50 Spells

Fury circled the spot where the RV had been parked and confirmed that it had vanished rather than turned invisible. He turned to May and asked, "Did you put the Locator on the RV?"

May operated the tracker in her hands and replied, "Of course."

Before long, Fury and Coulson watched May slap the device with a puzzled look, muttering, "Why is it broken?"

"What's wrong?" Fury walked over to May, glanced at the longitude and latitude displayed on the device, and stared wide-eyed. "Afghanistan? Don't tell me that Austin, who was right in front of us a moment ago, suddenly vanished and appeared in Afghanistan."

With a helpless expression, May said, "Sir, all I can tell you is that I'm certain the Locator was installed on the RV. Either the tracker is broken, or Austin really went to Afghanistan."

Coulson hesitated for a moment before saying, "Sir, do you remember the enhanced person with bones growing out of his back that we escorted during the day? He vanished suddenly too. Do you think Mr. Austin did it?"

Fury pondered for a moment, then shook his head. "I hope he didn't. Otherwise, the next time we meet, I won't be giving him fried peanuts. I'll be giving him metal peanuts."

Looking at the vanished RV, Fury rubbed the USB Drive in his pocket with one hand and massaged his brow with the other. "Contact logistics and have them send someone over to investigate what method Austin used to disappear."

As Coulson dialed S.H.I.E.L.D., he smiled and said, "It looked like he opened a spacetime wormhole."

You can still laugh? Fury was in an awful mood. Setting Austin aside, the Resurrected Corpse and Owen being Hydra were already enough to give him a headache.

Taking the USB Drive from his pocket, Fury handed it to Coulson while staring into his eyes. "Get this repaired. Remember, no one is allowed to view its contents. This is Level Ten classified material."

Coulson froze for a moment, then took the USB Drive and nodded solemnly. "Yes, sir."

May glanced curiously at the USB Drive, wondering if Austin had given it to Fury. She also wondered where Austin was. In any case, she did not believe anyone could suddenly travel from the United States to Afghanistan in the blink of an eye.

As for Li Feng, he was lying on the roof of the RV surrounded by desert, basking in the sun with his head buzzing. With his shaky grasp of geography, it took him half a day to remember that Afghanistan and the United States had a time difference. It was already dark in New York, but morning in Afghanistan.

Li Feng drained the beer in his hand in one gulp, casually tossed the bottle into the desert, then rolled over and climbed into the RV. He picked up a map, intending to find somewhere scenic and sort out his spells properly.

After a long while, Li Feng pointed at a location on the map and silently recalled, Portland is in the western United States, near where the Willamette River flows into the Columbia River. Since it is close to the Pacific Ocean, it has a marine climate. Winters are wetter than summers. This climate is better suited for growing roses, so the city has many rose gardens. Portland is also known as the City of Roses.

A sparsely populated beach in Portland would be the ideal place to practice my spells.

Before leaving Afghanistan, Li Feng circled the RV, knocking and tapping at it while extending his spiritual sense. I need to inspect the RV carefully. After all, an agent boss has been here. It'd be unsettling not to check it.

Li Feng quickly found the Locator hidden beneath the rear of the vehicle and casually tossed it aside. Whistling, he climbed into the RV, opened a Portal to Portland, and with one press of the accelerator, arrived in Portland.

With a Portal, traveling was just that convenient.

A day later, an armed helicopter appeared above the desert and circled the Locator. Coulson stepped down from the helicopter with the tracker in hand and walked straight toward it.

As he picked up the Locator, Coulson also noticed the beer bottle lying some distance away.

Coulson crouched beside the bottle and examined it in confusion. Li Feng had been drinking the beer Coulson bought, so naturally, Coulson recognized it. After thinking for a moment, he carefully placed the bottle into an evidence bag. He wanted to take it back for testing and see whether Li Feng's fingerprints were on it.

Although the appearance of the Locator had already proven that Li Feng had indeed suddenly traveled from the United States to Afghanistan, Coulson still found it hard to believe. If Li Feng's fingerprints could also be collected from the beer bottle, then they were in serious trouble.

An enhanced person who could hypnotize people and roam the world at will was impossible to capture, let alone monitor.

Portland, at a desolate, uninhabited beach littered with jagged rocks.

Li Feng parked the RV in a patch of shrubs and gave it some simple camouflage. He first stood on the roof to survey the area and make sure no one was around. Then, carrying the spell scroll Leono had given him and the demon spells Ancient One had modified, he walked straight into the woods, opened the Mirror Dimension, and began practicing spells.

Prying spells out of a demon's mouth was no easy task. Even though Li Feng believed he possessed Angel Feathers that restrained demons, he still had to remain vigilant. Before unsealing the demon, Li Feng first needed to understand the demon's spells and learn spells that could restrain demons.

And that study lasted more than half a year.

