"Don't hold back, Quanxi-chan."
Makima took a step back. "This thing is hard to kill. Find a way to pin him to the ground."
"Understood." Quanxi didn't waste words.
She could feel the terrifying heat radiating from the skeleton before her.
Unlike dealing with ordinary gangsters, she needed to get serious this time.
She reached out and touched her right eye socket beneath the black eye patch.
A broken arrow was lodged inside.
Quanxi pulled it out without hesitation.
Squelch!
Blood splattered!
Her head seemed to be split open by a monster within; steel instantly pierced through her flesh, and countless pitch-black spikes erupted from her neck and face. Her flesh reorganized, transforming into a cold and hideous heavy crossbow head.
A pair of bow arms stretched to their limit extended horizontally from both sides of her head, like a devil's hideous, rigid horns.
In the center of her face, three metal arrowheads burst through one after another from top to bottom, fixed straight in front of her face.
Below, a set of jagged, interlocking serrated fangs suddenly snapped open, exuding a cold ferocity.
Next were her hands.
Pitch-black cold steel covered her forearms.
With a "clack," they suddenly transformed into two magazines of fully drawn repeating crossbows, strings taut and overflowing with killing intent.
This was Quanxi's Weapon Human form.
Weapon Human Quanxi
Ghost Rider roared, swinging his flaming chains as he charged again.
But just as he raised his hand—
Swish, swish, swish!
Several cold flashes of light flickered.
They were crossbow bolts too fast for the naked eye to track.
Thud, thud, thud!
The continuous sound of breaking air exploded like a rainstorm.
Ghost Rider didn't even have time to react; his wrists, ankles, and knees were pierced by several crossbow bolts in an instant.
The massive impact pinned him forcefully to the asphalt road!
In her Weapon Human form, Quanxi displayed extraordinary speed and precision.
Quanxi in Ghost Rider's eyes
Before Ghost Rider could pull out the bolt stuck in his shoulder blade, Makima in the distance wasn't idle either.
She didn't even move a step, still maintaining her elegant posture with one hand in her trench coat pocket. She simply pointed an index finger through the air, her golden ringed eyes coldly directed at the joints Ghost Rider was trying to use.
Bang!
"Crack!"
It was the crisp sound of bones buckling under the strain.
Ghost Rider's knee, which he had only just begun to lift, was crushed instantly. His entire body was forced back to the ground by this invisible, massive force, smashing a spiderweb-like crater into the surface.
"Damn it..."
Johnny Blaze let out a roar of pain.
If he were to fight any devil one-on-one, with his Hellfire, he would have a fighting chance or even hold the upper hand. But at this moment, he had to face two top-Tier devils with perfect coordination... This left him with nowhere to vent his strength, making him feel like a toy... More accurately, like a spinning top, surrounded by two bad women—one lash from you, one lash from me—making his body feel as if it no longer belonged to him, whipped around until he was completely helpless.
In just half a minute.
The once overbearing Ghost Rider now stumbled to the ground like a porcupine, countless crossbow bolts densely pinning his limbs and spine to the road, leaving him completely unable to move.
Sizzle—
Hellfire surged wildly within him, trying to melt those damned bolts and repair his damaged bones, but Quanxi gave him no such opportunity.
Whenever the fire just melted a bolt, before the wound could heal, three new bolts would come whistling in with a shrill sound, accurately pinning the same spot again.
The speed of repair was far from keeping up with the speed of destruction.
"Roar—!!!"
Ghost Rider was so enraged that the flames in his eye sockets flickered wildly. He let out a roar and tried to struggle to his feet.
But Makima simply tilted her finger slightly, and that mountain-like telekinetic force increased again, pressing his head heavily into the gravel, making even the act of looking up a luxury.
Ghost Rider continued to struggle, but under the combined suppression of two top-Tier devils, he could only vent his impotent rage.
「villainess value +275」
Ghost Rider's 1v1 ability was nearly unbeatable, and Hellfire was great for clearing out fodder, but facing a "righteous" gang-up by multiple strong enemies... he seemed a bit overwhelmed.
Su Modie clicked her tongue in amazement. After this battle, Johnny was likely to have his spirit broken by these two bad women.
Ghost Rider had something to say too—how can you play like this? This is cheating!
The outcome was decided.
The current Ghost Rider had no goal and was in a daze; his strength was naturally far from his peak.
This gave Makima an opportunity to exploit.
Makima walked up to the Ghost Rider suppressed by Quanxi and tried to extend her chains again.
Snap!
But the moment the chains touched Ghost Rider, they were still repelled by that power of disgust and rejection.
Control, failed again.
"Still not working?" Su Modie frowned.
He had clearly been defeated by Makima, so why couldn't he be controlled?
Could it be because of Quanxi's help, making him feel that Makima hadn't won the duel alone?
That shouldn't be it; Quanxi was now considered a part of Makima.
Or... was it because the Spirit of Vengeance itself had too high a Tier?
This was troublesome... Su Modie and Makima's initial plan was to find a way to Control Ghost Rider before he had fully matured, turning him into their most loyal enforcer, just like Fisk.
And incidentally, leak some intel to boost Makima's performance record in S.H.I.E.L.D.
But now, they faced a difficult problem.
Since they couldn't Control him, what should they do?
Capture him? Hand him over to S.H.I.E.L.D.?
Su Modie shook her head.
No, although Makima's status in S.H.I.E.L.D. would skyrocket, the problem was that Makima wasn't actually planning to work for S.H.I.E.L.D.
If S.H.I.E.L.D. actually recruited Ghost Rider, Nick Fury would have another trump card.
This wouldn't favor Makima's subsequent plan for a coup, not to mention she couldn't explain how a "weak woman" like herself caught such a monster single-handedly.
Once Ghost Rider woke up, he would definitely expose Makima being a devil to S.H.I.E.L.D.
By then, Makima and Ghost Rider's positions might completely flip.
Then... kill him?
First, completely killing Ghost Rider, let alone the Spirit of Vengeance inside him, was basically impossible.
Second, that would be too much of a waste.
Su Modie still appreciated Ghost Rider, especially his look after turning into a skeleton; she wasn't so obsessed as to "destroy what she couldn't have."
Since Plan A wasn't working... they had to start Plan B.
So... what was Plan B?
By now, Johnny Blaze, pinned to the road, was at the end of his rope.
The Hellfire was frantically repairing his body, but the repeating crossbows on Quanxi's arms were already ready to fire.
Makima's cold gaze made him feel a bone-chilling cold.
Was it going to end?
To be devoured by two devils on this desolate highway?
Could he still not escape the clutches of devils... Just as Johnny felt despair...
Hum—
A sacred and pure platinum-gold light suddenly illuminated his skeletal face.
Ripples appeared in space as countless platinum-gold sparks spun to cut open a circular portal. A figure wearing deep red robes with brilliant blonde hair stepped out elegantly, startling everyone present.
In that moment, Johnny felt the Hellfire on his body shrink back as if encountering a natural enemy.
"Is it Angel...?"
A sense of relief flashed through Johnny's clouded consciousness.