A small glass bottle was placed to the right of the plate, containing Zatanna's soul. It was obvious that even confined in the bottle, Miss Magician was still brimming with astonishing vitality, she looked at Constantine with a very worried expression.
Clearly, Zatanna had woken up earlier than Constantine. She had witnessed everything Shiller had done.
She couldn't say that the two demons fighting on Constantine's body had started on a bad note, because that's just how demons are; magicians should be used to it by now. However, if it hadn't been for their fierce and combative nature, the food on the plate wouldn't have exuded such an obvious evil aura, and she would have almost nowhere to hide in the bottle.
Zatanna was always full of sympathy, even after being turned into a vampire. Despite struggling to protect herself, she still found the time to worry about Constantine's situation.
This time, that damn jerk was probably not going to get away unscathed, but even at this point, Zatanna couldn't say this was completely a good thing. She knew Constantine well, if he had never gotten involved in vampire affairs, neither Zatanna's nor Zan's soul would have ended up here.
She felt he couldn't bluff his way out this time, Zatanna thought, because his opponent was not Batman, but was much more troublesome than Batman.
Yet Constantine seemed still unfazed, his hands hung naturally by his side, completely indifferent to the ropes tied around him, and he even clicked his tongue and asked, "Got a cigarette?"
"Do you need a cigarette to talk?"
"What would you like me to say?" Constantine sniffed, the plate's grapes released a tantalizing spice aroma, mixed with that odd meat smell and the evil aura a magician could sense. This was a challenge for Constantine's olfactory system.
He was the kind of person who settles a meal with a sandwich, having never smelled such complex food aromas before.
"I won't demand you disclose all your information like Batman because I know you'll never tell me everything. You can choose what you can say, consider it a compensation for this meal," said Shiller.
Shiller's demeanor was incredibly genial, so much so that Constantine could hardly see a trace of the monster who had just slammed him against the wall and slit his throat like a truck.
The three-piece suit he wore was worth at least ten thousand US Dollars, the Swordfish Brooch perhaps made of platinum, and the blood on it had been wiped clean. The silk of the tie reflected a covert light, knotted perfectly in a Windsor, just like his Adam's apple.
Constantine chuckled softly, "It's not just about thanking you for the meal, it's not like I often get to sit at the same table with a big shot like you."
Those were serious words, and had his eye contact not been so direct, it might have sounded like a decent compliment. But, considering this man was John Constantine, it sounded more like a flirtation.
Shiller sighed gently, "I'm not fond of threatening people with something, but your companion is still in the bottle and considering his situation, you might want to fish your brain out of the pool of crappy yellow ideas."
Constantine stiffened slightly, he turned to look at the glass bottle where Miss Magician sat cross-legged, her elbow propping up her chin as if she was waiting to see how he would screw up.
"Looks like he doesn't need my help," Constantine said, "He's used to not being able to count on me."
"Is that so? I think this bottle would make a fine spice container, and roasted goat's hooves go well with a bit of pepper."
"Stop! Okay, you win," Constantine's head shake resembled that of a dog hastily trying to shake off water from its ears.
"I don't know who the King of Vampires is," Constantine said, "I'm not lying to you, because knowing exactly who it is wouldn't benefit me. If Batman found out, he might read my mind, so I simply choose not to know."
"But I know something about this vampire revival, what's your view on the theory of lineage?"
"No particular opinion."
"Well, I don't think you're that boring of a person. I can give you an example, a rooster with red feathers and a hen with blue feathers had a chick with both red and blue feathers."
"So this flock thinks, if I find a hen with orange feathers to mate with the chick that has the two-colored feathers, wouldn't they then produce a chick with red, blue, and orange feathers? By this logic, eventually, they'd breed a Phoenix."
"The King of Vampires is that Phoenix."
Shiller was predictably silent.
"I know it sounds very stupid to anyone with a normal sense of science, but vampires are a very special breed, and this method has certain operability for them," Constantine recalled, and after a while, began to speak, "The Blood Clan mainly splits into two factions, the Dracula faction originates from Cain and is inherently able to use shadow magic because of their bloodline."
"Bloody Queen Mary is another kind of vampire, more a contractor of blood magic than a vampire. They drink blood not to fill their bellies, but to gain immense power."
"These two vampire factions have always been at odds with each other; this is also where the human race derived the legends of the Secret Party and Demon Party."
