Rain poured down, the dense drops forming a curtain that shrouded the city in hazy mist.
Inside a convenience store beside the rain-soaked street, Lynn sat at a table, looking up at Chas and Constantine across from him.
"You're looking for Belur, and Rachel and I are after him too. Since that's the case, why don't we team up to find him?"
Chas held a piece of filled bread in his hand. At Lynn's suggestion, delight immediately spread across his face.
"I'm in!"
Before he and Constantine came to Gotham, he had been worrying about whether they could rescue Trish's soul.
The two people before him were powerful fighters. With their help, the chances of saving Trish's soul would be much better.
Constantine had wanted to think it over a little longer, but seeing how desperate his old friend was to save his daughter, he could only nod helplessly.
"I'm in too."
He had already fought this Greater Demon remotely once in London.
Back then, Belur's Black Magic had nearly burned the Nightmare Nurse he had summoned from Hell to death.
With these two joining them, their chances of defeating Belur would be better.
[NPCs John Constantine and Chas Chandler have joined your party.] [Gotham Reputation has reached 200. BOSS quest unlocked.] [Quest description: Hell Lord Nergal intends to invade Gotham with the forces of Hell and turn all of Gotham into a Hell Branch. Players must banish all demons that have descended upon Gotham, as well as Hell Lord Nergal, within 24 hours.] [Quest rewards: Calculated based on the player's performance in the BOSS quest. The higher the performance rating, the greater the rewards. The maximum performance rating is SSS. Completing the quest as a party can improve the performance rating.] [Note: Beat all of fucking Hell single-handedly!]
Lynn raised an eyebrow.
It really was a BOSS quest. But who was this Nergal?
Was he the Hell Lord quietly backing Belur from behind?
Lynn shook his head inwardly, closed the system quest panel, then held out his open palm toward Constantine.
"Great. Since you want to join us, pay up first."
"Pay up?" Constantine looked puzzled.
"We helped you deal with hundreds of Lesser Demons. Shouldn't you pay us for that?"
Constantine: "..."
After promptly handing over the money, Chas asked curiously:
"Now that we're working as a team, what are your names?"
"I'm Rachel Roth." Raven was practically smiling as she introduced them. "And he's... John Constantine."
Constantine: ???
If you're Constantine, then who am I?
The Bat-Signal shone against the dim, gray-white clouds, like the image of a bat with outstretched wings stamped onto a dark gray canvas.
Clad in the Iron Man Armor, Lynn darted between the city's towering buildings and through its streets and alleys.
His swooping figure was reflected in the glass curtain walls, the cold metal armor gleaming under the pale, chilly moonlight.
From a distance, he looked like a white cloud, rolling one moment and dropping the next.
The red-and-yellow Iron Man Armor swept through the sky before plunging into free fall, like a fish playing in the water.
Below, Constantine and Chas followed behind Raven, watching Lynn swoop overhead with bewildered expressions.
"Is he always like this?"
Constantine turned toward Raven up ahead, looking a little odd.
He didn't believe for a second that Lynn's name was John Constantine.
Raven looked up, her blue eyes sweeping over Lynn as he darted through the air like a fish. She pressed her right hand to her forehead and explained helplessly:
"I only just met him too. He said something about coming to Gotham to experience what he couldn't in the Marvel Spider-Man game, and then he flew up there."
"How much do you know about Belur?" she asked, changing the subject.
Their shared target now was the Greater Demon named Belur.
They needed to share what they knew first, so they wouldn't run into unnecessary trouble once they took action.
"I fought him once before in London."
As Constantine recalled the scene, his expression gradually grew grave.
"There was something wrong with Chas's daughter, and he came to me for help. So I summoned Yasa, the Nightmare Nurse, hoping she could help me solve the problem."
"And then?" Raven raised an eyebrow, curiosity showing on her delicate face.
"Then... Yasa examined Trish and discovered that she wasn't possessed by a demon. Someone had imprisoned her soul."
Constantine added.
"That was when the demon's Black Magic started burning Yasa's body. She nearly died there.
"And that demon, Belur, told me that if I wanted to fix Trish's condition, I had to find him at Manor No. 1247 on Enstron Street in Gotham City."
Raven nodded, already weighing the situation.
Perhaps Belur knew Constantine and the others would come and had already prepared snares and traps.
Demons were cunning and despicable, after all. Her father had taught her that all too well.
Constantine raised his head, his eyes threaded with blood vessels like tiny worms, and asked:
"What do you know?"
"I learned that Belur wants to establish a Hell Branch in Gotham and turn all of Gotham's worst villains into demons," Raven answered calmly.
"Turn all of Gotham's villains into demons?" Constantine sucked in a sharp breath.
He had heard of that hellhole, Gotham, even back in the United Kingdom.
If Gotham really became a Hell Branch, Arkham Asylum, with its abundance of talent, would probably produce several Greater Demons or even Hell Lords right away.
At that point, even Batman wouldn't be able to save Gotham.
"That's right." Raven nodded. "If he really succeeds, a Hell Lord may awaken."
"A Hell Lord?" At her words, Constantine's brow furrowed even deeper.
He turned toward Chas beside him and tried to persuade him:
"Chas, listen. We're not just facing powerful Black Magic. There's also a Hell-
"Lord's scheme behind all this. We might not win..."
"Just like that time in Newcastle?" Chas raised his head and looked at Constantine, his eyes utterly calm.
At those words, the terrified face of a girl suddenly flashed through Constantine's mind.
Years ago, they had encountered a middle-aged man in Newcastle who wanted to sacrifice his own daughter to a demon.
Constantine had still been inexperienced then. To save the girl, he had used magic to summon a Greater Demon-Nergal.
He had wanted the demon to help save her, but he had been too naive and inexperienced to put a Binding Spell in place.
As a result, after saving her, the demon had turned the entire nightclub into a living hell. Even the girl Constantine had wanted to rescue had been dragged into Hell by Nergal.
To this day, the incident remained like a thorn lodged in Constantine's heart.
Chas pulled a photograph from his pocket. It was a family portrait of the three of them. A look of resolve appeared on his haggard face:
"John, we can't change the past, but... we can change the present."
With that, Chas slipped the family photograph into Constantine's pocket.
Constantine fell silent, unsure what to say.
Just then, Lynn's voice came from above, interrupting their thoughts.
"I found the final BOSS location."