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Chapter 148: Divine Scion
A few moments later.
The poor Bishop lay on the ground, staring wide-eyed at the dark sky, a look of existential crisis on his face.
In the blink of an eye, the entire squad of Blood Cultists he had brought was annihilated.
And the three Gotham Deacons before him, who were supposed to be sacrifices, had now revealed themselves: one had donned armor, one had turned into a bat with pointed ears, and the last was an unscientifically fast chatterbox in red...
Only three people came, and all three of them were damn undercover agents.
This brought a strange thought to the Bishop's mind.
Could it be that their branch in that godforsaken place, Gotham, no longer had any of their own people?
Perhaps the Blood Cultists' branch there was entirely composed of undercover agents from top to bottom, and these three were just their representatives?
The entire fight took only an instant, and it was basically The Flash who handled it all. Orin Vale figured that since they were just a bunch of minions with a near-zero threat level, he might as well take the opportunity to observe from the sidelines. He also recorded a wave of The Flash's speed data and energy radiation readings for future research.
Sure enough, it hadn't been long since they last met, but it felt like Barry had gotten faster again. The growth rate of his speed was comparable to the level-up speed of his own sun-bathing, god-tier Kryptonian.
As expected, every single member of the Justice League was an overpowered individual.
While Orin Vale was silently observing and recording data from the back, he turned his head and saw that the Old Bat was also observing from the sidelines. A sweep with his Ultra Vision revealed a miniature display interface hidden in the Old Bat's retina, just like in *Mission: Impossible*, which was also scanning and recording Barry as he teleported and flashed around.
Orin Vale: "..."
Three people came out for a team fight, but only honest Barry was in front doing all the hard work and dishing out the damage. Of his two teammates, one was scheming about his speed, while the other was planning to collect intelligence to mess with his mind in the future. Out of three people, two were off to the side with their own agendas, scribbling away. Thinking about it, he suddenly felt a little bad for Barry...
Yet Barry didn't seem to think anything was wrong at all.
"Alright, buddy. Now I strongly suggest you tell us where your troublemaking spot in Central City is."
The Flash, who had suited up the moment the fight began, leaned against a nearby wall and said in a cheerful voice.
"Otherwise, I'm not sure what my friend here will do to you..."
He sounded a bit unsure as he said this, secretly glancing at the expressionless Batman.
"We are friends, right?"
The Bishop said coldly, "I don't know how you infiltrated our ranks, or how you deceived the mark bestowed by our Lord. But if you think this is the extent of our faith, you are sorely underestimating us."
"Do what you will, but if you expect me to reveal even a single word—"
"That won't be necessary."
Batman knelt down and used a tool from his belt to scrape a small amount of clay from the sole of the Bishop's boot, sealing it in a transparent evidence bag.
"Oh, right! By analyzing the sample from his shoe sole, we can deduce where he's been!"
As a specialist in the Forensic Science Division for his day job, Barry's mind also became active, and his gaze swept over the man's knees.
"Red brick dust. The red brick dust on his knees... I bet these crazy believers definitely have a kneeling ritual. The clay on his soles can tell us where he's been, and by combining that with the dust residue on his knees, we should be able to quickly eliminate possibilities and find the matching location in Central City."
Batman nodded slightly. Although his expression remained stoic, his gaze toward Barry seemed to hold a hint of approval.
However, just as the detective and the police officer were discussing forensic traceology...
"Macriel Street, number 321, the Old Church," Orin Vale suddenly interjected.
The gazes of the two superheroes turned to him in unison.
Orin Vale dangled the cellphone he had just pulled from the Bishop's pocket and hacked. "No need for all that trouble. This guy recorded the meeting time and place in his phone memo."
Batman x The Flash: "..."
A short while later, at the Old Church.
The desolate Old Church was surrounded by overgrown grass and an abandoned cemetery. The bricks of the outer walls were mottled and moldy, the dark wooden door was old and worn, and vines clung to the metal door knocker, looking especially sinister under the moonlight.
Black-robed cultists were scattered around, on high alert as they guarded the church.
"Thirteen targets."
Crouching in the darkness and activating his thermal imaging to quickly scan the church, Batman said in a low voice.
