Don't Be Stupid, Who the Hell Is on Your Side?

"Damn sulfur smell, that guy can project hell onto earth..."

Constantine coughed violently. He had been dead for two minutes and had since traveled intermittently between hell and earth. His familiarity with the smell of sulfur was second only to nicotine, alcohol, and perfume.

Don't underestimate these two minutes. Just like the Eastern saying "a day in heaven is a year on earth," there is a similar saying in the West: a second on earth is close to Eternity in hell.

During his two minutes on Earth, Constantine endured unspeakable torment in Hell, so he vowed never to let his soul belong to Hell.

Of course, one of the reasons is that many friends made his home in hell.

What surprised Constantine was not the projection of Hell, but Baldasar. It wasn't a matter of ability, but of authority and power; Baldasar was not qualified to do these things.

"This guy is definitely suspicious; he has someone behind him!" Constantine gripped the Golden Finger Guard in one hand and wrapped the other hand with what looked like rotten burlap, striding toward Baldasar.

Don't underestimate this tattered cloth; in terms of its lethality against hellish creatures, it is more than ten times stronger than gold blessed by the Archbishop.

It has an even bigger background!

This tattered cloth is one of Constantine's collections; it is a fragment of the garment Moses wore when he ascended Mount Ten Commandments, and is considered a sacred relic in all of humanity.

Russell raised his hand to stop Constantine and glanced at Angela: "The enemy's target is her. Don't let her get captured. I'll handle Baldasar."

"Be careful, that guy's got something going on." Constantine didn't insist. It had always been his teammates' job to charge into battle, and he wasn't used to being the one to lead the charge.

"I see!"

Russell raised his hand and summoned a Holy Light Longsword. He swung it forcefully forward, and in an instant, holy light soared into the sky, causing the hellish projection to tremble and shake as if it were about to shatter at any moment.

Seeing how strong Russell was, Constantine felt much more at ease, since his personal strength depended on the strength of his teammates.

Constantine possessed considerable magical skill and had mastered many wondrous spells, but he rarely used them in combat because he knew very well that excessive use of magic would come at a terrible price.

Normally, he would use the tools at hand to fight. For example, right now, facing dozens of monsters surrounding him and Angela, he chuckled and took out a small jar containing 'Screaming Beetles' from his pocket.

This beetle has no offensive capabilities, but it possesses very useful auxiliary abilities. Its screech is harmless to humans, but to hellish creatures it sounds like the sharp noise of fingernails scratching a blackboard, causing monsters unbearable headaches.

Squeak squeak ————

As the sound waves spread, the monsters immediately shrank their necks, their hideous features contorted into a grimace, howling and rolling on the ground.

"One, two, three... fifteen, sixteen..."

Constantine chuckled as he protected Angela, counting as he reaped the heads on the ground, but his smile quickly faded.

"Twenty-three... twenty-three... twenty-three!?"

Looking at the monster that hadn't fallen after taking three punches, Constantine exclaimed in surprise, "Even the grunts are this fierce. I'm increasingly regretting getting involved in this mess."

Nearby, Angela, unable to bear the strong smell of sulfur, bent over and coughed incessantly.

Seeing this, Constantine no longer hesitated, took out a lighter, lit the tattered burlap, and muttered incantations.

Intense light burst forth from his hand, the sacred object burning with a dawn-like radiance powerful enough to destroy all darkness, causing the surrounding hellish monsters to scream and turn to ashes.

With Constantine's powerful punch, the last glimmer of light shattered the projection of hell, opening a cracked door.

"Run!"

He grabbed Angela, and after they left, the crack slowly closed.

Constantine was confident about this early retreat. It had nothing to do with betraying his teammates; it was Angela who was holding him back. Her body couldn't withstand the high temperature in the Hell Projection, so he had to send her out quickly, or it would be too late.

Moreover, with Russell's abilities, he could have taken care of Baldasar in no time, so there was no question of him betraying his teammates.

"Cough cough cough—"

Having escaped the hellish projection, Angela leaned against the wall, panting for fresh air. The burning sensation in her lungs made her mouth dry, and she couldn't utter a complete sentence.

Constantine patted Angela on the back to help her catch her breath, thinking that he would dump her once the incident was over.

This was done for Angela's sake; those around her, whether friends or relatives, whether willingly or unwillingly, would die tragically for various reasons.

His cursed and tragic fate tormented him. After several days of intense passion, he developed feelings for Angela and didn't want to see the tragedy repeat itself.

Just then, the streetlights flickered on and off, and the sound of some large animal flapping its wings came from the air. Soon, the lights went out, and the street became pitch black, with the stench of sulfur from hell growing stronger.

"Dog shit, there's even some outside..."

Constantine shielded Angela, gripping the finger guards tightly. With the last glimmer of light, he could vaguely see swarms of hellish creatures crowding the streets.

