Inside the Mirror Dimension.
Li Feng, who had been feeling confident of victory—as if he could already see Hellfire swaying its slender waist coyly beckoning to him—hadn't even had time to rejoice before he saw Wangcai and the rest of the Dementor army suddenly collapse onto the ground, panting heavily. Not only that, but the weaker Dementors were even rolling around in agony.
Li Feng froze for a moment, then smacked his own forehead, his face darkening as he glared at the Pseudo-angel Feathers. Damn it, I forgot these things don't just suppress Ghost Riders—they also counter Dementors!
Well, now Li Feng had no idea how far Carter Slade was from being completely dead, but his Dementor army was pretty much done for—utterly wiped out.
No choice. Watching as the Dementors' cloaks were practically being shredded into rags by the Pseudo-angel Feathers, Li Feng reluctantly ordered, "Useless things, can't even last this long. Get the hell back into the Scythe already."
Wangcai gave Li Feng a pitiful look. What did I even do wrong? If not for the contract binding him, he wouldn't have wanted to leave the Scythe in the first place. Now, hearing Li Feng's order to go home, he was actually pretty happy.
Except for one small problem.
Wangcai glanced at the Scythe still pressed against Carter Slade's neck. The entrance to his home was at the tip of the long staff—and that tip was just a step away from Carter Slade, who was still wreathed in Hellfire. There's a damn Ghost Rider squatting right at my doorstep—how am I supposed to go back?
Li Feng noticed Wangcai's dilemma and sighed, carefully retracting the Scythe.
Meanwhile, Carter Slade was well aware that he was about to bid farewell to the world. His opponent clearly understood Ghost Riders far better than he'd expected. Just look at the plan—every step was designed to drive him straight into his own grave.
First, trapping him inside the Mirror Dimension. This not only prevented outsiders from detecting anything unusual via satellites or magic but also stopped him from fleeing the moment he sensed danger. After all, opening a portal to Hell took time—no way his opponent would just stand there and let him leisurely open an escape route.
Second, the Pseudo-angel Feathers. These things were downright sinister, suppressing him to the point where he couldn't even move. Even if his opponent gave him time to open a portal, he wouldn't have the strength to do it.
Finally, once the last remnants of his Hellfire were drained away, leaving him completely helpless, all his opponent had to do was order the monsters inside the Scythe—along with the hundreds of Skeleton Monsters—to devour his soul.
Not only would this achieve the goal of destroying all evidence, but it would also maximize the benefits for the Scythe and the Skeleton Monsters. After all, he'd been possessed by the Ghost Rider for a long time—his soul had absorbed some of its traits. For creatures that fed on souls, he was practically a premium delicacy.
The only thing Carter Slade couldn't figure out was: What the hell did I ever do to the mage hiding behind all this? Why was he so determined to annihilate him completely, leaving not even a speck of his soul behind? He wasn't afraid of being reduced to ashes. In fact, he felt a small sense of relief deep down—if his soul was completely obliterated, how could he possibly end up in hell?
After all, he had directly signed a contract with Mephisto, meaning his soul already belonged to the demon lord. Upon death, he was destined to report straight to Mephisto.
If he were to vanish entirely from the world, it would actually spare him from Mephisto's torment—which, in a way, could be considered a blessing.
Still, if they were going to kill him, they could at least let him die with some clarity.
As the scythe lifted from his neck and the Cat Sith within the blade stopped feeding on his soul, Carter Slade seized the brief respite to take a deep, labored breath and ask, "Why?"
Li Feng paused, then understood what the other man meant. Scratching his head, he struck a righteous pose and declared, "In the first half of your life, you spent your time judging living humans by hell's laws. Now, being exterminated by me is just what you deserve." He shrugged before adding, "Though my methods aren't much better—I won't even leave a speck of you behind in this world."
If the skull had eyelids, Carter Slade would have rolled his eyes so hard they'd have shot across the room.
Of course, lacking the ability to emote didn't stop him from lacing his words with thick skepticism. "You expect me to believe that? You might as well just admit you're after the Hellfire—that'd be more convincing."
Li Feng curled his lip. He didn't deny his desire for Hellfire. After all, it was a flame unbound by natural laws, and as a fire-affinity mage, wanting to obtain it was only natural.
In some ways, Hellfire was similar to the Fierce Fire he already wielded—both could burn an opponent's soul and flesh, and neither water nor vacuum could extinguish them. Both flames burned however their wielder pleased.
But in other aspects, Fierce Fire fell short.
For instance, Hellfire could cling to objects and reshape them at the user's will—just look at Johnny Blaze, who transformed his motorcycle into something far more badass.
Fierce Fire couldn't do that. If forced onto a bike, it would just melt the metal into a puddle—or maybe even vaporize it entirely.
