Chapter XXII: Eve

Astaroth walked through his castle. He walked the corridors at a slow pace, calm eyes and a half smile. After a few minutes, he walked up to his throne and took a seat. His faithful servant and his right hand woman approached, being an obvious nervous wreck.

-M-My Lord... -he stammered-I-I have news.

With a gesture, the emperor motioned for him to speak.

- A-According to the information we have, you were correct. The King's home emerged in the human world, in the center of the city called Las Vegas-he said, and cleared his voice before continuing- Mephisto has abandoned his throne in Hell, while Johnny Blaze fell into our domain and claimed the throne for himself... -stopping for a moment, his nerves returned, swallowing before asking- D-Do you intend to intervene, My Lord?

- 𝑰𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒗𝒆𝒏𝒆? 𝑭𝒐𝒓 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕? 𝑭𝒐𝒓 𝑴𝒆𝒑𝒉𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒐'𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒆?-Astaroth clarified, with a dangerous tone that caused his right hand to shrink in its place- 𝑾𝒉𝒚 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝑰 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒂 𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒅𝒐𝒎 𝒊𝒏𝒇𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝑰 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆?- he asked this time, disinterested.

Ekom hesitated before even responding, but chose to remain silent rather than possibly kill him out of curiosity and daring.

- 𝑯𝒂𝒔 𝑽𝒆𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒂𝒈𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒇𝒖𝒍𝒇𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝑰 𝒈𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒉𝒊𝒎? -his master's question made him respond quickly.

- Y-Yes, of course, My Lord, - he affirmed- I-I mean, d-don't get me wrong, t-the way you enslaved him with magic was definitely exceptional, b-but...

Before he continued, the emperor raised his hand, telling him to stop talking. Next, he rose from his demonic throne, standing in front of his servant. He placed his hands on her cheeks, making eye contact. A mischievous smile graced his face.

- 𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔, 𝑬𝒌𝒐𝒎, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒘𝒉𝒚 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒐𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒎𝒚 𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑰 𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕. 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝒐𝒇 𝒊𝒏𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒊𝒔 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈...𝑫𝒆𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆, 𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕?-As he spoke, he tightly squeezed the head of his right hand, to which he opened his eyes showing his bewilderment and desperation-. 𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒗𝒆𝒅 𝒎𝒆 𝒘𝒆𝒍𝒍, 𝑬𝒌𝒐𝒎. 𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒎𝒚 𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒂 𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆, 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒚 𝒎𝒚 𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒔𝒕 𝒅𝒊𝒇𝒇𝒊𝒄𝒖𝒍𝒕 𝒐𝒄𝒄𝒂𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔; 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕, 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒐𝒕𝒕𝒐𝒎 𝒐𝒇 𝒎𝒚 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕, 𝑰 𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒌 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒍𝒐𝒚𝒂𝒍𝒕𝒚 𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒆.

Astaroth's hands dug hard into his skull, making him cry out in pain and reflexively, he caught his master's arms with his weak, bony fingers.

- 𝑻𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒌 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒗𝒊𝒄𝒆𝒔, 𝑬𝒌𝒐𝒎.

That was the last thing the demon heard before his head was crushed by the claws of the person he had served for centuries.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

- Long after -

[Location: Hell]

The Ghost Rider had lost his temper a bit after finishing off Vengeance, or Aaron Crane if you meant his human side. It mattered little, since he was dead, turned to ashes.

The reason for his loss of patience? Let's just say that having to deal with hordes of demons for hours, both ground and flying, small and giant one after another was not a healthy way to keep her. Especially after staining his hands with the blood of a murderer.

If he was honest with himself, he seriously thought he was taking punishing, be it human or demon, too lightly. Well, if you call it soft by splitting and tearing apart the bodies of demonic entities that cross your path, of course.

He dropped the corpse of the last demon onto the gritty ground. He noticed that he was a little short of breath; the emotional and physical exhaustion was taking its toll on him, however, he couldn't stop now, not after suffering through all the shit he had to go through. He wasn't going to do it. The spirit analyzed the attitude of the demons he had killed. They were annoying, to be sure, but they all seemed to have a common thought and action.

Delay him.

About what? He wasn't sure. They were weak but insistent, so whatever his game was, it worked for a short time. They disabled his motorcycle, so he had no quick way of transportation to the castle that he spotted after his fight with Crane. He still didn't understand how the damn bike was capable of breaking.

