Chapter 621: A Diseased Crisis (Part Seven) (Patreon)

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Ten minutes later, Angela woke up to find herself in a bathtub, cautiously raising her upper body, only to discover a blond man sitting next to her.

Constantine wore a constipated expression as he sat by the edge of the bathtub, turning his head towards Angela. "My apologies, there seems to have been a misunderstanding here. I thought you were one of those uncivilized debt collectors I've dealt with in the past."

"What in the world?!" Angela barely finished her sentence before coughing violently. The severe vomiting from earlier still had her stomach convulsing.

Constantine pursed his lips, making a helpless expression. "I just called Midnight Father to confirm, and it turns out he did introduce you to me. I'm genuinely sorry; there have been a lot of creditors showing up at my door lately, and I tend to be cautious. Can you blame me?"

With all her strength, Angela pulled herself upright in the bathtub, leaning against the wall. She tilted her head back against the wall, squinting her eyes and taking a deep breath to ease her physical discomfort. Then she looked at Constantine. "You're insane. They say you're a detective, but to me, you're nothing but a charlatan!"

She continued as she struggled to stand up from the bathtub. "I shouldn't have had any illusions about you cultists. How could that stuff be real? Move aside! I'm going back!"

"Wait a moment!" Constantine reached out to stop her. "Don't you want to know the truth about your sister, Death?"

Standing up, Constantine tried to halt Angela's movements. However, Angela was now soaked, her wet clothes clinging to her body, accentuating her graceful figure. As Constantine reached out, his hand brushed against her waist. He quickly withdrew it, as though shocked.

It wasn't that this morally questionable demon suddenly had a conscience; it was mainly because he noticed the conspicuous badge on Angela's chest. Dealing with a Demon gave him some leeway, but getting caught by this policewoman would require a lot of effort to escape.

Angela glared at him and said, "As I said, move aside! Don't expect me to believe a word from a charlatan like you!"

Just as Constantine and Angela were in a standoff, there was a sudden loud bang outside the bathroom door. Constantine turned his head, his hand emitting a momentary magic glow. He reached out to Angela and whispered, "Shh, don't make a sound. Wait here."

With that, he walked slowly towards the bathroom door. When his figure disappeared outside the door, Angela squinted and stepped out of the bathtub, approaching the door. She peered through the opening and saw a terrifying black monster standing right at Constantine's apartment door.

"Uh..." Angela let out a low, fearful sound, but then she covered her mouth, preventing herself from making more noise. At that moment, she saw a dense black energy suddenly envelop Constantine.

Constantine spoke in a deep voice, "A Demon from the depths of hell? What are you doing here? I don't recall making any deals with you... You've crossed the line."

The Demon let out a piercing, sharp sound as it roared, "Constantine, you owe debts and have angered too many Demons. You will pay the price!"

Constantine coldly snorted and said, "Perhaps I will pay a price, but you won't be the one to judge me. Not even your master can. Now get out!"

The Demon let out a wail, and countless energy-formed insects turned into a storm, surrounding his body. Then, it closed in on Constantine.

Constantine extended his hand, and the black energy transformed into fire, igniting the insects, reducing them to ashes, and spreading onto the Demon itself.

The Demon screamed continuously, and Constantine extended his arm forward, releasing more energy. The Demon cried out, "Impossible! Where did you get such abundant energy?! Did you sell your own Soul?!"

Watching the Demon slowly dissipate within the flames, Constantine smiled and said, "You're just figuring that out now?"

He stood in place, shook his arm, and turned back to see Angela, who looked shocked, standing at the bathroom door. Constantine turned back and said, "Oh, um... I was delivering a message. I've already sent him away. Let's continue discussing your sister's issue."

"But I clearly saw..."

"Uh, yes, when I receive messages, I have some peculiar gestures. Don't worry about it," Constantine explained nonchalantly.

Because he knew that without spiritual vision, ordinary humans couldn't see Demons. What Angela saw was probably him gesturing at the air for quite some time.

As a natural medium who could see these special beings from birth, Constantine had grown accustomed to the astonished looks of all kinds of people. When he was younger, he might have explained himself, claiming he wasn't crazy. But now, his attitude was more like, "I am crazy, what can you do about it?"

He had stayed in Gotham for so long because no one treated him as a lunatic here. Yelling and gesturing at the air was nothing compared to the craziness that abounded in this city. As long as he didn't commit mass murder, kidnap, or engage in bomb attacks, he was considered a model citizen.

Constantine turned and walked towards the sofa, noticing that Angela hadn't moved. He turned back and asked, "What's wrong? Okay, I admit I was wrong earlier, and I apologize. I was a bit nervous. You can just consider me a lunatic."

"I saw it! That Demon! It was... it was a Demon, right? Black... surrounded by many insects, and then you conjured a different kind of Fire to kill it..."

