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In the spacious, upscale office, Balthazar stood in front of the mirror straightening his tie.
The half-demon had been in a fantastic mood lately.
Once Prince Mammon successfully crossed over, he—as the top contributor—would finally shed that filthy half-human blood and ascend to pure demon nobility.
Mammon had even promised him his own state to rule.
The only nagging worry was that a few of Mammon's demon lords had gone completely silent, like they'd vanished off the face of the Earth.
But none of that mattered right now.
Balthazar flashed a charming smile at his handsome reflection.
"Huh? Why's the mirror warping—"
He never got to finish.
BOOM!
The mirror exploded outward.
The blast hurled Balthazar across the room and slammed him into the heavy oak desk.
Holy rounds shredded his human disguise, revealing half a monstrous demon face underneath.
Before he could push himself up, a black figure was already on him, pinning him down.
THUD. THUD.
Constantine straddled the demon and drove punch after punch into his face. "Where the fuck is the Spear of Destiny?!"
Balthazar's eye socket cracked; the eyeball popped out.
Yet the demon just grinned through the pain, his half-human, half-monstrous mouth twisting. "Save your breath, Johnny boy. Pretty soon I won't need this disgusting meat suit anymore."
He suddenly kicked up, launching Constantine into the wall.
Constantine grunted on impact. Before he could recover, a clawed hand clamped around his throat and hoisted him off the ground.
"Too bad you won't live to see it," Balthazar sneered, watching Constantine's face turn purple. "Just relax and enjoy your last few seconds, Johnny."
Constantine's hands clawed at the demon's arm, gasping for air.
Right as Balthazar tightened his grip to snap his neck—
CRACK!
A pair of holy brass knuckles engraved with crosses and runes slammed into the demon's face.
"AAHH!"
The blessed metal caved in half of Balthazar's skull.
Constantine dropped free, drew in a ragged breath, and rained down more punches until the demon collapsed.
"Where the hell is the Spear?!"
He pulled out a worn Bible and held it ready.
"Cough… See you in Hell, John," Balthazar wheezed, still smirking. "This time you're not getting away."
Constantine gave a cold laugh. "I might end up in Hell, but you? Not so sure."
He flipped the Bible open and started reciting the rite.
"…In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy—"
"STOP! You crazy bastard!"
Balthazar thrashed in panic. "The Spear isn't with me anymore! I handed it over!"
Constantine paused, eyes like ice. "To who?"
"What does it matter? You really think you can go take it from him, John?"
Balthazar laughed weakly.
CRACK!
Another holy punch shut him up.
"Quit stalling. Who has it?!"
"Ga… briel."
Balthazar forced the name out through broken teeth.
Gabriel?!
Constantine's pupils shrank.
The archangel who watched over humanity… was mixed up in Mammon's descent?
The realization hit him like a freight train.
He slammed one last punch into the demon, then stood and headed for the elevator.
He had to get back to the church and confront Gabriel himself.
DING—
The elevator doors opened.
Angela stepped out, both hands gripping her pistol, moving carefully.
She spotted Constantine and immediately asked, "Where's the piece of shit who killed Isabel?!"
Constantine's face went slack with shock.
He never expected the woman to be stupid enough to follow him up here.
The whole damn city was crawling with demons looking for her!
"What the hell are you doing here?!" he roared. "Get your ass back to the car—"
He never finished.
The elevator behind Angela suddenly caved inward with a deafening CRASH.
The doors exploded. Angela was hurled backward through the shattered car and straight out into the rainy night.
"Angela!"
Constantine's face twisted. He fumbled for his phone and dialed Soren.
Ring… ring…
"Pick up, damn it!"
A few seconds later the call failed to connect.
"FUCK!"
He hurled the phone against the wall.
Bracing himself on the glass, Constantine stared at his own furious reflection until the rage cooled into cold clarity.
Where would the demons take her?
They needed her for Mammon's ritual.
He remembered how Soren had stayed behind at the psychiatric hospital earlier, making excuses.
And Isabel had jumped from the roof of that same hospital… straight into the reservoir.
"Reservoir… reservoir…"
Constantine muttered the word until it clicked.
He spun, jabbed the elevator button, and raced toward the psychiatric hospital.
...
Ravenscroft Psychiatric Hospital.
Soren, Carrie, and Papa Midnight huddled in a corner of the reservoir room.
Soren eyed the clay jar in Papa Midnight's hands and wrinkled his nose at the rotting stench.
"You sure this crap actually works?"
"It's corpse perfume, dug straight out of a ghoul's tomb," Papa Midnight said, clearly pained to be using it. "It masks every living scent on a person."
"Hiding from an angel's senses is hard. Changing your smell so you register as a low-level demon? That's easy."
He sprinkled the foul powder around their feet as he spoke.
"From what you told me, Gabriel's whole focus is on the ritual to drag Mammon out of Hell. He won't waste attention on a few 'crawlers' hiding in the corner."
In the last few minutes, Soren had given the voodoo kingpin the short version of Mammon's descent plan—just enough to calm him down. He'd left out the part where he planned to kill the demon prince himself.
"Sounds solid," Soren said, nodding.
"There's one catch," Papa Midnight added. "It only works if the angel has never seen your real face."
He glanced at Soren, a fresh wave of unease hitting him. "You… haven't crossed paths with any angels, right?"
"Shouldn't have," Soren answered, rubbing his chin as he thought back.
The only angel he'd met was that low-tier guy Augustus he'd stuffed in the Silent Hill domain weeks ago. No way that one had reported back.
Gabriel couldn't possibly know him.
Papa Midnight stayed quiet. He had the distinct feeling he'd just climbed aboard a sinking ship.
The three of them sat in tense silence.
CRASH!
A black shape smashed through the broken skylight overhead and plummeted straight into the reservoir with a huge splash.
"It's starting," Soren said, eyes narrowing in the dark.
The long-awaited show had finally begun.