Chapter 67: Angel

Noah had no idea that while he was busy mopping up the small fries, a pair of eyes had been watching him the whole time.

If he had known, he’d probably be over the moon.

Especially if he found out what the Ancient One was thinking about him. Noah might’ve been so ecstatic he’d forget which way was north.

But, of course, he was clueless. Too focused on the mess in front of him.

Once he wrapped things up, Noah led Constantine toward the swimming pool behind the building. The moment they got close, Noah could feel the stench of evil radiating from it—he didn’t even have to step in.

It was the kind of foul presence that made a person instinctively uneasy. Even Noah, with all his experience, felt it crawl under his skin.

“Yep. Demons are never simple,” Noah muttered to himself, staring at the darkened pool. “They’re kept out of this world by sorcerers, Asgard’s gods, and all kinds of safeguards. Even when they do slip through, they’re just fragments, tiny avatars bound by strict limitations. But their real forms? Yeah, no thanks.”

He had a gut feeling that Mammon was still just in its embryonic state. And yet, it still sent chills down his spine.

Honestly?

Noah really wanted to run the hell away.

The sheer presence of Mammon already made his skin crawl. He didn’t even want to imagine what would happen if that thing fully emerged into the world.

“If that bastard actually gets born… yeah, I’m screwed,” Noah thought grimly. Then he sighed and added with a smirk, “At least I won’t die alone. John’s here, after all. And if we’re lucky, maybe a hot angel will show up to complete the trio.”

He scratched his chin, entertained by his own nonsense, but his feet never stopped moving.

Noah wasn’t the kind of guy to run from a gamble—especially when the stakes were this high.

More importantly, the Ministry of Magic had made him a promise.

Not that he trusted them. Hell no.

But Noah did want to see just how powerful the legendary Ancient One truly was.

Even if he couldn’t meet her in person, wouldn’t it be nice to leave a good first impression?

Besides, he was already at the final stretch of this mission. The outcome of this whole mess—and the fabled Spear of Longinus—was right there, lurking in that cursed pool.

No way in hell he was walking away now.

“Fine. I’ll roll the dice,” Noah thought. “Let’s just hope the Ministry wasn’t feeding me bullshit. But just in case… I should probably get ready to change my form. You never know when things are gonna go sideways.”

With that, he pushed open the doors to the swimming pool, leading Constantine inside.

And what they saw made both of them freeze.

A person was floating on the water, back facing them.

Constantine’s eyes widened in horror. “Angela?! Bloody hell—”

Before Noah could react, Constantine had already jumped into the pool, wading toward the motionless figure.

Noah, however, stayed put.

Not because he didn’t care—he knew that wasn’t Angela.

That was the scavenger.

More importantly, his system suddenly chimed in.

[Host, you are currently under the gaze of the Ancient One.]

Noah stiffened. “Wait… what? Seriously?”

[Yes. She has been watching you since you entered this location.]

Noah felt a shiver run down his spine. He knew something was off!

“Where is she?” he asked, scanning the empty space.

[She’s observing from another dimension. You won’t find her.]

“So, she’s been watching this whole time, and you didn’t bother to tell me?”

Silence.

The damn system ignored him.

“Ugh. Of course it goes radio silent now,” Noah grumbled. His system was either too arrogant or just straight-up lazy. If it weren’t for the storage space and the library, he’d have considered it completely useless.

With a sigh, he buried his complaints and focused back on the situation.

He didn’t mind being an unknown nobody. But… he had gotten a taste of being in the spotlight. He wasn’t about to fade back into obscurity now.

“Oi, Noah! What the hell are you standing there for?!”

Constantine’s shout snapped him out of his thoughts.

Noah looked up—and immediately grimaced.

Angela was not okay.

Her face was twisted into something monstrous, the taint of a demon oozing from her body.

And her stomach—Noah’s eyes narrowed—was radiating something awful.

“Welp,” he muttered. “We’re a little late. But that’s fine.”

He pulled out his wand, feeling a lot more relaxed now.

After all, the Ancient One was watching.

Which meant, for once, he felt… safe.

Mammon? Yeah, scary. Strong as hell.

But stronger than her?

Noah didn’t think so.

And Gabriel? If she showed up personally, sure, he’d probably be toast. But a clone of her power?

Please. He’d handled worse.

Satan? Okay, that was a bit of a problem. But hey, one catastrophe at a time.

“Stupefy.”

A flash of silver light burst from his wand, striking Angela.

Her body went limp instantly, and she collapsed into the pool. Constantine barely managed to grab her before she went under.

Dragging her onto the deck, Constantine wiped the water off his face and sighed. “Alright, smartass. What do we do now?”

Noah rolled his eyes. “John, you’re the exorcist. What, you expect me to fix this? If you want me to, I can make sure she doesn’t suffer.” He smirked. “But if you want a proper exorcism? Well, you’ve seen how I handle things. Are you sure you want me to do it?”

Constantine paled. “...Yeah, I’ll do it myself.”

Noah’s method of solving problems was simple.

Magic. Lots of it. If one spell didn’t work? Just throw more spells until the problem stopped existing.

Constantine, despite his own reckless nature, actually had standards.

Taking a deep breath, he knelt beside Angela and began chanting the exorcism spell.

As he did, Noah suddenly spun around—his wand flicking upward.

A blade of light slashed through the air, tearing open the ceiling.

Constantine nearly jumped. “Noah?! What the hell was that?!”

Noah’s grip on his wand tightened. His lips curled into a smirk, but his eyes were sharp.

“I knew it,” he murmured. “Someone’s been watching us this whole time. And the moment you started chanting, I felt something. Someone tried using magic on me.”

His voice turned mocking.

“Mammon’s about to be born. And you know what it says in the Hell Bible, right?”

He turned his gaze to the unseen presence.

“He doesn’t just need the power of Hell.”

A slow, predatory grin spread across Noah’s face.

“He needs the power of Heaven, too.”

His wand twirled in his fingers, radiating magic.

“Isn’t that right… Angel?”