportionate lumpy muscles and strong bony growths. He doubled in size and acquired a lot of ugly growths and tumors all over his body, this time using his new abilities much more actively and practically forgetting about defense, because all his wounds were healed almost instantly.
"We've got a problem," the mage's tense voice suddenly came through the earpiece as he silently cast spells on the enemy with Green Lantern. - Faust was just stalling for time. Arcane had already started the ritual, and right now a huge amount of energy accumulated by the hills of flesh was flowing into the Tower.
"Where's he getting it from? Shouldn't Dr. Fate's barrier prevent that?"
"Hey, did you guys get him on the retard quota team?"
"What's wrong with that?! - Green Lantern was genuinely indignant, and he had voiced a fairly logical question, but John was a little resentful of him for disrupting the previous explanation.
"That's right. It's just that the Feyte barrier not only blocks outside energy, it keeps it from leaving. And right now, our allies are expending a tremendous amount of power, which Arcane is taking for itself. Pretty soon the ritual will become self-sustaining, and then it will start pulling energy directly. So it really doesn't matter if we can defeat the creatures, because we'll all be sacrificed one way or another, opening the doorway to the Realm of Rot.
"Are you saying that all of this was planned in advance? - Orlitsa clarified.
"Probably. Arkane couldn't help but know that they'd try to eliminate him as quickly as possible by calling in powerful creatures and limiting the use of portals with the barrier, so he hustled him up."
"And what do you suggest? - Bats asked the obvious question.
"Disrupt the ritual, of course. Some will continue to entertain Faust so that he won't even think of returning to his lord, while others will slip past and attack Arcane, who has the ritual tied to him."
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone