Constantine raised an eyebrow, cigarette dangling from his lips, and said, "Interesting."
The shotgun transformed into golden particles that gradually dissipated, and these particles gathered between Constantine's hands. He suddenly spun around, and a massive deep red array lit up beneath his feet. Two vicious hunting dogs, half the height of a person, leapt from the array, lunging towards Strange.
Strange squinted his eyes, stood upright, and formed a seal with his hands. A breeze blew down his hair, and streaks of flowing light flickered in his eyes. The golden array split into four, starting to rotate around his body, then split again, filling the space around him and above his head and feet completely.
Strange swung his arm again, and several arrays flew toward the hunting dogs. The dogs moved swiftly, lunging and jumping, their sharp fangs gleaming with a cold light, drool spraying everywhere. First, they dodged an array flying horizontally, then jumped onto another array, quickly lunging towards Strange.
But in the next moment, an array flying back sliced the massive hunting dog vertically. The deep red, murky energy exploded instantly. Strange blocked with his hand, and then controlled the array again, decapitating the other hunting dog.
Constantine chuckled and stomped his foot. Hunting dogs, lions, tigers, flying birds, and dragons, countless bloodthirsty monsters surged from the array, rushing towards Strange.
Strange set aside his playful demeanor. The golden array before him consolidated into one, a dazzling light suddenly igniting. A fierce energy wave swept across the entire planet like a gale, and countless blood-red monsters vanished in an instant.
Suddenly, an ancient and distant bell tolled through the cosmos, an irresistible cold seeping from the marrow. The planet transformed into a snow-covered realm in an instant, and a colossal golden statue with blurred features rose from beyond the planet, its countless arms emitting lights of various colors.
Constantine remained unfazed, merely tilting his head slightly to scrutinize the statue's arms, as if pondering the source of those energies.
Shiller hurriedly shouted to Strange, "Stop fighting! We're at someone's doorstep here!"
Only then did Strange snap out of it, quickly halting his actions. The statue gradually faded away, and the snow gradually ceased. Constantine gently brushed the snowflakes from his black hair, took a deep breath of icy air, and nodded towards Strange, saying, "Not bad."
"You too," Strange said genuinely. Although just a couple of moves didn't reveal much depth, at least he was stronger than most mages from the neighboring universe.
Moreover, Strange really appreciated Constantine's attitude of taking action without delay—this was a true mage. Constantine, with his dithering and indecision, always ready to flee, was utterly disgraceful to mages.
Strange wasn't much of a fighter either, even lacking much experience in magical duels. Like most Constantines, he was a con artist, but he aspired to be like his teacher, The Ancient One—a martial artist undefeated across the world. And the dark-haired Constantine before him was indeed a master.
The opponent was clearly one who acted quickly and spoke little, not inclined to waste time on mutual congratulations. He turned his gaze toward the Guardians of the Galaxy members tied on the ground, only to find them all frozen, blue in the face, looking close to death.
Gamora exhaled a breath of white air, teeth chattering as she glared at the two Constantines: You've had your fun fighting, did you ever consider our lives? When the dogs pounced, they drooled all over us, followed by lions and tigers trampling over us. An energy wave nearly shaved us bald, and then the falling snow almost froze us to death. Damn magicians!
"I can share a few with you," Constantine raised an eyebrow and said, "Just say we captured them together; Batman probably won't ask too many questions."
"Thank you," Strange smiled at him.
Then, Constantine laid the box in his hand flat, and upon opening it, Strange saw it was filled with exorcism tools, mostly with religious elements.
Constantine took a rope inscribed with runes from inside, tossed it towards the direction of the Guardians of the Galaxy members. The rope bent in mid-air on its own, quickly tying the Guardians of the Galaxy members together.
Then Constantine yanked the rope forcefully, making the members fly up. Strange pointed a finger, making them float in the air.
"Are you waiting for a patrol ship too?" Strange asked knowingly.
Constantine nodded. Strange feigned a complaint and said, "I don't know what can be discussed in a meeting, but not coming isn't good either. I originally thought taking the ship for a round trip would mean I wouldn't have to go, and now not only do I skip the meeting, I also earn a battle merit."
Constantine just watched the floating members of the Guardians of the Galaxy in mid-air, and after a while, he asked, "What brings you here?"
"Give it up, you damned magician, we won't tell you anything..." Rocket Raccoon hadn't finished yelling when Star-Lord let out a miserable cry. It turned out that Constantine flicked a magic-imbued ash at him.
"He insulted you, why are you hitting me?!" Star-Lord glared angrily at him too.
"I don't abuse cats," Constantine calmly replied.
"He's not a cat, he's a damn raccoon!"
"I'm not a damn raccoon!"
"Shut up." Strange was really getting annoyed. When he heard the Guardians of the Galaxy disappeared, he should have sent someone to find them earlier; they wouldn't have had to suffer such disgrace here.