Chapter 1688: Bruce Wayne and the Secret Chamber (Part 14) (Patreon)

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After the dark clouds over the Himalayan Mountains dissipated, the weather cleared up, with the sky turning a shade of blue so deep it almost looked purple. Barry, who had just finished training in the martial arts field, was drenched in sweat as he returned to his dorm, magic wand in hand, planning to take a shower and then grab a quick nap.

Inside, he found Little Bruce still hunched over his desk, which was cluttered with stacks of materials. The entire parchment in front of Bruce was filled with twisted, otherworldly symbols that defied comprehension. Barry felt dizzy and nauseous after merely glancing at them.

"A pitiful fool consumed by forbidden knowledge," a voice echoed in Barry’s mind. It was the pale-faced Doctor Strange, sneering as he spoke, “Before long, your companion will be devoured by these secrets beyond human understanding. The faster he moves down this path, the closer he gets to destruction.”

“And consuming your counterparts from other spaces is the right path, is it?” Barry retorted with a hint of sarcasm. “You’re worse than he is.”

“I’ll forgive your little outburst, child, but only because I am merciful. Don’t forget—you still need my help to deal with your companions.”

Barry remained silent, choosing not to continue the conversation. Over the past few days, he had pieced together the identity of this mysterious entity that had contacted him in his dreams. The self-proclaimed Stephen Strange came from another space, where he was known as Doctor Strange.

However, this version of Strange had diverged from the path of the one Barry knew. In his hands, he wielded an artifact known as the Dark Book, using dreamwalking to absorb the powers of other Doctor Stranges across different dimensions.

According to him, he had already consumed several of his counterparts, amassing formidable power. Using this strength, he pushed the boundaries of his dreamwalking abilities to further master the Dark Book’s power.

During one such foray, he stumbled upon this strange space, which lay at the very edge of his dreamwalking reach. The three-eyed Doctor Strange claimed he sensed something different here, believing there could be even greater power waiting to be harvested.

The problem, however, was that after searching this space in his dreams, he found no trace of its Doctor Strange. Instead, he followed certain symbolic clues to Kamar-Taj’s magical college and encountered the exceptionally gifted Barry.

Barry had agreed to form a pact with this Doctor Strange, not because he actually intended to assist him in any nefarious schemes, but because his two companions were becoming increasingly unhinged.

Ever since that fateful day, Little Bruce had grown more and more obsessed. He had somehow begun to draw complex runes on parchment without any prior training. This ability was a direct consequence of a single glimpse he had taken in a dream. He was now feverishly trying to decipher those runes, but Barry feared that Bruce might have gone mad.

Meanwhile, Harley had managed to acquire some form of chaotic energy from who-knows-where. In the last three preliminary matches, she was nearly unbeatable, striking with brutal force. Her unfortunate opponents had each suffered at least one stab wound from her. Fortunately, in this magical realm, injuries healed almost instantaneously, but the pained screams of her victims suggested the wounds were excruciating.

Barry had come to realize that the magical realm was far from idyllic. It was riddled with traps, chaos, and madness. Everyone seemed to be losing their sanity bit by bit. If he didn’t find a way to protect himself soon, he would inevitably be dragged into it.

This strange Doctor Strange was hardly an ideal ally, but Barry had no other choice. At the very least, Strange appeared to be rational and communicative, which was better than dealing with those incomprehensible, insanity-inducing gods.

For now, Barry Allen remained an ordinary child, but he did possess one critical strength: an unshakeable moral compass. As long as his parents were still alive, he had the clarity to discern right from wrong. Doctor Strange had tried to tempt him several times, but Barry never yielded.

Though not as brilliant as Harley or Little Bruce, Barry’s naivety made him an easy target for manipulation. Unintentionally, he had revealed to Doctor Strange that in a distant place, there existed an entire, fully-formed Great World brimming with untapped power.

Doctor Strange was willing to wait. He would bide his time until Barry returned to that space, thus granting him another opportunity to seize even more power.

And so, the three formed a tenuous alliance, each with their own agenda. Little Bruce delved deeper into forbidden knowledge, seemingly gaining strength from it. Harley wielded her newfound chaos power with ruthless cunning. Meanwhile, Barry trained diligently in the martial arts field, honing his skills under Doctor Strange’s careful tutelage.

The preliminary matches concluded quickly, and the semifinals arrived sooner than expected.

On yet another unnaturally bright morning, a mercifully gentle wind swept through the mountain valley, the air dry like a late autumn evening. The children crowded around the training grounds like flocks of sparrows, chaotically gathering at the edges.

The entire training ground had been transformed into an arena. On the nearby cliff, a temporary viewing platform had been set up, where all the professors of the college had taken their seats. Today’s referee was Holy Sword Archmage, who raised his scepter and shot a brilliant beam of light into the sky, signaling the start of the match. Cheers erupted as the participants emerged from the crowd.

Unsurprisingly, Helen Stark, Harley Quinn, Bruce Wayne, and Barry Allen had all made it to the semifinals. It wasn’t particularly difficult, considering that only a few students at the school had stable contracts with demon gods. Most of their opponents were ordinary students who had barely mastered the basics of magic.

