Lord of Cinder in American Comics

Later, the Ancient One touched it, causing the Midir dragon egg to break and releasing the seal on the Ringed City.

However, the seal of time still lingers in the ashes of the dragon egg, more than enough to preserve a human corpse for a period of time.

Ash sprinkled dragon egg ashes over Maria, watching the faint glow emanating from the corpse, before merging into it. She nodded, admiring her own cleverness.

'Thank you for my hamster addiction!'

Chapter 100: Reencounter with Natasha

Maria's body was taken out of the car.

Seeing Ash's actions, Frank, who had vented his anger enough, also came down from the wall.

Frank brought his two children with him and explained directly to them why their mother had left and what death meant.

Meanwhile, given that Maria was the first victim of the sacrificial site to date, more and more community residents gathered around to express their condolences.

This made it difficult for Ash to directly tell Frank, "Don't cry, your wife will be back in the game."

Helpless, they had no choice but to cooperate with the growing number of people and finish the play.

Frank, holding his wife's body, followed Ash's directions to the open space below the tower on the right.

This place was originally the burial ground of the sacrificial site, where the heroes who lit the fire are buried. Although this is not the Dark Souls world, the coffins are still there.

Frank found a sarcophagus and placed Maria inside. Then he took the children and said goodbye to his wife.

The increasingly cooperative community residents found fresh flowers from somewhere and placed them around the sarcophagus. Some even persuaded Ares to bring out extra candles from the sacrificial site and light them around the area.

Seeing this, Ash, who was covering her face, stepped out from the crowd. Looking at the Fire Keeper's smirking expression, Ash shrugged helplessly.

Seeing the well-meaning community residents, Jane Smith, who was in the crowd, had already started arranging for people to take turns praying.

'Never mind, I'll find another opportunity to talk to Frank later.'

Abandoning her plan to put on a show of Jesus' resurrection in front of everyone, Ash and the Fire Keeper stood far away, leaving the scene to Frank.

But not long after, Frank brought his children to Ash's side.

"Ash, I want to entrust the child to you."

Frank's opening remarks shattered Ash's centuries-old moral compass. Bringing his children on the first meeting—was that really appropriate?

Frank's next words finally provided Ash with an explanation.

"Fran Hammer has been suspended from duty and asked to assist in the investigation. I need to go and check on the remaining Marines."

Given what Fran Hammer did just yesterday, even execution wouldn't be an exaggeration.

However, this also involves the orc invasion. Although General Hammer may have a peaceful end thanks to the combined efforts of the military leaders and Forberle, the job transfers and subsequent investigations will not stop.

The best outcome for General Hammer might be to retire immediately and leave the army.

For a commander who was able to fight for the treatment his brothers deserved, Hammer has set an example and established authority within the Marine Corps.

So much so that the military's biggest fear about General Hammer is that his soldiers will not agree to his retirement.

This kind of situation, where someone is promoted to a high position by their subordinates, is not uncommon in the military.

Therefore, Frank, the instructor who trained almost all Marines, was needed to step in and temporarily calm the soldiers down.

"Leave it to me."

The bond between men doesn't need many words to describe; that would be too pretentious.

With Ash's reply, Frank turned and left without saying a word. This time, Ghost drove, taking Frank to his destination.

Lisa and Frank II (hereafter referred to as Frank) stood beside Ash, watching their father leave without crying or making a fuss.

The sensible children were naturally loved by everyone. They were taken inside the sacrificial site, where everyone welcomed the children.

Onion Knight used the campfire at Firelink Shrine to start simmering his signature elemental soup, serving everyone a large bowl.

Ash packed up the remaining elemental soup and put it deep inside her backpack.

Onion Knight's Elemental Soup is the best consumable for the undead. In just a few days in this world, Onion Knight has improved upon it to suit this world.

Enjoying the delicious taste, Stark started trying to persuade Onion Knight to work for him again.

The sacrificial site was in perfect harmony, and so was Constantine's side.

After finishing his scene with Ash yesterday, Constantine returned alone to the storage room at the Brooklyn Bridge. This had been his residence for many years, and he didn't have anywhere else to move to anytime soon.

Moreover, to allow a magician to change residences at will is to mock Constantine's abilities.

To avoid Natasha's harassment, Constantine didn't even take the wolf ashes and left without looking back. In his mind, Natasha had the wolf ashes as a trophy, so she wouldn't bother him for a while; he could just find another opportunity to show his face later.

However, this morning, the storage room door was opened from the outside.

Natasha, dressed in loungewear and carrying shopping bags, walked in from outside the door quickly and naturally, then turned around and closed the door with her foot.

Seeing this overly familiar scene, Constantine asked curiously, "What are you doing? And how did you get a key to my house?"

Natasha did not answer directly, but instead placed the items she was holding one by one on the dining table, and then sorted them into categories.

After placing the food into the empty refrigerator, Natasha leaned against it, peeled an apple with a kitchen knife, took a bite, and said, "I didn't expect to find you here. Yesterday, after we finished the environmental analysis and saw that you had no food reserves, we thought this was just a hiding place for you."

With food in her mouth, Natasha quickly finished the apple, then took out food from her shopping bag and started cooking for herself.

"I didn't expect to see you here. I'm just temporarily unable to leave New York, so I came here to hide for a while."

At this moment, Natasha showed no trace of a secret agent; she seemed like just a girl next door.

Constantine then noticed upon closer inspection that under Natasha's loungewear, she was still wearing the same tight-fitting combat suit from the previous day.

