Arkham Batman is back.
Awaiting him, of course, is a major interrogation. It wasn't just that he blew a hole in the Hell Dimension, but rather he used a small portion of the power Mephisto infiltrated into Earth through the Magic Defense Network—used for "internet access"—to tear a small hole in the magic defense network over the New York sky. The mage guarding The Sanctum was almost scared to death.
Fortunately, it was eventually discovered to be internal sabotage. But this also prompted Strange to urgently cut off the "internet lines" of all Demon Gods. Even the "internet lines" communicating between the Holy Sanctuary and the outside were severed, bringing an unprecedented forced holiday to the Holy Sanctuary that had been running nonstop for years.
Before Arkham Batman returned, the one facing collective criticism was Shiller. Because it was he who brought Batman here, which led to this incident. Although nothing truly happened, it was more frightening than if something had.
"Alright, you all shouldn't complain after gaining benefits." Shiller was also righteous, saying, "Didn't I help you find the loophole in the magic defense network?"
"Can you not do it in such an exciting way?!" Strange roared.
"This is already quite mild," Shiller muttered under his breath, "if it were before, I wouldn't have held back so much."
Hearing this, everyone else lost their temper, because they knew Shiller was telling the truth. Recently, Shiller's mood had stabilized a lot. If it were during his peak years, Strange had no doubt he could orchestrate a conspiracy to have something tear the magic defense network from the inside, rolling everyone on the Magic Side into a tangled mess, and none would be able to escape.
Now it just involved using Batman to open a small hole in the magic defense network, which was indeed considered low-key.
Strange found himself with anger that had nowhere to go. Seeing Arkham Batman strutting into the hall, his anger only intensified.
"You..."
Before he could say a single syllable, Arkham Batman's fist was already at his brow. Strange quickly retreated.
"I..."
Another syllable unfinished, Arkham Batman advanced again. With a Hell-powered punch on the cape, he ripped it, fire flickering briefly, and the whole person became a dense cloud of ash, sweeping towards Strange like a storm.
"Batman!!!" Strange's roar echoed to the sky.
He was not made of clay. Instantly, the radiance of elemental power burst from his body. Even in Boston, you could see the pillar of light shooting skyward.
Arkham Batman, who had transformed to ash and landed, looked up at the Supreme Magician floating mid-air, thinking to himself, no wonder Mephisto said he couldn't beat this guy, he is indeed rich.
Strange glared angrily at Arkham Batman. Just as he wanted to send a blast of magic energy his way, he struck the barrier of the power of Scarlet.
"Steven, can you calm down. He's a student at the school," Wanda said, "As the principal, you shouldn't just attack him."
"So he can attack me at will?!"
"There must be some misunderstanding," Wanda said, "Besides, he can't really hurt you. Don't let it bother you. If he truly wants to hurt you, I'll teach him a lesson."
After his initial anger, Strange also calmed down, stepping back with the excuse Wanda provided. He withdrew his magic power, sat back down, and coldly stared at Arkham Batman.
"Aren't you going to explain?"
"I have nothing to explain," Arkham Batman said, "If you want to kill me, then go ahead and try. Otherwise, stop meddling with me."
Saying so, he waved his cape and strode out the door.
Strange was stunned. He pointed at Arkham Batman, speechless, as if he had never met someone so unyieldingly rude.
"He's just like that," Shiller said, "Probably holding a grudge against you for not punishing Night Owl, who blew him up."
"How did I not punish him? Didn't I lock him in the Meditation Room?!"
"I meant the first explosion, in the Magic Forest."
"But wasn't that an uncontrolled burst of power? That Night Owl couldn't have controlled it, right?" Strange recalled, and because of Arkham Batman's brazen confidence, he even doubted his own memory.
"But didn't you fail to stop Night Owl from gaining power?"
"Why didn't I stop Night Owl from gaining power?!" Strange glared at Shiller, "Didn't you tell me it was fine?!"
"Let's not discuss this now," Shiller said, "Last night Director Chris messaged me. He needs Mephisto to speak on the script. You better release him."
"He caused such a big mess for me, and I..." Strange sighed deeply, "Fine. The movie production really can't be delayed any longer. Tell Mephisto to stay put at the filming base and refrain from contacting any Batman!"
Shiller nodded, as if making a promise on behalf of Mephisto. Then turned and said to Mephisto, who was back at school, "You play school medic for a couple of days while I go narrate the script."
"Why?" Mephisto, still with a face identical to Shiller's, asked.
"You have no idea how busy the school medic has been lately," Shiller sighed deeply, "The courses are now teaching aggressive magic, and on average five or six Batmen come through daily. I honestly can't heal them with magic. If I don't run away, what should I do?"
"So that's how it is," Mephisto said, "But my magic power isn't mainly for healing either, I'm afraid I also..."
"If you keep dawdling, I'll back out."
"Alright, I'll cover for you for a few days." Morpheus said, shaking his head. He seemed reluctant on the surface, but inside he was overjoyed.
Being a school medic was great. Not only could he meet all kinds of Batmen, but he might even lure a few away. Plus, he wouldn't have to deal with Chris for a while. After all, the set of "The Divine Comedy" was damaged, and he needed some time to repair it. He was afraid that if he interacted with Chris too much, the latter would want to visit and then everything would fall apart.
