"Do you know what sand turns into when it's struck by lightning?"
Lucas looked at the Earth Demon, now only a step away, his voice calm and unhurried.
"It becomes… glass."
RUMBLE—
A blinding flash erupted out of nowhere.
Several bolts of violet lightning materialized in front of the Earth Demon, crashing straight into the arm he had swung toward Lucas.
In an instant, the demon's arm turned pitch-black—
then began to crystallize, transforming into a dark, glass-like substance.
A gunshot cracked through the air.
The Earth Demon's crystallized arm shattered violently, exploding into a spray of glass fragments.
The Earth Demon stared at the wound and let out a cold laugh.
"Useless. As long as sand exists in this world, I am invincible."
He attempted to draw the surrounding sand to repair the limb—
but then froze.
The sand refused to merge.
Something was blocking it.
"Noticed it?"
Lucas raised the gun again.
"Sand struck by lightning crystallizes. It loses all its original properties."
Bang—
He blasted off the demon's entire arm.
"Impossible! Why—why can't I regenerate?!"
The Earth Demon screamed in panic, trying desperately to gather sand to the wound.
Nothing happened.
Blackheart's eyes darkened with murderous fury.
The Earth Demon was one of his strongest servants; letting him be defeated—by a human—was humiliation he could not tolerate.
"Wind Demon. Go."
The Wind Demon instantly dissolved into a gust and reappeared behind Lucas, claws slashing toward his heart.
"I can use wind too, you know."
Lucas spoke evenly.
A green wind blade formed out of thin air—
cleaving the Wind Demon's claws clean off, forcing him back.
"How is that possible?!"
The Wind Demon stared at his hand.
Though it regenerated quickly, his expression was full of disbelief.
He was the Wind Demon.
He controlled all wind.
Was immune to all wind.
Wind could not harm him.
Yet this human had cut him using wind—his own element.
"Die!"
The Wind Demon lunged again—
and the Earth Demon attacked simultaneously.
One in front, one behind, boxing Lucas in.
Both demons wore vicious grins.
"Let's see you dodge this! Die!!"
Lucas remained calm.
Violet lightning and a green wind blade appeared at the same time—
striking the two demons simultaneously.
The wind blade severed the Wind Demon at the waist.
The lightning bolt hit the Earth Demon square in the chest.
A charred, reflective patch formed over the Earth Demon's torso—
light glimmering off the newly crystallized surface.
The Wind Demon's regeneration stalled.
The foreign wind element had to be expelled before he could reform fully.
The Earth Demon fared even worse—
his entire chest had crystallized, preventing him from pulling any sand together.
"Cough—! Cough!!"
He choked violently.
As a demon, he never imagined he could be defeated by a human.
Terror spread through him for the first time.
He raised his head with difficulty, horror filling his eyes.
Lucas now held a long lance-like staff.
"As a demon hunter…" Lucas said quietly, "killing demons is my job.
So your luck has just run out."
He pointed the staff at the Earth Demon.
BOOM—
A bolt of thunder descended from the sky, purple lightning lighting up the entire train station.
When the glow faded,
the Earth Demon had become a statue of black glass.
Crack.
Crack.
Small fractures spread through it—
then the statue collapsed like a brittle sandcastle, shattering into glittering shards.
The Wind Demon froze in absolute terror.
The Earth Demon's soul was gone.
Obliterated.
Demons could die permanently—
and when they did, their essence dispersed into nothingness, impossible to resurrect.
Had the Earth Demon projected only a fragment of his soul to Earth, the host body would have died instead.
But this time, the demon had come in his true form.
And now?
Gone forever.
The same was true for Blackheart and the Water Demon and Wind Demon.
That was why the Wind Demon trembled.
At that moment, Ghost Rider—still in Blackheart's grip—suddenly erupted with power.
His hellfire blazed violently as he whipped his chain around Blackheart.
The chain glowed red hot, wreathed in hellfire.
Blackheart showed no panic.
His body dissolved into black smoke, reformed a moment later, and he slipped free of the chain—
releasing his hold on Ghost Rider.
He looked once at Ghost Rider, then at Lucas,
then at the Wind Demon who was still shaking uncontrollably.
He knew tonight's fight was over.
"This ends for now.
Prepare the Contract of San Venganza.
Ghost Rider—you're going to need it."
Leaving that threat behind, he dissolved into black fog and vanished.
The Water Demon dragged the still-damaged Wind Demon away, turning into a stream that fled into the night.
Once they were gone, Ghost Rider glanced at Lucas—
and the flame on his skull extinguished instantly.
Johnny collapsed unconscious.
Lucas hurried over to check on him—
just as a figure approached from the distance.
"Leave him to me."
The newcomer was an elderly cowboy on horseback—
the previous Ghost Rider, and the one who truly held the Contract of San Venganza.
Lucas recognized him immediately; in his previous life, he had thought this old rider on a flaming horse was the coolest Ghost Rider of all.
"Alright," Lucas said. "You're a Ghost Rider too. Might as well teach him how to handle the power."
He placed Johnny on the old man's horse.
"What about his bike?" Lucas asked.
"Can you ride my horse?" the old man asked.
"I can ride a horse."
"Impossible. No one rides my horse.
You take the bike. Follow me."
He turned and rode off.
"Hey—wait up!!"
Lucas struggled onto Johnny's monstrous chopper and accelerated after him.
Why Johnny liked a bike with handlebars taller than its rider, Lucas would never understand.
It was uncomfortable as hell.
And ridiculously long.
How was it supposed to turn corners?!
About half an hour later, Lucas followed the old Ghost Rider to a cemetery—
the man's home.
He was the caretaker here.
Before that, he had been a lawman in the Old West, tricked by Mephisto just like Johnny.
In fact, he was the one who had helped create the Contract of San Venganza—
a document containing all the souls he had claimed for Mephisto.
But once he understood Mephisto's true nature,
he hid the contract somewhere Mephisto would never find.
He entrusted it to a priest, telling him to hide it beneath a statue of Jesus—
a place where Mephisto could never sense its presence.
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