Chapter 935: In the Depths of the Misty Rain (Part Ten) (Patreon)

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Constantine and Brand stood frozen in place. Brand glanced around and asked, "Did I just have a hallucination? It seemed like someone was calling your name, Constantine?"

Constantine swallowed hard, watching as the vines gradually closed in on him. He took a step back and said, "Do you think this looks like a hallucination? Do you dream about plants leaping up to attack you?!"

He turned and started running, with trees, fences, and all kinds of plants from the streets and alleys chasing after him in a frenzied attempt to attack.

"Brand, doctor! Save me! Save your patient! Use your Firemagic! I'll pay double... no, triple the medical fees!" Constantine shouted desperately.

Brand blinked out from the midst of the fire and appeared by Constantine's side. He said, "I don't need you to pay extra medical fees, but if I save you, you have to promise to give up your drug addiction!"

"In that case, you might as well let the plants devour me!" Constantine yelled as he continued to run. In the next moment, a vine lashed out and struck his arm, causing him to cry out in pain. Then, another plant tripped him up.

The plant's onslaught was relentless, leaving him with no time to cast spells. When he reached a crossroads, Constantine raised his head and shouted, "All Things Green! There must be a misunderstanding between us. Whatever you've encountered, it definitely wasn't my doing!"

But the crazed plants showed no sign of stopping. Constantine had to stand still and use his Ashen Doppelganger continuously to attract the plants' attention while he pondered his mental list of creditors.

When you've offended nearly all the powers in the Mysticism realm, it's hard to determine why trouble is coming your way today. And when you're constantly being pursued, the nature of the trouble becomes less important.

Constantine dashed into a narrow alley, looking back to see that the plants hadn't followed him. Vines snaked over the alley entrance. Constantine sighed with relief, but then he heard a rustling sound behind him.

He turned around, and a massive birch tree shot up from the ground. Constantine swallowed hard and said, "All Things Green, let's talk this out. I think we can..."

Before the awakened tree could go berserk, a circus-style fire ring appeared in front of Constantine. He clenched a charm, gritted his teeth, and said, "You finally came!"

With that, he jumped into the fire ring and, in the next moment, appeared on the rooftop of a tall building in the center of Gotham. In front of him stood a woman in a cloak, wearing a hat and holding a wand, looking like a magician.

"Oh, my, Little Zat, you saved me!" Constantine slowly exhaled. "I knew you were a good girl..."

Zatanna, standing in front of Constantine, rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. "You claim that I made a deal with All Things Green behind your back, and now All Things Green is chasing you again. Isn't this another case of you making a deal and then reneging, just like you've always done?"

"Of course not!" Constantine raised his voice. "Why would I sabotage our well-laid plan and go looking for All Things Green? We both know that such entities are utterly unreliable!"

"Thank you for remembering our plan, which you've now completely messed up!" Zatanna waved her wand irritably. "And all of this is thanks to your reckless actions!"

"I just wanted our plan to be more refined. You've been away from Gotham for too long, and you don't know how many formidable individuals have appeared in the city now..."

Zatanna let out a soft hum as she looked down from the edge of the building. Thick fog billowed up from the streets below, shrouding most of the buildings, but the rooftop of the high-rise building seemed like another world above the clouds.

Through the mist, under the neon lights casting blurry colors, and as bar signs lit up, Gotham was bathed in the hues of the evening sun.

The bar was bustling with activity. Constantine, sitting at the bar, emptied his glass of liquor. The bartender wiped a glass and smiled at him, saying, "That guy in the tight costume hasn't come to see you, has he?"

Constantine squinted and shook his head, sounding somewhat intoxicated. "He hasn't come to see me in a long time. Maybe he's found the answers he was looking for and no longer has that desperate need for divine intervention..."

"I must say, he's quite the peculiar one."

"But he's also quite the beauty," Constantine ordered another drink. As the bartender turned to mix it, Constantine added, "Drinking alone through the long night is incredibly dull..."

The bartender chuckled, handing him the drink. "Well, you've come to the right place. The Golden Goblet Bar has a very talented magician performing tonight. You'll get to see her in a moment, and she's quite the beauty herself..."

"Magician?" Constantine scoffed. "I don't have a high opinion of them. They're just charlatans with fancy names..."

Turning his head, Constantine saw a woman in a cloak and a hat, amidst the cheers of the crowd, making her entrance. She walked around the bar's seats, showing her empty hat to everyone.

Then, in the next moment, she pulled out a wand and lightly tapped the hat. With a "whoosh," several bats flew out of it, instantly igniting the entire place with excitement.

The female magician then produced a handful of playing cards, elegantly displaying them to the crowd as she circled the room. In the next moment, she tossed the cards into the air and, with a flick of her wand, the cards exploded into a shower of cigarette flowers, sending cheers reverberating through the entire bar.

Constantine coughed forcefully a few times, put down his glass in a fluster, and said to the bartender, "I better be going. If anyone asks, just say you've never seen Constantine before..."

