Joslyn, having experienced quite a bit in her life, initially wanted to rebut when she saw Robert, especially upon hearing her daughter Clare's overflowing praise and closeness towards him. However, the moment she met Robert's gaze, Joslyn found herself speechless, sensing a formidable deterrence in his eyes—a testament to her sharp perception of strength.
"Why did you save us?" Joslyn asked tentatively after regaining her composure, looking at Robert. She couldn't understand why such a powerful being would go out of his way to save her daughter and then herself from Valmont's clutches. What benefit did he have in doing so?
Apart from the Holy Grail, Joslyn couldn't think of anything else that would warrant Robert's intervention. With a mix of wariness and reluctance in her heart, especially since Clare had already exposed the matter of the Holy Grail, it would be difficult for her to hide it now...
"I didn't intend to save you specifically. It was merely because the Angel's Blood led me to Clare, so I just took the opportunity to rescue her from the demons," Robert shook his head and glanced at Joslyn. "However, you seem quite capable yourself. Why did you not resist at all when captured? Weren't you afraid that Clare might truly be in danger?"
"Indeed, I wanted to ask the same question. If we hadn't shown up, Clare would have been dead. As a Shadow Hunter, you didn't leave any contingency plan?" Constantine nodded and chimed in with the question.
Joslyn fell silent, especially when she saw Clare's slightly changing expression and disbelief upon hearing Robert and Constantine's words, leaving Joslyn unsure of what to say.
Clare had never considered why her mother was easily captured, but as she encountered more and more supernatural powers and awakened as a Shadow Hunter, she found her mother's capture unbelievable.
From the information available, Joslyn wasn't captured by Valmont but by a few assassin minions, meaning she theoretically had the capability to resist. Yet, it seemed Joslyn did not resist, nor did she leave any fallback plan for Clare, as if she wasn't worried about Clare's safety at all...
"I did call you, didn't I? Telling you not to come but to find Luke... What happened to Luke?" Joslyn sighed softly and spoke, only then noticing Luke's slowly recovering body and asking subconsciously.
"He's fine; I'm healing him," the guardian shook his head and replied softly.
"Even if I hadn't returned home but had gone to find Luke, I would have faced danger. Luke was also targeted by Valmont's minions," Clare looked straight into Joslyn's eyes. "Did you truly never worry about my safety?"
"How could that be?" Joslyn's expression changed slightly at Clare's words, then she sighed and began to explain softly, "Now that you've awakened your powers, but your strength isn't strong enough to unlock those memories..."
"Actually, this isn't the first time you've awakened your powers. You had awakened them before, but those corresponding memories were sealed, and your powers gradually faded from your memory..."
"But if you face real danger, threatening your life, your powers will reawaken to help you through the crisis!"
"Are you that confident? I was almost eaten by demons, and I didn't see any powers awakening!" Clare frowned and bit her lip, "Also, why did you seal my memories? What exactly did I experience before?"
Hearing her memories were sealed, even if by her own mother, Clare felt uncomfortable. Memory is crucial to a person's perception of things and even their self-identity.
"At first, I wanted you to live as a normal person. Later, I discovered your abilities could greatly assist in hiding the Holy Grail," Joslyn avoided Clare's gaze and spoke softly.
"So, I had you seal the Holy Grail, then took you to seal your memories, and handed the Tarot cards to a witch who obviously harbored ill intentions because no one would believe the Holy Grail was hidden in the Tarot cards and entrusted to someone else for safekeeping..."
"Did I agree to have my memories sealed?" Clare stared at Joslyn, asking directly. If given a choice now, she would definitely not agree to it.
If Clare had agreed then, it meant the current Clare was different in character from the one before the memory seal.
"You agreed because I explained the importance of the Holy Grail and told you that awakening your powers would attract many dangers. We needed to hide well and not let others notice your abilities, lest they suspect how you hid the Holy Grail," Joslyn looked up at Clare with a guilty expression after a pause.
Clare's world view was greatly shaken, even more so than the supernatural events she had encountered in the past days.
Constantine, unburdened by Clare's concerns, openly laughed and mocked, "As a supernatural being, you should know what memory means to a person. And it seems you've sealed a lot of memories, or else it wouldn't be possible to completely forget awakened powers!"
"I thought you were just an unreliable mother, but it turns out you're even more so..." Robert nodded in agreement, speaking softly.
"Yes, it's just a Holy Grail, and yet it required such a great sacrifice. In effect, you've killed your daughter's previous consciousness!" Constantine shook his head at Clare's silence, expressing his sentiments.
"What do you know?! If the Holy Grail really fell into Valmont's hands, the consequences would be unimaginable. Valmont would become a terrible Demon Lord, summoning the legions of Hell to conquer Earth!" Joslyn's expression changed, and although she feared Robert's power, she didn't fear Constantine and glared at him.
