Kaecilius stepped through the portal, and the first thing that caught his eye was the residence of the local mages.
In the heat of the moment, he hadn't been able to think of a specific destination, but the London Sanctum seemed as good a place as any. At least he was familiar with it.
"Let's have a look. Who might this be?"
Constantine appeared before Kaecilius wearing a face full of mockery. He had approached from behind.
For some time now, this scoundrel had been loitering around the London mages, fishing for information regarding Excalibur—the Sword in the Stone. Thus far, however, he hadn't gleaned anything useful.
But the moment he saw Kaecilius, he sensed an opportunity.
"Who are you?"
Kaecilius dipped his head, looking ready to charge forward and smash the man before him to pieces. Constantine's aura, after all, didn't feel particularly benevolent.
"I feel an aura about you that's not too different from a few acquaintances of mine. You wouldn't happen to be a Barbarian, would you?"
Constantine waved his hands to show he meant no harm, speaking with a grin.
It was just a guess, but he had hit the mark. This allowed Kaecilius to relax slightly. After undergoing Kanouk's training, he was somewhat prone to overreaction.
"Very well. Do you know Rumlow's location?"
Kaecilius asked with suspicion. Although Constantine clearly knew something, he didn't look like someone worth trusting.
Almost everyone made this judgment upon meeting Constantine for the first time; it was hard to view a sloppy, unkempt man favorably. Though, truth be told, if he dressed a bit more neatly, he would look quite presentable.
"Likely over at the Hellsing estate. I was just heading there myself. Shall we go together?"
Constantine spoke with familiar ease. He was planning to pay Nimue a visit anyway.
The Blood Queen was much easier to deal with now than before. Although she basically gave no response to anything, there was no harm in trying.
"I know the place. I won't trouble you to lead the way."
Kaecilius immediately tore open a portal and left the area, leaving a whistling Constantine behind.
He knew the location of the Hellsing manor; back when he was still a mage, he had even scoped out the exterior of the estate a couple of times. Mages couldn't stay indoors forever; they needed to go out shopping, too.
Constantine, however, seemed to be pondering something—specifically, what to do next.
His talents as a medium told him that something was about to happen here, but he wasn't sure where he should go. As a magnet for trouble, he trusted his instincts implicitly, so he decided to vacate the premises.
Just a short distance away, standing at the corner of the street, Father Anderson was scrutinizing Constantine.
The Church's vanguard had arrived in London. Their goal was not only to annihilate the Last Battalion but also to find a way to destroy Alucard.
Vampires should not exist in this world—that was the Church's stance.
Father Anderson had come to greet the local mages, though his method of greeting was likely far from harmonious.
"Father! Long time no see!"
Constantine pulled a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and called out to Father Anderson.
This was an acquaintance, and a powerful ally at that, so Constantine was quite willing to foster a closer relationship. He waved his arm with exaggerated flair.
He could sense the abundant holy power radiating from Father Anderson, much like he had felt from Angel in the past.
"Constantine. I hope you haven't caused another mess that requires me to clean up the aftermath."
Anderson's face clearly read 'I hate trouble' as he marched aggressively toward Constantine.
The last time Constantine was involved, the Church lost a Saint. It made it difficult for Anderson to harbor any goodwill toward him.
"Don't be so stiff, Father. Our goals should be aligned, after all."
Constantine lit a cigarette without a care in the world, but in the next instant, the burning tip was sliced off by a bayonet.
"Take me to a certain place. You know what I require."
Anderson held the bayonet, speaking in a threatening tone.
He then grabbed Constantine by the shoulder, forcing him to walk away from the building where the mages resided.
The Church had no intention of starting a conflict with the mages. An organization backed by the Sorcerer Supreme was not to be offended without cause. Although Anderson despised the faithless, he still held some mercy for humanity itself.
Since there were better things to do, the task of greeting the mages could be left to others.
Perhaps that chatterbox Maxwell could handle it. Although Anderson had watched the boy grow up, as the power within Maxwell increased, Anderson found himself looking less and less favorably upon his former pupil.
"Alright, Father. But I hope you don't plan on starting a brawl with them. I don't know why, but even you might not be able to defy the will of those people."
