Bab 128: The Power of Magic
My swift attack, more like a twisted suicide attempt, was suddenly supported by the SWAT team and the police, firing at the cluster of parademons and the towering figure of the Wolf. The latter paid no attention to the bullets and merely covered his eyes with the palm of his hand as he barked a short order: "Attack!"
Most of the flying Cyberjukes, even the ones that were engulfed in napalm flames, rushed forward, and some of the army flew higher, firing their energy rifles. Their leader did not break away from the group and also rushed into battle, trying to get to the barricades, break the defenses and make a deadly meat grinder in one swift onslaught, but the heroes full of determination immediately stood in his way.
To be precise, it was Aquaman and Diana, as the best prepared, strongest and most powerful. The fish lord deftly repelled with his trident a sparkling axe that threatened to cut through some hapless special forces with a machine gun, and the Amazon princess gave the Wolf a good smack, flying into the hesitant freak with both feet and throwing him away. Bats, by the way, also tried to get in and threw a shock batarang after the horned knight, but Steppenwolf accelerated a bit, intercepted the projectile in flight and threw it back. The Mouse had to dodge his own gadget, which with a swift stroke slammed halfway into the concrete barrier.
Realizing the danger of such fights, I cast a flash spell at the very beginning of the attack, blinding the first ranks of the enemy and casting a light diversion on myself and Harley, pulling the blonde to the side, allowing the rest of the defenders to show miracles of heroism. Though it felt as if the aliens, even without the spell, paid no attention to our couple at all, trying to get to the humans as quickly as possible.
After a minute of fighting, I had had enough of shooting passive dummies, and when a third parademon flew past us at a breakneck speed, I gave it a simple kick, testing my hunch. He growled something unintelligible and tried to reach for me with his sharp claws, but his head suddenly collided with a baseball bat, shattering like an overripe watermelon.
"Do they have orders not to touch us?"
"It looks like-" Harley shot another nearby creature in the knee, causing it to swoop down on us and legitimately scramble away.
"Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! That's wonderful!"
The insane joyous laughter from our awesome duo amidst the gunfire and explosions made the nearest fighters go a little pale, and the nearest pack of anthropomorphic bugs immediately rushed towards them, which the blonde and I quickly slaughtered, meeting almost no resistance.
His lips parted in a grim smile, revealing slightly elongated fangs. What a great opportunity to try out my rich arsenal on live targets!
The fight was slowly gaining momentum. Aquaman, Diana, and Bats were holding off the rampaging Steppenwolf with varying success, pushing him a bit away from the fray; Cyborg turned himself into the equivalent of a stationary turret, growing a shield enveloped in an energy field from his left hand and a familiar energy cannon from his right, protecting the Mother Box; Flash was also doing his part, scattering flying freaks by the dozens and pulling stalled humans out of the clutches of death; Harley and I stayed close to the friendly group, but acted in pairs, trying not to let the parademons break through the flimsy line of defense and reach the entrenched Victor.
I darted forward, shot a couple of insolent bastards hanging in the air, armed with shooting toys, immediately ducked behind a damaged car, avoiding return fire, threw a napalm grenade at the next cluster of enemies, and then engaged in close combat, deftly wielding my cane and throwing light flashes, causing the creatures to roar, covering their red eyepieces with clawed paws. I even tried out some of Leroy's Wing Chun elements on some of them, breaking their limbs at the joints with powerful blows, which were hard to reinforce in those places.
Naturally, it wasn't just flashes and banal fighting and shooting. I tried all the combat spells I knew, including spontaneous ones like ice icicles, lightning and fireballs, debuffs of varying degrees of complexity, illusion spells, which included disorientation and minor frowns, and spent almost thirty filled diamonds on it. But the most effective variant turned out to be a banal combination of light flash and subsequent firing of a revolver with elements of fencing.
Unfortunately, unlike superheroes, ordinary people had a hard time. The aliens' energy weapons destroyed the shelters with relative ease, and the Earthlings' reactions were not always enough to react to the deadly danger. But the worst part was that every now and then a new column of light appeared in the air, and reinforcements arrived in a wide stream, as if Darkseid's general had already created a portal to Apokolips.
"Where are you going, sicko?" I'm pulling out some guy in a special forces uniform with one hand, saving him from the rapid fire.
"Sp..." he stopped talking, suddenly realizing who had saved him, but I didn't care, because another wave of reinforcements had just come out of the portal, whereas we had a problem with that, because the heavy equipment couldn't move quickly through the city streets and would arrive in ten minutes at best, and the humans were incapable of seriously countering the alien technology, only helping a little to contain the bugs.
Surprisingly, a dozen freaks suddenly rushed towards the rescued man, changing their original route abruptly, and my beloved and I had to try very hard not to let them get to the fresh meat. I even fired a fireball once, making a neat smoking hole where the head of the next enemy had been.
