Killed Once

Constantine seemed to have noticed something, but Lynn did not understand. And honestly, Lynn could not tell whether Constantine was trying to screw him over or taking this matter seriously.

Still, Lynn was no saint. The little girl before them had already been confirmed as no ordinary being. Even if she disguised herself as Lynn, he would still swing his hammer at her head without holding back.

Lynn just wanted to know why Constantine was so worked up.

With a personality that could laugh off having his head smashed in, then get up and sit down to eat with his enemies, Lynn felt there had to be something strange going on.

"Exactly, my Constantine. Come on, come on, you do it."

Lynn grabbed Constantine by the shoulder and dragged him forward. As the two tugged at each other, they kept taking tiny steps backward. The little girl, who had been motionless and expressionless all this time, actually took two steps forward as well, coming down the stairs.

Lynn and Constantine immediately froze again, each with one hand clutching the other's collar and the other pushing against the other's back in an awkward pose.

"...Constantine..."

Without moving his lips, Lynn stretched his head as far back as he could and forced out his question through clenched teeth. "Did you fucking recognize who she is...?"

Constantine made the same movement as Lynn, the strength in his hands continuing to increase as he pushed and squeezed out, "I don't know, but she has demon blood. A top-tier demon! It seems like..."

"What... are you talking about?"

"Fuck--!"

Before they realized it, the little girl was already standing before Lynn and Constantine. Both of them had been focused on how to set the other up and had completely failed to notice.

Lynn raised an eyebrow. This little girl was pretty powerful. She had definitely appeared out of nowhere just now. Teleportation? Spatial displacement?

Along with the thick fog blanketing the town, her ability to strip away sensory perception, her power to control those souls, and that raven phantom of unknown origin...

She really did not look easy to deal with.

"...Constantine!"

"Fuck!"

Constantine finally made his move. Before Lynn could see clearly, he let go and grabbed a handful of something like dust from somewhere. One hand was clenched before his chest, powdery dust leaking from between his fingers and dispersing. His other hand pressed against his forehead as his eyes rolled back and he muttered an incantation.

The dust vanished, then reappeared, forming an intricate, interwoven pentagram magic circle on the ground around the little girl.

Lynn swore he saw black light flare from the formation, almost tangible as it condensed into ribbon-like strands that bound the little girl.

Even then, she remained expressionless.

"Lynn--!!"

Lynn instantly understood. He pulled out his pistol and, without hesitation, put a bullet through the little girl's forehead.

Then came the interesting part. The little girl, whose magic power surged so strongly it was nearly tangible, offered no resistance at all. She simply watched herself get shot. When the bullet struck her forehead and the tremendous force threw her head back, she straightened it again about a second later.

This time, the first thing Lynn saw was the little girl's wide-open mouth and her silent, savage laughter.

"Quick, quick, quick!"

The hand Constantine had pressed against his forehead had begun to bleed. Blood quickly ran down his fingers, covering his whole hand.

Lynn had not expected Constantine to actually go all out.

Switch weapons. Attach the add-on!

The Tactical Master with infinite ammunition unleashed a mad barrage. The dense explosions of bullets leaving the barrel nearly blended into one continuous roar. The bizarre little girl was driven back again and again, yet the ribbon-like light of the formation bound her in place and prevented her from moving.

Lynn watched the little girl continuously "die, revive, die, revive." Every resurrection brought an enormous change: blank-faced, baring her fangs and claws, shrieking wildly, grinning with eerie malice...

Lynn could barely tell who the schizophrenic patient was anymore.

The gun in his hand was practically glowing red. Logically speaking, forget bones—even an iron head should have been reduced to scraps by now.

Yet the little girl remained the same. She clearly died at the slightest touch, yet seemed incapable of dying for good.

"Fuck..."

Lynn hardened his resolve and turned to Constantine. "Is your formation afraid of fire?!"

"What?"

"Is it afraid of fire?!"

As he spoke, Lynn pulled out a whole pile of pineapple grenades from his coat, along with a compact backpack flamethrower.

Constantine gritted his teeth as well. He tore the belt from his trench coat and threw it into the formation. The outer layer of the belt instantly turned to ash, while the remaining dirty strip of bandage drifted down onto the girl.

The formation changed from black to gold.

The next second, the girl who had been impossible to kill moments ago let out a pained wail, her heads whipping around so fast they left afterimages.

For a moment, Lynn thought Nezha had returned to the world.

Her three heads wore different expressions: one calm, one resentful, and one mad and arrogant.

So Constantine's formation was that useful. It did not just restrain the enemy—it hurt her too. And Constantine had so many good things on him that even the belt decorating his trench coat concealed something valuable!

"Do it!"

"No problem~!"

With a flourish, Lynn tossed the tropical fruit he had prepared for Gotham's social groups into the formation, then tore off the flamethrower's diesel tank and threw it in as well.

Boom!!

Maybe Constantine had overestimated his formation, or perhaps Lynn's enhanced pineapple grenades were simply too vicious. The fiery blast tore through the formation, and the flames and expanding shockwave hurled Lynn and Constantine into the window, through it, and onto the grass outside.

"What the hell did you throw in there?!" "What the hell kind of formation was that?!"

They spoke in unison.

Then, as though by mutual understanding, both fell silent and turned to look at the collapsed house.

Tap. Creak...

Stepping over shattered planks and burning charred wood, the little girl staggered out with blazing flames wrapped around her body. She had only one arm left.

She looked miserable—more miserable than Lynn and Constantine combined—but she was still not dead.

The little girl's heads were still rapidly "flickering" at an eerie, bizarre frequency, her expressions constantly changing.

Lynn preferred to believe that three heads from different points in time were appearing at random, creating this effect.

"Constantine, Constantine! Say something! Hey, I know you're not dead, so say something! What do we do?!"

Lynn looked panicked, while Constantine's face remained dark in every sense as he coldly watched the little girl approach.

"Thank... thank... you..."

Lynn turned to Constantine. "That wasn't you practicing ventriloquism, was it...? Why did she suddenly start offering New Year greetings..."

Lynn still looked panicked, constantly tugging at Constantine's clothes, pinching here and pulling there.

"Lynn, shoot her. Kill her. She has already..."

"Sure."

Lynn immediately nodded. He stood up and limped over to the little girl. Raising his gun, he pointed it at her head and said, "Stop moving."

Bang!

This time, she did not straighten her head again.

"Talk."

Watching the little girl's body continuously dissipate, Lynn picked up a burning table leg from the ground, lit a cigarette, and turned back to ask, "You knew who she was all along. You were pretty well prepared.

Can you tell me now?"

Constantine raised his eyelids and glanced at Lynn. Then he wearily fell back, his lazy voice drifting over. "Trigon."

"She is Trigon's daughter."

"So we destroyed the body Trigon was using to reincarnate?"

"No."

Constantine sighed helplessly. "We only killed her once. Once, that's all."

Some of you probably guessed it was Raven. For those who do not know, Raven cannot truly die. And although she is Trigon's daughter and is not accepted by the Justice League, she is indeed on the side of justice.

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