"Constantine, you're still here."
This scruffy mage is still sitting in the same spot as last time, only now one side of his trench coat is stained with blood and bits of flesh, as if he had been walking by the side of a muddy road and a passing car had smashed a crate of tomatoes right next to him, splattering him.
His face, hands, and even the glass in his hand were all red.
But I guess he must have covered the glass the moment it happened, so his drink is still good to go.
"What else can I do? The Witch's Hour has arrived, and we're all doomed." He gave Deathstroke a half-dead glance and sighed deeply: "The moment the flames hit, all I could think about was finishing my drink, but it only licked the corner of my coat and then retreated."
Su Ming looked down; indeed, the black, radial scorch marks on the floor stretched barely to Constantine's feet.
"The games between Satan and God won't let you off so easily." He sat opposite Constantine.
Zha Kang is a tragedy; now he's stuck in a state where even death eludes him.
He once did some good, hoping to ascend to Heaven, as his lung cancer was in its terminal stage, and he didn't have much time left.
But the Demon Kings, unwilling to let him reach Heaven, injected him with Demon's Blood, which maintained his body and imbued him with original sins.
After all, Satan's thought is—'If I can't have you, neither should God.'
So that's how this scumbag lived on, but the Demon's Blood only increased his suffering. His lungs were rotting away, and he avoided casting spells for this reason.
His casting cost had become too burdensome.
The Fallen One isn't as easygoing as Lucifer or the Prince of Hell; he enjoys tormenting Constantine in various ways, watching him howl and struggle in pain.
If Batman's ex-girlfriends died the most, then Constantine's ex-girlfriends died the most tragically.
Like White Lantern Hero Kael's ex-girlfriend, who was dismembered and stuffed into a fridge, that's child's play.
Constantine's ex-girlfriends often died in ways beyond description. Even Sleep Demons would instinctively cover them with large white sheets when they saw the corpses.
In the dreams of Demons, he had never seen such horrors.
So terrifying that an ordinary person would go mad just by taking one look, gouging out their own eyes to escape that horrible reality.
"You want to ask something, I'll speak without reservation."
Constantine raised his hand and ordered another drink. The Magic Wine Cabinet, though charred black, still functioned, albeit with fewer choices.
However, the cheap whiskey Constantine loved, placed in an inconspicuous corner, survived against the odds.
Soon, a steaming, nearly boiling glass of liquor flew onto the small table, though no one was there to collect payment now.
Su Ming naturally wouldn't waste time 'boiling wine to discuss heroes' here with him; he was more concerned about the current mission.
"Who's the holder of the engraving this time?"
"Why don't I start from the beginning and talk about what happened here after we parted?"
Zha Kang picked up his glass, the first time he had to blow on a drink to cool it before sipping.
Though it felt pretty good, the scalding liquor resembling Hell's magma, mixed with the toasted aroma of young ladies, was just right for a person like him.
"After you all left, the girls' party started."
Zha Kang rubbed the blood clots on his face, recounting the events to Su Ming, as Donna also drew closer, curious about what had transpired here.
Though Albella often played around with Bo Bo, she laid aside her morbid humor in this situation to help Bo Bo collect the charred bodies.
Bo Bo needed to make sure none of the bodies belonged to his bartender.
"Diana, your chest seems smaller."
Donna's arrival distracted Constantine, and her low-cut uniform involuntarily drew his eyes. He noticed that Wonder Woman's chest had shrunk a size.
Though the difference was minor, his eyes never erred on such matters.
Could their exercise have been that intense? In less than half an hour, had she slimmed down this much?
Donna naturally glared at him; it was blatant harassment, and she was about to use her Lasso to tie up Zha Kang, forcing him to lick her boots.
And make him chant his wrongdoing as he licked.
Su Ming held her hand, shaking his head slightly. Now was not the time to mess around with Zha Kang.
"Get to the point, what happened?"
Zha Kang smacked his lips, seeing Deathstroke grabbing 'Diana's' hand, he started to believe some recent rumors more.
But he cleared his throat and got back on topic: "The girls' party was essentially about venting, as you know. With the Origin Wall's rupture and the arrival of Alien Species, many couldn't or dared not cast spells anymore."
"Mm, we've all seen what happens when spells are cast."
Su Ming nodded, agreeing with Constantine's words; those were the facts.
"So at first, it was just a bunch of us drinking together. The girls started with some beers, then moved to hard liquor. Within minutes, a few were already drunk."
Zha Kang took out a cigarette, lit it, and took a slow drag.
"You wouldn't happen to have had any unscrupulous plans for them, would you?"
Donna's eyes turned sharp. Having attended college, she knew how middle-aged men often lurked in clubs, waiting to pick up girls drunk out of their minds in the early hours.
Constantine, in his current state, appeared quite suspicious...
"No, you've got me wrong; I'm into more mature women." Zha Kang offered a knowing smile.
Yet Donna wasn't Diana; she didn't get it. She looked at Su Ming, puzzled.
Su Ming rolled his eyes, leaned over, and whispered something in Donna's ear.
Her eyes widened instantly, and she gazed at Constantine in disbelief before scurrying off with dry heaves.
She preferred helping Bo Bo deal with the bodies.
"Ah, ah, what did you tell her?" Zha Kang grinned, scratching his head.
"It's irrelevant. Continue with what happened." Su Ming turned back to face Zha Kang.
He sighed, and frankly, it didn't matter what others thought of him: "Then I saw Rebecca Castle; she came too."
Su Ming nodded slightly; she was clearly the one with the engraving.
Rebecca, codenamed 'Witch Fire,' was a user of Dark Magic.
But she hadn't committed any heinous acts; on the contrary, she contributed to society.
She was reputed to be the best at singing and dancing in the Magic Realm, with the strongest magical prowess in the entertainment industry.
Yes, her goal wasn't to use magic power to dominate Earth; instead, she used magic to create effects and score big in the entertainment world.
She had released two music albums, with songs that made it to the Billboard charts, her music videos airing on TV every afternoon.
Put precisely, she had her moment of fame, always under the spotlight. She used smoking pens to sign autographs for fans or cast curses on haters.
Yet the entertainment industry favors the new over the old, and a few years ago, her magical tricks as video effects seemed very 'real,' but the spotlight doesn't stay forever.
The magic flames wouldn't keep fans drawn for too long; even the most dazzling fireworks eventually lose their charm.
The public preferred to watch other female stars pull hair or extramarital affairs unfold. Stories of coming out of the closet or infidelity were even more thrilling.
Now, she was just a washed-up singer, having retreated to the Magic Realm, perhaps to make a movie if she'd saved enough.
Zha Kang noticed Deathstroke understood, so he made a blooming gesture with his hands.
"So tonight, she caught 'fire' again."