Lord of Cinder in American Comics

Geralt carried a waterproof camera and pointed it at Blackheart, recording everything that happened.

"What, doesn't your father care about you? You're so eager to change into women's clothes?"

Hearing this, Blackheart was both angry and anxious. Last time at the border of Hell, Geralt tricked him. No matter how he tried to hide, the gaze of any demon in Hell could accurately focus on him.

Immediately after that, he was captured by Mephisto and taken back. Then came messages from other dimensional lords saying that the Blackheart Demon had a fetish for cross-dressing.

How did this secret get exposed? To uphold family discipline, Mephisto gave him a severe beating, and then went to fight that great lord.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, he finally escaped from his home and came to this crevice of the underworld, where he had laid out his plans decades ago and left behind a believer to create a body specifically for him.

But why is this annoying guy here again, carrying a camera?

Right in front of me is my own body. Should I put it on or not?

Just as the Blackheart was considering, Geralt's knife came at him again.

"Look! He hesitated. He hesitated under the camera. The son of hell, Blackheart Demon, is actually a cross-dresser!"

Unable to bear it any longer, the Blackheart kicked Mary Shaw, who was kneeling in front of him, away and flew towards Geralt.

Taking advantage of this brief opening, Geralt quickly pulled out the memory card, placed it in front of his chest, and drew his longsword to deal with the Blackheart Demon's attack.

The Black Heart Demon transforms into black mist, which contains hellish dust. Upon contact with the black mist, anything that comes into contact with it will be weathered and decayed.

Geralt's longsword pierced the black mist, producing a metallic clang.

Geralt slashed his sword along the black mist that was the embodiment of the Blackheart Demon, cutting straight through the mist.

Blackheart withdrew from his transformation and appeared before Geralt, a long sword wound on his chest.

However, such wounds disappeared with a casual wipe from the black-hearted demon.

"I am the son of hell, you cannot kill me!"

The Blackheart Demon's scarlet eyes were fixed on Geralt. Just as he was about to charge forward again, he abruptly stopped.

Geralt was seen tossing and dropping crystal skulls into the air; these were the same skulls he had used to lure Blackheart.

Having learned his lesson once, the wicked demon was still helpless against such a strange prop. In order to avoid being watched and captured again, he had no choice but to stop.

The Blackheart's eyes followed the Deceiver's skull, fearing Geralt would smash it down on him.

“We can talk things out properly, there’s no need for this. Besides, bringing my father here will only lead to bad outcomes for everyone…”

"is it?"

To avoid his own death, the Blackheart Demon had no choice but to compromise: "I'll give you anything you want, just give me back my memory card and let me leave here safely..."

"really?"

“I can sign an agreement with you, in the name of my father, Mephisto…”

Upon hearing Mephisto's name, Geralt made a move to smash the skull of the enemy onto Blackheart, but Blackheart immediately changed his mind and said, "You can decide, I agree to either."

"Sign the agreement in the name of hell, and I'll give you the memory card I have..."

Mephisto's name and Hell's name are two completely different concepts. If it's signed in Mephisto's name, Blackheart will at most get another beating. His father, Mephisto, has plenty of ways to avoid the consequences.

But in the name of hell, even his father could not avoid such a price; the consequences of breaking the contract were something he could not afford.

But faced with Geralt's threat, his reputation, which had been temporarily tarnished by Mephisto and the other Lords, seemed to be of more importance.

Seeing the Blackheart's compromise, Geralt withdrew the Lure Skull from his hand. Turning to look at everyone who had finished their battle, Geralt grinned wickedly.

"Who here graduated with an accounting or law degree? Who can draft contracts? We have a big job!"

Chapter 225: The Doll Girl

When Geralt asked who had a law or accounting degree, more than two-thirds of his colleagues raised their hands.

Geralt asked Hill with some surprise, "Are all the combat personnel at S.H.I.E.L.D. this highly educated?"

To everyone's surprise, Hill replied matter-of-factly, "As a law enforcement officer, a strong legal background is fundamental..."

Versailles' answer was revealed perfectly, albeit unintentionally.

Geralt didn't reply, but looked at Clint and said with great disappointment, "Clint, why don't you have a relevant degree! It seems that hunter recruitment will have to follow the Dragon Academy's example from now on..."

Clint, who was caught in the crossfire for no reason, pursed his lips, wanting to say something self-deprecating, but seeing Geralt's sly smile waiting for him, he swallowed his words and pretended not to have heard anything.

Having reached a temporary deal with the Blackheart, Geralt placed the memory card on the table where everyone was drafting the contract.

At first, Blackheart Demon wanted to secretly take the memory card and then try to kill the group of people, but after seeing the decoy skull placed next to the memory card, he gave up the idea.

This is such an obvious trap, the great Dark Lord will not fall for it!

The drafting of the contract did not take long. For a group of law and accounting students, it was incredibly easy to put together several unilaterally exploitative contract clauses with different requirements.

When Geralt showed the contract to Blackheart, the various requirements in it caused Blackheart to tear it to shreds.

"I will not agree to this request! This is extortion!"

Seeing Blackheart's reaction, Geralt wasn't angry. Instead, he took out another contract with more lenient terms and placed it in front of Blackheart.

