"Clang, clang, clatter!"
Watching those automatic armors group-beating Jason, the middle-aged man's screams grew fainter until he closed his eyes as if he had breathed his last, yet the armors didn't stop, hammering him like pounding rice cakes.
Su Ming merely crossed his arms, looking at the Elder Master beside him, who leaned on his magic staff and also looked at him.
Neither of them spoke, and the air grew quiet. The wind from the Seine River blew in, carrying that icy winter chill with a slightly sweet smell.
"Uh... aren't you going to take a look? He seems nearly dead." Finally, the Elder Master couldn't hold back and asked.
"Look at what? Your illusion performance? Or watch you sneak attack me from behind?" Su Ming smiled, clapped his hands, took out a Divine Gold Gauss from his waist pouch, loaded several Divine Gold bullets, then cocked it.
It was indeed a good illusion experience, merging light and magic to deceive the eyes. Jason was indeed a master in this aspect, and the plan wasn't bad either.
"What are you talking about? I'm Merlin, and his illusion hasn't even completed yet."
"Quit pretending; wasn't the illusion already set up before you appeared to rescue Sebastian? Instant teleportation, elementalization, teleportation gate—among these three skills, your movement speed should rank second, definitely faster than Xiao walking. Maybe even before he stepped out, you'd already gotten there by direction, and planned it out; the Red Demon and Wind Demon stalling you was part of the plan, their mission was to delay, while the trump card was your illusion combined with dark magic, right? Clever indeed."
The Elder Master before him dissipated like a bubble, and the chaos around Jason being beaten by the active armor vanished too. Jason's figure appeared again by the riverside not far away.
Compared to before, although his appearance hadn't changed, the wretchedness had completely faded. Now, he was a very standard British gentleman, dignified and impressive, with deep eyes, and a formal yet shrewd gaze.
Before, he had disguised himself as an unlikable persona to fit everyone's standard of a villain, but Deathstroke still saw through it.
In fact, thinking about it, if he were genuinely so wretched and lacking charisma, how could he stand alongside Monac in the British Magical World and even earn a code name like Mastermind?
If he didn't have the brains or the presence, how could he scheme? How could he take charge?
Playing this role, he was simply trying to create a misunderstanding from the first impression, as no one from Deathstroke's side had ever met him. Also, he dealt with Charles, the psychic, as soon as he showed up, preparing the conditions for casting his illusion.
He took a deep breath, turned around, and leaned against the riverbank railing, gently dusting off nonexistent particles from his sleeve and tugging his collar: "How did you discover it? I thought my illusion was perfect."
Su Ming nodded, then shook his head, sighed as he looked to the sky: "You are an excellent mage but not a qualified spy. The footprints of the active armor, the sound of punches landing, the light effects of magic—all perfect, you even accounted for the impact of the wind. The magic fluctuations were completely consistent; even the Magic Floating Cloak couldn't distinguish you and him... honestly, it's the best illusion I've seen, even I almost fell for it."
"But you still saw through it." Jason smiled faintly, touching his beard, pulling out a pipe from his pocket and stuffing it into his mouth, inhaling forcefully to reignite the tobacco inside.
"I'm guessing you recognized me, knowing I'm the Supreme Mage, and the closest Sanctuary to Paris being the London Sanctuary, so you created an illusion of the Great Mage from there, as he would logically be the most likely to rush over, whether to attend to a superior or for personal grievances, the storyline could be logically explained to outsiders."
Su Ming slung the rifle over his shoulder, one hand resting on his belt, his tone filled with appreciation.
"But ultimately, to outsiders, right?" Jason showed a bitter smile; he realized where the problem lay.
"Yes, you can impersonate any mage from Kama Taiji but not these three: Master Merlin of the London Temple, Master White from the New York Temple, Master Ouyang from the Hong Kong Temple. Do you know why?" Su Ming nodded, patiently explaining to him.
Jason inhaled deeply, removed the pipe from his mouth, exhaling a puff of smoke: "It's because they have to guard Earth's magic nodes and can't leave their Sanctuaries."
That is indeed the case; now Su Ming has maintained the Protective Array left by the Ancient One well, so the old rules naturally remain unchanged.
Unlike in the comics or movies during Strange's time as the Supreme Mage, where it was all laissez-faire, not even caring about Kama Taiji. He was free, roaming around with The Avengers, showing off and whatnot.
But with everything related to magic comes a cost, so what is the cost of his freedom?
All kinds of demon kings coming to Earth for tourism every few days, even able to grab him, the Supreme Mage, into Hell to play games, while other Great Mages were almost wiped out, leaving the vast holdings of Kama Taiji with only him and King, plus a group of useless apprentices to take the stage.
Precisely because now the three major Sanctuaries all have someone stationed to maintain the magic nodes, and Kama Taiji gathers the three major nodes to form a Magic Array, Earth can remain this peaceful.
