Exorcism and Points

"All right, let's begin today's lesson!"

Clearly, John Constantine and Lucifer did not get along well as mentors. For instance, Constantine directly forced Lucifer's Portal shut, then clapped his hands to draw everyone's attention.

"Since we have a new student, today's lesson will be fairly simple."

Constantine snapped his fingers, and a new Portal appeared before them. "I trust all of you have memorized the Exorcism Manual I wrote?"

As he spoke, Constantine seemed to remember something. He took a small booklet from his coat and handed it to Zhang Yang. "This is yours. From now on, you have twenty minutes to memorize it."

Zhang Yang accepted the booklet. Four crooked characters were written across its cover: Exorcism Manual.

In the author section was a name that left one speechless: John Constantine. Yes, the very same chain-smoker standing before him.

"On the other side of the door is an assignment where you can put what you've learned into practice."

Constantine pointed at a building beyond the Portal. "Inside that building, a Hell demon summoned here is hiding inside a girl's body. Whoever completes the exorcism first gets the points for this class."

"Points?"

While Zhang Yang was still puzzled, the other three people beside him moved.

"Those points are as good as mine!"

Loki took the lead. He even cast dark green magic to create an illusion that blocked the others, then was the first to charge through the Portal.

The second was Harry Potter. He used Hogwarts's unique magic: Reparo!

This spell had originally only been able to repair damaged objects, but after Harry's time at Kamar-Taj, he had combined it with time-related incantations to develop a new function: restoring the surrounding state to a certain moment in time.

The longer the restoration period, the greater the magical power it consumed.

After dispelling the illusion, Harry was about to pass through the Portal when he felt the temperature around him drop.

It was Mera!

A stream of water appeared beneath her feet and shot past Harry's body as she rushed through.

"Aren't you going?"

Constantine lit a cigarette. "Oh, right. You don't know what points are."

"In the Special Class, points are basically a unique form of currency."

"This currency can be exchanged for valuable things, such as the magical artifacts stored by Kamar-Taj, the magic books collected by the Temple Mages, and certain items unique to us Special Class mentors."

After hearing that, Zhang Yang nodded, finally understanding why those three had been so excited.

"My advice is to finish reading that book first. Learn some knowledge about exorcism, then compete with them for points next time."

Constantine took one last drag from his cigarette and casually tossed it onto the floor. "Without any knowledge of exorcism, you can't safely separate a demon from a human body."

"Okay."

Zhang Yang nodded, sat cross-legged, and began reading the Exorcism Manual Constantine had compiled himself.

"Using magic always comes at a price—John Constantine."

On the first page of the Exorcism Manual, there was only that one line, a note from Constantine.

"A price, huh..."

Zhang Yang considered it. Wasn't that true?

Don't assume that Kamar-Taj's mages paid no price for using magic just because ordinary people couldn't see it.

Take The Ancient One, for example. She used the energy of the Dark Dimension to gain longevity and power. Were you sure she hadn't suffered any negative effects?

Of course she had. That could be seen from Kaecilius.

But The Ancient One was no ordinary person. She suppressed those negative effects and held on until Doctor Strange arrived, only then freeing herself.

Did people really think the Sorcerer Supreme, whose might shook the multiverse, could be stabbed to death with a single knife?

What, was this a joke?

Did they think being the Sorcerer Supreme was some kind of game?

What did they think the Time Stone was for?

As long as The Ancient One wanted to, she could revive at any time.

But what would revival accomplish?

Everything had already been destined. Doctor Strange would do better than she ever could.

That was why she gave up hope of rebirth and, as though liberated, watched the stars filling the sky before returning to Eternity's embrace.

Turning to the second page of the Exorcism Manual, Zhang Yang found some commonly used methods of exorcism. For Hell demons, holy water and holy light from the Heaven Dimension worked best. If those were unavailable, specially enchanted silver items could also have some effect.

The second page also mentioned that if a human was possessed by a demon, then without a special method, no matter how powerful you were, you could not separate the two unless you killed the possessed human as well.

The content that followed covered all kinds of exorcism methods, from physical exorcism to spiritual exorcism.

On the final page of the Exorcism Manual was another note.

Beware of a Hell lord named Nigel—John Constantine.

"Finished reading it all?"

Constantine tossed aside his cigarette butt and looked at Zhang Yang. "Not bad. You're pretty quick."

Zhang Yang looked at the ground. More than ten cigarette butts were already scattered there. During the mere ten-odd minutes he had spent reading, Constantine had smoked more than ten cigarettes.

Only then did Zhang Yang understand why people said Constantine would die from cigarettes.

Smoking like that, was he afraid he wouldn't die fast enough?

"Let's go!"

Constantine noticed Zhang Yang's gaze but did not care. Instead, he snapped his fingers. "Let's go see which unlucky bastard took first place!"

"Unlucky bastard?"

Zhang Yang was somewhat confused. Shouldn't whoever earned the points be the lucky one? Why had they become an unlucky bastard in Constantine's eyes?

Still, he said nothing and quietly followed Constantine through the Portal.

"Damn demon!"

Loki, who had been the first through the Portal, furiously smashed a mirror. Under everyone else's terrified gazes, he grabbed the girl by the throat. "Get out of this mortal's body!"

"Great son of Odin, god of mischief and trickery!"

A hoarse voice came from the girl's mouth. "I never expected to encounter you here!"

"Since you know who I am, get back to Hell obediently!"

Loki threw the girl onto the bed and summoned a spear with a wave of his hand. "Otherwise, I'll shatter your soul!"

"Along with this innocent little girl's?"

The demon's whisper filled the room. Aside from Loki and the other two, everyone's eyes became unfocused. "I heard you joined Kamar-Taj? And even made that bastard Constantine your mentor?"

"My poor Prince Loki, you surely don't know what kind of man John Constantine is!"

"He's a bastard. In Heaven and on earth, there's no one more of a bastard than him!"

"..."