Chapter 149: A Long-Awaited Reunion
At this moment, a series of question marks seemed to pop up over Raven's head.
A moment ago, she was still in the HISHE Coffee Shop in Gotham, going through her daily routine of learning from the Old Wizard. However, she thought she was there to learn magic, but instead, she ended up spending the whole evening stuck in the kitchen.
She was busy washing vegetables, chopping them, and passing the Old Wizard the salt or oil or what have you…
Although she greatly respected her venerable new mentor, Raven couldn't help but ask, "Uh... does any of this have to do with magic?"
"Of course!" the Old Wizard declared righteously. "As a qualified wizard, alchemy is one of the mandatory courses. In many situations, magic potions can play a crucial role. You must remember this."
"Yes, but," Raven hesitated, "this isn't a potion in the pot, is it?"
"Rome wasn't built in a day, and you have to take things one step at a time. You haven't even learned how to use fire yet, so how can you jump straight into alchemy? This is to help you get a feel for it and learn to control the heat!" the Old Wizard said, full of conviction.
Raven thought to herself, 'Don't tell me modern wizards are so advanced that they use induction cookers for alchemy? Would hot pot work then?'
But she only thought it to herself and didn't ask any more questions.
"Hand me the ladle." The Old Wizard made a hand gesture. "Let's see if it's salty enough."
"Oh, okay."
Raven obediently turned, picked up the ladle, and was about to scoop some soup. But just then, an overwhelming surge of magic erupted from her body, emitting a purple-black magical aura. It was the first time the young girl had encountered such a situation, and with no experience, she was instantly sucked into the purple-black ripple.
The next moment, when she appeared out of thin air, she had already teleported to Central City's Old Church, still holding that ladle.
Staring blankly at the handful of people below the altar, the young girl became increasingly confused.
Where is this? What's going on? What are they trying to do?
Then she saw the Bishop shuffling over on his knees, prostrating himself on the ground. "Great daughter of God! You've finally arrived! Please, bring down divine punishment upon these ignorant fools who dare to blaspheme the Lord's authority!"
Raven: "?"
What the hell?
The Teen Titans hadn't been formed yet, and Raven hadn't made her debut, so no one here recognized her outfit.
Barry was a little nervous. "To be honest, the demon's appearance is cuter than I expected... Oh, of course, I don't mean that's a good thing. What's that she's holding? A switch to open Hell?"
"It's just a ladle..."
Raven looked blankly at Orin Vale—the only person she recognized in the room—and her eyes asked what was going on.
"Well, you don't need to be nervous." Orin Vale made a hand gesture to calm his teammate. "She's one of us. How did you get here?"
Raven floated over to him. "I don't know. One moment I was in the kitchen, helping to make... Apple Tomato Pork Rib Soup..."
"Hiss~ That sounds so demonic, it's just too evil, isn't it?" Barry interjected.
The others all glanced at him.
"Oh, sorry, just a random thought," he said with an awkward smile. "Please, continue."
Seeing the great daughter of God actually start chatting with the other side, the Bishop couldn't help but blink a couple of times. Now it was his turn to be bewildered.
'Wait, we, your subjects, are ready to fight to the death, why is Your Highness fraternizing with the enemy?'
As they were talking, a dark vortex suddenly swirled into existence in an empty space within the great hall. Another powerful fluctuation of magic surged, a hurricane kicked up, and dust flew as two dark, domineering demonic figures revealed themselves from within.
They had black bodies and scarlet eyes, and every step they took seemed to carry an invisible fluctuation of dark magic. A powerful wind pressure seemed to accompany the dark vortex, and their every move exuded an extraordinary sense of oppression.
"It is indeed the fluctuation of our blood relative. It seems you weren't lying this time, Belial..."
"Heh, I told you, Saraka, I never lie. Today is the day our sister returns... Shit!?"
The demon Belial, who was descending shoulder-to-shoulder with his brother, caught sight of a certain particularly eye-catching Ultraman in the great hall. His pupils contracted violently, and he froze on the spot.
"Well, what a coincidence." Orin Vale grinned, waving at him.
From the demon's utterly flabbergasted expression, he could almost read a single sentence.
All encounters in the world are long-awaited reunions.
This was all Belial's arrangement.
He had insisted that he had seen his father's offspring, patting his chest and guaranteeing it, only for the person to vanish in the blink of an eye, costing him what little credibility he had left with his brother.
Thus, he devised a plan, borrowing the power of the Blood Cultists that his father had developed in this dimension to orchestrate this ritual.
Then he dragged along that loudmouth Saraka to let him see with his own eyes that he, Belial, was not lying!
At first, Saraka had been very dismissive, even running his mouth right up until the ritual was planned.
"Give me a break, stop making excuses. You just suck," Saraka mocked repeatedly. "I don't even know if that so-called Creature of Light is real or fake."
"Father has conquered thousands of dimensions and has never seen anything as strange as what you describe. Besides, even if such a strange creature did exist, and it truly had the power you claim, would it be so bored that it follows you and ambushes you wherever you go?"
Belial was so angry at the time his black face turned red. "You... how dare you slander me! How should I know why? That guy is nuts, he just chased me all the way, trying to kill me..."
"Heh." Saraka sneered. "Fine. Then your plan had better succeed this time and bring that blood relative you speak of before us. If I find out you've lied again..."
"Then I'll go back and drink the entire pool of magma in the Flame Blood Pool!" Belial swore an oath.
And so, the two demon brothers came shoulder-to-shoulder through the gate.
The first moment Belial saw Raven, a twisted smile appeared on his face.
Then, as his gaze swept past her to a certain Ultraman, the smile gradually froze.
The Good News was, Trigon's daughter was indeed here.
The Bad News was, the warrior of light was here too.
Belial almost roared in his heart.
'Seriously, are you really planning on hunting me down until I'm reset to a blank slate?'
But then another thought occurred to him.
'Wait a minute, I've already been killed so many times, what's one more death? It's no big deal, right?'
'On the other hand, there's Saraka, always mocking my track record...'
At this thought, Belial's fear vanished in an instant, replaced by a gradually forming, twisted smile.
So, he simply stepped aside, gesturing to Saraka.
"Come on, come on, now's your time to prove yourself," Belial said. "You're so capable, aren't you? Then you go on. I'd like to see what you're made of. Please."
Saraka: "?"
He gave his seemingly brain-damaged brother a strange look.
'Wait, whose team are you on?'
(end of chapter)