But the most outstanding performers were naturally the mages. After several years of recuperation, the magical world had either remained silent or made a stunning entrance.
The essence of magic was still borrowing, and that had not changed in the slightest. The sources of mages' power were either devils or mysterious entities from beyond, just as they had always been.
The difference was that humanity had united and negotiated with the devils as a collective. The devils' greed for human souls and the newly established magical defense network were both useful chips. At the very least, humanity was fairly satisfied with the outcome of the negotiations.
Contracts in DC were far stricter than those in Marvel. Devils wanted souls, and they would not yield an inch on that point. However, the vast majority of devils agreed to take the mages' souls only after their natural deaths and, while they were alive, to torment them as little as possible and grant them more power to draw upon.
Humanity, meanwhile, used more scientific methods to select the agents best suited to a particular devil. That was the purpose of Gotham Magic Academy.
Though it still looked unfair on the surface, human lifespans were simply too short from a devil's perspective. They might finally find an agent whose power and temperament suited them perfectly, only for that person to die before even reaching a hundred. It was like a devil taking a nap and finding their agent gone when they woke up. They did not like that either.
So many devils chose to extend their agents' lives. Their souls still remained in the devils' hands, but they could basically be considered immortal.
Take Pamela, for example. The Green favored her. It chose her in every universe, so of course it would not let