But regardless, the play was finally over.
The two great demons were instantly defeated by the "Magical Girl."
Lux put away her staff, her robes rustling in the night wind as if she carried her own soft-light filter.
She turned and walked toward Ghost Rider, who was still pinned to the ground.
"Bear with it, this might hurt a little."
Lux crouched down, reaching out a hand as fair as jade to help Ghost Rider pull out the steel crossbow bolts from his body.
At this moment, Johnny Blaze was still in a state of complete shock.
The ups and downs of this night were truly too intense.
One second, he was being hunted by two female demons like a dead dog, thinking he was surely doomed.
The next second, a beautiful little Angel... descended from the sky.
She not only spoke the words hidden in his heart that he never dared hope anyone would understand, but she also effortlessly drove away those monsters and saved his life.
This skull, which could usually stop a child's crying at night, now acted like an elementary school student caught by a teacher after making a mistake.
He sat stiffly on the ground, his two burning skeletal hands with nowhere to go; he wanted to scratch his head but feared burning the delicate-looking girl before him, and he wanted to pull his hands back but worried that too much movement would reignite the Hellfire on his body.
In this moment, sitting before Lux, it was as if he wasn't Ghost Rider, but a helpless skeletal puppy.
"That little girl... th-thank you..."
Johnny's voice was still raspy, like a broken bellows, but his tone carried an unprecedented sense of awkwardness.
It was hard to imagine a weather-beaten middle-aged man being so nervous in front of a young girl.
Lux smiled and shook her head. "It was just a small effort."
"Who... exactly are you?"
Johnny couldn't help but ask. In those hollow eye sockets, the flames were no longer violent but flickered gently along with his mood.
"My name is Luxanna Crownguard."
Lux stood up and performed an elegant noble salute. "I am a practitioner from Kamar-Taj. You can also call me Lux."
"My name is Johnny Blaze... but what was that... Kamar... what-Taj?"
Johnny tilted his skeletal head, the two ghost fires in his eye sockets seemingly forming a question mark.
Clearly, this middle-aged man who had been wandering the rural roads of the United States on his motorcycle was completely disconnected from the World.
While he knew of demons, his understanding of other supernatural powers in the Marvel Universe was perhaps inferior to that of an ordinary New York City resident.
Johnny likely hadn't even watched TV; he didn't know about Hulk and Abomination demolishing New York a while back, nor had he heard of the playboy who loudly announced "I am Iron Man," let alone the hidden magical sanctuary of Kamar-Taj.
"A... secluded magic organization," Lux could only explain vaguely.
"magic..." Johnny murmured to himself, then looked up again, his tone filled with deep self-doubt. "Then why did you save me?"
He looked down at his hideous ribs and burning arms.
"Can't you see? I'm no different from those two women just now... I'm a monster too."
"Why save you?" Lux was stunned for a moment.
Actually, the reason was very simple: because Sister Su Modie told her to!
If she didn't save him, was she supposed to let him be pinned to the road like a signpost?
But obviously, she couldn't say that.
She could only bite the bullet and have Lux make up the most cliché reason on the fly: "I can't really say... I just saw this while passing by and couldn't bear it. My intuition told me you shouldn't die here."
After saying this, even Lux felt a bit embarrassed.
"Saw it while passing by and couldn't bear it"?
That was just too fake.
Because of her guilty conscience, Lux's cheeks flushed slightly, and her gaze drifted.
However.
In Johnny Blaze's eyes, this appearance took on a completely different meaning.
"My god... she's blushing!"
"She clearly saved a terrifying monster, yet she's too embarrassed to admit it because of her kind heart. What a pure, noble soul!"
Johnny's weathered, long-dead heart trembled violently.
It must be said that Lux truly lived up to being a girl with a passive skill like 'Illumination Affinity'.
With the boost from this affinity, she didn't even need superb acting skills; a casual word could produce an effect nearing "Charm."
Teasing an honest man like Johnny, who lacked guile, was as easy as playing with a dog.
Johnny didn't doubt the pure and lovely girl before him at all.
As long as one is human, they are mostly visual creatures, and even Johnny himself was no exception; it was no wonder others feared he was a monster.
