Days as a Spiritual Mentor in American Comics Chapter 5690 - 4714: Desperate Escape (47)

Batman and Superman found themselves within the central energy control room, their gazes fixed upon the wall's light sources and the dancing shadows they cast. It was as if they were attempting to decipher some hidden message within the interplay of light and dark.

"Batman, a memory just surfaced," Superman stated, his eyes meeting the detective's. "Earlier, you spent a considerable time scrutinizing the ceiling. What exactly caught your attention up there?"

"Certain symbols," Batman replied. "Upon discovering them, I expanded my search to other chambers. It appears these symbols materialize in areas where the illumination is weakest."

"Symbols? How is it that I failed to notice them?"

"They reside in the deepest recesses of the shadows," Batman explained. "Furthermore, their visibility seems dependent on the viewing angle."

"What do you suppose they signify?"

"It's still unclear," Batman admitted. "However, I suspect a connection to an underlying narrative, or perhaps it's not a narrative at all – that will depend on whether we uncover anything tangible here."

"So, what exactly are we searching for?" Superman inquired.

"Anything. Anything that stands out as unusual," Batman surveyed the room. "Perhaps above, perhaps below – there ought to be some form of access. Maybe... within the shadows themselves."

Batman gestured towards the apex of the massive energy core device positioned at the heart of the control room. "Head up there and investigate, Clark. See if anything awaits your attention."

Clark acknowledged with a nod. Still agile, he ascended using his hands and feet. Upon reaching the summit, he discovered that within the most concentrated shadow, a single brick was dislodged.

"A brick is missing!" he called down. "Should I reach in and test it?"

Before Batman could respond, Superman's hand plunged into the opening. What he felt remained unknown, but the floor beneath them suddenly vibrated, and a concealed trapdoor materialized adjacent to the energy core.

Superman dropped down, exclaiming with a touch of surprise, "There really was something! Though, isn't this a tad too straightforward?"

Batman, however, offered a different perspective. "Consider this: firstly, we had to deduce the existence of a third party from the narrative. Secondly, the darkest corners of any space are typically overlooked. If one doesn't perceive anything amiss there, the inclination to seek a hidden mechanism within the room itself is unlikely. When you factor everything in, it wasn't precisely simple."

Superman pondered this, finding it logical. Had he been alone, discerning the story's hint of an additional faction would have been exceedingly difficult, as he admittedly hadn't noticed anything amiss.

"Wait," Superman exclaimed once more. "This shouldn't be a standard route, should it? Based on the typical progression of this stage, we weren't meant to arrive here at all."

"This serves as an employee passage as well," Batman stated. "Even secret areas require upkeep. They likely wished to prevent accidental discovery, hence the deliberately designed switch – which we happened to locate."

Descending, the pair quickly realized this was no ordinary passageway. The ladder ended abruptly, forcing them to jump the remainder of the distance. Superman leaped first, then signaled Batman, "Jump, I'll catch you."

Batman visibly hesitated. "Have a look at what's below, Clark. I'm not jumping."

"I fear that won't be feasible, Batman," Superman's voice echoed from below. "This area is replete with all manner of unsettling writings and patterns. If you remain up there, I cannot decipher them, let alone convey their meaning to you."

With no alternative, Batman descended. Superman's catch was flawless; although he stumbled himself, he ensured Batman avoided injury.

Upon landing, Batman confirmed Superman's account and his own suspicions: the location was clearly a Cultist stronghold, adorned with Arrays and Runes inscribed in fresh blood. It was then that Batman recognized these as the very symbols he had observed on the ceiling.

Batman attempted to correlate the patterns in his mind with those depicted on the Array, but found no connection. It wasn't until Superman presented a scroll of notes, which Batman unfurled, that the inscription became clear: "Ten thousand hands for one God—Ritual of Flesh and Blood Sacrifice."

Back in the stage featuring the skylight, individuals remained in their respective rooms, awaiting results. Despite the passage of an immense duration, their patience remained unwavering, solely because the individuals who had ventured ahead were Bruce and Shiller.

Even though their identities weren't known previously, by this point in time, communication was possible, so everyone understood who had entered. The fact that those two were taking their time clearing a stage was entirely normal; they could have gone through an entire pre-clearance sequence involving them going berserk and stabbing each other, inflicting mutual harm, engaging in verbal assaults, and so forth. Even if they spent an entire day messing around in there, no one else would have found it unusual.

All that could be said was that a few deeply ingrained issues had begun to function smoothly. Bruce and Shiller, those two obstinate mules, firmly refused to compromise with the stage's design, completely convinced that their own perspectives were the correct ones. Thus, they remained stationary, engrossed in theoretical discussions and analysis, without taking any concrete action.

