When Su Ming returned to the interstitial space, the others were gathered around Batman Owl's corpse, studying something.
"Ahem, it's done. Stop crowding around a dead man. We only have one enemy left."
He cleared his throat and coughed dryly a few times behind the group.
Oliver tossed Batman Owl's intact corpse onto the ground, rose to his feet, and dusted off his cape. "Wait, how did he do that?"
Su Ming exhaled, watching the dust motes floating in the air drift away as more particles flowed in to fill the gaps.
"An old trick—a Time Loop spell. If he died, his personal time would reverse. It's magic made specifically for negotiating terms. But I went to Death and made a deal using Dream's mask and some clues. No one can avoid death. They may escape for a while, but not forever."
Mazikeen stroked her chin thoughtfully, biting down hard on her pale fingers. "Just like what you did to me. You used Lucifer to threaten me, and Dream to threaten Death. You really aren't afraid of dying."
"Watch your wording, demon." Su Ming smiled and shook his head, ordering Strangle to swallow Batman Owl whole. "Death is far more reasonable than you are. I merely told her that someone was repeatedly reversing time with magic to avoid her warm embrace, wasting my precious time searching for Dream. She was quite happy to fix that loophole herself."
"Everything will die eventually?"
Mazikeen sighed and slowly shook her head. She had bitten her knuckles until they bled, then slowly licked up the blood with her tongue.
"Anyway, when Batman Owl's soul saw me in Death's Realm, he wasn't nearly as calm as you are. Heh, I wasn't joking when I called myself the Sorcerer Supreme."
Su Ming shrugged and caught what