Days as a Spiritual Mentor in American Comics-Chapter 5542 - 4568: Blackest Night (57)

"Is this what they brought in?" Zatanna asked, looking at the stack of papers.

Constantine nodded and said, "They set a trap here. Probably just waiting for this moment to trigger."

"So all our searching was in vain?"

"No." Constantine denied it, then said, "If there wasn’t any forbidden knowledge in here, the trap wouldn’t work either. This should be what we’re looking for."

"So they’re not worried about us taking this clue... Oh. In your line of work, clues might as well be death warrants."

"Exactly. They’re not only unafraid of our investigation, they want us to look directly at their god. The method is this." Constantine shook the paper in his hand.

"Do you want to look at it?"

"I’d be crazy to read this." Constantine stood up straight, took a deep breath, and said, "There’s surely lots of filth in here. I need to find someone to translate it."

"Who can translate?" Zatanna said, somewhat shocked.

Constantine didn’t continue speaking; instead, he returned to his residence and went to the basement. Here, there was a ritual setup.

Constantine placed some items on it and adjusted the ritual setup. He placed the manuscript on it, muttering softly, "Creeping Chaos, God of Thousand Faces, the soul and messenger of the Outer God..."

As he chanted, the room started to fill with a clicking sound. The candle lights dimmed. Circular stains spread from the room’s center and then gradually split into two halves.

"To your omniscient knowledge, respond to my thirst for wisdom—tell me what’s written on this paper in a way I can understand. I only need three English words composed of letters, and one mask you gift to me..."

Slowly, slowly, the paper began to burn. A mysterious fragrance filled the air. The sound of the wind howled like traveling through a vast cavern. Constantine closed his eyes. From the desecrated tones of the flute, he heard the words he wanted—"Death, darkness, unseeable."

With a "whoosh," the room returned to silence. Something dropped at the center of the ritual. Constantine walked over and saw the colorful mask in the Indian style, full of feathers.

"Indians..." he said, "Go find the Indians."

"This mask..." the shopkeeper said, arms crossed, "Honestly, I don’t know where you’ve found this thing, it’s very unlucky."

"So what is it?" Constantine asked.

"This thing truly..." Before he could finish speaking, the doorbell suddenly chimed, and Constantine turned his head to see a familiar face.

"Doctor Sophocles," Constantine said, "I knew you’d find your way here too. Any new clues?"

The man in the long coat shook his head. He looked at the mask on the counter, then said, "Looks like you’ve made quite some progress. Tell me about it."

Both looked at the shopkeeper. The other sighed deeply, then said, "Since you want to know, it’s fine to talk about it. But I must warn you, don’t delve too deep, or else it will ultimately consume you."

"What is it?"

"God of Death." The shopkeeper turned and took down another mask from the wall decorated with several large Indian-style masks. This one looked somewhat similar to the one Constantine brought but was different.

"Unlike many peoples of the world, the Indians of the Americas greatly feared the ocean. They regarded the ocean as synonymous with death. Neither to look at, listen to, nor record. The only remaining traces are these things."

The shopkeeper pointed to the two masks, then said, "These are masks worn by priests during rituals to the God of Death. See? These blue feathers represent waves. These represent protruding cliffs. These ornaments represent the beach."

The brown hand stroked the surface of the mask. Then Constantine quickly noticed the difference between the two masks. The one the shopkeeper took down only had the things he mentioned. The one he had, amid the cluster of blue feathers, had a tuft of ink-black feathers right in the middle.

"What about this?" Constantine pointed at the black feathers.

The shopkeeper raised his eyes to look at him, saying, "It."

"It?"

"Indians fear the ocean, not because they are cowards, but because they’ve truly seen the horrors lurking beneath the ocean. Where it goes, all is dragged into eternal darkness."

Then the shopkeeper pointed again at the mask Constantine brought and said, "Those who gaze upon it will have their eyes burned, so painful they can’t help but gouge them out."

Constantine immediately thought of Lady Jerryta. And the shopkeeper continued to say, "The one who made this mask certainly faced it directly. During the creation of this mask, they also took steps towards death. That’s why I said it’s unlucky."

It matched again, Constantine thought. According to Brainiac, Lady Jerryta didn’t die immediately and even wrote a letter.

"Why did he make this mask?" Doctor Sophocles asked.

"To make people wear it," the shopkeeper answered straightforwardly, "Just like now, if those who found it weren’t you people who understand, they might think it’s a craft and put it on their face. Once worn, they’re bound to see things they shouldn’t."

Constantine took back the mask. The shopkeeper looked at him and said, "You’d best have some reverence. Even if you’re not American, the spirits of the Indians still hover over your head."

