"Hey, hey, stop sleeping. Do you know what time it is? It's almost midnight. Seriously, how long are you going to sleep? You didn't even eat anything." Tohka, who had been sleeping comfortably, was woken up by an exasperated voice. When she opened her eyes, she saw Miku Izayoi glaring at her angrily.
"Mm, yeah… So hungry… I want to eat." Although she didn't know why Miku Izayoi was waking her, the first thing Tohka felt upon opening her eyes was one simple sensation—hunger.
"Eat, eat—you only ever think about eating. Why don't you eat yourself to death already?" Hearing Tohka's words, Miku Izayoi nearly choked from sheer frustration.
So, she simply grabbed a hamburger from beside her and stuffed it into Tohka's mouth. She felt she must have gone mad. Why had she let Tohka make the plan? And worse, why had she actually gone along with it so dutifully? As a result, the two of them had ended up sleeping the entire day.
Of course, what left her speechless was that she must have been infected by Tohka—why else had she been able to sleep so much too?
After she woke up, she'd been starving, and she didn't care whether the hotel staff were asleep or not, she had them deliver a mountain of hamburgers.
"Uu… it's that late already?" Chewing on her burger, Tohka finally came to her senses. She glanced at the huge clock hanging in the hotel room and realized just how long she'd been asleep.
"What do you say—are we still going over there or not?" Miku Izayoi was on the verge of losing it as she watched Tohka calmly munching her hamburger. Was there anyone in the world more unreliable than this girl? It was already so late.
"Mm, no rush." Tohka didn't care at all. After all, she still had the most important contract. No matter what, they would have to come looking for her. But by her estimation, it was almost time anyway. So after she finished one burger, she picked up another and began eating again. No matter what, hunger was the enemy—this was a saying from a certain predecessor, and Tohka had always followed it.
"Eat, eat—you only ever—" Miku Izayoi rolled her eyes at her. She was about to say more when someone knocked on the door.
"Mm, it's you… What are you doing here in the middle of the night? Tohka, do you want me to kick him out?" Opening the door, Miku Izayoi was surprised to see who it was—the same police chief who had come by during the day and then stormed off after being irritated by Tohka. Only now he looked even worse than before.
"Sorry, but I really had no other choice." This time, he was even more deflated than during the day, looking completely exhausted. So, after hearing Miku Izayoi's sharp tone, he didn't bother arguing and instead set a file down in front of Tohka.
"What's this?" Glancing curiously at the file, Tohka finished off another burger, then casually picked up yet another and bit into it as she opened the folder.
"Wait—" The police chief, startled by her actions, tried to stop her.
"Pfft… cough cough cough… What the hell is this?!" But he was too late. The moment Tohka saw what was inside, she spit out the burger in her mouth and all the half-eaten food, spraying it all over the chief's face. Then she began coughing violently.
"This… this is a report on the murders that happened not long ago—the same woman you saw before. All the officers assigned to monitor and protect her were killed recently. And that woman has vanished."
The police chief didn't even care that his face was covered in bits of burger. Without waiting for Tohka to recover and apologize, he immediately began explaining: "But the way they died is just too bizarre—it's exactly the same as what happened to the others before. Their whole bodies looked like they were drained of something. I really can't understand who could do such a thing. Even the guy we caught before couldn't—at most he could burn someone into charcoal."
"Ugh… what is this?" Miku Izayoi came over curiously and glanced at the file too.
Then she gagged a few times. She couldn't help it—their manner of death was just too grotesque. She didn't know what they'd looked like before, but now they were all shriveled up, their skin ghostly pale, their bones jutting out, and their eye sockets sunken so deep you couldn't see the eyes at all. Worst of all were their gaping mouths, as if they'd died screaming in agony.
"Demons… this is a typical demon's handiwork." Looking over the photos, Tohka spat everything left in her mouth out again. Even with her usually thick skin, she had no appetite left after this. This kind of thing was just too grotesque. "This is what happens when a demon drains all the life force from a person. When someone dies that way, they end up like this. Actually… I wonder—if someone dies from excessive debauchery, would they look like this too? Also—"
"Stop! Tohka, let's not go there." Miku Izayoi hurried to interrupt her before she could speculate further. She never would have guessed Tohka could be such a pervert in her own way.
"You're saying demons did this?" Under normal circumstances, the police chief would have punched her for talking nonsense when he was asking about the case. But after everything he'd been through and all his men's deaths, he couldn't dismiss it anymore. He couldn't even explain that flaming skeleton from yesterday.
"Mm. You should have your people withdraw. This will be over tonight. If your people get involved, they'll only die for nothing. So, it's best you stay out of it." But to his disappointment, Tohka's answer hadn't changed at all.
"You—"
Crash. Before he could say more, the window across the room shattered. When he turned and saw who had broken in, the words died in his throat. He knew this man all too well—it was the rider they had chased the previous night.
"You're here. I guess that damn old skeleton must have told you." Tohka wasn't the least bit surprised to see him arrive. After all, she still held the contract—sooner or later, he would have to find her.
"Where is the Saint Venganza Contract?" The man who entered ignored the police chief completely, locking eyes with Tohka. He had already heard from the old rider that she was the one holding it, so he'd come straight to her hotel.
"Hands up, on your knees!" Seeing Johnny standing there untransformed, the police chief drew his gun and aimed it at him, still treating him as a wanted suspect.
"Chief, put the gun down. That won't do anything to him. Even if he's not transformed now, all it takes is a thought." Watching the clueless police chief, Tohka pressed his gun down with one hand. How could he not have learned his lesson yet? Didn't he know that gun was worthless against this man?
"You…" The chief glared at Tohka, but he knew she was right—he'd seen it for himself the night before. So, he could only holster his weapon, though he still watched Johnny warily.
"Mm. Is this what you want?" Tohka ignored him completely and pulled out the contract wrapped in magic seals, placing it in front of Johnny.
"What are your conditions to give it to me?" Staring at the contract, Johnny didn't immediately reach for it. After all, the woman before him wasn't the old rider. And the fact that the old rider had trusted her with it meant her strength was no joke. Besides, he didn't have time to waste arguing—he needed this to save his girlfriend.
"No conditions, really. Just lead the way for us." Tohka had no demands—Johnny was broke and had nothing she wanted. She didn't plan to make things hard on him, only to have him guide them to the destination. Sure, he still had that motorcycle, but she didn't know if a demon-imbued bike would be of any use to her.
"Fine. Deal." Johnny didn't argue either. He really was out of time, so the fact that Tohka was willing to cooperate was a relief. Besides, having her help against the enemy wasn't bad—she was part of the superhero camp, so he could trust her… at least for now.
"Then let's go. You lead the way—here's the map. Miku Izayoi, we're leaving. As for you, Chief, don't worry about the rest. Just get some sleep—it'll all be over when you wake up."
She cast a glance at the police chief, whose face turned uglier seeing how quickly she and Johnny had struck a deal while ignoring him completely. Tohka only gave a casual remark before dragging Miku Izayoi out the broken window. She didn't look back once.
"….."
Silent, the chief stared at the map Johnny had handed him, memorized the location, then immediately jumped onto his bike to follow them out the window. The chief was left behind, pacing around anxiously before he had no choice but to go home.
Through the window, he realized Tohka, Miku Izayoi, and Johnny had vanished without a trace. Even if he wanted to send someone to pursue them, he couldn't.
"Nice bike. Can you go faster? Remember, we don't have much time." Riding alongside Johnny in the wilderness, Tohka called out. Johnny had transformed back into Ghost Rider to increase his speed, and the flaming motorcycle roared ahead. But even then, Tohka and Miku Izayoi kept up without difficulty. Tohka knew this was nowhere near his top speed—if he pushed it to the limit, he could cross dimensions and enter Hell itself.
"Hmph." Ghost Rider didn't reply. He just twisted the throttle, accelerating so quickly that Tohka and Miku Izayoi were soon trailing behind.
"Hey, Tohka—shouldn't we speed up?" Watching Ghost Rider pull farther ahead, Miku Izayoi grew anxious. She noticed Tohka didn't seem to be in any hurry to catch up, instead deliberately keeping her distance.
"Relax. Let him go first." Tohka watched the red dot shrinking in the distance with total calm. After all, demons were cunning—if they spotted unexpected reinforcements, they might flee or kill the hostage. But she was certain: once the contract was absorbed, Ghost Rider wouldn't run. That would be when his confidence peaked.
"Fine—but you'd better not be planning something weird again." Miku Izayoi gave Tohka a skeptical look. She didn't know why Tohka insisted on this, but she decided to trust her one more time. Soon, they watched Ghost Rider shrink into nothing more than a faint red speck on the horizon.
…..
"So, this is that… Saint Venganza village? Why is it so creepy?" Following Ghost Rider, Tohka and Miku Izayoi reached the outskirts of the abandoned village. Standing there, both of them felt uneasy—the atmosphere was so oppressive, it was like a first-person horror game from Tohka's past life.
"Yeah, this should be it… Let's hurry. Dawn's coming—wait, did he already break the contract? We have to move!" Tohka had been about to say more, but then a chorus of pitiful wails echoed across the place, making their scalps tingle. She knew it meant the sealed spirits were emerging again. Without hesitation, she grabbed Miku Izayoi and accelerated to her top speed, reaching the lakeside village in an instant.
At the same time, Miku Izayoi was so terrified by the sight before them that she hid behind Tohka. Even Tohka's expression turned grim.
All around them, cloaked, skull-faced spirits flew through the air, their faces twisted in hideous snarls.
Tohka couldn't help but feel creeped out. It was one thing to see this on a screen—but in real life, it was something else entirely.