Chapter 614: Owls' Misfortune Strikes Again (Part 2) (Patreon)

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Of course, while this opening might seem like a classic line from the last time Gotham Owls had a run of bad luck, in this world, one Joker would never plagiarize another Joker.

Joker Schiller had transformed into Joker Cat, adopting a new style. He was now the master of genuine riddles, and, of course, all the answers were simply "meow meow meow." In a city ruled by cats, what other answers could there possibly be?

It may sound absurd and bizarre, but this group of Owls disguised as cats, or rather, Owlsmonsters, were not human. They possessed a certain level of intelligence but lacked humanity. This was not a plaything any Joker would appreciate. Joker Cat Schiller was merely going through the motions.

After eliminating this group of Owls, the dark Owls cultists, who had been wondering where all the energy they had gathered had disappeared to, soon realized. They had lost their home in the Dream Realm and now aimed to secure their other stronghold. Consequently, they returned to their base in Metropolis.

Upon their return, they found nothing amiss. The Owls decoy was still in place, the cats were there, and there were no signs of anyone having been there. Evidently, Constantine and Hal had done an excellent job with the cleanup, particularly Hal, who could use Green Lantern energy to shape objects. Even the hole blown open by Clark and the adjacent room had been sealed.

The group of dark Owls cultists did not notice anything unusual except for one cultist who noticed that a cat cage on the floor had been left open, and a cat was missing. However, they weren't the ones who had personally gone to catch the cats, so it was impossible for them to remember every single cat. They simply assumed the cage hadn't been securely closed, and a cat had escaped on its own, which they disregarded.

The leader raised his staff high. His hand, like the Owls' claws, was covered in concentric patterns and had sharp nails. He spoke in a sharp voice, "Someone has disrupted our setup in the Dream Realm. We must reclaim our territory!"

Taking their positions, they formed a circle around the Owls decoy, all of them raising their staffs and beginning to chant incantations: "Moulitz... Moulitz..."

From the realm of spirits, the decoy began to burn with black fire, and tree branch Owls circled above it, emitting piercing screeches. Then, they shot up into the sky and swooped down into the bodies of the cats inside the cages on the ground.

After their descent, it indeed appeared that the Owls had disappeared into the cats' bodies. However, there were hardly any Owls appearing in Gotham, and out of over a hundred Owls that had descended, having two enter was considered lucky.

These cultists had a special method of sensing the situation in the dream realm. They initially thought their spell had gone awry, so they adjusted their positions, recited their incantations again, and even moved the cat cages on the ground, re-marking them. However, none of it had any effect.

They had prepared this plan for a long time, all to obtain the Dream of Thousand Cats. In their eyes, this plan could not afford to fail. They couldn't let their previous efforts go to waste.

Furthermore, they were only facing a few cats who were defying their rule. It wasn't the owner of the Dream of Thousand Cats or some more powerful god or devil. If they couldn't defeat others, could they not defeat a few cats?

They thought, even if a hundred Owls could enter and only a few cats needed to be dealt with, dozens of Owls would suffice. So, sending in thousands of Owls wouldn't be a big deal. After all, they had accumulated a substantial amount of energy during their time in Metropolis.

Initially, the battle in Gotham's Cat City wasn't intense. The main combatants were the native cat residents like Bat Cat, Bane Cat, Crocodile Cat, and the Joker Cat played by Joker Schiller. Marvel Schiller, who had transformed into White Cat, and Clark Cat remained idle.

This led the Owls priests to underestimate the fighting prowess of Gotham's Cat City resistance. When they realized that dozens of Owls they had sent in were completely unable to handle this group of cats, they had already incurred sunk costs.

A hundred Owls could only send in two or three, and by sending in dozens of Owls, they needed to expend over a thousand Owls. But even with this investment, the situation did not improve. So, the Dark Owl Priests decided to commit a massive wave of forces for a final showdown, with the intention of crushing the enemy's remaining forces.

In the past, this tactic had worked well because, on the other side, there were only a few cats, and even if other Cat City residents dared to resist, they couldn't form a fighting force. So, they clenched their teeth and deployed over ten thousand Owls all at once, bringing hundreds into Cat City.

For Gotham's Cat City, these hundreds of Owls had more energy than the previous giant Owl had. However, the battle had just begun, and Clark Cat joined the fray.

Superman, even when restraining his power, wasn't someone to be taken lightly. Furthermore, before entering, Clark had bottled up his anger at the pitiful state of the cats. He dove directly at the giant Owl's feet, grabbed its claws, and carried it into the air.

Then, this Owl became the blades of a three-tiered rotating electric fan. After being spun dizzy, it was tossed out, then in mid-air, Clark Cat performed a series of punches, and after gathering a significant amount of power, he executed a downward throw. With a resounding "bang," the Owl vanished without a trace.

