"Hiss—"
"That really hurt…"
Emil finally recovered from the searing pain. He staggered to his feet and made his way behind Fenris.
Fenris was standing before the shattered floor-to-ceiling window, one hand clamped around Ghost Rider's throat as he held him high outside the window. Hundreds of meters above the ground, the hellfire had been reduced to dim, dying flames.
A pair of bone-white hands clawed at Fenris's arm, struggling desperately, yet they could not budge him in the slightest.
Fenris's gaze, however, went past Ghost Rider and locked onto the dense, impenetrable night beyond the window.
"Is there someone outside?"
Emma blinked, following Fenris's line of sight as she scanned the area. Aside from the pitch-black sky, she found nothing.
"There is," Wanda answered firmly.
In her perception, a powerful pressure was entrenched out there. At the same time, Fenris was slowly releasing fluctuations that were almost of the same origin as that power. Two dangerous auras faced each other from hundreds of meters apart.
Mephisto stood in midair, the night turning into his cloak and concealing the killing intent in his eyes. His eerie voice drifted into Fenris's ears. "Fenris. I know your name."
"Release my Rider, or the moment the hellfire goes out will be the moment you return to Hell."
A pressure countless times stronger than Fenris swept in like a tidal wave. For a moment, the sky above the city grew even darker. Fenris's expression did not change. Instead, his right hand tightened a little more.
"You can try."
If Mephisto could act freely, why would he have gone through so much effort to create Ghost Rider?
"…"
Looking at Fenris's utterly unmoved expression, Mephisto was both furious and increasingly troubled.
This ant had stolen his power, and that was already bad enough. Now he even dared to threaten him so blatantly to his face.
He deserved death.
Mephisto silently called out to his other Rider, but after a long moment, he received no response at all.
That only made Mephisto's mood worse.
He took a deep breath and slowly withdrew his outward pressure. A gentle smile was forced onto his face. "Child, the power flowing through you is the same hellish power as mine. We were born from the same source. Why must we hurt each other?"
"Release that expendable fellow. We can rule Hell together and share the infinite power of the multiverse. Wouldn't that be better?"
Halfway through his words, Mephisto studied Fenris carefully, and a flicker of genuine temptation rose in his heart.
Fenris's potential was like an enormous mountain of treasure. What had surfaced was only the most insignificant tip. If he could bring him under his command…
The pressure weighing over Fenris abruptly changed, taking on a strangely gentle quality. Fenris blinked, unsure what trick the other party was playing.
But—
"Mephisto."
Fenris gave a cold laugh.
As expected of a demon overflowing with lies, the famous Lord of Hell.
One moment he had sent Ghost Rider to attack him, and the next he could stand there and lie to his face without even blinking.
"I have a good friend. There's something he once said that I think fits this situation perfectly."
"Oh? What did he say? Let's hear it."
Fenris's lips moved, and he said with a smiling expression, "Go fuck yourself."
"You…"
"How dare you curse at me!"
Mephisto prided himself on being an elegant gentleman. Even every crease on his hat had to be smoothed to perfection. After so many long ages, no one had ever dared to say something so disrespectful in front of him.
He stretched out a trembling hand. Seeing that handsome face across from him, filled with mockery, his expression immediately darkened.
Mephisto felt himself getting a little angry.
A powerful pressure erupted from his body. The already dim night was instantly swallowed by dense darkness. Everything around them turned pitch-black, so dark one could not see a hand in front of one's face.
"Old bastard, today I'm not only going to kill him. One day, I'm going to kill you too."
A vast wave of energy brushed across Fenris's face. His eyelids lifted slightly, and the right hand gripping Ghost Rider suddenly exerted force.
Dense cracks rang out from his bones, especially piercing beneath the quiet night. Mephisto stared fixedly at Fenris. "If he dies today, I will make you pay for it someday."
As his representative on Earth, Ghost Rider was important, but not that important.
After all, people willing to sell their souls to him were practically everywhere. If Mephisto wanted to, picking a suitable person was not difficult.
Ghost Rider could die. But someone like Fenris, someone who dared lay hands on his Rider in front of him, was a first in countless ages.
If Johnny died by Fenris's hand right in front of him today, where would that leave his dignity as the Lord of Hell?
Mephisto's threat was like wind passing by Fenris's ears. Fenris sneered, and a large amount of black mist surged out of his body. In an instant, it covered Ghost Rider's entire body.
The hellfire burning over him grew weaker and weaker, on the verge of going out completely.
"Good! Good! Good!"
"Fenris, I will remember you!"
Mephisto laughed from sheer fury. After saying "good" three times in a row, he turned around and, without looking back, transformed into black mist and vanished before Fenris's eyes.
"Huff—"
A light breeze swept past. The night that had shrouded this stretch of sky quietly dispersed. The dark clouds scattered, bright moonlight poured down, and the sky above the city turned clear and luminous.
"He's gone?"
Wanda saw Fenris's body suddenly stiffen, while that oppressive, powerful aura had already disappeared without a trace.
"No!"
Ghost Rider seemed to realize something. He let out one final unwilling roar, and the flickering flames on his body surged up again.
"Fenris!"
Fenris heard a hoarse call.
He looked up at the sound and happened to see the flames burning inside Ghost Rider's empty eye sockets suddenly begin to spin without warning.
"Wretched sinner, look into my eyes!"
The strange vortex of flame carried a terrifying magical force. Along with that eerie whisper, Fenris's mind abruptly went into a daze.
The Penance Stare.
Ghost Rider's ultimate application of hellfire. Through his eyes, he used hellfire to directly attack the target's soul.
If the target was steeped in sin, they would be burned to death.
The instant Fenris saw those eyes, he suddenly realized what was happening and instinctively tried to turn his head. But waves of scorching heat surged from deep within his soul. Soon, even flames began to rise from every part of his body.
"Kakakaka!"
Seeing Fenris fall for it, Ghost Rider let out an ugly laugh. "You fell for it!"
He suddenly struggled, trying to break free from Fenris's hand. However, that hand was still clamped around his throat like iron pincers.
"No!"
Ghost Rider suddenly felt that something was wrong, and his laughter came to an abrupt stop.
He lowered his head with difficulty in Fenris's grasp, only to coincidentally meet a pair of bright eyes.
"How is this possible?"
"Laugh. Why aren't you laughing anymore? Were you born not liking laughter?"
(End of Chapter)
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