The strange behavior of the monsters gave me an interesting thought, which I immediately decided to check, rushing to the allied barricades.
~Bah~
A stray bullet whistled past my ear.
~Bam~
My jab landed squarely in the jaw of the idiot who shot me.
"Ha-ha-ha-ha! Shoot your opponents, you assholes, if you don't want to die!"
My inspiring superhero appearance caused a couple of cops to recoil in fright, and then another dozen seemingly deranged parademons rushed in our direction, confirming the theory. These things react to fear, which means their activity can be reduced a bit if you get rid of it.
"Cover me!"
I concentrate, beginning to create the framework of the spell weave.
"Lux dat nobis virtus," a large circle consisting of mystical symbols is formed between the hands.
"Lux foras mittit timorem," the complexity of the circle increases, and it is now scrawled inside with neat lines.
"Magma fluit per venas," I pass through myself the energy from the diamonds clasped in my hand, infusing the charms, making them visible to all present, "calefaciens corda nostra!"*
~Tinkle~
A faint wave of light spread from me with a quiet ringing sound, giving my closest allies a mental lift. A moment later, it was clear that the parademons' onslaught had diminished, and Harley and I moved closer to Cyborg, expecting to do the same. But Steppenwolf clearly had other plans.
"Enough! - He exclaimed, once again fending off the Amazon's dangerous lunge with his huge axe and immediately counterattacking.
Diana hesitated for a moment and got a powerful kick, forcing her to flee the battlefield, and Aquaman was next in line. The half-breed of man and fish, though strong, was clearly losing to the Darkseid general in speed, and without the warrior's support, he followed the princess in a moment. Bats tried to do something with his gadgets, but Steppenwolf grabbed a passing minion and successfully launched it straight at Gloomy Mouse.
After getting rid of the pesky superheroes, the alien turned his gaze to his main target.
A moment, and the Steppenwolf, growling something unintelligible, makes a giant leap.
The machine guns rang out and the energy cannon boomed, trying to knock down a convenient target. Unfortunately, the alien's armor-encased body withstood the test with honor, and in a few moments the slightly battered monster landed right next to Cyborg and, consequently, our couple, hitting the ground with a sparkling axe with all its might.
~Boom~
The asphalt rippled, sending the nearest people flying apart, and worst of all, Flash, who was running past, was also caught in the attack. He stumbled over a crack in the pavement and rolled until he slammed into a mangled police car, finally turning the vehicle into a pile of scrap metal.
As I had seen such leaps before, I managed to grab Harley and jump up a little, creating a shield under my feet, but Cyborg was less fortunate. The sparks from the blade of the axe, as if alive, flew to the ground and immediately reached the dark-skinned boy, who had no time to react, snaking cheerfully through the cybernetic organism.
"Victor screamed, and light smoke billowed from the gaps between the implants, sending him into a reboot."
Eh, I should have brought Abby or Zee.
That's what I was thinking when I realized that the only thing standing between the irritated Steppenwolf and the Mother Cube was our magnificent tandem.
Fuck that. Bats, he said this box could be sacrificed.
After coming to the obvious conclusions, which took me less than a second of real time, I fumbled with the flare and attempted a tactical retreat maneuver.
The Wolf's silhouette blurred into space, and there I was, dangling in his outstretched arm, trying in vain to loosen the steel grip on my neck.
"I got you," said the dark-faced bastard, squinting his eyes dangerously.
"Let him go!"
Harley, who I'd thrown aside as soon as I sensed danger, created a glyph under her feet and flew at General Darkseid, hitting him with a baseball bat right on his outstretched arm and immediately bouncing back, wincing at the pain in her battered hands.
The monster's figure only swayed slightly.
"Your pathetic efforts are pointless. My armor is indestructible! Kneel before the might of Darkseid, and maybe he will spare your life."
"You'll get over it, you bastard," a smile graced the girl's face as if she was planning some kind of mischief.
"Then you'll all have to die. It's a shame to lose such a valuable specimen, but my mission is more important."
"Schu-u-u-u-ut..." I wheezed, trying in vain to spell it out.
"Don't you dare! - The blonde jumped up a little and slapped her palm on Wolf's stomach, bringing it down sharply.
"So what..." his opponent started to say and suddenly froze.
Then I could see the strange metamorphosis with my own eyes. The monster's face turned from dark gray to light gray, then to near white, and then it literally turned purple, and its eyes bulged as if trying to leave the skull.
"You bitch!"
The pressure on my neck intensified, threatening to break it, but by this point I had already managed to convert the spell activation to non-verbal form and successfully activated the weave, deploying a strong shield right around my neck, which I had spent the maximum amount of diamonds and some prana on.