The enormous Owl dispersed into several smaller Owls. The cultists in the real world, upon seeing this, realized that this approach wasn't working at all. They had already paid a hefty price, and withdrawing at this point would be a significant loss. They had no choice but to increase their investment and capture the Dream of Thousand Cats to potentially control this deranged cat.

They began channeling their energy with the dark decoy, and suddenly, the Owls within the dream multiplied to over a thousand. All the Cat City residents were mobilized to resist this darkness, and the battle became increasingly intense.

After holding out for half a day, the Dark Owl Priests finally realized that the disappearance of most of the Owls was not a coincidence but a trap.

Initially, they had been afraid that their setup in the dream would be ruined, and their anxiety led to a lack of critical thinking. But as soon as they realized what had happened, they immediately decided to cut off the energy investment and thoroughly examine what had gone wrong with the cats.

So far, the losses were acceptable. While thousands or even tens of thousands of Owls might sound like a lot, they were relatively small in size, and the energy losses were manageable. If they stopped the bleeding promptly, it would take about a month to replenish the lost energy.

However, Constantine and Hal had been waiting beneath this room for quite some time and weren't going to give them this opportunity...

Constantine, hidden below the room, had a fundamental purpose in setting up the magic circle on the room's floor. He wasn't concerned about the hundreds or thousands of Owls; those were just mosquito bites to him compared to the rewards of working in Gotham. His true objective was to observe how this ritual worked. As they say, "Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime." Constantine intended to grasp the principles behind this ritual and directly draw the energy from the decoy.

Just as the Owls cultists were about to wrap up their ritual, Constantine was certain that he had grasped the principles of how this energy was extracted and stored. He then called out to Hal and emerged from hiding.

As Constantine descended, a shower of demon fire rained down, indicating that one of his old acquaintances had run into misfortune again. However, one had to acknowledge that it was quite impressive.

As his trench coat fell, flames rose in response. Constantine waved his hands, shining with magical light, and the magic circle on the ground floated up. Several energy channels, like vines caught in the wind, danced in mid-air, attacking the dark Owls cultists.

Backed by an abundance of energy, the dark Owls cultists were naturally unafraid. They formed their formation, raising their staffs, and chanted deep, dark incantations. Their robes billowed without wind.

Then, they were promptly pummeled by the equally energy-rich Green Lantern Hal and the awakened Clark.

To be honest, Ion Hal and Superman Clark serving as guardians for this group of villains was an unparalleled honor. Combined with Constantine, who had recently sacrificed an old friend, this combination was so formidable that even the gods on Starhaven would have to acknowledge it, and even Uncle Dar would have to admit it was a good show.

As expected, these cultists died on the spot. Superman didn't kill, but after removing their robes, they no longer looked very human. To call them Owls was an insult to Owls.

Feathers sprouted from their faces, and their eyes and mouths resembled Owls. However, their necks turned into human bodies, while their hands became Owls' claws, and their legs followed suit.

Although the structure of their torsos remained human, many parts had already decayed from the invasion of dark energy. Apparently, they purified this dark energy using their own bodies.

They weren't like the natural-born gods of Asgard, capable of smoothly digesting energy like pebbles. Overindulging in such energy would result in them turning into something neither human nor ghost.

Constantine picked up their staffs, one by one, and systematically struck them down. Clark, who was still in the heat of the moment, pretended not to see it and was busy opening the cages to rescue the cats who hadn't died yet.

Schiller, who had just returned from the Dream Realm, immediately rushed forward and tried to cover Constantine's mouth. When Constantine made that remark, both Hal and Clark looked at Schiller. It was apparent that this plan was starting to sound alarming.

"Don't listen to his nonsense! I never intended to do such a thing!" Schiller immediately denied. Hal let out a cold snort and acted as though he hadn't heard anything, while Clark, looking at the pitiful state of the cats, took a deep breath and convinced himself he was overexerted, causing ringing in his ears, and heard nothing.

Constantine smiled, waved his staff with force, and with a resounding thud, killed another struggling Dark Owl Priest nearby. He then said, "You really underestimated me. After observing for so long, I've figured out what's going on."

"They are indeed praying to mysterious entities for energy, but to purify this energy, they consume their flesh and souls. In other words..."

Schiller and Constantine lowered their heads together, gazing at the corpses of the dark Owls cultists strewn about. Schiller continued, "...they are expendable. There are still Owls hidden in the deeper darkness."

Constantine took a deep breath and looked at Schiller, saying, "Among the enemies I've faced, there are very few as cunning as them. Are you sure you want to go to war with them?"

Schiller raised his head, gazing at the giant Owls decoy, and said, "You know what? The kind of enemies I fear the least are those with multiple forms."

"Because for every enemy, there's one of me."

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Next Chapter >>Chapter 615: A Morbid Crisis (Part 1)