American comics: From Hogwarts to God on Earth

Chapter 515 The Argument with Barbara

Chapter 515 The Argument with Barbara

In the afternoon, Barbara finally mustered up her courage and knocked on Rune's door.

"Come in."

He didn't even ask who it was; perhaps Rune already guessed who would be coming—Barbara thought to herself. Oh, maybe it's because he's a mage that he can see her directly through the door?

She wasn't sure, but Barbara still pushed the door open and entered. At that moment, Rune had just closed his book, and if she wasn't mistaken, the cover of the book looked like a human face, and blood was seeping out.

"Don't worry about it, it's normal." Rune noticed Barbara's gaze, her expression contorted as if she had eaten a raw chili pepper, so he smiled and replied, "Anything imbued with magic will undergo some magical changes, including paper and writing, of course."

"I just want to confirm, this isn't some kind of 'human skin book' or something?"

Yes, in the main universe, Gotham is occasionally visited by dark sorcerers who love this blasphemous and hopeless city—and the job of expelling them is, of course, taken care of by the Bat-Family.

Rune bets that the arrival of the dark sorcerers in Gotham in droves will occur after Batman has cracked down on the Court of Owls and the powerful figures who colluded with them.

"What? No, I'm not stupid enough to use something that's hard to obtain and uncomfortable to write with as knowledge of writing magic," Rune added. "Of course, I've never used human skin, and the discomfort in writing with it is just my guess."

Barbara still looked at the mage with suspicion, and after hesitating for a moment, asked, "I came here today to ask you why you insist on forcing the entire magical world to change the spellcasting system that you have been familiar with for many years?"

"I'd be happy to help you decide," Rune snapped his fingers. "Tea or coffee?"

A cup of green tea and a bottle of coffee floated in front of Barbara. Seeing her expression, Rune had to add another option: a bottle of black liquid joined the queue.

"Perhaps Coca-Cola? Or if you'd like, I can switch to Pepsi."

"Coca-Cola is fine." Barbara selectively ignored the question of where the drink came from.

"What do you think magic is?" Rune casually tossed the black magic book he was studying back onto the bookshelf. The face on the cover immediately let out a wail, as if unwilling to leave the mage's hands.

The strange sound startled Barbara, but she was then stumped by Rune's question, "Isn't magic just magic?"

If Rune hadn't asked that question, Barbara probably would never have thought about it in her life. What else could magic be? A mage waving a wand, chanting incantations, and then releasing fireballs to attack enemies—a very stereotypical image, but that's what Barbara believed.

In fact, Rune's question was enough to stump most mages, who in any universe would consider it one of the most difficult questions to answer.

"Then let me ask you another question. Where do you think magic comes from?" Rune held the tea in his hand and took a small sip.

Barbara's expression grew even more puzzled. "I thought this was a question the mages themselves needed to answer, wasn't it?"

“Yes, the mages do need to answer this question, but they haven’t—or rather, most haven’t.” Rune nodded. “Zatanna, yes, the Zatanna you know, her father tried to find the answer.”

"Did he find her?" Barbara asked curiously. Of course she knew who Zatanna was—Batman's childhood friend, Constantine's ex-girlfriend, and a member of the Justice League Dark.

"He found a part of it, and he saw the dark nature of magic, so he warned Zatanna not to directly control the elements in the air, even though she could easily use them to construct a powerful spell."

Barbara pondered. If what Rune said was true, then it wouldn't be surprising that Rune forced other mages to change their spellcasting systems. And she had already witnessed too many dark secrets; one more wouldn't matter.

However, all of this is based on the premise that Rune told the truth.

"But," Barbara unconsciously rubbed the Coke bottle, "what if he's wrong? I mean, mages have existed in our universe for so long, maybe—"

"Does something existing mean it's right? Don't try to fool me with the idea that existence is justification, Barbara. War exists, poverty exists, hunger exists, oppression exists—are they justifications?" Rune frowned. He hadn't expected Barbara to be so fond of escaping reality.

"But----"

"No buts, Barbara," Rune wanted to say that Barbara wasn't a mage and shouldn't be involved in the magical world, but he and Barbara were destined to be a team, so he had to be upfront about it.

"I can tell you definitively that the vast majority of mages are using the power of an evil god without their knowledge—or at least pretending not to know. But the evil god is very unhappy about this. He has received no gifts, no rewards, nothing at all, so he is furious."

As he said this, Rune stood up, looking down at Barbara. "One day, he will come to collect his debts, taking back from all the mages the power they have abused, with interest. And do you know what that means?"

Barbara said reluctantly, "I know, but that's not a reason for you to kill someone."

She no longer questions Rune's insistence that mages change their spellcasting system, which he had studied for decades, but she still disapproves of Rune's killings.

"If that god is only ten years away from arriving on Earth, I'll use some gentle methods, Barbara," Rune said calmly, looking at her. "But the problem is, we don't have much time left."

"Do you know what Batman has been up to lately? Do you know why The Flash is in Gotham?"

These seemingly unrelated questions startled Barbara for a moment, then she shook her head. "No, I don't know, and I don't want to know."

Batman has never been willing to explain his plans in detail to others.

"Well, I'll tell you then. It's because I've armed the entire universe and am preparing for a war," Rune said casually. "And Batman obviously noticed this, so the Flash came to Gotham."

Barbara opened her mouth.

"No, no, no, don't be surprised," Rune raised his hand to quell the commotion, "I'm preparing for a catastrophe that will affect the entire multiverse—"

"Is it the source of the magic you mentioned, that evil god?" Barbara asked, but her tone was quite certain.

However, Rune shook his head.

"No, it's probably just an appetizer in the face of this catastrophe."

The member of the bat family stared wide-eyed.