"I don’t intend to wear it," Constantine explained, "but keeping it with you would be more dangerous. This isn’t a simple matter."

"Could it be those cowardly vermin stirring up trouble again?"

"It’s them." Constantine snorted, saying, "I kind of know what they’re trying to do. But we’re still missing the most crucial piece."

"What?"

"How to summon it. Right now, whether we’re looking out the window or wearing masks, it seems like we’re just committing suicide, unable to truly summon it. The Concealers must want to bring it to Earth. How will they do it?"

The boss thought for a moment and then said, "The Indians respected it from afar and didn’t record any summoning methods. But you could try asking the Latino community. I know that part of the Latino groups living on the East Coast also have legends similar to ours."

Constantine nodded and said, "Thank you."

Just as Constantine returned to his residence, preparing to contact his Latino friend, Amanda arrived as expected and handed over several decoded words to Constantine.

"Solar eclipse?" Constantine frowned.

"That’s right. But the strange thing is, the solar eclipse didn’t happen in 1873, but five years earlier in 1868. Coincidentally, there was also a solar eclipse five years before this year. What do you think is going on?"

Constantine slowly stood up and said, "Of course, it’s because what happened in 1873 wasn’t a solar eclipse, but its arrival."

"What?"

"Brainiac," Constantine raised his voice, "quickly investigate the solar eclipse sightings of 1873. Not just eclipses—any event where the sky suddenly darkened or the sun extinguished—get to the bottom of them."

Brainiac beeped twice. Amanda frowned and said, "That era is too distant; I doubt there’s much visual evidence."

"As long as there’s enough written documentation." Constantine circled around from behind his desk and put on his coat, then said, "I need to make a trip to the apartment in Brude Haven. You’re coming with me."

"I should warn you, the people inside are very uncooperative. We’ve tried everything and still couldn’t get them out..."

Constantine didn’t respond, just silently got into the car. Amanda didn’t repeat herself. They soon arrived at the apartment in Brude Haven with the incident. At the entrance, they met Barry and Shiller.

"Professor," Constantine called out, "I knew you’d be here."

"Are you here for me?"

"Not entirely." Constantine said, "But if you weren’t here, then my coming would be useless. Because I want to hear your conclusions about the people inside."

Shiller nodded. Amanda looked at him and asked, "So what have you figured out, Professor?"

"Hold on, I haven’t entered yet." Shiller said, "Barry, bring someone out. Remember, just let them out for a second, and quickly take them back into Divine Speed. Don’t let them stay outside too long."

Barry nodded. A flash of golden light flickered by. A person appeared outside, and in that instant, they let out a scream that sounded utterly inhuman. Just as they reached to grab their eyes, Barry took them back into Divine Speed, sending them back inside the apartment.

"Just as expected." Shiller said, "They all looked out the window."

"What?!" Amanda practically screamed, "Then aren’t they all..."

"Don’t panic. Barry. Did you bring the Freeze Gun?"

"Got it, Professor."

"Good, freeze them first. Stop them from grabbing their eyes. Brainiac. Have Jack draw a vial of blood. Send it to Professor Crane’s lab to extract the Joker virus. Then dilute it with Fear venom and inject it into them, should do the trick."

Amanda swallowed hard, her expression showing she was very much inclined to say, "Is this something humans could come up with?" But after thinking it through, she figured it might actually work. So she remained silent.

"Found it," Brainiac spoke up, "In 1873, solar eclipses were recorded in 26 regions globally. Most concentrated on the East Coast of the United States. According to a fisherman’s descendant’s diary, in early December 1873, the sky darkened for about 40 minutes. But only he and his daughter noticed this abnormal phenomenon. Everyone else seemed not to have seen it."

"Did they look out the window?" Shiller asked.

"No. None of them looked." Brainiac said, "So they survived, passing away of old age. There are over 130 similar reports."

"It seems the Concealers periodically summon the Outer God to Earth. Only those with ample inspiration can see it. Once they look out the window and face the Outer God, they’re contaminated and gouge out their own eyes."

"But now, that Outer God hasn’t come." Amanda raised a doubt, "How come these people are already..."

"Who said it hasn’t come?" Constantine turned his head to the door. That direction was the Atlantic, but not the point of convergence.

"I’m researching similar past reports. This will help us pinpoint exactly where they were looking." Brainiac said.

As more and more reports emerged, Brainiac drew lines across the map, with all intersections precisely landing at a location near Gotham’s coast.

When everyone drove there, they saw only towering cliffs standing amidst jagged, dark rocks under the overcast sky.