Chapter Ninety-Two: Speculation

“Mephisto?” Hearing that familiar name, Johnny Blaze’s muddled mind began to clear, and memories from before started to resurface. He furrowed his brow, recalling as he spoke, “I remember waking up at home, and then I saw Mephisto. He asked me to fulfill the pact, said the contract had changed, and wanted me to kill a sorcerer.”

“And then, then I...” As he spoke, Johnny looked at the three before him, momentarily stunned, then suddenly snapped fully awake as if a fog had lifted. He pointed at them in disbelief. “You? What’s going on here?”

His reaction was understandable; anyone waking up to find a burning skeletal cowboy, a child floating in midair surrounded by currents of wind and water, and a mysterious youth wielding a wand would find it hard to respond any better.

Fortunately, Johnny was no stranger to dealing with demon lords. He quickly regained his composure, gave the three a quick once-over, and finally fixed his gaze on Gu Zhongyan.

“So, you’re the sorcerer—the one Mephisto wants me to kill?”

Gu Zhongyan nodded. “If nothing’s gone wrong, that should be me.”

“So, why does Mephisto want me to kill you? Did he tell you?” Gu Zhongyan asked.

“And what about the San Venganza Contract? Did he send you to find that?” Old Carter pressed further.

“I’ll answer one at a time,” Johnny said, swallowing hard. Looking at Gu Zhongyan, he replied, “I don’t really know why he wants you dead. It seems to have something to do with his subordinates.”

“As for that contract you mentioned, I’m not familiar with it. Can any of you explain?” Johnny asked curiously.

“Subordinates?” Gu Zhongyan frowned, ignoring Johnny’s confusion for the moment and instead turning to Su Yan.

Su Yan also turned to him, and the two spoke in unison, “Those three demons.”

“Demons? What demons? There are other demons?” Johnny pressed eagerly.

The skeletal cowboy didn’t speak, but he, too, turned his gaze to the pair.

Gu Zhongyan made no attempt to hide anything. He nodded and said, “If my guess is right, the reason Mephisto wants you to kill me is because we took out his three subordinates.”

“To introduce myself, I am Shawn Gu, a sorcerer, and this is my younger brother, Yan Su. We came here to seek out the San Venganza Contract and destroy it, preventing it from falling into the hands of Mephisto or any other demon, so as to protect the peace of Earth.”

“On our way here, we encountered three demons who had remained on Earth for many years. To escape pursuit by Earth’s sorcerers, they abandoned their bodies and merged with natural elements.”

“My brother’s body was once altered by demonic power. If a demon were to devour his body, it would become a complete demon and could travel freely between Earth and Hell.”

“Those three demons were drawn by the lure of my brother’s body, but in the end, I stripped them of their power and transferred that power to him—that’s the force you witnessed earlier.”

At this, Johnny and the skeletal cowboy instinctively glanced at Su Yan, surprised by such a turn of fate.

“No wonder I sensed a demonic aura around you two—so that’s the reason,” the skeletal cowboy mused thoughtfully.

Gu Zhongyan nodded. “Yes. If I’m not mistaken, the subordinates Mephisto mentioned must be those three demons. But what’s odd is, if I recall correctly, those three demons should belong to his son, Blackheart, shouldn’t they?”

“What’s so strange about that?” Johnny shrugged indifferently. “Father and son, either way it’s a family matter.”

“It’s not the same,” Gu Zhongyan shook his head. “Demons can’t be judged by human standards of morality or sentiment. They’re cunning, merciless, cold-blooded. Patricide, betrayal between spouses—none of it is out of the ordinary.”

“Especially Blackheart, who’s ambitious and has always tried to overthrow Mephisto’s rule and seize control of his hellish domain. If not sworn enemies, they are at least irreconcilable.”

“But now, Mephisto claims those three demons as his own subordinates.” As he spoke, Gu Zhongyan’s eyes narrowed, and a playful smile appeared on his lips. “If I’m right, Blackheart was nothing more than a pawn in Mephisto’s game.”

Back when he’d watched the film, he’d found it odd; in the Marvel universe, Mephisto, though not quite at the level of the cosmic entities, was still as powerful as the likes of the Ancient One or Odin—a terrifying being of the highest order.

In his own hellish dimension, even the Ancient One or Odin would be no match for him. Blackheart was powerful, sure, but at most could be compared to Thor or the Hulk in their natural states. How could such a being threaten a demon lord as mighty as Mephisto?

Even accounting for the differences between dimensions, the gap shouldn’t be so vast. Looking at it now, it seemed clear that this whole father-son conflict was a drama staged by Mephisto himself all along.

The reckless and ambitious Blackheart was simply a tool for Mephisto to siphon the power of the Spirit of Vengeance from Johnny. The stronger the souls Ghost Rider destroyed, the more power Mephisto could harvest—a willful yet short-sighted son with decent strength made the perfect target.

It was all reminiscent of those celestial steeds in Journey to the West—supposed tribulations that were, in fact, staged performances arranged in advance by those above.

Unfortunately, because of his own intervention, the three demons met their end ahead of schedule, ruining Mephisto’s script and prompting him to unleash the Ghost Rider in retaliation.

However, since the church’s power had not yet completely faded, Mephisto remained unaware of Carter’s existence, and everything played out as it had.

Thinking of this, Gu Zhongyan shared his conjecture about the plot of the film, including his thoughts on Mephisto, Blackheart, the San Venganza Contract, the origin of the Ghost Rider, and the relationship between Mephisto and all these events—laying everything out in full.

The ancient Spirit of Vengeance, demons of antiquity, the war between Heaven and Hell, Mephisto’s bargains with angels—it was such a vast amount of information that not only Johnny and Carter, who were directly involved, but even Su Yan, a bystander, was left stunned.

Carter, especially, was shaken. Learning that the San Venganza Contract he had guarded for over a hundred years meant little to Mephisto was unbearable.

“So, what you’re saying is, Mephisto never cared about the San Venganza Contract in the first place, but used it as bait to tempt his own son, then had Johnny destroy him—that’s all?”

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