Pale-faced Zatanna was pinned to the ground, Mary walked up to her, scratching her face with her sharp nails, then put her fingers in her mouth, savoring the taste of the blood.
"This foolish girl fell for our trap, believing her uncle's lies, teleporting directly to the family's dwelling, falling right into our hands."
Constantine's gaze fell on the inside of Zatanna's right arm, where there was a blood-red rune, a control spell often used by the Blood Clan, igniting the fury in his heart.
He knew, It must have been Zatanna's weak relatives who betrayed her, and they must have told the Blood Clan about Zatanna's weaknesses - antilanguage magic requires both speech and gestures. Once she was silenced, she was defenseless.
The vampires used runes to seal her voice, which was why they were able to capture her. Constantine took a deep breath and asked Mary, "What exactly do you want to do?"
"Mr. Constantine, I've heard much about you." Mary took another step forward, but it was Bennett who stood up and shouted, "Mary, let the girl go. Our grievances should not involve the innocent!"
Mary let out a cold laugh, cast Bennett a quick glance with her blood-red eyes, then moved her gaze back to Constantine, "I did indeed come looking for my foolish husband, but I was actually looking for you. He knew where you were, John Constantine."
"That really is strange." Constantine coldly looked at her, took a cigarette from his pocket and lit it, then after blowing out a puff of smoke he said, "Most people are more than happy to avoid me, but you actually want to find me. Now that you've found me, what do you want to do?"
"This young girl is important to you, so, let's make a trade, shall we? You in exchange for her."
Master of the Dark Night, Jim's eyes widened, he lowered his voice and said to Bennett beside him, "Is this woman out of her mind? What does she want with Constantine?"
"Mary's been mad for quite some time now." Bennett responded in a whisper.
Mary stepped forward again, almost reaching Constantine, she raised her blood-stained fingers and gently lifted Constantine's chin, "A soul filled with sin has already been redeemed. Now, young and vibrant, full of life, you are the sacrifice that the ancestor wants, Constantine, you should be honored."
"Let her go." Constantine glanced at Zatanna and said in a low tone, "No matter what you want to do, I will go with you, let Zatanna go."
Zatanna was livid, but totally unable to speak. The Master of the Dark Night looked at Constantine and said, "Don't listen to her nonsense!"
Before Mary could say another word, Constantine's will was clear: "Have your men let Miss Zatanna go, I need to see her safe before I'll go anywhere with you. Otherwise, you'll have to grapple with the Master of the Dark Night from the Forgotten Bar, and even all of Maya."
Seeing his resolute expression, Mary seemed to be weighing the pros and cons. After a while, she stretched out one hand to pin Constantine and turned her head to her men, "Let her go."
The two sturdy Blood Clansmen let go of their grip, Bennett, transformed into a bat, pulled Zatanna over, the Master of the Dark Night protected her behind him and lunged at Mary with the Night Blade.
But the next second, as the thick blood fog dispersed, Mary and the Blood Clan in the bar suddenly vanished. Bennett used his power to dispel the runes on Zatanna's arm, and she immediately broke down in tears.
"He was right...I'm going to get everyone killed...everyone... my friends, my relatives, this is the price I have to pay!"
"Zatanna, Zatanna, snap out of it!" Master of the Dark Night Jim stepped forward shook Zatanna, "Your magic talent is not limited by the demons, you have to regain your spirit, we can save the entire magic realm!"
Zatanna, pale-faced, shook her head and closed her eyes in pain, "We were all wrong, the magic realm's blind arrogance will ultimately lead to its destruction, just like me."
"Zatanna, what's going on with you?" Jim knelt down, looking straight into Zatanna's eyes, "You're not usually like this, John's been taken away, and you've got to figure out how to save him!"
Zatanna, slowly clenching her fist, recalled the scene in Gotham's rainy night before she teleported back to London.
In her cello case weren't the usual magic props, but stack upon stack of research materials, or rather the chemical information of a certain toxin formula.
That was what Zatanna had found in Jonathan Crane's lab at Arkham Mental Hospital, and just two days ago, she had nearly killed him with her antilanguage magic.
During her dealings with Crane, Zatanna gradually noticed something off about him. She discovered that this learned and talented professor of chemistry and psychology wasn't as gentle as he seemed.
Curiosity is the best teacher. Zatanna, self-taught, learned the skills of a detective. Or rather, her too-convenient antilanguage magic had helped greatly. Without much effort, she found out why Jonathan Crane had been admitted to Arkham.
He masterminded the mass disappearance case in the Morson district, killing more than forty innocent people.
