For a long time, the DC Magic realm seemed very orderly. The contracts mages signed with Demon Gods appeared proper and the power hierarchy was clearly defined. Various organizations were running smoothly. On the surface, it seemed like a remarkably civilized society.
Constantine, however, was the dregs left out by this civilized society. He was a notorious scoundrel and trickster in the magic circle. For a period, he could even be called a Humiliation to the Human race.
But this was not truly because he was very bad. Although Constantine was a scoundrel, known for lies and a messy personal life, from the perspective of the Human race, he was still a good person. So why did his reputation become so tarnished?
Generally speaking, the orderliness of the DC Magic realm was false, because it wasn't established by Humans, but by Demons and Angels. They needed this order to exploit humans, so naturally, they would maintain the stability of this society.
Constantine did not follow the order of this society. Instead, he deceived Demons and Angels. Therefore, Demons and Angels naturally would try to smear Constantine's reputation among their followers.
Constantine lacked formal psychological and sociological education, especially sociology. Over time, he began to believe he was the bad guy in the Magic realm and the things he did were indecent and shameless.
However, there was a difference between him and Strange. Strange had a good teacher. As he said himself, The Ancient One was the most powerful Supreme Magician in history. She was like a polestar in the Marvel Magic World, physically defeating most of the Demon Gods who intended to target Earth.
Consequently, the situation was reversed. The defeated Demon Gods had to praise The Ancient One to conceal their own weakness, and so the title of the Supreme Magician started to spread across the cosmos.
Setting aside Shiller's influence on Strange, even in magic alone, when Strange started learning, he knew that his teacher was one of the most prominent leaders in the Universal Magic World, and he was the only direct disciple of the most potent sect. No matter what he did, it was justified.
That's why he didn't feel any guilt when cheating those Demon Gods. He even felt a kind of pity and salvation—for if he didn't deceive these Demon Gods, they'd have to face a beatdown from The Ancient One. Although he siphoned off some energy from them, he was actually helping them to save their precious lives. Shouldn't they thank him?
This difference in mentality made Constantine still feel guilt about his tricks to deceive Demons and Angels, even though he had become a righteous character. He had been worrying for days about how to teach these base methods to his students. Isn't teaching someone fraudulent techniques setting a bad example?
Although he had tricked children as well, small-scale pranks and a large-scale organized class teaching these deceptive methods were different. Constantine was genuinely concerned that he wouldn't be able to talk about these techniques in class and was more worried that if he fluently taught these fraudulent techniques, he might be killed by the parents who discover the truth.
Then he met Strange, invited by Shiller. To give Strange an overview of the cosmic magic, Shiller introduced Strange to Constantine and also brought in Zatanna. The two then gave Strange a crash course on the Magic system in their universe.
"So, essentially, the magic in your universe is also borrowed?" Strange asked, while looking at the introduction within the book that Constantine had given him.
Constantine nodded and said, "Is it the same in your place? I thought there was a place where no borrowing was needed, it appears everyone is quite similar."
"However, there are some differences between your place and ours." Strange frowned and said, "Don't you have a universal energy? That is, energy that can be converted into any other energy?"
After exchanging a glance, Constantine and Zatanna shook their heads and said, "There's no such thing. The power of every Demon and Angel is different, and what they can do is different. If you want to do something, you have to summon the corresponding Demon."
"What about contracts? Aren't you supposed to contract a specific Demon? If you contracted a particular Demon, how can you use the power of another Demon?"
"Equivalent exchange." Whilst writing and sketching on a piece of paper, Constantine explained, "For instance, I am the agent of Beelzebub, the Hell demon king. I have obtained the Power of Gluttony from him, but now I want to use the Power of Flame that can ignite everything. Therefore, I have to summon the Lava Demon King who controls the Power of Flame."
"After I summon him, he will realize through the mark in my soul that I'm a follower of Beelzebub. He will then trade with me. In Hell, Beelzebub's station is significantly higher than the Lava Demon King, so the Power of Gluttony is greater than the Power of Flame. One unit of Gluttony power can be exchanged for 3.3 units of Flame power."
"But if you want to use the Power of Flame, the Lava Demon King needs his cut as well. So, in the end, for 1 unit of Gluttony power you can only get 2.7 units of Flame power."
"Then, who is the price paid to?"