He looked up and saw the huge castle in the distance. He reckoned there were still a few miles to go, so he'd better get going now. As he started to walk, he wondered what Johnny Blaze was doing. Whatever he was doing, he'd probably be kicking some demons' butts… For his part, he'd rather not meet any at the moment. He didn't want to spill any more unnecessary blood.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Meanwhile, in the human world]

The news of a demonic tower in Las Vegas culminated in something much worse. The scene that was unfolding was strange, especially for the one who was on the ground, wounded. Strange wiped away the blood that came out of his mouth, caused by the current King of Hell, Johnny Blaze.

The appearance of the new King of Hell was worthy of a devil. His black jacket was replaced by a black suit that acted like his own skin, with red and white stripes on his torso. His skull changed as well, adding long horns along the sides of his forehead.

- ... 𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙡𝙠𝙚𝙙 𝙖𝙬𝙖𝙮 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙄 𝙜𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚!

Mephisto watched all this with his chained hands, but he didn't erase that half smile from his face.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[At the same time: Astaroth Castle.]

- 𝑴𝒆𝒑𝒉𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒐... 𝑻𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒎𝒚 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒏 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒌 𝒊𝒏 𝒔𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒂 𝒔𝒖𝒃𝒍𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒚.

Johnny Blaze took the throne of Hell, specifically Mephisto's, after falling into its jaws. The portal that Vengeance had opened caused others to open around Hell, and the vast majority of demons escaped. Blaze had to do his job and return them "home". Meanwhile, as time passed in a different way in both territories, he sent the demons that remained to delay the teenager's departure.

The empereor watched the horizons of his domain with a solemn expression. He knew the spirit of vengeance was near, and when they met, it would be a fight to the death. But it wasn't going to be today. No, he wanted to talk. He would try to convince his brother to abandon that filthy human shell, full of emotions that made him weak. He would accept, he was sure about that. But first, he had to get rid of that mask that covered him, both inside and out. After all, Daniel Kadane Williams, son of Ethan Williams and Erika Kadane, was just one more obstacle. One more obstacle to Azrathos taking his place in life and ruling the Three Worlds.

And if he had to start the Apocalypse for that to happen, he wouldn't hesitate to do it. After all, siblings should take care and help each other, right?

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Ghost Rider was getting closer and closer to the huge castle. He was advancing steadily, showing a facet of unshakable security, in addition to his flames turning red showing that whatever crossed his path, he would not have mercy on him.

The only good thing about this journey was that it finally awakened Justino's power. As the same spirit explained to him long ago, this new force offered raw power, demonic fire and other things, but the user was driven by a primal rage. As soon as he got out of Hell, he would train. He now he could access either power. However, on the advice of Sophia and Justino, he would switch to "red" when the situation calls for it, like now. As long as he didn't lose control, he should be fine.

At the same time, he observed how the geology of the place changed. The giant mountains and rocky pillars melted into a darker shade of gray as he approached his destination; besides, the path was no longer straight. Now it was a rocky trail down.

He had seen enough fictional movies to know that if the terrain changed, the final boss was surely coming.

- 𝘞𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘭? - A sweet voice pulled him out of his thoughts. Beside him, Sophia watched him with her characteristic smile.

-𝙉𝙤- he replied dryly - 𝘽𝙚𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙞𝙣 𝙃𝙚𝙡𝙡 𝙚𝙣𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙨 𝙢𝙮 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙜𝙩𝙝 𝙖𝙨 𝙞𝙩 𝙞𝙨, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙞𝙩 𝙖𝙡𝙨𝙤 𝙚𝙣𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙨 𝙅𝙪𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙤'𝙨 𝙥𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙧. 𝙐𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙥𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙧 𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙬𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙗𝙚 𝙨𝙩𝙪𝙥𝙞𝙙. 𝘼𝙣 𝘼𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙡 𝙘𝙖𝙣𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙨𝙪𝙧𝙫𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙃𝙚𝙡𝙡, 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙖𝙨 𝙖 𝘿𝙚𝙫𝙞𝙡 𝙘𝙖𝙣𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙨𝙪𝙧𝙫𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙃𝙚𝙖𝙫𝙚𝙣. 𝘽𝙤𝙩𝙝 𝙬𝙚𝙖𝙠𝙚𝙣 𝙤𝙣 𝙤𝙥𝙥𝙤𝙨𝙞𝙩𝙚 𝙜𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙨.

The Seraph was silent for a few seconds, but she didn't wipe the smile from her face. Instead, that same smile widened in a mischievous way, chuckling.

- 𝘼𝙣𝙮𝙬𝙖𝙮, 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩'𝙨 𝙪𝙥 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙘𝙚? 𝙄𝙩 𝙗𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙨 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙞𝙣𝙝𝙤𝙨𝙥𝙞𝙩𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚...

