Marvel Magic Case Files.

Chapter 27 Everyone's a Villain (Seeking Investment!)

Don't get me wrong, Salomon isn't some hero eager to uphold justice. Those people are already dead, and justice delayed is worthless. He just wants to know some information he needs.

It's important to know that although vampires are classified as the undead, they can still reproduce. They can have children through the same means as humans, or they can transform humans into new vampires through the Embrace.

The act of embracing is a blood pact, an unbreakable magical contract that flows in the blood of vampires and is passed down from generation to generation.

Barnabas Collins' identity is quite special. He is a vampire directly transformed from the magic in the Dark Book. Perhaps he himself is unaware of how high his status really is. Many years ago, the so-called "pureblood" and "half-blood" vampires who occupied Detroit had to bow down to him. The Venerable told Salomon about the group of vampires who summoned the so-called "Blood God" as a joke.

Salomon, however, will never see those vampires again; they were all wiped out by a guy called Blade.

Barnabas is still extremely young (for a vampire), and hasn't accumulated much power yet; otherwise, Salomon wouldn't have dared to come to see him so rashly. Salomon only wants to know if Barnabas has reproduced like a rat, so he can find out exactly how many vampires are in this town.

"I admit, about the Highway 9 construction site, I was just so thirsty when I was dug out," Barnabas said with a thick southern English accent, picking up a sheet of paper with his fingertips and holding it far away. After examining it closely, he said, "Oh, and this, a bunch of hippies, their blood tasted awful from all that awful drugs."

"Is that all?" Salomon maintained his smile, glancing out of the corner of his eye at the Collins family sitting opposite him, who were growing increasingly impatient. Caroline's expression darkened again, and David was subtly backing away; the air grew tense. But Salomon seemed oblivious to anything amiss. He said, "I want to confirm one thing—Mr. Barnabas, have you ever converted a human?"

"You mean the Embrace? There's only one!" The vampire shook his head violently. "...Sir? I forgot to ask your name."

"Damonette".

“Alright, Mr. Damonette.” The vampire crossed his arms over his heart. “I did consider turning Elizabeth into a vampire, but she refused. Liz (Elizabeth’s nickname) is enjoying aging. As for Victoria… she didn’t escape Angie’s clutches. After Angie killed her, I turned her, which allowed her to live. If that’s also a sin, I’m willing to bear it.”

"So there are two vampires here." Salomon stood up and pushed the remaining printed papers in front of Barnabas. "And the rest, were they all committed by your wife, Victoria?"

“No, no, no.” Barnabas pushed the printed paper back, not angered by Salomon’s use of the quantifier. He shook his head violently and firmly in denial. “Victoria wouldn’t do such a thing. The Collins family invested in the hospital, and now we’ve switched to drinking the hospital’s blood bags. In fact, we’re also puzzled that the only vampire I’ve converted is Victoria… We often have to spend a lot of money to cover it up, just to avoid arousing suspicion about the Collins family, even though we didn’t do those things.”

"Are there other vampires here?" Salomon paced the living room, slowly and naturally distancing himself from the Collins family. "Mr. Barnabas, please consider carefully whether you have converted another human. The bite marks on those corpses can't be faked. According to you, I don't believe that witch would convert other vampires—she was already affectionate enough."

The vampire paced back and forth in the living room, head down, his cane tapping incessantly on the marble floor, muttering to himself. But he was certain he had only transformed Victoria. In fact, the Collins family had investigated those cases with the police more than once, but all to no avail. Later, to conceal the Collins family's traces, Barnabas could only use his mind-controlling abilities to prevent the police from continuing their investigation.

But the Collins family still found a clue about another vampire.

"No, I'm sure." Barnabas finally stopped. Elizabeth kept giving Barnabas meaningful glances, and the vampire swallowed the words he was about to say. He changed his words and said, "However, I can help you reinvestigate this matter."

"Very good." Salomon nodded. "Please prepare what I need. I will come to collect it tomorrow."

After Salomon was led away from the hall by Willie, Elizabeth stood up with David's help. She said, "You don't really believe that wizard, do you? He said he represents some kind of monastic order… I'm worried he might bring people with him."

