American comics: From Hogwarts to God on Earth

Soon, Clark led Rune through the crowd. His superhuman strength propelled them directly to the front. Rune sighed; who else could the girl before him be but Zatanna?

On the bright side, at least Zatanna is indeed a mage.

Zatanna gave Rune a wink, then continued her performance. She was now dressed in what would later become a classic swallowtail gown, paired with black fishnet stockings and over-the-knee high-heeled boots, and holding a black magician's hat. The pigeons had just flown out from this hat.

Rune had intended to tell Clark to wait there a moment, but Clark became completely absorbed, foolishly joining the other onlookers in clapping and cheering. It was hard to tell whether the onlookers were drawn in by Zatanna's beauty or by her hand gestures.

After Zatanna's performance ended, Rune threw the empty popcorn wrapper into the trash can, walked over, and greeted Zatanna.

"Hi, how have you been lately?"

Zatanna sighed, "To be honest, it's not very good, but it's not terrible either. Although demons are still hunting me, thankfully no real descendants of the Three Palaces have appeared, so it's alright."

Clark's eyes widened, then he shouted, "I knew it, I knew it..."

Then, under the watchful eyes of Rune and Zatanna, Clark's voice immediately softened, but he still insisted on finishing what he had just been interrupted about: "I knew magicians were all sorcerers!"

"Some mages do indeed disguise themselves as magicians, but overall, magicians still make up the vast majority," Zatanna corrected Clark's understanding. Clark let out a disappointed, drawn-out "Ah."

"So you told this idiot you're a mage?" Zatanna looked at Rune speechlessly. "Aren't you afraid those things will come after you? You know how troublesome they are!"

Rune gestured for him to calm down, then patted Clark on the back: "Don't worry, Clark is strong enough and not too afraid of those monsters from below."

Actually, saying that Superman's magic resistance is weak is inaccurate. The full statement should be: Compared to Superman's physical resistance, his magic resistance is weaker, but his magic resistance is definitely much stronger than that of ordinary people.

"Alright, alright," Zatanna sighed. "Clark may be very strong, but I still don't approve of him getting involved in the magical world. It's just too dangerous."

But Clark was going through puberty, and hearing a young girl his age talk about him like that made him somewhat resentful. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but in the end, he just snorted coldly.

This is probably a recurring problem with DC Comics. Wizards always prefer to leave magical matters to the magical community, and it's best if others don't get involved. Several leaders of the Justice League Dark have been Wonder Woman, but because she doesn't actually possess magic, members like Constantine, Madame de Santiago, and Zatanna wouldn't inform her before their operations. As a result, Wonder Woman had no choice but to retire, becoming a dispensable, unofficial member.

Seeing the situation was getting out of hand, Rune quickly suggested that this wasn't the place to talk and that they should go to a restaurant to eat and discuss things over. Clark had been there more often, so Zatanna and Rune followed his advice and went to a burger joint. The burger joint was bustling with activity, decorated in a retro style, with posters on the walls displaying various burger combos.

Rune and Clark opted for traditional cheeseburgers, while Zatanna chose an avocado sandwich. As she ate, Zatanna recounted her experiences lately. Since leaving the Wayne family, she had taken up the family business—magic.

She initially opted for a full suit like her father, but people didn't appreciate it. So, through trial and error, Zatanna settled on her current attire, which has earned her a considerable amount. However, she aspires to build her own team, just like her father, and is currently saving money.

The demonic children who were chasing her weren't particularly strong, and Zatanna managed to take down a few without much trouble. After all, they were just ordinary people who had obtained the blood of the Three Palaces. They might gain superpowers such as fire control or invulnerability, but without systematic training, they couldn't truly unleash the power of the Three Palaces' blood.

"Are there still demons chasing you?" Rune asked.

Zatanna pursed her lips: "There is one more. He seems to be quite powerful, much stronger than those silly descendants of the Three Palaces. But it's not a big problem. I've escaped from him several times already."

Clark listened while eating his burger. The burger patties at this burger joint were juicy, the cheese was rich, and the bacon inside was crispy. It was perfect to eat with Zatanna's story, not to mention the super-sized, crispy fries on the side.

Rune stroked his chin, thinking, "What I've been searching for has come to me without any effort at all." The low-level alchemy materials he'd been looking for—now he had a way to obtain them!

"In that case... you must have a lot of demon materials on hand?" Rune asked.

"I have some," Zatanna nodded, "but they're just small things. You can have them if you want; I always carry them with me."

As she spoke, the girl removed her hat, pulling out several round beads tinged with blood. Rune examined the beads and immediately recognized them as a mixture of the blood of Trigon and ordinary humans. It seemed that Zatanna's claim of dealing with a few demons was merely a humble remark; she truly lived up to her reputation as one of the strongest sorcerers in the DC Universe.

"I won't take them for nothing." With that, Rune took out several puppets from his briefcase and placed them in front of Zatanna. "Choose a few."

Zatanna saw through the trick. She took one and examined it carefully. After looking at it, she breathed a sigh of relief.

"No wonder you wanted materials. These puppets are exquisite white magic creations, full of magic and active enough to respond to their master's will. The only problem is that the materials are too ordinary."

The puppet under her command was activated by magic and opened its eyes, but it did not make any other movements, nor did it return to its original size.

"You know a lot of people in the magical world, can you give me some advice? If the quality of the materials improves, will those mages buy it?" Rune asked.

Zatanna looked at Rune, then nodded affirmatively, "They'll love it. In fact, most mages aren't good at melee combat, including me, and your puppet can make up for their weakness."

Rune laughed, finally settling down to eat the hamburger in front of him. He then said casually, "Okay, you help me promote it. I'll give you a share of the profits once these items are sold."

"No need for that, it's just a small matter," Zatanna said, unwilling to accept Rune's gift. In her eyes, it was a trivial matter, not worth sharing.

"Here you go, just take it." Rune glanced at Zatanna and said without room for argument, "I'll need you to help me procure alchemy materials later, consider this payment. We'll talk more after dinner."

Not far away, a middle-aged man in a suit walked into the town. A glint of fire seemed to flash in his eyes.

"Itregan, can you smell her?"