"Are you alright?" Diana asked with concern.
If an uninformed person saw Dane's current appearance, they might mistake him for a pervert.
He held a bloody heart in his hand, and his body and face were covered in bloodstains.
Diana belatedly remembered that Dane had only become a "God" a little over a year ago; before that, he had probably never seen such a bloody scene.
Startled by her gentle voice, Dane came back to his senses, looking at Diana with a slight smile.
"Don't worry, I'm fine."
"Really? If you feel uncomfortable, you can talk to me."
"Really fine... But, as you said, if something comes up, I'll really come to you."
Diana smiled and patted him, believing his words.
Dane held the demon's heart and began to cast a spell. This would have been a bit troublesome before he gained the God of Death's power.
But now it was no problem at all. Dane's finger reached into the heart, as if entering another space, and he pinched his fingers.
From within, he pulled out an ethereal spirit, a crying little girl.
He soothed her soul with divine power. After some thought, he decided it was best for her not to have this experience.
A human soul in the hands of a demon, one could imagine with a toenail that it must have been tormented.
So he cast an Obliviate, wiping away Cuixi's memory of being taken by the demon.
"Go back, go back to your parents..."
Dane said, releasing Cuixi's soul.
Meanwhile, in London, Cuixi's body on the hospital bed twitched.
Beside her was a triangular necklace emitting a faint blue glow, which suddenly shone brightly.
Chas and Renee were greatly alarmed and quickly sought help from Nightmare Nurse.
"You don't have to worry, no traces of Dark magic have been found on it."
As soon as she finished speaking, the necklace's blue light flashed brightly and then disappeared. When the light vanished, the necklace also vanished.
But Cuixi, on the hospital bed, slowly opened her eyes.
"Dad? Mom?"
Chas and Renee almost simultaneously rushed to the bedside, embracing their daughter and crying out in pain.
"Thank God, she's finally awake!"
"My Cuixi..."
Nightmare Nurse left quietly, a warm smile on her lips.
"You did very well, Johnny (Yasaka's nickname for Constantine), you've impressed me."
Yasaka said softly, then stepped into the Yin-Yang World and returned to Hell.
"Is it over?"
Batman, guarding outside the manor, asked when the commotion inside the haunted house ceased.
Constantine took a puff of his cigarette, then slowly said:
"Ah, it's over, No. Demons, No. Devils!"
Batman turned to look at Constantine: "You've impressed me today."
Hmph hmph~
Constantine snorted, blowing out snuff with disdain.
Although the five demons agreed to unite against Nilgai, they couldn't enter his territory on their own at the time.
So, Constantine proposed a suggestion.
He used himself as bait, playing a "Trojan Horse" trick, smuggling the five demons into the manor inside his body.
This was a very risky plan, and the danger of the plan was not being discovered.
Rather, Constantine, as the "Trojan Horse," would inevitably suffer the erosion of demonic power.
And the demons inside his body were not well-behaved either.
They constantly tempted Constantine, like the seven deadly sins of the Rock of Eternity, trying to make him fall.
But no one expected that Constantine, who seemed the easiest to fall, would actually hold onto his true self. Batman had actually opposed him when he first volunteered.
Batman wanted to be the "Trojan Horse" himself, but Constantine convinced him with the reason that "Beru'er will definitely kill you directly."
Perhaps Dane was right; this guy indeed deserved to enter the JLA.
Just then, Dane and Diana walked out of the manor.
Behind them was the haunted house, engulfed in roaring flames.
Let the flames purify everything.
"Boss, I've joined the organization, but you haven't mentioned the salary yet!"
Constantine was very poor, now almost unable to afford cigarettes, and had no money for a flight back to London.
Dane looked at him like he was an idiot: "We are a non-profit organization, with no income, purely voluntary work."
Constantine's hand trembled, and his last cigarette fell to the ground; he quickly picked it up and dusted off the ash.
At this moment, he was filled with regret, exclaiming that he had been tricked, tricked! "But…" Dane said slowly.
Constantine's heart couldn't help but feel a glimmer of hope as he followed Dane's tone.
"All reasonable expenses can be reimbursed."
"However, it's limited to reasonable items, do you understand?"
I don't understand! Constantine's face darkened.
Dane decided to be more specific, lest Constantine ask Umbrella to pay for even a nightingale; he couldn't afford that embarrassment!
"Gambling, prostitution, and drugs are not allowed! Smoking and drinking are limited! Battle damage incurred during acts of heroism can be fully covered."
Constantine looked at the last cigarette in his hand and asked, uncertainly:
"So, from now on, I still have to earn my own money for cigarettes and alcohol?"
He didn't mention the issue of women; with Constantine's looks and eloquence, he wasn't short of temporary companions.
Dane patted his shoulder earnestly: "Smoking and excessive drinking are harmful to your health!"
With that, he took out a contract from a drawer and handed it to Constantine.
"Sign it; once you sign it, you'll be mine."
Although he felt that Dane's words were a bit strange, Constantine still signed his name without hesitation.
After this incident, he still had considerable faith in the image of the Justice League, so he didn't hesitate much.
This was also what they had agreed upon earlier.
Constantine left with his head drooping; he had thought he could just lie back and win if he met a rich boss.
He didn't expect that he would still have to earn his own money for cigarettes and alcohol in the end.
However, Dane had promised that if Constantine needed to purchase magic materials for casting or practice, those expenses would be fully covered.
He was a bit hesitant because, due to past experiences, he had always been reluctant to frequently use his dark magic.
But Dane seemed to be encouraging him; didn't he know that using dark magic could bring misfortune?
But Constantine didn't know that Dane not only knew but had also given him a "blessing" using his God of Death divinity.
Of course, in the Aztec pantheon, perhaps "curse" would be a more fitting term.
Within the U.S. territory, he would not suffer misfortune from using dark magic, and he would not be killed by dark forces.
His soul had been locked by the God of Death.
Even outside the U.S., within the World, his soul would not be taken by other mysterious forces.
Constantine must not know how "insidious" Dane was; the contract he made Constantine sign also contained a magic contract from the Yin-Yang realm.
It was carved into the patterns on the edge of the contract document; this was actually a dual contract.
In other words, without his knowledge, he had actually "sold" his soul to Dane.
If any demon dared to contend with Dane for his soul in the future, he would let them know what cruelty was!
What it meant to come and hack you through the internet cable!
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