American Comics: Multiverse of Madness

150. Devouring Magic.

The evening breeze brought with it a foul stench. Alex's trench coat fluttered in the wind. In this eerie chill, some of the worries in Alex's heart dissipated. Now was not the time to be entangled with those outsiders who shouldn't be here. Alex put away the bat shuriken and shifted his gaze to the unconscious mutant on the ground.

He wondered how timid this guy must be, fainting for so long after being scared by Kara. If he couldn't sense the strong life energy within him, Alex would have thought the mutant had been scared to death.

"Are you about to start? Do we need to step back a bit?" Pietro asked curiously.

"No need, this isn't complicated, but I do need to not be disturbed." Alex made a hand sign, and clusters of eerie green flames appeared in the air.

These ghostly flames floated around Alex, burning silently.

To Kara and Pietro, these flames seemed to follow some predetermined path, but when they looked closely, they couldn't discern any pattern. It was as if the flames moved randomly. However, when they relaxed their focus, the intricate, orderly movement seemed to reappear.

"Magic must be a matter of talent, I guess," Pietro whispered to Kara. "No matter how many times I see it, it's still amazing. I always wanted to be a wizard because, you know, I learn quickly."

"It's not that easy. As you said, magic requires talent. It's not something you can grasp just by having a super brain. John once said that witchcraft and magic originate from imagination and perspective. Alex excels in these aspects," Kara replied calmly.

Pietro nodded heavily. The ability to train alone in desolate places for seventeen years was something beyond ordinary people. Also, Alex was too 'unique.' This wasn't to say Alex was strange or spoke nonsense. On the contrary, Alex was extremely logical. But for some reason, Pietro always felt that being with Alex made everything seem solvable, no matter the difficulty.

Alex had always been very mysterious. He never talked about his past, as if he had suddenly entered this world, always observing the multiverse with a broader perspective. Pietro sensibly never delved into Alex's past, believing Alex was far from ordinary.

Pietro and Kara's whispering didn't disturb Alex, who was now deep in spellcasting.

With his left hand maintaining the hand sign, Alex extended his right hand toward the mutant, fingers spread as if grasping for something in the void. With this gesture, the mutant's body began to tremble involuntarily. This trembling wasn't driven by the mutant's consciousness but seemed influenced by some invisible, mystical force.

The ghostly green flames brightened, and Alex focused all his attention on the mutant, using his will to better detect and extract the mutant's life force.

With the help of magical energy, Alex's mental strength gradually invaded the mutant's mental world, a place protected by a soul veil, the gathering point of the mutant's entire consciousness.

With a thought, Alex's powerful mental strength broke through the veil, filling the mutant's mental world with complex, incomprehensible information, simultaneously triggering the supernal energy within his body.

Alex's right hand clenched in the air, and in the next moment, a green glow burst from the mutant.

Then, a hideous, semi-transparent rat-headed creature was pulled from the mutant's face, as if Alex had torn out his soul, creating a spectacular scene.

"Hiss—!"

Alex let out a non-human hiss, his teeth elongating and sharpening, and his pupils turning blood red. The rat-man's phantom struggled but was helpless under the all-encompassing ghostly green flames. It could only be pulled closer to Alex by an irresistible force.

Seeing this, Pietro and Kara widened their eyes. This was their first time witnessing such a scene. If they didn't know Alex well enough, they would think he was a mad black magician sacrificing to an evil god. In fact, they weren't entirely wrong.

Alex was performing a very ancient witchcraft, or rather ancient magic, rooted in the primal laws of the Elder Gods. It allowed the user to absorb the energy of weaker beings to strengthen themselves. Before magic was divided into black and white, this devouring witchcraft already existed. It resembled the primal force of the Elder Gods—big fish eat little fish, survival of the fittest. Only the surviving Elder Gods could become stronger.

However, this witchcraft was also extremely dangerous. As the user devoured other beings, they would gain not only their powerful energy but also their consciousness. If they couldn't maintain their sanity, they could go mad. This is why the magic was classified as black magic.

The creator of this magic was Chthon, the writer of the Darkhold, known as one of the evil Elder Gods. He derived this powerful black magic from the Devourer Gods of ancient times.

Yet, the magic itself wasn't difficult to use. Among wizards, higher-ranking individuals could strongly suppress lower-ranking ones. As long as one was powerful enough, even an ordinary wizard could forcibly take another wizard's magical energy.

This aspect was shown in the "Doctor Strange" movie. After betraying Kamar-Taj, Baron Mordo continuously stole other wizards' magical energy to overturn the influence of wizards on reality.

In Alex's memory, the most famous user of this magic was Sorcerer Supreme Doctor Strange.

In one universe, Strange began learning devouring magic to change the 'fixed point in time' of Christine's death, hoping to gain enough power by devouring other-dimensional demons to alter this event.

In the end, he failed, becoming the last living being in that universe's reality.

...…..

20 advanced chapters on p@treaon
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151. Power Enhancement.
152. A Future Shrouded in Gloom.
153. Watching from the Shadows.
154. Long-term Plans.
155. The Ghost Rider Gang.