About fifty kilometers north of Fort Stockton lies a cemetery marked with a cross.
With an appearance of being past fifty, seemingly nearing the end of his days, Moru, the cemetery keeper here, awoke from a leisurely nap and, hearing some noise from the cemetery, got out of bed, opened the door, and stepped outside.
What he saw.
Not far from the cemetery, a young man, seemingly unfazed by the cold of winter, wearing just a black T-shirt, was digging a pit with an iron shovel, his back turned to him.
Moru, the cemetery keeper, chuckled at the sight.
"The cemetery here is free; there's no need for you to sneak around digging."
"..."
Hawk, who was digging a pit, paused and then, holding the iron shovel, turned to look at the cemetery keeper speaking to him from a distance, and smiled slightly.
"I wasn't sneaking around. When I came here, I saw you were sleeping and thought it would be rude to wake you, and besides, I wasn't digging secretly."
"Oh?"
The cemetery keeper, upon hearing this, didn't believe a word and looked at Hawk with a smile: "Then what are you doing?"
Hawk smiled slightly, his gaze falling on the iron shovel in his hand.
"My house is short of an iron shovel, and since there's one here, I thought I'd test the sharpness of this shovel; it feels good, and I'm planning to take it home."
"..."
As soon as Hawk said this, the smile on Moru, the cemetery keeper's face, visibly vanished.
The next second.
Originally, Moru's somewhat cloudy eyes became exceptionally clear and sharp at this moment, and even his voice lost the former sense of age and weariness.
Moreover...
If you looked closely, you'd find that in the depths of Moru's eyes, two golden flames seemed to ignite suddenly.
His real name wasn't Moru.
Carter Shire!
That was his name, and he was the original Ghost Rider who signed a soul contract with Mephisto more than one hundred and fifty years ago, gaining the power of the Spirit of Vengeance.
Back then, Carter Shire, tempted by Mephisto, also signed the soul contract and became Mephisto's collector. After collecting from the residents of St. Peter's Basilica, he fled Mephisto's control to atone for his actions, hiding with the St. Peter's Basilica Contract containing hundreds of souls here, establishing a free cemetery.
The St. Peter's Basilica Contract was hidden inside an ordinary iron shovel in the cemetery.
The very iron shovel that Hawk was holding now.
Carter Shire, at this moment, looked at Hawk with a grave face as if facing a formidable foe.
"Demon?"
"No."
Hawk smiled and shook his head, weighing the iron shovel in his hand, then looked at Carter Shire: "But demons are coming soon. Since you're retired, enjoy your retirement. Give me what's in here; I'll help you deal with the Witch Heart Demon coming here later."
He could see that Carter Shire in front of him could still transform into the Ghost Rider.
But...
He could transform, but it would be his last time.
If Carter Shire didn't transform, he could continue living with that energy for quite a while.
However, if he made that final transformation, the moment the energy was exhausted, his soul would return to hell.
With his past of deceiving Mephisto—not only feigning death but also hiding the St. Peter's Basilica Contract that belonged to Mephisto in this Land of Demons for so many years—if exposed when his soul returned to hell, Mephisto would certainly find out.
Heh.
He'd be in big trouble.
Hawk, with a kind heart, couldn't stand to see people suffer.
So...
He planned to make a fair deal with Carter Shire, the original Ghost Rider, before him.
Give Hawk the St. Peter's Basilica Contract. In return, Hawk would help Carter Shire stop the Witch Heart Demon, attempting to take the St. Peter's Basilica Contract, and the Water Demon beside him, while Carter Shire could continue hiding and live on with the remaining energy here.
As expected.
Upon hearing Hawk mention the Witch Heart Demon, Carter Shire's face instantly changed.
"Witch Heart Demon."
As the original Ghost Rider, he naturally knew the demons in hell very well.
The Witch Heart Demon might not be the most powerful demon in the Hell Dimension, but its background was undoubtedly the strongest in the Hell Dimension.
Without exception.
Because his father's name was Mephisto.
It is said that the Witch Heart Demon was the offspring of Mephisto and a human dark witch, which is why he still possessed immense magic power while walking among mortals.
But...
Carter Shire was a bit shocked.
"How did he know I was here?"
"Oh, come on."
Hawk couldn't help but snort and smiled, his gaze sweeping around the numerous tombstones in the cemetery, then he fixed his eyes on the cross on the room not far away, and said to Carter Shire: "You didn't think putting a cross on that would mean the souls buried here won't end up in hell, did you?"
