Chương 48: Preparation
"They don't. - The sorceress answered, stepping between us and John.
"Zatanna, don't be such a bore. They're in almost no danger. I'll put up an anti-magic barrier so the danger is nominal. All we have to do is disrupt the sacrifice, and then I'll be there to tear it down.
"Then why don't you destroy the coven yourself?" The brunette asked, crossing her arms over her chest. - You should have enough power, and plenty of it, if they're not even threatened.
"Well..." The man ruffled his hair, averting his gaze slightly. - I'm not just going to put up a barrier for no reason. If I didn't need help, I'd just burn the place down with a fire elemental...
"Don't quibble. - The girl looked sternly at the guest.
"Okay. They're demon worshippers and they're going to open the way for Melholm during the parade of planets.
The girl's eye twitched:
"Correct me, please. - She said with a deceptively soft smile. - You mean one of the Lords of Hell?
The warlock nodded gravely.
"How?! How the hell did they organize this?!" The mistress of the mansion was really shocked, and I kept up with her, glaring suspiciously at the sudden guest. I wondered if the magical world still had the nice Roman tradition of executing messengers who brought bad news. If John wasn't lying, the whole Earth was in grave danger.
In the course of her lectures on all things magical, Zatanna talked about these powerful demons with the prefix "archi". Incredibly strong and vicious creatures, at the top of the fifth level of power according to the local classification, and sometimes at the sixth, although only Trigon, who had enslaved several dimensions, could be classified as such. But the main problem with the Lords was in the name itself: they always had a large retinue with the second-fourth level of power, as well as a domain where they could slip away at any moment in case of defeat to recover their strength, and then come back and take revenge. They need our world to increase the number of canned slaves, whose souls serve as batteries after death. P for practicality.
"For several years they've been stealthily creating a breach, and now all that's missing is a little push.
"How did we not see this?! That's hundreds of victims with distinctive wounds!" Harley leaned in close to my ear and whispered that I should use a gag when I had sex with Zatanna. Hmm, that's a good idea, and it'll take away her basic magic, too, though I doubt the illusionist has anything else in reserve for such an eventuality.
"Because the bastards used black goats and some of their adepts as victims. As it turned out, the "infernal treasurer" didn't care about conventions, and he wasn't too strong compared to other Lords, even some archidemons would be inferior in strength.
"What do you want us to do?" I stepped forward, standing on the right side of the charming protector. - We can't really be called mages, my maximum is a bloody dart and a runic flash. - After these words, the sorceress, to whom I did not inform about it, gave me an attentive look. I guess not everyone can do spells on the first day of practicing on their own with muddy instructions, but I have a slight advantage in the form of the System. - And Harley can't even do that.
"Hey, I can make sparks come out of a vibrator!
"You did it once, and that was by accident. - I turned to the blonde.
"But it worked. - I had a cute, pouty hamster looking at me.
"Even if it worked all the time - the combat effectiveness of such a thing is close to zero. - I argued.
"I don't know, Mr. J, psychological effect, distraction, and intimidation: there's no telling where I'll shove my "ultimatum weapon" later. Besides, you've used a similar method yourself. - She said with a snub nose. Hmph, you can't even argue with that, of course, if you leave out the minor details. I think almost anyone would be shocked to death if you shoved a Kryptonite dildo down their throat, and it wouldn't even matter if they were Kryptonian or human.
***
While our couple was passionately discussing the use of specific gadgets to inflict psychological and physical damage on unfortunate bandits and other antisocial individuals, John pulled Zatanna aside and asked in a whisper:
"Where did you find them?
The enchantress rolled her eyes, expressing universal sorrow:
"Don't mind them, they're the champions of the younger of the Endless, well you should know them: the Joker and Harley Quinn. Although now they're introduced as Jay Arkham and Harleen Quinzel.
"Come on!" The man took another close look at the couple under discussion. If the blonde had no problem to guess the features of the psychotic assistant of the famous clown, but her boss did not resemble his former self at all: dark hair, normal face with a pleasant facial expression, although, if you look closely, you can see thin threads of scars at the corners of the mouth, but they did not look like crudely sewn wounds, which flashed on the photos of the orientation. - Are you sure? It's not like they were mages... Wait... Champions?! Are you sure?
"Unfortunately, the answer to both of your questions is "yes, I'm sure".
