Fortunately, the interior of the house wasn't as dilapidated as it appeared from the outside. Though old and worn, it still seemed habitable.
Walking through the tall porch, a spacious, hall-like area appeared before their eyes. The interior space was evidently much larger than it seemed from outside, likely due to magic.
Su Ming wasn't surprised. There were similar houses in "Harry Potter", called the Traceless Stretching Charm. In the DC realm, it probably had another name. However, Barry was glancing around repeatedly, as if searching for something.
In the dark corners of the house, a few faint shadows flitted by. Su Ming knew those were the real ghosts, but he chose not to tell Barry, who was a bit jumpy right now, his eyes darting around constantly.
Constantine broke free from Su Ming's grip, leading the two further inside with a very smug smile on his face, inviting them to sit in the living room.
A creature with loose, saggy skin appeared. Its entire body was brownish-yellow, with a lizard-like tail trailing behind, dressed in a black tailcoat, walking upright, and wore round, rimless glasses on its nose.
When it saw Constantine bringing in the two guests, its squinted eyes showed no emotion, and it bowed slightly, but without any sincerity.
"Hello everyone, I'm the demon Abbas, temporarily the butler of the Mysterious House due to some unspeakable, disgusting, and sordid reasons."
"Demon?" This was Barry's first face-to-face encounter with a demon, and his attention was fixated on the demon's sharp claws.
"That's right, just a little demon, not worth mentioning." Zha Kang casually propped his feet on the table, lit a cigarette, and started smoking: "And you, didn't you see guests are here? Hurry up and make tea, you filthy old goat!"
Abbas turned and left, seemingly accepting the command without a word, but Su Ming saw it give Zha Kang a venomous look, filled with murderous intent.
The tea he brews later must be poisonous...
Zha Kang really has a knack for courting death, having a demon as a butler and constantly humiliating it. Maybe he's using a contract to bind it, but contracts always have an expiration. In Hell, countless demons are sharpening their claws, just waiting for Zha Kang to die and fall into Hell, eager to torment his soul.
Zha Kang, however, seemed oblivious, casually smoking, occasionally licking his teeth as if some dinner residue was stuck there.
"I know why you're here, it's all about Barbatos, right? I'll help, but you guys have to do me a favor."
Su Ming took off his helmet and instead of responding to Zha Kang, he spoke to Barry: "Barry, hit him on the back of the head."
"Huh?" X2
Both Barry and Zha Kang were puzzled, but under Su Ming's one-eyed gaze, Barry still gave Zha Kang an apologetic smile...
A flash of electric light shot past, and Zha Kang fell off the chair, but Su Ming knew he was fine, thanks to the protective magic. His cigarette was still in his mouth, and didn't even lose its ash.
"What's going on? The Justice League is hitting people! Superman wants to exterminate humanity!"
He flipped himself back up, with Barry awkwardly glancing at Su Ming, still confused about why Su Ming insisted he strike Constantine.
Su Ming lit a cigarette, exhaling a puff: "Do you think I'm a fool? Barbatos isn't something you can handle. You agreed so readily, were you planning to trick us?"
Constantine instantly denied it righteously: "No way, I just wanted to contribute my strength."
Su Ming chuckled coldly, raising his fist, which was the size of a cooking pot, looking at it back and forth, covered in dried black-red blood: "I'm telling you, there are plenty to replace you. I'm not exactly a good person, and I can easily go to the Pentagram or the Cold Flame Association. Your rivals can offer me magical services anytime for a price. When I buy, I want the best, and if I'm paying, I'll surely hire a Demon King-level enforcer, but I can't control them in the Main World. They must be eager to see you."
Zha Kang showed a helpless expression, seemingly settling into the chair: "Alright, I admit we currently don't have the manpower to help you."
"I could have guessed. If everyone wasn't busy, the Master of the Dark Night wouldn't have died," Su Ming flicked his cigarette ash, which oddly merged directly into the floor: "If I'm not mistaken, the entire Magic Realm is likely combating the invasion of dark energy now."
Constantine widened his eyes, changing from his originally sleepy demeanor to a serious one: "Is this the real reason you came to find me and deliberately entered the space of the Mysterious House?"
"Yes, if only the Shadow Contract might hide in the Magic Realm Maya, the rest of you can't get through without the Forgotten Tavern. But the Forgotten Tavern has already been occupied by the Dark Knight Order, so during Barbatos's invasion, other than Doctor Fate and Raven causing a ruckus outside, all the mages in the world vanished. Can you tell me where they might be?"
Su Ming pressed his hand against the table, smudging it, leaving a bloody handprint on the pristine tablecloth, as if an evil ghost had arrived.
Zha Kang put on a bitter smile, but was inwardly shocked at how Deathstroke had detected the mages' actions, simply unbelievable: "Haven't you already guessed... so you used money to lure me out, this is my weakness."
Su Ming stood up, looking at him indifferently: "You think claiming it's your weakness would make me believe you? It's not just money, even the smoking and drinking are just your cover. I know your real weakness well, but there are too many people now, so I'll give you some leeway."
Constantine covered his face, rubbing it up and down, as if going mad: "You're a hundred times more troublesome than the Slade in our world. I concede, everyone come out."
Barry was still puzzled by what Zha Kang meant by so many people when he couldn't see anyone.
Just then, what seemed to be a hallway leading deeper into the villa twisted, and everything shattered like glass, revealing what was behind it.
It turned out that was the real drawing room, and this was just a small side chamber.
In the drawing room, dozens of people were either sitting or floating around, some shaking their heads with a wry smile, others simply mocking Zha Kang. Names like the most disgraceful Great Mage, the shame of the Magic Realm, and stinking dog shit were hurled at him.
These people weren't randomly distributed, but were gathered around a giant magic array on the floor, channeling their respective powers into it. The array's design wasn't complex, but there was an intricate feel to its simplicity, emanating a purple glow, twinkling continuously.
Su Ming stood up; the reason he instructed Barry to hit Zha Kang earlier was to demonstrate their deterrent power. With the Divine Speed, he could leave the Spirit Thin Prison at any time, bridging through the Divine Speed Plane.
At this moment, you could say most of DC's magic type heroes were gathered here, including well-known teams Su Ming mentioned before, as well as mages he didn't recognize at all.
This wasn't surprising; if the dark society's depths were like a vast ocean, then the Magic Realm was like an undersea trench, even deeper and more untraceable.
In Su Ming's memory, attainable only through translated comics, there were heroes he genuinely didn't know, but he glanced at the array, and the pattern immediately matched his memory.
"Oh, it's the Purple Light Array, used by John Dai in 1500 to design a defense against the scattering demons. With this here, those tainted with dark energy truly can't invade."
The look on Zha Kang's face grew more bitter: "Are you the mage, or am I the mage? Aren't you a mercenary? How come you even know this?"
Su Ming smiled and greeted the others; some politely responded, while others pretended not to see him. He didn't mind; mages were just like that. He patted Zha Kang's shoulder, making his legs go limp like noodles.
"Actually, we're quite similar. You are the Dark Arts Master, and I am the Dark Tactics Master. Almost the same. After all, being multi-skilled never burdens, isn't it normal to understand some magic?"
Constantine's eyes turned deadpan, not believing a word of that stiff explanation.