Chapter 76: Welcome to Hell

…Hell, Centuries ago…

"What are you doing here, Blackheart? It better be a good reason."

A demon with a bare red skull enveloped in blue fire said as he turned to look at a tall, muscular, dark-skinned Demon with glowing red eyes. The Demon with the fiery red skull walked closer to his uninvited guest, his blue and purple clothing shifting with every step of his powerful body.

"Am I truly unwelcomed in your domain, Zarathos? As fellow Hell Lords, we should be able to visit one another without raising such hostility." Blackheart said casually.

They stood inside a very large room; it was bare and dark as a lone throne-like chair sat in the center. A dull red light illuminated the space, bathing the room and its inhabitants in a crimson glow. Beyond this room was a massive Victorian-like castle that spanned as far as a mile in size. Its construction was refined and rough at the same time. This was Zarathos's castle, located in the center of his large domain in the upper circles of Hell.

One would assume a castle of this magnitude would have legions of servants attending it, but that was not true here. Zarathos didn't need servants to care for his property; he only lived within it.

"Regardless, I shall get to the point. We have discovered an impending attack on Hell from the forces of Heaven."

This caught Zarathos's attention. "An attack from Heaven? That shouldn't be possible. That would mean…"

"Indeed." Blackheart said gravely. "Lord Lucifer has been killed by the God of the Bible himself. We are unsure as to why, but in our current situation, it does not matter. Mephistopheles has told me to come and bring you to an urgent war meeting between the rest of the Hell Lords and several other powerful lesser Demons."

Zarathos's nodded and began walking out of his sizeable Victorian-like castle with Blackheart in tow. Time was of the essence; they had to prepare a strategy to handle this new threat.

"Then there is no time to waste. Let's teleport there at once." Zarathos said and raised a flaming red hand.

"Please allow me, Zarathos. I have a portal already ready for us to the war room." Blackheart swiped the air before them, and a large black and purple portal flashed into existence.

Zarathos looked at the portal oddly but nodded; every second counted, and they needed to move quickly. With that, he stepped into the portal. Completely missing the evil expression on Blackheart's face.

•••

"Mephistopheles! I am here!"

Zarathos yelled and looked around the large room, the war room; it hadn't been used in centuries since the last Great War. Stepping forward, Zarathos looked back and forth and found no other Demons. Did Blackheart send him to the wrong meeting place? No, while Zarathos found the son of Mephisto to be an annoyance. Blackheart was no fool. Something else was going on.

That was when the war room shone bright blue, causing Zarathos to hold an arm in front of his face. The floors and walls then crumpled and shattered to pieces, and the large round table in the center of the room shattered into debris. The chairs that were lined around the table flew back and shattered to dust as they impacted the now-white walls.

"What is this?!" Zarathos yelled.

Without warning, several tendrils of bluish-white energy rushed him with godly speed and wrapped around him completely. "This energy!"

"A little too late, but it seemed you finally realized your situation, Zarathos." Blackheart said mockingly from above him.

The walls, ceiling, and floor, now made of white energy, slowly shifted towards the tendrils. Making them even more powerful and changing in size. Zarathos tried to move but found himself completely immobile. Angrily, he turned to look up at Blackheart as he floated above him.

With his surroundings having transformed into his binding, Zarathos saw they were in an empty, vast, fiery landscape. Strong, powerful winds continuously blew in one direction, the air cold and sharp as needles. Instantly, he knew where he was; This was the Second Circle of Hell.

"What treachery is this, Blackheart!" Zarathos yelled in rage as the son of Mephisto descended to the ground. A few dozen feet away from him.

"Don't be act naive, Zarathos! Did you honestly never see this coming?" Blackheart spoke and walked around him with his arms behind his back. "It isn't a secret to anyone besides Lucifer and my father that you are one of the most powerful Demons. The next in line to gain full control over Hell. Over my birthright."

"Your lone mastery and control over Hellfire already makes you the most powerful Demon in Hell. Hellfire surrounds us all." Blackheart said with audible resentment. "No, I can't allow you to continue to grow in strength and influence."

Zarathos glared, unable to move so much as even an inch. After all, wrapped around him in an unbreakable vice was the legendary Binds of the Forgotten Souls. An all-powerful artifact used to send whichever sorry soul that was trapped in its clutches into the In-Between Realm. A place that lies beyond limbo and into a space that no one can ever return from. This tool was thought to have been lost when it was last used on Cthulhu by the God of the Bible himself when all of existence was on the brink of destruction, thanks to the cosmic entity.

"How did you acquire the Binds of the Forgotten Souls? This tool artifact was lost to time and space." Zarathos said with a low growl; it was useless to fight his binds. As powerful as he is, nothing could shatter these restraints.

"No, Zarathos. That was a lie made by those dirty birds above. It was never lost. Simply locked away in the innermost vaults of Heaven." Blackheart said mirthful. "It's thanks to the newest addition to my ranks that I was able to get my hands on it. They simply grabbed the artifact and hand-delivered it to me."

Slowly, another figure floated down behind Blackheart and kneeled. The figure was that of an Angel, but its wings, which were known to be a prestige white, were now greying. The Angel wore an impressive suit of golden and silver armor. Their facial features were hidden behind a helmet.

"Meet Zadkiel, my newest General." Blackheart motioned to the kneeling Angel- no, the Fallen Angel.

"Your plan worked perfectly, Master." Zadkiel said from beneath his helmet.

