From within the cloud of smoke created by the explosions, a blazing chain suddenly whipped out—
striking the Wind Demon—
But it passed straight through his body without leaving the slightest mark.
"Hahahahaha!
Your attacks are useless against me, Ghost Rider!"
The Wind Demon hovered in the air, laughing wildly.
"Today is the day you die.
Your little girlfriend won't be so lucky. Her soul will become food for Hell—nourishment for the young master! Hahahahaha!"
No matter how the Ghost Rider attacked, the chain couldn't even touch him.
The Ghost Rider slowly walked out of the smoke, empty eye sockets fixed on the demon above him.
Suddenly, he retracted the chain—
then snapped his arm forward again.
This time, he didn't aim at the Wind Demon.
Instead, he began to spin the chain in the air, faster and faster.
Whooo—whooo—whooo—
The rotating chain formed a massive vortex of hellfire, a whirlwind of flaming suction.
The Wind Demon was caught off guard.
The pull grabbed him instantly, dragging him toward the center.
By the time he tried to resist, it was too late.
The hellfire scorched his form mercilessly, and the suction prevented him from dissolving into wind.
He could only watch himself burn.
"Spare me! Ghost Rider—spare me!
I—I'll serve you! I'll follow you! I'll be your slave—just don't kill me!"
The Wind Demon begged frantically.
Half his body had already burned away.
The Ghost Rider ignored him completely.
Only when the demon was reduced to ash did he let the vortex dissipate.
The chain slithered back onto his shoulders with a metallic rattle.
He turned toward the swamp.
Deep below the murky surface, Lucas was being dragged down by the Water Demon.
The marsh seemed bottomless.
The pressure on Lucas's lungs grew heavier and heavier—air squeezing out of him.
His limbs were bound, unable to move.
The Water Demon's face appeared before him, grinning mockingly as Lucas sank deeper.
Lucas smiled faintly.
"You afraid of electricity?"
He said it—only mouthed it—but the Water Demon clearly understood.
A flicker of panic crossed the demon's eyes.
"Water conducts electricity."
Lucas mouthed again.
Then purple lightning burst from his body—
and dark clouds gathered above the forest.
CRACK—RUMBLE—
Thunder roared.
Even the Ghost Rider on shore looked up.
Underwater, Lucas's eyes glowed with pure violet light.
Lightning coiled around him like serpents, the Water Demon unable to get anywhere near him.
A bubble formed around Lucas—
a sphere created by the electrolysis of the surrounding water.
"Finally… I can breathe again," he muttered, inhaling deeply.
A few more seconds and he would've suffocated.
Hydrogen and oxygen filled the bubble, large enough for him to survive.
"Now then… are you ready, Water Demon?"
A flash of violet—
and his staff appeared in his hand.
He raised it overhead—
lightning gathering intensely at its tip.
"Judgment Lightning!"
The staff vanished—
becoming a bolt of lightning that shot straight out of the swamp and into the sky.
CRACK—BOOM—!!
A barrage of lightning rained down from the heavens.
All of it concentrated on the marsh.
The Ghost Rider backed up three steps, unwilling to be caught in the purple blast radius.
The swamp churned like boiling water.
Every living creature surfaced—charred black.
Underwater, the Water Demon's body ballooned grotesquely—bubbles swelling under his skin as lightning tore him apart.
With the final thunderstrike, he burst like an overfilled balloon—
his remains dissolving into the filthy water.
Lucas's bubble drifted upward, carrying him back to the surface.
"Damn Water Demon," he muttered, soaked and miserable.
The Ghost Rider approached, letting the heat of his soulfire dry Lucas's clothes instantly—
though he still looked like a drowned rat.
"Whoa—didn't know hellfire could do that," Lucas commented.
Johnny reappeared as the fire receded.
With the Wind Demon and Water Demon gone, the two of them continued toward the ruins of San Venganza without further hindrance.
The town's remnants lay in eerie silence—ruined buildings and swirling black mist.
Lucas and Johnny felt the oppressive aura immediately.
Although the town was dead, countless spirits were trapped beneath it.
Bound by the Contract of San Venganza, none could ever leave.
At the central fountain, Johnny shouted:
"Blackheart! I brought what you wanted!"
He held the contract high.
A violent gust swept through the square.
Blackheart materialized, gripping Roxanne by the throat.
"Ghost Rider. Give me the contract."
"You let her go, and I'll hand it over," Johnny warned.
He flicked open a lighter—close to the parchment.
There was no mistaking the threat.
Blackheart sneered.
"Naïve. You think that pathetic fire can burn the Contract of San Venganza?"
Johnny smiled coldly.
"You sure it's ordinary fire?"
The hand holding the lighter began to transform—
turning skeletal.
Everyone knew a Ghost Rider could imbue hellfire into anything he touched.
This lighter was no exception.
Blackheart's expression changed instantly.
Hellfire could burn anything—
including the contract.
And if the contract was destroyed, every trapped soul would be freed.
Many of those souls belonged not to Heaven…
…but to Hell.
And Hell had slaughtered them unjustly—
through the hands of the Ghost Rider.
Destroying the contract meant Hell lost its claim on them forever.
"If you dare," Blackheart hissed, "I swear your girlfriend will suffer torment beyond eternity."
Johnny lowered the hellfire toward the ancient parchment.
"You can try.
I'll hunt you to the ends of the earth.
You'll never escape me."
It wasn't a bluff.
"Then we let go together," Blackheart said coldly.
He tightened his grip on Roxanne.
"Agreed," Johnny answered.
Meanwhile, Lucas quietly prepared himself.
"I'll count to three.
We release at the same time," Johnny said.
"Three."
"Two."
"One!"
Johnny hurled the contract upward—
and Blackheart threw Roxanne into the air at the same moment.
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