Chapter 2948: When Night Falls (30)

"Actually, I didn't really listen seriously," Aquaman said forthrightly, "To be precise, I listened to about a tenth of it. I don't have your superpower, and listening wouldn't be useful to me; I think everyone here is a good person."

Batman seemed to laugh, saying a bit helplessly, "I'd prefer to assume that too, but unfortunately, I can't."

"Actually, you shouldn't have high hopes for my account either, as I've been in Atlantis these past few months. I haven't been ashore much, and the news is scarce in the remote Port of Mercy, so I might not have much to say."

"Talking about Atlantis would be good too," Batman suggested, "Vampires are not adept at diving; the likelihood of them attacking Atlantis is very slim, and, if things go south on land, we might need your help."

"Aquaman seemed to gain some confidence." He said, "If that's the case, Hal and I will have plenty to talk about, after all Hal has been on missions in the cosmos before, right?"

Green Lantern nodded and said, "I was just thinking about that. I haven't been to Earth much these past few months, and I'm not very familiar with the vampire situation. I might not have much to contribute, but if we can talk about the Green Lantern Corps, at least I won't run out of words."

Aquaman was munching on a sandwich and drinking a beverage on the side, and after finishing most of it, he wiped his mouth and said, "You should go rest for a while, since you are the only normal human here. I'm afraid you might not be able to keep up."

Batman shook his head and said, "It's nothing; I'll go over there and review some information."

Zan and Jenna lay down and faced each other; Jenna conveyed the location of Batman with her eyes, but Zan shook his head at her.

Jenna silently turned over, and sleep overwhelmed her in an instant – she fell into a deep slumber.

Shiller had intended to rest for a while, but suddenly, as if sensing something, a slight smile appeared on his face.

In front of the Magic Screen, Doctor Strange sighed and said, "It seems the mole is determined to outlast Batman, the ordinary man. Do you think he can manage it?"

"A joke," Arkham Knight replied, "There is no one in this world who can outlast Batman in anything, not even vampires."

"I would say he's made a wrong calculation," Dick leaned on the table and said, "All the signs of fatigue Batman shows are just an act, to make people feel like victory is close. But in reality, they are getting farther and farther from it."

Doctor Strange turned and then froze; he said, "What about that Constantine???"

"Who cares about him," Arkham Knight responded without even lifting his head.

Yet, Doctor Strange had a more lasting impression of this disreputable mage; he asked, "Did you see him go upstairs?"

Both shook their heads, but Doctor Strange still walked upstairs. Upon opening a room's door, he discovered that Shiller, who had been lying on the bed, was nowhere to be seen.

"I knew it!!!"

About ten minutes earlier, the other three were intently watching the Magic Screen, while Constantine, lying in the corner, had stealthily stood up.

In a flash, he moved upstairs without alerting anyone, cast an Invisibility Magic on himself, and passed through the door into the room.

He saw the young man in a suit holding a candelabra and taking a nap in the corner, breathing steadily with no sign of waking up soon; Khonsu stood by the window.

As soon as he entered, Khonsu seemed to have noticed him, prompting Constantine to curse under his breath. This foreign Moon God was indeed very sharp.

Fortunately, Khonsu's beak was tied up again, and all he could make was a clacking noise that sounded somewhat rhythmic, but unfortunately, Constantine didn't understand Morse code, nor did he have the patience to listen.

He suddenly conjured a massive golden coffin out of thin air, walked to the bedside, wrapped Shiller's body in magic, then placed it inside the coffin. In an instant, both the coffin and he disappeared.

Constantine returned to the Mysterious House.

He rubbed his hands together, opened the coffin, placed Shiller's body on the ground, and then went to get the materials for setting up the formation.

Moving to the warehouse, Constantine began to pick and choose, occasionally checking a pattern drawn on the side, searching for materials took him some time, but he had plenty of patience.

After collecting the materials, he went to another room, which had no furniture, but at the center, there was a huge crystal containing the hazy figure of Zatanna Zatara.

At the sight of Constantine, Zatanna rushed over, her figure blurry and clearly lacking substance. She pounded on the outer wall of the crystal and shouted, "You damn bastard, Constantine! Let me out!"

"Don't rush, Little Zha," Constantine said rather helplessly, "I'm doing this to save you. Doctor Destiny thinks you're too hurt and unconscious, but that won't fool him for long. I need to find a body for you."

Zatanna snorted and said, "What was wrong with my original one?!"

"Stop it. Changing bodies might free you from that stupid King of Vampires' control. He really is too dumb, letting you attack me alone. There's no future in following him," Constantine said.

Zatanna huffed, "I was almost free from his control, and then you had to stick your foot in. You just want to control me!"

"Enough. You don't have enough experience dealing with this kind of thing. Without my help, you'd still be the same a year from now."

Constantine took out a small glass bottle, ignoring Zatanna's protests, sucked her soul into the bottle, and then put Zan's soul, which was previously in the bottle, into the crystal. The crystal was emitting a faint glow, and the previously semi-transparent soul was becoming more and more solid.