Enraged, Zatanna stormed into Jonathan's office at Arkham Mental Hospital and wounded him, but Jonathan just laughed and said to her, "This is the price to pay for saving Gotham."
Mrs. Miller rushed in and took Jonathan away, leaving Zatanna feeling betrayed and sleepless, constantly thinking about the words Jonathan had said to her.
In the end, driven by her emotions, she returned to Jonathan's laboratory two days later to understand what he meant by "the cost".
She found countless pieces of information related to human experiments in Jonathan's lab. Jonathan was experimenting with his chemical compounds on living humans and eventually produced a toxin that could cause insanity when added to Gotham's rainfall.
But it wasn't a poison, it was an antidote.
From Jonathan's manuscripts, Zatanna learned that a toxin existed in Gotham's rainfall that would slowly corrode not just humans, but also animals and plants, driving them insane.
The antidote Jonathan had created, when introduced into Gotham's water cycle, would instantly drive insane all humans and animals affected by the toxin, but it could force the rainwater toxin out of their bodies and even generate antibodies, freeing them from the toxin's problems.
Yes, this was the trap that Jonathan initially set for Batman. He wanted Batman to mistaken his antidote for poison, then discover the truth that he was actually saving Gotham. But unfortunately, at that time, Batman had just returned from Hell and thanked him.
The villains of Gotham who couldn't keep up with the times finally found another hero who couldn't keep up with the times. The trap Jonathan had set didn't entrap Batman but shocked Zatanna greatly.
Zatanna didn't think Jonathan was entirely innocent, nor did she believe the people of Gotham deserved to be test subjects. It was just that what Jonathan did made her start to ponder whether the means or the ends are more important.
Is it wrong for Jonathan to attain great goals through vile means? Is it certainly right for her to harm others indiscriminately for the sake of justice?
The same issues that had plagued Batman were now troubling Zatanna, yet her luck was worse. The Blood Clan, who had their eyes on this extraordinarily unique Daughter of Destiny, had infiltrated Zatanna's family grounds. Utilizing her relatives, they deceived her into returning home and captured her.
Zatanna, already under stress, faced the betrayal of her relatives, followed by Constantine being taken away because of her. Shiller at least gave Batman some time to think, but Zatanna was on the verge of collapse after this relentless series of assaults.
While Jim and others were busy consoling Zatanna, Red Robin stepped behind the counter alone and pulled out a small display screen from his coat pocket.
The screen flickered for a while, then a dimly lit room appeared, Lilith asked in Red Robin's mind: "What are you doing?"
"Times have changed," Red Robin shook the display screen in his hand, "I bet the female vampire coming from the 16th century and the even older vampire progenitor have no idea what a tracking device is."
"Did you put a bug on your own teacher?" Lilith's tone always implied amusement.
"More than that, each of them carries more than one set of surveillance devices, hidden in three layers. Even if they get stripped naked, there are nanoscale monitors and trackers hidden in their hair."
Saying this, the previously crouching Red Robin sat down on the ground, leaning against the bar wall and started operating the screen in his hand, muttered to himself: "Let me see... It seems their headquarters is in Plymouth, they've returned there. Oh, is that Cain?"
Red Robin's gaze focused on the screen, and from the viewpoint of the surveillance device hidden on Constantine, a man in a suit with body misted in blood fog gradually descended to the center of the room.
His long dark hair fluttered behind him, his blood-colored eyes filled with coldness and cruelty. He moved with the grace and elegance of a noble, while the Blood Clan at his feet hailed his name, "Progenitor Cain!"
"What's going on? Shouldn't you be the progenitor of the vampires?" Red Robin asked Lilith in his mind.
"It's a long story," Lilith sighed lightly, "he and I are of the same blood. When he fell into the heart of the Red Sea, I gave him my blood and the way to control fresh blood. His descendants inherited the bloodline and magic, becoming today's Blood Clan."
"So, he stole your position as progenitor?"
"Your attempts to sow discord are rather crude, boy. Besides, it's not a pleasant title. If he likes it, he can keep it."
Red Robin fell silent. He continued to stare at the screen. By this time, Constantine had been thrown in front of Cain.
Constantine struggled to rise from the ground but did not stand up. Instead, he sat down on the spot, shakily took out a cigarette, took a puff, and blew out a smoke ring.
Without even looking at Cain, he continued to smoke on his own and rasped out.
"I knew you'd come to settle the score. Come on, Cain, drain my blood and avenge the hundreds of graves I've desecrated this past year to collect casting materials."