"Here's the attack plan. The Flash from the left flank, I'll...?"
His words froze midway. But from his strange gaze, it was clear he meant to ask, *Where's The Flash?*
The next moment, a winding streak of lightning flashed around the church. Not one of the thirteen cultists had time to react before they were all knocked to the ground in disarray.
The golden lightning zipped back. The Flash appeared before the two of them in an instant, patting the electric arcs off his body as he grinned. "All taken care of."
Then he shrank back a little under Batman's icy gaze.
"Uh... I have super speed. Am I not supposed to use it?"
"..."
Inside the church.
All the windows were sealed, and the main gate was locked. A heavy darkness shrouded the oppressive space, and fierce flames burned on the circular altar in the center, emitting a malodorous smoke and casting distorted shadows.
The black-robed cultists softly chanted a spell, as if an unseen, evil power was being channeled within the sealed space.
Suddenly, the rooftop shattered with the sound of an explosion, and falling stones tumbled down amidst the dust.
A black bat spread its wings and glided down, breaking through the smoke screen with a flying kick that sent a cultist by the altar flying into a wall. Batman landed in a half-crouch, took down one with a leg sweep followed by an elbow to the face, then rose with a spin kick to send another flying.
The church was thrown into chaos. A cultist shouted and waved his hands, and churning black mist formed into a blade in his palm. Just as he was about to lunge forward, a streak of lightning shot in from the door. Wherever the electric arc passed, people were sent flying.
At the same time, the glass on the flank shattered, and the red-silver mech flew in. It fired continuous blasts from both palms, and the Light Energy Impacts instantly knocked several people away.
A high-ranking cultist roared, spinning his arms to condense a vortex. A ball of magic impact, resembling a Kamehameha, blasted towards Orin Vale. However, Orin Vale didn't move an inch; the shield activated by his Ultra Barrier steadily caught the impact. A transparent ripple spread across the barrier. With a casual wave of Orin Vale's hand, the energy blast backfired, and the transparent shockwave sent a large group flying, smashing the tables and chairs inside the church.
Even though the cultists were slightly enhanced by magic power, they stood no chance against them. In less than half a minute, the entire room of cultists had been taken out.
"Ha, so in the end, we still relied on our fists. Looks like the so-called undercover operation ends here," Barry said as he walked towards the altar. "What a shame. I was actually looking forward to a new type of mission. You know, I'm still new to this business..."
"Cough, cough."
The last remaining Bishop coughed up some blood, crawling arduously across the ground, leaving a long trail of blood behind him.
The Flash raised an eyebrow. "Wow, this guy's willpower... I almost feel sorry for him."
Seemingly realizing the situation was hopeless, the Bishop finally stopped struggling. He turned to look at the three of them and sneered, "Cough... you must think you've won, right?"
"You think the ritual was stopped, that we failed?"
"Ha, you're too late. In fact, the ritual was already complete before you even entered."
Batman grabbed him and lifted him up.
"What did you do?"
"Hahaha, the reason we gathered this time... cough, cough... is because we suddenly learned that this dimension... cough, cough... this dimension has always contained the bloodline of our great Lord."
"And now, the time has come for that great Divine Scion to descend!"
Upon hearing this, Orin Vale was already beginning to vaguely realize something.
*Hmm, wait a minute.*
*Your great Lord is Trigon, you say this dimension has always contained the Lord's bloodline, and the purpose of your ritual this time was to summon that offspring of Trigon.*
*Trigon's offspring in this dimension... wouldn't that be...*
*Boom!*
An astonishing amount of magic power erupted from the ritual altar, a surging and shocking power exploding from that central point. Batman and The Flash were both startled. They each struck a fighting pose, instinctively sensing that a being arriving with such fanfare was often some kind of extra-dimensional demon, and a battle to the death was sure to follow...
However, contrary to their expectations.
What appeared on the altar was a girl.
A girl in a hood and cape over a sukumizu, with long legs and a slightly dazed, cute expression on her face.
She was even holding a... ladle?
Raven, clutching the ladle and frozen in a pose as if she were in the middle of scooping soup, blinked her dazed, cute eyes twice as she stared at the wrecked church before her.
The young girl asked, confused, "Uh... can anyone tell me where this is?"
