"So, you're telling me, to clutch this broken umbrella, and have faith in it that it can expel the curse within me?"
Constantine looked at the worn-out umbrella on the table that belonged to Shiller, then looked up at Shiller and said, "Even if you're not satisfied with the story I told you, you don't need to take me for a fool, do you?"
"I'm not dissatisfied with your story," Shiller shook his head," Although it's not that spectacular, it's better than nothing."
Shiller was telling the truth, that day Constantine revealed his entire plan to Batman and Shiller.
As expected, in the previous version of the story, he still had a part he wasn't completely honest about, which was the part about Lady Sanchez.
"The magic array in Cooper's room was indeed used by Ghost Mom to sacrifice children's souls, but we played a trick and cheated the demon," he said.
"At the moment, not only I and Cooper were present, but also Lauren was there, and by that time, she was already pregnant with a child in her belly. She drew an array to sacrifice the child's soul to the demon and activated it, using her own unborn child as bait to attract the demon."
"When the demon arrived, Lauren and I proposed that he should pay first, and we would offer up the sacrifice. This method is actually very common in transactions with demons, some even stuff you with power first, and then collect the debt..."
"The demon agreed, and what we demanded was for him to kill Cooper and devour his soul. It was in an instant that the demon's power filled the whole room with Cooper's body, but what the demon didn't know was that I painted another array, with Cooper being the object of sacrifice."
"The demon attracted to me by my other array, saw his offering being killed by another demon, so they started to fight. In the end, the demon brought over by the Ghost Mom was no match for the demon I attracted and was killed, turning into a pile of ashes."
Shiller and Batman, who were present, looked into each other's eyes, and remembered the ash they saw in the middle of the magic array.
"The demon I attracted didn't give me any power, nor did it eat up the sacrifice, the transaction didn't start at all, so it cursed me and returned to hell," Constantine said.
"Why did Cooper's body lose a third of its mass?" Batman asked.
"I used it to create a clone, the Ash Avatar was not a demon's creation, it was mine. But to create it, you need some...materials, so I harvested it from the spot..."
"Alright, what happened next? Why did Lady Sanchez become a demon?"
"That's because we had a little disagreement afterwards." Constantine sighed and said, "As I said before, Lauren really wanted to get out of the Dark Sacrifice and leave Gotham, but she didn't want to walk away empty-handed."
"Earlier, she had used candy to complete transactions with many children, controlling their souls. She wanted to sacrifice all these souls to the demon at once, exchange these souls for power, and leave Gotham with this power."
"This is a common practice in the eyes of the Black Magician. Due to an accident, I have also become an evil Black Magician in their eyes. So when Lauren and her lover were discussing this matter, they didn't avoid me. I overheard their entire plan."
"Because of this, I parted ways with them, but the fact that Lauren became a demon indeed had something to do with me."
"As you had seen before, we only exchanged a couple of blows in the room. Her lover was half the mage I am. He was charred before I made a real move."
"Lauren knew she was not my match, so she tried to run towards the altar. She indeed went to the altar and planned to sacrifice the souls of those children in exchange for more powerful energy."
"As I mentioned before, I have quite a few acquaintances in hell. While Lauren was running towards the altar, I quickly drew another array, summoning a demon. I asked it to be the first to respond to Lauren's summoning and inject the demon's power into her, turning her into a half-demon..."
"So, when Lauren activated the altar, the first one to respond to her was the demon who had transacted with me. And the price I offered was obviously much higher than Lauren. The demon prioritized my transaction and turned Lauren into a demon. What happened next, you already know..."
"What was the price you offered?" Batman asked.
"It's quite simple, I promised that he would get my soul after I die. As you know, I was brought near death by my biological brother's curse, and the demon noticed this. He couldn't wait to obtain my soul, therefore, he immediately fulfilled my request."
Shiller shook his head and said, "Is that demon from out of town? Doesn't he know the notorious record of you double-dealing?"
"He knows, it's just that he saw that I was about to die, and he hoped that he would be the last demon to trade with me. In that way, when it comes to contesting for my soul, he would have the upper hand."
"So, you're a hero, you saved all of Gotham's children?" Shiller asked Constantine, but Constantine shook his head less optimistically, "I'm not that noble. It's just that I knew Lauren's plan would not succeed."
"The mysterious Dark Owl Worship wouldn't let her take away all the children's souls. If that happened, Gotham would be done for, and they wouldn't allow it."
"Dark Owl Worship..." Batman muttered the name.
"Dark Owl Priest?" Constantine looked at the broken umbrella on the table with a confused face and asked, "You mean, this umbrella was made by those priests?"
