Chapitre 171: The first swallow
When the first shock passed, and the guy, confused by our pressure, began to adequately perceive reality, my beloved and I kindly enlightened him on how a normal date with a girl he liked should look like. I even generous and handed him a bunch of green bills to have money to visit the cafeteria and other nice little things. It was a shame that the fair had already left, and no one was going to rebuild the Entertainment Mile, but Gotham was a huge city, and there were plenty of places to have a good time. I just need to get rid of the creepy mask, which will be a problem because of the constant change of faces.
"CATs! - Harley's cheer echoed through the dark catacombs, distracting me from my conversation with Simon and causing Zee to cast a small kinetic shield.
A couple of seconds later, the happy blonde was squeezing four surprised cats in her arms, and three of them had rather unusual colors. Yellow, dirty green with white stripes and red, although it should be brown. It was easy to guess who was hiding behind such unsightly images, and the true vision showed three viscous red-black clots, clearly related to the demonic brotherhood, and the fourth, like a real black cat, had a slightly strange aura with gray flecks of death energy. I wondered how Gaius and his companions could shrink to more than ten times their original size, and even the weight was gone, because Harley could hold the three monsters in his arms without any problems.
"Mr. J, why don't we get a pet, too? - The pretty girl looked at me with a begging look.
"Frankie's enough for me. If you want to, ask Abby to turn into an animal, she's not related to Red, but she can control her body and can mimic the appearance of other organisms."
While I was answering, the cats managed to get out of my beloved's clutches and began to gain mass, regaining their true appearance. The sight was not very appetizing, as their flesh was lumpy and their skin was bursting, exposing muscle and conjuring up images of a Kronenberg or Akira's transformation. But only a few moments passed, and the familiar trio of demon converts stood before us.
"Wow, I didn't know your friends were so good with their bodies," I voiced my own thoughts.
"It's all thanks to the spells in the dark book. Our flesh is changeable, but it's incredibly difficult to hold the right shape on your own," Gaius growled in plain English.
"I passed the language skills on to him, just like I did to Detective Kirk," Simon replied to my questioning look.
"That's all very wonderful, but let's get down to what we came here for," the sorceress reminded herself. - I don't have much free time. I was planning to check out a sealed tomb in Peru tonight, and I'm not going to do it late at night.
"Right. Simon, can Zee study the box and the grimoire?"
"I'd also like to scan you and your companions, if that's okay with them."
"Well," the young man shifted his gaze to Gaius and Susie. The former shrugged indifferently, and the meatball nodded affirmatively, lifting her body slightly with her tentacles. Tony apparently had no say in the matter, but he didn't mind either, smiling happily with his mouth on his belly. - If it's not dangerous, we can... I just don't plan on running the portal yet, because I haven't quite figured out how it works yet.
"That's okay, I just need to make sure this thing doesn't blow up at the worst possible moment, dragging part of Gotham into a hellish dimension."
The first thing the sorceress did was to look at the chimera itself, to find out what Gustav had done to it, but the clever blacksmith was clearly not planning to share his secrets, or maybe Simon was unconsciously shutting himself off, because most of the standard charms gave out, according to Zee, some gibberish of scattered data. Even the number of souls was constantly changing, even though it proved that there was definitely more than one. But the demons did not present special surprises, although it is still surprising how the dark magicians managed to transform the material human bodies into demonic pseudo-flesh, without affecting the mind, because more often it happens the other way around. In fact, there was a very peculiar evolutionary transition, because the new receptacle is not subject to aging and more perfect compared to the usual human body.
After healing the chimera with a couple of large scars as a thank you for saving the city and once again being amazed by its abnormal resistance, the sorceress finally started studying two rather powerful artifacts, and a happy Simon took Harley and me aside and bragged that he had managed to fulfill my request. When we were sorting out the trophies, I asked him to find some safe spells in the grimoire that didn't require demonic mana and sacrifices, and there were a couple of them, even though the book was so creepy that even the sorceress preferred not to touch it, but to study it from a distance.