"Anyway, I'm glad you told me that old man was Merlin; otherwise, I'd have kept calling him Master of Mischief, hahaha..." Su Ming shook his head, sighing too: "Just hearing that title sounds troublesome. Why did the Ancient One leave him to me, and why keep it hidden?"
Speaking of which, Master Merlin is also a legend in the Magic Realm; according to the intelligence Su Ming himself knows, in many Marvel parallel worlds, the Supreme Mage isn't the Ancient One, but Merlin.
Wise Merlin, All-Powerful Merlin, Invincible Merlin, these are his titles in other universes, but the title people are more familiar with is another one, All-Powerful Cosmic Guardian.
There is a saying that in every parallel world, Merlin exists, but they are all some kind of vessel, a great consciousness placed in different worlds as tendrils to observe, that existence above the All-Powerful Universe is called Otherworld Merlyn.
When Su Ming mentioned the All-Powerful Universe, the fake Merlin played by Jason was clueless, completely exposing his act.
The Mastermind shook his head, perhaps finding it amusing how he accidentally revealed such an obvious flaw, but instead, he helped Su Ming solve the mystery: "Master Merlin is skilled in almost all types of magic, except for Time Magic, as if he is isolated from the concept of time. I think The Ancient One won against him using time."
"What you said makes sense, but it's not important now. You're at a dead end, why don't you confess who helped Lady Nine-Heads train the Warlock Assault Team?"
Su Ming didn't dwell on the matter of Merlin, after all, the legend has Merlin's time unfolding horizontally like a net, somewhat similar to Conqueror Kang. As long as he doesn't go mad, even if he's a monitor of a high-level Merlin, he's still a good helper in protecting the Monistic Universe.
So now let's focus on solving the problem at hand. The Merlin of my world currently shows no signs of madness, so just having a backup plan is enough. With the Time Gem in hand, Su Ming is quite confident.
"Isn't this question obvious? I'm an Illusionist, Demonology is not my forte, let alone helping that war-crazed person form a half-human, half-demon army. I'm British, remember?"
Jason spread his hands helplessly. He joined the Hellfire Club with the intent to rule Britain and the world, which certainly provides no reason to help Hydra.
"You indeed have no reason to do so, but I'm still asking you for the answer, is the answer Black Heart?"
Su Ming turned his head to look at the Wind Demon chased around by the Evil Spirit Knight. If there was any difference here from his previous intel, it's the appearance of the Prince of Hell's underlings.
"I just don't know about this. Before you came, I didn't even know the Wind Demon was Black Heart's subordinate, I thought it was just a lone devil."
Jason pressed the pipe hole with his thumb, adjusting the air intake, gently shaking his head.
His proudest illusion has been seen through, the Supreme Mage won't give him another chance to prepare a second illusion, now he can only await his fate.
"There's nothing more for you here, hand over Sebastian, and then you can leave." Su Ming raised his rifle single-handedly: "As the Supreme Mage, I must remind you, demons are like mold, seeing a small spot with the naked eye means there's a large group unseen, never underestimate them."
Jason smiled, and tipped his hat in a courteous gesture, swinging his cane and pulling Sebastian out from the Endless Void: "Then thank you for the Supreme Mage's generosity, I bid farewell and sincerely wish Kama Taiji all the best."
"Don't thank me, thank the Magic Evil Gods; it's their plan that saved your life."
Jason: "???"
Su Ming casually waved his hand to signal him to teleport and depart quickly, not paying attention to the Mastermind's conflicted expression but instead turning his gaze again to Magnetic King, who had been silent since earlier, standing behind Su Ming, seemingly lost in thought.
"Go ahead, isn't your enemy right there?"
As he spoke, he pointed at Sebastian, who seemed intent on escaping not far away.
The middle-aged man appeared panicked at this moment, clearly recognizing Magnetic King.
Perhaps the three consecutive assassination attempts went awry, Magnetic King remained calm and collected now, understanding opportunities are only opportunities once seized, else they become mere regrets.
Narrowly missing success is more overwhelming than an initial venture with no hope.
So he came to terms with it, genuinely calm at this moment, showing the demeanor of a future leader of mutants.
He didn't rush to act, but first smiled and queried Deathstroke: "What is his weakness? How do you think I can kill him?"
Su Ming showed a knowing expression, Strangulation flowed from his face, he removed a Divine Gold Bullet from his rifle and handed it to Magnetic King, lighting a cigarette, and in the smoke, his guidance emerged:
"Sebastian's capability is absorbing various energies, to kill him, make sure he can't absorb anything."
Eric smiled, accepting the bullet, manipulating it effortlessly into a thin golden disc, chasing after the fleeing Sebastian: "Thank you, I'll remember this favor."