Jon stood in the eerie silence of the moonlit forest, his eyes locked with Rui's. The words that had just escaped the demon's lips hung in the air like a chilling fog, leaving Jon utterly dumbfounded.
"To be your father?" Jon echoed, his voice laced with incredulity. A twitching smile, a grotesque parody of amusement, twisted his lips. He never expected to encounter such a ludicrous proposition.
"That's right." Rui replied, his voice as cold and indifferent as the moon above. "You're already so powerful as a human. If I were to ask him to turn you into a demon, you'd become even stronger. You could be a great father who shelters me, cares for me, loves me, and protects me."
Jon's stomach churned at the thought. The audacity of the demon's words was enough to make his skin crawl.
"How about this," Jon suggested, his voice dripping with sarcasm, "call me 'Dad' first and let's see how it sounds~"
Rui closed his eyes for a moment, as if contemplating the proposition. Then, with an earnestness that was almost unsettling, he said, "If you agree, then Dad, you'll be my father starting from today."
Jon was startled. He had been jesting, yet Rui had taken his words to heart, addressing him as 'Dad' without a moment's hesitation. The absurdity of the situation was almost laughable.
"But, I don't have a bastard son like you~" Jon retorted, his words as venomous as a viper's bite. He spat directly onto Rui's face, a blatant display of disrespect.
"!"
The air around them turned frigid, as if the forest itself was holding its breath. Rui's face, which had been as impassive as a marble statue, twisted into a mask of rage. His eyes, once indifferent, now glowed with a bloodthirsty light.
"What did you just... say?!" Rui's voice was a low growl, his words punctuated by the pulsating veins on his face, a testament to his seething anger.
"Hahaha, are you annoyed?" Jon laughed, his voice echoing through the silent forest. He was unfazed by Rui's rage, his amusement only growing. "I've known for a while how you like to role-play a fake family, but thinking about it now, it's still hilarious~"
Jon's laughter grew louder, his words slicing through the tense atmosphere like a blade. "You actually want me to be your father?... If I really had a son like you, I would've killed you a long time ago. No, wait... I bet you're the kind of kid who has never known the warmth of a family, lacking love since childhood."
Rui's face contorted in fury, his teeth grinding together so hard that they threatened to shatter. "You ba...stard...!" he hissed, his voice barely more than a whisper. "Don't insult my family... Don't insult our bonds..."
The tension between them was palpable, a tangible force that seemed to electrify the air.
"Family?!" Jon sneered, his voice echoing through the silent forest. "If you really had something like that, you wouldn't be looking for new people to play your disgusting family role-play. Wake up! Your real parents were killed by you, you unfilial son!"
"Shut up...!" Rui growled, his voice a low rumble that reverberated through the trees. His eyes were ablaze with fury, his hands clenched into tight fists.
"In the end, all you wanted was to take from your family without ever giving back. If you weren't so selfish, you wouldn't be the way you are now." Jon continued, his words as sharp as a blade. He was relentless, each word a calculated strike aimed to provoke Rui.
"Stop...!" Rui's voice was a chilling whisper, his anger simmering beneath the surface like a dormant volcano.
"After becoming a demon, you went out every day to feast on humans. Your parents didn't want their child to become a monster, so they planned to kill you and then commit suicide. You resented your parents for this, but they only wanted you to bear less blood debt." Jon's voice was cold, his words a harsh reminder of Rui's past sins.
"Moreover, you seem to have forgotten that your parents raised you, even when your family was so poor that they couldn't afford food. They never abandoned you, their ungrateful child, but you killed them just because of their so-called betrayal!"
"And you... What have you done for your family? You've done nothing but murder them brutally!"
"I told you... Shut up!" Rui suddenly exploded, his voice a thunderous roar that shook the forest. His anger had now consumed his reason, his patience worn thin by Jon's relentless taunts.
He clasped his hands together, intertwining his fingers. When he opened his hands again, a blood-red spider web formed between them.
"Blood Demon Art: Murderous Eye Basket!"
A violent wind surged around them, and the blood-red spider silk spiraled towards Jon like a tornado. The forest was a whirlwind of chaos, the once tranquil night shattered by the impending battle.
Jon waved his hand, and a blade of fire scattered in all directions, instantly severing the surrounding blood silk. His eyes were ablaze with determination, his resolve unwavering in the face of Rui's onslaught.
