Chapter Sixty-Eight: You Really Are Pathetic! [New Book—Please Add to Your Collection and Recommend]

The Ghost Rider's words were low and ominous, but one could sense the cruelty and fury barely restrained within his tone.

"Your sins are unforgivable. Your soul will face torment, and before I judge you, I will scour every wicked soul within you!"

He roared, whirling his chain as he unleashed the power of the hellfire enveloping him. The last remnants of reason in his mind began to fade, and he was swallowed by a persona of primal rage.

He launched into a barrage of indiscriminate attacks, vowing to deliver the most ruthless judgment upon Roald.

"Death's Grasp."

A line of black energy pierced through the curtain of flames as Roald's armored left hand shot forward, smashing into the face of the Ghost Rider, who had been pulled into a frenzied state. The skull, ablaze with red fire, exploded in a burst of flame as the bone caved in under the force.

Time itself seemed to freeze in that instant.

But the fire quickly filled in the shattered skull. The Ghost Rider swung his chain again, clenching his other fist, and with a surge of power and fire, struck back at Roald with equal ferocity.

A deafening explosion erupted.

A shockwave burst out from around them, flames and frost fanning out in concentric rings as both were flung backwards at unimaginable speed.

The blast of air scattered all debris around them.

The flames on the Ghost Rider's body blazed anew. His black leather suit stretched taut, and thick, metallic spikes began to protrude from his muscular arms and powerful thighs, shimmering with an uncanny metallic sheen. By the time he landed, his transformation was complete; his jet-black form looked as if it had been forged in metal.

Even thicker spikes emerged from his chest, knees, and wrists, and the flames erupting from him now surged with immense energy.

With a powerful kick against the wall, the Ghost Rider sent himself flying, his chain trailing a streak of fire through the air. His strength and speed had reached terrifying new heights, and the end of the chain cracked explosively as it whipped through the air.

The air was lashed, flames compressed, and the sonic boom from their union detonated as the chain struck Roald’s armor. A layer of frost was scraped away, and as the chain, radiating intense heat, recoiled, it left a clear trail of fire lingering in the air.

While Roald was knocked back by the blow, the Ghost Rider's motorcycle accelerated in an instant, leaping ahead to where Roald would land. The Ghost Rider himself slammed a foot down, triggering a wave of fire beneath him.

In a storm of thunderous detonations, the Ghost Rider raced behind Roald, once more delivering a brutal punch, aiming to pin his head and execute judgment.

As the flames surged and the Ghost Rider hurtled toward him, Roald felt the destructive, annihilating power within.

The runes on Frostmourne began to glow, melting down countless souls. To the Ghost Rider, Roald appeared as a monstrous aggregation of sin, a smelting furnace burning souls as fuel.

An eerie blue light shimmered along Frostmourne. All the energy absorbed over this time was being digested and transformed, soul power coursing through Roald's body. Countless wailing souls were drawn in, consumed and mastered by Frostmourne, eventually merging into Roald’s own soul—held in a state of paradoxical equilibrium.

Within his soul, the imprisoned wraiths howled and clawed, gathering from the void, all desperate to escape their cage, only to be mercilessly dragged back.

Seeing this, the flames on the Ghost Rider blazed violently.

He felt a tremendous pull, a suppressive, seductive force, sensing his own soul on the verge of damnation. He promptly unleashed a greater power, invoking his pact, temporarily severing his soul’s connection to this world, rendering Roald unable to absorb him.

As the tug on his soul ceased, the Ghost Rider instinctively breathed a sigh of relief, only to see Roald abandon his attempt to absorb his soul and instead raise a hand toward him.

"There's something strange about this man..."

Caught in his berserk persona, Johnny could only manage this much.

But just as he began to ponder his verdict, the black energy of "Death Coil" flashed once more.

The stream of darkness yanked him directly before Roald.

His knee slammed hard into the ground.

Dragged in, the Ghost Rider found his hellfire briefly faltering under Roald’s "Energy Drain."

Feeling the energy seeping from Roald’s grip, the Ghost Rider raised his arms in defense, desperately bracing himself against the overwhelming pull.

Under the onslaught of "Energy Drain," the bones on his flaming skull began to splinter, shards flying, cracks spider-webbing across the bone.

After a brief standoff, Roald seized him by the head, holding him fast.

Having consumed so many souls, Roald’s immense soul power granted him the upper hand. Sensing the surge of power, Roald immediately triggered the special effects of his forged cards.

Layered over his body were more than five thousand stacks of x100 physical armor from "True King," over three thousand "Anti-Magic Shields," over five thousand "Dark Infusion" cards that would preserve a single drop of life in extremis, and more than a thousand "Dark Transformation" cards buried deep within, ready to seize another’s body.

His strength had returned once more.

Aside from Kel'Thuzad’s phylactery, every protective card associated with the Death Knight was equipped. Spells for defense, silencing, shielding, damage redirection, and lifesaving holy barriers—he had them all.

One could never have too many ways to survive.

Now, with his whole body shining like a human torch, bands of eerie blue light piercing the sky, Roald pinned the fiercely resisting Ghost Rider and cast dozens of "Infection" cards upon him.

Then, gripping the Ghost Rider’s eye sockets, he stared deep into them.

In an instant, a torrent of blue light surged back and forth between them, the multitude of wicked souls in Roald’s possession driving the hellfire on the Ghost Rider wild. The power of the Penance Stare activated again and again. After a brief struggle, the flames on Johnny’s body recoiled inward...

Unable to withstand the weight of sin, the raging spirit was forced to retreat and subside; the Ghost Rider was compelled to revert to his human form.

Only in his transformed state is the Ghost Rider undead; the true immortal is the Spirit of Vengeance, not the human host. Watching him revert to his human shape, Roald wasted no time in using his "Mind Control" card.

The human host, even when grievously wounded, could be completely healed by the hellfire after transformation. Even if the host were instantly slain in human form, the attached spirit could use dimensional travel to retrieve its soul from heaven or hell and resurrect it in the living world.

Thus, killing him was trivial; with the proper magic and items, Roald could inflict lasting harm on the Ghost Rider or even separate the Spirit of Vengeance from its host.

The Spirit of Vengeance was, after all, a favorite of his.

But for now, the Ghost Rider still had plenty of value to offer.