(end of chapter)
A few moments later.
The poor Bishop lay on the ground, staring wide-eyed at the dark sky, a look of existential crisis on his face.
In the blink of an eye, the entire squad of Blood Cultists he had brought was annihilated.
And the three Gotham Deacons before him, who were supposed to be sacrifices, had now revealed themselves: one had donned armor, one had turned into a bat with pointed ears, and the last was an unscientifically fast chatterbox in red...
Only three people came, and all three of them were damn undercover agents.
This brought a strange thought to the Bishop's mind.
Could it be that their branch in that godforsaken place, Gotham, no longer had any of their own people?
Perhaps the Blood Cultists' branch there was entirely composed of undercover agents from top to bottom, and these three were just their representatives?
The entire fight took only an instant, and it was basically The Flash who handled it all. Orin Vale figured that since they were just a bunch of minions with a near-zero threat level, he might as well take the opportunity to observe from the sidelines. He also recorded a wave of The Flash's speed data and energy radiation readings for future research.
Sure enough, it hadn't been long since they last met, but it felt like Barry had gotten faster again. The growth rate of his speed was comparable to the level-up speed of his own sun-bathing, god-tier Kryptonian.
As expected, every single member of the Justice League was an overpowered individual.
While Orin Vale was silently observing and recording data from the back, he turned his head and saw that the Old Bat was also observing from the sidelines. A sweep with his Ultra Vision revealed a miniature display interface hidden in the Old Bat's retina, just like in *Mission: Impossible*, which was also scanning and recording Barry as he teleported and flashed around.
Orin Vale: "..."
Three people came out for a team fight, but only honest Barry was in front doing all the hard work and dishing out the damage. Of his two teammates, one was scheming about his speed, while the other was planning to collect intelligence to mess with his mind in the future. Out of three people, two were off to the side with their own agendas, scribbling away. Thinking about it, he suddenly felt a little bad for Barry...
Yet Barry didn't seem to think anything was wrong at all.
"Alright, buddy. Now I strongly suggest you tell us where your troublemaking spot in Central City is."
The Flash, who had suited up the moment the fight began, leaned against a nearby wall and said in a cheerful voice.
"Otherwise, I'm not sure what my friend here will do to you..."
He sounded a bit unsure as he said this, secretly glancing at the expressionless Batman.
"We are friends, right?"
The Bishop said coldly, "I don't know how you infiltrated our ranks, or how you deceived the mark bestowed by our Lord. But if you think this is the extent of our faith, you are sorely underestimating us."
"Do what you will, but if you expect me to reveal even a single word—"
"That won't be necessary."
Batman knelt down and used a tool from his belt to scrape a small amount of clay from the sole of the Bishop's boot, sealing it in a transparent evidence bag.
"Oh, right! By analyzing the sample from his shoe sole, we can deduce where he's been!"
As a specialist in the Forensic Science Division for his day job, Barry's mind also became active, and his gaze swept over the man's knees.
"Red brick dust. The red brick dust on his knees... I bet these crazy believers definitely have a kneeling ritual. The clay on his soles can tell us where he's been, and by combining that with the dust residue on his knees, we should be able to quickly eliminate possibilities and find the matching location in Central City."
Batman nodded slightly. Although his expression remained stoic, his gaze toward Barry seemed to hold a hint of approval.
However, just as the detective and the police officer were discussing forensic traceology...
"Macriel Street, number 321, the Old Church," Orin Vale suddenly interjected.
The gazes of the two superheroes turned to him in unison.
Orin Vale dangled the cellphone he had just pulled from the Bishop's pocket and hacked. "No need for all that trouble. This guy recorded the meeting time and place in his phone memo."
Batman x The Flash: "..."
A short while later, at the Old Church.
The desolate Old Church was surrounded by overgrown grass and an abandoned cemetery. The bricks of the outer walls were mottled and moldy, the dark wooden door was old and worn, and vines clung to the metal door knocker, looking especially sinister under the moonlight.
Black-robed cultists were scattered around, on high alert as they guarded the church.
"Thirteen targets."
Crouching in the darkness and activating his thermal imaging to quickly scan the church, Batman said in a low voice.
"Here's the attack plan. The Flash from the left flank, I'll...?"
