179 Deacon Blackfire #179

Taking a deep breath, I stepped back before kicking the door and barging in, Ebony and Ivory in hand. Much to my surprise, Clue Master didn't even react to my presence and kept muttering in a frenzy.

I walked up to him, forcefully turning him toward me as I raised him to his feet. "What the fuck are you doing here?" I asked, bringing my fist back and burying it in the man's abdomen to make my lack of patience for bullshit abundantly clear.

I repeated my actions more forcefully as Clue Master ignored me and received the same result for my effort. Sighing, I knocked the man out and approached the altar as he had no intention of speaking.

If possible, I wanted to get Clue Master to undo whatever the fuck he did so as not to mess up the situation any more than it already was, but the Riddler knock-off was clearly not going to be of any help.

I undid the bindings on Maxie Zeus's body and tried to shake him awake, but he didn't respond. Frowning, I removed him from the altar and looked around, still sensing eerie energies in the room.

"This is going to end in a disaster... I fucking know it..." I muttered as I reached for the altar with both my hands. I tightened my grip and tried to lift it in the air and smash it to pieces.

I stopped before moving as I felt something knocking on my mental shields and heard a sinisterly loud voice speak in the cramped room, which caused the numerous magic inscriptions to shine even more vigorously.

"Ah... I think I've grown rusty during my time in hell..." The voice echoed, the speaker clearly amused. "To think I can't even get through to the mind of a child in direct contact with my shrine..." it went with a light chuckle.

That was all I needed to heat before raising the altar and smashing it into the ground, to which it broke into countless pieces, but it didn't bring the results I'd hoped.

The inscriptions on the wall came to life, turning into black flames that split into two, flying toward the altar and Maxie Zeus. "Of course..." I muttered in annoyance as the flames restored the altar before I could react and entered the Zeus wannabe gangster's body.

Zeus's body twitched as he got up, covered in black flames that slowly changed his features, turning him into an elderly priest with long white hair tied in a ponytail.

"I'd intended to sacrifice the inmates and the asylum staff to empower myself and surprise an old friend..." the priest said, adjusting the cuffs of his black shirt as he sent me a benign smile.

"Your presence made that rather difficult young man, but it was also my fault for waiting too long..." he added, not sounding offended as he closed his eyes in concentration.

I humored him, letting him monologue without interruption to get a feel for his personality and plans, and he seemed to enjoy the sound of his voice as he continued.

"But, no matter... I am here now, there are many sheep outsides, and Batman will show up eventually..." the priest went on as he put his hands behind his back, regarding me with a relaxed posture.

"As for you, my dear, the fattest of sheep, you shall serve as an excellent appetizer..." he concluded, his expression hardening as his eyes turned completely black and similarly colored flames erupted from his body.

'What a pretentious hipster...' I mused, shaking my head as I listened to his conclusion before whipping out of my inventory my Ace Of Winchesters and shooting him in the face.

"Don't bite on more than you could chew now..." I said with a scoff as I approached the priest. I watched him fall to the ground and aimed my rifle as I prepared to finish the job.

However, I froze as I watched him grin at me, his face, which I imagine would have a bloody hole, clearly intact. He opened his mouth, and a ball of black flame flew at me, causing me to jump back.

"Ah... the Ace Of Winchesters... I didn't expect to see it here..." the priest said as he levitated back to his feet, leisurely dusting his black ropes as if nothing had happened.

"Ever since a mortal used it to kill one of their kind recently, those cowardly demons had been trembling in fear..." he added, shaking his head with a chuckle, and his words inadvertently explained why he was still breathing.

"I suppose I have you to thank for that... you see, they allowed me back into the world of the living, especially for you..." he added, grinning smugly as the black flames around his body intensified.

"And to think you'd bring yourself to me so quickly... such a thoughtful young man..." the priest remarked as he raised his hand toward me, releasing a stream of black flames.

I tried to move away, but the room was too small, and there was no room to dodge, causing me to grit my teeth as I stored my equipment to avoid ruining them and took the attack head-on.

The flame hit me, immediately incinerating my clothes. However, it did little other than that and turning Clue Master to dust, but who even cares about that guy, really?

The strange fire only caused me slight discomfort, which was already impressive since I could tank nukes according to the system, which had been perfectly accurate until now.

It also seemed to have other effects as I felt something reaching for my mind, which my psychic shields were fortunately strong enough to repel, causing me to sigh in relief.

Realizing the black flames were incapable of harming me, I leisurely waited until they dissipated, revealing my unscathed figure. "Sorry to break your bubble, but..." I said as I put off the lingering flames on my left arm, much to the priest's shock.

"Even if The Ace Of Winchesters doesn't work on you," I added, smiling as I cracked my neck before approaching the wide-eyed priest, and he quickly got over his shock.

He brought his hands together and conjured a wall of black flame that separated us, and I shrugged as I walked right through it. "I've got plenty of tricks.." I remarked as I quickly caught the priest by the throat before he could step back.

"I'm going to make you wish you never left hell," I concluded, cocking my head back before levitating off the ground to slam my forehead into his, which produced a crisp crunching sound as his skull cracked and his ankles broke.

I quickly put on pants because I didn't want anyone to walk in on me, beating up a guy while I was butt-naked.

It was times like these that made me wish comic book logic applied to me. I've read comics where people would walk into the sun, survive universe-shattering holes, and emerge from black holes with their clothes still covering their privates, but I digress.

I watched as the priest's legs snapped back into place before stomping on them and breaking them again. And before he could even scream, I kicked him in the abdomen, sending him flying to the wall.

The room shook as the priest created a big dent in the wall upon making contact, and it stopped him from falling. I quickly closed the distance and began punching away until the priest was nothing more than a bloody smear.

I took a step back, scratching my head as I watched his bloody remains wiggling and coming together as he slowly healed. "Foolish mortal, you can not kill me. I am unkillable..." the priest said, putting his mouth to use as soon as it formed back.

"That's the second time I'm hearing that today," I replied with a light chuckle as I shook my head. "But I'm not buying it..." I added as I turned to the altar, retrieving Ebony from my inventory.

I charged a shot and fired, to which the priest loudly gasped as the altar broke to pieces before forming back. "I'm no expert on magic, but you're clearly here on tolerance," I went on as I turned back to the priest.

"The dead don't belong here, you see," I remarked before charging another shot to destroy the priest's bloody body before it regenerated again.

"You need something to keep you here, and since the altar is the only thing your mojo flame didn't touch..." I added, grinning in amusement as the priest's expression hardened at my words.

"I'm guessing that's your anchor, so to speak," I concluded as I charged another shot, destroyed the altar, and sighed in annoyance as it reformed again, causing me to scratch my head.

"Quite clever of you, but it doesn't change much," the priest said after a brief silence, seemingly unfazed by my discovery. "The altar, my anchor, it is indestructible. As long as it continues to exist, so shall I," he concluded, grinning victoriously.

...

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