The first enchantments were banal telekinesis, allowing you to manipulate inanimate objects with the help of your aura. In fact, the weave gave a small part of the caster's aura a material form, and then everything depended on the forces invested and the level of control. My radius was limited to two meters, and the maximum weight was only one kilogram and a penny. Of course, due to the additional mana inflow, you can easily increase the maximum weight, but to be honest, it makes almost no sense. You can't throw a spike at a high speed with Magnetto, nor can you stop someone's heart because all living organisms have their own aura, which can resist even more stable charms. One only has to think of Bats and how he prevented a ball of water from cleansing himself despite being unconscious. But even so, telekinesis has great potential, especially with the sculptor's charms, because in this way matter can be given almost any shape and no more fiddling with tools, as it was when modifying the Impala.
The second interesting acquisition was a magic shield. Unlike stone skin, it increased the bond between the molecules of the structure of any surface to which it was applied. And yes, ordinary skin also fell under this definition, and the coolest thing was that its power was almost limitless, only mana was needed. I estimated that with the active stone skin, my reserve would be enough to match Aquaman's strength for about thirty seconds, and that was incredibly cool.
Both spells were quite interesting, but the lack of a passive mode marred the joy. And if the telekinesis spell could be easily suspended in my aura and activated at will due to its simple structure, the shield was too complicated and voracious for such manipulations. Even in the most gentle mode it would drain my reserve in about ten minutes, and its strength would be inferior to stone skin, and it would hardly block emanations of divine energy, but the latter could only be properly tested with Abby's help.
I even managed to get a little upset, but then the third surprise came to my rescue: a recipe for creating magic ink. It was with their help that the new gate keeper managed to stabilize the bodies of his friends by putting special tattoos-spells on them. I had already thought about such a thing, to create somewhere on myself a spatial pocket with everything necessary for survival, but I just did not have time to study this topic thoughtfully, and multi-level weaves with the help of ordinary tattoos, it is unlikely to be able to recreate. Magic ink had no such disadvantage, because it could be controlled by the will of the user, regulating the depth of penetration into the epidermis, as well as change the configuration at will, turning unsightly symbols into abstract drawings and vice versa. Long, painful, but in fact the weave would be limited only by the necessary thickness of lines, so that they would not close on each other, and so that the active charms would not conflict with each other.
The most marvelous thing was that all it took was magic-infused blood, and the rest of the work was done by the ritual itself, giving it the necessary properties. And I already had a couple of ideas on where to get the necessary liquid.
I memorized the ritual for turning the blood into magical ink and the new charms, and began to help Simon heal the remaining scars. Zee had helped, of course, by tightening three large scars on his stomach and chest with her magic, but there was still a lot of work to do. And the sad thing was, the chimera's healing magic didn't work so well. No, my half-demonic undead friend had learned the weave and could even use it, but his energy, in principle, like any dark mana, is clearly not particularly suitable for healing spells, so their effectiveness is starting to strive to zero.
So, one hero had to empty the rest of the drives and even involve his lovely companion to tighten a dozen unpleasant scars, although their total length was a little less than the three that healed the sorceress with just a couple of phrases.
Convinced of the safety of the artifact that created the gateway to the infernal dimension, and once again marveling at the power and skill of the ancient sorcerers, Zee left the catacombs to check out the Peruvian tomb. Casimo Leto's casket had indeed turned out to be an incredible item. Not only had the magician managed to create a compact, portable portal, but he had also somehow installed a buffer zone of coiled space inside, as a very peculiar checkpoint. And spatial charms, especially of such a scale, actually conflict, which was proven in practice during the destruction of Apokolips' portals. I'm afraid, if it weren't for my presence and Simon's demonstrated prudence along with sincere assurances to be responsible for the choice of infernal tourists, the sexy illusionist might well have tried to take away the mysterious artifact. Not even for the purpose of research, because such a thing, knowing the character of ancient wizards, would rather tear up than share secrets, but to have fewer dark creatures climbing the Earth, even if not all of them, despite the adjective, are bad. The energy of dark colors itself makes weak-spirited creatures obey their instincts and brings the worst to the surface, and the environment in dark worlds dictates its own rules. The usual unwillingness to fight or to torture to death your offender will be perceived as weakness.
The sorceress only copied a couple of interesting summoning spells from it, and that was only to be more effective against all sorts of dark bitches like Belial, Beelzebub or Clarion. The latter looks like a little kid with a slicked-back hairdo that forms two big horns, but in fact he is an incredibly powerful witch doctor from the Witches' dimension. The enchantress has encountered him before, and his constant summoning of demonic creatures has made a lasting impression on the beauty.
