"What's there to be so shocked about? You just lack experience." Mike shook his head, simultaneously yanking with his arm and driving force into his legs.
Carried by momentum, Gabriel's body lurched forward before being sent flying by a brutal kick.
"I don't believe it—this has to be an illusion." A disheveled Gabriel struggled to her feet after being kicked away, only to be met by Mike's calm, composed expression.
His posture seemed to mock his opponent for being too weak.
"Even the First Archangel shouldn't possess this kind of power..." Fear of the unknown caused Gabriel to lose her composure and succumb completely to darkness.
Countless tendrils of dark energy coalesced around her, eventually forming a pair of massive black wings.
The Spear of Destiny, which had fallen to the ground, seemed drawn by the dark energy; it flew back into Gabriel's hand of its own accord.
At the same time, the "Screaming Beetle" Constantine carried began emitting a frantic warning.
This insect—an "Undying Beetle" Constantine had retrieved from an ancient Egyptian pyramid—served only one purpose: to detect evil forces.
"Mike, watch out! The evil energy radiating from her now is beyond calculation." Even Constantine was startled by Gabriel's transformation.
It was the first time the beetle had ever emitted such a piercing warning.
"No problem; I can handle this. Just look after yourself for now." Mike glanced at Constantine—who had been knocked to the ground by the blast of dark energy—before turning back to the corrupted Gabriel and beckoning her with a casual crook of his finger.
To be honest, Mike hadn't really encountered a worthy opponent since becoming "invincible." Gabriel looked formidable enough now to perhaps give him a decent workout.
"You're asking for death..."
Gabriel had always been the one looking down on the world from on high; this was the first time anyone had treated her with such arrogance.
With an enraged roar, Gabriel floated into the air. Her black wings unfurled, blotting out the sky as she revealed her ultimate, corrupted form.
Then, propelled by the swirling dark energy, she charged toward Mike with unstoppable momentum. Amidst a whistling sound, the Spear of Destiny in Gabriel's hand—coiled with the power of a curse—began to shimmer with specks of black light.
"Not bad momentum..." Mike remarked, offering an objective assessment of his opponent's attack.
Out of respect, he gathered two spheres of white light and wrapped them around his own hands.
Clang!
Fist collided with the Spear of Destiny, erupting with a piercing sonic boom.
In the wake of the sound, a powerful shockwave swept through the entire church, radiating outward from where Mike and Gabriel stood.
In an instant, debris was sent tumbling across the floor of the hallowed sanctuary...
Back in the center of the church, Gabriel was wreathed in black mist; her downward strike bore down with the crushing weight of Mount Tai, seemingly blotting out the sky.
Mike's stance appeared far less imposing—merely a standard straight punch. Yet, the faint white light on his fist held back the encroaching black mist.
"Your resolve is impressive, too, though you seem to have forgotten to hold a bit of strength in reserve..." Mike commented, his tone once again effortless and composed.
Then, catching his opponent off guard, he retracted his fist, twisted his waist, and unleashed a left hook glowing with a soft light.
Gabriel, who had committed everything to her strike, had no time to shift tactics before a heavy blow sent her flying.
It looked as though she had practically offered her face up to Mike's fist.
"Yes!"
As the black mist dissipated and Gabriel was sent flying once more, Constantine—who had been watching the whole affair—grinned with a distinct lack of decorum.
Clearly, he found Mike's way of teaching Gabriel a lesson deeply satisfying.
"Don't get too cocky..." Lying in a crater of rubble, surrounded by scattered black feathers and nursing a swollen right cheek, Gabriel glared up at Mike with eyes full of venom.
Suddenly, a strange smile played across her lips; she rolled sideways and lunged at Angela, who had been watching the spectacle from the sidelines.
It went without saying: this fallen angel, having abandoned all moral boundaries, had once again chosen to launch a sneak attack on a mortal. The Spear of Destiny was just about to slice into the girl's abdomen...
...
This was Gabriel's contingency plan: using the Spear of Destiny and the "predestined one" to summon Mammon.
