Marvel Magic Case Files.

Chapter 28 Junk Food: A Hellish Conspiracy (Seeking Investment!)

Some creatures can influence the environment of their habitat simply by staying in a fixed location, such as dragons.

While vampires aren't as powerful, the negative energy driving them still alters their dwellings. As Salomon followed Barnabas up the manor's stairs, he felt a chilling aura flow down the steps, enveloping him, a living being. The temperature here inexplicably dropped two or three degrees. Although not as drastic as entering the tomb, any spellcaster sensing such negative energy would know that dark magic creatures inhabited this place.

"I'm sorry, Vicky (Victoria's nickname), as the hostess, cannot rise to serve you," the vampire said. "She's still young and needs a lot of sleep."

"I understand, after all, it's still daytime." Salomon nodded, but secretly remained vigilant, wary of being ambushed in some dark corner. He wouldn't let his guard down because of the vampire's displayed emotions; those poignant love stories, while entertaining, were merely topics of conversation for him. The idea of ​​empathizing with vampires had never crossed his mind. The Sorcerer Supreme had constantly instilled in him the concept of humanism when teaching him magic.

Aliens and extradimensional beings have no right to exist on Earth, let alone vampires, who are creatures of dark magic. Salomon might shed a couple of feigned tears for them after turning them into casting materials, but he would never show them any sympathy while they were "alive." If Salomon hadn't wanted to test the feasibility of certain necromancy techniques in this world and prepare materials, he would have already imprisoned Barnabas in the Mirror Dimension and left him to bake in the sun. These vampires, who couldn't use their own powers and whose rank was close to that of a True Ancestor, were incredibly valuable.

"Yesterday, after you left, the Collins family contacted the museum and purchased Angie's collection." Barnabas's cane tapped on the wooden floor of the corridor, producing a dull echo. Since this was the vampire's dwelling, all the curtains in the corridor were drawn tightly, preventing any sunlight from penetrating. The temperature here was far lower than on the stairs, and any sunlight that occasionally managed to pierce through the tightly drawn curtains was quickly devoured by the living shadows. Perhaps Barnabas wasn't particularly powerful, but his rank and his unnatural nature were enough to create an anomaly at Collins Manor.

The vampire said, "After all, this town doesn't have a very long history. Those things would just sit in the museum with broken fishing boats and nets. We can't put Native American things in the museum anyway. Now, those things are fulfilling their purpose."

"Mr. Barnabas," Salomon asked, "didn't you try to learn those things?"

"When I was young, after my parents died—though I believed they didn't die in an accident—I became obsessed with black magic and ancient mysticism." Barnabas glanced back at Salomon. "And it turned out they died at the hands of Angie. Mr. Damonette, what about your parents?"

"I have never met my parents. My mother died after giving birth to me," Salomon said.

"I'm sorry." The vampire turned around at the corner and bowed slightly in apology.

“It’s nothing, Mr. Barnabas. I was adopted by the Sorcerer Supreme at birth and lived in Kamar-Taj as his disciple,” Salomon said. “It is my honor to study under the most powerful sorcerer on Earth, something many people dream of. However, the Sorcerer Supreme’s expectations of me are a bit too high right now. I don’t think I can kill any creature that sneaks onto Earth from a lower plane.”

"A lower plane?" Barnabas asked curiously. "What does that mean?"

"It is hell and the abyss, the place where devils and demons live." The young sorcerer replied with a smile, "The Venerable One once killed countless creatures that came to Earth from other dimensions. The name of the Sorcerer Supreme could even make those creatures tremble. After that, the Venerable One established Kamar-Taj, recruited apprentices, and trained sorcerers. He has been protecting the Earth for more than a thousand years."

Barnabas suddenly felt that the young wizard in front of him was becoming troublesome. If it were a solitary wizard or witch, the Collins family could naturally find a way to erase the trace of that person's existence, but if this person had a huge organization behind him, then that was not an option. Moreover, according to Salomon, the Sorcerer Supreme seemed to be the most powerful magician in the world, and Barnabas did not want to cause trouble.

The vampire just wanted to hand over the books as quickly as possible and get Salomon out of there.

Even if they could kill Salomon, it would be of no use.

Salomon's arrival meant that the Collins family had taken notice, rendering Elizabeth's plans completely useless. But Barnabas wanted to know one more thing: what did Salomon's organization think of vampires? If they couldn't tolerate vampires, could they really turn them into humans?

Barnabas didn't want his relationship with Victoria to involve the Collins family—family was the real wealth. He always kept this in mind and consistently practiced it; otherwise, he wouldn't have used the family's treasure to revitalize the family.

"The spells in that book all have corresponding counters in the Book of Vishanti, but I need to know what the curse is first." This was the only answer Salomon provided, but Barnabas couldn't find anything satisfactory in it.

The two arrived at Barnabas's library amidst this scheming conversation. This was the highest point of Colin Manor, with windows on both the front and back. The glass windows here had been deliberately replaced with frosted glass, obscuring the view inside from the outside.

The two black curtains here are always drawn, which seems unnecessary. In front of a brown wooden table near the window, there are piles of thick books and some tattered scrolls, all of which are covered with a thick layer of dust. There are even a few spider webs fluttering in the breeze between some of the books.

These things looked as if they had been taken from some abandoned room. The vampire could only shrug, indicating his helplessness.

"After all, these things are just nonsense to the average person," he said. "The police's evidence room couldn't hold them all, so they were put in a museum. It's quite remarkable that this pile of stuff hasn't been infested with termites, Mr. Damonette. I think you can't expect too much from the local little museum's preservation measures."

“That’s true,” Salomon nodded. “Then I’ll begin the identification now and see what I need.”

However, the identification work was extremely difficult. Salomon did not believe that a witch who had come into contact with a large amount of knowledge from the Dark Book would die so easily. He believed that Angie had most likely only obtained the curse that could turn humans into vampires and the dark magic that granted her long life. As for the knowledge in the Dark Book, she most likely had never seen it.

Therefore, Salomon could only search through those books, for this knowledge might only be found on one or two pages of those thick volumes. Barnabas hesitated, wanting to speak, but finally couldn't help but utter a word.

"This," he said, pointing to a mark written in gold powder in the book, "could this be Mephisto's mark?"

Salomon looked over. It was a golden, capital M, and the sight of that logo immediately reminded Salomon of fried chicken and fries.

"No..." he said, pursing his lips. "I think it's probably just a fast food brand, only a hellish special."

This could be considered an unexpected bonus.

"Looks like I need to find out who's behind McDonald's," Salomon thought to himself.

P.S.: Seeking investment! Seeking recommendation votes!

good night.

(End of this chapter)