Chapter 176: Wanda The Witch! Ghost Rider!
Mephisto’s clone left in the Void was completely devoured.
Ian still needed to search for his confidants in the Void.
Meanwhile.
Far beyond the unreachable distance of this Void on Earth, the effects of the countless great existences released from their locks by the unspeakable ones continued to ferment.
Eleven at midnight.
The neon signboard of “Starlight Fast Food Shop” flickered in the heavy rain. The fast food shop was brightly lit on this rainy night, with mist condensing on the glass window, separating the darkness outside from the warmth inside into two worlds.
However, this did not affect Mephisto’s mood.
After many years, returning to his old profession and preparing for a big deal, Mephisto had already created a human incarnation for himself. This incarnation, which carried a considerable amount of his will, was currently enjoying a cheeseburger.
From the aging of this clone and the degree of muscle atrophy, although the time since returning to the universe was not long, he had already found quite a few people to make soul deals with.
“The mortal realm is still the best; the mortal realm is filled with pleasant air, and it should belong to me.” Mephisto sighed inwardly while looking at the waitress not far away.
His unique authority allowed him to read every mortal’s information, so with just one glance, all the information about the ordinary working girl was clear in his eyes.
This was a typical rural girl with fiery red hair, currently under the pressure of debts left by her parents after their death, forced to come to the city to work, harboring dreams.
She desperately wanted to get rich.
Not only to pay off debts, but also to support her younger brother.
Her personality was not particularly innocent.
However, her soul was still relatively pure so far; at least she often donated food and clothes to homeless people, which alone made it worth Mephisto’s while to expand his business in his spare time.
Not to mention that she had a layer of heavenly fate on her, so Mephisto wanted to take this opportunity to pick up a bargain.
“Miss, can I get another serving of french fries?”
Mephisto spoke up.
The waitress was wiping the last dining table clean.
“Sure, no problem.”
The waitress looked up and saw the silver-haired old man who had been sitting alone all evening smiling at her. On the dinner plate in front of him, there were three super-large servings of french fries that were barely touched.
“The extravagance of rich people.”
The waitress muttered inwardly, but forced a professional smile on her face. She secretly glanced at the wall clock—half an hour until she got off work.
Her younger brother Pietro was still waiting for her to bring back a late-night snack.
“Coming right up.”
She rubbed her sore wrist; the red uniform skirt had its hem soaked by rainwater, and her cheap leather shoes were filled with water, making a “squelch” sound with every step.
The french fries in the frying basket sizzled, oil splattering onto the waitress’s hand. She bit her lip without making a sound, just wiping the scalded red spot with her apron. This was the fifth time this week she had been burned by oil, but compared to the assaults from drunkards trying to grope her thighs, this was already relatively acceptable after coming to the city.
“Your hand is bleeding.”
A hoarse, aged voice came from behind.
The waitress jumped in fright and quickly turned around, finding the old man standing at the kitchen door at some point. He handed over a silk handkerchief embroidered with eerie patterns.
“No need, sir; this violates hygiene regulations.” The waitress stepped back half a step to shoo the old man out of the work area, not noticing that the old man’s shadow was twisting into the shape of a goat under the fluorescent lights.
“What a pity.” The old man sighed and withdrew the handkerchief. “A pretty girl like you should be wearing designer clothes in a university classroom, not getting scalded by hot oil here.”
He spoke softly.
“Sir, your french fries are ready!” The waitress interrupted him loudly, hurriedly dumping the fries from the basket into a paper box. Her hands were shaking, and sauce was squeezing everywhere.
The old man chuckled lowly and sat back down.
When the waitress placed the french fries on the table, his skinny fingers suddenly gripped her wrist.
“Dear, I can see you’re a little short on money, and I happen to have some funds to invest in someone with unlimited potential like you, who can bring me great returns.”
Mephisto had always had a fondness for kind souls, perhaps because of that law—lacking something makes you love it. Mephisto clearly lacked kindness. He liked collecting kind souls, perhaps to make up for his childhood, youth, middle age, and old age devoid of kindness.
“Hm?”
The young waitress had a decent figure and appearance, on the level of a Hollywood actress. After hearing Mephisto’s words, her expression clearly froze for a moment.
“Sorry, sir, though I do need money, I don’t want to sleep with an old man.” The young girl broke free from Mephisto’s oily hand.
She looked at Mephisto with a very strange expression.
The girl had clearly misunderstood Mephisto’s intention. This was normal; in big cities, you often encountered such old men who, with a bit of money, wanted to keep female college students or the like, and some old men were keen on keeping 14-year-old girls starting from age 18.
There weren’t few such perverts in a city like New York.
“Hm?”
Mephisto’s expression stiffened upon hearing the girl’s words.
“No no no, I don’t lack women; in fact, I just had a woman carry my child yesterday… Wanda Maximoff, miss, what I want to talk to you about is a different kind of deal, one only involving money and your future.” Mephisto directly named her, his tone carrying a bewitching flavor.
Ian could explode a Whisper skill from his clone, showing that his eloquence was top-notch even among demons. The demon’s words made the girl named Wanda suddenly understand.
“So, you’re that kind of boss who does usury?” Wanda could tell Mephisto was dressed meticulously, clearly the type of a wealthy landlord.
She had seen plenty of such people, and for some reason, usurers always seemed to know she was short on money. More than once, Wanda felt her personal information had been stolen and sold. Now, with him calling out her name directly, she was even more convinced that credit card companies were in cahoots with these people.
The girl’s expression and emotions were all captured in Mephisto’s eyes.
“No no no, I don’t do that kind of low-return business; I’m a merchant who values efficiency, so I want to invest money in your future.”
“And the price you need to pay is just a little, negligible… loyalty.” Mephisto was preparing to use his usual tactics to set her up.
“What do you want?”
Mephisto’s voice suddenly became extremely pleasant.
“Resurrect your parents? Get the best school for your younger brother? Or…” He conjured a yellowed parchment.
However.
Just as Wanda Maximoff was bewildered, Mephisto’s smile suddenly froze on his face, and he changed expression as if sensing something delayed.
“No! My clone! The clone I left there to gamble on the future!” Mephisto was shocked; he couldn’t imagine why his clone had suddenly lost contact.
Those high-level existences had already rushed into reality ahead of him! Mephisto quickly closed his eyes to sense, but could only receive extremely vague memory information.
“That Superman… that Superman…” Mephisto’s expression turned to shock and anger. Losing other clones was fine, but that clone was behind his major scheme!
A scheme concerning his future status! And it was ruined by that chess-piece-like superhero—this was absolutely not a story development Mephisto would accept!
“No!! What right does he have!!!”
Accompanying Mephisto’s roar, the dining tables, dinner plates, and decorations in the fast food shop began to tremble uneasily, and the ceiling light bulbs flickered a few times before shattering instantly.
The moment the lights went out.
The young girl Wanda Maximoff saw the old man’s face turning blue and purple; she thought it was a heart attack, but unexpectedly, his face gradually became hideous.
It was a terrifying face that could scare a 22-year-old adult to tears.
“Damn…”
Wanda Maximoff retreated repeatedly in fright.
She thought it was just another hallucination; she’d been having various hallucinations these days. However, with countless lightning bolts flashing in the sky, she was struck as if by lightning.
There.
“Rumble!”
Some say lightning is local weather changes caused by demons’ anger, others say it’s heaven’s reminder to mortals; at this moment, Wanda Maximoff felt it was the latter.
Though the bulbs had shattered, by the lightning, she saw clearly: it wasn’t a hallucination; the customer in front of her really had a face not belonging to a human!
Terrifying, abhorrent, fear-inducing, just like a demon from hell!
The old man’s kindly face peeled off like melting wax, revealing skin with countless crimson scales underneath; silver hair turned into coiled goat horns, blue eyes ignited with sulfur flames.
