Soren didn't move a muscle.
With a flicker of thought, the air itself began to twist. The whirling storm that was the Wind Demon convulsed, compressed by the unseen force that ruled the Everlife Medical Hall.
Within seconds, the chaotic wind condensed into a pulsing sphere, and from its swirling center, a jagged face took shape.
"Wh–what are you?!" the demon snarled, his voice breaking apart in the gale.
Never before had he been trapped. His form was untouchable, eternal yet now he was being crushed by a pressure he could neither escape nor comprehend.
"Abyssal aura… So you're one of Mephisto creatures?"
At the name, the demon's form flickered violently.
"I~ no!" he shouted, panic creeping into his voice. "I serve no king! I belong to the Blackheart! If you kill me, he'll destroy you himself!"
"Blackheart…" Soren murmured, the corner of his mouth lifting in a knowing smile. So it's begun, the Ghost Rider's story is in full motion.
The Blackheart had descended upon Earth for the Contract of Saint Van Gonzal, a relic rumored to bind thousands of corrupted souls. And for Soren, whose mastery of Dormammu's dark magics already skirted the edge of cosmic law, such an artifact was far from trivial. It was temptation itself.
But he said nothing.
Instead, he willed the sphere smaller. The pressure increased, and the Wind Demon shrieked as the wind compressed tighter, smaller, until the entire storm was reduced to a trembling sphere the size of a human fist, a murky knot of air that pulsed weakly like a dying heart.
"Enough!" the demon howled. "You'll regret~"
A ripple of killing intent filled the air.
"Speak again," he said evenly, "and I'll make sure there's not a single molecule of you left to blow away."
Even through the crushing psychic field, the demon felt that quiet promise of annihilation. The sphere went still.
Satisfied, Soren turned his attention to the woman sprawled on the street.
Her skin was pale, her breaths shallow, and her body slick with blood. With a wave of his hand, her limp form lifted gently from the ground and floated into the doorway of the medical hall, vanishing into its sterile light.
"Sheriff George," Soren dialed his number "Come to the medical wing. There's someone here who needs attention."
Moments later, the familiar teleportation stirred the air. George appeared at the entrance, still wearing his uniform, eyes widening at the sight of Soren.
"Soren! You're alive! I mean, you're~ back." The sheriff's voice cracked with disbelief. It had been months since the man who fought Galactus had vanished beyond the solar system.
George's gaze darted toward the unconscious woman. "What happened? Is that… another alien? A demon?"
Soren gave a faint smile. "Something like that. She was being hunted , I intervened. She'll live."
He didn't elaborate, and George knew better than to press.
Whatever Soren was mixed up in, it was far beyond human jurisdiction. Still, he hesitated, glancing at the terrified woman as she stirred awake, confusion in her eyes. For a moment, he almost asked whether Soren had frightened her himself.
But then he remembered who Soren was and what he had done for the planet.
"I'll get her to safety," George said quietly.
As he turned to leave, the lights in the medical hall dimmed.
Soren's posture straightened. A subtle, rising pressure spread through the air, the kind of cosmic resonance that heralded a powerful arrival.
"So soon?" he whispered.
In his perception, several dark auras streaked across the night sky like cracks in reality, each one cold, violent, and pulsing with abyssal corruption.
They were nearly identical to the Wind Demon he had just compressed into a trembling sphere moments ago.
So the Blackheart Demon sent more of his pets.
Outside, the night was silent until the air began to hum with a deep, distant vibration. The abyssal signatures were closing in fast.
Soren glanced at Sheriff George.
"Stay inside," he ordered. "No matter what you hear, don't step out."
George frowned, confused. "What's going on!?"
But before he could finish, a guttural howl echoed from somewhere beyond the street. The floor trembled. Soren's body blurred, vanishing from the medical hall.
A muffled boom followed a heartbeat later.
When the sound reached George's ears, Soren was already standing beside the sheriff's patrol car, his white nightgown fluttering in the distorted wind.
In front of him, something unseen had just been punched clean out of the air, the only sign of impact was a sudden shockwave that made the parked car groan under pressure.
A strangled noise rippled across the street.
On the ground, a pool of black liquid writhed and hissed, letting out a shrill, almost metallic scream. Beside it, clumps of dirt and stone began to rise from the asphalt, twisting into the shape of a man.
Soren exhaled slowly and closed his fist.
A few meters away, Officer Roy, the cop who'd been leaning against the car, smoking, dropped his cigarette in shock. He'd seen strange things before, working under George, but nothing like this.
He took an uncertain step back. "S-Soren… what is going on?"
His eyes were fixed on the abominations forming before him.
By then, George had rushed outside. He froze at the sight, two humanoid shapes taking form before the medical hall, the air thick with corruption and decay.
"Roy! Get over here!" George shouted, snapping the stunned officer back to his senses. Roy obeyed instantly, retreating to stand behind his superior as both men watched the confrontation unfold.
The Water Demon finished materializing first a tall, long-haired man, his body gleaming with shifting black fluid. His grin was filled with too many teeth, his eyes like puddles of oil.
Beside him, the Earth Demon rose from the broken pavement, his body sculpted from coarse soil and rock, each movement grinding like stone against stone.
When their gazes met, even they looked uneasy. They had followed the lingering trail of the Wind Demon, expecting to find their comrade and perhaps new prey. What they found instead was the man who had erased him from existence.
Moments earlier, they had gorged themselves on an entire bar full of souls.
The Wind Demon had pursued a woman for his final course and vanished. When his aura suddenly went silent, they had come searching.
Now, standing before Soren, they realized.
The Water Demon flexed his fingers, his voice a wet whisper.
"You… you're the one who silenced him."
Soren tilted his head slightly, eyes glowing faintly gold beneath the moonlight. "He was loud."
The Earth Demon's rocky features twisted in anger. "You dare to strike one of ours? You stand against the Blackheart himself!"
Soren smiled faintly. "You talk too much."
A sudden stillness fell. The city around them was frozen in a vacuum of silence. Even the neon lights seemed dimmer, as if afraid to intrude.
Both demons braced instinctively, the air around Soren warping with unseen energy.
They exchanged a glance, each reading the same fear in the other's eyes.
This human… is no human at all.