Within the area projected by Hell, dozens of demons of varying strengths howled and surrounded Russell. They feared the Holy Light Longsword in Russell's hand, but were forced to charge under Baldasar's orders.

With interlocking claws, Venom fangs, hooves and horns of goats everywhere, and black bat wings like bats, the monsters attacking Russell were of many kinds, including two that were over five meters tall. Regardless of their actual strength, their appearance was definitely well-designed.

Russell locked his gaze on Baldasar, ignoring the approaching monsters, and swung his longsword horizontally.

A ray of light fell, and the small world of the hellish projection fell silent. All the roars, howls, and screams vanished.

The holy light extended outwards along its trajectory, and the demons were powerless to resist. Anyone who touched it even slightly was instantly engulfed by the white holy flames and exploded into ashes with a bang.

Only one monster, whose entire body was composed of poisonous insects, snakes, and ants, lasted a little longer. It possessed an elemental-like ability, allowing it to decompose its body and recombine it.

Faced with the holy flames that incinerate everything, he desperately tried to decompose his body to escape, but his rank was too low, and the speed of decomposition could not keep up with the burning speed of the holy flames. In the end, he was ignited along with his soul and died a very clean death.

Russell pointed his sword at Baldasar: "You're the only one left. Tell me everything you know, and I promise to spare your life and send your soul to hell."

Baldasar was sweating profusely. To the devil, going to hell was like going home. If he could, he would love to tell everything and exchange the information for his life.

Despite his thoughts, he didn't have the guts. He reached into his pocket for a prop and forced a smile, saying, "This might be a misunderstanding. My target isn't you, but Constantine. I've wanted to teach him a lesson for a long time."

"But you just had them kill me!"

Baldasar chuckled ingratiatingly, "Well, I must be incredibly arrogant."

"Tell me who's behind you. You're not qualified to create a hellish projection. Who is that person, and why do they want Angela?"

Russell strode forward, and Baldasar followed cautiously backward. His human disguise was melted by the intense heat, revealing his true form: a ghastly green hellish creature.

"I don't know what you're talking about. I grabbed that woman because I thought she was pretty..."

Clang!

Russell stepped forward and, before Baldasar could react, kicked him to the ground. Then, he thrust his Holy Light Longsword upside down and pinned it to Baldasha's chest.

"Ah..."

A large hole was melted into his chest by holy light, and pure white flames slowly spread out, almost burning Baldasar in two.

Russell controlled the burning speed of the flames and said sternly, "Speak up now. I know you are afraid of that person. He can easily crush you, but I can also kill you right now, obliterate your soul, and make you disappear from the world."

Baldasar screamed and begged for mercy, "Yes, yes, I'll tell you everything, but please send me to hell."

"Can!"

Russell drew his Holy Light Longsword and waited for Baldasar to reveal the details of the conspiracy.

Baldasar gasped for breath, touching the empty hole in his chest, a deep fear flashing in his eyes, as he tremblingly pulled a Cross from his pocket.

Black!

Russell raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

Baldasar bowed his head and held the Cross high. "Because of the spell, I cannot call him by his name. His identity is in the Cross. You will understand once you get it."

Russell glanced at Baldasar suspiciously, then raised the Holy Light Longsword to the Cross to confirm there were no problems before holding it in his palm.

In an instant, a dense dark power surged out from the Cross, enveloping Russell in a pitch-black mud-like form. Under the corruption of the fallen power, the Holy Light Longsword in his hand instantly turned pitch black.

"Hahaha, pure Fallen Angel energy is the most deadly virus against a pure Angel's Power possessor like you." Baldasar quickly took two steps back, personally guiding a light to fall into darkness, and burst into laughter with passionate enthusiasm. "Although I don't know where you got your Angel's Power, we'll be on the same side from now on."

Boom!!

Russell unfurled a pair of black Wings of Light from his back, and the sludge on his body flowed into them automatically. Seeing this, Baldasar laughed even more wildly.

(ε(#￣)

The laughter stopped abruptly, Baldasar crashed to the ground, bracing himself with his hands. He met Russell's dark eyes and forced a dry laugh, saying, "Don't do this, buddy, I've freed you!"

The black Wings of Light retracted, and Russell's eyes returned to normal. He took two steps forward and stepped on Baldasar's face. "Let's continue our previous topic. Who is behind you?"

"Buddy, we're on the same side now! On the same side!"

"Don't be stupid, open your dog eyes and see clearly, who the hell is on your side?" Russell said, and another Holy Light Longsword pierced down, nailing it into Baldasar's shoulder.

Looking at Russell's golden eyes and the Wings of Light behind him, Baldasar was dumbfounded. The pain of his body being burned by the holy flames could not pull him out of his shock.

"No way, how could this be..."