This was a form no normal human could accept.
“Aaaaaaah!”
Wanda Maximoff let out a high-decibel scream; with her scream, many appliances and kitchen equipment in the entire fast food shop exploded.
This effect was greater than Mephisto’s roar.
Her hands uncontrollably burst with crimson energy, blasting the dining table into flying wood shavings. Mephisto was flung by the shockwave, directly smashing the cash register.
“This… what’s happening? Damn! What did you do to me?” Wanda knelt on the ground, looking at her hands wrapped in red mist, her face filled with horror.
“Interesting!”
The old demon crawled out from the glass shards, his suit turning to black smoke and dissipating.
“The awakening of Chaos Magic is three years earlier than expected!” Yes, from the moment Mephisto entered this fast food shop, he had already discovered the girl was the Scarlet Witch whose identity had shifted.
This was an existence that could be considered a high-level combatant among human groups. She possessed Chaos Magic, able to modify reality, create or destroy matter, interfere with others’ minds, etc.; powerful strength but mentally collapsed due to her inner longing for a child, causing the world to fall into chaos twice, though that was before the universe reboot.
Now.
The Scarlet Witch seemed to be awakening her abilities for the first time after the world reboot.
“I’ll come back for you.”
Seeing Wanda awaken her ability, Mephisto was extremely envious. He gave Wanda Maximoff a deep look and did not stop her from stumbling away in panic.
Wanda was crawling out even after falling, clearly terrified by Mephisto.
At any other time, Mephisto would exploit such fear and not let her go so easily, but now, with heavy losses, he had no mood for it.
“Superman… a Superman who shouldn’t exist… a character from the comics… an uncorrected intrusion?” Mephisto sat in the ruins amid the mess, his expression constantly changing.
Not only was his expression extremely hideous, but his eyes could scare 99.999% of children to tears; Mephisto’s mind kept flashing back to the chaos before the universe reboot.
“Whether it’s a Superman from the comics or not, this is a provocation against me, a declaration of war; even if it’s the real Superman, I’ll crush you to pieces!”
Mephisto looked out the window, roaring viciously at the sky streaked with constant lightning; hellish power surged within his body.
“My power will soon truly descend to the mortal realm; I’ve already recreated an embryo.” Mephisto thought of the human woman he had impregnated yesterday.
Her belly was nurturing his child, also his vessel for descending to the mortal realm. Of course, since human pregnancy takes time, Mephisto’s eyes darted slightly.
“If it’s truly an uncorrected intrusion, this is undoubtedly an opportunity for me.” Mephisto’s wrath did not impair his wisdom; he began thinking how to recover his losses.
“That body, that so-called body of steel, can definitely bear my power; perhaps even more suitable than the vessel I created myself.”
In Mephisto’s era, there were still DC comics in this world, so he knew very well that if it was truly a Kryptonian body, it would be extremely useful to him. Superman’s body could bear power far surpassing Skyfathers’, and then no strong beings in the mortal realm could threaten him.
Of course.
To capture Superman, relying on clones definitely wouldn’t work. There was something off about the other party, to the point that even his clones using Hell Dimension power struggled to contend with him.
“But I still have that trump card… I need to find my old friend again; he will be the nemesis of all life—even a Superman who shouldn’t exist!”
“His soul will be in my hell, tortured by me for billions of years!” Mephisto was vengeful; after standing up, he turned into black smoke and vanished from the ruins.
In the city.
The rain kept falling.
In Texas, inside a motorcycle club, explosive music filled every corner of the house, while a young motorcycle stunt rider was alone tuning his ride.
He had a grand performance tomorrow, a stunt show, and even his father would come to watch. For that reason, Johnny Blaze attached great importance to this performance.
“Damn this rain.”
Johnny Blaze looked annoyed out the window, where lightning flashed and thunder roared, wind and rain raged, and in the downpour, stream-like water columns flowed down the glass window.