Angela's womb was effectively a "Gateway to Hell" at that moment; a mere scratch would allow the demon to be born into the world.
Caught off guard by Gabriel's treachery, Angela had no time to react; she could only watch helplessly as the Spear of Destiny hurtled toward her, Constantine's shout of alarm ringing in her ears.
"Look out!"
At that critical moment, Chas—Constantine's apprentice, who had largely stayed in the background until then—lunged forward. He slammed his body into Angela to knock her out of the way, placing himself directly in the path of the Spear.
It takes a while to describe, but the entire sequence unfolded in a split second.
Just as Chas squeezed his eyes shut, bracing for death, Mike activated his super-speed. He "blinked" to Gabriel's side and stomped her right into the ground.
"Pulling stunts right in front of me? Do you take me for a fool?" Mike's calm voice rang out immediately after.
In a way, Gabriel's backup plan had actually succeeded—she had simply vastly underestimated Mike's capabilities.
At that moment, the Spear of Destiny was less than five centimeters from Chas's throat, while Angela was safely out of harm's way.
"Just kill me!" With her plan in ruins and having suffered repeated humiliations, Gabriel was ready to die.
As an angel, Gabriel's soul was registered in Heaven; even as a fallen angel, she would still ascend to Heaven upon death.
Once in Heaven, she might well find a way to start over.
"You think dying is that easy?" Seeing through Gabriel's scheme, Mike scoffed and channeled the power of retribution.
Then, the massive black wings on Gabriel's back began to disintegrate—shedding in chunks like melting snow—before finally dissolving into black smoke and vanishing into the void.
"What did you do to me?" Gabriel, left with nothing but a pair of unsightly wing stumps, wore a look of sheer terror. Yes, while purging the corruption from her, Mike had simultaneously stripped her of her powers.
"As you can see, you've become an ordinary human now," Mike explained, before adding, "If you don't want to experience the suffering of mortal life, you're free to commit suicide."
It is common knowledge that those who commit suicide cannot enter Heaven.
"You'll regret this..." Having lost everything, Gabriel clearly didn't dare to take her own life.
However, she still had a way to proceed: summoning Mammon.
It is known that summoning a demon requires three conditions: using the Spear of Destiny and a "predestined individual" to open the Gate of Destiny.
Although Gabriel had lost her divine powers, her constitution was far superior to a mere "medium's body," easily satisfying the requirement for the predestined individual.
Coupled with the fact that she held the Spear of Destiny in her hand...
Mike had already mapped out exactly what she would do next.
Yes, Mike wanted her to open the Gate of Hell and unleash Mammon.
With the situation having reached this point, a resentful Gabriel had no other choice.
She slowly raised the Spear of Destiny and decisively slashed her own wrist.
Blood flowed out, accompanied by wisps of dark energy; a massive, dark-red gate began to materialize in the void. The roar of a beast from Hell echoed forth, signaling that a terrifying entity was struggling to break free from the other side.
"Mike, stop her! She's trying to open the Gate of Hell..." Nearby, Constantine—pinned to the ground by the terrifying pressure radiating from the spectral Gate of Hell—realized exactly what Gabriel was attempting.
She was using angelic blood to summon an evil entity.
Given the immense price being paid, Constantine didn't even dare to imagine just how powerful the summoned demon would be.
"Relax, everything is under control." Mike made no move to stop the summoning ritual; instead, he stepped back to give Gabriel more space.
At the same time, he cast a protective aura to shield Constantine and the others from the oppressive weight of the Gate of Hell. As for the Gate of Hell, after absorbing Gabriel's vital essence and endless black mist, it revealed a blood-red vortex.
Then, amidst swirling black vapors, a sharp black claw reached out, followed by a head crowned with demonic horns, and finally, a massive, jet-black, powerful torso.
"I'm finally out... the scent of freedom... how wonderful..."
Accompanied by a burst of evil laughter, a black demon standing over three meters tall descended upon the glass church in its true form.