So Morpheus stayed at the school infirmary while Shiller went to the filming site to discuss the script.
That evening, Morpheus understood why Shiller had bolted. Arkham Batman appeared at the entrance of the school infirmary, dragging a nearly unconscious Night Owl, with the Supreme Magician and a group of Grand Mages trailing behind.
"What's going on...?" Morpheus couldn't help but look them up and down.
Arkham Batman first threw Night Owl inside. Morpheus looked at his former angel envoy and couldn't help but gasp at the broken bones... When did a semi-truck arrive at the magical school?
Then he looked at Arkham Batman. The guy wasn't hurt at all and even acted arrogant, especially with the Supreme Magician and a bunch of Grand Mages following him.
"Batman!!!" Strange roared at him, "You trespassed in the Meditation Room and assaulted a student!! What are you trying to do?!!"
"I didn't intend to assault a student." Arkham Batman said.
Strange let out a breath, thinking he was about to back down. But then Arkham Batman grabbed Morpheus by the collar and punched him. "Bang!"
Strange was flabbergasted. The punch came too quickly for him to intervene. The force of the punch was so strong that the "Shiller" who got hit was completely stunned.
Morpheus was also bewildered, why are you hitting me?! What did I do to you?!
Wait a minute. Morpheus's brain started spinning rapidly, it seemed like he wasn't the one Arkham Batman wanted to punch, but Shiller. No wonder Shiller ran away so fast!!!
He wanted to explain, but Arkham Batman's punches had no warm-up, following one punch with a series of aerial combos. Even though it didn't hurt Morpheus, it was quite aggravating.
"Stop!!!" Morpheus shouted, "You bastard! I didn't do anything to you! Why are you hitting me?!"
"Oh really? 'Saphire'? Or the good teacher of Night Owl?"
Morpheus paused in his actions, cursing Shiller in his heart. Shiller had disguised himself as Saphire to teach Night Owl black magic, and also showed him how to summon Morpheus. When Night Owl's power went out of control and exploded at Arkham Batman, Shiller definitely shared the blame.
But you should blame Shiller for Shiller's mistakes! Can't you see clearly who I am?!
Wait a second. Morpheus suddenly thought, could it be because I disguised myself too well?
To avoid exposing himself, Morpheus indeed concealed his Hell Power very effectively. Not even the Supreme Magician might detect it, let alone Arkham Batman.
I truly have bad luck! Morpheus howled internally. But he still chose to placate Arkham Batman.
"This is a misunderstanding," Morpheus said, "you might be mistaking me for someone else. I have no connection to that guy called Night Owl. I'm just an ordinary school medic. If you have nothing else, please leave."
Arkham Batman didn't argue with him; he gave him a deep look, glanced at the Supreme Magician, and then turned and left.
He headed back to the dormitory and saw the Primary Universe Batman, then said to him, "I think it's about time, let's leave."
"Where to?"
"Home. I've no time to waste here."
The Primary Universe Batman moved his hand slightly. Arkham Batman leaned against the door frame with his arms crossed and said, "You want to ask me why we're leaving without understanding the secrets of magic. But I'm telling you, the secret of magic isn't some bullshit 'wish fulfillment'. The secret of magic is — whoever has the biggest fists is the boss."
"I ran over the Lord of the Hell Dimension with a car. Not only did he spare me, but he also made a pact with me. The first thing I did when I returned to school was attack the Supreme Magician. He didn't do anything to me either. I barged into the Meditation Room, beat Night Owl senseless, and even whacked the school medic. And here I still am, perfectly fine."
Everything before was fine, but when the Primary Universe Batman heard that he had pummeled the school medic, he couldn't help but look at Arkham Batman in shock.
Arkham Batman didn't explain, he said, "So, the rules of magic are simple. First grab, then fight. Defeat everyone, and you're the Supreme Magician. Do you think there's anything worthwhile in this process for me to learn?"
Primary Universe Batman paused but still shook his head. There was indeed nothing more for Arkham Batman to learn from this process. He did it better than most people in this universe. He acted quicker, struck harder, with a more arrogant attitude, and an imposing aura. Given a few more days, he could beat up all the minor demons around Earth. To restore the glory of the Supreme Magician, it's my duty.
The Primary Universe Batman also realized where his problem lay. He and Night Owl were plotting against each other here. I put pressure on you, you forced me. It was actually all useless. The seemingly mysterious rules of the magic realm were not that complex. In the end, it boiled down to one phrase — might makes right.
The essence of magic is borrowing. As long as there's borrowing, there are creditors; as long as there are creditors, they can be beaten up. If you can beat up the creditor, you don't have to repay the debt. That's how the magical realm operates.
This means that no matter how much theoretical knowledge Batman learned here, back in his universe, he would still have to rely on his fists to beat up those mysterious beings. If he didn't overpower them, he wouldn't even touch the edge of magic.
Looking at it this way, there's indeed nothing more to learn. The Primary Universe Batman stood up and looked out the dormitory window. Just in time to see Shiller returning from the filming site.
It seemed that Shiller sensed something and looked up. At the moment their eyes met, the Primary Universe Batman said, "Is this what you wanted us to understand?"