Chapter 89: The Ghost Rider

Watching the shovel snatched away by Gu Zhongyan, old Carter was both shocked and furious. He was surprised that his hiding place had been discovered, and enraged that the shovel was taken from him. In his agitation, flickers of fire appeared all over his body, and beneath his gaunt face, the outline of a skull emerged faintly.

However, before he could transform into a Ghost Rider, Gu Zhongyan's expression suddenly changed. Without a second thought, he whipped out his wand and swung it backward.

“Protego Totalum!”

An invisible semicircular shield instantly enveloped him and Su Yan. At the same moment, a shrill scream echoed; a flaming iron chain sliced through the air, smashing violently against the shield.

With a reverberating clang, the chain struck the shield like a hammer ringing a bronze bell, producing an intense sound. Under tremendous force, the shield shattered with a crisp crack, bursting like a glass bottle.

Immediately after, a deafening roar of a motorcycle was heard from afar, a trail of fire stretching across the horizon. Black leather jacket and pants, a blazing motorcycle, and a skull head wreathed in flames—a classic image unmistakably belonging to the Ghost Rider.

The sudden appearance of the Ghost Rider left all three present momentarily stunned.

Even Carter Slade, who was on the verge of transforming into a Ghost Rider himself, paused his metamorphosis in surprise.

Yet while the trio hesitated, the Ghost Rider did not. Mounted on his motorcycle, he raced along the fiery trail, surrounded by a sinister aura, the ferocity in his skull's eyes unabashed. His throat, nothing but bone, rasped with a strange roar as he swung the flaming iron chain, heavy with the stench of sulfur, mercilessly toward Gu Zhongyan and Su Yan.

Gu Zhongyan frowned. Though he couldn't fathom how he had offended the Ghost Rider, he pushed the shovel into Su Yan's arms. “Take care of Mr. Slade.”

Without another word, he brandished his wand and advanced.

“Aguamenti!”

When facing fire, what could be more effective than water magic? With a flick of his wand, torrents of water surged forth like a spring, forming a serpentine stream over ten meters long in his hand, entwining with the roaring, flaming iron chain.

Sizzle—

Water and fire—an eternal opposition. In the instant the stream and chain tangled, dense steam erupted, enveloping the entire graveyard in thick fog, obscuring both Gu Zhongyan and the Ghost Rider from sight.

Worried, Su Yan nonetheless obeyed Gu Zhongyan's instructions, hurried to Carter’s side, and pulled him away from the battlefield.

“This place is dangerous, Mr. Slade—please come with me!”

Seeing a Chinese boy of barely eleven or twelve, anxious to shield him and lead him away from the fight, Carter Slade was taken aback.

What was going on? Weren’t they demons sent by Mephisto to seize the San Venganza contract? Why were they protecting him now?

If it was for the San Venganza contract, they already had the shovel. Could he have misunderstood? Were these demon-tainted individuals not Mephisto's agents after all?

And the other Ghost Rider—what was that about? Mephisto’s new minion?

Questions piled in Carter's mind, but now was hardly the time for answers.

Within the dense steam, the Ghost Rider furiously swung his chain, blazing flames forming a massive fiery serpent that danced and devoured all, clearing away the mist in one sweep.

He then bared his cavernous jaws and lunged at Gu Zhongyan.

The dazzling firelight illuminated Gu Zhongyan's tense face. He raised his wand, cast “Protego Totalum” again to shield himself, and shouted loudly.

“Johnny! Johnny Blaze, can you hear me? Johnny!”

Bang!

With a thunderous crash, the chain and invisible shield collided, shattering the barrier once more.

The Ghost Rider seemed immune to Gu Zhongyan’s words, emitting only a sharp, grating tone.

“Contract… kill the wizard… Contract… kill the wizard…”

Like a malfunctioning AI, the Ghost Rider repeated these words as he swung his chain, igniting the acrid flames of hell and hurling them at Gu Zhongyan.

Gu Zhongyan hastily cast “Apparate” to dodge, his brows furrowing deeper.

Contract? What contract? The one between Mephisto and Johnny Blaze? But when did its terms become “kill the wizard”?

Unaware that he had already offended Mephisto, Gu Zhongyan was deeply perplexed by the Ghost Rider’s behavior.

No matter his confusion, Gu Zhongyan knew this was all tied to Mephisto.

Dodging attacks, he shouted, “Johnny! Listen to me! This is all Mephisto’s plot—whatever he told you, don’t believe him!”

“Johnny, you’re not Mephisto’s puppet! You’re Johnny Blaze—Hellfire Johnny, remember?”

Click!

The response was not Johnny Blaze regaining his senses, but a cocked shotgun.

Bang!

Cold flames burned in the Ghost Rider’s empty eye sockets as he mercilessly pulled the trigger. The firearm, transformed by hellfire, unleashed a terrifying blast.

Brilliant fire pierced the tranquility of the night. Gu Zhongyan’s pupils contracted as he instinctively waved his wand.

“Expulso Maxima!”

A radiant white light shot forth. In the blink of an eye, the two beams collided.

Boom! A massive explosion sent powerful air currents surging outward from the impact’s center, instantly creating a huge void.

The wand trembled from the surge of magical energy, causing Gu Zhongyan to step back involuntarily.

Immediately, an overwhelming agitation swept in from all sides. The infinitely extending flaming chains twisted into a colossal cage, closing from every direction and trapping him within.

At the same time the Ghost Rider fired, he also activated the hellish chain in his hand.

Feeling a sinking dread, Gu Zhongyan raised his wand, ready to use Apparate to escape.

But the Ghost Rider seemed to sense his intent. The fleshless skull emitted an eerie laugh, and the hellfire on the chain suddenly swelled.

Under its scorching heat, the very space began to warp.

Damn!

Gu Zhongyan’s face darkened. The hellfire’s distortion of space blocked any chance of using Apparate.

“Hey, flaming skull—your opponent’s over here!”

Just as Gu Zhongyan was about to face the Ghost Rider head-on, another figure appeared on the battlefield.

Su Yan’s small body hovered in the swirling currents. Wind and water gathered between his hands, summoning a storm that called down relentless lightning bolts, striking at the Ghost Rider.