"Calm down, take a look at this one. If this one doesn't work, there's another one. Eventually, there will be one that suits you..."

Seeing Geralt holding a different contract, Blackheart, suppressing his throbbing headache, examined the terms one by one.

This situation didn't last long before the final contract was signed.

The ruthless devil would tear up any contract he couldn't accept, giving Geralt no chance to speak.

Geralt didn't object to this approach; the previous contracts were all pre-arranged for the final one.

In fact, both Geralt and Blackheart understood that the most important clause of the contract was how to ensure Geralt and his companions could leave safely, so that Blackheart could obtain his dark history.

All the groundwork laid beforehand was for the final preparation, and the ruthless demon was also cooperating with this method. The bottom line of the two sides was determined from the beginning, and the confrontation was just to see which side's bottom line would move closer to the other.

But from the very beginning, the unscrupulous man had no negotiating advantage and could only seek some help by tearing up the contract.

Therefore, both parties will agree to the final contract.

Under Geralt's threatening gaze, Blackheart reluctantly swore an oath in the name of Hell to abide by the contract.

After the Blackheart Demon agreed, the contract, hastily written on A4 paper, became a special item with annotations in hellish script.

Blackheart Demon reluctantly retrieved the memory card, looking at everyone in front of him, wanting to memorize them all.

But given Geralt's scoundrel-like methods, such behavior seemed to the combatants like the struggle of a defeated dog; after all, demons from hell weren't such a big deal.

Finally, the Black Heart Demon transformed into black mist and left this place again, leaving his small inner world on the verge of collapse.

Mary Shaw knew she would be abandoned the moment she saw her master, Darkheart, begin negotiating with Geralt.

She never expected her master to be so cowardly. The despondent Mary Shaw offered no resistance and was beheaded by Clint, who then burned her to ashes.

After Mary Shaw was killed, her puppets went out of control, with puppets of all sizes running around the theater trying to escape S.H.I.E.L.D.'s capture.

However, under Hill's command, S.H.I.E.L.D. has no intention of keeping such things. In any possible hiding place, they would fire a volley of bombs to render the puppets unable to move. In any case, this alternate world is about to collapse, and nothing hidden inside can escape.

Everyone overlooked the unique wooden puppet lying on the platform—Ella. Through Geralt and the others' conversation, it became clear that this woman was indirectly saving their boss.

Although we didn't need her help, without the boss's permission, who would dare to do such a thing?

After a cursory cleaning of the theater, Ella remained lying motionless on the stage, just as before.

Hill glanced at the timer and said to Geralt, "Time to go, five minutes left..."

Gerald nodded and walked towards Ella, saying to Hill, "I have something to take care of. You guys wait for me outside..."

Seeing Geralt draw his longsword, Hill sighed and directed everyone to leave the theater.

Geralt held his longsword, pointing the tip at Ella on the floor.

Have you decided how you're going to leave?

However, Ella remained motionless, just like a doll.

Geralt plunged the sword into Ella's neck, the blade just centimeters away from her neck.

"Radish died last night!"

Upon hearing the news of Radish's death, Ella finally reacted, abruptly turning her neck and moving closer to the longsword.

Geralt quickly took the sword away, preventing Ella from committing suicide.

"Just kidding! Just kidding! Don't take it seriously. That horse is eating and sleeping well. It even took me for a walk this morning!"

Geralt explained, then lay down next to Ella, looking at the theater's black dome just like her.

However, Geralt couldn't stand the hard wooden floor as soon as he lay down, so he sat up again and said to Ella, "Aren't you tired of staying in that position?"

However, Ella remained silent and just lay there.

Geralt said thoughtfully, "You probably won't get tired, after all, you're a puppet!"

Upon hearing the word "doll," Ella finally reacted.

"You should go now, you don't have much time left!"

Geralt, like Deadpool, covered his face with his hands, feigning disbelief, and said, "My God! You're alive! I thought you were a puppet!"

It's puppets again. Mary Shaw created these, but each puppet, under Mary Shaw's oppressive control, deeply loathes its own identity.

Geralt's constant, explicit statements finally got Ella moving.

She sat up and just stared at Geralt, her face expressionless.

This sight made Geralt feel extremely uncomfortable. Despite the itchy, furry sensation on his back, Geralt reached out and covered Ella's eyes.

After blocking Ella's view, Geralt let out a long sigh of relief and said, "My God, your eyes are terrifying..."

As he spoke, Geralt rotated his wrist, revealing Ella's eyes, then quickly covered them again.

“You don’t have to treat me like this. I’m just a puppet created by Mary Shaw, and I’ll disappear along with this theater…”

Upon hearing Ella's words, Geralt lost his previous roguish and reckless demeanor.

Geralt withdrew his unrestrained expression and exaggerated movements, replacing them with the same cold expression as Ella. In Ella's perception, the deathly intent contained within Geralt's body far exceeded hers by a million times.

Geralt lay down next to Ella, resting his head on his arm, looking up at the black dome above him and talking to himself.

"I used to feel more like destroying myself than you do now. I even tried to commit suicide again and again. On a quiet, deserted cliff, I jumped off a total of 23678 times."

Those deaths were entirely because I was fed up with what I had to accomplish, fed up with deceiving myself with a sense of mission on a path where there was no hope, fed up with myself, fed up with that world…