Both Constantine and Lucifer's gaze fell on Shiller. From their expressions, Shiller knew what they were thinking. In short, it was, "You're really brave."
In fact, in his heart, he also shared the same sentiment towards Shiller's original actions. He was indeed very brave.
Setting aside other matters, when he saw an angel appear before him, the young Shiller's first reaction wasn't to scream and run or to pray, but to run up and pluck a feather from the angel. What on earth was he thinking?
"After he successfully took one of my feathers, I was surprised. It made me realize that my disguise was not perfect, but what shocked me even more was that the feather Shiller had plucked left a wound on my wing, becoming a flaw in my earthly disguise."
Constantine became more confused. He asked, "You just said you weren't injured. Why then, did the plucked feather leave a wound?"
"The wound was not caused by the absence of the feather, but rather by my perception of lacking a feather. When I believed my disguise was imperfect, it really was."
Constantine sighed, finally understanding. Was this how the Mystical World worked? It was a world incredibly driven by consciousness, where concepts and ideas could frequently matter more than reality.
A being as powerful as Lucifer could alter reality with his perceptions, his authority similar to that of game administrator, capable of modifying any aspect of reality from a higher perspective.
However, this high level of authority was a double-edged sword. When Lucifer believed he had a wound, it was as if he'd written a line of attack code then used it to attack his own defense code.
In the ensuing conflict, the attack code overrode the defense code. From the moment this belief manifested, Lucifer had a wound. To a certain extent, this showed the dangers of believing something to be real making it so, because as long as intelligent beings have emotions and human nature, there will always be thoughts they cannot control.
"Worse yet, there's no way to fool myself that the wound doesn't exist," Lucifer lamented, shaking his head.
"Why not?" questioned Constantine.
"Because he won't give me the feather back," Lucifer replied, looking at Shiller again, "No matter what I say, he refuses."
Shiller saw Constantine slowly raise a hand from under the edge of the bed, signaling a thumbs-up to him from within the shadow.
"Why didn't you just kill him then?" Constantine inquired.
He was rather familiar with Lucifer. This king of hell was no friend to the human race. In fact, like all demons, he despised humans, a sentiment that had been greatly boosted by Constantine's own actions.
The Lucifer who was once a radiant archangel in Heaven no longer existed. Now, he was as just as willing to kill as any other demon, for the lives of ordinary people meant nothing to him.
"I'm uncertain if killing him would make the feather disappear forever. If that were the case, this wound would never heal, and my disguise among people would never be perfect."
Lucifer shook his head and continued, "At first, I thought he was just a naïve kid who might like the feather and therefore wanted to keep it. So, I decided to wait and approach him again in some years. After all, humans grow up swiftly. Just a decade or so would make him an adult."
"Thanks, I understand your sense of time is infinite," Constantine retorted, sparing no sarcasm.
"Initially, I almost forgot about the incident altogether, but then I felt a mysterious summoning... I didn't recall leaving a marker for anyone, yet there was indeed a force calling me. So, I decided to go investigate it."
"Upon arrival, I found myself in a hospital. Following the trail of force through the lobby and rooms, I saw Shiller dressed as a doctor in the hallway. He seemed to be an intern at the time."
"What did you say to each other?" asked Constantine.
"I recognized him as the boy who had plucked my feather. I thought he wanted to return it, but instead he wanted to use my strength to stop a young girl from crying."
"I thought he was proposing a deal-- to return my feather if I aided him. Thus, I helped him. It appeared the girl was crying because she had attracted a demon's interest. I eradicated the demon, and that was the end of it."
Constantine turned to Shiller, now aware of what had occurred with Angela.
Angela had suddenly stopped seeing demons because Shiller had summoned Lucifer and vanquished the demon directly. Once the curse was nullified, naturally she couldn't see demons anymore.
"So, have yet to retrieve your feather, meaning Shiller hasn't paid you even though you helped him?" After saying this, Constantine shifted an amused gaze towards Shiller, and once again gave him a thumbs-up.
The main reason Constantine had survived until now was that he was a master of judgment. He knew when to cross a line with someone and when not to. He knew whose debts could be dodged and whose could not.
Lucifer was clearly on the latter list. He was no ordinary demon, and Constantine was still unclear on just how powerful he was.
"Yes, he still doesn't plan on returning my feather, but he suggested a different way to repay me."