"Well played, Blackheart. I would expect nothing less from a coward like you." Zarathos said as the binds around his body grew tighter and glowed brighter in power. "You couldn't fight me head-on, so you reverted to these tactics."

"Say what you must, Zarathos. In the end, I stand as the victor." Blackheart walked closer to Zarathos and looked down at him in satisfaction. "Now, vanish into nothing."

Zarathos grunted in pain and felt his entire existence being pulled away. He could feel the effects in his soul. Slowly, his body began to vanish into the In-Between realm. With his remaining strength, Zarathos glared up at the son of Mephisto.

"…this will not hold me forever, rest assured. I will have my vengeance." Zarathos said as he finally succumbed to the artifact's pull and vanished.

Blackheart began chuckling and turned away from the empty spot where Zarathos once stood—satisfied with his victory.

"Goodbye, Zarathos. Say hello to Cthulhu for me."

•••

…Present…

'Are you sure about this, partner?'

Dressed in a black Bonanza leather jacket and a black shirt, Harvey looked out at the ruined charred remains in this section of the Nevada desert. He also wore black military pants and combat boots, and on his hands were fingerless leather gloves. The sky had an orange and purple hue. The sun had started to rise.

"Yes… I'm sure." Harvey said with cold, hard eyes.

Zarathos was referring to Harvey's decision against seeing anyone before he left for Hell. Alex, in particular, was adamant they saw each other before he left, as was Wanda. However, Harvey vanished from the house before he could see anyone.

There were sure to be consequences for this, but Harvey didn't care right now. Frankly, it was hard for him to care about anything at all. There was only one thing he had on his mind.

That was the death of Blackheart.

'Very well.' Zarathos nodded. 'This next fight will be on a completely different level than before. I'm unsure if we will come out victorious.'

"Maybe so." Harvey said as he held his hand out, blazing hot chains manifested in his grasp. "But I have no intention of losing, even if it costs me my life. I'll make sure Blackheart dies a painful death."

This caused Zarathos to remain silent until a small chuckle escaped his mouth. Slowly, the chuckle turned into full-blown laughter. 'GOOD! Well said, partner! Then we're in agreement! Today, that coward Blackheart will draw his last breath!'

Spinning his chain quickly around his body in a circle, Harvey was granted the information necessary to open a portal from Zarathos to several locations in Hell. But with one specific place in mind, Harvey spun the chain in front of him, and with a final snap, a fiery portal opened before him, stepping forward without hesitation.

Harvey looked around the dark Hellish landscape; burning hot fires spanned for miles, and tall, jagged rock pillars jutted out throughout the lands. The sky, if you could call it that, was an endless expanse of darkness. The air was oppressive and hot; were he an average human, his lungs would surely struggle to intake the air around him.

Looking behind him, Harvey saw his still-opened portal spinning. The burnt and familiar desert and orange skies stood on the other side, tempting him to return. Immediately, the portal blinked out of existence, having served its purpose.

"I feel… different." Harvey said as he looked down at himself. "Stronger."

'Of course, you are in Hell. Here, a Demon's strength and power are at their peak.' Zarathos explained, and the ancient Demon spoke in a relieved manner. To be home after such a long, long time felt amazing. 'Due to us sharing a soul, Hell also recognizes you as a Demon. It's why you feel no pain or discomfort here without being in our Ghost Rider form.'

"I see."

Harvey nodded and began walking forward. His walk then became a jog and then finally a full-on sprint. As he ran, Harvey calculated that he was running at least fifty miles per hour, much faster than in the mortal realm, where he could achieve forty miles per hour. These speeds were also only limited to his human form; as the Ghost Rider, he could easily move as fast as the speed of sound on his Hell cycle and around five hundred miles per hour on foot.

Skidding to a stop, Harvey peered down the cliff he was on to see several tall building-like structures decorated with human skulls and bone. Hundreds upon hundreds of demons and creatures walked around doing various tasks or simply talking to one another. It almost seemed like a crudely constructed human city in its structure, albeit with less refined architecture.

Like everywhere in this land, Harvey could see fires burning away everywhere. The city's inhabitants were unbothered by the flames. Looking over to his right, Harvey spotted a large lake of lava that spanned the entire outer length of the land.

Off in the distance stood a giant skull that seemed to have belonged to an ancient colossal creature; hot fires were dancing out of the skull's eye sockets and lower jaw. Tall, jagged mountains surrounded the skull as a long abandoned road made of the skeletal remains of several different life forms led up to the mammoth skull's enormous jaws.

'This is Blackhearts domain.' Zarathos said in a growl. 'It seems he was successful in creating a seemingly functional society.'

"I'm gonna guess that the large skull over there is where he lives." Harvey crouched and inspected everything he could see, creating a mental map of the city of Demons.

'Indeed.' Zarathos nodded.

Standing up, Harvey summoned his favorite pair of jagged swords in his hands, their chains wrapped tightly around his forearms. The ever-familiar weight of his chains shimmered with sparks of fire wrapping around his waist. Behind his back, two katanas surged into existence in their newly made holsters that were attached to his upper back.

"Now." Harvey crouched and glared down at the large city. Eyes glowing red.

Skin and muscle burnt to ash instantly, leaving behind a white flaming skull. With a powerful leap, the Ghost Rider jumped high above the city of Demons—blades raised above his fiery head.

"Vengeance has come for you, Blackheart."