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Superior Ghost Rider. Chapter 12. Mammon
🕑 Added 2025-03-22 15:32:19 +0000 UTC"Bravo!" Dario clapped theatrically. "It’s always nice when there’s someone else educated in the room besides me."
"Shut up!" the goddess hissed. She didn’t understand what was happening, and that infuriated her. "I don’t know who this Mammon is, but he won’t stop me from finishing what I started!"
Her hammer crackled with lightning. Dario yawned, completely unimpressed. The bastard knew he had nothing to fear.
"You’ve never fought the Devil," John recalled his own experience with Mephisto. "We don’t stand a chance."
"Confirmed," Dario nodded, his posture radiating absolute calm.
[Hmm. The Minotaur wears his horns just for show. He’s not in a hurry to attack us. In fact, he wants us to leave. We still have a way out of this.]
"How did you make a deal with him?" John asked. "Even top-tier demonologists can’t always contact one of the kings."
[A little flattery and provocation. Will it work?]
"I’m no pathetic demonologist!"
[Heh. It worked.]
"Lord Mammon chose me!" Dario puffed up with pride. "I was nine when my parents took me to Athens to sell fish."
The billionaire grimaced. Childhood memories clearly weren’t his fondest.
"The market stank. People were shouting. My mom kept nagging me to gut fish. I was bored," Dario admitted. "So I ran off into the city and found an abandoned building. The walls were covered in symbols. And inside… there was a corpse."
[Damn, careless demonologists piss me off. How hard is it to clean up after yourself?]
"Let me guess," John smirked. "You stepped into the circle and wished for money?"
"Wrong!" the Minotaur grinned. "I wished to be the richest man alive!"
[A fisherman’s greed, worthy of Mammon’s attention.]
"Lord Mammon gave me power," the Minotaur clenched his fists. "With these hands, I tore out my first fortune…"
"And your appearance didn’t get in the way of business?" Ghost Rider gestured at his own flaming skull.
"It’s the mutant era. Even billionaires want to meet one," the Minotaur chuckled. "Roxxon hired me because of my horns. The shareholders also liked my methods…"
"You’re killing the planet!" Thunderheart flared with rage. "This base is built on a gamma reactor! You’re poisoning the entire ocean!"
"How convenient that Roxxon owns twenty fish farms," Agger smirked. "Once the ocean’s ruined, seafood prices will skyrocket."
"Your greed is worse than a dragon’s!" Thunderheart swung her hammer.
A searing bolt of lightning pierced his heart. With a gaping hole in his chest, the Minotaur collapsed, thick blood spreading beneath him.
"Holy Jesus…" John pressed a hand to his skull.
"Not all evil can be reasoned with," the goddess patted his shoulder. "Don’t worry, he’s alive—his regeneration grants him immortality. He’ll heal soon enough, but for now, we’ll take him to the Avengers—"
"Screw that loser!" John pulled out his gun and fired three rounds into the Minotaur’s skull. "See?! Just three useless holes! My bullets burn flesh and soul, but nothing happened!"
"I… don’t understand…" the goddess took a step back.
"Of course you don’t! Because you’re an idiot!" Ghost Rider roared. "Dario’s a dumbass! But he’s under Mammon’s protection! And you seriously think he won’t notice that his pawn got fried by Mjolnir’s lightning?! He’s already coming…"
A vibration ran through his bones. His soul felt like it was being wrapped in barbed wire. Even the lack of flesh couldn’t dull the overwhelming aura of despair.
John looked at his partner—she felt it too. Her fingers trembled, barely holding onto her hammer. Her face had gone pale.
For the first time, the little goddess had felt the presence of the Devil.
Devils… the kings and queens of Hell.
Ancient beyond measure, some of them witnessed the birth of stars. The greatest archmages in the universe, wielding near-limitless power with access to Hell’s energy. Devils kill Sorcerer Supremes and slowly tear their souls into tiny shreds. Their only weakness? They cannot leave Hell… unless some idiot hands them their body and soul on a silver platter.
Every instinct screamed at John to run, but he crushed them with cold logic. There was no point in fleeing from something that could traverse the universe in an instant.
Dario’s skin began to crack, bright red energy seeping from the wounds—the power of a Hell King. A human body was never meant to withstand a being of that caliber. Every minute spent in the mortal world drained decades from Dario’s life.
[He’s got about ten minutes. Mammon only needs one to kill me.]
The crushing aura reached its peak. John's bones felt like they were being weighed down by a ton of pressure. The guards who had rushed into the room exploded into bloody mist, reduced to nothing by the sheer magical force.
Mammon was here.
"Who dares to kill a man whose life belongs to me by right?"
His eyes, glowing with infernal power, studied the two aspects of infinity before him.
"Flame and Lightning. How fascinating."
He stepped toward the goddess.
"Odin gave his favorite toy to a mere girl? That’s unlike him. What are you to him? A lover?"
"Go…" her voice trembled along with her knees. "Go to hell!"
A bolt of lightning surged through her body. Mammon didn’t even blink. Smoke curled from her skin, her flesh blackened… but the fear in her eyes was gone. The pain of self-inflicted electrocution had burned away her hesitation.
"You know nothing about me, vile demon!" she roared, spinning her hammer. "I will destroy you!"
Thunderheart launched herself into battle. Her lightning blazed brighter than the sun. The force of her hammer strikes warped the titanium walls. The hurricanes she summoned could wipe islands off the map. Power enough to shatter planets—useless against a Hell King.
Mammon never stood still. He moved constantly, matching the goddess of storms in speed. His lips whispered cosmic-level incantations at impossible speed. Every bolt of lightning was swallowed by the void. Every strike neutralized by an automatic crimson shield. Every hurricane sealed away like a genie in a bottle.
"Is that all you’ve got?" Mammon flicked his wrist, releasing black fire. "You’re no mage. Just a warrior with a few tricks. Mjolnir belongs to me now!"
The black flames consumed her in an instant, burning away every last scrap of flesh, leaving behind only a charred skeleton clad in armor, still clutching the hammer.
Mjolnir’s lightning surged through her, rapidly regenerating her skin and organs.
An avatar of infinity couldn’t be killed so easily. But there were countless ways to ruin her life—ways Hell’s kings knew all too well.
Mammon pressed his fingers into a triangle and began chanting. He was preparing to curse her soul, maybe seal her in some void. Maybe both.
"Yo, Mammon, all this effort over a single hammer? You really are greedy," John said casually. "Just like Mephisto described you."
The Hellish archmage stopped mid-chant, turning to Ghost Rider with interest.
"You know Mephisto?" He unclasped his fingers, his stance shifting into something more relaxed.
[Whew, bought a few more seconds. I have to remember—beings of his level are too arrogant. They don’t mind chatting with their enemies. I need to use that.]
"Do I know Mephisto?" Ghost Rider laughed. "I kicked his red ass all the way back to Hell!"
"You?" the archmage asked, skeptical.
"Don’t believe me? Ask your red-assed brother yourself. Ask him what happened when he tried to mess with Ghost Rider. And make him swear an oath of truth before he tells you."
John grinned.
"Hell, I’ll even make a deal with you—Mephisto will do everything he can to squirm out of telling the truth."
"Hmm, interesting," Mammon licked his lips like a beast. "Mephisto lost? That’s a piece of information I could use to shake his influence…"
"If you’re planning to cash in on that, don’t forget to share the profits," John walked closer, unfazed. "You wouldn’t want to piss me off, now would you?"
"Hm?" Mammon crossed his arms. "I’m not in the habit of sharing."
"Yeah, I can tell. You even gave this loser—" Ghost Rider casually adjusted Dario’s suit. "—a fraction of your power, just so you could take a walk on Earth when needed. Every gift you give triples your gain."
"Tenfold," the demon of greed corrected.
"Yeah, yeah, but that crap won’t work on me. You owe me payment for the intel."
"And if I say no?" The cracks in Mammon’s skin glowed brighter. "What will you do?"
"The same thing I did to Mephisto!"
John’s hand moved in a blur, yanking out the Cross of Zarathos from his sleeve and pressing it against Mammon’s forehead.
"Thrice bound! Thrice condemned! Thrice—"
The crushing aura vanished in an instant.
John barely caught Dario Agger as he collapsed, now back in his human form—but looking like an old man. Ten minutes as Mammon’s vessel had drained away his youth.
"Incredible!" Thunderheart exclaimed, fully restored. "You actually won!"
"You heard the whole conversation?" John laid the unconscious body on the ground. "Even without ears?"
"Uh… yes?" She looked slightly embarrassed.
[So she also has spiritual perception at an instinctive level.]
"You defeated Mephisto! You defeated Mammon!" The goddess beamed. "You're the greatest warrior I’ve ever known! What was that demon-slaying technique? You must teach me!"
"That’s all bullshit!" John barked.
"Eh?" She took a step back.
"There was no technique!" He waved the Cross of Zarathos in front of her. "And this? Just a damn artifact! But it was made by Satan—the real one, the one at the bottom of it all, who sometimes gets bored and kills devils for fun. Mammon thought the creator stuffed some secret weapon into this trinket and ran like a coward! I’m no warrior! I’m just a damn liar!"
"Oh," was all she said… before she straightened her shoulders.
"Maybe you’re not a warrior, but you are a brilliant strategist! Armies win because of you! We’re alive today because of you!"
"Save your inspirational speech for someone else!" John waved her off. "Sure, Mammon ran off with his tail between his legs, but he won’t forget this loss. Devils are the most vindictive bastards in the universe. He’ll figure out I played him like a fool and start scheming. Like I need another Devil gunning for me… Screw that!"
He fired at Dario.
The bullet bounced harmlessly off the hammer.
"Move aside," Ghost Rider said tiredly. "Mammon’s gone for now, but he can still return through this vessel. It has to be destroyed."
"Mammon is your enemy!" She stepped in front of the unconscious Dario. "You can’t kill an innocent man!"
"Are your ears filled with lightning?! Dario confessed to everything! Mammon only gave him a stronger body—every crime was his own, for his own gain! He must be punished!"
"Even villains deserve a second chance!" she said firmly. "We will put him on trial!"
"Fine," John holstered his gun.
"You really agree with me?" she asked cautiously.
"I don’t care. Have it your way." He waved toward the frail old man. "But after all this, you owe me big time. And trust me, I will collect."
"Umm," she pressed a hand to her chest plate. "I thought you were joking…"
[What is she talking about? Oh, for god’s sake…]
"No, flashing your divine tits won’t cut it this time," he smirked as she let out a relieved sigh. "You owe me your life now."
Comments
Lord Of the Mysteries
Nice Chap