"What is it?" Shiller asked with squinted eyes.
"He said he could provide me with many intriguing trinkets."
"What are they?" Constantine asked with a hint of confusion.
"At that time, I had no idea either, but I was somewhat curious, so I let him do his thing. Not long after, he brought me a human soul. He said it was the soul of a serial killer."
"I have seen too many human souls. I am not one of those devils in Hell that need to absorb souls to maintain my strength. Devouring the souls of other creatures holds no meaning for me."
"But he told me that the interesting part of this soul wasn't the soul's energy, but the soul's memories. I could see many intriguing stories there, including those detailing exactly how this murderer committed his bloody crimes."
"At that time, my bar business hit a bottleneck and it was the off-season. I was bored. I thought this kind of entertainment was better than nothing, so I swallowed the soul and watched its memories."
Lucifer leaned back in his chair and looked at the ceiling with a bit of a sigh, saying: "I must admit, your human race always comes up with diverse ways to torment each other."
"Some of the methods of committing crime were even surprising to me. Sometimes, I would assume the perspective of the murderer and watch how the hideous human souls struggle. Sometimes, I would also assume the point of view of the detective and examine how the murderer commits the crime from a human perspective."
Constantine nodded in understanding. Shiller was simply finding Lucifer a 3D real-life holographic detective game to play and helping him develop a keen interest in detective work during his moments of boredom.
In fact, it made sense. People at Lucifer's level of strength basically have no wants or needs. He has become an Omniscient and Omnipotent being who can alter reality at will. There is nothing he cannot do.
Theoretically, there are two options after reaching this level. Either become a concept operating completely devoid of emotion, abiding by rules and logic, or start to wildly seek pleasure for oneself.
Obviously, Lucifer is the latter. Otherwise, he wouldn't have abandoned the throne of the King of Hell to run a bar on the West Coast in the human world, even dealing with off-peak seasons.
"After weighing up the matter, I concluded that trading a single feather for so many stories was, in fact, a good deal."
"Shiller continuously provided me with stories. When passing by the West Coast, we would discuss ideas about detective work in the bar. I realized he was an extraordinary person. He would rather put himself in danger, getting close to those serial killers, than return my feather."
Looking at Shiller, Constantine asked, "So, why are you unwilling to return his feather? Is there a powerful force on this feather?"
Lucifer shook his head, "No. There is no power on the feather. Like I said, it's just a conceptual existence, a part of my disguise. It doesn't hold any energy and cannot be used. If it has to have a use, it might make a nice ornament."
"Perhaps, I just wanted to keep it as an ornament?" After taking a sip of water, Shiller said, "It's a one-in-a-million chance to encounter an angel, and I even managed to pluck a feather from an angel's wings. Of course, I would take this feather back as a trophy and place it in my trophy cabinet."
"As for the angel himself wanting it back... why did you let me get close to you in the first place if you didn't want me plucking your feathers?" Shiller looked at Lucifer. For a moment, Lucifer was stunned by his gaze. He said, "What's wrong with you? Did you actually bump your head?"
"You previously told me that you felt sorry because you were young when you did it. I forgave you since we had become friends by that time."
"So why did you still press me to do work?" Shiller asked, staring at Lucifer. Lucifer waved his hands, saying, "Don't take it that way, it was just a joke. What I meant is, hurry up and get some stories so that we can go and have a drink together, like in the past..."
Constantine's gaze fell back on Shiller. Shiller said, "I don't know. I lost my memory. Don't ask me."
After clearing his throat, Shiller looked at Lucifer and said, "You gave me a token, and I searched for stories about sinners for you. I think, this relationship of ours, can be considered as that of a god and his pope, right?"
"You make it sound so stiff," Lucifer replied, draping an arm over the back of the chair. "I don't need to preach, why would I need a pope? We are just friends who get along pretty well."
"If I wanted to be a god, why would I rebel against Heaven? If I enjoyed bossing believers around, why would I leave Hell? I just want to enjoy life here. Don't drag me into those dull relationships."
"I am just speaking theoretically. Logically speaking, from a more reasonable, scrutinizing, and objective perspective, we should be in such a relationship, shouldn't we?"
"If you insist on it, sure, you are my pope."
Shiller nodded in satisfaction, then Lucifer heard him saying:
"Very well, Lucifer Morningstar, I resign."