Chapter 626: Pathological Crisis (Part 10)

Countless eerie black patterns spread up from the base of the walls, and the shapes formed by their shadows made one think of all kinds of terrifying monsters.

Angela gripped the gun in her hand tightly, but that provided her with no sense of security at all. She understood that if such things truly existed, modern human technological weapons might have no effect on them.

What she didn't even realize was that her arm, which hadn't trembled since she left the police academy, was now shaking slightly. Her sweaty palms made it impossible for her to grip the pistol as firmly as she used to, but she still braced her arm as much as possible, aiming her gaze at every black shadow that darted past.

Then, she turned her head and saw Constantine behind her take a goblet out from his coat. He chanted a few incantations, and the goblet filled with clear water. Then, he picked up the Bible he had just taken out and began to pray in a low voice toward the goblet.

After the prayer was finished, he took out a rag that looked somewhat tattered, dipped it into the water in the goblet, and then, holding the cup of water, said, "Give me your magazine."

Angela didn't move toward her pistol but instead took a spare magazine from her waist. After handing it to Constantine, Constantine raised an eyebrow and said, "I like working with someone as well-prepared as you."

Angela snorted coldly and reached for her waist again. With a 'Click!', three pistol magazines appeared in her hand, all fully loaded. She said, "The time I've spent dealing with those heinous criminals is no less than the time you've spent dealing with demons. Sometimes, they are even more terrifying than the devil."

After speaking, she saw Constantine put her pistol magazine into the goblet and stir it. Then, the cup began to emit white mist. When he took it out, the magazine was very dry, as if it had never touched water. Constantine handed the magazine to her and said:

"These are enchanted bullets that carry holy damage. In a moment, I need to set up an exorcism ritual circle. During this time, you must use your pistol to repel every demon that dares to approach."

"The ritual circle is very fragile before it is completed. The candle flames, the flames of the paper on the ground, and the flames in my hands must not be extinguished. Once you discover a black shadow approaching, use these bullets to crush it."

Angela remained expressionless and quickly reloaded the magazine. With a 'Bang!', a black shadow crawling along the ground was hit by a bullet. Angela heard a scream, and the place hit by the bullet began to emit black smoke, and the claw-like shape shattered instantly.

Suddenly, the policewoman calmed down. Her initial panic stemmed only from the fear of the unknown, and now that she discovered firearms could cause damage to these monsters, what else was there to say?

Using enchanted bullets to fight demons had the exact same effect as using ordinary bullets to fight humans. Angela soon let this group of demons know why she could be called one of the best detectives on the East Coast.

Raising the gun, aiming, shooting, then raising the gun again—the series of movements was incomparably fluid. Even if several black shadows attacked at the same time, the continuously fired bullets would not deviate in the slightest. Those black shadows simply couldn't get close to Constantine in the room.

"You need to save some bullets." Constantine said while drawing a magic circle on the ground: "This is not their true form, but rather phantoms caused by their power leaking from hell. This is just the prelude to their attack..."

While shooting, Angela heard Constantine explain at a rapid pace: "Demons wanting to invade the human world often follow several steps. They need to first use their power to infiltrate the spirit world, and then travel from the spirit world to the human world. After the power infiltration is complete, their physical bodies will arrive here."

"What will be the consequences of that?" Angela asked while shooting.

"At that time, bullets that have only undergone preliminary enchantment will simply be unable to penetrate their bodies. Either use heavy firepower to crush their bodies, or use extremely powerful magic items..."

"Can't we solve them at this stage?" Angela asked.

"No, we have to wait for the moment they invade the human world from the spirit world. When they draw upon the infiltrated power to shape their bodies, that is when they are at their most vulnerable. As long as the trap is set, they can all be wiped out at once."

"Attention, the invasion is about to begin!" Constantine stood up. The magic circle on the ground was more than half finished, but in Angela's field of vision, the entire world turned dark, and all the lights went out.

The darkest hour had arrived.

Angela raised her gun and took a deep breath. Countless black shadows lunged toward her. She rolled on the ground, fired two shots—'Bang', 'Bang'—then took a step back, aimed at the black shadow under her feet, and fired another shot—'Bang'.

Counterattacking was not easy. Besides the difficulty of aiming in this dark state, one also had to be careful not to touch the candles in the magic circle at her feet; even a slightly larger movement would cause the candle flames to flicker.

Soon, Angela had used up all the bullets in one magazine. She reached for a second magazine and looked at the goblet; the water inside was running low, enough to enchant at most one more magazine.

Angela didn't think too much and handed the magazine directly to Constantine. After Constantine finished the enchantment, he handed the magazine back to her. The policewoman took a deep breath and said, "Perhaps I shouldn't have dragged more people into this. If this is the fate of us sisters, then I want to see just how terrifying this so-called hell really is."