His words froze midway. But from his strange gaze, it was clear he meant to ask, *Where's The Flash?*
The next moment, a winding streak of lightning flashed around the church. Not one of the thirteen cultists had time to react before they were all knocked to the ground in disarray.
The golden lightning zipped back. The Flash appeared before the two of them in an instant, patting the electric arcs off his body as he grinned. "All taken care of."
Then he shrank back a little under Batman's icy gaze.
"Uh... I have super speed. Am I not supposed to use it?"
"..."
Inside the church.
All the windows were sealed, and the main gate was locked. A heavy darkness shrouded the oppressive space, and fierce flames burned on the circular altar in the center, emitting a malodorous smoke and casting distorted shadows.
The black-robed cultists softly chanted a spell, as if an unseen, evil power was being channeled within the sealed space.
Suddenly, the rooftop shattered with the sound of an explosion, and falling stones tumbled down amidst the dust.
A black bat spread its wings and glided down, breaking through the smoke screen with a flying kick that sent a cultist by the altar flying into a wall. Batman landed in a half-crouch, took down one with a leg sweep followed by an elbow to the face, then rose with a spin kick to send another flying.
The church was thrown into chaos. A cultist shouted and waved his hands, and churning black mist formed into a blade in his palm. Just as he was about to lunge forward, a streak of lightning shot in from the door. Wherever the electric arc passed, people were sent flying.
At the same time, the glass on the flank shattered, and the red-silver mech flew in. It fired continuous blasts from both palms, and the Light Energy Impacts instantly knocked several people away.
A high-ranking cultist roared, spinning his arms to condense a vortex. A ball of magic impact, resembling a Kamehameha, blasted towards Orin Vale. However, Orin Vale didn't move an inch; the shield activated by his Ultra Barrier steadily caught the impact. A transparent ripple spread across the barrier. With a casual wave of Orin Vale's hand, the energy blast backfired, and the transparent shockwave sent a large group flying, smashing the tables and chairs inside the church.
Even though the cultists were slightly enhanced by magic power, they stood no chance against them. In less than half a minute, the entire room of cultists had been taken out.
"Ha, so in the end, we still relied on our fists. Looks like the so-called undercover operation ends here," Barry said as he walked towards the altar. "What a shame. I was actually looking forward to a new type of mission. You know, I'm still new to this business..."
"Cough, cough."
The last remaining Bishop coughed up some blood, crawling arduously across the ground, leaving a long trail of blood behind him.
The Flash raised an eyebrow. "Wow, this guy's willpower... I almost feel sorry for him."
Seemingly realizing the situation was hopeless, the Bishop finally stopped struggling. He turned to look at the three of them and sneered, "Cough... you must think you've won, right?"
"You think the ritual was stopped, that we failed?"
"Ha, you're too late. In fact, the ritual was already complete before you even entered."
Batman grabbed him and lifted him up.
"What did you do?"
"Hahaha, the reason we gathered this time... cough, cough... is because we suddenly learned that this dimension... cough, cough... this dimension has always contained the bloodline of our great Lord."
"And now, the time has come for that great Divine Scion to descend!"
Upon hearing this, Orin Vale was already beginning to vaguely realize something.
*Hmm, wait a minute.*
*Your great Lord is Trigon, you say this dimension has always contained the Lord's bloodline, and the purpose of your ritual this time was to summon that offspring of Trigon.*
*Trigon's offspring in this dimension... wouldn't that be...*
*Boom!*
An astonishing amount of magic power erupted from the ritual altar, a surging and shocking power exploding from that central point. Batman and The Flash were both startled. They each struck a fighting pose, instinctively sensing that a being arriving with such fanfare was often some kind of extra-dimensional demon, and a battle to the death was sure to follow...
However, contrary to their expectations.
What appeared on the altar was a girl.
A girl in a hood and cape over a sukumizu, with long legs and a slightly dazed, cute expression on her face.
She was even holding a... ladle?
Raven, clutching the ladle and frozen in a pose as if she were in the middle of scooping soup, blinked her dazed, cute eyes twice as she stared at the wrecked church before her.
The young girl asked, confused, "Uh... can anyone tell me where this is?"
(end of chapter)
