Logically speaking, the system's warning clearly wasn't about something simple—like the Shadow King's friends coming for revenge.
If it were only that, it wouldn't be called an "unknown" risk.
From Raymond's point of view, the system was likely warning him that as an "outsider," if he caused a shift in the world's direction, some kind of force might try to correct or adjust that shift.
The bigger the change he caused, the stronger the correcting force would be.
And Raymond had reasons to think this way.
After all, gods really did exist in this world—not only the gods from Earth's myths but also four Abstract Entities who controlled the world's basic rules, plus one from a previous universe: the "Devourer of Worlds".
Of course, Raymond didn't believe this warning was directly about the gods. If it was, even sending out John Constantine wouldn't be enough.
But it was possible that the hidden rules of the world would react, causing chain effects to correct any major shift.
The unknown risk mentioned by the system likely referred to these chain reactions.
If this world was like a person, then Raymond's arrival was like a virus entering its body, and the correcting force was like white blood cells.
The more harm the virus caused, the more white blood cells would show up to wipe it out.
So, the greater the Shadow King's death changed the world, the stronger the correcting force would be.
"The Shadow King was rated A. His death should still be within what I can handle… but if it had been Director Fury instead…" Raymond's heart tightened.
Soon, after completely handling the Shadow King, John Constantine returned to the mental World, and Raymond regained control of his body.
"Doctor, w-what did you just do to me?" Dr. Beth asked softly, confused after waking up.
Do to you? I wish I knew what "I" did to you…
Raymond didn't know how to answer her at all.
Taking advantage of her still-dazed state, he quickly started talking to John Constantine in his mind:
"What the hell was that? I asked you to deal with the Shadow King, and that's how you chose to do it?"
"That was the fastest way," John Constantine said casually. "If I hadn't used the girl's body as a demon-sealing vessel, that guy would've broken out of the magic circle very soon."
"There wasn't any other way? Did it really have to be that extreme?" Raymond was suspicious.
If it were any other sub-personality, he might've believed them. But John Constantine had a long track record of shady behavior, and Raymond doubted he wasn't just messing around again.
"If we had more time, sure, I could've done it in a safer way. But in that moment, it was either use her body or our own…"
"But sealing a demon isn't 100% safe. You really think I should've used our own body to take that risk?" John Constantine replied lazily.
Should he take the risk?
If things were really like what the John Constantine sub-personality said just now, then even if it had been Raymond himself, he would most likely have made the same decision.
His relationship with Dr. Beth wasn't close enough for him to sacrifice himself for her.
Besides, if he hadn't shown up today, Dr. Beth would have probably died anyway. Letting her take a bit of risk to become the demon-sealing vessel was, in a way, her contribution to saving herself.
Still, Raymond couldn't fully trust John Constantine's explanation. That guy had no credibility—lying was practically second nature to him.
But even if he doubted it, Raymond had no way to prove whether John Constantine was lying or not.
So, there was no point in overthinking it.
He could only remind himself again: next time he used John Constantine's power, he had to be very careful of who was around—just in case someone else got caught up in it.
Thinking of this, Raymond asked, "Will what you did to exorcise the demon have any lasting effect on her?"
"Yes—" John Constantine answered without even thinking.
Raymond was speechless. He had only asked casually, not expecting there to really be any effect.
Was this guy trying to mess up someone's life on purpose?
"Don't worry, this might not be a bad thing…" John Constantine added quickly, probably seeing Raymond's silence. "When I erased the Shadow King's consciousness during the sealing ritual, his huge amount of mental energy should've faded after death. But because of the seal, it stayed inside this girl's body."
"So if she's lucky, she might awaken a psychic power because of that energy. And if that happens, she can instantly absorb and fuse with it."
"You mean, she'll become the second Shadow King?"
"In theory, yes, but it's extremely unlikely… Even if she does awaken a psychic ability and fully absorbs that energy, it'd be hard for her to reach his level—unless she's also willing to give up her physical body and turn herself into a being of pure spirit."
"Of course, if you don't want that to happen, I can perform another ritual to break the seal and pull that energy out of her."
After a short thought, Raymond decided to let it be.
Dr. Beth had unknowingly taken a risk by becoming a demon-sealing vessel, so any future gains from this were her opportunity.
Raymond had no reason to rob her of that.
Once he understood the situation, Raymond didn't hide it. He explained the main points of what John Constantine told him to Dr. Beth.
He also gave her a brief explanation about mutants and let her make her own choice.
If she chose to give it up, Raymond wouldn't mind helping her by removing the seal and releasing the energy inside her.
But after personally witnessing that godlike scene earlier, how could Dr. Beth be willing to give up the chance to evolve?
Even though some extremists viewed mutants as freaks, that was just their way of hiding fear and jealousy.
At least for Dr. Beth, after hearing Raymond's explanation, she didn't reject the chance at all—on the contrary, she was full of hope.