Secondly, Hellfire could enhance weapons, adding extra fire damage. Carter Slade, for example, liked infusing his bullets with it to boost their lethality.
If Li Feng could get his hands on Hellfire, every swing of his scythe would deal extra damage. And once he mastered it completely, he might even be able to cloak his shields in Hellfire.This was something Fierce Fire couldn't accomplish either, as Fierce Fire had a tendency to consume its wielder. Coating a shield with it would only burn through the shield and roast Li Feng in the process.
Thus, obtaining Hellfire would mean a significant boost in power with numerous benefits. However, Hellfire was usually a rare commodity, and Li Feng had no means of acquiring it even if he wanted to.
As for whether it was abundant in Hell or easy to obtain there, Li Feng had no idea. He certainly wasn't bold enough to travel to Hell alone, fearing it might be a one-way trip with no return.
So, he had to find another way to get Hellfire.
Now, suddenly encountering Hellfire in broad daylight—and not just once, but twice in the form of two Hellfire-wielding Ghost Riders—if Li Feng let such an opportunity slip, he might as well be struck by lightning.
If not for the fact that dealing with the newly appointed Johnny Blaze would be no small feat—not to mention the risk of declaring war on Mephisto and facing Zarathos, who was already insane and possessing Johnny Blaze—Li Feng would have gladly extracted some higher-quality Hellfire from Johnny.
For now, he had to settle for the less challenging and nearly depleted Carter Slade.
Seeing Li Feng ready to continue their back-and-forth, Carter Slade shook his head slightly and chuckled bitterly. "As long as you can ensure the San Venganza Scroll doesn't fall into Mephisto's hands, you're welcome to take the Hellfire from me."
With that, Carter lowered his head, lost in memories, as if in repentance, waiting for death.
Regret over making a deal with Mephisto? Unfortunately, no one ever came out unscathed after bargaining with the Devil.
After a moment of silence, Li Feng said, "Don't worry about that. I already have a plan for the San Venganza Scroll. Mephisto will never get his hands on the souls within it."
Carter Slade: "Good."
As Carter lay weakly on the ground, unable to even move a finger, Li Feng thought for a moment and said, "Perhaps turning to ashes is a form of liberation for you—at least you won't have to suffer Mephisto's torment."
Without waiting for Carter's response, Li Feng cleanly swung his Scythe into the man's skull, watching as the weapon devoured him into a wisp of black mist that dissipated within the mirror dimension.
Whether it was an illusion or not, just before Carter Slade vanished, Li Feng faintly heard the man whisper a "thank you" in his ear.
Shrugging, Li Feng casually slung the Scythe over his shoulder and activated his Magic Eye to inspect the mirror dimension, confirming that Carter had truly dissipated.
Before he could finish his examination, he suddenly felt a strange, soul-draining pull emanating from the Scythe on his shoulder. Li Feng was stunned. Ever since his power had greatly increased, even without wearing the skull mask, he could resist Cat Sith's instinct to absorb divine power and souls. Yet now, after putting on the mask, he actually felt Cat Sith devouring souls.
Instinctively, Li Feng threw the Scythe to the ground and narrowed his eyes at Cat Sith.
To his surprise, the previously mindless and rigid Cat Sith, who had only stood blankly within the Scythe, was now swaying its two tails.
This made Li Feng rub his eyes, wondering if he was seeing things.
"What the hell?"
Confused, Li Feng scratched his head and cautiously extended his spiritual energy into Cat Sith's body to investigate.
After a long while, his jaw nearly dropped as he gaped at Cat Sith, who seemed full and ready to drift off into slumber.
As the saying goes, "You can't force flowers to bloom, but sometimes a willow will grow where you least expect it." Right now, Li Feng felt like he'd hit the jackpot.
As someone familiar with Anubis's resurrection methods and experienced in turning the Wretched into mummies, Li Feng had initially considered seizing Carter Slade's soul to turn him into a Ghost Rider obedient to himself. After all, having a Ghost Rider as his bodyguard sounded delightful.
However, Carter Slade had already signed a contract with Mephisto, and his soul belonged to the demon. This made the task far beyond Li Feng's expertise, forcing him to abandon the idea.
Now, although Cat Sith had devoured Carter Slade's soul, its level was far inferior to Slade's, leading to severe indigestion. Instead of digesting Slade's consciousness, Cat Sith's body had been taken over by fragments of Slade's soul.
Most importantly, Cat Sith hadn't consumed Slade's soul in one go but in several fragmented pieces over time. This meant that, in a way, the Carter Slade inside Cat Sith was already dead.
Since Slade's soul was effectively dead, his contract with Mephisto naturally became void.
Now, if Li Feng could piece together the fragments of Slade's soul and nurture them properly, a newly reborn Carter Slade would awaken. By returning the sealed Hellfire to him, Li Feng would essentially have a loyal pseudo-Ghost Rider at his command.