With a 'Bang!', another black shadow was repelled by an enchanted bullet. After the last bullet was fired, Angela threw away the pistol. She looked into the endless darkness, and in the haze and hallucinations, she saw her sister Isabelle beckoning to her.

Just then, with a 'Whoosh!', a cluster of bright flames ignited, illuminating the entire room. Constantine ignited the rag, and the fierce fire rose. All the black shadows began to wail and fled frantically toward the places without fire.

Constantine threw the burning rag into the air, and a huge fireball floated in the sky. He reached out to control the rag, keeping it suspended in mid-air, preventing the group of black shadows from daring to approach. Then he said, "If I keep this thing lit, no demon will dare to descend in their true form. But after it goes out, they will still come. At that time, we will all be in danger."

"So, I will extinguish it directly. The moment the entire room returns to darkness, the demons will descend. Get ready... he is coming!"

"Sword Coming"

Just as Constantine finished speaking, all the flames went out. Angela saw an extremely ugly and evil black shadow lunging toward her.

Angela instinctively raised her arm to block it. Suddenly, a red light lit up under her feet, and a scream came. She turned her head and saw that the evil figure had been bound within the magic circle, followed immediately by a scream:

"Constantine! You!"

Instantly, the room returned to brightness, and the lights that had completely disappeared just now lit up, as if the darkness just now had been nothing but a hallucination.

Constantine threw the burnt-out rag onto the ground and then said, "... Surprise!"

"... Is it over?" Angela asked, trembling slightly. She truly had no strength left. She walked somewhat unsteadily to Isabelle's bed and sat down. Constantine sat down next to her, turned his head to look at the night sky outside the window, and said, "Perhaps it is over, but this kind of life never ends."

Angela turned her head to look at Constantine and asked, "Do you live like this every day?"

Constantine took a pack of cigarettes out of his trench coat pocket, took out one, lit it, took a puff, and then said, "Pretty much, or worse than this. But at least I'm still alive, aren't I?"

Angela turned her head back, rested her elbows on her knees, wiped her face with both hands, and said, "Why is it like this? Why don't we have a choice? Why must we suffer such a terrifying curse?"

"This world is just like this. Everyone has their own misfortunes, so I try my best to turn this misfortune into an advantage for me to stand in this world. Look on the bright side; with this ability, at least ordinary people cannot threaten you."

"Really?" Angela turned her head to look at Constantine again. She no longer had that firm gaze, but instead became somewhat fragile.

The encounter just now had drained all the strength of this tough policewoman and caused her great mental torture. Now, both her physiological and psychological states had hit rock bottom.

"If you were a normal person, I would never suggest you touch anything related to the occult. No matter how talented and intelligent you are, I would only tell you to stay away from these things."

"However, for those born cursed, if they don't learn these things, the final result is only being beaten passively. If you want to fight back, you can only fight violence with violence."

Constantine took a puff of his cigarette, slowly exhaled the smoke, and said, "... Understanding this truth cost me a great price."

"What price?" Angela asked with some curiosity.

Constantine looked up, scanned the ward, and his eyes, deeply set under his brow bone, were finally partially illuminated by the light. He said, "Metropolis is indeed one of the best cities in the world. The conditions of the psychiatric hospital here are much better than the one I lived in."

"You've also lived in a psychiatric hospital?"

"Of course, that's a long story. Perhaps you wouldn't want to hear it, but this is one of the proofs of my guilt for causing the deaths of those innocent people." Constantine regained some strength and stood up from the bedside. He loosened his tie and said:

"You might think I'm crazy, but I miss the time I spent there. When I was driven almost insane by guilt and self-reproach, I was strapped to a chair in a straitjacket, injected with useless sedatives, beaten, and thrown to the ground..."

"That must have been very painful..." Angela said in a low tone.

"But I live for this kind of pain. If it weren't there to remind me that I am still a living person, perhaps I would have long ago felt that I was a walking corpse." Constantine turned back. Angela looked up at Constantine's eyes; that kind of magic had always attracted her, making her unconsciously addicted to it.

People always like to chase stories with such dark colors. Constantine had too many such stories—crazy, dark, and sorrowful, carrying a kind of pathological charm.

Constantine leaned down and exhaled a puff of smoke. Angela pulled his wrist and brought the cigarette he had just smoked to her own mouth. After taking a puff, she blew the smoke into Constantine's face.

Constantine gently pulled her up and leaned down to kiss her.

But the moment their lips touched, Angela woke up from that state of infatuation. She pushed Constantine away and said, "No, wait, I... I have to go stop their conspiracy..."

Angela turned around somewhat unnaturally, intending to walk out of the room, and she didn't notice that Constantine behind her had a smile of success on his lips. ===== CHAPTER 627 =====