Godhood Unlocked, I Choose Sci-Magic Dual Cultivation

Then that city might truly have a City Spirit.

Angelus sighed. It did not dwell on what Dane wanted to do; it had nothing to do with it.

"Lifeforms like us are actually everywhere. I simply prefer to view things from a human perspective."

"If we do not manifest in ways humans can perceive, that only means we exist in an additional dimension overlapping reality."

As Angelus explained, Dane gradually learned more about City Spirits.

A City Spirit was not merely the collective consciousness of humanity. More accurately, it resembled a Gaia system.

Within this system, every lifeform was a component of "Gaia."

The interaction between life and environment was complex and continuous. Viewed with a city as the main body, it happened to display the traits of a living organism.

Especially in a world with magic, those quasi-lifeform traits would be nurtured by magical power and become genuine life.

But City Spirits were not organic lifeforms, after all.

Though they possessed a material "body"—a city—that "body" was obviously immovable.

Thus, a City Spirit actually referred to the city's thoughts, soul, or something even more metaphysical.

Its essence was intangible and immaterial, so it could not exist stably in the material world of reality.

It could only "live" in a dimension that permitted the existence of void matter.

That dimension transcended the concepts of time and space. It was a world of complete nothingness.

Dane's expression turned a little strange upon hearing this.

An additional dimension beyond time and space... didn't that sound awfully familiar?

Wasn't the Rock of Eternity located in just such a dimension?

"Can you take me into that dimension?"

He had to verify it.

Angelus hesitated.

"I can, but forgive me for being blunt—your physical body cannot enter that place."

Dane took out the Wizard Staff, his eyes lighting up.

"Not necessarily."

Seeing how insistent he was, Angelus said no more.

"Then hold my hand."

Dane did as instructed and took its hand. It felt no different from a human hand.

"It's about to begin."

Dane nodded to show he was ready.

A flash of light passed through Angelus's eyes, and Dane felt a powerful pulling force drag at his body.

He did not resist it. Soon, when he opened his eyes again, the world before him abruptly changed.

It was an utterly unfamiliar starry sky. As far as the eye could see were stars, exactly like the Starry Night people imagined.

But if one looked closely, they would find that those stars were moving slowly.

They moved far, far faster than the galaxies seen in the real universe.

Dane could not sense even a trace of magic here.

"Your physical body can actually enter this place?"

Angelus's voice echoed beside his ear.

Dane turned around and saw a mass of white vapor gathering into a vague humanoid shape.

A pair of enormous wings extended from behind the figure.

"The Queen of All Angels?"

"Yes, it's me."

Dane gripped the staff tightly. Divine power surged as the crystal lit up, faintly pointing in one direction.

He was certain now. This was the "Void World" where the Rock of Eternity was located.

Chapter 44: Cooperation

Dane did not remain in the Void World for long.

After confirming that the world inhabited by the City Spirits was in the same dimension as the Rock of Eternity, he left that place.

"How can I determine the exact location of the city I want in the extra dimension?"

"In fact, you can't."

Angelus shrugged. It was not deliberately brushing him off.

City Spirits were free within the extra dimension, so they could wander anywhere.

"Actually, you do not need to determine its coordinates in that world, because a City Spirit must rely on the city in reality for its existence."

"So long as you find the city in reality, it will be nearby."

"The city is its body. The spirit will not leave its body for too long."

Dane stroked his chin. This felt quite similar to the projection of the yin spirit and yang spirit.

According to Angelus, the fact that it could directly manifest in the human world as a spirit body was already remarkable.

That had nothing to do with strength. It was an evolution of lifeform.

Its spirit body could exist steadily in the material world and even materially interfere with it.

Many other cities it knew lacked the necessary conditions.

Their spirit bodies could not manifest in the real world at all and could only observe the world through the eyes of their residents.

Under such circumstances, they could exert very little influence on the real world.

In contrast, their greatest influence lay in the spiritual realm of the city's residents.

Take Kandahar, for example. It disliked the International Gang's military control, but it had no way to stop them directly.