"Both parties have to pay. When you obtain 1 unit of Power of Gluttony, you have to pay 1 unit of cost to Beelzebub, and after summoning the Lava Demon King and exchanging the Power of Flame, you have to pay the cost of 3.3 units of Flame power to the Lava Demon King."
"What a shitty rule!", said Strange in disbelief.
He paused in thought, held up a hand to stop Constantine and Zatanna from going further, and grabbed a piece of white paper and a pen from the table. While writing, he spoke.
"After summoning Beelzebub and signing a contract with him, you need to pay him at a 1:1 ratio, right?"
Both of them nodded in agreement.
"If I want to use the power of another demon king, I would have to summon them, and exchange my power with theirs in a dynamic ratio, but they would charge a tax, right? In other words, the original strength of the power is 1:3, but at the time of exchange, 1 unit of power can only be exchanged for 2.5 units."
The two nodded again in agreement.
"When exchanging power, I have to re-pay the entity I'm exchanging with, and it's based on the pre-tax price, right?"
Constantine nodded and said: "You've summed it up well, that's pretty much it."
"If I want to use the Power of Flame, why don't I directly contract with the Lava Demon King? After all, I'll have to pay the same price anyway."
"But Beelzebub wouldn't allow you to break the contract." Zatanna stared at Strange with wide eyes and said: "If you want to break the contract, you have to pay all the costs you've paid before again. And your soul can't attain freedom. After death, it will still belong to Beelzebub. If you offend him, you'd be tortured after death."
Strange was left utterly speechless, he glanced at the two people across him, then looked down at the document in his hand, wondering who was insane.
"And there's another key point. If you haven't made a contract with Beelzebub, which is a demon of a higher level than the Lava Demon King, then lower level demons will not respond to your summons and trade power with you."
"Why?"
"Because there's no one backing up your credit." Constantine shook his head: "If you don't have a contract with a big devil, how would other demons know if you'll default on your debt or not? Only when it's clear where your soul will go after death, and the demons are sure they can definitely recoup their costs, will they lend you their power."
"Bullshit!" Strange cursed again, he put his hands in his pockets and frustratingly said: "Who initially set these rules? Did he get kicked in the head by a donkey?"
Constantine heaved a deep sigh: "Actually, this is just the surface of the rules..."
Strange's eyes widened instantly, his face displayed a blatant "There's more???"
Zatanna took the lead this time. Miss Magician seemed rather helpless, she rested her hands on the edge of the table, turned her head aside, and said as if she was airing her dirty laundry: "In fact, in modern times, mages have been in a race to outdo each-other. This could be due to some young people being bewitched by demons. They believe that the higher the contract level, the more prestigious they appear, completely ignoring the fact that higher-ranking demons require higher costs."
"Most young mages don't actually need such high-level power, they don't have such formidable enemies to deal with, nor do they need very precise energy for research. The potent power they've borrowed at a great cost is often squandered."
"And the result is that young mages who are new to the field see their predecessors being powerful and carefree, so they mimic them, borrowing this powerful energy they don't even need. As more followers of these powerful demons emerge, they gain more choices."
"In later stages, many famous demons, such as the Lava Demon King who John mentioned earlier, their contracts become a high-price commodity. The human who is willing to pay more costs, can have their valuable contract."
"Many people have sacrificed the souls of their family members, even strangers, all to prove they can pay a higher cost, and be a better dog."
Strange cursed another obscenity, struggling to control his murderous intent. But he took a deep breath to adjust his emotions nonetheless. Just as he was doing so, Constantine tossed another wrench in the works.
"To make mages consume more power, forcing them to borrow more power and thereby pay more costs, demons control these mages who've lost their intellect and make them fight with other mages."
"The magic realm actually has hardly any external enemies; almost all danger comes from mages who are drenched in power and have lost control. However, if one doesn't borrow stronger power to kill these uncontrollable ones, it will lead to their own death. When it comes to life or death, mages can only let the demon king set the price."
Strange shakily pulled a chair over and sat down. He was afraid he would faint if he continued standing. He stretched out a trembling hand and placed it on the paper, asking: "...How long has it been?"
"What?"
"How long has it been in this state?!"
"It hasn't been long, just about a thousand years or so having gradually evolved to its current state..."
"Professor Strange? Professor Strange?!... Shiller! Shiller! Come quick, professor seems to have a bit of a problem acclimatizing, it looks like he's having a seizure!"