"Of course not, my dear Liz." The vampire blinked. Even though Barnabas was buried in his youth and had some naivety when he was first dug out, as the former patriarch of a large family, he couldn't easily believe a stranger's suggestion. Furthermore, whether he liked it or not, the negative energy residing within him would drive his thoughts towards darkness and evil—this was the reason why "dark magic leads to corruption."

He said, "Now that Victoria and I enjoy eternal youth, why should I become human? It's just that I regret not being able to enjoy human food."

"What about the other vampire?" Elizabeth frowned. "That could expose the Collins family."

"Liz, don't worry, I'm starting to get somewhere," Barnabas said. "Remember Julia Hoffman?"

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A circular arc of sparks suddenly appeared in the hall of Collingwood Manor, startling the waiting Collins family. Poor Willie was still anxiously waiting for Salomon's arrival at the manor gate, but Salomon had already stepped into the hall through the portal.

"My dear Mr. Damonette," Barnabas greeted him, peering curiously behind Salomon, but seeing nothing but orange sparks. He could only look down at Salomon again. "I regret that I couldn't entertain you properly yesterday, but I have prepared everything you need."

Elizabeth's eyes flickered. Although Barnabas had demonstrated some magic to her, aside from the alluring spells, the others were merely minor tricks. Salomon's act of opening a portal in the hall, however, forced her to temporarily raise her assessment of him. The de facto head of the Collins family had quickly changed his attitude, immediately altering her and Barnabas's plans from the previous day.

Originally, the Collins family only wanted to deal with another vampire entrenched in Collins Port through Salomon's hand. Barnabas's performance was enough to deceive most people. The vampire showed the guilt of being forced to drink blood (although this was true) and the desire to become human again (this was fake).

Later, when Salomon was about to help Barnabas turn back into a human, he unexpectedly killed him, completely erasing any trace of the Corinthian family. Perhaps they would need to consider how to deal with the sorcerer's monastery afterward, but by the time Salomon appeared, the Corinthian family was already in trouble; now they could only take it one step at a time.

Elizabeth cursed inwardly—that witch was causing trouble for the Collins family even in death.

But now, Elizabeth believed that Salomon must still possess some unknown magic, and that Barnabas's magic had lost its effect on him; her greatest advantage in killing Salomon was gone. Of course, she didn't believe that firearms could work against wizards; she had once attacked Angelique Butchard with a shotgun, but with little success.

She even believed that Salomon's move was intended to increase his intimidation factor, and that he might not have been fooled by yesterday's performance. The unspoken message behind using this magic was, "I know where you are, and I can get here anytime; you can't escape."

In reality, Salomon had absolutely no intention of helping Barnabas lift the curse—it was beyond his capabilities, and he had never studied the methods for lifting vampire curses in the Book of Vishanti. Even if such magic existed, its effect would certainly be to destroy vampires. Furthermore, vampire dust was an extremely rare spellcasting material, and if feasible, he wouldn't mind adding some to his dimensional bag's collection; vampire spines and fingers were also excellent materials.

Faced with a primordial vampire who had not yet fully mastered his power, Salomon felt that even if he couldn't defeat him, he could still run away.

If Salomon were still the same shut-in he was, he wouldn't have entertained such thoughts at all. But as mentioned before, he might be influenced by the necromancers and black magic masters he remembered, because while controlling some of the Stigmata, he also learned some of the mages' memories.

So Salomon might be... a little crazy right now.

But no one noticed, not even the Sorcerer Supreme—why would a normal person be interested in such a terrifying place as the Dark Dimension?

"Thank you very much, Mr. Barnabas." Salomon did not shake hands with the vampire, but instead performed a mage's salute.

Barnabas opened his palm, then withdrew it. A smile played on his lips as he gestured with his right hand toward the massive staircase leading from the living room to the second floor. "Everything you need is there. Please follow me."

"Of course," Salomon replied with a smile. His eyes gleamed with interest, both at the spellbooks and... at the vampires.

P.S.: I want votes and investments! (Clenches fist)

Good morning.

(End of this chapter)