First Use of Magic

Seeing how interested Zhang Ye was, John immediately got to work.

John first plunged headfirst into the books scattered across the floor, searching for something. Before long, he pulled out an extremely worn piece of parchment. That was not all—he then snapped several candles off the shelf.

Everyone silently watched John bustle back and forth. Although Zhang Ye and the others knew he was preparing the necessities for the sacrificial magic, none of the three knew anything about magic, so they could not help. They could only wait quietly to the side.

"Zhang, do you think everyone can learn something like magic?" Pietro leaned close to Zhang Ye and asked in a low voice. Clearly, he was quite interested as well.

"Probably. If it follows the rules of Black Magic or cult rituals, then even an ordinary person who knows nothing can cast the corresponding magic by following the steps. That is also the best way demons use to tempt believers," Zhang Ye replied calmly.

"There are demons in this world?!" Pietro’s eyes widened. He had always thought fairy tales were lies, that Angels and demons were merely things invented by people.

"Actually, many universes have demons. Do not forget that legends and myths generally have some basis in reality. Since Ancient Gods exist here, why would the gods worshipped by humans on Earth not exist as well?" Zhang Ye spread his hands. When it came to gods, the Marvel Universe and the DC Universe were not all that different.

Both Multiverses had all kinds of deities. Whether it was the Olympian Gods, the gods of Asgard, or even immortals, Angels, and demons, they all existed. The only difference was the enormous gap in their combat power.

"But my universe did not have any of those things. If gods really existed, why did they not appear and save that world drowning in despair?" Pietro sighed softly.

"Yours is an exception." Zhang Ye did not explain further.

After all, Pietro’s universe was a materialist universe. Forget magic—even Heaven and Hell no longer existed there. Galactus, of all beings, did not even possess the most basic Cosmic Might, becoming nothing more than an "ordinary alien" as large as a planet.

"What are demons?" Kara spoke up then. Pietro was one thing; even though he had never seen magic, he had at least heard about such things. But Kara was a genuine alien and knew nothing about any of it.

"Well…" Zhang Ye was not quite sure how to explain. "You can think of them as beings that exist in other dimensions of this universe. They generally possess powerful strength and abilities beyond anything ordinary people can imagine."

"Are they strong?" Kara frowned slightly. She found it hard to believe that such terrifying beings could exist on such a "weak" planet.

"Very strong." Zhang Ye nodded seriously, then continued.

"There are many types and countless numbers of them. The powerful ones can kill you easily. Of course, they cannot bring their true forms into the real dimension, and even if they come, they will not be at full strength. Strictly speaking, there are still many ways to deal with them. But you have never encountered magic, so you have no resistance to that sort of thing."

Listening to Zhang Ye’s explanation, Kara slowly nodded. She did not think Zhang Ye would lie to her. If those beings were truly powerful, then perhaps she needed to train more in how to deal with them.

After the three spoke quietly for a while, John finally finished preparing everything. He seemed to take this sacrificial magic very seriously; he had even used magic to clean up the area around the altar.

"Ready?" Zhang Ye asked.

"Mm." Rubbing his hands nervously, John approached Zhang Ye. He handed Zhang Ye a piece of parchment and said, "This records the specific steps for casting the magic. You only need to stand in the center of the altar and read them aloud."

Taking the parchment, Zhang Ye had assumed he would not be able to understand the writing. But when his gaze fell upon it, he was shocked to discover that the words began changing rapidly, eventually transforming into proper Chinese characters.

No wonder demons knew how to gather followers. Look at that—for the sake of letting believers use magic more easily, they had even thoughtfully included automatic translation. They were practically terrified that humans would not understand.

"This is only a very simple spell. It requires almost no price at all. Even a child can successfully steal a trace of magical energy from the Hell Dimension and cast a levitation spell, as long as they follow the steps," John explained from the side.

Listening to John, Zhang Ye compared his words against the instructions on the parchment and found that it was indeed as John had said: a sacrificial spell with virtually no danger.

But stealing energy from another dimension was no easy task. One slight mistake could alert the beings there, let alone when the energy being stolen came from the Hell Dimension.

At the same time, Zhang Ye worried that John might have ulterior motives. This was sacrificial magic, after all, and his group knew almost nothing about it. If John set them up and sacrificed Zhang Ye directly, Zhang Ye would have nowhere to cry about it.

So, to be safe, cautious Zhang Ye quietly contacted Miss Minutes. If anything happened later, she was to open a portal immediately. Zhang Ye refused to believe that without some special method, the other side could track him across universes.

With that in mind, Zhang Ye slowly walked to the center of the altar. He raised the parchment before him and began quietly reciting the constantly shifting words written upon it.

In the dark, damp underground world, the air was thick with a rancid stench. Under the watchful gaze of the servant-like vampires, a figure clad in a black robe and wearing an incomparably bizarre Bird-Beak Mask whispered forbidden knowledge that twisted one’s perception amid symbols drawn in blood.

The scene was simply too Shocker. Even outside, in a world full of superheroes, it would have been utterly explosive. Pietro even felt that this scene could serve perfectly as a poster for a supernatural horror movie. If he were not afraid of disturbing Zhang Ye, he truly wanted to take out his phone and snap a picture.

Kara, on the other hand, did not react much. She seemed not to possess the emotion of "fear." The strange atmosphere and Zhang Ye’s actions only filled her with deep curiosity.

Although the parchment was marked in Chinese, what Zhang Ye recited was not Chinese, nor was it any language recorded by any country.

It was a language devoid of logic, impossible for anyone to comprehend. Zhang Ye himself found it strange that he could speak it at all, and so fluently. He only felt that after seeing the words, the language naturally spilled from his mouth.

Under everyone’s gaze, Zhang Ye finally finished reciting the entire passage written on the parchment.

At that very moment, everyone present held their breath—