The ninth-floor rooftop of a high-rise building in Metropolis.
The air was thick with the stench of sulfur and a sickening, metallic smell of blood.
Scattered across the ground were countless patches of black ash, like burnt lime. Each step made a dull crunch.
Zatanna surveyed the devastated hall, her eyes coming to rest on the two gaping holes blasted into the left wall.
"Gulp."
The woman swallowed hard. She couldn't fathom the sheer power of her former companion, who seemed to have become a monster, capable of going toe-to-toe with Gabriel, a big shot from Heaven.
A cold night wind whistled through the damaged wall, sending a shiver down Zatanna's spine. She was reminded of what she had to do.
Angela, her face contorted in pain, was struggling weakly on the cold floor.
And the wriggling head on the smooth belly made one's skin crawl.
"Don't forget why we're here."
Constantine stubbed out his cigarette, flicked his trench coat dramatically, and walked towards Angela.
Next, he and Zatanna would set up the Exorcism Circle to banish the Child of the Demon, Mammon, back to where he belonged.
"Help, help me!"
Angela, previously in despair, turned her head with difficulty. When she saw Constantine approaching, a brilliant desire to live ignited in the woman's eyes.
She didn't want to die; she wanted to live.
Constantine squatted down, looking at the bizarre face wriggling inside the belly.
It seemed to sense Constantine's gaze, and the grotesque face beneath the layers of fat writhed even more violently. One could clearly see the depth of its hatred for Constantine.
"Relax, miss. As long as you cooperate, everything will be fine."
Constantine glanced at the situation, casually comforting Angela, then stood up again, looking at the array in the hall.
His gaze swept over the magical lines on the floor. Constantine quickly figured out that the demons were using an ancient and complex Demon Summoning Ritual.
But its biggest advantage was that it allowed the demons to retain their full strength upon descending to the mortal realm.
"A mere trick."
Constantine quipped with an Eastern Idiom, then looked at Zatanna.
"Let's begin."
Two outstanding young mages stood on either side of Angela.
They spread their hands, palms facing upwards.
Intricate and magnificent arcane energy drew graceful, golden lines, enveloping Angela.
Constantine and Zatanna recited the Exorcism Incantation together.
As the incantation sped up, the golden lines blazed brightly, and the monster's head inside Angela's belly let out a shrill, miserable scream.
As for Angela? She had already fainted from the intense pain, overwhelmed the moment the demon began its frantic struggles.
"Demon!"
Constantine's tone grew more impassioned, "In the name of the Father, I command you to depart!"
Before the word "scatter" could leave his lips, Constantine heard Zatanna scream from the other side.
"Behind you! Constantine!?"
"Behind?"
Constantine instinctively turned his head.
But what greeted him was a spearhead radiating cold light and a holy aura.
"Pfft!"
The spearhead pierced Constantine's chest, and crimson blood gushed from the wound like a collapsing dam.
In pain, Constantine fell to the ground, desperately clutching his wound in an attempt to stop the bleeding.
That black trench coat was also stained red with blood, making him look incredibly disheveled.
Constantine struggled to keep his eyelids open, the symptoms of excessive blood loss making him dizzy. He stared fixedly at the figure that had attacked him.
Green, pitted, and hideously rotten skin, and not a single strand of hair.
This was a full-fledged demon, one who had seized an opportunity after narrowly surviving the battle between Gino and Gabriel.
"Fool, Constantine!"
Balthazar let out a triumphant laugh.
"Balthazar!" Constantine tried to stand, but his legs were like they'd had their tendons ripped out, unable to move.
On the other side, the Exorcism Circle had been violently destroyed, and Zatanna, who had been casting the spell, suffered a backlash.
The girl's face was pale, her legs trembled, and she couldn't stand. Weak and powerless, she simply collapsed to the ground, unconscious.
This magical backlash was incredibly damaging to a magician.
It was like you were in the final stretch of a 1000-meter race, about to cross the finish line, when someone suddenly punched you in the gut. You'd need some time to recover.
"Lord Mammon!"
Balthazar ignored Constantine and the others. His form shifted, transforming into a rising black mist that enveloped Angela.
"I will send you to the mortal realm!"
A hideous, pus-dripping demonic arm coalesced from the black mist. Its sharp claw plunged into the woman's belly.
The next instant, as the Spear of Longinus pierced Angela's abdomen, an invisible, terrifying pressure erupted.
An overwhelming aura of pure evil filled the room.
A vast, blood-red mist began to seep into the hall from unknown sources.
"Shine."
Constantine struggled to raise his right hand, activating the magic inscribed there.
With the aid of the faint magical light, he saw a creature with odd proportions and a thin frame slowly emerging from the depths of the blood mist.
"Hee hee hee～"
A sharp, eerie laughter echoed through the hall. The terrifying atmosphere made everyone's hair stand on end.
"Constantine, for countless days and nights, I have longed to meet you."
"And now, my dream is finally realized."
The blood mist churned, and a pair of thick, pale arms reached out from the dense fog.
Its ten fingers were covered in solid, razor-sharp green claws.
A distorted and hideous face appeared.
If Gino were here, he'd surely quip, "What, a Voldemort with a nose?" Yes, it was like Voldemort's appearance. The demon Mammon's head was less a head and more a skull covered in thin skin, with eye sockets so sunken they could swallow entire ping-pong balls, which was terrifying.
"Damn it."
Constantine pursed his lips, watching the Child of the Demon slowly approach him.
He already knew what he was about to face.
As a model worker in the exorcism world, Constantine had personally banished half the demons in Hell.
And now, when Mammon killed him, he would also return to Hell, enduring endless torment.
"No, there has to be another way, there has to be a way."
Constantine's eyes darted around wildly, knowing he was running out of time.
Gino was battling Gabriel. Although he wasn't sure how powerful the other was, and he seemed to be taking a more physical exorcism approach (meaning he was trying to kill the demon with fists and brute force), Constantine believed Gino would win eventually.
And what he needed to do was buy himself enough time for Gino to return.
"You think you can take me to Hell?"
Constantine's lips curled into an angry smile.
He picked up a sharp piece of broken concrete from the ground.
Then, he gently slashed his wrist.
Constantine didn't change his expression, watching the blood flow from his wrist.
At the same time, the demon Mammon opened its mouth, revealing two rows of sharp, pointed teeth, and pounced towards Constantine.
But, accompanied by a series of heavenly chants.
A ray of golden light seemed to descend from the sky, and the originally pure singing became low.
Everything around froze in an instant, and a playful voice seemed to echo from within Constantine's heart: "Hello there, John."
------------------------
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