Chapter 316

"So, you're saying I should hold this broken umbrella and believe it can drive out the curse inside me?"

Constantine looked at the old umbrella on the table, then raised his eyes to Schiller and said: "Even if you're dissatisfied with the story I told you, you don't have to treat me like a fool."

"I'm not dissatisfied with the story you told," Schiller shook his head. "It wasn't particularly exciting, but it was better than nothing."

Schiller was telling the truth: that day, Constantine revealed his entire plan to Batman and Schiller.

As expected, in the previous version of the story, he still withheld part of the truth—the part concerning Mrs. Sanchez.

"The magical array in Cooper's room was indeed used by Mama Ghost to sacrifice children's souls, but we played a trick and tricked the demon."

"Besides me and Cooper, Lauren was there at the time—and she was already pregnant, carrying a child inside her. She drew the ritual array to sacrifice the child's soul to the demon, then activated it, using her unborn child as bait to lure the demon."

"When the demon arrived, Lauren and I demanded he pay first before we handed over the offering. This is common in demonic bargains—some demons even give you power first, then collect payment..."

"The demon agreed. Our condition was that he kill Cooper and devour his soul. In an instant, the demon's power filled the entire room with Cooper's corpse. But the demon didn't know—I had drawn another array, and the offering for that one was Cooper himself."

"The demon drawn by my array saw its offering killed by another demon, so they fought. In the end, the demon drawn by Mama Ghost was defeated by the one drawn by me—it was killed, reduced to a pile of ash."

Schiller and Batman exchanged a glance, recalling the pile of ash they had seen in the center of the ritual array.

"The demon drawn by my array gave me no power and ate no offering—the deal never even began. He cursed me and returned to Hell."

"Then why was Cooper's corpse missing one-third of its mass?"

"I used it to make a doppelgänger. That ash doppelgänger wasn't made by the demon—it was made by me. But creating it required some... materials, so I used what was at hand..."

"Alright, then what happened after? Why did Mrs. Sanchez become a demon?"

"Because we had a minor disagreement afterward," Constantine sighed. "I mentioned before that Lauren desperately wanted to leave the dark rites and escape Gotham—but she didn't want to leave empty-handed."

"She had already made deals with many children using candy, gaining control of their souls. She planned to sacrifice all those souls at once to the demon, trading them for power, then flee Gotham with that power."

"To black mages, this was routine. After an accident, I'd become one of the most vicious black mages in their eyes, so when Lauren and her lover discussed this, they didn't bother hiding it from me—I heard their entire plan."

"I broke with them over it. But yes, Lauren becoming a demon was entirely my doing."

"As you saw earlier, we exchanged two blows in the room. Her lover was a half-baked amateur—I hadn't even begun to fight seriously when he was charred to ash."

"Lauren knew she couldn't beat me, so she tried to run toward the altar. She went there precisely to sacrifice those children's souls and gain greater power."

"I already told you I have many contacts in Hell. While Lauren ran toward the altar, I redrew an array and summoned a demon. I demanded he be the first to respond to Lauren's call—and pour demonic power into her body, turning her into a half-demon..."

"So when Lauren activated the altar, the first to respond was the demon I'd made a deal with. My offer was far higher than Lauren's. The demon fulfilled my deal first, turning Lauren into a full demon. What happened after—you already know..."

"What did you offer?" Batman asked.

"Simple. I promised that after my death, he would get my soul. You know I'm dying from my brother's curse. The demon saw that too—he was desperate to claim my soul, so he rushed to fulfill my request."

Schiller shook his head. "Was that demon from out of town? Doesn't he know you're a serial seller?"

"He knew. But he saw I was dying. He was betting he'd be the last demon to strike a deal with me—so when we all fought over my soul, he'd have the strongest claim."

"So you're a good man, saving all the children of Gotham?" Schiller asked Constantine. Constantine shook his head. "I'm not that noble. I just knew Lauren's plan wouldn't work."

"The mysterious dark rite would never let her drain all the children's souls—that would destroy Gotham. They wouldn't allow it."

"Dark Owl Rite..." Batman murmured the name.

"Dark Owl Priests?" Constantine stared at the broken umbrella, puzzled. "You mean this umbrella was made by those priests?"

"As far as I know, those Owl Court rich folks couldn't possibly make something like this. We already confirmed it—this umbrella contains a special metal that resists Gotham's unique rain and has unique resistance to magic."

Constantine hesitantly picked up the umbrella, running his fingers over the metal, sensing an unusual power—but he still said: "Even so, it shouldn't be able to remove a curse..."

"A weapon's strength depends on who wields it."

Schiller reached under the table and pulled out a new umbrella. He slid his hand down from the handle to grip the shaft. Before Constantine could put down the broken umbrella, he saw Schiller's motion and felt a bad premonition. "Hey, wait!"

*Bang. Constantine was knocked to the ground again by Schiller.

If this motion were slowed many times over, at the instant the umbrella's handle struck Constantine's chin, a faint wisp of gray mist entered his body.

The thin gray mist instantly scanned every part of Constantine's body and soul, then, in a hidden corner, wrapped itself around a fetal-shaped black curse.

As the mist enclosed the curse, the curse violently resisted—but the metal of the umbrella in Constantine's hand flashed once, and the black curse froze for an instant.

In that instant, Schiller's umbrella struck Constantine's chin. The metal on the new umbrella glowed brighter. *Bang! The gray mist and the curse were blasted out of Constantine's body together.

Schiller's figure vanished instantly, reappearing behind Constantine. He seized the gray mist enveloping the curse, and more gray mist poured from his hands, layer upon layer, wrapping the curse tighter.