In the valley of Greenwich, Constantine and his group discovered the secluded dark tomb of Deadman Boston·Brand. Constantine crouched at the entrance of the cellar's wooden door, grabbed the handle, and knocked. After a short while, a pale hand extended out from the tomb.
Deadman Boston stuck out half of his body. On seeing Constantine's face, the tomb's door slammed shut with a loud "thud".
"You're less welcome than I thought," Red Robin commented.
"I'm used to being rejected," Constantine shrugged off, unbothered. He continued to knock on the door, shouting, "Boston, old buddy, you need to open the door for us, or I'll have Jim smash this place into pieces!"
"Don't listen to him, I wouldn't do such a thing." The Master of the Dark Night, Jim, approached and squatted by the door, saying, "Mr. Deadman, we indeed need your help, but it all falls within your capabilities."
A few seconds later, the door opened again. Boston stood in the passageway, his eyes emitting a faint blue light. He nodded and said in a dull voice, "Come in."
Constantine was the first to jump into the underground tunnel, followed by the Master of the Dark Night, Jim, and Bennett, who had turned into a bat. Red Robin felt some hesitation; he didn't think jumping into someone else's grave was very polite. But when he jumped in reluctantly, he discovered an entirely different world inside.
Through the long and dark underground tomb passage, they found a fully equipped modern apartment, even fitted with windows for lighting. Outside the windows, all sorts of space fragments floated around.
"This is a space crevice," Constantine whispered an explanation to Red Robin behind him, "Most of the Mage Towers of the Grand Mages are located within space crevices because only this way can they live long enough. Like that foolish Kaz who built a house over a real-world tomb, he would have been beaten up by debt collectors long ago."
Red Robin nodded, noting this clue. Deadman Boston invited them to sit on the sofa and poured them each a glass of water.
Red Robin carefully observed this robust man. His skin was pale and greenish, his body muscles smooth, he seemed to have undergone specialized training. His dark circles were quite obvious, his gaze was somewhat hollow, and most importantly, he had no body temperature. He truly resembled a dead man.
"What do you need from me?" His demeanor and expression were very dull, utterly lifeless, which was quite chilling.
"Kaz has been taken away. It could be the work of the Blood Clan's Demon Sect, or it could even be the Blood Queen Mary acting of her own accord. His contract partner, Skeleton king, can't reach him either. So we hope that you could track him down and bring him back."
"Is it necessary?" Deadman Boston seemed uninterested. He seated himself on a single sofa by the fireplace and said, "When Kaz was still an apprentice, he pushed his classmates off a cliff and hid their bodies for experiments. His teacher, old and dim-sighted, thought that he had found a particularly gifted apprentice for necromancy."
"We all know that he's bad news." Jim shook his head, "But this is different. He's been promoted to Grand Mage. If he is taken away by vampires and brutally killed, there will be another bloodbath in the magical realm."
"They came for me." Bennett began, "John saved me once again. He dug me out from the Cemetery of Ten-Thousand Spirits before they could take me."
"It's not that simple." Boston speculated, "If they wanted to force Kaz to reveal your location, there's no need to take him away."
Everyone furrowed their brows, as Boston clearly knew more than they did. He sighed lightly and said, "You might think that necromancy is related to death, but on the contrary, the power in necromancy is life force, which is why it can allow bone skeletons without life to stand again."
"This is also why the Kings of the Undead in Hell always live in isolation and do not interact with demons. They have nothing to do with violence or destruction. What they possess and continue to seek is life force, and it is the same for necromancers who have received their powers."
"Everybody knows that vampires can draw energy from human blood, but few know how they extract this energy. Perhaps, even they don't know."
Bennett narrowed his brows slightly and noticed that everyone was looking at him. He gently shook his head, saying, "I became a vampire accidentally, without any family inheritance. So, I do not understand much about this matter."
Boston continued, "The power that Kaz's contract partner gave him is the power of life. He uses this life power to revive the dead. To vampires, the life force within Kaz is an extremely precious food ingredient."
Constantine narrowed his eyes slightly, but Red Robin seemed to have a flash of understanding, "Indeed, the woman who took Kaz away was behaving strangely. In the end, she cut open Kaz's cheek, causing his blood to splash onto the window. But doing this only leaves more clues for the pursuers, unless..."
"Unless she wanted to have a taste earlier." Bennett continued, "I know Mary. She's not one who can resist the allure of power. She tasted Kaz's blood, hence decided to take him away."