"Just, die!" Rui shouted, his voice filled with raw hatred. The blood silk around him transformed into crimson energy, wrapping around him like chains.
"Blood Demon Art: Cutting Thread Rotation!"
Thousands of blood silk threads, infused with crimson energy, rushed towards Jon like a storm. The forest was a battlefield, the air filled with the scent of impending doom.
"You know, in some ways, you're really similar to Muzan," Jon said calmly, his voice a stark contrast to the chaos around them. "Easily angered, irritable, and fond of using fear to oppress others." His words were a final taunt, a challenge to the demon before him.
Jon's body ignited in an inferno of ethereal flames as he once again assumed his Ghost Rider form. A torrent of murderous intent spread out from him, transforming into a raging inferno that consumed the surrounding air. The forest was bathed in an eerie glow, the trees casting long, monstrous shadows on the ground.
In mid-air, countless blood silk threads lunged towards the flames, but the moment they made contact with the fire, they were incinerated. The threads disintegrated into ashes, their crimson glow extinguished by the Ghost Rider's hellfire.
Rui's face twisted in a grotesque display of anger, his eyes wide with disbelief. "Impossible!" he snarled, his voice a low growl that echoed through the forest.
He reached out with both hands, attempting to unleash his Blood Demon Art a second time, but the Ghost Rider's fiery chains suddenly flew towards him. The chains wrapped around his hands, binding them tightly. The heat was unbearable, the chains searing his flesh and bone.
"Argh!" Rui screamed, the pain so intense that it felt as if his very soul was being burned. The Ghost Rider yanked the chains, and Rui's hands were instantly severed. His screams echoed through the forest, a chilling testament to his agony.
Rui looked at his severed hands with a pale face, the burn wounds spreading across his skin without any signs of healing. His eyes were wide with horror, his body trembling with shock.
"How... is this... possible..." Rui stammered, his voice barely more than a whisper.
"Don't bother struggling. Wounds inflicted by the Hellfire cannot be healed, not even by your maker." Ghost Rider said, his voice as cold as the night air.
The Ghost Rider's chains flew out again, wrapping around Rui's legs. With a powerful tug, Rui's legs were severed as well. His screams filled the air, a symphony of pain and despair.
"Ah—stop, please stop!" Rui cried out, his voice filled with raw terror. He was reduced to a pitiful creature, crawling on the ground like a wounded animal, begging the Ghost Rider for mercy.
"Can't handle this little pain?" Ghost Rider taunted, using the fiery chains to slice through Rui's waist, cutting him in half. His words were a cruel mockery, a stark contrast to Rui's pleas for mercy.
If Rui were an ordinary person, he would have died long ago from such treatment. However, Rui was a demon, and one of the Twelve Demon Moons at that, so he could only endure the torment in agony.
Ghost Rider grabbed Rui's bloody upper body with his burning skeletal hand and stared at his pale face. "Think about how it felt when you inflicted pain on others. Now that you're the one suffering, you show this pathetic side? Disgusting!"
Ghost Rider threw Rui's upper body to the ground, blood and flesh splattering everywhere. But since Rui was a demon, he still couldn't die.
"I have a better idea now!" Ghost Rider said indifferently, turning to look at the trembling Spider Sister hiding nearby.
Ghost Rider pointed his bony hand at Spider Sister and commanded, "You... kill him!"
"What?!" Spider Sister was taken aback, her eyes wide with shock.
"How much pain has this little demon caused you? Now you have a chance to kill him. Don't you want to try?" Ghost Rider whispered, his voice a chilling promise of retribution.
"But... demons can't kill other demons, unless we have a Nichirin sword...sunlight…" Spider Sister stammered, her voice trembling with fear.
"You… don't need that." Ghost Rider snapped his fingers, and Hellfire ignited on Spider Sister's hands. The flames danced on her skin, a deadly weapon bestowed upon her by the Ghost Rider.
"Use my power and kill him!" Ghost Rider commanded, his voice echoing through the forest.
Ghost Rider then looked back at Rui, who was lying on the ground, and said solemnly, "You like 'family' and 'bonds,' don't you? Well, now I'll show you just how fragile the bonds you've created are." His words were a final taunt, a cruel reminder of Rui's impending doom.
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