Innumerable bizarre black patterns crept up from the base of the walls, their shadowy forms evoked images of all sorts of terrifying monsters.
Angela tightly gripped the gun in her hand, but it did nothing to comfort her. She understood that if such things truly existed, human modern weaponry may have no effect on them.
What she herself did not realize was that, since leaving the police academy, her arm that had never again trembled, was now slightly shaking. Her slightly sweaty palms kept her from gripping the handgun as steadily as she usually would, yet she still did her best to steady her arm, aiming at every passing shadow with her gaze.
Then, she turned her head and saw Constantine behind her. He pulled out a goblet from his chest, muttered a few incantations, and the goblet was instantly filled with clear water. Then, he picked up the Bible he'd just pulled out and began praying softly over the goblet.
After he finished his prayer, he pulled out a somewhat worn-out swaddle, dipped it in the goblet's water, then gripping the goblet, he said: "Give me your magazine."
Angela didn't move her handgun but pulled out a spare magazine from her waist, handed it to Constantine. He then raised his eyebrows and said: "I like working with people like you who are fully prepared."
Angela snorted coldly and reached to her waist again, "click," three handgun magazines appeared in her hand, all completely filled with bullets. "I've spent just as much time dealing with those sinners filled with wickedness as you have dealing with demons. Sometimes, they're even scarier than the demons."
Having said that, she watched as Constantine stirred her magazine in the goblet, wisps of white smoke began to float from the cup. When he took it out again, the magazine was very dry, as if it hadn't been immersed in water. Constantine handed the magazine back to her, saying:
"These are enchanted bullets that inflict holy damage. In a bit, I'll set up an exorcism array. During this time, you must use your gun to repel any demons daring to approach."
"The array is very fragile before it's complete. The flames of the candle, the flames on the ground, and the flames in my hand, none of them can be snuffed. If you see any shadows approaching, use this bullet to break them."
Angela's face was expressionless, she swiftly changed the magazine. "Bang", a shadow crawling on the ground was hit by a bullet. Angela heard a scream and from the spot hit by the bullet, black smoke began to rise. The shape, like a claw, shattered instantly.
Suddenly, the policewoman calmed down. Her initial panic came from the fear of the unknown, but now she found that firearms can inflict damage on these monsters, what else was there to say?
Shooting demons with enchanted bullets was just like shooting humans with normal ones, soon enough, Angela proved to the group of demons why she was hailed as one of the finest detectives on the East Coast.
Lift the gun, aim, shoot, lift the gun again, a series of movements was carried out seamlessly. Even when several shadows attacked simultaneously, the bullets fired in quick succession wouldn't miss. These shadows couldn't approach Constantine in the room.
"You've got to conserve your bullets." Constantine said as he drew the magic array on the ground: "These aren't their physical form, they're just illusions caused by the leakage of their power from hell... this is but the prelude to their attack."
Angela was shooting and listening to Constantine's rapid explanation: "To invade the world, the demons usually follow several steps, they need to infiltrate the Spirit Realm with their power first, then go from the Spirit Realm to the world. Once their power infiltration is complete, their physical bodies will appear here."
"What are the consequences?" Angela asked while shooting.
"At that time, the bullets that have only been enchanted initially, can't penetrate their bodies. You either use heavy firepower to smash their bodies, or an extremely powerful magical tool…"
"Can't we resolve them at this stage?" Angela asked.
"No, we have to wait for the moment they invade the world from the Spirit Realm. The moment they summon their invading power to forge their bodies is when they are most vulnerable. As long as we set up the trap, we can catch them all at once."
"Be careful, the invasion is about to start!" Constantine stood up, most of the magic array on the ground was complete, but in Angela's vision, the entire world darkened - all the lights were out.
The darkest hour had come.
Angela raised her gun, took a deep breath, countless shadows pounced towards her. She rolled on the ground, "bang," "bang", two shots, retreated another step backward, aimed at the shadow under her feet, "bang", another shot.
Staging a counterattack was no easy task. It wasn't just that aiming was extremely difficult in this dark state, she had to be careful not to touch the candles in the magical array underneath her feet. Even a slightly swift movement could cause the candle's flame to flicker.
Soon, Angela had fired off all the bullets in a magazine. She pulled out a second one and looked at the goblet - there was hardly any water left in it, enough to enchant just one more magazine perhaps.
Angela didn't think much of it, she simply handed the magazine to Constantine. After the enchantment was completed, Constantine handed back the magazine. The policewoman took a deep breath and said: "Maybe, I should not have involved more people. If this is our sisters' fate, then I would love to see just how frightening this so-called Hell is."
