Marvel Magic Case Files

Chapter 960 Hellfire and Halo (Part 1) (Second Update)

The heroic feat of preventing the reactor core from melting down and saving Los Angeles brought Leopold Fitz and Mike no joy, for they were confronted by two beings beyond the comprehension of ordinary people. The Royal Guard, clad in golden power armor, slowly approached Ghost Rider, his halberd lowered and blade swirling, poised to deliver a fatal blow at any moment. Meanwhile, Ghost Rider scrutinized the Royal Guard's movements with his empty eye sockets. As Constantine drew closer, the flames on Ghost Rider's body erupted with a deafening roar, like a campfire suddenly ignited.

Red sparks gradually rose from Ghost Rider's hands, encased in black leather gloves, causing the spirit to scream in agony. The sound was muffled to ordinary people, as if heard through thick glass, but the sight itself was still chilling. Leopold Fitz vaguely remembered seeing the golden eagle emblem on Constantine's shoulder armor and weapons somewhere before. He whispered his deduction to Mike, the mechanic, who nodded thoughtfully.

Mike had a bold prediction. "Stay behind me, little monkey," he called Fitz by his nickname, while stepping in front of him. "I don't think this situation will end so well today."

"Question one: Where did you get the stuff you've hidden in this lab?" Constantine ignored Ghost Rider's wariness. "Question two: Who funded this lab? Who helped you get the approval? Question three: Besides you guys, who else has seen that book?"

"Let me go! Let me go, and I'll tell you!" The spirit was a bald man with a haggard face, wearing an old khaki suit. He struggled desperately, screaming, his voice amplified and echoing throughout the laboratory. The Ghost Rider tightened his grip, and the man's expression grew increasingly painful, forcing him to kneel on the ground as if he were still breathing. However, this was merely an illusion. The Ghost Rider's intent was to seize his throat; the man's inability to speak stemmed entirely from his own belief that he was still alive.

"Answer the question," Constantine said calmly. "Either die or talk."

Ghost Rider turned to the Royal Guard, seemingly quite wary of Constantine's actions.

In the eyes of the Vengeful Spirit, a golden glow swirled around the head of the giant, and fragments of similar power granted the humanoid creature extraordinary strength. Although the Vengeful Spirit's cognitive abilities were limited, it had a vague familiarity with that power. Under its influence, it couldn't be sure if its vessel could survive if it killed this corrupted spirit before the Royal Guard obtained their answers—the witch wielding the metal staff had recently severely injured its vessel, and only after the vessel regained some consciousness did the Vengeful Spirit rekindle Robbie Reyes's flesh and blood, healing all his wounds. Therefore, Constantine didn't see the crater Wanda Maximoff had made with her staff on Ghost Rider's burning skull.

However, for the Spirit of Vengeance, its mission is to burn away this filth; this is its only mission.

Ghost Rider abruptly turned to the spirit, flames erupting from his hands, seemingly intending to incinerate it immediately.

Before anyone could see the Guards' movements, Fitz and Mike only felt a sudden gust of wind, as if the air itself had exploded. The solid ground was splattered with concrete fragments, forcing them to close their eyes. Then, a streak of blue lightning flashed across the dimly lit laboratory, followed by deafening gunfire and explosions. Half a second later, with the clatter of spent cartridge cases hitting the ground, Fitz and Mike opened their eyes to see Ghost Rider, his arm severed, slammed against the laboratory wall as if struck by a battering ram. They saw that Ghost Rider's chest bones were shattered into pieces, his leather jacket torn open, and through the burning flames, they could see his white spine completely shattered into bone fragments, a huge crater clearly visible, and even a deep wound on his skull, almost severed in two.

At the same time, the burning hand bone was still tightly gripping the spirit's neck.

Constantine slowly retracted his halberd, brushed away the hand bone, and placed the crackling halberd firmly against the man's neck. The scorching muzzle of the halberd was still smoking, indicating he was ready to execute the spirit at any moment. Fitz and Mike couldn't understand why a weapon from the real world could affect a being from another dimension, just like when Ghost Rider grabbed the spirit. The underlying principles of these questions baffled them.

The spirit remained kneeling motionless, not because it didn't want to leave, but because it was simply unable to move. As Constantine approached, it felt itself being pulled into the blazing sun like a parasite in a sewer. Faint black smoke began to rise from the spirit's surface; this smoke seemed to belong to another world, disappearing immediately after leaving a certain distance. The two S.H.I.E.L.D. agents detected no odor whatsoever.

"Don't move, or I'll tear you to pieces."

As the only two ordinary people present, the voices of the Imperial Guard brought them back to their senses.

Mike gasped for breath, deeply shaken by the less than half-second battle; he had almost forgotten he needed to breathe. Following the direction of the Royal Guard's armored fingers, Fitz and Mike saw Ghost Rider struggling to his feet, fragments of skin and muscle appearing on his burning body. Although these fragments were eventually incinerated, Ghost Rider was undeniably regenerating. His broken white bones, enveloped in flames, grew and reconnected like icicles; his severed arm gradually healed; and his fiery skull began to burn intensely.

However, Constantine didn't even bother to glance at him, remaining as calm as if he hadn't done anything remarkable—Wanda Maximov, despite her powerful magic, had pitifully little combat experience. Constantine's initial trial as a member of the Royal Guard involved hunting down hordes of cultists and corruptors on alien planets in the galaxy infected by other dimensions, alongside his sovereign. Tens of thousands of corruptors had died at his and Salomon's hands, and he had gained considerable combat experience through this.

He will not give the enemy a chance to retaliate.

"He seems really angry," Fitz whispered, pointing at Ghost Rider. Mike patted Fitz to shut him up. Anyone here—if the burning human skeleton and the three-meter-tall guy who looked stronger than the Hulk could be considered human—could easily kill them. For their own safety, the best course of action was to avoid attracting their attention.

"The last chance." As Ghost Rider slowly stood up, Constantine's speech quickened. This experimental halberd, though not as powerful as the weapon the monarch would later give him, was still one of the weapons personally forged by the monarch. It was said that ancient incantations were incorporated into the forging process, which enabled the Royal Guard to harm this corrupted spirit.

The spirit said something, but neither Fitz nor Mike could hear it. They only saw the halberd crackling with electricity swing at a speed invisible to the naked eye, and the spirit vanished in a blinding white light amidst a wail. Mike instinctively pulled Fitz back a few steps, because he saw the enraged Ghost Rider baring his jaws and letting out a silent roar as he charged towards the golden giant.

Constantine swiftly pointed his halberd at the charging Ghost Rider, and his heavy-duty bomb gun fired instantly, blasting the Ghost Rider's limbs into bone fragments. However, the mutilated Ghost Rider still lunged forward, using both hands and feet. Constantine swung his halberd, slamming the Ghost Rider away. Had Mike not retreated, the Ghost Rider would have landed right at their feet.

"Let's get out of here!" Fitz said frantically, tugging at Mike's T-shirt. "If we stay here, we're doomed."

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(End of this chapter)