Such terrible weather might affect his performance tomorrow. Johnny Blaze prayed worriedly, then directly pulled the curtain for out of sight, out of mind.
“I still need to change the motor oil in my motorcycle.”
Johnny Blaze knew weather wasn’t something he could influence; as a stunt rider, his job was to perfect all controllable factors.
Outside.
The rain poured relentlessly.
Time ticked away as the man focused on tuning his vehicle. The wind and rain showed no sign of stopping, and even the thunder grew denser.
The noise nearly made Johnny Blaze’s old radio give out. Just as he was about to pull out his trump card subwoofer, while rummaging on the cabinet, suddenly, with lightning illuminating the night sky again, he saw on his window what seemed like unsettling figures reflected.
“No!”
The sudden change terrified Johnny Blaze, reminding him of a recent unpleasant experience; fortunately, after rubbing his eyes, there was nothing on the glass.
“Hallucination, definitely a hallucination.”
Johnny Blaze comforted himself; just as he was about to turn on the subwoofer and resume tuning, a clanging noise nearby startled him badly.
“What’s going on!”
Johnny Blaze, like a startled bird, quickly turned to look; it wasn’t an intruder, but the cross on the wall had fallen into a bucket of red car paint.
“Can’t I get some good omens?” Johnny Blaze let out a big sigh of relief, but still grumbled; for a rider challenging limits tomorrow, it was a bit ominous. Of course, even if it was a sign, Johnny Blaze didn’t need to care.
“I’ve made a contract with that demon… even if it’s a sign, I won’t die because he still needs me to do his bidding.” Johnny Blaze recalled when his father was diagnosed with cancer; he had prayed to an unknown roadside statue, and during that day’s stunt performance, he got a response.
Perhaps distraught by his father’s cancer, Johnny Blaze lost focus during the performance, the motorcycle went out of control, and his head smashed solidly into the ground.
This should have been fatal.
However.
At the brink of death, Johnny Blaze saw a figure approaching; not only did it cure his father’s cancer, but it pulled him back from death to the world of life.
Everyone called him lucky Johnny, but only Johnny Blaze knew that at that moment, he had sold his soul to a seemingly cunning demon.
As the saying goes, fate has already set the price for every gift; Johnny Blaze didn’t think his experience was lucky—his heart constantly warned him the other was very dangerous.
“Even so, Father lived, and I lived; if it happened again, I think I still wouldn’t refuse.” Johnny Blaze shook his head with some self-mockery.
He was about to refocus on tuning the vehicle.
Suddenly.
“Johnny~ Johnny~ Johnny~”
A low call came from afar, yet seemed right by his ear, making Johnny Blaze’s back chill; he quickly looked around suspiciously.
Johnny Blaze certainly wouldn’t forget this voice; it was the demon with whom he made the contract, the kind of sticky tone he’d never forget even in his next life.
“I knew it! You’d come for me soon! Take my soul! Take everything!” Johnny Blaze saw the white-haired old man appear out of nowhere at the door after a lightning flash.
He quickly pulled a shotgun from behind his motorcycle, but didn’t fire; he just held the gun, staring vigilantly at the demon at his door.
“Child, that thing can’t hurt a demon; normal people deal with me using exorcism methods, though those are a joke to me.”
Mephisto stared at Johnny Blaze and spoke softly.
“What do you want from me! This isn’t what we agreed!” Johnny Blaze didn’t lower the shotgun; his inner unease, hatred, and fear intensified.
Just as the man thought the demon would renege.
“Rest assured, your father will live to eighty, and so will you… at least with you, I keep my promise.” Mephisto did not reveal his true face.
He seemingly kindly entered the house, shook his wet hat, and looked at the baffled Johnny Blaze, who felt things weren’t developing as expected.
“You’re my most satisfactory investment, always have been; I think I’ve learned how to get along well with you.” Mephisto said something that left Johnny Blaze puzzled.