Zi might be gone, but that wasn't a reason to interrupt the magical plastique session. In an attempt to speed up the work, I didn't hesitate to create a rune converter and ask Gaius to work as a battery, suddenly discovering that even after the conversion, demonic mana was still ill-suited for healing. It was as if her very nature was against such a thing. Trying to replenish the reserve directly also failed. It was like diluted acid running through my veins, making me swear through clenched teeth for a minute or two before I washed the stuff out of me, draining a quarter of my reserve. It was a good thing the demonic mana in the Dark Cathedral had gone straight to supporting the barrier, because then a two-minute hiccup would have cost us our lives.
But it's interesting. I was sure that the runic converter transforms, giving mana certain properties and suppressing its original essence, but it seems to work as a magical filter, trying to simply remove all the unnecessary, and it does not always work. Now it becomes clear that there are huge losses when converting natural energy into energy with light coloring. It is only strange that no one has not yet come up with an effective filter to isolate the demonic component. Light, darkness - two sides of the same coin and are certainly present in any reasonable, the question is only in the proportions.
The mana reserves and enthusiasm were exhausted, and the Nevermore lying on Harley's lap had turned into a pancake from the constant stroking, so it was time to call it a day. In addition, it only seems that a little more and Simon will be able to sunbathe on the beach, but in fact there is a huge number of scars to heal, as if the blacksmith during the creation of the body was fond of patchwork.
Deep in the night my beloved and I finally left the catacombs, and were about to go to the car, as our escort suddenly became wary, looking at the dilapidated wall behind the altar.
"Come out, I can feel your presence!"
"Hehehehehe, I didn't doubt your abilities," a tall male silhouette in a dirty dark cloak and black tangled hair immediately appeared from the hiding place.
His face was hidden by the hood, but the dim light of the moon was enough to make out a ghastly mask like the one Scarecrow wore, only without the respirator. The scraps of cloth around the mouth were even more eerie, resembling torn lips, behind which one could see large, crooked teeth that looked like rotten stumps. Two red eyes with burst capillaries completed the image.
"I've been wanting to meet you for a long time," the monster spoke again, and to my surprise, I realized that it wasn't a mask, and the unknown man looked like the dead had risen, but his aura was very similar to Simon's, only more three-dimensional, dark and creepy.
Eh, looks like Zee missed the compensation amount by a little bit and Gustav should have been dealt the full price.
"Who are you?" the magical chimera eyed her "copy" warily.
"I'm your brother, and now you and your friends are going to die."
I had just enough time to turn the shield in front of me before the monster's carcass slammed into it at full speed, causing the spell to crack. It was only a second before the barrier failed, but Harley and I had already prudently broken the distance, leaving the kin face to face.
"Wait, I don't want to hurt you," Simon held up his hands conciliatorily, causing me and Harley to give each other facepalms.
"You shouldn't, because I want to! - The dead man lunged forward, wrapping his arms tightly around Simon. - You and Gustav deserve it! Boo," a red blob of flesh suddenly erupted from the monster's open mouth and clawed at the dazed guardian's face. A concentrated odor of rotting flesh hit his nose.
~Bah-bah-bah-bah~
A few shots from the Glock made several jagged holes in the enemy's skull and forced him to disengage from his prey. But the red blob didn't care about that, and sliding the edge of the mask aside, it crawled right into the dazed guy's mouth.
"I don't care about mortal weapons," the bastard looked at us with his only surviving eye as his other eye regenerated rapidly. Simon collapsed to the ground, shaking like a seizure.
"Then catch this!"
An air ramming spell threw the hideous freak slightly off balance, followed by a napalm grenade, hitting him right in the face and turning him into a flaming torch.
‒ А-а-а-а! ‒ дикий крик-визг разнесся над старыми руинами церкви.
Harley darted forward to pull our comrade away from the burning monster, which still didn't want to die while I was putting bullet after bullet into it and creating a blob of light against the infernal creatures, squeezing out the rest of the reserve.
"Mr. J, it looks like Simon's in trouble."
I cast a brief glance at my shaking buddy, realizing that things were bad. His black aura with red flecks was gradually being taken over by an even blacker aura that was disgusting to even look at.
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone