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Chapter 104: For God's sake!! VII
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Raven instantly appeared before him and teleported him away, and the first thing he said was, "God, Constantine is such a good friend, isn't he?"
"... He should be hating his life right now," Raven remarked.
"Nah, I'm sure he'll make the best out of the situation." Ian frowned soon after, "Am I forgetting something? Oh, right?"
He waved his hand, bringing something, or this time someone out of his dimension. It was Jason's blood, a thin line between the man and death.
Since Ian planned the whole thing, then of course he wouldn't let Jason die, he is one of his goals after all.
He even went as far as to construct a small area in the back rose dimension where there is oxygen lest the man ends up dying due to him.
Ian acted quick, crouching down beside the man who has become an old man. He brought one of his hands to Jason's head and started giving away his life force.
Another portion of his life force was delivered to his staff, focusing specifically on the third Vessel. From it burst a blinding golden radiance, enveloping Jason.
"Is that magic?" Raven curiously asked, eyeing the fourth vessel where odd chaotic energy was swimming about, "You really got it."
"Of course. Etrigan is that much of a monster that absorbing his energy for such a short time granted me what I want."
"Such a monster was played by you like nothing... He was weak." Raven noted, seemingly comprehending a certain truth of the universe.
"Everything is relative. Everything is circumstantial. If we face him in hell or under different conditions, we'd certainly lose. We won't even have a chance."
Ian nodded with a smile as if what he had just achieved wouldn't astound even the greatest of magicians and demons.
"Not just that, you gained more than you gave away." Raven's eyes traveled to another vessel. There lie two faint energies, one he was using right now.
The energy of light which he gained a sample of from Imogen, and after a lot of time of multiplying it, he was able to assimilate it into the staff.
The other was a cloud of darkness, a strange energy that Raven could clearly sense reeks of evil.
"Yeah, demons are very generous." Ian chuckled with clear appreciation in his eyes. Etrigan would've been seething if heard his words, hell, he would've had a heart attack.
"I still have so many questions. You told me you'd show me a live example of all of your advice, but I still don't understand many things."
"Then let me solve your doubts..." Ian signaled to her to take a seat, and he began explaining without stopping the healing and age reversal process.
He did take Jason's life force away, so it'd only make sense for him to return it. At least, the wound was healing quickly, and Jason was no longer in a dangerous state.
It all started a long time ago. Ian wanted to find Jason Blood long ago not only to learn magic, demonology, and plenty of other knowledge from him but also to make a deal with Etrigan.
Etrigan, a demon prince of Hell who was bound to a mortal, Jason Blood. They have walked the Earth, and the depths of Hell together for over a millennium.
As a demon prince of hell, he was naturally one of Ian's friends with the latter seeking him for charity. Unfortunately, Jason wasn't found for a while.
The letters delivered by the Roses' messengers told him of Jason's location. The Roses' network information never sleeps, it's always working on finding something or someone.
And Ian was waiting for just that. He changed his plans from making a deal with Etrigan to allowing the latter to deliver himself to his doorsteps for charitable purposes.
Ian's understanding of magic despite not being able to use it was astounding, horrifying even.
That was why he was able to converge several spells into one grand spell personally constructed by Raven, and powered by the magic tank.
It was a sacrifice he was willing to make for the greater good, and is there a greater good than sending a demon prince back to his lair? Of course, there is, and Ian plans to achieve them all.
He could've assimilated the fully condensed magical energy into the staff there and then, but he didn't. Instead, he assimilated light energy and initiated the plan.
Etrigan is a master of deception no doubt. He was an intelligent demon, and he lived within Jason, bound to his soul by Merlin himself, so how can Ian deceive such a demon?
Well, Ian didn't, he deceived Jason Blood instead. The pieces of papers delivered to the man were encrypted and mostly written in the demonic language.
They were all combined to state a bizarre message, parts of which insinuated the location, another spoke of the rewards, and the last told the task though the latter was much more mysterious and obscure than the rest.
Still, Jason figured something out to the effect of they want the darkness within someone to leave, permanently... It warned of the danger, and the great possibility of death, but freedom was very much the focus of the message.
The reward was something Jason couldn't refuse because it might just give him exactly what he wants, freedom. Jason just wanted release from his misery, especially after he recently found the truth...
The payment was the book of eternity and all the knowledge held by the task giver.
Jason had no reason to not trust the letters because all the signs led him to believe the task to be legit.
He was obviously trying to separate from the demon within him, and the latter didn't seem to mind, allowing him to reach out for a possible solution, just like he had done many times before.
Etrigan wanted him to try, if he succeeds, then good for both of them, if not, then he can have some entertainment for himself, laughing at the amusing despair of mortals.
It was not just Jason who wants freedom, Etrigan also desire it. He wasn't counting on the book of eternity though, he was more counting on the being who can acquire such a magical book.
Things weren't too hard from there as Jason walked into the hidden trap on his own accord.
Ian's studies were focused on several specific fields just to make sure everything goes well, and things don't fail before they even start, making sure Etrigan won't be able to sense the trap.
Raven had plenty of darkness in her, a distraction so that they can assume her to be the task target.
A few confusing and distracting words were spoken before Ian further add, speaking the keywords and hugging Jason... All the latter had to do was to think things in reverse, and everything became clear to him.
The darkness to be solved was the darkness within him, not the one within Raven. The price was something Jason will have to pay, either by the book of Eternity or his knowledge of spells and occultism.
The process was dangerous because banishing Etrigan off him can lead to his death among other things, but the word freedom was reverberating within his mind, and he was willing to clutch to that sliver of hope, entrusting his life to a stranger.
The pragmatic side of him told him that Ian wants his knowledge, so he should keep his word. That side of him also got a gist of Ian's plans when the latter stabbed him with the staff.
He realized why Ian didn't tell him anything about the plan. This type of separating method was something Jason attempted many times, but Etrigan never allowed it to go through one way or another.
The reason being is the state of the demon after the process. Losing some of their powers was the least of their concern.
In the end, the demons will be the ones to suffer with permanent effects. It's just never worth it for any demon, unless it's a last result of course.
Ian basically forced the demon to voluntarily leave after devouring much of his powers.
The cost was naturally terrifying for demons, so Ian can be sure that he just became Etrigan's most hated being by far. Ian's last words were just to make Constantine share bits of that hatred.
"I... You... Huh?" Raven just sat there, her mind boggled, stalling like never before. The gears and the cogs were turning, but the clock was still. Ian has just achieved a form of time manipulation with words alone...