Before Johnny Blaze could figure it out, this demon sat on Johnny Blaze’s sofa, looking at the motorcycle stuntman before him with deep eyes.
“I won’t let you down; hope you won’t disappoint me either… Some unexpected events force me to come to you; perhaps you should fulfill our agreement early.”
“Of course, I won’t let you give for nothing; I’ll bring back your first love girlfriend; she’ll watch your stunt performance tomorrow, and you’ll have a beautiful story.”
“Hm, I can already see how pretty your children will be.” Mephisto’s tone was full of bewitching charm, making the originally dissatisfied Johnny Blaze’s heart sway.
He recalled his first love, the wonderful girl he lost contact with because he had to develop elsewhere with his father.
“Really?”
Johnny Blaze fell.
“Of course, why would I lie to you?” Mephisto looked at Johnny Blaze with eyes full of amusement and deeply hidden wariness.
In the blink of an eye from Johnny Blaze.
He suddenly appeared before Johnny Blaze from in front of the sofa, as if flashing directly.
“Someone hurt me, and I don’t want to let it slide, so bring that madman to see me; don’t kill him—his body has other uses for me.”
Mephisto thought of Ian’s body, coveting it immensely; he longed for Ian’s body, so he planned to awaken the evil spirit within Johnny Blaze.
He would use the former angel to deal with that Superman.
“Go, my knight, go, sew his mouth shut, knock him out, then bring him to me!” Mephisto’s words carried a hint of fear toward Ian.
As the words fell.
He immediately released the dormant evil spirit in the other.
“Hiss!! What’s happening! My hand! My body is burning!! Aaaaaaah!” Johnny Blaze first saw flames suddenly erupting from his body.
Then.
Amid painful hisses, his skin burned away, blood evaporated, all external flesh turned to ashes, hellfire bursting between his bones.
Blooming.
The flower named Ghost Rider blossomed.
“Huff huff huff~”
The ultimate spirit of vengeance awakened; the strongest, most powerful Ghost Rider stood again in the universe, shaking his head as he awaited Mephisto’s command.
“My knight, complete the task I give you; I love you so, hope you love me enough too.” Mephisto used his bewitching words to brainwash the spirit of vengeance this time.
“Roar!!!”
The Ghost Rider could understand speech but not speak it, so he just spread his arms and let out a skyward howl as response to Mephisto.
There.
This skeleton walked to the wardrobe; the wardrobe door creaked open, revealing a worn black leather jacket inside, with cuffs and collar somewhat faded.
But it was clear how much its former owner cherished it; it was Johnny Blaze’s father’s jacket, passed to him after he took over his father’s work.
The Ghost Rider touched the leather texture, paused for a second, then yanked it down, slung it on, and the leather jacket instantly changed, igniting with hellfire.
“Huff…”
The Ghost Rider seemed very satisfied with his look; he admired himself in the mirror, exhaled a hot breath, and walked to the unfinished modified motorcycle.
Even though the engine was disassembled for maintenance, this didn’t stop the Ghost Rider from mounting the Harley motorcycle; his fingers brushed it, and the motorcycle forgot it needed an engine to run.
Hellfire surged from his palm, wrapping the body like a living thing. Metal twisted in the heat, exhaust pipes sprouting fang-like spikes, tires melting and reforming into burning skeletal wheels. When flames reached the front, the whole motorcycle roared not like machinery.
Headlights turned to two throbbing fireballs, front forks twisting into demon-horn shapes.
“I’m satisfied…”
The Ghost Rider suddenly seemed to learn to speak.
He looked at his burning skeletal reflection in the rearview and the fully demon-modded mount behind. This was no longer a motorcycle—it was a flame-wrapped steel monster.
No engine.
But engine roars nonetheless. The Ghost Rider twisted the throttle, and the hellcycle’s front wheel dug out two paths of lava from nowhere, cracking the garage cement floor instantly.
“Ian Kent… he has sinned!”
