American comics: From Hogwarts to God on Earth

Chapter 465 Magical Reform ⑨

Faust?

Upon hearing the name, Rune frowned. It wasn't that he found the person troublesome, but rather that he seemed to have heard the name before. So he activated his psychic abilities, searching his mind for information related to Faust.

Most of the information about Faust comes from Goethe's famous poetic drama, but a small portion comes from DC.

But DC's Faust—

Aside from knowing that he could use demonic powers, Rune didn't have much of an impression of him.

"Hey, you're not kidding, are you?" Constantine's understanding of Faust was clearly far superior to Rune's; he knew just how terrifying that bastard was. "Are those conservatives out of their minds?"

"I hope I'm joking," Zatanna shook her head.

Constantine's eyes widened for a few seconds, feigning shock, but after only a few seconds, he was completely stunned.

"Alright, alright, we all know Faust has been resurrected, but so what?" Constantine shrugged, looking completely unconcerned. "Let's face it, his power is nowhere near that of Rune, okay?"

"I have confidence in Rune's strength, but—" Zatanna was somewhat incoherent, hearing that the legendary powerful dark mage had been resurrected was truly—well, somewhat shocking to her.

She hadn't expected those conservatives to go this far. After all, this Faust was actually the prototype for the protagonist in Goethe's work.

"Don't worry, I'm here," Rune said softly. "They can't cause any trouble."

His words, though soft, reassured Zatanna considerably. Rune's performance during the magical upheaval was truly astonishing; in Zatanna's mind, there was almost nothing Rune couldn't accomplish.

Furthermore, Rune's act of saving the raven led Zatanna to believe that Rune was a good person.

After all, Rune chose to fight the supreme being of the magical world, Doctor Fate, in order to save an innocent life.

This incident almost led Constantine to believe that Rune was a good person, even to this day.

Constantine was not surprised by Rune's reforms to the magic side; he even tacitly approved of Rune's approach because he felt that the new spellcasting system would be beneficial to at least the vast majority of mages.

The reason he came to confront Rune and even risked conflict was because he was too ruthless. Even Constantine couldn't stand it. If he was like this, how could the conservatives just sit and wait to die?

Furthermore, Constantine was skeptical of the news that the universe would be invaded three years later, and therefore could not understand Rune's eagerness for quick success.

After exchanging pleasantries, Zatanna left Rune's workshop satisfied. Rune's response reassured her. Please, who can defeat Rune?

Of course, Zatanna knew that Faust was very strong and could command demons, but the First Fallen had gone through all sorts of hardships but still failed to defeat Rune. Could Faust possibly have teleported the First Fallen's true form to the main world?

However, the atmosphere in the workshop became strange after the magical girl left.

Constantine finished the last bit of his cigarette, then looked at Rune as if he had never truly known the boy.

"I would have trusted you like Zatanna did—"

"You can do that, you've always trusted me, Constantine." Rune interrupted Constantine. "You only see my short-sightedness, but that's only because you haven't seen the horrible behavior of those people, you scumbag Constantine."

"The enhancement potion you drank originated from a world influenced by those people. Their technology was even more advanced than ours, until members of the Forsaken arrived. Do you know what the Forsaken's purpose is?"

Constantine raised an eyebrow and pointed to his chest. "Could it be—"

“That’s right,” Rune nodded. “They use this potion to continuously produce soldiers to invade other universes, just to win the favor of certain people and prolong their own lives.”

"Of course, strictly speaking, their actions also gave other universes a chance to survive. What I need to do is reduce the casualties in this impending, and inevitable, war."

"I won't completely trust you, Rune." Constantine squinted, looking at Rune warily. "Excuse me, but what you're saying is so alarming that I think you're a madman! And you're trying to threaten me with Chandler—"

"I didn't threaten you with Chandler."

"Bullshit, you mentioned his name just so you could—"

Rune shook his head in disagreement. "No, I want to put your mind at ease. I want you to know that I understand you better than you understand yourself. I mentioned Chandler just to prove that I have the means to force you to comply, but I have never done so."

"You know I'm very generous, you know I never speak without reason, you know I'm telling the truth. Three years from now, a massive catastrophe will occur in another universe. This event will create a hole in the Origin Wall, and afterwards, the Origin Wall will be completely shattered."

"At that time, those Forgotten Ones hindered by the Wall of Origin will set their sights on the poor wretches protected by it. But in the meantime, guess where the source of magic in this universe, the Upside-Down Man, is now?"

Constantine was shocked by Rune's words, and he muttered to himself, "Could it be—outside the Origin Wall?"

“That’s right,” Rune said coldly. “In the worst-case scenario, those Forsaken will cooperate with the Upside-Downs and then cripple almost all spellcasters in other universes. Zacon, without the protection of spellcasters, what will become of the other universes?”

And yet, Rune hasn't even mentioned Perpetua, the creator god of the DC multiverse, or the monster born from a pair of mortal enemies with a love-hate relationship—the Bat Who Laughs.

If he could, Rune would certainly kill the already insane Batman before the Dark Metal event, but could he do that?

It's hard to say. If things turn out to be exactly as the Batman Who Laughs planned, that would be quite interesting.

Based on the appearance that Nightmare changed when it threatened him, the madman has appeared, and may now be watching the darkest possibilities in the Dark Multiverse, while recruiting the mad Batmen within them.

The thought that the Laughing Bat, Peppertua, and the Forsaken would all be attending this "spoils feast" filled Rune with a sense of utter despair.

So he's in a real hurry right now, and his actions are bound to be a bit rough. And what about Constantine?

He chose to question himself at this time, which is simply a waste of time!

After listening to Rune's question, Constantine fell silent. He slumped onto the sofa, pondering whether Rune's words were true or false. Don't blame Constantine for being shrewish; Rune's words were simply too terrifying.

But Rune didn't give him much time to think. "Alright, since you're so worried, why don't you go back, you jerk? You can abandon me, that's no problem. As long as you act like nothing happened in the magical world and don't get in my way, I won't bother with you."

"Am I that untrustworthy? Why are you in such a hurry to get rid of me?" Constantine smiled bitterly.

Rune glanced at Constantine, "I actually trust you a lot, because you have a conscience, even if it's only a tiny bit—"