Inside the Mirror Dimension, after half a year of understanding and practice, Li Feng believed he had mastered the spells needed to restrain demons. He carefully spread the scroll sealing the demon on the ground, holding a wooden box containing the Pseudo-Angel Feather Leono had given him in one hand while undoing the seal on the scroll with the other.

The old demon had barely escaped the seal when he eagerly tried to sense Hell so he could recover some strength.

Unfortunately, they were in different dimensions. Setting aside whether he could sense Hell at all, even if he could, it would be nothing like the homeland he remembered.

And with his current strength, there was no way he could sense Hell within the Mirror Dimension.

Li Feng bounced the wooden box in his hand and smiled at the utterly bewildered demon. "Old man, don't be in such a hurry to contact Hell. How about you keep me company and have a chat?"

The demon looked at the Space Crystal Walls around him, which resembled uneven glass, then at his severed hands and feet. He understood that he could not escape for the moment.

He also understood that since the mage before him had chosen to seal him rather than kill him on the spot like a Demon Slayer, the mage needed something from him. Whether the mage wanted information about Hell or something else, that was his bargaining chip for survival and escape.

Thinking this, the demon considered what Li Feng wanted from him as he said, "A demon's name is very long, so I won't give you my full name. You may call me Dobby. Respected mage, may I ask your name?"

Although the demons in Demon Slayer fought with their fists, that did not mean demons could not use spells. Li Feng was not sure whether this demon would secretly cast some sort of curse after learning his birth data and name.

To be safe, Li Feng decided to make up a name.

"My name is Jerry."

Dobby smiled. "Mage Jerry, may I ask what you require of me?"

As he spoke, Dobby secretly mobilized the little Mana remaining in his body while trying to sit up. However, with his hands and feet severed, he could not sit up even after exhausting all his strength. He could only say helplessly, "Could you help me? Being unable to bow to you is already a sin. Speaking to you while lying down is even more discourteous. I am a well-mannered demon."

Li Feng could not manipulate the Mirror Dimension as skillfully as Ancient One, but he could still sense every movement within it. Thus, when the demon pretended to be unable to sit up, Li Feng had already detected the fluctuation of Mana within him.

Li Feng curled his lip, opened the wooden box, and sneered, "What? You still haven't given up on escaping? Were you planning to cast a spell on me after I got close?"

The instant Li Feng opened the box, Dobby sensed the energy that restrained him. The energy emanating from the Pseudo-Angel Feather was like strong acid, rapidly corroding his body.

Dobby painfully rolled across the ground, trying to move away from the approaching Li Feng as though that could lessen his pain. At the same time, he howled, "Jerry, my friend, don't come closer! Please, don't!"

Holding up the wooden box, Li Feng glanced at the Pseudo-Angel Feather and scratched his head. Why does Dobby look like a little girl about to be violated? Isn't this a bit exaggerated? For some reason, I suddenly enjoy hearing you howl. It would be even better if you were louder.

With that thought, Li Feng walked toward the constantly rolling Dobby and said, "Are you still thinking about leaving?"

"No, I wouldn't dare," said Dobby, who had already rolled to the edge of the Mirror Dimension. His voice sounded as if his throat had been scalded by boiling water. "Master, I am willing to submit to you. I swear to become your servant. I only ask that you move that damned wooden box away."

Could a demon's submission possibly be sincere? Li Feng treated Dobby's oath as nothing more than a foul-smelling fart. Still, he closed the wooden box and suppressed the energy released by the feather. What he wanted were the demon's spells. How could a dead Dobby explain spells to him?

Li Feng looked at Dobby, whose body was covered in burns as he panted heavily, and smacked his lips. "What can you use to guarantee your loyalty?"

"A confinement spell." Dobby looked fearfully at the wooden box in Li Feng's hand. "I know a Servant Contract. Once the contract is signed, a single thought from you will cause my soul to be burned clean by Hellfire."

Li Feng's eyes lit up. He hurriedly took out a blank scroll and a pen, then tossed them to Dobby. "Now, record every spell you know on the scroll. Remember, all of them."

Dobby stared blankly at Li Feng, raised his crippled hands, and said with trembling lips, "Master, how am I supposed to write? How about you give me some of your energy so I can repair my limbs? Or I can dictate the spells while you write them down?"

Without Ancient One's guidance, Li Feng might have foolishly let Dobby recite the spells while he recorded them. But now—

Write down the spells himself? Li Feng only knew that demons had contracts. He had no idea how they specifically worked. What if Dobby dictated some kind of contract and Li Feng foolishly wrote it down, completing the contract? Then who would be the master, and who would be the servant?

As for Li Feng learning spells from the Plague demon before, in Ancient One's words, he had simply been lucky. If that Plague demon had been smarter and shifted his focus from The Key of Solomon to Li Feng himself, all it would have taken was a little trickery in the spells he taught, and Li Feng might already have been possessed by him.