The Ghost Rider’s voice was like rolling hell lava, low and raspy. The motorcycle’s front wheel lifted sharply, hellfire spreading along the body, enveloping the entire Hades Batmobile in flames. The garage wall shattered on impact, bricks and wood shavings flying; the Ghost Rider rode the burning motorcycle onto the street.
This motorcycle’s tires plowed two charred marks on the ground. Flame trails stretched in the night, like a path to hell. Passersby screamed in terror and dodged; some knelt and crossed themselves, but the Ghost Rider didn’t stop or linger.
His skeletal head turned to the distance, hellfire locking onto the target’s aura.
That was.
In the Void.
Ian still didn’t know what he was about to harvest.
He was still happy about finding a wild Gungnir; a dim spear floated quietly, and he was now engaged in an intense inner struggle.
“Finders keepers, that’s the law of the sea for sunken ships!” Ian wanted to claim it, but with his elevated status, his increasingly poised image made him hesitate.
“If Odin could speak up and bail me out by saying he was giving it to me, that would be great!” Ian knew he still needed to find Thor and Thor’s missing old man.
He would need some finder’s reward anyway; perhaps this spear would be a good reward.
It was indeed very cool.
Ancient runes flowed on the spear tip, world tree branch patterns coiled on the shaft—Odin’s Gungnir had been abandoned in this chaos for some reason.
Perhaps Odin, being kind-hearted, chose to release Gungnir like releasing a Pokémon; if so, Ian would definitely give Odin a thumbs up.
“Perfect to test the new skill.”
Ian knew he needed to find someone, so seeing Gungnir, he immediately had a brilliant idea; this spear might not just be a weapon but fully automatic navigation equipment.
There.
Ian stepped forward.
Picked up the spear.
Gungnir was Thor’s father’s weapon, also called Gungnir; some say the name evokes the sound of “piercing.” It indeed had piercing attributes; this spear was the property and symbol of authority of the Norse main god Odin.
It could be said to be the pinnacle product of Asgard’s “rune technology,” infused with peak dwarf craftsmanship; the spear’s ability was simple yet powerful.
Roughly, “once thrown, it always hits the target”—a hundred-percent accurate divine spear that pierces anything it hits, then returns to the owner’s hand.
Such a sure-hit attribute in a warmonger’s hands was an unstoppable killer weapon, but in Ian’s hands, he could naturally unlock other uses.
Killing?
That would be a waste!
An automatic pathfinding and navigation system better than any new energy vehicle was the most worthwhile direction to develop; with this spear, mom no longer had to worry about anyone getting lost!
“Beautiful spear, with your beauty and might… pierce Thor’s butt!” Ian, being rigorous, chose a relatively safe pathfinding route.
The only unprotected part of a human body is the butt.
Even if pierced once or twice, the injury isn’t serious—that’s why most parents spank children’s butts; so Ian’s thinking was truly very kind.
No one could fault Ian. There, he whispered a bewitchment to the spear, forcibly activated it, then hurled it out fiercely.
Whisper activated.
Gungnir trembled violently, runes on the shaft lighting up one by one with crimson glow. The originally solemn divine artifact now emanated near-mad battle intent.
“Whoosh—!!”
The divine spear turned to a meteor, at dimension-tearing speed, carrying god-slaying power straight to a certain direction. As for Ian, he hitched a ride.
He flashed to catch up to the speeding spear, grabbed its butt, clambered on in a few moves, and rode atop Odin’s weapon.
In ancient times, witches rode brooms.
Now, Ian rode Gungnir.
Besides reasonable, it was reasonable; people of the new era deserved new-era transport.
A smart system far better than any Pangu, Zeus, or Jehovah car system was at work; the spear dragged a tail-like glow and Ian, manually adding a seat, tearing through the Void.
In this lifeless world without directions, it reliably carried Ian across unknown distances straight to Thor.
There.
After flying for a few hours or so.
Ian could already see that clearly visible… Thor’s rear end.
