American comics: From Hogwarts to God on Earth

Chapter 526 Shield Activation

There were a few moments when Rune wanted to indulge in the pleasures of love, but he eventually convinced himself that while a moment of pleasure was indeed intoxicating, only after dealing with all the Forgotten Ones could he gain eternal peace of mind.

After bidding farewell to the Scarlet Witch, Rune teleported to Gotham Sanctum, but instead of the kind but somewhat stubborn Kent Nelson, he was greeted by a pool of blood.

Further inside, all sorts of bizarre chunks of flesh were laid out on the ground, their wounds utterly varied; some were mostly corroded by acid, some were covered in scorch marks, and others had incredibly smooth cross-sections.

Rune fell silent, a sense of foreboding washing over him.

He hurried into the depths of the sanctuary and saw Clark and Zatanna, as well as several Kamar-Taj sorcerers maintaining ritual magic. In Clark's hands was Doctor Fate, who had a large hole in his chest.

Apart from the helmet that housed Naboo being destroyed by Rune, the Anubis Amulet and the Cloak of Fate were preserved, and they are now lying peacefully next to Superman, clearly having been tidied up.

Rune took a deep breath and asked, "Which Greek god did it?"

Clark's face was streaked with tears. He was more grief-stricken and furious than Rune. Although he hadn't known the other man for long, Superman's personality made it impossible for him to ignore the death of a hero.

Upon being asked this by Rune, Zatanna immediately realized who her two enemies were, and she shouted, "It's Ares, the god of war, and Apollo, the god of the sun!"

She already felt that the purple-skinned god looked familiar. Moreover, purple-skinned deities are very rare, whether among the old or new gods, especially those with purplish-black skin like Apollo.

Upon hearing the name Apollo, Rune pursed his lips; he roughly guessed what had happened.

With Zeus gone, the throne of the gods remained vacant, but Apollo was extremely ambitious. He was not satisfied with his position as the chief god and aspired to become the king of the gods.

And his actions just happened to provide an opportunity for Apollo. First, Rune had advised the king to communicate with the Greek gods to avoid any misunderstandings.

The Greek gods hold a position in the DC Universe equivalent to the Norse gods in the Marvel Universe. Without their permission, Earth's protective shield would be difficult to deploy, and Wang heeded his advice.

Although it is unknown what price he paid for this, there is no doubt that Hera, the acting god-king, had agreed to the king's request. However, the other Greek gods had already regarded the earth as their backyard, and the king's actions were tantamount to locking up their playground. Therefore, these gods would certainly be dissatisfied with Hera's actions.

By having Apollo intervene and prevent the shield from deploying, he could gain the support of these gods, thus achieving great things with little effort and ascending to the throne of the gods.

At least in the main universe, Apollo became the king of the gods. When Zeus's eldest son was born and returned to Earth, Apollo replaced Zeus, but he was a terrible king. Apollo even tried to force the newborn to submit to him by tormenting him.

The result was that after enduring all the torment, the newborn broke free, killed Apollo, and became the king of the gods.

Rune didn't care whether Apollo could become the king of the gods. Hera and he had only met once, so Rune had no need to protect Hera's position.

But now, Apollo has defied the God-King's will, hindered the shield's deployment, and killed the magic-side guardian designated by Rune. This enmity has been formed no matter what.

Rune would never let the sun god go, but for now, he had to ensure the magic continued and prevent Apollo from returning.

"Don't worry, they'll pay for this," Rune said in a low voice. He then opened a portal and returned to the Eternal Rock Sanctuary. Neither Clark nor Zatanna entered the portal. Seeing their reaction, the mage sighed.

Rune didn't even know how to explain it to Nelson's wife.

The enemies in all three sanctuaries were repelled, but the deployment of the shield was delayed due to the deaths of all the leaders of the Gotham Sanctuaries.

Fortunately, the last few tens of minutes went relatively smoothly. Although some monsters came to reality from all sorts of strange worlds, they were too weak to cause any trouble.

Rune's face remained icy cold; he was clearly angry. The mages of the DC Universe feared him and dared not approach, seeing Rune's expression. Meanwhile, the Kamar-Taj mages were focused on activating the protective barrier and had no time to pay attention to Rune's divine power.

situation.

Of everyone present, only Raven and Barbara dared to approach.

Raven didn't say anything, but simply held Rune's arm and watched the magical ritual progress steadily in the distance, while Barbara cautiously asked, "What's happening on the other side?"

Rune took a deep breath and whispered, "Doctor Fate—our universe's Doctor Fate—is dead."

Barbara's expression also turned grim. She was at least somewhat aware of Doctor Fate's important position in the magical sphere; Batman had even collaborated with Doctor Fate and others several times.

Anything can happen in that godforsaken place, including a dark wizard trying to widen the rift in Gotham leading to the afterlife to see his family; or a cultist trying to summon Trinity to destroy the world.

"I'm sorry, I hope you're not too sad—" Barbara tried to comfort Rune, but Rune just shook his head.

"Don't try to comfort me, Barbara. I'm not that fragile, and my relationship with Doctor Fate isn't as good as you think," Rune said coldly. "I'm angry simply because my plans have been disrupted."

That's what they say, but in reality, even if Kent died, Rune could find another Doctor of Fate. Kent's widow was a good example; in the main universe, she did indeed serve as the fourth Doctor of Fate for a period of time.

But Rune's anger may stem from the realization that he is so powerful yet unable to control the situation, or perhaps from Apollo's offense, or simply from his unwillingness to see a hero die like this.

Rune knew he had a special affection for those heroes, which made him willing to help them without expecting anything in return.

For example, Rune clearly knew that even if he didn't make Batman owe anyone a favor, Batman would definitely step in to help the Forsaken, yet he still healed Barbara and resolved the conflict between Jason and Bruce.

He even wanted to redeem Batman's parents' voucher, which had long since expired.

The monk sighed.

Soon, the protective shield was successfully deployed, and the surrounding mages exclaimed in admiration. From Rune's perspective, it was a magnificent, multicolored light membrane that was spreading outwards evenly, a scene far more spectacular than the aurora borealis.

However, Barbara saw nothing. She wasn't a mage and couldn't perceive the movement of magical particles. She could only look around blankly, then at Rune, looking extremely anxious.

Rune naturally noticed Barbara's dilemma, and he immediately smeared his hand on Barbara's eyelids, granting her the ability to observe magic for a short period of time.

Then, exclamations of praise came from around him.

This magic circle, which has been passed down for thousands of years in the Marvel Universe, has finally begun to shine in the DC Universe.