Mental hospital.
Sephirot sat leisurely by the water tank.
The once clean and white tiled walls were now covered in dense, twisted runes.
As Papa Midnite made the final stroke,
In an instant, the runes throughout the room flickered with a faint red light, as if a circuit had been completed, before slowly fading away as if they had never existed.
Looking at the spotless floor, Sephirot asked curiously, "How effective is this thing of yours?"
Papa Midnite put away his ritual brush and lifted his chin. "Hmph. If it's a Demon God of the level we encountered last time, this linked voodoo ritual array can bind it for at least three or four seconds."
"Even if a higher-ranking Hell Lord descends, it can still slightly restrict their movements."
"Three or four seconds? That's enough. I'd expect nothing less from you, Papa Midnite."
Sephirot's eyes lit up as he offered a timely piece of professional flattery.
Buzz, buzz...
The phone in his pocket suddenly vibrated.
Sephirot stepped aside to answer.
"Sephirot! Angela's psychic gift has been restored."
"She saw a lot of things. You can tell me now, what exactly are the remaining conditions for Mammon's descent?!"
As soon as the call connected, Constantine's frantic voice came through.
"He still needs a holy relic,"
Sephirot said unhurriedly.
"A holy relic capable of tearing through dimensions and carrying Angelic Power."
"If you can get to it before they do, you might be able to stop Mammon's descent."
"What is it?! Right now..."
Constantine stopped mid-sentence.
"Wait... since you know everything, why aren't you the one stopping it?"
When he spoke again, a hint of suspicion had crept into his voice.
Why?
Because I can't beat Archangel Gabriel yet.
Sephirot muttered to himself. Of course, he wasn't going to tell Constantine that.
"Mammon isn't a threat to me. Even if Los Santos is destroyed, I can just move somewhere else."
He gave a soft chuckle, "Besides..."
"I don't plan on collecting a ticket to Heaven anyway. I have acquaintances in Hell; if you can't get into Heaven later on, you can always look me up."
The other end of the line fell silent.
Without even looking, Sephirot could guess that Constantine was currently chain-smoking his cigarette.
To get into Heaven, Constantine wouldn't pass up any opportunity.
A moment later, a voice spoke through gritted teeth.
"What is the holy relic?"
"The Spear of Destiny,"
Sephirot said. "The spear used to pierce Jesus on the cross all those years ago."
"What?! Those lunatics found the Spear of Destiny?!"
Constantine's exclamation erupted from the phone.
Sephirot added once more, "From what I know, you're quite familiar with the fellow escorting it." "Balthazar."
With that, he hung up the phone.
Not far away, Papa Midnite was packing up his ritual tools.
Relying on hearing that far exceeded that of an ordinary person, he had overheard the entire conversation between Sephirot and Constantine.
On the surface, Balthazar was a financier.
In reality, he was a half-breed demon who enjoyed fiddling with a coin in his hand, treating the manipulation of human souls as a game.
As a businessman, Midnite occasionally had professional dealings with him.
However, that half-breed demon had been acting secretively lately, and his body was tainted with the holy scent of angels.
Initially, Midnite thought this was just another case of dealing with some demon, like last time.
But hearing the conversation between Sephirot and Constantine, he realized it didn't just involve this half-breed demon; it even involved that legendary holy relic, the Spear of Destiny.
Papa Midnite suddenly remembered the news he had received from Hell a while ago. Darkness Approaches, Mammon descends.
He took another look at the ritual array Sephirot had asked him to draw.
His expression changed drastically as he looked at Sephirot. "You... you're not planning to deal with Mammon in this place, are you?"
"Bingo! You got it right. Too bad there's no prize."
Sephirot snapped his fingers. "For the sake of our pleasant cooperation, there's still time to run."
"You lunatic! I never should have been greedy for this pittance!"
Papa Midnite's face twisted as he cursed, "Constantine is an idiot, too, actually going along with your madness!"
He grabbed his briefcase and headed for the exit without looking back, terrified of being entangled in the fallout.
Sephirot watched Papa Midnite's fleeing figure and casually tossed his phone into Silent Hill.
By now, Constantine should have already taken Angela to find the demon Balthazar, shouldn't he?
There was one thing he hadn't told Constantine.
The demon Balthazar was actually in league with Archangel Gabriel behind the scenes.
The Spear of Destiny had long since been surrendered to Gabriel's hands.
Now, he just had to wait for Constantine to bring Angela to the demon Balthazar, who would then deliver her to the Archangel.
Then, everything would be ready.
Thinking of Gabriel, Sephirot simply felt that this Archangel was completely out of her mind.
She believed that no matter what sins humans committed, they could be forgiven and go to Heaven as long as they made a simple confession before death.
Gabriel was extremely dissatisfied with this, believing that God coddled these people far too much.
She believed that only after experiencing a hellish catastrophe, in an environment of extreme terror and pain, would the faith shown by humanity be truly pure.
Therefore, she had single-handedly pushed forward Mammon's descent plan.
But what kept Sephirot on guard was that in the system's mission description, Mammon's descent was merely a prerequisite task for Darkness Approaches.
That meant even this Archangel was nothing more than a utilized pawn.
While Sephirot was still lost in thought, Carrie tugged at his clothes, breaking his stride. "Sephirot..."
Carrie huddled by his side, pointing her finger toward the entrance of the water tank.
"Hmm?"
Sephirot snapped back to reality and looked over.
He saw Papa Midnite, who had just been in such a hurry to leave, now doubling back the way he came.
This Black Wizard, who usually prioritized elegance and poise, had a long gash torn into his suit, and cold sweat beaded on his forehead.
"If I ever take your business again, I'll rip my own head off and kick it around like a ball," Papa Midnite snarled through gritted teeth.
"What's wrong? Is there a traffic jam outside?" Sephirot asked, raising an eyebrow.
To force a businessman like him back inside, whatever was waiting out there had to be substantial.
"Go see for yourself!"
Sephirot walked to the doorway and looked out.
At some point, a massive horde of demons had gathered in the corridors on both sides of the entrance.
Some wore suits, their eyes glowing with a red light, still maintaining human form.
However, a small portion of the demons allowed their deformed features and serrated teeth to be exposed to the mortal realm without any restraint.
"Heh, they're here early to clear the floor for their master," Sephirot sneered.
Mammon hadn't even descended yet, but under Gabriel's indulgence, these demons dared to act so brazenly.
Following behind Sephirot, Carrie had never seen such a chaotic display of monsters. She instinctively recoiled, her face turning deathly pale.
Sephirot turned his head to look at her.
While there were many of these mediocre, half-baked demons outside, in his eyes, they were nothing more than a pack of small-fry.
However, they were the perfect candidates to serve as practice for this witch.
He turned around and gently pressed his hands onto her shoulders, forcing her to face the hideous faces outside the door.
"Don't be afraid, Carrie."
Sephirot took a few steps back, using the momentum to push Carrie out the door.
"I'll leave them to you."