Chapter 117

"Oh!!"

The moment Zatara appeared, the entire venue erupted into a frenzy, and the atmosphere instantly turned lively and electric.

The cheers of more than ten thousand people surged like a wave, creating a deafening roar that reverberated through the space. The sound carried a contagious energy, sweeping through the crowd and igniting their excitement.

Bardi could feel the warmth of that enthusiasm through his skin, the collective heat from the people around him pressing against him like a rising tide. The atmosphere crackled with anticipation, drawing everyone in with its infectious excitement.

Even Mike's eyes sparkled with eager anticipation, brimming with interest and excitement.

Bardi's calm gaze swept across the surrounding crowd. The place felt as if it were on fire, spirits high, eyes glowing with fervor. Yet, amid the burning enthusiasm, he stood like a cold island of ice, unmoved by the frenzy around him.

Herd mentality? Environmental influence? Or perhaps... some form of magic?

Bardi couldn't quite grasp the cause. He even suspected it was some kind of illusion, but ultimately, he was certain Zatara was responsible—some subtle, guiding force affecting the crowd's emotions.

Possibly a form of magic that guided their spirits.

After all, Bardi had no understanding of magic, but with his heightened perception, he could tell that the audience's emotional response was abnormal.

"Welcome, my friends, to the first magic show of the night. What do you wish to see?"

Zatara bowed gracefully, twirling his short wand through his fingers with practiced ease. His movements were smooth and effortless.

As he spoke the words "welcome, my friends," his gaze landed briefly on Bardi, meeting his eyes with a knowing smile. It was clear that he had sensed Bardi's focused, unusual attention.

Bardi remained composed, his expression calm as he acknowledged the magician's gaze with a slight nod and a faint, apologetic smile. Now that he'd been discovered, he made no effort to hide his curiosity and kept his attention locked on Zatara, though he withdrew his penetrating gaze to avoid further detection.

"Walk on air!"

"The cosmic starry sea!"

"Teleportation!"

"Body separation!"

"Dimensional travel!"

The audience called out eagerly, shouting their favorite tricks. The combined voices merged into a deafening chorus of anticipation.

It didn't feel like a magic show. It was more like a live concert.

"If that's what you want, then let's do them all!"

Zatara's declaration triggered another wave of wild cheers. The crowd's excitement surged again, louder than before.

But the uproar quickly gave way to silence as the entire venue held its breath, fixated on Zatara with rapt attention.

Zatara basked in their focus, his smile widening. He spun around gracefully, the hem of his tuxedo coat flaring as he twirled the short wand through his fingers even faster.

"Then let's begin... teleportation!"

With that, Zatara flicked his wrist, sending the wand spinning high into the air. The slender stick whirled like a propeller, too fast for the naked eye to track.

But no one cared about the wand. All eyes were on Zatara.

Even Bardi's gaze sharpened. He activated his microscopic vision to see through the layers of reality, hoping to catch a glimpse of the magical mechanism at play.

To his surprise, his vision revealed that everyone in the venue appeared as faint, transparent silhouettes—except Zatara. The magician's body remained solid, shrouded in some unseen protective force that shielded him from Bardi's penetrating sight.

Suddenly, Zatara vanished from the stage.

The air shimmered, rippling faintly as if a hidden corridor had opened. The disturbance was subtle, barely noticeable. Yet, with his superhuman senses, Bardi detected the invisible passage extending through the crowd... and leading directly toward him.

It was as if a fighter jet had broken through the sound barrier, piercing an invisible hole in the sky.

Zatara's figure appeared in front of Bardi in an instant, suspended in mid-air.

It wasn't a wormhole. There was no spatial distortion or scientific explanation for what had just happened. The phenomenon defied all known physical principles, leaving Bardi frowning in confusion. Magic was truly unscientific.

Zatara smiled as he stood in the air as naturally as if walking on solid ground. He crouched slightly, grinning broadly, and extended his palm toward Bardi.

"Five!"

He spoke the word with a smile, his eyes shining with excitement. At that moment, he no longer seemed like the great magician known across the world. Instead, he resembled someone encountering a like-minded individual, a fellow being who transcended ordinary human limits, eager to share in the discovery of something new.

The entire venue had erupted into chaos the moment Zatara vanished, and now the crowd was going wild once more, stunned that he had reappeared so suddenly right in front of Bardi.

It was too fast, like teleportation. The instantaneous nature of the movement drew gasps and exclamations from the audience.

Bardi's eyes narrowed, his expression turning sharp. From a distance, Zatara hadn't seemed like a significant threat. But now that he was close, Bardi's instincts screamed of danger.

Goosebumps broke out across his skin. His cells stirred violently in a defensive reaction, as though a cold blade had been pressed against his throat, ready to slice at any moment.

His body instinctively resisted Zatara's presence—more specifically, the magical energy radiating from him.

Zatara's gaze remained fixed on Bardi, his pupils brimming with curiosity and confidence, his expression alight with an infectious, almost childlike enthusiasm.

Bardi schooled his features into calm neutrality. He withdrew his microscopic vision and x-ray sight, extended his hand, and pushed his palm toward Zatara's outstretched one.

Slap!

The crisp sound of their palms meeting echoed through the venue. More than ten thousand spectators looked on in envy as Bardi exchanged a high-five with the great magician.

At the moment of contact, Bardi distinctly felt his strength being suppressed. The energy within his cells was like a roaring current forced into submission by an invisible flood. His power weakened considerably but it wasn't entirely neutralized.

This realization brought him a faint sense of relief. The suppression was significant but nowhere near the crippling effect of kryptonite. Magic, it seemed, wasn't an absolute weakness for him. He might still have room to resist it if necessary. The widespread belief that Kryptonians had zero resistance to magic was, at least in his case, exaggerated.

After the high-five, Zatara teleported back to the stage just in time to catch the short wand that had been spinning through the air. With a flourish, he tossed the wand skyward again and began teleporting repeatedly around the venue.

He appeared beside random audience members, exchanging high-fives with some, walking through the air with a delighted little girl, and leaving a trail of shocked exclamations in his wake.

Then came the promised performances:

The Cosmic Starry Sea, which made it seem as though the crowd had been transported into the vastness of space.

The Entering the Video Tape trick, where Zatara appeared to converse with characters from recorded footage.

The Body Separation illusion, where his body split into multiple independent parts, evoking gasps of disbelief.

One after another, the magician executed a series of breathtaking feats that left the audience awestruck.

When the show finally ended, Bardi once again sensed the faint ripples of magical energy. This time, the fluctuations were even stronger than when the performance had begun. His enhanced perception detected subtle waves of psychic influence spreading through the crowd, a subliminal suggestion that reinforced the belief that everything they had seen was merely an elaborate magic show.

This subconscious guidance disturbed Bardi deeply.

The realization struck him like a cold slap: he had no defense against these psychic manipulations. He could detect the intrusion only after it had already occurred.

This kind of spiritual magic made him wary.

He and Mike followed the flow of the crowd as they exited the venue.

"What a fantastic magic show!" Mike exclaimed, eyes gleaming with genuine admiration.

Bardi's heart sank. The psychic influence was already at work. Despite being briefed beforehand about their mission to investigate true magic, Mike had succumbed to the suggestion that it had been nothing more than a performance.

Magic was mysterious and potent.

And it was entirely unscientific.

***

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