I went in for the first attack. I dashed into Martha, quickly charging up a Nova in my left hand, before hitting her with my right. But, just as I was fast, she was faster. She blocked the hit with the grip of her spear, pushing me back with it, before starting a stab with it. I quickly regained my balance in order to dodge it. But, as I dodged that, Mark went in with an attack, hitting my right in the head with his fists. As it connected with me, I could finally see why Mark didn’t need a weapon. While he was fast, his hits felt like they shaked through my whole body, making me feel already tired just from one hit. 

I quickly jumped back, a bit taken aback from that hit as I looked at them. Martha almost seemed to be giggling.

-What, you already wanna give up?- Martha said, as she prepared her spear.

-Don’t think this is over yet. I’m just getting started-

-Oh really? Then how about I kick it up a notch!?-As Martha said this, a red aura started to surround her, before her armor appeared on her body. Now both of them had gotten serious.

I could feel the demon inside me, almost prying to try to get out and fight. But, I kept them under control. I did not want to give in more into his influence unless it was absolutely necessary. And this fight was to prove a point.

I turned my head around a bit, stretching my arms. The feeling of the Fire Witch still felt like it was all spilling out of me with how much it was releasing into me, as if it couldn’t be contained. Almost as if it wasn’t meant to be kept in.

I quickly started to charge up Novas in both of my hands, looking at both Martha and Mark straight in the eye -Fine by me!- As I shouted this, I threw both of the Nova’s at them, while running right behind them. As I expected, they deflected the Novas, and I tried to attack them during that moment that they were distracted. 

But I underestimated the speed of Mark’s new form. As soon as I tried to hit him, he quickly dodged and uppercutted me right in my stomach. As my head passed by his, he whispered into my ear

-I might be starting to believe you. But, if you want to convince Martha, you’re gonna have to try harder-

Once he finished, he quickly did a roundhouse kick, sending me flying back. 

-Damn Mark, fucking brutal!- Martha shouted this with glee as she looked over at me, landing on the ground rolling.

I tried to recover from my hit, but my head was spinning from the impact and from the landing. I could barely stand. My whole body was shaking as I tried to

-You still want to keep going? Good! I haven’t even hit you once!- Martha shouted this is she rushed towards me, spear in hand, ready to stab me with it. 

I quickly grabbed the tip of it and pulled it to my side to deflect her, but she quickly rebutted by letting go and punching me, with her flames of hatred revolving around her fist.

Even without the shaking effect of Mark’s attack, her punch still hurt like hell, and that doesn’t even include the burn. As I was knocked back by that hit, she quickly recalled her spear, and striked me multiple times with it. 

There were so many wounds in my body. I could feel that I couldn’t keep going for long. But I still had to try. 

I fell to the floor after the attacks. I tried to get back up, but I could feel I was fading. 

-Just as I thought. You’re still weak- Martha said this with a smile as her armor started to dissipate. 

My vision was blurry, but I still tried my best to get back up. I rolled around on the floor until I was face down on it, before slowly starting to get back up.

Martha stopped walking as she heard me struggle to get up, looking back at me.

-The fight’s over, just stay down until you heal up- She said this in a condescending tone, as she kept walking away. 

-Funny- I said this as I fully stood up, my head staying down, before looking at her -I didn’t hear no bell-

I quickly put both of my hands on my sides, charging up the Chaos Nova. She laughed as I tried -I’ve seen Ness pull that move. You need to be at a close distance if you want to hit me- Her armor quickly materialized again around her, as the red aura came back. And there’s no way I’ll let you do that. 

-Uh, Martha?- Mark said this from where he was standing. His voice sounded concerned, and I knew why. 

As the Nova kept charging, I could feel the demon slowly take over as I lost more and more control of my body. A red aura began to cover me, as the Nova kept increasing in size. As I fell to my consciousness, I could see through my own eyes as if I was just a spectator. I was looking through the demon’s eyes. He could see the flow of energy from the Fire Witch exiting my body, and began to channel all that excess into the Chaos Nova.

As it did, the Nova started to take on a different appearance. Instead of looking like black and white spirals, they started to look like giant balls of fire. The amount of energy that was flowing into them was astounding. 

Martha quickly looked in our direction and gasped, as she readied her spear

-What are you doing?!- She shouted, a bit distressed

-Giving it our all- The demon responded, as he took one deep breath, before shouting -WITCH NOVA!-

As soon as the words left his mouth, the Nova launched at an incredible speed, and quickly pushed Martha back. She didn’t have enough time to block, she kept being pushed back and back, faster and faster. As she was about to hit the wall, Mark quickly rushed in to get her out of there, letting the Nova alone crash into it.

The demon gave control back to me. As Power Lust deactivated, I could feel all my pain again, making me fall to the floor out of exhaustion. I couldn’t move at all. I had hit my limit. Fire Witch slowly turned off. 

I dozed off.

END OF CHAPTER 34