He was curious about how the Witch Heart Demon knew Carter Shire was hiding here under a false name once Sharon helped him locate the cemetery where Carter Shire was buried.
Until...
He saw the numerous tombstones in the cemetery.
Good heavens.
To play 'hidden in plain sight' to this extent, Hawk didn't know if Carter Shire before him was confident or just lucky.
Now hearing Carter Shire's words, he already had an answer in his heart.
After speaking, Hawk lamented a bit, shook his head, looked at Carter Shire: "You're able to live this long, really because Mephisto's blind."
Carter Shire finally realized too, looking at the numerous tombstones before him; his expression turned extremely peculiar.
He didn't refute Hawk's words.
Because it's the truth, after hearing Hawk say it, he also felt that for him to have survived till now, Mephisto must have been blind.
But very soon.
Carter Shire came back to his senses and looked at Hawk: "Can I ask, what do you want the St. Peter's Basilica Contract for?"
Hawk shrugged: "Haven't decided yet, but since it's a deal, there should be compensation, shouldn't it?"
Carter Shire nodded.
"That's right."
"We agreed, I'll help you deal with the Witch Heart Demon that's already rushing this way, and the St. Peter's Basilica Contract will be mine."
"...Okay."
Carter Shire thought for a moment, glanced at Hawk, and then nodded in agreement to the deal.
There was no other choice even if he disagreed.
Because the St. Peter's Basilica Contract was already in Hawk's hands, and he only had one last transformation left, once the transformation ended, his soul would go to Hell.
Thinking about the torment he would endure in Hell after seeing Mephisto, Carter Shire couldn't help but shiver inside.
The most important point.
He had confirmed that the Hawk before him was not a demon.
That was enough.
After seeing Carter Shire nod, Hawk showed a bright smile on his face, then turned and glanced at the rapidly approaching two presences with the setting sun behind them, finally looking at Carter Shire: "You can go back to your room and shut the door now."
Hearing this, Carter Shire did not hesitate at all, turned around, entered the house, and closed the door.
It was all done in one go.
Thud!
As the door was fiercely closed, dust vibrated down from it, and Hawk chuckled lightly.
The next second.
The spade grip in his right hand cracked open with a bang, and amidst the scattering wood chips, an ancient scroll of parchment was already in his hand.
It was the St. Peter's Basilica Contract.
Sealed inside were the souls of thousands who made deals with Mephisto and were then harvested by the first Ghost Rider to fulfill the contract.
Moreover, these thousands of souls were not just ordinary souls.
The thousands of souls on this St. Peter's Basilica Contract were the evil souls of fallen saints lured by Mephisto.
Perhaps the current Mephisto no longer needed this method to harvest souls.
But a hundred and fifty years ago, it wasn't the same.
Back then, Mephisto was still in a heated war with the Heaven Dimension for the entitlement of Earth's souls.
So...
Mephisto enticed a thousand monks longing for Heaven who practiced at St. Peter's Basilica.
As everyone knows.
To wash pure weakens by thirty percent, blackening strengthens tenfold.
These monks, once longing for Heaven, became fallen saints after blackening.
The power of an evil soul from one of them could rival that of hundreds or even hundreds of ordinary people's soul power.
And this contract contained the power of a thousand fallen saints.
No wonder the Witch Heart Demon was confident that once they obtained this St. Peter's Basilica Contract, they could create a new Hell Dimension, contend with Mephisto, and reignite the war for the entitlement of Earth's souls.
When Hawk held this St. Peter's Basilica Contract, just by holding it, he felt the howls and screams of the thousands of evil souls sealed in it for centuries.
These thousands of evil souls even extended an invitation to Hawk through the seal.
"Come!"
"Join us."
"Fall together into the darkness."
"Enjoy the beauty of darkness, revel in this dark temptation with us!"
"Join us!"
Countless evil souls echoed around Hawk's ears with voices tempting enough to make a soul tremble, inviting him to join them in sinking into and falling into the darkness!
But...
Fall into darkness?
Heh?
Does the darkness need falling into?
I can be the light!
But—
I can also be the darkness.
So...
I am the darkness, whence comes the fall!
Hawk's lips curled slightly, revealing an unhidden sardonic smile amidst the temptation of those countless evil souls.
At the same time, the St. Peter's Basilica Contract in his hand, sealing thousands of evil souls, also fell silent after a sparse rustling sound.
As if...
They sensed a darkness beyond their reach when combined.
They dared not act rashly anymore.
...