After finishing his drink, he adjusted his trench coat and began to move along the edge of the bar, attempting to exit through the bar's back door. However, before he could reach the exit, the door was blocked by the entrance to a utility room.

The female magician from earlier leaned against the wall, holding her hat in one hand and her wand in the other, giving Constantine a cold smile.

"Uh, Little Zat, what a coincidence to see you here too. Your magic performance was fantastic, I've never seen such a dazzling magic show. Well, I have some business to attend to, so I'll be on my way..."

Constantine tried to leave, and Zatanna didn't stop him. She simply turned her wand in her hand and said, "No relationship, you can certainly leave, but perhaps tomorrow, the rumor of you trying to run a tab on me in the bar will spread throughout the entire Mysticism realm..."

Constantine reluctantly halted and turned to face Zatanna. "What are you doing in Gotham? It's dangerous here, and weren't you on a world tour performing magic? Why have you returned so soon?"

"Of course, it's because of something important," Zatanna put her hat back on and tilted her head toward Constantine. "Let's find a place to talk; this is a significant matter."

Soon, the two of them were sitting back at the bar. Constantine raised his glass and asked, "What's so urgent that it has genius magician Zatanna Zatara in such a rush? Didn't you say you'd never see me again?"

"John, I'm not joking with you. Haven't you had a sense of it? Have you not noticed that in recent years, many prominent figures in the Mysticism realm have set their sights on Gotham? If I recall correctly, there was even a Ghost Mother who came here before, and many members of Mysticism families are eyeing this place..."

Constantine recalled the Ghost Mother he had dealt with, who had also collaborated with Gotham's former "Gothamchildren" king, Cooper.

"I do remember Mrs. Sanchez mentioning that Gotham is unique and holds special significance for the entire Mysticism realm."

Zatanna sighed and continued, "You should know that I come from a very famous magical family, and I have close relationships with many prominent figures in the Mysticism realm. To be honest, Mysticism has always held a belief about Gotham—that it harbors the world's most dreadful curse..."

"I don't know the formal name of this curse, but it's often referred to as the 'Curse of Extreme Evil.'"

"'Curse of Extreme Evil'?" Constantine squinted his eyes. "Whoever came up with that name certainly has a grandiose sense of self-importance. What kind of curse could be dubbed the 'Curse of Extreme Evil'?"

Zatanna nodded and said, "At first, when I heard this name, I thought they were exaggerating. Curses are just a small part of the Mysticism realm, no matter how powerful they are, they can't be that significant, right?"

"But later, some of my elders told me that the 'Curse of Extreme Evil' is said to be a universal curse..."

"The specific manifestations of this curse are not like the typical curses that render people unable to cast spells, decay their bodies, or cause instant death. The 'Curse of Extreme Evil' can affect a group of people, causing everything in their lives to develop in a negative direction, with no escape and no way to reverse it."

Constantine fell silent, and Zatanna looked at his expression. "You've sensed it, haven't you?"

"Gotham is indeed an irredeemable city. During my time here, I've come to realize that it's the dumping ground and sewer of the universe. All the evil, chaos, and madness eventually find their way here."

"As for the curse..." Constantine stared at the liquid in his glass. "The people here don't care; they're not afraid. In fact, if you tried to rid them of the curse, they'd probably think you're crazy."

"But the problem is, we can't let this curse leak out!" Zatanna emphasized. "Haven't you realized it yet? These people are looking for the source of the 'Curse of Extreme Evil' with the intention of using it for world destruction!"

She placed her glass on the table, making a clear sound. Catching Constantine's attention, Zatanna looked into his eyes and said, "I've received reliable information that many people have joined forces to come here and investigate."

"Among them are frustrated Dark Sorcerers, traitors who've left magical families, and individuals on the fringes due to severed legacies, just like Mrs. Sanchez..."

Constantine tightened his grip on his glass with his fingers for a moment and then picked it up again, bringing it to his lips. "Is the information trustworthy?"

Zatanna nodded. "During this time when you haven't been active in the Mysticism realm, if you were to re-establish contact with your old friends, you'd find that this matter has already become widely known."

"You should know that prominent independent sorcerers in the Mysticism realm, like you, who are self-taught geniuses, are just like you—unscrupulous and not entirely sane."

"They want to obtain this 'Curse of Extreme Evil' to make themselves rulers of the Mysticism realm, the emperors of magic. We must stop them!"

Constantine, however, set down his glass, gave a contemptuous snort, and said, "It's you and those noble magical families who are afraid that they'll use the 'Curse of Extreme Evil' on you, isn't it?"

"Zatanna, you're always like this, appearing righteous, but I've said it before—magic is never something that can be used to save the world."

"You and those self-proclaimed noble magical families only want to protect yourselves, uphold your noble bloodlines, and maintain your superior status..."

Zatanna turned her head away and said, "So, are you willing to help me or not?"

Constantine drained the last of the liquid in his glass. He placed it heavily on the table and said, "Tell me about your plan."

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Next Chapter>>Chapter 936: In the Depths of Misty Rain (Part Eleven)