Chapter 1481: The Bird and The Return (26)_1

"Impossible!" Constantine instinctively retorted.

Visibly upset, he moved forward aggressively but Bruce held up his densely written tome to block him. Constantine staggered back a couple of steps, clutching his forehead and saying, "No, I don't want to look at that, but there's no way anything was wrong with my array."

Constantine sat opposite Bruce, his hand clenched into a fist which he used to rap the table as he spoke, "Even though a magician's power is borrowed, how it is utilised is a true art. The young novices of today waste their borrowed powers, some are even too lazy to chant spells. They use the raw energy as a means of attack by just waving their hands."

"What sets me apart from them is that I have mastered nearly all known methods to increase the efficiency of magic energy utilization, whether it's chanting, using talismans, magical tools, or magic arrays. I have understood all of their most intricate theories."

"This is the reason why I could borrow from Heaven and Hell without ever repaying, and still survive till now. I can achieve the greatest results with the least energy. My energy efficiency is at least five or six times that of others. If those fools who can't even recognize a single rune were in my place, they would have long since defeated themselves."

"But the magic array you drew in front of me that day was indeed less efficient. By adding just under four transforming universal runes, the speed of energy transformation can be increased by 1.5 times."

"Hiss…" Constantine grimaced, glaring at Bruce, "Big talk. I'll get a paper, let's deduce it again from the beginning."

With a huff, Constantine rushed upstairs to retrieve a stack of blank paper and several different colored pens. He spread the paper between himself and Bruce, and began to draw with a black pen.

His magic array was drawn quickly and fluently, without any corrections or second thoughts, showing his proficiency.

Then, Constantine pointed to the center of the magic array with his pen and explained, "Look here, as the magic energy is charged into the first branch of devilish rune, the devilishishy affects the final branch of the ishy, transferring the energy to the Diabolus, forming the first complete secret phrase 'evil - demon', defining this first invocation as a summoning of a demon ..."

Constantine traced around the whole array, explaining with fluency and coherence, but Bruce shook his head. He took another piece of paper and drew a more complex array. Instead of the common circular or hexagonal shapes, it was an asymmetrical one, shaped like a rhombus, wider at the bottom and narrower at the top.

"First, we apply the duo-aura parallel rune structure, which was realized by the Uputa Sect in AD 556. Then, we directly charge energy into the first branch of the upper rune, causing the first branches of devilishishy and Diabolus to advance simultaneously, then plc into the first branch of fortuna for judgment..."

"Hold on!" Constantine interrupted, pointing at one of the runes, "What's the deal with this parallel rune? It's complex?"

"It's written in this book I just read today. It shows the duo-aura, proven by the Uputa Sect around AD 500, and it was inscribed on the Uputa Nete Stele at the bottom of Tigris River. Its characteristic is that the first branch of a rune undergoes a diversion judgment after being charged by energy, hence the branching patterns here..."

"You mean to tell me you memorized a small rune inscribed on some bloody stele from AD 500 in just two hours of reading??!!"

"Yes, and the last person to inscribe a rune on it was Sathus Wuputa, from the Uputa Sect…"

"I don't care about the Uputa Sect! I only want to know why you claim your array is more efficient than mine. Did you test it?"

"That's not necessary. It's just a simple logical issue. Besides, saying that it's more efficient isn't quite accurate. It also operates faster."

Constantine snorted, he patted the table and stood up, saying, "Stay here."

After a while, he returned with a magic wand from his storeroom. Seeing Shiller's suspicious expression, he explained, "The magical tool was prepared long ago, the residual magic energy in it is enough to power an array. There will be no issues as long as I don't borrow any new powers."

Shiller eyed Constantine from head to toe. Constantine gritted his teeth and said, "You must give me an opportunity to have an academic exchange with your excellent student, right, Professor Shearer?!"

He bit particularly hard on the last name. Shiller raised an eyebrow, took a step back, and said, "Be my guest."

Constantine placed his wand on the table with a distinct thud. Looking at Bruce, he said, "I won't take advantage of you. Let's keep it simple and draw a mini-array using basic pine wood ash. Once we charge the energy inside, we can see the result."

"Wait." Bruce interrupted him.

"What, chickening out?"

"Not at all." Bruce was gazing intently at his own drawn array. "I recall Master Uputa once proposed a theory: as long as the properties of the materials can handle it, the parallel array is not the end. "

"In his lifetime, he wanted to try dual or quadruple parallel runes, there just weren't many magical materials available then... Do you have any array materials that can bear more power? I just thought of a new four-parallels configuration."

Constantine's eyes widened, he stared at Bruce in shock, "Are you telling me that you came up with a new magic array?"

