-How is he this strong?!- As my consciousness came back, I could hear Martha shouting this, as well as a lot of noise, almost as if she was throwing stuff around

-Did you really doubt him? Didn’t he help you with that “friend” of yours?- Mark kept a calm tone, trying to calm Martha down as well. Clearly it wasn’t working

-He didn’t even do much! I was the one doing most of the damage- She was still mad as she said this.

I slowly began to open my eyes, and started to lift myself up. We were still in the training room, meaning my body was already healed up. As I made sound while getting up, Martha’s head quickly switched to look in my direction. As soon as we made eye contact, she rushed over to me, grabbed my by my shoulders and picked me up

-What did you do?!- She shouted at me in anger -Did you make a deal with your little buddies?! How did you get that strong?-

I smiled as she picked me up. I was still a bit out of it, so I was kind of snarky -Just because you got your ass kicked that doesn’t mean I did anything- I chuckled as I said this, which caused her to throw me back to the ground

-Colin, you are not helping-Mark said this while shaking their head a bit in disagreement.

-I’ve seen you with Fire Witch before. Even with Power Lust, you shouldn’t have been able to use that strong of an attack. You could’ve dealt with Lumina by yourself if you had used that!- Martha was angry, but if anything, she seemed a lot more concerned now

-Well, look, I didn’t even know I could do that. That was something the demon figured out- I got up once again once my back stopped hurting. I only sat up, since I was still tired. 

Martha stopped for a moment when I said that. After a few seconds, she looked over to Mark, a bit more calm now -Hey, I already know you’re gonna agree with him. I heard your whisper. Could you leave for a moment?-

Mark simply nodded. It looked like he didn’t want to add more fuel to the fire at this point, so he quickly headed to the training room door. Once they left, Martha waited for a couple of seconds, to make sure they wouldn’t be there anymore before she started talking

-Since when?- She coldly asked this. 

-What do you mean?- I was confused by her question. There really wasn’t any indication of what she was talking about

-Since when do you have a demon inside of you?- She asked this more sternly, as she looked over to me. There was a worried look in her eyes. 

-Since the day I pushed you into the portal to fight James. When I beat him and grabbed his hands, we switched our souls. He got his soul back, which is a long story, and I got the demonic soul that anima implanted in him- I answered sincerely. I had nothing to lose, and all to gain.

-Why did you keep that hidden?-

-I didn’t see a reason to tell you all about it. It didn’t put you in danger, I have him under control-

Martha took out her spear after I said this, aiming it at me -That’s a lie and you and I know it. You just said the demon was the one that figured it out, meaning it took control over- She slowly began to walk closer to me -If anything, that should give me enough of a reason to strike you down, right here and now, and not risk the safety of the others-

-Hey, I’ve done nothing to hurt any of you.- I quickly moved the tip of her spear out of the way and stood up. As I moved my hand, something about it felt off, but I paid it no mind as I kept eye contact -The only time I did, you all attacked first-

-That doesn’t mean you couldn’t lash out at a different point. I know I have- She said this last part right before she covered her mouth with her free hand, almost shocked she let it out.

-... looks like I’m not the only one keeping secrets- I said this with a little smile on my face. She looked annoyed by this, pointing the spear at me again. I just laughed a bit more -You really think you can threaten me after you said that? I could just go outside and tell everyone what your statement implies-

-You’re not powered up. I can end you- As she finished saying this, I walked closer to the spear, poking it against my chest.

-Then do it. We’re in the training room. Any wounds we receive can be healed. All of this you’re doing is useless-

Martha stopped. She still held her spear up to my chest, but she stopped talking, and just started to look over me. She fixated on my right hand, which was the one where I had the soul exchange scar. Her eyes fixated on it for a bit, which was weird, but it was the hand I already felt had a weird weight to it, so maybe it was just that there was more of the corruption taking place. But, after seeing that, she lowered her spear, and looked towards the door again, as she shouted

-MARK, GET BACK IN HERE! WE NEED TO DISCUSS!- Her shout was loud, I had to cover my ears.

Almost immediately after it, Mark came rushing in. I think they were expecting to see a fight, but seeing Martha put away her spear seemed to calm them down. 

-So, we’re not fighting anymore?- Mark asked, a bit confused, even if relieved

-Nope, not at all. Seems like our friend here was telling the truth- She remained a bit mad as she said this, but honestly, at least I knew I wasn’t going to die. 

Mark let out a sigh of relief as they walked over to us. His eyes looked down onto my hand, just like Martha did. And just as he got to me, instead of being quiet about it, he was the first one to acknowledge it

-Has the bracelet always looked like that?- He said this while pointing to my right hand. I quickly glanced down to check my hand, while also raising it up

My hand did indeed look different, but it wasn’t because the corruption was spreading. Rather, the bracelet had now expanded. The backside of it covered my whole arm in a plate of armor, while the front of it had now added protection to the back of my hand, expanding into a mini gauntlet with no cover for the palm. The color of the bracelet, which originally had a golden hue, had now turned red with gold streaks, circling like a spiral around it. The screen on the bracelet now showed a message with a disregard button

“Armor Ready”. That’s what it said.