Helen was the first to step forward. Her opponent was a girl two years her senior who appeared visibly nervous. Rumors were still circulating around the school that Helen was a contender for the Asgard royal heir, and no one wanted to get caught in the crossfire of Asgard’s internal conflicts.

Helen hovered lightly in mid-air. Her divine powers, inherited from Thor, crackled between her hands with bright arcs of electricity. As the girl opposite her brandished her magic wand, a lightning arc leapt forward and struck her wrist with a crisp “snap,” sending the wand flying.

The girl seemed flustered but did not back down. A dense aura of dark energy began to swirl around her. Helen remained calm, while on the sidelines, Barry Allen’s mind suddenly erupted with Doctor Strange’s shocked voice.

“Dormammu?!” Doctor Strange gasped in disbelief, followed by an even more incredulous outburst, “Where is the Sorcerer Supreme? His students have made a pact with Dormammu and fallen into the Dark Dimension’s grasp!”

“Could you calm down for once?” Barry, clearly exhausted from recent intense training, rolled his eyes and retorted, “I’ve got Dormammu’s number—want to give him a call?”

What happened next left Doctor Strange even more astonished. After Helen swiftly defeated the first opponent, two more students stepped forward. One of them wielded Mephisto's hellfire, and as the blazing inferno roared to life on the field, Doctor Strange momentarily thought the lord of Hell himself had invaded Earth.

The other student was even more formidable. With a wave of her hand, six deep crimson ribbons wrapped tightly around her, blocking nearly all the hellfire. The power of the crimson dimension was so intense it extinguished most of the demonic flames on the field.

Despite their young age, these students spoke like seasoned villains.

“Divine one, you tread upon Satan’s spine as you escaped from Hell, stealing a flame that was never yours. You are doomed to be scorched by it and will fall into the Abyss, never to find peace!”

“Silence and listen, Andrea! The power from the crimson dimension will not grant you the insight into this world’s truths. This world is destined to burn under the feet of my master!”

“Excessive words only reveal your frailty. I shall use the crimson power to teach heretics the deepest lesson!”

“Mephisto, the only source of all evil!”

Suddenly, countless flames erupted from the boy’s back, nearly tearing through the very fabric of space. It was as if a volcano from Hell and the Abyss itself had materialized behind him, filled with countless tormented souls wailing in agony.

The girl floating above him refused to be outdone. A massive crimson hand emerged from behind her, extinguishing the flames like candles in the wind. The low chants of the crimson followers echoed like distant thunder, mingled with whispered secrets.

At that moment, the sky above the Himalayas was split in half: one side black, the other a deep red.

“What in the world is happening? Are demon gods launching a full-scale assault on Earth?!” Doctor Strange shouted in Barry’s mind. “How can the Sorcerer Supreme just ignore this? Where is he?!”

Barry casually dug at his ear and sneered, “Just infuse some of your magic power into my eyes and see for yourself.”

Doctor Strange hesitated but complied, enhancing Barry’s vision with his magic. What he saw left him speechless—two colossal entities floated in the sky above the Himalayas, observing the scene below. Mephisto was lounging with one leg crossed over the other, casually plucking souls from a spatial rift and tossing them into his mouth like a bored old man snacking on sunflower seeds. Meanwhile, Cyttorak looked half-asleep, resting his chin on his hand, watching the spectacle with one eye half-closed.

“Yeah, burn her ribbons with the fire... No! How could you let yourself get tangled like that?!” Mephisto shouted in frustration.

“Could you shut up for once?” Cyttorak grumbled, rolling his eyes. “Annoying goat-hooved loudmouth.”

“Hah! My follower is about to wipe the floor with yours!” Mephisto roared with laughter. But that laughter quickly died when his disciple was poisoned in the next round by a devotee of the serpent god Set. Furious, Mephisto turned to glare into a hazy void where a shadowy figure seemed to smirk back.

As Doctor Strange scanned the sky, he realized that the entire Himalayan skyline was packed with demon gods, all gathered to watch the battles unfold. At the outskirts, some even set up gambling rings to bet on the outcomes. When a match concluded, victorious spectators erupted in wild cheers.

For a moment, the skies above Earth were filled with the cacophony of drums, fireworks, and jubilant shouts—it was so chaotic that anyone unaware might have thought a horde of monkeys had descended from the heavens.

Though, in reality, it wasn’t just monkeys; even Doctor Strange himself was left dumbfounded by the spectacle.

The fact that demon gods could now brazenly come out to watch a tournament... Wasn’t there anyone to control this chaos? Where was the Earth’s Magic Defense Network? The Archmages? And most importantly, the Sorcerer Supreme?!

Had the Sorcerer Supreme abandoned his own territory?!

So it turns out... I’m not the craziest one in the Multiverse after all?!

[Read at www.patreon.com/shanefreak, and thanks for the invaluable support!]

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Next Chapter =>Chapter 1689: Bruce Wayne and the Secret Chamber (End)