"To my knowledge, the wealthy folk of the Court of the Owls are certainly incapable of crafting such an umbrella. We have already verified that a peculiar metal was incorporated into the umbrella. It can withstand the distinctive rain of Gotham and demonstrates unique resistance to magic."
Constantine hesitated before picking up the umbrella, running his hands over the metallic surface, he could feel an unusual force within it. Nevertheless, he stated, "Despite this, I doubt it could actually eliminate a curse..."
"A weapon is only as strong as its wielder."
Shiller pulled out another new umbrella from under the table. Moving his hand down from the handle, gripping the frame of the umbrella, Constantine did not have enough time to drop the broken umbrella in his hand. Seeing Shiller's movements, he had a bad feeling and he said: "Hey, wait!"
"Boom," Shiller knocked down Constantine again.
If one slowed down this action significantly, the moment that the umbrella handle touched Constantine's chin, an imperceptible gray mist entered his body.
This thin mist swiftly probed through Constantine's body and soul in an instant, and then in a corner hooked onto a cursed black fetus.
The moment the gray mist enveloped the curse, the curse began struggling fiercely. However, the umbrella in Constantine's hand flashed with a metallic gleam, causing the black curse to pause.
In that moment, Shiller's umbrella hit Constantine's chin, the new umbrella's metallic shine was even stronger. "Boom," the gray mist, along with the curse, were expelled from Constantine's body.
Shiller's figure instantly vanished, reappearing behind Constantine, trapping the gray mist harboring the curse with his hand. Larger amounts of gray mist emerged from his hand, wrapping layer upon layer onto the curse.
Then, as Constantine fell to the ground, he lifted his head to see Shiller crouched down, holding a ball of gray above his head
Constantine flipped himself over and got up from the ground, rubbing his chin and looking at the gray ball in Shiller's hand. Shiller asked him: "What are you planning to do with it?"
Constantine shook his head, stating: "This is no ordinary curse. As soon as I touch it, it will cling to me like a festering wound…"
"In theory, anything I get my hands on would be incapable of restraining it. Otherwise, I would have already extracted it... However," Constantine turned his head, looking at Shiller's umbrella, he said: "Since the metal used in this umbrella was able to expel it, it suggests that this metal can affect it. Therefore, perhaps this umbrella could serve as a vessel to contain it."
"Really?" Shiller also turned around, looking back at his umbrella. He took off the handle of the umbrella, revealing the hollow metal tube inside. He squeezed the gray ball in his other hand smaller and smaller, and like magic, stuffed the small ball into the umbrella tube.
After securing the handle on again, strands of gray mist dispersed from the umbrella pole. The gray mist returned to Shiller's body, leaving the curse fetus in the specially constructed, metallic umbrella pole.
Examining his umbrella, Shiller noticed no noticeable changes to its appearance. The curse fetus seemed to be trapped inside the umbrella, and it didn't seem to provide any additional improvements to the umbrella.
However, suddenly, as if recalling something, Shiller slid his hand down from the umbrella handle, gripping the middle part of the umbrella. He turned around, eyeing Constantine ominously.
Reaching out a hand Constantine said, "Wait, what are you planning to do? Don't come over!"
But this time, Constantine was prepared. He swung his hand and a black book appeared, followed by an invisible terrain, which promptly unfolded. A transparent magical shield protected his whole body..
Without any hesitation, Shiller waved his umbrella, thrusting upwards. "Boom," and Constantine was thrown against the wall, his shield fell, shattering into a myriad of translucent pieces.
Quite satisfied, Shiller withheld his hand and ran it on the umbrella, saying, "You'll serve as a loyal brother."
Constantine stood from the ground, coughing twice. He said, "What happened? My magic shield, how…"
"Didn't I tell you before? The metal used for this umbrella has magic-suppressing properties. Of course, that's only a part of the reason. More importantly, your brother seems to hold a grudge against you…"
"Bloody brother, he was never even born!"
"Well, he's still your brother." Shiller tapped the umbrella in his hand twice, saying, "Although it has now become my umbrella spirit, it might grow up one day and give you a good thrashing."
"Do you know? Constantine, originally, I had no interest in supernatural studies…" Shiller sat down behind the table, he said: "Those abilities I wield that seem magical aren't actually magic; their origins are different from yours."
"I also never intended to study how to trade with demons, to trade for great power, and I don't have any particular desire for magic circles, spells, or magical items. However, right now, I've found a subject I'm interested in. Take a guess, what is it?"
Constantine had a bad feeling. His eyes fell upon Shiller's umbrella again. He heard Shiller say:
"Well, this subject is, how to nurture a curse ... or rather, my new umbrella?"