"Not exactly created..." Bruce's gaze still lingered on the paper, he spoke while thinking, "Just refined. If a parallel command can be completed, then a dual parallel command can surely be, too. I just don't have a clear understanding yet of the various properties of magic materials… Do you have any relevant books? I think I can memorize them in the remaining twenty minutes."

Bruce glanced at Constantine's expression and got up, seemingly a tad reluctantly, "Alright, let's try with the existing design first. If that works, maybe I can attempt adding dual-parallel runes on the way to the banquet."

Constantine grabbed a handful of pine wood ash, smoothly sketched out his own array, and then passed the bowl of ash to Bruce.

Batman is a man who can throw a bat-shaped dart completely contrary to ergonomics and aerodynamics. Even if it's his first time drawing a magic array, his heart doesn't flutter and his hand doesn't shake. He held a bit of pine wood ash, never pausing from beginning to end.

After the array was drawn, Constantine held his magic wand and asked Bruce, "Should you or should I do it?"

Bruce made a gesture of invitation, and Constantine placed the gem at the tip of the wand on the rune that needed to be energized. A faint light flashed and in almost an instant, it spread throughout the magic array that Constantine had drawn.

The glow on the magic array grew stronger and stronger, and the originally white light gradually took on color. After about five seconds, the array had completely turned red and extinguished after ten seconds.

Then, he used the same method to infuse energy into the magic array drawn by Bruce. At first, it was a faint white light that turned deep red within two seconds.

The more Constantine frowned, the tighter his eyebrows got. Then, he suddenly widened his eyes and quickly disrupted the magic array with the bottom of his wand, but it was too late, a demon's whisper came from the center of the array.

"It's over, it has met the minimum requirement for summoning!"

There was panic in Constantine's voice, but his movements were as if he had rehearsed thousands of times. He took a step back, held his breath, and held the wooden magic wand in both hands.

"Whoosh! Bang!"

The round magic wand hit directly on the horn of the demon who hadn't had time to emerge. With a "Ohhh" sound, the gradually disappearing light of the magic array echoed the demon's scream: "Constantine!!!"

Constantine put away his wand, dug out his ears and said, "Why are you yelling? If I could use magic, I would definitely let you up…"

Bruce, however, raised his eyebrows surprisingly and then looked at Constantine said, "It seems, I still have a lot to learn."

Constantine paused for a while, looking somewhat surprised. A few seconds later, he gave a slight smile and said.

"That's not necessary, boy, your strength is much greater than mine. Just remember, always knock them back in one hit, this is the only way to cancel the summoning ritual."

Then he walked up and patted Bruce on the back and said, "You might indeed be a once-in-a-millennium prodigy in the magic realm, perhaps on par with Merlin, but sometimes being knowledgeable is useless. Negotiating after giving a demon a bump on the head works wonders."

"Of course, this is our sect's specialty, isn't it?" Bruce looked at him with a smile and said.

Constantine was slightly taken aback, he turned his head and looked at Shearer leaning against the bookcase desk. Shearer raised his cup of wine to him and Constantine's eyes immediately widened.

He rushed over and sat opposite Shearer and said, "Please don't tell me that you have an infinite supply of red wine in your mage tower?!"

"Not just, there are also cigars, it is the good stuff in my office."

"Why didn't you say that earlier? Where is our sect's mage tower? It's not in Gotham, is it?"

"Of course not, if mages go insane, it's probably not conducive to academic exchanges. I think your bookstore here is quite nice, it is just behind the Forgotten Bar, the environment is beautiful, and it has convenient transportation. What do you think?"

"Will you bring your stock here?"

"That depends on whether you can prepare a wine cellar."

Constantine stood up swiftly and started rushing towards the basement, saying, "I will have it built within three days. I'll wait for your goodies!"

A smile surfaced on Shearer's face. He got up from the desk, looked at his watch, and said, "It's almost time for the banquet. Let's go."

While waiting for the carriage at the entrance of the bookstore, Shearer turned his head and said to Bruce, "Provoking the opponent in a straightforward manner in the domain they least want to lose, stoking their competitive spirit, accepting victory modestly afterwards, expressing willingness to learn from the opponent, is indeed a good method to win someone's trust."

As Bruce looked back, Shearer looked into his eyes and said, "However, sometimes mundane things are more impactful."

The carriage descended from mid-air. Shearer and Bruce got in, and Shearer stared out at the city night, adding, "The enjoyment of sound, color, and taste are human instincts. Few can escape it."

"Are you suggesting I give you a bottle of wine?"

"That's why, boy." Shearer turned his head to look at Bruce and said, "You still have a lot to learn."

The magical carriage swept across London's misty night sky towards the light on the coastline, until the last bit of brilliance also disappeared at the end of the horizon, leaving the city solitary and lingering.