Devouring Magic

The evening breeze swept past, carrying a burst of foul stench.

Zhang Ye’s trench coat fluttered in the wind, and in the chilly air, some of the worries in his heart faded away.

Now was not the time to dwell on those outsiders who should not have been here. Zhang Ye put away the Batarang, then shifted his gaze to the unconscious harmful beast on the ground.

Who knew just how timid this guy was? He had been frightened unconscious by Kara for so long and still had not woken up. If Zhang Ye had not been able to sense the powerful life energy within him, he might have thought the creature had been scared to death.

"Are you starting? Should we move back a little?" Pietro asked curiously.

"There’s no need. This isn’t anything complicated, though I really can’t be disturbed." Zhang Ye formed a hand seal, and clusters of faint green flames appeared in midair.

The fireflies, like ghost flames, simply burned in the air, floating around Zhang Ye.

To Kara and Pietro, these things seemed to be moving along some predetermined path. Yet when they examined them closely, they could not make out any pattern at all. It was as if the flames had no logic and were moving irregularly.

But when they withdrew their attention and watched casually, that feeling of meticulous, orderly movement returned.

"Magic probably depends on talent, I guess." Pietro leaned closer to Kara and whispered. "No matter how many times I see it, I still think it’s incredible. I always wanted to be a wizard, you know, because I learn really fast."

"It’s not that easy. Like you said, magic requires talent. It’s not something you can comprehend just by having a super brain. John once said that sorcery and magic originate from imagination and perspective. Zhang is excellent in that regard," Kara said calmly.

Pietro nodded heavily at her words. After all, being able to persist in solitary training in an uninhabited region for seventeen years was not something ordinary people could accomplish. At the same time, Zhang Ye was simply too "unusual."

That did not mean Zhang Ye behaved strangely or spouted nonsense. On the contrary, he was an extremely logical thinker. Yet for some reason, Pietro always felt that whenever he was with Zhang Ye, there would be no difficulties or pressure, as though anything could be solved.

Moreover, Zhang Ye had always been very mysterious. He never spoke to anyone about his past. It was as though he had suddenly entered this world, always observing these Multiverses from a broader perspective.

As for Zhang Ye’s past, Pietro wisely chose not to pry. He firmly believed that Zhang Ye was no ordinary person.

The quiet exchange between Pietro and Kara did not disturb Zhang Ye, who was casting his spell. At that moment, he had already entered the state of spellcasting.

His left hand continued to hold the hand seal while Zhang Ye extended his right hand toward the harmful beast, spreading his five fingers as if he wanted to grasp something from the void.

With that motion, the harmful beast’s body immediately began to tremble involuntarily. The trembling was not driven by its own consciousness, but rather seemed to be caused by some strange force that could not be observed with the naked eye.

The faint green flames brightened. Zhang Ye focused completely, placing all his attention on the harmful beast. That extension of his will allowed him to better locate and seize the life force within its body.

With the aid of magical energy, Zhang Ye’s mental power gradually invaded the harmful beast’s spiritual world. It was a place protected by a curtain of soul, as well as the gathering place of all the harmful beast’s consciousness.

With a thought from Zhang Ye, his powerful mental force instantly broke through the curtain barrier. All sorts of complex, incomprehensible information filled the harmful beast’s spiritual world in the blink of an eye, while also triggering the transcendent energy within its body.

His right hand suddenly clenched in the air. The next moment, green fluorescence erupted from the harmful beast’s body.

Then, a savage-looking, translucent rat-headed monster was pulled from the harmful beast’s face. It was as though Zhang Ye had torn out its soul with his bare hand, making for an immensely spectacular sight.

"Hiss-ha—!"

Zhang Ye parted his lips slightly and let out a roar that did not belong to any human. At that moment, his teeth abruptly lengthened and sharpened, while his pupils turned blood-red.

The Rat-Man’s phantom struggled continuously, but beneath the shroud of faint green flames that obscured everything, its resistance was completely useless. It could only be dragged closer and closer to Zhang Ye by an irresistible force.

At the sight, Pietro and Kara could not help widening their eyes. This was the first time they had witnessed such a scene. If they had not known Zhang Ye well enough, they would have certainly assumed that some Black Magic practitioner driven mad was making a sacrifice to an evil god.

And in truth, their understanding was not wrong.

What Zhang Ye was performing was an extremely ancient form of sorcery, or rather, ancient magic. It was an old magic that existed within the laws of the Ancient Gods themselves, allowing its user to nourish themselves by devouring the energy of other beings weaker than themselves.

This devouring sorcery had already existed before magic was divided into black and white. It was more like the primordial power of the Ancient Gods: big fish ate little fish, and only the fittest survived. Only Ancient Gods who survived could become stronger.

However, this sorcery was also extremely dangerous to use. While continuously devouring other creatures, the devourer would gain powerful energy, but would also be affected by the consciousness of those devoured. If they could not firmly preserve their own sanity, they could very easily become insane.

This was also the fundamental reason why this magic was classified as Black Magic.

As for the creator of this spell, it was Chthon, the author of the Darkhold and one of the evil Elder Gods. He had comprehended this powerful Black Magic from the God-Eater, another being that had existed in ancient times.

However, this magic was not difficult to use. Or rather, among sorcerers, those of higher rank held especially strong suppressive power over those below them. As long as one was powerful enough, even an ordinary sorcerer could forcibly seize another sorcerer’s magical energy.

This had also been shown in Doctor Strange’s movie. After Baron Mordo betrayed Kamar-Taj, he had continuously seized the magical energy from other sorcerers, attempting to overturn the influence sorcerers had over reality.

But in Zhang Ye’s memories, the most famous user of this magic was actually Doctor Strange, the Sorcerer Supreme.

In that universe, Strange wanted to change the "fixed point in time" of Christine’s death, so he began studying devouring magic. He hoped to gain immense power by devouring demon gods from other dimensions, thereby changing what had happened.

In the end, however, he failed. He became the last living being in that universe’s reality.

(Thanks to Xiao Ye Zi Mie and Mo Yu Cheng Xuan for their ten-thousand-coin donations, and thanks as well to the other readers for their donations and monthly ticket support. I’ll try to release more chapters, though I write rather slowly.)