Angela stammered through her words, then covered her eyes and rubbed them vigorously. "No, that's not right! I shouldn't be able to see such things since I was twelve... how did I..."

Constantine, on the other hand, widened his eyes, walked up quickly, and captured Angela's wrists, moving her hands away from her face. He stared directly into her eyes and said, "You can see those things? Are you a medium?"

"Hey! You damned bitch! Are you playing me?" Constantine forcefully shook off Angela's wrist, saying, "Who are you, and why don't you know the rules of our profession? Demon hunters aren't supposed to meet each other, and if they do, it must be prearranged!"

"No, I'm not. I'm not a demon hunter... otherwise, I wouldn't have come looking for you," Angela took a deep breath, calming her slightly fearful emotions. She continued, "Remember what I told you? My sister and I have been able to see those things since we were kids."

"I thought what you were talking about were just ordinary ghosts and specters. Children often have a higher sensitivity to such things; it's not uncommon for them to see such phenomena."

"But you never told me that you can still see Demons!" Constantine raised his voice, evidently realizing that Angela didn't grasp the gravity of the situation. He placed his hands on his hips and shook his head in frustration as he explained, "Everyone who can see Demons has been chosen by them. In other words, only if your soul is marked by a Demon will they allow you to see them. It has nothing to do with psychic abilities; it's a curse, a dreadful curse."

"But I never believed in any of this!" Angela quickly moved to the sofa, gesturing with her arms, and spoke somewhat frantically, "Both my sister and I could see these hallucinations, and she told our family everything. But my parents thought she was mentally ill and sent her to an asylum."

"I used to be afraid of these things too, but later, I started refusing to believe they were real. I thought it was all just hallucinations..." Angela took a deep breath, covered her forehead, and sat down, saying, "Until I turned twelve, and I stopped seeing them completely."

Constantine stood still. He replied somewhat coldly, "Why do you think you suddenly stopped seeing them?"

"Because I never believed they were real. As long as I didn't believe, they couldn't harm me!" Angela emphasized.

"No," Constantine refuted, walking over to the opposite side of Angela and sitting down. He looked into Angela's eyes and said, "It's because they chose your sister."

Angela stared straight into Constantine's eyes, which seemed to possess an enchanting power that entranced her.

Suddenly, she saw a trace of sadness in Constantine's eyes, an emotion that shouldn't have been present in his gaze. She heard Constantine saying, "Whether it's twin sisters or twin brothers, the souls of all twins have a substitute quality, and Demons only need one."

"They placed a curse on both of you, allowing you to see them. But afterward, when you stopped seeing them, it wasn't because you stopped believing; it was because..." Constantine paused for a moment before continuing, "the Demon chose your sister and abandoned you."

"Impossible!" Angela shouted, saying, "You don't understand; we are the same, we..."

"Nothing is impossible," Constantine lowered his head, picked up a glass of water in front of him, and drank it in one gulp, seeming to have more to say but choosing not to.

However, Angela's emotions started to crumble. She yelled loudly, "You damn con artists! All this talk of Demons and devils is nonsense. I've never believed..."

"If you don't believe, you can leave," Constantine seemed weary, turning his head, taking another sip of water, and then stood up, planning to head to his bedroom.

Suddenly, he heard a movement behind him, the sound of a gun being cocked. He turned around, and Angela had drawn a handgun, its black hole barrel pointed at Constantine.

From her eyes peeking out from her disheveled hair, it was evident that this policewoman had reached the brink of losing her sanity, overwhelmed by various pressures.

Constantine's gaze turned even colder, seemingly unwilling to engage in further conversation with Angela. He waved his hand, and the gun was knocked out of her grasp, then he walked into the bedroom, closing the door with a resounding "thud."

He had just reached his bed, loosened his tie, and removed his coat when he heard sobbing from outside the door. Angela was crying uncontrollably, but he paid no attention. He lit a cigarette, took a drag, exhaled a cloud of smoke, and leaned against the sofa backrest.

Angela, sitting on the sofa in disarray, heard the bedroom door open, but she didn't spare it a glance until a shadow cast over her head. A slightly pungent scent of cigarette smoke wafted over her. She looked up and saw Constantine's face.

Constantine lowered his head to take a drag from the cigarette and asked in a slightly hoarse voice, "How old is your sister?"

"...The same age as me, 27 this year."

Constantine closed his eyes and said, "I see."

He took a deep breath and continued, "Like I said, it's not a coincidence that you suddenly stopped seeing those things. It's related to your sister's death. She must have been taken by a Demon."

"How do you know?" Angela wanted to make one last effort.

"Because they came for me when I was 27."

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Next Chapter >>Chapter 622: A Morbid Crisis (Part Eight)