Boom!
Ghost Rider slammed his chains away.
Immediately after, his chain transformed into a burning fire snake, sweeping across with immense force.
Makima's figure flickered as she leaped backward.
In the next second, the asphalt road where she had been standing was struck by that whip, instantly melting into a scorched crater.
This time, Ghost Rider didn't hold back because he truly loathed demons... Su Modie knew this all too well.
The birth of Ghost Rider was Mephisto's handiwork; in the Marvel Universe, this guy is also an ultimate scapegoat—any bad deed can be attributed to him pulling the strings behind the scenes—but in Johnny's case, he really wasn't wronged.
Years ago, to cure his father's cancer, Johnny made a deal with Mephisto for his soul.
As a result, his father's cancer was cured, but he died in a motorcycle stunt accident just two days later.
This was clearly Mephisto's "good deed."
From then on, Ghost Rider harbored a deep-seated hatred for demons.
Coincidentally, Makima was also a demon.
Though the species were slightly different, when it came to using contracts to bully honest people, these two were cut from the same cloth.
"Fine, it seems you don't want to talk..."
Makima still maintained her smile, but her gaze turned cold.
She raised her hand, pointing her index finger at Ghost Rider.
In an instant, an invisible pressure descended from the sky, like an unseen giant hand squeezing Ghost Rider hard.
Crack!
Several of Ghost Rider's ribs were instantly snapped by this immense force, but he was no ordinary creature, nor would he be crushed directly like a ninja from The Hand; this action instead completely infuriated him.
Hellfire surged, and the broken bones were instantly restored within the flames.
"Come here!"
Ghost Rider roared.
The fire chain in his hand traced a strange arc in the air, suddenly wrapping around Makima's waist and arms.
"Got you."
As the chains tightened, terrifying high temperatures began to scorch the fabric on Makima's body, emitting a pungent burnt smell.
Ghost Rider strode forward, grabbing Makima's shoulder and bringing his hideous skull face to within just a few centimeters of hers, growling.
"Look into my eyes! Demon!"
Penance Stare!
This was Ghost Rider's strongest ability, which could burn the opponent's soul with Hellfire through eye contact, forcing them to relive all the crimes they had committed in their life within a second while simultaneously enduring all the pain their victims had suffered... the deeper the sin, the stronger the damage.
Makima was forced to look up, her golden ringed eyes beneath her colored contacts calmly reflecting the two swirling vortices of Hellfire.
One second.
Two seconds.
Three seconds... the wind howled, and the flames crackled.
The expected screams and soul disintegration did not happen.
Not only was Makima not in pain, but she even blinked, revealing a slightly innocent and confused expression.
A slightly innocent and confused expression (Note: the next illustration might be a bit scary, be mentally prepared).
"Is this your trump card?"
She asked softly, her tone even carrying a hint of disappointment.
「villainess value +117」
「simulation value +255」
Su Modie almost couldn't hold back a laugh.
So classic... the Penance Stare has indeed failed yet again!
Ghost Rider's Penance Stare is indeed very strong, a single-target instant-kill divine skill by rule, but it lives by the rules and dies by the rules.
Precisely because there are rules, it has many loopholes, failing almost as often as it succeeds.
If the enemy has no soul or is some kind of natural disaster or conceptual avatar, they cannot be judged.
Or if the enemy has more than one conscious entity, like Venom and Carnage, the effect of the Penance Stare becomes unstable.
Of course, there are many other reasons, such as Thanos in certain events; because his heart was too twisted, he also neutralized the Penance Stare. Or a super cheat like Captain Marvel—despite the painful process, she actually ended up absorbing the power.
And the most ridiculous... Daredevil, being blind, cannot fulfill the "eye contact" condition, so the Penance Stare cannot be triggered... Lawyer Ma: Are you being polite?
Su Modie didn't know which category Makima fell into, but clearly, the Penance Stare had failed on her too.
Ghost Rider was stunned.
The current Johnny is far from being as experienced as in the comics, so his failures have been few and far between; the Penance Stare had only failed once before when facing Mephisto's soulless son, Blackheart... also known as the Blackheart monster in the comics.
On that burning skull face, a rare look of existential bewilderment appeared.
How is this possible?
Why would the Penance Stare be ineffective?
As expected of a cunning demon... Ghost Rider was momentarily overcome with shame and rage.
Since the soul cannot be burned, then burn this filthy flesh to ash!
"Roar—!!!"
He stopped using the Penance Stare and instead tightened the chains like a madman.
Hellfire erupted without reservation, the temperature instantly climbing to thousands of degrees.
"Ugh..." Makima finally made a sound, but it was more like the sound of air being squeezed out.
Boom!
Under absolute high-temperature physical destruction, there is no reasoning to be had.
Makima's body instantly caught fire, her skin disintegrating like scorched paper, her flesh turning to ash in the flames, and even her bones were instantly reduced to powder.
A few seconds later.
Only a pile of smoldering embers remained on the ground... Meanwhile.
New York, Hells Kitchen.
In a booth of a high-end nightclub, one of Fisk's subordinates was laughing while holding a model.
Suddenly, his expression changed, and orange-red flames erupted from inside his body without warning.
"Aaaah! Help! Fire! Fire!"
Under the terrified gazes of those around him, he was burned to a crisp in just a few seconds.
The demon contract Makima signed with Fisk took effect—
Any damage dealt to Makima would be converted into an illness or accident for one of Fisk's subordinates... Texas, the Wilderness highway.
From that pile of embers, a scalp-numbing sound of wriggling flesh suddenly emerged.
Ghost Rider, about to ride away, suddenly turned his head.
He saw the most bizarre scene of his life—the ashes on the ground gathered like a movie playing in reverse, flesh growing out of thin air, bones reconstructing, and in just the blink of an eye, the red-haired woman who should have been dead stood there perfectly intact.
Makima in Johnny's eyes—tell me, isn't it scary... 「villainess value +53」
「simulation value +178」
Evil! So damn evil!
Ghost Rider had never seen such an opponent, and for a moment, his hair stood on end... if he had any right now... compared to a skinless monster like himself, Ghost Rider felt that the human-skinned monster before him was even more terrifying... Makima's clothes were scorched and broken, sticking to her body like carbon flakes, their original style barely recognizable.
Makima patted her clothes; her colored contacts had long since been burned to ash.
She looked at the skeleton monster before her with those golden ringed eyes, frowning slightly.
She had to admit that Ghost Rider was indeed very troublesome.
Physical attacks would be repaired, and Control was useless.
Although Ghost Rider's Penance Stare was also ineffective, his Hellfire could still cause substantial damage to Makima.
"In that case..." The space around Makima seemed to warp for a moment.
"Quanxi-chan, help me."
With her soft call, a figure appeared out of thin air beside her.
Quanxi is purely a big pervert; even while being controlled, her hands aren't being honest—where is she touching?
Silver-white short hair, an eye patch covering one eye, and several long swords on her back.
Quanxi was summoned once again, looking around in confusion until her gaze landed on the flaming skeleton frame in front of her.
"What is this?"
Quanxi drew the long sword from her back, her tone flat: "It's a demon I haven't seen before..."
「villainess value +14」
"Demons?! You are the demons!"
Quanxi's appearance alone immediately triggered Ghost Rider's keywords, making him fly into a rage.
"How dare you insult me like this..."
Ghost Rider was getting desperate.
"Hell's scum!!"