"There was a school of thought in the magical world."
Over lunch, Schiller said this to Bruce. He lowered his head slightly as he arranged the food on his plate, seemingly gathering his thoughts. Only after a while did he continue.
"Most people believed that Constantine was the founder of this school, but that was only because he had many friends, and all of them were deeply impressed by him."
"Since ancient times, mages had sought ways to use magic without paying a price. The vast majority gave up after trying a few times. Humans simply could not contend with those powerful beings. Being able to borrow their power was already fortunate enough; trying not to repay it was harder than climbing to heaven."
Bruce's movements slowed as he ate, because he seemed to have guessed what Schiller was about to say.
"I know why you are interested in magic. During Constantine's time in Gotham, you had been following in his footsteps, and he had always warned you not to try to use magic to resurrect anyone."
"He was right, because whether you asked a god or a demon to resurrect someone, it was equivalent to handing them your weakness. What had originally been a relatively fair deal would immediately become them holding a whip and driving you forward."
"The fundamental reason Constantine had played this game for so many years without breaking down was that he had no weakness. He made demons and gods understand that no matter how they tortured him and the friends around him, he would never bow his head. No one could take advantage of him."
"With unimaginable willpower, he forced his trading partners to offer relatively fair terms. He even had the spare strength to strike back at demons and gods who tried to