"Because Dracula's faction consists of bloodline vampires, they do not need to feed daily—feeding once every month or two suffices. Shadow Magic does not possess strong offensive capabilities; transforming into a bat is perhaps their most renowned ability. Due to their ancient heritage, they have their own societal rules, resembling what the legends refer to as the Secret Party."
"On the other hand, the faction that Queen Mary contracted with is that of Lilith, this crazy woman. To gain more power, she frenziedly feeds on blood, and her descendants have inherited this madness. They can capture dozens of humans in a single night for a blood feast."
"As they are inherently insane and have not been around for long, all members are young yet possess great power, hence they act recklessly, completely unhinged, resembling what humans know as the Demon Party from the legends."
"The conflict between the two parties has consumed a significant number of vampires, effectively curbing the rampant growth of the Demon Party, thus preventing major upheavals in human society."
"But just like it's written in human vampire romance novels, a young man from the Secret Party fell in love with a girl from the Demon Party. The marriage was strongly opposed by both their families, but their story didn't end as tragically as Romeo and Juliet's. The couple fled to a small city in the East, settled down there, and even had a child."
"Later, the couple died in an accident, leaving the child behind. As he grew up, he discovered not only could he use Shadow Magic, but he also mastered some of the powers of Blood Magic."
Upon hearing this, Shiller slightly furrowed his brow.
"That brings us to the principle of magic..." Constantine deliberately drew out his words, then moved his arms saying, "These bindings are a bit uncomfortable, could you untie them first?"
Shiller walked over and untied the ropes binding him, but at the same time, he said, "I think you don't have to worry too much. This is your home, and I'm merely a guest."
"You'd better truly realize that," Constantine said, rubbing his neck where there were two distinct bruises. When he touched them, he gasped in pain.
"Ordinary people always envy magicians, thinking magic can do anything, but in reality, it's not so simple. Without the power owner's consent, you can't use any magic."
"There have been ordinary scientists who tried to use modern technology to produce enough energy to emulate the effects of magic, but the truth is, while you can power a cleaning robot with this energy to clean, you'll never be able to perform cleaning magic, because you don't have the magic permit for it."
"This permit can come in many forms. For example, the elves of Malt World have various strange bloodlines, some of which were personally created by God, serving as their permits."
"Originally, the human race also had a creation bloodline from God, but since Adam and Eve were expelled from Eden, it's as if God revoked the magic permit of all their descendants. To regain the permit for Holy Magic, one needs to hold a significant position in the Church or be devout enough."
"Contracting with demons is like obtaining a permit from them, though the cost is quite high. However, it's not too bad since giving out a permit is easy, but taking it back is difficult."
"For example, I have magic permits from almost all the Demon Kings of Hell, so although I'm notorious in Hell and almost no one wants to lend me power, I can still live off my reserves as a magician."
"Usually, this permit cannot be given or transferred by force; you may be able to steal powers or magical tools, but not the permit, as only the source of the power can grant it."
"From this perspective, having a child from the two vampire parties who holds both types of magic permits is quite astonishing. Many have made contracts with demons, but I've never heard that marrying each other allows the offspring to inherit both parents' permits automatically—it's just not possible, otherwise, if Little Zha and I were to marry and have children, our child would be invincible, right?"
Whithin the bottle, Zatanna knocked on the glass, signaling Constantine to mind his manners. Constantine casually smiled at her and said, "Whether the child is powerful doesn't really matter."
"Cough, I'm a bit hungry." Constantine picked up some cutlery, sliced off a tiny bit of meat, picked up the glass bottle, and stuffed it through the bottle's mouth.
Zatanna initially showed distaste, but Constantine said, "This is good for restoring your soul energy, eat it."
Zatanna reluctantly took a bite and showed a surprised expression. Her voice came from inside the bottle, "I know you're using me to test poison, but thanks anyway."
"You should thank the chef." Constantine put down the bottle and began to eat heartily, continuing as he ate.
"Unfortunately, one day this child with two types of magic was discovered by Bloody Queen Mary, who captured him and demanded to know how he possessed these powers. Being very young, he didn't hide anything and told the truth."
"Mary immediately realized this could be a chance for vampires to rise because if vampires could pass down their own magic permits through union, then no magician on Earth would be their match."
"So, before the Dracula faction could react, Mary began her Blood Clan reproduction plan..."
"If I'm not wrong, this plan didn't go smoothly, right?" Shiller asked.
Constantine chuckled darkly and said, "On the contrary, at the beginning, the plan went too smoothly, which gave Mary an illusion, prompting her to do even more foolish things."