Constantine obediently followed Father Anderson's lead. He knew exactly what kind of power this priest possessed—it was not something he could resist.
And as Anderson implied, Constantine knew exactly who the priest was looking for. After all, this executioner of monsters only sought out monsters; looking for humans had never been his task.
"By the way, can I have a smoke? You know, my life is incomplete without these annoying little things."
Hearing the sound of grinding teeth beside his ear, Constantine reluctantly shoved the cigarettes back into his pocket and silently led the way.
"Only the will of God is absolute; others are a different matter."
Anderson transformed the bayonet in his hand back into a Bible, clutching it as he kept his arm around Constantine, walking onward.
To an ordinary observer, it looked like a friendly exchange between a believer and a priest, drawing no particular attention.
"So tell me, where is Nimue? You must know."
Anderson's voice held a frantic edge that made Constantine nervous.
As the world's most famous trouble magnet, Constantine represented not just chaos, but also intelligence. If his information network were any slower, he would have been outsmarted by some demon long ago.
"I'm taking you there right now. As it happens, I need to ask her a few things myself."
Constantine shrugged his shoulders.
"By the way, Father, do you know where the Sword in the Stone is located?"
The moment the name 'Excalibur' left his lips, Anderson's grip on his arm tightened significantly.
"Why do you ask?"
Father Anderson's tone became peculiar.
"For someone to fulfill their historical destiny."
"Hellboy?"
The grip on Constantine's shoulder tightened even further.
Hellboy was a conspiracy of the Hell Lords; the Church was well aware of this. Among those who wished to kill Hellboy to prevent a demon from becoming the King of England, the Church was a prominent faction.
For instance, behind the members of the Osiris Club, one could always find the shadow of the Church.
"Don't tell me you plan to kill him. He is a key figure."
Constantine anxiously dug around in his pockets, but there was no trinket inside that would allow him to escape Father Anderson's grasp.
"Demons deserve death."
Anderson dragged Constantine along with long strides.
"Tell me, where is he now? Is he with Nimue?"
A visible stream of breath escaped Anderson's mouth; he was getting agitated.
After all, the combination of Hellboy and the Blood Queen was far more troublesome than either of them alone.
"I think you might need to calm down. If nothing else, I don't believe you can defeat those guys to take Hellboy's life—or the Blood Queen's, for that matter."
Constantine shuddered, then exerted force to pry Anderson's hand off his shoulder.
Father Anderson was indeed a superhuman entity, but he was only on the level of someone who could stand before Alucard. To think he could take Nimue's life from under Alucard's nose... he was definitely overthinking it.
If nothing else, that nest of Barbarians alone would be enough to send Father Anderson home empty-handed.
"Humans have entangled themselves with demons?"
Father Anderson's expression turned ferocious. Although this was a misunderstanding on his part, his attitude was resolute.
As he spoke, waves of light began to swell around his body, making him look like a human-shaped lightbulb.
A high-wattage one, at that.
"Isn't that to be expected? You know how it is—humans always chase after ethereal things, and demons are always ready to offer hope."
Constantine spoke with an easy smile, but he immediately added an explanation.
"However, this has nothing to do with the Blood Queen. They are merely acting according to the arrangements of someone on a higher level. Trust me, they want the Blood Queen dead just as much as you do. It's simply not possible at the moment."
Constantine was joking with Father Anderson, though it was an annoying sort of joke.
That was just who Constantine was. If others were working hard to solve the crisis at hand, he naturally couldn't bring himself to be serious. Or rather, even if he were facing the crisis personally, he would likely face it while eating hotpot and singing a song.
He had long since become abnormal due to the terrible events he had witnessed.
Splitting one's own soul just to avoid weakness was not something a normal person would do.
"Take me there!"
Father Anderson glared, squeezing the words through his clenched teeth.
His grip on Constantine's hand tightened again, to the point where Constantine could hear his shoulder creaking.
Constantine made a "suit yourself" expression and strode toward the direction of the Hellsing estate.
Teasing Father Anderson required immense courage; trying it once was quite enough.
-------------------------------
I've already uploaded 40 chapters of this story on Patreon!
If you enjoy it, come check out the latest chapters in advance.
Here's the link:
[pat*eon*com/DaoistRoeoNQ]
Thank you so much for your support!!!