I looked over the palm of my hand. The corruption that was still there, but, instead of looking like the usual black marks, it had now turned into red cracks, only covering my hand. Usually, those red cracks indicate someone having fully turned into a demon. In my case, I didn’t know what it meant. 

I smiled when I looked up at Martha and Mark, showing them the message on the screen -Looks like I’m on the same level as you all now-

Mark was confused, while Martha got a bit mad again, but calmed down relatively quickly.

-Well, if what you’re saying is true, then we’re gonna need you to be on the same level as us- Martha said this, while looking to the side, a bit annoyed. 

-Should we get Ness involved in this? He is part of the team after all- Mark asked this with a bit of enthusiasm, thinking that maybe we could have the whole team together. 

-We absolutely cannot. I don’t think it’d be a smart idea to do so-I looked towards Mark as I said this. After the fight we had, after the way he reacted to Martel’s orders, we could not trust him. Especially seeing how easily it was for him to hurt both Martha and me. 

-For once, I agree with Colin. Ness has been acting weird ever since Colin left and Martel appointed him leader after he got his armor. We cannot let him in on this- Martha followed up my statement with this, which was really helpful. 

–I mean, I get that, but is it really okay to be keeping secrets like this?- Mark said this with a bit of worry in his voice, looking towards me

-If anything happens, I’ll take the fall. With this- I clenched my fist after saying this, looking at both of them -I’m definitely much stronger than him now-

Martha sighed -And there’s cocky Colin back. Well, okay, so it’s you, Mark, and I, along with James and Dee on their side right?- 

-Actually, there’s one more thing I wanted to talk to you about- I said this while looking towards Martha -And you might not like it-

-I already don’t like the situation, spit it out- She looked like she was losing her patience at this point. A bomb was about to go off

-You’re gonna need to give the mask back-

At that moment, Martha’s face went white, with any expression leaving her body. She just looked at me in disbelief and fear.

-Mask? What mask?- Mark asked about this, confused

-I’m n-not giving it back- She said this with a stutter, something I hadn’t heard from her before

-It’s our best chance to get Lumina on our side-

-Can’t we just convince her to work with us?! That should be just fine- She held onto that hope. But, I needed to make her see the light

-That mask that Lumina uses right now works like a drug for her. She will spiral easily if you don’t give it back. It’ll be like going through withdrawal- 

-Well that’s better than corrupting her more!- She said this while beginning to tear up -I won’t allow her to be corrupted anymore!-

Mark stood back a bit. They knew that if this kept going, another fight might ensue, and they didn’t want to get caught in the crossfire.

-Look, I know that sounds bad. And believe me, if there was any other solution, I wouldn’t suggest it. But, I really think it’s the better option- After saying this, I pulled out the phone that Dee gave me -We can use this to schedule the next fight. That way, I can ask James and Dee to bring Lumina with them. You, Mark, and I would go. We would stay out of your way. I’ll let you talk and make the best decision from there. We won’t interrupt-

Martha looked like she was about to blow a fuse until I mentioned that last part -So you do have a better option? Just have me talk with her?-

-It’s the only other option there is. If you think it could work, then we’ll try to make it work-

Mark breathed a sigh of relief -Oh thank fuck, I thought I would need to clean your splatter off the wall- 

-Mark, please, shut up- Martha said this to them in anger -You don’t understand how much she means to me. I don’t want to hurt her more-

-So, we have a deal?- I asked this before leaving the topic completely

-Well, I basically won’t have to do anything, so yeah, that’s fine- Mark shrugged as they said this

-As long as I get to talk with Lumina, I’m okay- Martha said this with a small smile on her face. 

-Okay. Then, I’ll talk with James now. Whatever you need, come to my room later. For now, just leave. I feel like it’ll be safer if I call from here-

They left without any additional questions. Once I knew they were gone, I opened up the phone and called the only number there. James’ number

-So, I’m guessing it went badly?- These were James’ first words. I chuckled for a bit before answering

-Actually, the complete opposite. Martha and Mark are on our side-

-Oh really? Did you not tell your short friend?- He was referring to Ness

-Absolutely not. There’s something about him that doesn’t seem right. I don’t trust him at all-

-Okay. I’ll do my best to have Dee, Lumina, and I be on tomorrow’s mission. See you tomorrow Colin- As he said this, he hung up. 

I got out of the training room and headed towards my room. As I left, something felt off, but I paid it no mind. I was looking forward to tomorrow, and I would do my best to make sure that everything went well.

Of course, it didn’t

END OF CHAPTER 35