"Don't get mad, don't get mad. The kid's been pickled in the asylum so long he's lost his mind; of course he can't tell good from bad." Fang Yuan kept telling himself.
"Ever seen a Satan this handsome?" he cracked.
Isabel looked around and realized, to her shock, that she was still downstairs at the psychiatric hospital—still on Earth.
She scrambled to her feet and backed away several steps.
"You're a demon?" she asked, on full guard.
Her first thought was that Fang Yuan must be a demon sent to keep an eye on her; since she'd been chosen as Mammon's vessel, it would make sense for a demon to watch her and prevent any mishaps.
But then it struck her: Fang Yuan had just spoken rudely to Satan—an ordinary demon would never dare.
So Isabel quickly put two and two together and pointed at him in alarm. "You're Mammon!"
Only Mammon, the Devil's son, cloaked in darkness and bold enough to insult Satan, could fit the bill.
Fang Yuan's face darkened. Why was he being demoted a generation?
"I'm human—one hundred percent."
He flashed to her side, grabbed her hand, and pressed it to his chest; only then did she calm a little.
She felt the strong, steady thud of his heartbeat.
Demons don't need to breathe; even when possessing a human, they usually have special abilities. Since Fang Yuan had a pulse, he really was human.
"I'm Fang Yuan, a mage from another World," he introduced. "I sensed something big happening here, so I came to take a look."
As he spoke, he conjured a wisp of dark mana in his palm and complained, "I've studied Dark Magic, sure, but that doesn't make me a demon, does it?"
"Evil lies not in power, but in people!" he declared righteously.
Isabel was thoroughly bamboozled.
Though a medium, she'd been labeled "abnormal" since childhood and locked away at home or in asylums, barely exposed to the occult. She had no way to judge his words.
But she had no time to verify them, either.
"I'm out of time."
"Don't save me this time!"
With that she hurried toward the building—she meant to jump again, and soon.
"What trouble are you in? Maybe I can help," Fang Yuan called.
Isabel still couldn't tell friend from foe and stayed silent.
Tonight she was dead-set on dying; even the real Jesus couldn't stop her.
But Fang Yuan stopped her with a single line: "Constantine can't even save himself right now—he's in no shape to help you."
Isabel spun around. "How do you…?"
"Before you jumped, I heard you shout that name," Fang Yuan explained. "And I happen to know Constantine."
Isabel shook her head frantically. "Impossible. My premonition can't be wrong—Constantine can end this crisis."
Fang Yuan gave a non-committal shrug.
Under normal circumstances Constantine could, but now that Fang Yuan had arrived, the script might flip.
"Wait…"
Isabel suddenly frowned and stared at Fang Yuan in shock.
"My psychic sense just shifted—the one who can solve the crisis… is you?" She wavered, then finally accepted it.
She trusted her clairvoyance; otherwise she wouldn't have given up her life so readily based on a vision.
After this episode her trust in Fang Yuan skyrocketed.
She didn't actually know Constantine; she'd simply followed her prophecy.
Fang Yuan narrowed his eyes, doing quick mental math.
Where did Isabel's psychic power come from?
She was an ordinary girl—how could she see that he could avert the disaster?
After all, he possessed [Beyond Time (S-Rank)]; even Darkseid couldn't read his future, so why could she?
He carefully recalled the description of [Beyond Time]—
"[The host transcends timeline constraints; the future cannot be observed, timeline shifts will not affect the host's memory; ignores absolute time-points and temporal paradoxes. Effect weakened outside the Marvel universe.]"
"Effect weakened outside the Marvel universe…" he repeated mentally. That had to be the loophole.
Yet even a weakened [Beyond Time] shouldn't be visible to Isabel—unless the one truly watching wasn't her.
Putting together her faith and the origin of this arc's final boss, Fang Yuan suddenly understood.
He glanced at the huge cross on the outer wall of the church hospital, the corner of his mouth twitching.
Who else could it be?
Seen in that light, Bruce suddenly getting news on Constantine—and even sensing God—probably owed as much to divine nudging as to his own talents.
"'No meddling in mortal affairs,' huh? Looks like Satan's the only one playing by the rules," Fang Yuan groused inwardly. "No wonder Hell can't beat Heaven."
Of course, he didn't dare voice that thought.
"Looks like God has sent you to me." Fang Yuan nodded at the excited Isabel. "All right, I'll help—but first tell me what's going on."
Fang Yuan already knew everything, but he had to keep up appearances; he had his own game to play.
Saving the World was fine, but benefits were non-negotiable.
What could he gain from this storyline?
Isabel?
Apparently God had already delivered her to him… a-hem.
The lance of longinus counted as one; signing Constantine was another; maybe he could even recruit Gabriel?
Yet after weighing the options, he decided all those perks paled beside getting on the good side of the big shot behind Gabriel.
God was a top-tier presence in the DC Universe; even a mere projection was clearly far stronger than Darkseid. If Fang Yuan foiled Hell's scheme and kindly educated His subordinates, surely He'd owe him a favor or two?
Still, to be safe, he'd better sound out the Almighty first.
So, after hearing Isabel's frantic account, Fang Yuan offered, "Let's head to the church first."
"The church? Okay!" Isabel's clairvoyance was strong, but socially she was a total rookie; she simply obeyed Fang Yuan.
Ever since her vision named him the crisis-solver, she'd trusted him completely.
"If there's really no other way—kill me," Isabel said earnestly.
Fang Yuan smiled and patted her head. "It won't come to that."
Isabel stiffened slightly but didn't pull away.
Mammon needed a medium's body to descend, but it didn't have to be Isabel. The quickest fix, then, was to eliminate Constantine; when Satan came to claim the soul he'd long coveted, he could deal with his rebellious son while he was at it.
"Hey—still means Constantine has to be part of the plan," Fang Yuan mused. "Might as well let him draw Gabriel's attention."
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