The good thing about Johnny was that he wasn't hypocritical; he really didn't blame others for misunderstanding him. He had a classic personality that appeared extroverted but was actually very self-deprecating.
But putting her face aside, Lux's defense of him as a "good person" just now had a devastating impact on Johnny.
"Phew..." Johnny let out a long sigh, the flames on his body dimming a bit, looking exceptionally lonely.
"A good person... I haven't heard that word in a long time. Everyone calls me a wraith, calls me a monster."
Yes, this was Su Modie's Plan B.
Since a direct assault couldn't Control the body, she would use wit to capture the heart.
Su Modie precisely grasped Ghost Rider's current pain point—
The current Johnny was in his most confused stage.
He had lost his father, left his lover, had no friends, and wandered alone carrying a curse.
He was afraid of hurting others, so he exiled himself, but deep down, he craved to be understood more than anyone, craved for someone to tell him: "You are not a monster, you are still Johnny Blaze."
So, Su Modie had her avatar write, direct, and act out such a fine play.
As expected, this fearsome Ghost Rider had now been completely captivated by Lux.
It was fortunate this wasn't a Galgame World and Johnny was a middle-aged man with principles.
Otherwise, Su Modie really feared he would present his exclusive CG to Lux in the next second.
If that happened... Lux felt it would be better to let Makima come back and find a hole to bury this perverted skeleton man in.
"Is a monster like me... really worth saving?"
Johnny looked up, his voice carrying a heartbreaking humility.
Lux didn't answer immediately.
She stepped forward slowly, ignoring the scorching Hellfire, and reached out her fair palm to lightly tap Ghost Rider's skeletal chest.
*Thump.*
A soft sound.
Johnny only felt his body lighten as his perspective changed.
That skeleton frame still stood in place, but he—the real Johnny Blaze—floated out of that terrifying skin.
This was a translucent soul body.
Though his face was covered in stubble and his eyes were weary, and he wore a worn leather jacket, one could vaguely see the handsome and rebellious stunt rider he was in his youth.
He looked down at his palms, which were no longer burning and no longer bone, then looked at the motionless skeleton frame beside him, which seemed to be in standby mode.
Johnny was completely dumbfounded.
On one hand, he had never seen such miraculous magic that could temporarily separate the soul and body.
On the other hand... it felt so good.
It felt truly wonderful.
It was like a person who had carried a thousand-pound burden for years suddenly dropping it, or a terminal patient tortured by pain for countless days and nights taking a miraculous painkiller.
The voice of the Spirit of Vengeance in his mind, always full of slaughter and violence, had vanished.
The pain that constantly scorched his soul had also disappeared.
All that remained was a long-lost peace and tranquility.
"This..." Johnny trembled with excitement, looking at Lux as if he were looking at God. "Is this... the real me?"
"That's right." Lux smiled, her voice ethereal and sacred. Although her age and personality were still a bit immature, Su Modie could somehow see a bit of the Ancient One's shadow in her. Indeed, one-on-one tutoring from a great master makes a difference.
"This terrifying skeletal image is just armor donned by heaven to deter evil; it is an illusion. And this is the you I see."
A finishing blow.
This sentence was a nuclear-level psychological critical hit for Johnny.
The big man's eyes instantly turned red, nearly shedding tears on the spot. Like grasping at the last straw, he floated before Lux and asked excitedly, "Can I stay like this forever? Miss Lux! Please!"
"I don't want to go back! I don't want to feel that anger and pain anymore!"
Johnny spoke with increasing excitement. Having suffered for so long, he now had serious self-destructive tendencies.
As long as he could escape his identity as Ghost Rider, he would be happy to ascend to heaven on the spot.
"Ah?" Now it was Lux's turn to panic.
What did he mean by not wanting to go back?
The smile on her face almost cracked.
"Holy crap, don't do that, big brother!" Behind the scenes, Su Modie was jumping with anxiety. "I worked so hard writing the script and acting just to eventually bring back a soulless, powerless skeleton frame as a specimen!"
"I want the Ghost Rider with the Hell Cycle who can fight and tank! Not a 'doodad'!"
"What would I do with an empty shell skeleton? Hang it at the S.H.I.E.L.D. entrance on Halloween to scare Nick Fury?"
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