Naturally, the magical collar was unlikely to prevent Wolf from finishing off one overly brazen clown, but I had provided for that point.
~Ugh~
The blood clot spit out of his bitten cheek turned into a thin spindle, threatening to take the bastard's left eye, and he still had to jerk, which I took advantage of by sharply widening his collar and slipping out of the deadly grip. A weave of disorientation and a couple morlocks hit the leader of the invasion immediately afterward, and I quickly stepped back, dragging a grinning Harley with me.
Steppenwolf, red with rage, clearly intended to finish off our awesome duo, but by this point the other heroes had arrived and he had to switch to his main target willy-nilly.
~Boom~
Cyborg, who had gone into a reboot, was thrown back by a mighty blow and crashed into the nearest concrete barrier, while Wolf quickly grabbed the box lying on the ground and immediately disappeared in a column of light. Strangely, I was expecting him to say something pathetic, but it was more like a swift flight.
"Scree-ee-ee! - A parademon squealed nearby, reminding them that the fight wasn't over yet, and the heroes had work to do.
***Twenty fucking minutes later***
Another flying creature is sent to the other side of the world after an accurate revolver shot.
Everywhere you look, you'll find signs of battle and cyberjacks lying here and there, with varying degrees of integrity. Unfortunately, human corpses are also present, but their main concentration is behind the damaged barricades on the S.T.A.R. Labs side.
This wasn't a cartoon or a movie, where after a hard fight the participants were left with only bruises and abrasions. Though no one in our company was seriously hurt, except for Cyborg, who had crawled away to fix his body, and Flash, who had pulled his leg again.
"Okay, if any of you are about to die right now, pick up a whole limb, I'll try to help," my cheerfully loud voice boomed over the battlefield.
I must be the wrong superhero, because, unlike my comrades, I decided to stay a little longer and provide first aid to the injured... who, such dogs, dared to doubt my good intentions. A couple of the first half-dead patients had to be stabilized almost by force. So what if the attending physician and his charming assistant are covered head to toe in greenish blood and are always joking around, that's no reason to refuse qualified help!
"Can I help you? - The voice above my ear almost ruined the weave I was about to use on some dark-skinned man with a neat hole in his right side from an incoming energy cannon shot.
"Shit! Don't sneak up on me like that! - I threw an exasperated glance at Diana, who was approaching. - I almost ruined the weave.
"I'm sorry," she smiled embarrassedly. - So is there anything I can do to help?
"Hmm... If you can share some prana with me... Life energy, you know, that thing you use for your enhancement, that'd be great, because," I glance at the name badge, "Officer Harper is clearly looking to go to Valhalla. Stay awake! - I poke a sore spot, causing the cop to groan in pain.
"I've seen priestesses do it, but I've never tried it myself."
"It's not hard. Put your hands on my back and slowly channel the energy. S-s-s-s!" I hissed, feeling the hot magma rushing through my veins, invigorating me. - I felt the hot magma surge through my veins, invigorating me.
It didn't work out right away for Diana, of course, but through a couple of rescues, she found an acceptable amount of life energy, seriously increasing the effectiveness of the healing weaves.
***Thirty more fucking minutes later***
While the rest of the capable members of the team were having fun in the city, hunting for the departed remnants of the alien army, I was engaged in treatment, and, I must say, quite successfully. At least, all the wounded that passed through my hands, at the time of departure in the ambulance were quite awake and will definitely reach the hospital, where they will be able to provide more qualified help.
It was time for the three of us to leave, for the people were getting bold enough to ask where Superman had disappeared, in addition to thanking him. The usual smoke bombs helped to avoid unnecessary questions, and a radio-controlled SUV sent by Bats quickly delivered our warm company to the camouflaged airplane on the outskirts of the city.
As soon as we boarded and took our seats according to our tickets, the transport began a slow climb, heading toward WayneCosmo. Yeah, the Mouse Company has its own space program, though that's no surprise.
"By the way, what kind of charms did you use on Wolf? - I asked Harley, who was sitting next to me.
I'd used spells too, but it didn't look like they could do much damage to Steppenwolf. Even a bloody dart flying into his eye wasn't even capable of causing damage, it was just that the monster preferred to dodge the strange thing. In addition, my beloved had a lot of trouble with external effects, and it was unlikely that she could cast something killing, especially so quickly.
"It's..." the girl blushed a little. - The weave that Zee showed me... Well, for cleaning.
"Wait... You mean to say..."
"Mm-hmm," she blushed sweetly, and I laughed heartily, realizing the reason for General Darkseid's strange metamorphosis, and why his gaze promised us all the punishment of heaven.
*this is a reference to the anime Gurren Lagann
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone