Chapter 80: The Angel Born In Hell

"You are strong, Harvey Miller. No one has ever damaged me as much as you have."

Blackheart looked down at Harvey with a glare. Blood continued to leak from the large stab wound in his chest; his head hung still as he rested his weight on the spear. "Now die."

As Blackheart was about to remove the blade from Harvey's chest to cut off his head, he found the spear to be stuck. No matter how hard he tugged the legendary weapon, it would not move.

"What is this?" Blackheart asked. 

It was then that he noticed Harvey's bloodied hand was holding onto the blade; veins stood out from beneath his skin as he held the blade tightly. The glowing golden energy surrounding the blade grew smaller and smaller. 

'No, it's not growing smaller. The energy is being absorbed!' Blackheart thought in shock. His red eyes trailed up to Harvey's head. "You're absorbing the soul!"

Harvey's body was then launched across the ground when a heavy punch struck him. His unmoving body rolled violently and came to a stop a dozen yards away. Blackheart looked down at the spear of Longinus, the golden energy he was used to seeing missing. Angrily, he turned to glare at Harvey. 

Slowly, Harvey began to rise by pushing himself up with his arms. When he was finally on both legs, Harvey's eyes were shadowed by his dirty and bloodied brown hair; blood ran down the right side of his face from the strike. But what drew Blackheart's attention was the golden energy surrounding the large wound in his chest. Bone, muscle, and skin knitted together quickly. The only evidence Harvey was ever injured was the large pink scar that rested on his chest.

"That shouldn't be possible…" Blackheart said in disbelief at what he saw. "You're using positive energy?!"

"…do you know what happens when you combine positive and negative energy?." Harvey said as he lifted his head and looked up. "You run the risk of creating a powerful backlash that could erase you from existence, and you could create a black hole… but if you fully understand how positive and negative energy work from the inside out, it's possible to avoid that."

Regardless of whether the spear of Longinus now lacked an Angel's soul to make it a guaranteed Demon-killing weapon, it was still a god-killing spear. So, using all his strength, Blackheart launched the spear directly at Harvey's head. Fully intent on beheading Zarathos's container.

Gold and red eyes flicked over at Blackheart, causing his survival instincts to blare.

Harvey dodged the spear so easily that you would think a child had thrown it. Harvey swayed his body to the side and watched the spear fly past him mere inches from his face. 

"Bear witness, Blackheart, as I combine those two energies to create something new." Harvey said as he held his hands in front of his chest, almost as if he was holding an invisible sphere.

"Retractive Technique: Black." Harvey said, his gold-red eyes shimmering with energy. "Active Technique: White."

When he finished speaking, Harvey made a grabbing motion with his right hand and extended his arm in front of him. His left hand grabbed his right forearm as if to steady it. With his fist pointed at Blackheart, Harvey opened his hand and pointed his palm at the Demon before him.

A black sphere surrounded by glowing white energy blinked into existence; the ominous sphere was the size of a basketball and made a low humming noise.

"Yin-Yang Technique: Erasure."

The glowing black sphere moved.

Confused, Blackheart watched as Harvey's hands dropped to his sides. He seemed satisfied by whatever he just did. Blackheart then heard a dripping sound and looked down at his body.

"AAGHH!" Blackheart screamed in agony as his shoulder and half his stomach were missing from his body; blood and gore dropped to the ground with a wet squelch. The injury was clean, as if a quarter of his body vanished. 

"It's harder to use than I thought." Harvey said and squeezed his hands.

Behind him, Blackheart heard the sounds of a landslide and turned slowly. Eyes growing wide, Blackheart saw a gargantuan chunk of the environment missing as if some cosmic entity scooped up three miles' worth of the ground in a perfect spherical bucket. That area was also where his throne in the enormous skull of the Icon of Sun once stood.

"What… power." Blackheart muttered, his injuries momentarily forgotten. "Unbelievable."

Snapping out of his awe, Blackheart looked down at the large hole in his body and yelled angrily. Bone and flesh grew quickly; the healing process was causing steam to rise from the freshly grown limbs. Breathing deeply in exertion, Blackheart spun and glared hatefully at Harvey. 

"You MOTHERFUCKER! You've ruined everything! All my centuries of planning, all gone!" Blackheart yelled in fury. "I'll finish you right here! RIGHT NOW!"

The ground under Blackheart exploded as he flew incredibly quickly into the sky. He then raised his arms to the sky, and a large purple ball of energy sprang to life. The sphere of energy continued to grow and grow until it was the size of the moon. Illuminating the sky and surface in glowing purple light. Winds blew as strong as a hurricane all across the domain, and the ground shook violently. Mountains began to fall apart, and the ocean of lava started to rise in tall waves.

"Take this, all of my power!" Blackheart roared over the raging winds. "Vanish to oblivion!"

Harvey looked up at Blackheart calmly; the enormous ball of energy swirled dangerously above him. If that attack strikes him head-on, he would undoubtedly be killed.

"Let's do this, Zarathos." Harvey said.

'Right. Let's finish it, Harvey.' Zarathos nodded.

Skin and muscle burned away as fire enveloped Harvey's skull, and the flesh surrounding his arms burned away only to reveal the exposed skeleton underneath. Griping his leather gloves, Ghost Rider released a deep breath that released a small wave of fire.

"I am the vengeance that punishes all those that are wicked, he who serves Justice to those that have wronged the innocent. I am the GHOST RIDER!" Orange flames exploded into scorching blues and whites. A pair of giant sharp wings of azure fire erupted from Ghost Rider's back as blue embers scattered around him.

With a mighty flap, Ghost Rider flew up into the air and stopped when he was a hundred feet from the ground. Raising his left arm in front of him, he reached forward with his right and made a grabbing motion. Flames came to life in his hands as a bow made of fire sprang to life.

Pulling his right arm back slowly, a long arrow made of fire burned brilliantly and danced in the air. Waiting to be used.

"Twilight Inferno: Heavens Piercing Arrow."

Ghost Rider stared at Blackheart and Blackheart at him. Without saying anything, they unleashed their attacks on one another. The moon-sized ball of purple negative energy flies down to the ground, and the flaming blue arrow flew through the air at incredible speeds; an ear rupturing crack of the sound barrier being broken echoed throughout the domain as the techniques neared each other.

KABLAAM

The fire arrow and the ball of energy fought one another for dominance. Blue and purple light filled the skies in their brilliance. The stalemate seemed to last forever until, finally, the fire arrow began to push back its adversary. 

In a flash of blinding light, the fire arrow cut through the ball of purple energy with a resounding crack. The ball of energy exploded horizontally and traveled throughout the entire sky. Destroying anything that got in his way. 

The fire arrow continued cutting through the sky and reached Blackheart. The son of Mephisto could do nothing but watch as the arrow sliced through him. Blackheart could not so as much as scream as he was burned down to his very atoms. Not even ashes were left behind.

With its target destroyed, the fire arrow flew higher and higher into the dark sky until it finally exploded. Enormous waves of blue fire as tall as two hundred feet expanded across the domain and filled the skies, replacing the dark blanket of darkness with an expanse of roaring blue flames. They burned brightly and fiercely, bathing the hellish landscape below with warm blue light. Those flames began to slowly disappear, their goal completed. 

Darkness returned to the domain. Tiny embers of fire resembling snowflakes slowly fell towards the ground, only to fizzle out halfway to their destination.

Still flying in the air, Ghost Rider continued to look at where Blackheart once was. The Demon was reduced to nothing; he had won. The battle was over. However, something peculiar happened. A small ball of purple and red energy the size of a baseball slowly descended and stopped before him. Whatever this was felt exactly like Blackheart's energy.

"That there is all of my son's power and abilities." Ghost Rider turned his head and saw a red Demon fly several feet behind him. "It is yours now. As is his domain. Well, what's left of it, at least."

"Mephistopheles." Ghost Rider said and lazily spun around to face the ruler of Hell. He sensed he had arrived a few seconds ago; his sensory powers had grown much more robust. 

"Relax, Rider. I have not come to fight you." Mephisto raised his arms in a disarming fashion. His face was calm and collected. "I have no desire to avenge my foolish son. No, I have no plans to do so. His demise was his own doing."

"What do you want?" Ghost Rider asked, not willing to drop his guard.

"How would you like to become a Hell Lord once more? Retake your old position? Or perhaps a new one directly under me? Once you assimilate Blackheart's power, it should easily push you to become Hell's most powerful Demon. Dare I say, even more powerful than me." Mephisto said with a grin. "What do you say? Interested?"

Ghost Rider said nothing, looking down at the small orb of power. He raised his hand and held an open palm under the glowing orb. Without hesitation, he grabbed the orb and shattered it in his grasp. Purple and red energy exploded into the air.

"I have no use for his power." Ghost Rider said and turned to Mephisto. "I have no use for any of those titles. I have grown beyond that. I am the spirit of vengeance and an agent of Justice."

"I see… how disappointing." Mephisto placed his hand behind his back and turned away. "Very well then… I hope we can meet again someday, Ghost Rider. Maybe we can even make a deal sometime."

Ghost Rider watched Mephisto vanish, seemingly returning to wherever he was previously. Slowly, the azure spirit of Justice descended and landed on the ground. His blue flames gave way to his usual orange, and his wings shimmered away into embers and feathers made of fire. With a thought, skin and flesh grew back as he dropped his transformation.

"…it's over." Harvey said and looked down at the large scar on his chest. "Zarathos?"

'What is it, partner?' Zarathos asked a slight hint of satisfaction could be heard in his tone.

"I… I want to train. Train like never before." A pensive expression laid flat on Harvey's face. "This new power… I want to be able to control it. Master it completely. So I can be the strongest. So strong that I'll never lose… so I'll never lose anyone again."

Zarathos nodded; the meeting with Chamuel seemed to have effected Harvey's mentality. Instead of him falling deeper into rage and depression, a strong sense of duty and determination grew inside him. His mind was also in a steady state of calm; could this be due to Chamuel's positive energy being stored in his mind? It was too soon to tell, but what Zarathos did know was that Harvey had changed. In what way? Only time will tell.

'Then we shall train.' Zarathos said. 'We will reach levels never before seen, no one will ever be a threat to us anymore.'

"Right." Harvey nodded, his face full of determination.

'I have the perfect location for you to hone your power.' Zarathos sent a specific location into Harvey's mind. Harvey grinned when he realized just what he meant.

"Oh, we're heading there?" Harvey smiled slightly and summoned a long chain. "What are we waiting for?"