Faced with Johnny's intense hostility, Mephisto showed no anger at all. Instead, he looked him over with an interested, searching gaze.
A moment later, he nodded in satisfaction. "Nice bike."
He said he was complimenting the bike, but Mephisto's gaze never left Johnny for even an instant.
Johnny felt a wave of discomfort under that gaze, as if he were some piece of merchandise being appraised. He backed away a few steps and stared at the visitor warily, his eyes cold.
"Stay away from me!"
"Johnny, isn't it a little late to say that now?"
Mephisto held his head high and took two steps forward, stopping in front of Johnny. His words carried the lofty disdain and arrogant contempt of an old-world noble.
"You know very well that you can't escape me, just as you can't escape the nightmares in your own heart."
"Phoenix, Denver, Houston... I have always been by your side."
"I witnessed everything you experienced. I watched you walk step by step to the point where thousands now worship you."
Mephisto's voice naturally carried an intensely seductive power, easily awakening all of Johnny's unbearable memories from the past. Pain and disbelief mingled in Johnny's eyes.
"All these years... you're the one who kept me alive through those accidents?"
"Of course not, Johnny. I was not the one who kept you alive. You were protecting yourself all along."
Mephisto smiled faintly. "You are the finest Rider, and I am your most steadfast supporter."
"You are so beloved. I have watched over you in silence, feeling proud of you from the bottom of my heart."
"It feels like watching a stock I bought rise day by day, until one day, all the money finally goes into my pocket."
"And that day has already arrived..."
Mephisto stepped closer to the dazed Johnny. His demonic whisper sounded beside Johnny's ear, seeping bit by bit into his soul.
"Johnny, I want you to help me kill two people..."
The scent of two men was carved deeply into Johnny's soul.
"More than a decade of suffering has become a blazing fire of vengeance. Go, my Rider. Kill Blackheart for me, and that man as well!"
"..."
"No!"
The bewitching voice entered his ears, but Johnny's sinking gaze suddenly turned bright again. He shook his head and refused with absolute firmness.
"I have an important date tonight. I don't care who those two people are. If you want them, go find them yourself."
With a cold snort, Johnny walked around Mephisto and sat directly on his bike.
The engine roared. He wanted to twist the throttle hard to vent the vague unease deep inside him, only to discover that his body had become abnormally heavy at some point. Johnny strained with all his might, yet he still could not move even an inch.
Mephisto elegantly stepped aside for Johnny. "Do you remember our contract?"
Meeting Johnny's confused gaze, he smiled faintly. "Kill them, and everything you once lost will be returned to you in full."
Could the words of a demon be trusted?
Johnny was no fool. After being burned once already, he would never believe another word from this man, no matter how tempting the offer was.
He struggled to tense his body and said through gritted teeth, "I will never trust you again!"
Seeing him remain so stubborn, the warmth on Mephisto's face quietly vanished.
"That is not up to you, Johnny."
"Go."
The elegant cane lifted slightly, then struck down heavily. A strange aura spread instantly.
Boom!
The bike beneath Johnny began roaring wildly on its own. The tires scraped violently against the ground, and the pungent smell of burning rubber quietly spread.
Before Johnny could react at all, a massive force carried him rushing into the darkness.
After nearly ten years under seal, the Rider was finally activated.
Watching Johnny's departing figure, Mephisto smiled in satisfaction.
With the soul contract in his hand, he was not afraid Johnny could cause any trouble under his control.
"Blaze is still the easier one to handle..."
"Now let me see what that fool is doing."
Mephisto lightly brushed his hand over his cane. Soon, an image that only he could see slowly appeared in the air.
"Gah, gah, gah!"
"Guilty! Guilty!"
"All of them are guilty!"
The first thing that reached his ears was a shrill, grating screech.
Under the dense night, a huge black shadow wreathed in fire swept through the air.
Amid unrestrained, manic laughter, screams and wails rose endlessly wherever he passed.
Mephisto gritted his teeth, clearly enraged by that creature. He waved his hand and erased the image before him, then cursed bitterly under his breath.
"Useless, disobedient trash!"
...
Elsewhere.
At night, a tremendous roar of displaced air suddenly echoed through the quiet city streets.
A motorcycle painted with brilliant flame patterns tore down the road at extreme speed, both wheels burning with bright fire.
The whistling wind beside Johnny's ears grew louder and louder. The scenery on both sides of the road gradually turned into blurred lines of color before his eyes. Johnny struggled to keep his eyes open, only to feel the temperature of the seat beneath him rising higher and higher.
Soon, that heat climbed up along his body, until all of his skin turned red beneath the scorching temperature. Scalding steam also began rising from the top of his head.
"It hurts..."
Agony surged through his entire body. Johnny clenched his teeth, and a suppressed, low growl escaped from his throat.
Soon, an enormous air barrier formed in front of him. The bike beneath him accelerated wildly beyond his control. With a loud sonic boom, Johnny left his own voice far behind him.
Blazing heat radiated from his body. Everything along both sides of the road melted wherever he passed. Countless panes of glass on nearby buildings shattered and burst apart, and even the streetlights bent beneath the heat.
"Kill Blackheart!"
"Kill that man!"
By now, Johnny had already lost all ability to think. Only the obsession Mephisto had planted in his mind remained.
Following Blackheart's scent, he rode the bike forward in a straight, violent charge, easily burning away every obstacle along the way.
"Hm... what is that?"
Halfway there, a familiar scent suddenly flooded his mind, and Johnny's speed instinctively dropped.
Following that inexplicable guidance, he turned his head slightly. Far away, inside a luxury hotel building, a powerful aura burned as clearly as a torch in the dark.
"Enemy!"
The instant that aura overlapped with Mephisto's guidance in his mind, the flames around Johnny erupted.
Without the slightest hesitation, he twisted the handlebars. His direction changed at once, and at high speed, his body carved out an impossible sharp angle as he charged straight toward the hotel.
Only a low roar filled with scorching killing intent remained in the air.
"Kill!"
(End of Chapter)
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