"What are you trying to judge, Ghost Rider? Tell me!"
Matthew pressed down hard on the axe in his hands, forcing the skeleton before him to its knees, half-collapsed against the ground.
With a fierce kick, he sent the Ghost Rider crashing into the last few vampire soldiers.
"Judgment!"
The Ghost Rider spat out those two words, its voice hollow and unyielding. Hellfire surged from its skeletal frame, flaring violently and reducing the remaining vampires to ash in an instant.
"Judgment!"
Crawling forward like some primal beast, the Ghost Rider inched toward Matthew, its movements eerie and unsettling.
In the blink of an eye, it was right in front of him.
"Hah! To hell with you!"
Matthew roared, swinging his axe down with brutal force, striking the Ghost Rider's spine as it lunged closer. He planted a foot on its shoulder, pinning it down.
Fueled by rage, Matthew's body seemed shielded from harm—the hellfire licking at the skeleton's bones didn't so much as singe his foot.
"How many times do I have to say it? What gives you the right to judge humanity?"
The acrid stench of the Ghost Rider's aura was driving Matthew to the edge of his patience.
Could a maddened Spirit of Vengeance truly claim to be free of sin? Especially when the Ghost Rider's very essence was tainted by the infernal presence of Zatanos, the Hell Lord.
That overwhelming malice made Matthew want to shatter the creature piece by piece and toss it into a cesspool.
"Judg—argh!"
Before it could finish, the Ghost Rider crumpled, knocked unconscious.
Perhaps Johnny Blaze's body had finally run out of strength to fuel the Spirit of Vengeance's rampage.
"Phew…"
Matthew let out a long breath, watching as the Ghost Rider's skeletal form slowly reverted to human. His anger ebbed, if only slightly.
Though Johnny Blaze carried the lingering taint of that sinful aura, it was far less vile than the amalgam of the Spirit of Vengeance and Zatanos.
At least Matthew's fury no longer threatened to consume him.
"Buddy, you're probably gonna owe me for the weapon."
Facing the now-human Ghost Rider, Matthew casually tossed the broken stub of his nail-headed hammer to the ground. He lifted his foot from Johnny Blaze's body.
"What's your deal, man?"
Now that Johnny's aura was unmistakably human, Matthew's tone softened, if only a touch.
He spoke to the man sprawled on the ground, still reeling from the absurdity of it all—his axe had somehow turned a skeleton back into a human.
This was beyond bizarre.
"It's Mephisto. I made a deal with him," Johnny said, gasping for breath, his words strained.
Speaking while lying face-down wasn't exactly comfortable.
Though he lost control of his body when the Ghost Rider took over, his memories remained intact.
"By the way, I'm Johnny Blaze, stunt performer. You've probably heard of me."
Johnny added, exhaustion weighing on him like a lead blanket. He wanted nothing more than to pass out, but the pain—especially the strange sensation of something foreign lodged in his skull—kept him awake.
"Mephisto?"
The name conjured an image in Matthew's mind: a grotesque demon with too many legs, a vision pulled from the sacred mountain's memories.
Hell's lords were never easy on the eyes.
Johnny Blaze's name rang a bell, but Matthew, who had little interest in stunt shows, couldn't care less.
Mephisto, though—that was a name no barbarian could ignore.
As the eldest of the three demon gods, Mephisto embodied hatred itself, a force far beyond the deceit-driven devil of this world.
Spreading misery, watching creation writhe in agony—that was his twisted joy.
Unlike his counterpart, this Mephisto cared little for amassing power. As the mightiest of the demon gods, his strength was unmatched, even by Imperius himself.
That made him all the more reckless.
"Sounds like an even bigger mess," Matthew muttered, hooking his axe back onto his belt. He shrugged off his tattered duster, the fabric torn from the earlier fight, and let it fall.
"He told me to find some San Venganza Contract, so here I am," Johnny said, rolling onto his back with a groan.
Lying face-down was just too uncomfortable.
"Sounds like we're not talking about the same Mephisto," Matthew said, exhaling in relief. He started to sit, the battle's adrenaline finally fading.
Though the fight hadn't been particularly perilous, it had left him drained.
Johnny struggled to sit up, only to collapse back to the ground with a sharp thud as his head hit the earth.
The Ghost Rider had sapped too much of his strength.
"Good. That means I don't have to report this to Bul-Kathos," Matthew said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.
"Hey, buddy, if you're done over there, I could use a hand!" Hellboy shouted, his massive fist swinging through swirling smoke.
Witchheart, now fighting with entangling tactics, had become a slippery foe.
In terms of raw power, Witchheart's lean frame didn't seem capable of taking Hellboy head-on.
"Forget that—the fight's not over!" Matthew smacked his forehead and stood, tossing his duster over Johnny to keep him from catching a chill.
"San Venganza Contract? Knight, you're hardly living up to the hype," Witchheart taunted, his voice a grating cackle from within the black fog.
Though he'd transformed most of his body into mist to harass Hellboy, he still needed a fragment of his physical form to track the battle.
Without a soul, Witchheart couldn't pull off any out-of-body tricks—he relied on his body's senses to fight.
He'd thought his greatest rival for the contract would be his father's knight, but seeing Johnny's state, he felt a wave of relief.
A soulless Witchheart had little to fear from the Ghost Rider.
"What's this nonsense now?" Matthew growled, striding forward and swinging his axe straight into Witchheart's head.
Lately, Matthew seemed to have a thing for headshots.
"How'd you even spot him in that fog?" Hellboy asked, staring in disbelief at Witchheart, who now had an axe lodged in his skull.
The fog had obscured Hellboy's vision, making his attacks miss while Witchheart's blows landed true.
Though Witchheart couldn't seriously injure him, getting pummeled wasn't exactly pleasant.
(Chapter End)
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