"So what? Even if Valmont got the Holy Grail, what could he do? Summon the legions of Hell? As if the many powerful beings on Earth are just for show?" Constantine scoffed, looking disdainfully at Joslyn, "You don't think your sacrifice is great, do you? A Demon Lord is just that. There are more than a few on Earth who can deal with a Demon Lord..."
"And as a member of the Shadow Hunter lineage, you should know about Kamar-Taj and the Sanctum. If you were so worried about the Holy Grail, wouldn't it be better to entrust such a dangerous item to Kamar-Taj for safekeeping?"
Hearing Constantine's words, Joslyn fell silent. What a joke, the Holy Grail, a sacred object of the Shadow Hunter lineage, would never be entrusted to Kamar-Taj, even if it gathered dust in a corner.
Indeed, in Joslyn's heart, the importance of the Holy Grail and the prestige of the Shadow Hunter lineage outweighed Clare's memories.
"Let's not get involved in their family matters. Let's bring out the Holy Grail. Constantine, where's your Angel's Blood?" Robert, seeing Joslyn's demeanor with a hint of disdain, then turned to Clare and Constantine.
"Angel's Blood? What are you planning?" Constantine asked tentatively, "Are you planning to create a new lineage of Shadow Hunters with the Angel's Blood, or are you planning to empower her with it?"
"How big is your imagination? I just want to see if the Angel's Blood led us to Clare
because she's special or because of the Holy Grail. And to see if the appearance of the Angel's Blood and the Holy Grail together will cause any changes," Robert explained, surprised at Constantine's suggestion.
"Fine, with you as an ally, the value of the Angel's Blood has plummeted. Do what you will!" Constantine shrugged and showed the Angel's Blood in his palm.
"I have no problem with it!" Clare took a deep breath, took out the Tarot cards, and approached Robert, speaking softly.
"Wait! You can't give them the Holy Grail. We still don't know their origins or intentions..." Joslyn instinctively tried to stop Clare.
"The Holy Grail means nothing to them. Didn't you hear their attitude? What you treasure as a sacred artifact isn't that important!" Clare turned back to look at Joslyn, speaking earnestly.
With a buzz, as Clare spoke, the Holy Grail materialized from the Tarot cards, slowly emerging and looking identical to its depiction, even in size.
Indeed, the Holy Grail wasn't large, barely larger than a regular drinking cup, which is why it could be hidden within the Tarot cards.
As the Holy Grail appeared, Constantine's Angel's Blood also reacted, flying out of his hand and disappearing into the Holy Grail.
"I knew there was something off with this Angel's Blood!" Constantine's eyes flashed coldly, relieved he hadn't placed his faith in the Angel's Blood. After all, not only demons could be deceitful; angels weren't far behind in this regard.
"What? It's gone? What now?" Unexpectedly, after the Angel's Blood entered the Holy Grail, there was no further development, as if everything had been an illusion, except that the Angel's Blood in Constantine's hand had indeed disappeared.
"Really no reaction?" Robert frowned, took the Holy Grail from Clare, and studied it closely, but still detected no abnormalities, not even a hint of supernatural power, as if it were just an ordinary decorative item.
But clearly, a Holy Grail that could absorb Angel's Blood couldn't just be a decorative item, could it?
"Do you know anything?" After studying it, Robert handed the Holy Grail back to Clare and looked at Joslyn and the guardian with a furrowed brow.
"That's not how to use the Holy Grail..." The guardian paused and spoke softly to Robert, "To truly use the Holy Grail, one must drip Angel's Blood or Demon's Blood into it, then drink the blood infused with the Holy Grail's power to gain the supernatural abilities contained within..."
"But just now, the drop of Angel's Blood directly entered the surface of the Holy Grail, not inside it, so I don't know what exactly happened..."
"Well, it looks like the clues here have run out?" Robert's gaze flickered slightly, expressing some disappointment. He had hoped to find more clues from the Holy Grail and Angel's Blood to deduce the identity of the mastermind, but it seemed that was not possible now.
Although it appeared there were still issues with the Holy Grail and Angel's Blood, sadly, no one around could identify where the problem lay, let alone use it to deduce clues about the mastermind.
Of course, at this point, Robert could be certain that the whole affair was not heavily related to demons. Demons might just be bait placed in the open to attract attention. The real issue likely involved angels.
After all, demons are inherently suppressed by the power of angels, while angels merely despise the power of demons, not necessarily unable to wield it.
What Robert didn't know was that he wasn't entirely wrong in his guess. After Valmont, whose body erupted with divine light, disappeared, he appeared in a deserted place, his body surging with powerful energy, both angelic and demonic.
Around Valmont lay the bodies of several demons, their power continuously flowing into him. Crucially, when the drop of Angel's Blood from Constantine disappeared into the Holy Grail, it appeared before Valmont and merged into him, causing a dramatic transformation in Valmont's body, enveloping him in a cocoon...
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