Rumble!
Outside the streets of Old Bridge, beneath the foggy night, dark clouds hung low. A crack of thunder suddenly rolled in from beyond the distant horizon.
In front of a heavy truck nearly five meters tall, a young man with delicate features and bloodless, deathly pale skin heard the thunder rumbling overhead. He abruptly turned and looked toward it.
A bright flaming meteor was tearing through the clouds at incredible speed, ripping across the sky with a massive sonic boom. In moments, it vanished from sight. Only a short while later did a dull crash, like some heavy object hitting the ground, faintly reach him from the direction where the meteor had fallen.
Elsewhere, several kilometers away, the gloomy clouds abruptly began to spin and churn. With a sudden gale, only a few breaths passed before an enormous eye of cloud quietly formed.
A tornado of cloud and mist slowly descended, stretching tendrils toward the ground. Above the clouds, rainbow-like colors began to flicker faintly.
Sensing how the energy there had instantly become extraordinarily active, climbing at an exponential rate, Blackheart's expression shifted uncertainly. He muttered to himself, "This mortal world really is fascinating."
Bang!
A scorching heat rolled in from nearby. Blackheart turned, his gaze passing over the glaring headlights of the heavy truck, and saw Ghost Rider, his entire body burning with bright yellow flames, burst out from the trailer behind him.
He held an extremely thick iron chain. With one swift leap, he was already in front of Blackheart.
"Blackheart!"
Less than two meters away, the instant Johnny saw Blackheart, the hellfire in his eyes blazed fiercely. "I haven't even come looking for you yet, and you actually dared to come to me!"
Flames began to spread wildly along the chain. As it dragged across the ground, even the once-smooth road began to show faint signs of melting.
Seeing this, Blackheart's eyelid twitched almost imperceptibly. Then he smiled and lightly clapped his hands.
"Abigor!"
"Gressil!"
"Wallow!"
As his calls rang out one after another, Johnny sensed the demonic power around them suddenly begin to surge wildly.
Howling wind, wet splashes of water, and a low, muffled grunt sounded in succession. In the blink of an eye, three demons made of different elements—raging wind, flowing water, and stone—quietly appeared behind Blackheart.
Their bodies shifted amid the surge of demonic power, soon transforming into three men of different appearances. Abigor was ugly and gaunt, drifting eerily in midair. Wallow was soaked from head to toe, water dripping from him nonstop. Only Gressil looked barely normal, appearing as a bald, powerfully built man.
With all three appearing at once, along with Blackheart, even the night seemed to grow darker.
Seeing that Blackheart had suddenly gained three powerful helpers, and sensing the force ahead of him become especially turbulent, Johnny unconsciously tightened his grip on the chain.
"Rider, you are no match for us."
When Fenris walked out of the trailer, yawning and stretching, what he saw was Johnny, less than a day later, once again being viciously pinned to the ground.
Blackheart's hand was clamped around Johnny's throat. Beneath his bloodless face, a demonic visage filled with sharp teeth flickered in and out of sight. Ignoring the burning of the hellfire, he slammed Johnny heavily into the ground. His skull struck the solid road with a tremendous thud.
Thud!
A dense cloud of black smoke scattered, and the firelight abruptly went out. The four demons had attacked together, their coordination flawless. Under their assault, Johnny, already in poor condition, was forcibly beaten back into his human form.
"My father actually tried to use you against me. For a moment, I truly do not know which of you is more pathetic—you or him."
Blackheart's grip around Johnny's throat was almost exactly the same as Fenris's had been. The familiar feeling made Johnny unable to stop himself from rolling his eyes.
"Rider, from this moment on, you will remember every word I say. Etch it into that empty, thick skull of yours."
Blackheart pinched Johnny's chin, forcing him to stare into his pitch-black eyes. "You are my rider now. Forget that old man."
"Find the Contract of San Venganza and bring it to me at San Venganza. If you satisfy me, perhaps I will show mercy to that pretty girlfriend of yours."
"Otherwise... heh, heh, heh!"
The words that entered Johnny's ears were an undisguised threat, followed by a grating, wicked laugh. Hearing that Blackheart had found his weakness so quickly, Johnny's eyes instantly reddened, and he began struggling wildly beneath him.
"You dare!"
"If you dare lay a hand on Roxanne, I swear I'll make you pay!"
"If I hadn't still not recovered... Blackheart!"
"Calm down, Johnny." His frantic struggles failed to make Blackheart's body so much as sway. Blackheart slowly rose from him. "Do not make me wait too... long."
"Father?"
A presence familiar enough to have been carved into his very bones suddenly seeped out from nearby. Blackheart's unfinished words nearly stuck in his throat. The final syllable reached his lips, yet no matter what, he could not force it out.
Before he realized it, Blackheart had released Johnny's throat. He casually tossed him aside onto the road like garbage.
Inside the trailer of this seemingly ordinary heavy truck, the door had opened at some point. A sleepy-eyed young man stood quietly on the steps, his eyes shimmering with black light as he silently watched Blackheart and the three elemental demons' every move.
"Father, why are you here?"
The power of hell could never be faked. Blackheart knew better than anyone that there was only one demon in the entire world with an aura like this: his father, Mephisto, one of the lords of the hell dimensions.
After all, not every dimensional lord was as unlucky as Dormammu, who had a bloodsucking parasite clinging to him—one that happened to be absurdly powerful, leaving him completely helpless against it.
Blackheart stared at Fenris. The superior appearance of this body even made him think his old father had suddenly gained some taste and had actually chosen such a flamboyant vessel.
"What are you doing here?"
Blackheart frowned, clearly not particularly fond of this father of his.
Mephisto was a powerful and domineering lord. The entire hell dimension was under his control, and he was hardly lenient toward his own children. If not for a place like Earth restricting his power, Blackheart would never have gained even this tiny bit of room to maneuver on his own.
"Father?"
Fenris blinked. His eyes swept around the surroundings without leaving a trace. After confirming that Mephisto was not nearby, he finally realized Blackheart was addressing him.
"Could he have misjudged because of the power of hell?"
Fenris understood. A benevolent smile quickly squeezed onto his face.
"Mm."
"Good boy."
(End of Chapter)
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