The others, being intimately familiar with the two, felt not the slightest bit of anxiety and simply allowed them to indulge their stubbornness. Whether they were actively doing something or passively waiting, not a single individual experienced any apprehension. Consequently, they continued to prolong the situation like this until Batman and Superman arrived.

Bruce and Shiller were still deeply engrossed in debating the Cultist storyline.

"In the earlier stages, although they could inflict damage on your body, they were clearly not this violent or filled with gore," Bruce stated, his brow furrowed. "Whether it was the clavicle ring or the act of donating blood, everything felt remarkably restrained. One could even say the designer harbored an aversion to the sight of blood. Otherwise, during that blood-donation stage, they could have simply provided a sharpened blade instead of such a gentle method as a needle and tube. The organizers even went as far as to design a device for flushing the pipes with running water—one could practically label it an obsession with cleanliness."

"However, there is scientific research indicating that individuals with OCD exhibit a slightly higher probability of psychopathy," Bruce continued. "If the level designer is indeed a psychopath, then their fastidiousness isn't strange at all. Of course, I'm not suggesting you are a psychopath, Professor."

"You could have omitted that last part, thank you."

"Would someone like that genuinely devise methods involving chopping off arms with blades and guillotines?" Bruce persisted with his speculation. "The preceding level was drenched in blood, with severed fingers scattered across the floor. That clearly deviates from the aesthetic preferences of a neat freak. Even I found it somewhat repulsive."

"Even setting aside OCD, from a practical viewpoint, they wouldn't employ such methods either, due to the excessive trouble involved in the subsequent cleanup. Can you envision the scenario of hoisting a cleaner up on a rope to scrub the walls of a ceiling well? A company would never authorize such an undertaking!"

"Furthermore, this kind of excessive pursuit of violence and bloodshed typically manifests in rituals associated with Heresy sacrifices. Such as requiring specific organs, necessitating the splashing of copious amounts of blood, or involving the burning or drowning of individuals. Only those aberrant Cultists could conceive of such methods," Bruce declared. "Therefore, I strongly suspect that the final two levels are very likely the handiwork of Cultists. They surreptitiously integrated their own elements into the levels to utilize the players for the completion of a sacrifice."

The instant he concluded his statement, a faint sound emanated from within the adjacent wall. The two immediately froze, assuming combat stances. However, apart from the sound, nothing else occurred.

Bruce cautiously approached, then halted. Gritting his teeth, he inhaled sharply and declared, "Professor, this is entirely your fault for sharing that idea with me earlier."

"What are you referring to?"

"You mentioned you would install a mechanism in the drawer whereby, upon my approach, a steel needle would penetrate my brain or something similar..."

Shiller could no longer tolerate it. He shoved Bruce aside, walked to the wall himself, leaned against it, and began to listen intently. From the other side of the wall came a rhythmic tapping sound.

The sound was exceedingly faint, so he primarily relied on the vibrations to discern it. Shiller quickly deduced that the individual on the other side was communicating via Morse code.

"Level, fake, sacrifice, hand."

"Batman?" Shiller tapped back using the crowbar.

"Yes," the response came from the other side.

Shiller rapidly pieced together the situation: Batman and the others had likely been ejected from the designated slots by Stark, but instead of quitting entirely, they had proceeded to locate the Cultists' hidden sanctuary.

With Batman's exceptional skills, finding it would undoubtedly have been feasible. They had probably uncovered more direct evidence pertaining to the Cultists there, and that evidence strongly supported their suspicion—the preceding level and the current one both presented irregularities. They were not orchestrated by the company but were rather Cultist infiltrations of their own content. The objective behind smuggling this content was to employ flesh and blood as a sacrifice.

"Hand, god," Batman tapped once more.

Shiller pondered this for a moment. He speculated that Batman might be alluding to the possibility that the deity worshipped by these Cultists was somehow connected to hands, given their preoccupation with them on both levels. However, in a vast world, people were free to believe in anything; a god of ten thousand hands wouldn't be entirely out of the realm of possibility.

If this particular level was a facade, then where did the genuine one lie? Shiller wondered. Batman's fundamental grasp of Morse code couldn't quite rival Anatoli's, or perhaps he was simply disinclined to employ Morse for protracted discussions. Anatoli, on the other hand, was different; he could, quite literally, work and converse with Shiller simultaneously by tapping out Morse code on the table with his fingers. Such communication seemed ingrained in his very being.

Even so, Batman managed to convey his crucial clue with utmost brevity—