"Hmm, maybe it was for the best?" The mage answered thoughtfully, he knew his colleague in the mystic craft well enough, and since she was training these two, they could be trusted with a responsible task. - Without magic, the fanatics pose no danger to the metalmen, because their patron is not in a hurry to endow his adepts with secret knowledge: the ones that will help to summon him faster are enough. And the protection of the Eternal will keep your, ahem, students from falling into Melholm's clutches, even if they are slaughtered on the altar with all the procedures... Ouch," he grumbled at the painful poke in his shoulder, "I'm just trying to consider all the options.
"Let's not do that. How did you even know about the ritual?
"There was an informant in the coven.
The illusionist didn't bother to specify why he was, and it was clear enough that one rarely left such organizations on their own.
***
After discussing all the nuances of using superhero devices with my lovely assistant, I noticed the slumped shoulders of the brunette, wondering what John had told her.
"Okay, your offer sounds interesting, but what good is it to us? We'd be risking our lives surrounded by enemies while you put up an anti-magic barrier. And for that matter, why can't we just hold the spell until the parade of planets is over?
With a sigh, the wizard sat down in the nearest chair and began to speak. Barrier is a wonderful spell that, when used properly, can weaken even seventh-level creatures dependent on magic. One of its curious properties is that it blocks all spatial movement, including physical-based ones, but it is limited by its complexity, visibility, and cast time. As in many complex charms in the basis lie runic constructions, which, it turns out, can be quite well reduced, taking on a part of the functionality of mystical symbols, which results in a strong strain of mind, will and exorbitant magical expenditures, but here comes to the rescue tomorrow's astronomical event. The three planets closest to the sun will line up in a single line. During such parades all magical sources of the Earth begin to resonate, strengthening the general magical background and, accordingly, the magicians themselves. John is going to take advantage of this, but the cultists also want to use it for the final sacrifice, and since the sacrifice is much faster than putting a barrier on a decent territory, the ceremony must be delayed by any means necessary, and then destroy the altar.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. - I interrupted the magician's story. What are the new introductions? I didn't want to go there, or it would turn out that in the process you need to do some confusing quest. - What does the altar have to do with it?
"It contains the stored energy for the breach. As long as the barrier is active, the altar can be easily destroyed with ordinary explosives, even with a pickaxe if you hit it hard enough. If it weren't for the altar, I could have attacked them earlier, but with its support, they'll crush anyone with brute force. It's like being connected to a dragon vein with a limited resource, plus the patron won't stay away, reinforcing his adepts if it smells hot.
Hmm, everything looks pretty logical. Even the day is right: without a magic buff you can't put up a barrier quickly, and with a dozen minutes to spare and the bright illumination that accompanies the creation of a costly spell, the adherents of the cult of Melholm will have a hundred times time to get to the wizard and send him to the altar. But there is one more tiny detail that confuses me.
"I guess. Why don't Zee help you with that?" The illusionist glared at me, but she didn't say anything. - She's more experienced, and she could put up a shield over the altar before the barrier was activated, and we could replace her here, and we'd have enough brains to run a ready-made design for mass exorcism, especially if we left the instructions.
"You see, the stronger the mage, the worse it will be for him in unmasked space, some apostles who have been using the patron's energy for a long time may die at all.
"Okay, we're in agreement..." I started to say, but stopped. He's got a big mouth, he's got me talking. - What's the point of us participating in this adventure?
"Isn't saving the Earth the greatest reward of all?!" The man even jumped up from his chair, taking on a lofty appearance.
Uh-huh, yeah, he did. Even Harley gave him a disparaging look, wrinkling her nose.
"Hmm, I wanted something more tangible.
"Well, strictly speaking the reward is relatively tangible. - The sorceress intervened. - Helping the Earth, globally, a magician cleans his karma, which makes his life easier. It can be compared to the pumped up luck. He can hear the right conversation or be in the right place at the right time, even avoid death.
"Hmmm... Tempting. But still weak.
"All right, what do you want?" The magician gave up. Looks like he's on a real deadline.
"The carcass of Tyndall's hound dog, and a couple lessons in magic would be nice.
"Hmm... - Now the wizard was thinking. - Half a carcass and three lessons. - He suggested.
I glanced at the sorceress, who nodded, catching my message. I glanced at her, and she nodded, catching my message. Hell, there's an entire Lord involved, and the fate of an entire planet at stake. It's amazing that two ex-criminals are going to be entrusted with such an important case. Crazy... Ha-ha-ha, maybe she really is.