However, it could plant the seeds of resistance in Adrianna's heart or the hearts of other Kandaharians, allowing them to take a step forward in the fight for freedom at critical moments.

In Black Adam, the Kandaharians rising up against the demon's zombie army at the end was a manifestation of that spiritual power.

Dane even suspected that thousands of years ago, when the Wizard Council chose Teth-Adam's son as its champion, the Spirit of Kandahar had played a part in it.

And Adrianna had merely recited the inscription sealing Adam before he broke free.

It was hard not to suspect that someone had arranged it deliberately.

If that was the case, then Dane, as the current Shazam, actually had historical ties to Kandahar!

Since ancient times...

At the very least, dating back to the era of the Wizard Council, Shazam and Kandahar had a historical friendship.

Dane now had a vague idea of how to find the Spirit of Kandahar. He looked toward Angelus.

"Thank you very much for clearing things up. This is very useful to me."

"Don't worry. I came here to eliminate demons."

"So I'll help you get rid of the demons in this city."

"However, demons can flee back to Hell at any time. Unless that route is blocked, this cannot be done perfectly."

Angelus asked directly, "What do you have in mind?"

"Los Angeles should have quite a few churches, right?"

Angelus nodded.

"How much holy water can you get?"

"How much do you need?" Angelus displayed an extremely extravagant attitude.

"Enough to completely surround Enstrom Manor. Can you do that?"

"No problem!"

"Very good." Dane said with satisfaction, "I've already had Constantine talk the other five demons into besieging Belial. Once they have all entered the Manor, set up the holy water immediately. Leave the rest to us."

Angelus offered a reminder.

"Belial is not that demon's true name. Its true identity is Nirgal, and it specializes in nightmare magic."

"It was also the true culprit behind the Newcastle Incident, wasn't it?"

He had known that information from the movie long ago.

Angelus was somewhat surprised. "You know?"

"Of course. I told you, I happen to know what I should know."

"You didn't tell Constantine about this?"

"What would it change if he knew? Are you saying this is his redemption?"

Dane found it rather amusing. The Newcastle Incident was Constantine's lifelong pain, but it was not a mistake that could be remedied.

Just like Batman's parents and Barry's mother, those tragic experiences had shaped them and made them who they were today.

For Constantine, it was precisely because the Newcastle Incident had happened that he deeply understood how terrible the price of using magic could be.

That was why he became the Hellblazer he was today.

Otherwise, with Constantine's talent for magic, he might have caused some catastrophic disaster someday.

He might even have become a villain because of it.

After all, John Constantine had certain antisocial tendencies. He simply was not as insane as Joker, and was more rational.

Besides, so-called redemption was meaningless. The little girl who had died in Newcastle had long since become demon fodder.

Even if Constantine saved ten or a hundred girls like her, it would accomplish nothing.

Sometimes, people had to learn to accept failure before they could reconcile with themselves.

"Oh, right." Dane seemed to recall something. "Are you close with London?"

Angelus found the question strange, but it still nodded. "We have a pretty good relationship."

The spell that released the demon in Constantine's heart had been carried out through London's help.

"Then give this to it."

Dane took a necklace from the Rock of Eternity. It bore a triangular emblem made from a mixture of magical crystal and Eternal Metal.

"Ask it to help deliver this necklace to Tracy. You know who Tracy is, right?"

Of course Angelus knew. It knew everything about Constantine's life in London.

It accepted the necklace and solemnly held it in its palm.

"You surprise me. I thought you were the type who did not care at all whether ordinary people lived or died."

"If that were true, I wouldn't have come here at all, would I?"

Angelus smiled, turned, and left.

Dane continued researching the Power of Death. The power of the Grim Reaper worked better with sickle-shaped or spike-shaped weapons.

So he planned to combine it with Eternal Metal to make a wrist blade—or rather, a wrist spike.

Something like Wolverine's claws, the kind that could spring out from one's arm.

Leaving aside anything else, its concealment alone was excellent. He could hardly wait to compare with Zod and see who was more underhanded.

Not long after, Diana returned from her shopping trip.

She walked around the room once, then lightly twitched her nose.