Leaving the room and locking the door behind him, Constantine headed for the room where Shiller's body was placed.

Upon opening the door, Shiller's body, which should have been lying properly on the bed, was sitting in a chair reading a book.

Constantine froze.

Upon Doctor Strange's call, Dick and Arkham Knight quickly rushed into the room.

After discovering the body was gone, both were stunned. Dick instinctively began to look for Khonsu's figure in the room. He saw the tall Khonsu standing helplessly by the window, with a rope tied around his mouth.

Dick used magic to untie the rope from his mouth, and only then Khonsu's voice finally emerged.

You've all got it wrong.

The three men looked at him with bemused faces.

The one inside Zan's body is him, Khonsu pointed to the figure in the corner of the wall, a tall young man in a suit.

The Arkham Knight's head displayed a loading icon again, and it took a while for him to catch on, then he turned to look at Doctor Strange.

Doctor Strange said, "Impossible, I clearly saw that the soul inside that body entered Zan's body…"

"They switched earlier," Khonsu said helplessly.

As the Guardian God of Moonlight Shiller, he watched helplessly as these two played a game of deception.

The soul under Moonlight Shiller's control had switched earlier, resulting in Doctor Strange swapping the souls and inadvertently, the soul inside the controlled body was actually Moonlight Shiller's, and it was Moonlight that entered Zan's body.

After Doctor Strange and Zan left, the controlling soul came out of Moonlight Shiller's body, returned to its original body, and was then taken away by Constantine.

"But… but…" Doctor Strange was at a loss for words.

In his memory, this individual holding a candlestick was not much of a talker, the older one, who looked genteel, appeared to be the better hand at covert operations; so what was the point of them switching places?

Khonsu sneered, but didn't bother explaining to Doctor Strange. After spending so long in the tower, how could Khonsu not know what was going on?

Moonlight Shiller was inherently a part of the morbid, living in the insane asylum of the high tower for special reasons, but in essence, he was still morbid, never distinctly separate, and each identity shared attributes with the others.

That is to say, Moonlight was not fond of talking, not that he couldn't. Moreover, before executing the plan, the puppeteer had provided him with a strategy; Jenna was just a young girl, not Batman, and reciting lines was enough to deceive her.

As for Shiller's purpose in orchestrating such a scenario, what else could it be if not to bring huge trouble on Constantine?

Constantine felt like he was going to split apart.

Unfortunately, he wasn't a character from a game universe, or he would be stuck as well, he really couldn't understand why Shiller suddenly came back to life, how could a body without a soul move?!

But that's what spoke to his vast experience, he immediately realized he had been played and with a gesture, a beam of light flew towards Shiller.

The next second, the world spun.

Constantine flew out with the case, crashing heavily against the corridor wall, and then he felt his neck being gripped and lifted, the other party's strength was unbelievably great.

He knew it! He knew it!

This guy was the same as the one holding the candlestick, not losing any of his terrifying strength just because he had become a surgeon; on the contrary, he probably had an even more profound understanding of the human body structure.

The hand gripping Constantine's neck maintained a degree that made it difficult for him to breathe, but wouldn't completely suffocate him.

Constantine kicked his legs and clawed at Shiller's arm, trying to break free, but a frail magician captured by the neck stood no chance of escape.

Constantine gave up struggling.

He smirked and said.

"I've been had this time, what do you want to do?"

There was a certain brazen madness about him.

One Hand held him, while the other straightened his tie and removed a Swordfish Brooch from his chest, even at this stage, Constantine was intently watching the actions of his other hand.

Caressing the fabric, undoing the clasp, picking up the thin metal piece, veins on the back of the hand undulating with each movement, like steel twisting in the forge, every motion was filled with a sense of power.

Constantine's Adam's apple moved.

The next second, the tip of the Swordfish Brooch pierced his neck, instantly spraying blood, and Constantine incredulously widened his eyes, his pupils constricting as life ebbed away.

"He really dared to kill me..."

Then, rich black smoke billowed from his chest, and the shadow of a demon flickered over Constantine's face.

"You cannot kill him, human race..."

The terrifying voice echoed in the room, and the demon's shadow became more tangible, but soon, another blood-red shadow appeared, roaring in another voice, "You can't take him away, he's mine!"

Shiller stood in his place calmly as if enjoying an overflowing stage drama, with the two unidentified demons squabbling over each other, yet seeming unable to get the upper hand on one another.

"If you don't want the soul to be claimed by the other, then bring him back to life; I'm the only one who can stop the bleeding now. What's your offer?"

At the same time, both demons looked at him.

Ten minutes later, Constantine sat up with a gasp, touching his neck feelingly but found himself bound to a chair.

Suddenly, a plate was placed before him, the hand setting down the cutlery as powerful and elegant as ever.

Constantine looked up to see Shiller also smiling at him.

Looking down, he saw the hoof on the plate.

"What is this?!"

"Just elk," was the reply.