"Harley?
"This should be interesting!" They looked at me with eyes burning with excitement.
"Fine, we agree.
"That's great!" The man was clearly pleased. - Zatanna, can you help me with the teleport?
"I can't help it. - The brunette shrugged.
"Very good. Then I'll give you one of my magic lessons right now, after which you'll have about seven hours before you leave. Now, first of all, to find out your magical potential...
***
Yeah... That's what I call intensity. Despite the pumped mind, my head was a little buzzing, and an unpleasant phantom feeling of emptiness settled in my stomach. It was good that the sorceress gave limited access to the source of magic, so the reserve was full, otherwise it would have been much worse. According to the results of the arranged test, I am four times stronger than Harley, and we both have a natural mana coloring, which reduces the cost of spells of the school with a consonant name by ten percent. It's a shame it's a small achievement, because my strength is literally only enough for two fireballs... I expected to be much stronger after the upgrade, but reality likes to tear down air castles. The illusion magic was better, I had enough reserve to cast two dozen simple weaves, like flash or magic firefly, before I collapsed with exhaustion. Hopefully, the enhanced fourth beginning would bring my magic up to an acceptable level.
Who the hell am I kidding? A normal warlock can create a hundred fireballs! If you figure it out, I need 2,000 points to get to that level! Fuck it, I'm gonna go pump my atman and fuck Ivy. Besides, I like illusions - it's a pretty elegant direction, unlike elemental school with vulgar fireballs.
To create a spell required the so-called "three W's": will, faith, imagination (in addition to magic itself), and imagination should be used not to visualize the end result, although you can do that too, but it takes a lot of energy, but to mentally create a framework, which, in fact, consists of simplified runic symbols. When using the System, I was able to cast a basic shrine every time, but after the first attempt, I tried to do it on my own, keeping up with Harley.
Finished with the magic, we went home to get ready.
***
The biggest problem, surprisingly, was finding parking for the new car: the neighborhood is not exactly prosperous. Fortunately, there was a closed paid parking lot a block away from our apartment. I didn't trust it, but I didn't have to choose in a time crunch.
When I got to the workshop I started to create. The first thing was to modify the bat of my faithful assistant. I didn't need to modify it too much, because the main thing was to keep its striking properties. All I had to do was to paint it in a beautiful soft pink color and add the promised modification by gutting a police shocker. 10 watts of power at 120,000 volts, it'll knock a man out for seven minutes. I was not lazy to engrave a rune for color change, filling it with the given salt and covering it with varnish. It'll do for a couple of days, and then I'll try to find a more suitable material.
My beloved was very happy with the update, giving me a passionate kiss, which almost turned into a marathon, but the preparation was not yet finished.
The next step was to provide us with protection, we weren't going for a walk after all. Together with Harley we added Kevlar plates to our suits, covering vital organs, and then it was time for chemistry. Flashes and a couple of smoke bombs, which I entrusted the blonde to create, a couple of C4s to destroy the altar, I don't know how hard it was for my assistant to keep the explosives, but they were very useful now. I even had enough for two homemade grenades, as a decisive argument. A dozen throwing cards were not even worth mentioning.
Determined not to be put off, we headed back to Shadow Peak.
"Good, you're here. - The sorceress was clearly pleased to see us early, meeting us at the mansion's doorstep. - Follow me. - She made her way to the back of the building.
She led us past the door to the living room until we came to a tall, double-leafed, massive door that led to the training room. It was a large, light-colored room with stone floors and walls. The ceiling was covered with some sort of glowing material that resembled fluorescent mushrooms, only ten times brighter. At the far end were wooden dummies for practicing battle charms.
"As a reinforcement, I decided to make you amulets. - The sorceress showed a bunch of wooden circles with red and blue crosses in the center. - The red ones contain a fireball spell, and the blue ones are a standard shield that protects you from physical and magical attacks. Activate with a pulse of magic.
Having tried the gifts, I found them not bad: the fireball left serious scorch marks on the dummies, corresponding to third-degree burns, and the shield created a shimmering film in the form of a one-and-a-half-meter circle that could withstand a pistol shot from five meters or a weakened fireball.
We couldn't take anything more serious with us, otherwise we'd be highly phoned in magical vision. Even the number of amulets was limited to five each: two for defense and three for attack.
"Finish up here," John looked into the room, "next stop is the Romanian town of Valea-Visheului.
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