American comics: From Hogwarts to God on Earth

Constantine cautiously scribbled the strange symbols, occasionally glancing up at the First Fallen. The First Fallen, meanwhile, stood atop a high building, looking down at the scenery below.

This was once a peaceful city, but now it has descended into endless chaos. Black people and police have begun a large-scale shootout, while ordinary people nervously grip their guns, watching the struggle in terror, hoping that no one will notice them.

The demon who ignited the initial war laughed: "Humans themselves actually divide people into different classes based on skin color, and even systematically exclude and oppress people of different skin colors. It's truly an eye-opener for me. Even though I opposed His creation of humanity at the time, I never expected that you would be so talented in the field of wickedness."

"Yes, yes, yes..." Constantine sighed, somewhat resigned to his fate: "Then why should a newly fallen mortal need me to do the work for him?"

"There are many things involved, many secrets, my friend." The Fallen One turned around, a strange fire rising in his eyes. "If you want to know, I can kill you. When your soul belongs to me, I can tell you the secrets that cats would give nine lives for. You're scratching your head in frustration, aren't you, Constantine?"

"Never mind," Constantine muttered, then lowered his head to concentrate on writing something. Finally, he clapped his hands, stood up, and loudly chanted a blasphemous incantation. Then his eyes shone, and blood flowed from the holes in his face. If one looked into Constantine's pupils at that moment, one could see a burning city reflected in his eyes.

That was hell, where everyone who went there had to relive their most agonizing moments from their lives. Suicides repeatedly experienced their final moments, soldiers repeatedly shot their dying comrades, and women repeatedly strangled their newborn children with their own hands…

Before long, Constantine returned from Hell. His face was ashen, and his expression was grave. This man had many friends in Hell, from most of the demon lords to some of the lesser demons; Constantine had close, almost platonic, relationships with them. Even so, he was still warned by many demons.

"Ah, so you've gotten involved in this?" The demon, lacking an upper half of its head, displayed its contents clearly and completely to Constantine, some parts still wriggling. "Why don't you commit suicide now? I can find you a job. Although you might be completely destroyed at any moment, it's far better than your current situation..."

Some demons began to laugh upon seeing Constantine, as if his death was imminent. One demon, with octopus tentacles and half his body rotting like a moldy orange, shouted, "Take a picture of me when you die! I want to use it as a snack with my drinks!"

But these guys weren't entirely mocking Constantine; some of them offered valuable information, and that information... was quite useful!

"Found them. They're currently in the border region between Colorado and Kansas, but the exact location..." Constantine said obsequiously, "I don't mean to offend you, someone as important as you certainly wouldn't owe me a debt, but I'm just a nobody... what do you think?"

The first victim said nothing, then plunged both hands into Constantine's chest with a smooth, almost surgical touch, as if they were two sharp scalpels. Constantine winced in pain, but made no sound.

The powerful demon swung its hands wildly, stroking Constantine's lungs again and again before slowly withdrawing them. Constantine felt an unprecedented sense of relief, as if something had been taken away from his body. He looked down and saw that the Fallen One held a black, foul-smelling substance in its hand—the lung cancer cells from his body.

After receiving his payment, Constantine immediately told the Fallen One Zatanna's exact location.

The Fallen One nodded in satisfaction, but the next moment, his eyes turned cold and sharp. He had gotten what he wanted; John Constantine was no longer useful. A cruel smile curled at the corner of his mouth: "You're quite useful, but your soul is far more coveted."

He didn't act personally because a more precious and important prey had appeared, and he had to go there himself to crush all their hopes. The man before him was indeed filled with depravity and blasphemy, very much to the demons' liking, but compared to his grand plan, he wasn't that important.

The moment the Fallen One finished speaking, he vanished in a puff of black smoke. And the next instant…

bang bang bang...

The door to the top-floor room was pounded on. Constantine stood in the dimly lit corner, his eyes warily fixed on the closed door. He was still cursing the Fallen Ones for breaking their promises when a hand broke through the wooden door and reached into the room. And that hand was not something a human could grow; it belonged to Constantine's "friends" underground.

He began to mutter rapidly to himself, and the strange graffiti on his body multiplied, spreading from his chest to his face. An unseen magical force began to protect him, but the wooden door was finally opened. Those who were once human were possessed, transformed into all sorts of blasphemous monsters. Ordinary people would lose the courage to resist even just by looking directly at them, but Constantine had seen it all before. He gripped his right wrist with his left hand, his right hand pointing directly at the demons.

"Come on, come on, you bunch of hellish bastards, go back to where you came from!"

The leader of the demons laughed loudly, "And what about you? Your soul was born for hell, so you should go back down with us, shouldn't you?"

The laughter ceased, and the bloody battle began. This was a ballroom dance between the demons and Constantine, except that while Constantine had always been the dance king, this time things might be different.

On the other side, in the woods where Colorado and Kansas meet.

Jason's expression turned serious, and he said to the others, "Someone is looking for Zatanna in Hell."

"A first-time fall?" Zatanna asked.

"It's not him, but it must be a newly fallen demon finding an unlucky guy." Jason stood up and began to carefully check whether the traps he had set earlier could be triggered correctly. "A newly fallen demon won't allow other demons to see him. Hell is Lucifer's territory now, and his appearance is giving Lucifer a chance to find him. It's quite remarkable that he found someone with good relations with demons."

Rune's expression turned strange upon hearing this description. Judging from Jason's words, this unfortunate fellow sounded like Constantine!