Another World’s Magic!

Batman, wrapped in endless shadow energy, had completely changed in appearance. If the previous Batman had been a perfect assassin, then now he was an eerie bat wizard.

Black and white, love and hate, life and death.

It was said that they were all separated by a thin line. That reminded me of an old joke about mental patients.

But the key punchline

was the fall!

Batman flew behind Red Skull. The Dark Dimension’s mimetic energy became his newly born cape, spreading behind him like a pair of demonic wings as it carried him through the air.

"You should stay down!" Red Skull raised his hand and slashed with his sword. Terrifying energy howled forth, rushing directly toward the charging Batman and engulfing his entire figure.

But in the next instant, Batman appeared eerily in front of Red Skull and tightly seized the arm holding the Ebony Blade, preventing him from advancing even half a step.

"And you—"

Batman roared in a raspy voice.

"Should fall!!"

A fist filled with the will for revenge smashed viciously into Red Skull’s face, instantly causing his thoughts to freeze.

A gap appeared in the frantically circulating magical energy, giving Zhang Ye, who had been suppressed all this time, a chance to catch his breath.

Honestly, controlling Batman was no easy task. Even though he was merely a phantom extracted and copied from a memory, he was still extremely difficult to control.

But once he found a suitable opponent, the power this guy unleashed would absolutely shock everyone.

Batman was like a bug in the DC Multiverse. He was an all-purpose composite material; any substance or energy placed in his hands could produce tremendous results. Whether it was a power ring, technology, or even magic, all of it was exceptionally compatible with his body.

And that made controlling his phantom unusually easy for Zhang Ye. The Dark Dimension’s magical energy was enough to turn Batman into a true god of fear.

Just like the legends of Gotham said, Bruce Wayne was already dead. The one who had emerged from that alley was only Batman, disguised as an eight-year-old boy!

Dismissing the Seraphim Shield, Zhang Ye waved his hand. The scorching heat around them instantly plummeted, and the mist filling the sky turned into glittering ice crystals that drifted down in breathtaking splendor.

But this was clearly not the time to admire such astonishing scenery. Zhang Ye changed his hand seals, and dark blue magical energy filled his hands before rapidly closing in on Red Skull, forming an icy storm that instantly enveloped him.

"Is he dealt with?"

Barton’s voice came through the earpiece of Zhang Ye’s real body. The blind old man had no idea how spectacular the battlefield was at that moment.

"Not so easily. The Ikkatalon Ice Spell can only restrain him. There’s too much energy inside Red Skull’s body. He’s like an unstable element about to explode. Before that happens, any action could accelerate the detonation process," Zhang Ye replied unhurriedly.

"What!? Explode?" Barton turned toward Red Skull in alarm.

"Yes, explode."

Zhang Ye opened his eyes and observed Red Skull’s current condition through Superman’s body from an enormous distance away. That murky spiritual body and shattered shell could no longer be called human.

"Too much energy has accumulated inside him. All kinds of chemical substances and magical energy are fusing together, along with cosmic arcane energy and who knows what else. Red Skull is like a massive particle accelerator, except he’s being driven at full power by magic."

Zhang Ye thought of Barry Allen, who had become The Flash because of an accelerator explosion, but Red Skull’s explosion was obviously nowhere near as "gentle."

"Barton, do you remember the Fantastic Four’s Baxter Building? Why do you think Hydra ruled the world but never reclaimed the things inside that building?"

Without waiting for Barton to answer, Zhang Ye gave him the answer directly.

"It’s because Baxter Building is in an unstable state. Any wrong move would trigger a devastating explosion and tear open a chaotic time stream."

That was also why the elderly Star-Lord in Afterglow of a Dying Star had traveled back into the past. But nothing involving timelines was stable, and even if Hydra had ten times the courage, they would never dare touch such a threat.

And now, thinking of Red Skull’s current condition, Zhang Ye explained.

"Red Skull is the same. If those chaotic energies aren’t resolved, the explosion he produces will be enough to blast a hole in the fabric of reality. When that happens, forget New Times Square—even all of New Babylon will be blown to the other side of reality."

"He has that much destructive power?"

Blasting a crack in reality was something Old Barton associated with beings on Thanos’s level.

Zhang Ye said nothing. He merely shook his head helplessly.

The energy within Red Skull’s body was chaotic and disordered. In a sense, it was already approaching primordial chaos magic. Perhaps he was not that powerful yet, but the barrier of reality in this universe was not as sturdy as people imagined.

Having lost the Magic Dimension, without the Sorcerer Supreme’s protection, and after the destruction of the Infinity Stones, the reality barrier of this timeline had been weakened again and again. By now, it could no longer withstand such immense energy.

And to resolve this problem, he would need more hands.

"You’ve angered me, wizard!"

Red Skull quickly recovered after being knocked down with one punch. Once the ice crystals had pinned him to the ground, he immediately summoned dark flames, trying to corrode and destroy the surrounding ice magic.

But Red Skull was destined to receive no response. Zhang Ye was fully focused on controlling the magic. The energy within Red Skull was extremely easy to ignite, and since he could not attack with full force, Zhang Ye could only choose to restrain his movements.

"Is that all the power you have?! Wizard, I still… Urgh?"

Whoosh—!

The Lasso of Truth cut through the air, carrying powerful divine force as it firmly bound Red Skull in place. When he turned, he saw that Wonder Woman Diana had somehow arrived before him, while her opponent, Shadow Knight, had long since been pierced through the lower abdomen by a sword.

Looking at the glowing rope wrapped around him, Red Skull keenly sensed the mental magic it carried.

He knew it. Everyone here, everyone he could see, was the handiwork of that wizard hiding in the gutter!

"There’s no Justice League at all, is there? Or rather, you are the so-called ‘Justice League’?"

Zhang Ye looked at Red Skull with deep, cold eyes. He merely connected with the seven stars before him, and then Green Lantern Hal and Cyborg also arrived, surrounding Red Skull from different positions.

"…There’s no magic left in this world. You think your feeble magic can control me? I am a god!"

Red Skull struggled continuously. The energy surging from his body kept tearing apart the green light and particle beams, and even the golden radiance on the Lasso of Truth began to flicker unstably.

"You will never become a true ‘god.’"

Zhang Ye spoke, and as his words fell, green flames erupted across the battlefield, enclosing everything around them. Even the Hydra soldiers trying to rescue Red Skull could not get close.

"You know, the originals of these phantoms all came from another world. Every one of them was extracted from Black Canary’s memories. And in her mind, I found some other interesting things as well."

Hovering directly above Red Skull, Zhang Ye looked down at him from on high. Watching him constantly try to unleash even greater energy to resist his control, Zhang Ye’s lips curled slightly.

"You’re right. This world’s magic may have difficulty affecting you in a short time, but Black Canary has a friend named Zatanna—"

With that, Zhang Ye suddenly raised both hands, and an extremely unusual energy instantly emerged.

It was a miraculous energy that shared the same essence as magic yet had a different origin, a special energy that did not belong to this universe at all.

"Answer my summons, connect to the center of all worlds, born from the dreams of all things, the sea of knowledge’s origin—"

Golden magical energy transformed into ribbons of light, shining brilliantly as they coiled around Zhang Ye.

The next moment, Zhang Ye sharply pointed at Red Skull and chanted aloud.

"Me divide from you, energy and soul!!"

For readers who don’t follow DC, that’s how Zatanna’s spells are spoken in the comics.