At the spirit's comment, the woman couldn't help but observe the same thing. Around them were no longer the previous mountains and rocks, but rather the terrain was filled with pillars of sulfur-like dust and mountains of different shades of black, decorated with lakes or waterfalls of fiery lava. Close to them, a circular tower-like structure loomed in the distance. The only thing remarkable about this tower was its ring-shaped floors and its colossal size. She gasped in amazement as her eyes widened, recognizing the place.

The Nine Circles of Hell.

The Ghost Rider admired the structure for a few moments. Without a doubt he would define that "tower" as something of colossal size. He couldn't see where it began or where it ended.

When he went to church with his adoptive mother Iris, he heard about the Nine Circles. He never thought that he would see them for himself, but now he could tell that they were real and even knew what each circle guarded... Much to his chagrin, Iris had forced him to read both the Bible and the Divine Comedy, even if he was an atheist.

The first floor is about Limbo: there are people who have not received baptism and who were born deprived of faith and cannot enjoy the vision of God, but are not punished for any sin.

In the Second Circle, the incontinent sinners are punished, and in particular the lustful ones: they are pushed through the air by the infernal storm that was exclusively there, courtesy of the demon Asmodeus.

The Third is protected by servants from the sin of Gluttony. The sinners are immersed in the mud, under an incessant rain of hail and snow, being attacked by the fearsome three-headed dog: the Guardian of Hell, Cerberus, together with his master, Beelzebub.

The sinners of the Fourth Circle are the greedy and the prodigal, condemned to push enormous weights of gold, divided into two groups that when they meet insult each other: the greatness of the weight that oppresses them symbolizes the amount of earthly goods that they accumulated or spent, dedicating themselves entirely to this in life. Who protects him is the demon of Greed, Mammom.

This Fifth Circle is the last in which sinners punished for their incontinence are to be found: here are the wrathful and the lazy. The former were immersed in the mud of their own rage, and now they beat and insult each other eternally, while the latter spent their lives in the immobility of the spirit, and for this reason they are sunk, deprived of air and speech. Previously, it was guarded by Satan and Belfegor, until the former obtained the Throne of the Underworld, leaving Belfegor as guardian of this circle.

The Sixth Circle is within the walls of an ancient Greek city of which only its ruins remain. It is guarded by a multitude of and by the Furies, or Erinyes, who are the goddesses of revenge and personify remorse. There the heretics are punished in burning tombs.

The Seventh Circle is accessed after having overcome the remains of a crack, caused by the earthquake that moved the earth when Christ died. It makes a big difference with respect to the upper part of Hell: in fact the condemned of the last three circles are guilty of having put malice in their respective actions. The custodian of the circle is he, who represents "crazy bestiality", referring to the violence that equates men to beasts. A long time ago, it was divided into three great turns; but after the war that broke out between Lucifer and Satan against Justin, they were completely eradicated.

The Eighth Circle punishes sinners who used malice for their benefit. It is located in a deep pit in the middle of which is a pit, which is the deepest part of Hell. It was guarded by Geryon, a symbol of fraud in Hell and from Greek mythology. In her time, she was the target of one of the labors of Hercules, where she perished before the man of brutal strength and left the circle without a guardian to this day.

The Ninth and final Circle. It still punishes those guilty of malice and fraud, but especially those who have crossed the line. The ninth circle is materially separated from the preceding one by an immense well, where the Giants are punished. They are at the same time condemned and custodians of the last circle. Before they were called Titans, but after their rebellion against Jupiter and Lucifer and being completely defeated, they were chained to the walls of the pit from the navel down. This circle, taking Betrayal as a sin, is made up of an immense ice lake called Cocytus, thus formed thanks to the movement of Lucifer's wings. Those who trusted are here punished, symbolized by the coldness of the ice, just as their hearts and minds were cold in sinning. It is also said to be the entrance to the Heart of Hell, or as it is otherwise called, the Underworld.

The Spirit of Vengeance remembered each of those lessons. He knew that to get away from the place where he was, he had to go through all the Circles even if it meant an extremely high danger of death, even for the infamous Ghost Rider.

The key question was whether the Sovereigns of Hell were still locked up.

- 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘨𝘰 𝘰𝘯, 𝘩𝘶𝘯... - Sophia mentioned- 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘢𝘥 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘺𝘦𝘵.

He took one last look at the Nine Circles of Hell before setting off again. The path changed shape again, creating a rise that came into direct contact with the castle gates.

He reached the entrance in less than he could find out. Sensing no hostile presence, he returned to his human form, and showing no expression other than utter seriousness, he raised her hands and opened the doors.