The combat uniform was dusty, and the loungewear was a size too big; he just threw it on haphazardly as a cover.

Constantine took out his flask, took a sip, and made no reaction to Natasa's behavior. He simply returned to bed and continued his dream date.

The kitchen was filled with the sounds of chopping and frying, and before long, Natasha had finished cooking.

As Natasha walked over to Constantine and was about to call him to get up for dinner, she noticed the wine jug that Constantine had placed beside him.

Ever since he met Constantine, aside from smoking, he would occasionally take a sip from his flask.

The cigarettes were just ordinary silk cigarettes, and the flask looked no different from anything else; it was just a plain, flat silver flask that one could carry with them.

Taking advantage of the relaxed mealtime, Natasha also prepared to have a couple of sips of wine and rest.

Just as she picked up the flask and was about to put it to her lips, Constantine suddenly appeared behind her, covering her mouth with one hand and grabbing her wrist holding the flask with the other.

"Hey girl, don't touch other people's things without permission."

Chapter 101: Beautiful Women Can Deceive

Despite being restrained from behind, Natasha showed no sign of tension; instead, she relaxed her body and pressed her back against Constantine.

Feeling the soft touch in front of him, Constantine released Natasha and pushed her out of his arms.

Unexpectedly, Natasha became even more enthusiastic, constantly moving closer to Constantine, trying to stick to him and continue what she had been doing.

Just as Natasha made a gesture to put her arm around Constantine's shoulder, Constantine slowly tilted the flask and poured out a drop of liquid that emitted an orange-red glow.

The liquid dripped slowly from the spout of the pot, and after it hit the ground, a corrosive sound came from the floor.

Seeing this, Natasha stood still with her hands raised. Having narrowly escaped death, she tensed up and jumped away from the still-sizzling drop of liquid.

Seeing Natasha's reaction, Constantine smugly raised the flask and took a sip.

Still shaken, Natasha looked at Constantine's actions and asked, "What was that? How could you drink it?"

"This is an elemental bottle, but it's disguised as a wine jug. Inside is the elemental liquid."

[Elemental Vial: A dark green glass vial, a treasure of the Undead. Accumulated element by campfires, drinking it restores health. Since ancient times, the Undead have always traversed campfires, and the Elemental Vial has traveled with them.]

"I mean, how can you drink something like this?"

Natasha pointed to the floor, which had been corroded into a pit by the elemental liquid, and asked incredulously, "Did this person drink lava? Are all mages this abnormal?"

After finishing a sip from the Element bottle, Constantine smacked his lips, savoring the taste, and said with lingering satisfaction, "It's a curse..."

"Like your Dark Ring? Or the blessing of that King of Souls?"

Natasha blurted it out, having memorized the entire conversation at the agency. Now, she connected it to the curse Constantine had mentioned.

Constantine hadn't expected Natasha to have given him a way out so quickly, saving him the trouble of making up stories. He simply said, feigning profundity, "That's none of your business."

Constantine had hoped that this answer would pique Natasha's interest and draw S.H.I.E.L.D. closer, but instead, Natasha looked disappointed and didn't take Constantine's words to heart at all.

Disheartened, Natasha ignored the food on the table and just sat there listlessly, lost in thought.

Looking at the food on the table and thinking about its taste, Constantine couldn't bear to eat alone, so he asked Natasha for advice, trying to appease her.

Constantine asked cautiously, "What happened? Why did it suddenly turn out like this?"

"If even a magician like you can't break the curse, what am I supposed to do?!"

With a sob in her voice, Natasha sobbed as she expressed her worries.

Natasha still harbored resentment about the deal she made with the greedy man. Now, she was unsure whether Fury had completed the transaction. Even in ordinary jobs, subordinates wouldn't directly ask their superiors about their plans, let alone someone working in an intelligence organization.

Another point is the difference between blessings and curses. Seeing the strange appearance of the greedy one, Natasha also categorized Ash's blessing to her as one of them.

After listening intermittently to Natasha's sobbing and expressions of concern, Constantine was at a loss for words. Had he frightened her?

After organizing his thoughts, he explained to Natasha, "Whether it's a curse or a blessing on me, it's my responsibility. As for you, the greedy man's deal only guarantees you the ability to repay the price; as long as the deal is completed, there's no problem. As for the blessing that priest gave you, it simply improves your luck; if it weren't for him, you would be dead long ago."

Briefly explain the difference between curses and blessings to Natasha, then isolate Ash's crucial role in the situation.

Just as Constantine hesitated about whether to continue speaking, Natasha took out a recording device from her bosom, checked that the recording was complete, and then put it in the pouch at her waist.

At this moment, Constantine truly understood why Zhang Wuji's mother said that the more beautiful a woman is, the more likely she is to lie.

Like Natasha, her ability to freely transform makes her impossible to guard against.

In all those years in the Dark Souls world, at most Yulia would say something ambiguous that forced someone to become the King of Souls, and Patch would pretend to be a good guy to trick you into falling into a trap.

Having only met Natasha a few days ago, he originally thought that his intimidation with his spell had frightened the woman, but unexpectedly, she took advantage of his kindness and tried to extract information from him.

Fortunately, this is a play that was written and directed by themselves, so they are not afraid that outsiders will see through the tricks of the trade.

With a sigh, Constantine sat down at the table and began to eat by himself. He savored each bite, paying no further attention to Natasha.

Constantine's reaction surprised Natasha. She had expected him to pull out a fireball or threaten to kill her, as he had done before.