Chapter 6 - The Devil: I'm up

On a rainy night, the world seemed enveloped by a deep curtain. Raindrops fell densely like fine needles, piercing the silence of the night. In this endless darkness, a figure stood silently. He stood at the street corner, tall and slender, as if he had grown out of the darkness. Rain slid down his silhouette, yet it could not wash away the suffocating sense of oppression emanating from him. His face was hidden beneath a hood, revealing only three pairs of eyes—eyes so profound they seemed capable of devouring souls, flickering with a cold red glow, imbued with boundless madness.His robes fluttered slightly in the rain, as if they were part of the night. Eerie crimson patterns faintly showed through the black fabric, and though the rain drenched his hem, it instantly dried. He lifted his head, taking a deep breath, as if greedily sniffing something. Suddenly, he seemed to find his target, grinning to reveal countless teeth."Zatanna, I've found you… And a dessert, too?"His mouth split to his ears, revealing an inhuman smile.On the other side, Rune was not idle. He began to self-examine and quickly discovered the reason for his cruelty—magic. The magic in Gotham City was problematic; it seemed to originate from the deepest darkness.No!Rune thought of something. In a sense, Gotham itself was born from darkness. It was under the gaze of Barbatos, the personification of destruction and darkness, the embodiment of despair, and his servants, the Court of Owls, facilitated Gotham's establishment. It was also Barbatos's will that led to Batman's birth. Bruce Wayne feared not bats, but something deeper, more terrifying, and darker hidden behind them.After realizing all this, Rune quickly prioritized the Patronus Charm as the magic he most needed to learn.With his own room, Rune found it much more convenient to practice Transfiguration and runes. He began to constantly review the magic he had learned. The objects in the room also started to undergo strange changes—they came alive. Teacups turned into squirrels, then were eaten by a chair that had transformed into a hunting dog; a sofa that had become a tiger lay by Rune's feet, vigilantly observing its surroundings; the table, meanwhile, transformed into a magnificent steed, lowering its head to graze on grass that had sprung up from nowhere…"Zatanna…"Heavy footsteps approached from outside the door, and a dual-toned voice called out through the rain.Bang!A claw covered in blood-red scales pierced through the door. Rune retreated two steps, and the door turned into a block of iron, firmly trapping the opponent's claw, and also allowing Rune to clearly see the opponent's appearance."I am not Zatanna, get out!" Rune said angrily, simultaneously casting Protego on himself."A Wizard?" The Demon chuckled softly, "Delicious… Wizards are delicious!"Flames erupted, and the iron block instantly turned red and melted into a watery substance, dripping away. Rune, meanwhile, shouted loudly, "Expelliarmus!"The six-eyed Demon's hands involuntarily bent backward, and the powerful force made him involuntarily howl, "It hurts, you… Wizard… Damn it…"Rune held his ground, pondering how Trigon's offspring were connected to Zatanna. The next moment, the Demon shuddered, and Rune felt as if his head had been punched hard. He involuntarily staggered back a few steps, his nose felt warm, and when he wiped it, he found he was bleeding.Damn it…"Levicorpus!"The Demon opened its mouth, and a flicker of fire shone in its throat, but before the flames could be expelled, it felt its hind leg violently yanked, and then it crashed to the ground with a thud. The carpet turned into blades, savagely slicing at the back of its head."Accio Eyes!" Rune shouted.The Demon shrieked, and its six eyes flew straight into Rune's hand. Then the evil creature stood up, clutching its eye sockets and howling in pain. The shriek was so piercing that it even made Rune question whether he should spare its life. But Rune quickly dispelled his inexplicable pity. The magnificent steed from earlier directly charged the Demon, knocking it to the ground while also being violently thrown back. In mid-air, the steed disintegrated into wood shavings, but the shavings suddenly stopped scattering, transforming into tiny, sharp needles that flew back towards the Demon, savagely embedding themselves in its body.Subsequently, the tiger, along with the wolves that had transformed from other chairs, rushed forward and began to tear at the Demon until it stopped struggling, only then did Rune walk over. However, he had underestimated this Demon. Just as Rune lowered his head, intending to extract the magic-infused materials from the Demon's body, it let out a final, massive burst of flames, burning off a portion of Rune's hair. The Shield Charm was like paper, almost useless. But this was also the Demon's limit. The next second, the tiger tore off the Demon's head.Rune looked around; the other tenants' doors were tightly shut, clearly experienced with such scenes, which saved Rune the trouble of casting Obliviate on each of them.Looking at the mess before him, Rune couldn't help but sigh.It seemed he should also learn the Fiendfyre Curse. He still had significant shortcomings in offensive spells, or perhaps it could be said that this Demon had too high magic resistance, making ordinary offensive spells difficult to penetrate its defenses."Reparo!"This spell encountered unprecedented resistance, but fortunately, most of the furniture was successfully repaired in the end. The Demon's corpse was placed on the table.Rune picked up a knife, enhanced its sharpness with Transfiguration, and began to dissect the Demon. He had not studied Demon-related knowledge at Hogwarts and did not know what parts were useful, so he could only extract the parts containing a large amount of magic.The bones, heart, eyes, scales, and tongue of this Demon all contained immense magic. Especially when its heart was removed, the outer muscles rapidly turned to ash, leaving behind a translucent, red-glowing stone. Inside, fire seemed to constantly leap, looking very beautiful. But Rune did not even dare to touch it, merely using magic to place it into a wooden box.Rune had long deduced the Demon's origin from its six eyes. He was a scion of Trigon. This terrifying Demon often projected a portion of his power to "destined individuals" in other multiverses, prompting them to fight each other. These "children" would also absorb each other's power and continuously grow stronger until they were sufficient sacrifices to summon his true form.The Demon's tongue also bore a simplified drawing of a six-eyed, two-horned Demon, and the eyes were Trigon's most prominent symbol. These two also could not be touched for now.All that remained were the scales and bones. This Demon had no horns, clearly not a core member. There were few scales that truly contained a large amount of magic, and the bones were exceptionally tough, as if long infused with magic…Rune suddenly understood why the other party was looking for Zatanna.Zatanna's father had left, her mother feigned death, and she had little protection, yet she possessed a distinguished background and powerful magic talent. Her backward magic was especially close to the essence of the Dark Multiverse's magic, capable of inverting a person's very being. Consuming such a Witch, even without absorbing the power of other "siblings," would be almost enough to summon Trigon.This creature must have known about magic before becoming a Demon.Rune caressed the glistening white bones in his hand, his desire for power intensifying. If he couldn't acquire great power, he would end up like this Demon, having his tendons pulled and bones extracted.