"Bang", another shadow was knocked back with an enchanted bullet. Once the final bullet was fired, Angela threw the gun away. She stared at the endless darkness and within the haze and illusions, she saw her sister Isabell gesturing to her.
Just then, with a "whoosh", a bundle of bright flames lit up, illuminating the entire room. Constantine set the swaddle on fire, the raging flame erupted, all the shadows began letting out mournful cries, frantically scurrying towards the areas without fire.
Constantine threw the burning swaddle. A gigantic fireball floated in the air, he reached out to control it, maintaining it midair, keeping those terrifying shadows from daring to approach. Then he said: "If I keep this ignited, no demon would dare to come with their real body, but once it goes out, they would still come. By then, we'll both be in danger."
"Therefore, I will extinguish it directly. At the instant when the entire room returns to darkness, the demon will descend. Get ready... he's coming!"
As Constantine's words fell, all the flames extinguished. Angela saw an extremely ugly and evil shadow hurtling towards her.
Instinctively, Angela raised her arms to block it. Suddenly, a red light lit up under her feet, and a scream came through. She turned her head and saw the evil figure bound in the magic array, followed by a horrified scream:
"Constantine! You!"
In an instant, the room brightened, the light that had completely disappeared just a moment ago was now back, as if the past darkness was just an illusion.
Constantine threw the burnt handkerchief on the ground and said, "Surprise!"
"Is it over?" Angela asked, her voice trembling. She had no energy left and staggered to sit down on Isabel's bed. Constantine sat down next to her, looking out the window at the night sky, saying, "It might be over, but such a life never ends."
Angela turned to Constantine, asking, "Do you live like this every day?"
Constantine took out a box of cigarettes from his trench coat pocket, lit one up, took a puff, then said, "More or less, or even worse, but at least I am still alive, right?"
Angela turned her head back, propped her elbow on her knee, and wiped her face with her hands, "Why is it like this? Why don't we have a choice? Why must we suffer such a terrifying curse?"
"This world is just like that, everybody has their own misfortune. So I try my best to turn this misfortune into an advantage, to stand in this world. A silver lining—this ability at least means ordinary people can't threaten you."
"Is that so?" Angela turned her head back to Constantine, her steadfast gaze had become somewhat fragile.
The recent ordeal had drained all of the stamina from this strong policewoman, causing her immense mental torture. Now, both her physical and psychological states have reached rock bottom.
"If you were normal, I would never suggest that you get involved with anything mystical. No matter how gifted or wise you are, I would only tell you to stay away."
"But for those who are born cursed, if they don't learn these things, the only end is to passively get beaten up. If you want to fight back, you can only fight violence with violence."
Constantine took a drag of his cigarette, slowly exhaled the smoke, and murmured, "Understanding this truth...cost me a great deal."
"What price?" Angela asked curiously.
Constantine looked up, surveyed the clinic room, his eyes sunken deep beneath his brow bones were partially illuminated. He said, "Metropolis indeed is one of the top cities in the world. The conditions of the mental hospitals here are much better than where I've stayed."
"You've been in a mental hospital?"
"Of course, it's a long story. Maybe you wouldn't want to hear it, but it is indeed one of the pieces of evidence proving my guilt for killing those innocents." Constantine, regaining some of his strength, stood up from the edge of the bed, loosened his tie, and said,
"You might think I'm crazy, but I miss my time there. When I was driven nearly mad by guilt and self-condemnation, I was restrained in a straight jacket, injected with useless calming drugs, beaten, and thrown on the floor."
"That must have been very painful," Angela said quietly.
"But I live for this kind of pain. If it wasn't for it reminding me that I'm still alive, I might already feel like I'm a walking corpse." Constantine turned around and walked away. Angela looked up at his eyes—their magical allure had always drawn her in, making her unconsciously indulge in them.
People always find stories with dark themes intriguing. Constantine's life was filled with such stories—mad, dark, and sorrowful, possessing a morbid charm.
Constantine bent down and exhaled a puff of smoke. Angela pulled his wrist and put the cigarette he had just smoked in her mouth. After taking a puff, she blew the smoke into Constantine's face.
Constantine gently pulled her up and leaned down to kiss her.
But at the moment their lips touched, Angela came back to her senses. She pushed Constantine away, saying, "No, wait, I... I need to stop their plot..."
Angela awkwardly turned away, planning to leave the room. She did not notice the triumphant smile at the corner of Constantine's mouth behind her.