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The Joker had been waiting all along—Raymond had seen that much, though he hadn't known exactly what for.
Only when Deadshot's sub-personality was suddenly ambushed and blown apart did Raymond realize the truth.
The Joker hadn't been sure whether this side of Raymond was the real body. So he waited, stalling until the people he had arranged elsewhere made their move to test it.
Now, the Joker clearly had the answer he wanted.
But if the Joker was waiting, wasn't Raymond as well?
He had known the Enchantress's location long ago, yet he hadn't told anyone. His purpose was to fish out the Joker.
With the Joker's personality, revenge was never delayed.
After Raymond's deliberate provocation, there was no way the Joker could sit still.
But given the power Raymond had shown, the Joker would never appear directly unless he was confident he could crush him.
That was what Raymond wanted to see—what kind of tricks the Joker would bring to the table.
Of course, he couldn't be one hundred percent sure that he'd overturn things after the Joker made his move.
After all, this DC world was as absurdly high-level as Marvel's. Even with so many sub-personalities, within the scale of this universe, he wasn't much.
If the Joker had some unpredictable trump card, Raymond couldn't be sure he could withstand it.
But even if he lost, he still had a way out.
This was a Wish Journey. Even if he died here, it would only count as a failed run.
He could regroup, prepare more thoroughly, and start again.
True, restarting meant returning to the same moment of death. Without the right preparation, he could just die again.
But unlike in the Marvel world, where death was final, here failure didn't mean the end.
That was Raymond's greatest confidence—he could afford to drag even the Joker into this game.
And right now, the Joker's moves hadn't gone beyond his range of response.
Because the Joker's plan was based only on the powers he knew Raymond had shown.
So far, Raymond had revealed two: the ability to create clones, and the ability to regenerate even after having his head blown off by a nano-bomb on the plane.
It wasn't strange that the Joker had guessed at the clone ability.
But to deduce so quickly that Raymond's resistance to the bomb was due to some kind of elementalization—that was already impressive.
In such a short time, not only had he analyzed Raymond's displayed powers with frightening clarity, he had even crafted a plan with a high chance of success. That alone would terrify most people.
But the Joker was still human, not a god.
He wasn't omniscient, nor omnipotent.
He could find ways to counter the abilities Raymond had shown once or twice, but he couldn't know how many other powers Raymond still had hidden.
That kind of information gap wasn't something intelligence or strategy alone could fix.
While Raymond rode in the Joker's armored trap, at the abandoned church, the Enchantress's magic circle was finally near completion.
"Well, that was quick," John Constantine's sub-personality muttered, half-dozing until the Enchantress suddenly stood. He jerked awake with a start.
"Should I take that as sarcasm?" the Enchantress asked coldly.
"How could it be? I mean it sincerely," John Constantine's sub-personality said with a perfectly straight face.
"Hmph!"
She snorted, not believing a word.
She knew very well who stood before her—someone known as a walking magical encyclopedia, one of the world's recognized masters of sorcery.
If he had been the one to inscribe the array, the work would have been done at least three times faster.
But of course, John Constantine had no reason to help her. And even if he did, she would never trust him enough to allow it.
This time, what the Enchantress was doing was far too important for her.
There was no way she would entrust it to anyone else.
Ignoring John Constantine's sub-personality and his constant pestering, she turned and walked to the very center of the array, chanting her incantations.
John didn't stop her—he simply watched in silence.
As the chants quickened, the Enchantress's body slowly lifted into the air…
Her eyes turned pitch black, as if linking to something vast and unseen.
Above her head, a tiny black vortex appeared, and as her spell quickened, the vortex expanded larger and larger!
When it grew to the height of a person—Boom!
The abandoned church suddenly shattered apart!
In the sky, a radiant white gate faintly appeared among the clouds!
From it poured a sacred, overwhelming presence—holy and vast, surging toward the church.
At the same time, the ground below began to tremble violently, as though something was writhing beneath it.
Cracks split open, red light seeping through with a suffocatingly evil aura, as if hell itself was about to erupt!
The Enchantress had never seen—never even imagined—such terrifying power!
Both the holy force from above and the evil force from below filled her with utter despair.
She knew that either alone could wipe her entire world away with ease.
Only now did she truly understand what John Constantine's sub-personality had told her earlier.
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