Mysterious Pattern

"Ding! Congratulations, Host, for killing a demon soldier (true form). Reward: Physical Strength +1."

After Zhang Yang killed the demon's true form, a voice that only he could hear sounded beside his ear.

"Physical Strength +1?"

As Zhang Yang pondered what the reward meant, a surge of heat suddenly appeared within his body, passing through his limbs and bones in an instant before vanishing.

The entire process lasted less than a second, yet after the heat disappeared, Zhang Yang felt a steady warmth spreading through his body. At the same time, all aspects of his physical functions improved.

His suddenly heightened senses made him notice two strange gazes behind him. Turning around, he saw the two of them staring at him as though he were a monster.

"Why are you looking at me like that...?"

Zhang Yang moved his body, and the sound of his bones grinding together rang out continuously, rather frightening to hear.

Harry shrank back. He looked at the door Zhang Yang had smashed apart with a single punch, compared the hardness of his own bones with it, and said nothing.

"You really are a monster."

Mera had always been straightforward. "I never expected that besides having a photographic memory and incredible comprehension, you also possess the strength of a Temple Mage?"

"The strength of a Temple Mage?"

Zhang Yang froze for a moment. He suddenly remembered that during the entrance test, others had said he possessed the spiritual power of a Temple Mage... Did spiritual power equate to strength?

"Instant casting of Kamar-Taj magic!"

Seeing that Zhang Yang did not seem to understand, Mera explained, "Only Temple Tier mages can instantly cast Kamar-Taj spells to a certain extent. This is also one of the differences between Kamar-Taj spells and the magic used elsewhere."

"I see?"

Only then did Zhang Yang understand why Harry and Mera had been looking at him that way. He smiled but offered no explanation.

Temple Tier? Supreme Tier?

Kamar-Taj's ranking system had nothing to do with him.

Unlike Kamar-Taj mages, he did not draw upon the energy of the multiverse to cast magic, which placed no burden on the body. Even an ordinary person could cast spells with a Sling Ring.

His magic power possessed immense destructive and penetrating force, but for that very reason, using it caused a certain degree of damage to his body. Although it was minor and easily healed, once he used magic power beyond a certain limit, the resulting harm would exceed the threshold and inflict injuries that were difficult to recover from. That was why it demanded a certain level of physical fitness.

If he could wield that ocean-like, seemingly endless and boundless magic power... No, not even all of it. Even one-tenth would be enough. Forget Temple Tier—even The Ancient One would be crushed beneath one of Zhang Yang's fingers!

He was now working toward that goal.

"Cough, cough, cough..."

At that moment, the woman who had been knocked unconscious from choking in Mera's arms woke up and began coughing violently, as though she were about to cough out her heart, liver, and spleen.

Mera restrained her emotions and gently patted the woman's body as Water-Washing Magic silently nourished her.

"Thank you."

After being nourished by Water-Washing Magic, the woman's condition improved greatly. At the very least, she could speak normally now.

After thanking them, the woman fell silent for a while before asking, "Who... are you people? Why did you come to my home?"

"Are you... Angela Dawson?"

The three exchanged glances. In the end, Zhang Yang stepped forward and asked, "We're looking for Officer Dawson."

"That's me."

The woman—or rather, Angela Dawson—looked at the three of them in confusion. "What do you need from me? Do we know each other?"

"Do you know John Constantine?"

Zhang Yang had already guessed that this woman was most likely the person they were looking for. After receiving confirmation, he asked, "Did you commission Constantine to handle something?"

"Yes."

Angela nodded. "I did seek out Mr. Constantine. He... didn't come himself?"

"He had something to take care of and left first."

Zhang Yang explained, "You can entrust the matter to us instead. It's the same."

"Is that so?"

Angela subtly frowned. She had hired Constantine because of his reputation in this line of work, but she had not expected three people who looked so young to show up instead.

But these three young people had saved her, so she truly found it difficult to say anything.

"My younger sister was murdered."

After considering it, Angela finally told them what had happened. "Starting a year ago, she became interested in angels and demons, and that was what sent her to a psychiatric hospital."

Zhang Yang frowned and exchanged looks with Harry and Mera, but none of them spoke or interrupted Angela.

"A few days ago, she died."

Angela's voice suddenly choked up. "The surveillance footage showed that she jumped from the rooftop!"

"This..."

Zhang Yang opened his mouth but said nothing.

Clearly, if Angela's sister had committed suicide, she would not have hired Constantine to investigate, and they would not have needed to come.

This was not so simple.

"The last name my sister said in the recording... was Constantine!"

Only then did Angela reveal why she had commissioned Constantine to investigate.

"In that case... where is your sister's body?"

After thinking about it, Zhang Yang recalled a method in the Exorcism Manual that allowed one to communicate with a person's soul through their corpse. The prerequisite was that the soul had not been devoured or reincarnated; otherwise, it would fail.

"In the police station morgue."

Angela wiped away her tears and looked at Zhang Yang uncertainly. "You... want to examine her body? It's useless. The coroner didn't find anything."

"We'll talk after we get there."

Zhang Yang neither agreed nor disagreed with Angela's words. Coroners were highly skilled, but there were certain hidden things they could not discover.

"Follow me."

Angela had no other options now and could only place all her hopes on Zhang Yang and the other two. After standing up, she did not even plan to change clothes before heading out.

In the end, Mera stepped in, drawing the moisture from Angela's clothes. She then patted the astonished, disbelieving Angela and signaled for her to lead the way.

They got into a Chevrolet SUV, and before long, the four arrived at the police station morgue. At last, they saw the body of Angela's younger sister—Isabella.

Angela sent away the guard responsible for watching over the bodies. Zhang Yang put on gloves and grasped Isabella's wrist.

"Hm?"

The moment he touched Isabella's wrist, Zhang Yang frowned.

He sensed an exceptionally high-quality power of Hell on Isabella's wrist. Turning it over, he revealed a pattern before everyone's eyes.

It was a mysterious symbol: a circle pierced through by two spears.