Asuka's grip tightened around her flame swords handle, her face contorting with an unfathomable amount of fury.
"Demons," she thought, "It's always demons. First it was Martha. Now Amelia. Why? Why must they terrorize innocent people so much? Why? Why? Why? Why?"
Then, a pulse of pain suddenly ran through Asuka's head. She fell to one knee letting out a grunt of pain.
"Asuka, what's wrong."
"It's nothing. Just a headache. Must be because of the seal on my contra is wearing down."
"That means we need to take this thing down quickly. Growing the third horn while not having mastered the amount of contra you have with the second horn will send you into a frenzy. We can't have that."
"Yeah. Don't worry. I'll eviscerate that thing from existence before that happens."
Asuka's grip on the fiery blade tightened so hard the veins on her hand began popping out.
"Hang in there Amelia. I swear I'll save you."
~
The demon was carefully watching Asuka's movements.
"Her control over the flames is far superior to my own. If I used them, she could probably just take over them herself. I need to overcome our gap in skill with speed and power."
Suddenly, the girl fell to one knee and clutched her head in pain. The demon took a step back in confusion of what was happening to the girl. But, he soon realized what was going on.
"Her contra levels are increasing. It's slow, but it definitely is. She must be close to growing the third horn. When that happens, my chances of losing is completely zero. I must defeat her before that. And then, I'll feast on her skin and bones."
The demons mouth salivate at the thought. But it was immediately brought out of its imagination. Asuka had blasted forward with a thrusting strike, trying to pierce the demon through its neck. It managed to evade but not without receiving a tiny nick. That nick was enough to send a searing hot pain throughout its body and soul.
Not expecting it, the demon reeled with pain leaving itself open for a violent strike to the chest. The demon was sent flying for dozens of meters. This did nothing to prevent Asuka from catching up to it and delivering a heavy kick, sending flying again. Luckily the demon raised it's all four of its arms and managed to block the shattering blow.
This time it managed to readjust itself in time and evade a the dark flaming sword. Asuka remained on the offensive dishes out attack after attack, only for them to narrowly miss fueling her frustration. Her attacks became more and more wild and chaotic as her desperation and frustration grew. And as her emotions continue to darken, the seal on her contra continues to weaken and her reserves increase bringing her closer to the third horn.
"Asuka you need to calm down," Annie pleaded. But her pleas did not reach the girl.
"What the hell? How come she can't hear me?"
Shouldn't that be obvious?
Annie's head whipped around trying to find the source of the voice she heard. But all she saw was the darkness of the black flames surrounding her. In fact, it seemed like the flames was moving ever so slowly inching it's way towards Annie.
Don't be so frightened. I currently hold no power, so I can't destroy you as much as I want to.
Annie stood still unflinching despite the malice emanating from the beings words.
"It's speaking directly into my head. Who the hell could it be? It sounds exactly like-"
For now, let's enjoy watching her fall into madness.
On the outside, Asuka had begun launching and spawning black flames to trying to catch the demon off guard. But, due to the swelling of contra right before the attack, the demon would sense it coming and promptly dodge the attack. From her perspective, the demon was toying with her, only making her instinctively reach deeper into her rage.
But in the demon's mind, the situation was very different. Every attack the girl unleashed was launched with the intension to kill. And every attack had the speed and power necessary to do so. The demon knew that if it lost concentration for even a moment, death was guaranteed.
"I need to come up with a new strategy. If this goes on, she'll eventually surpass my contra levels and my only advantage will be gone. But it's not all bad. If she achieves the third horn, she will definitely have far more raw power than me. But the sudden power increase will overwhelm her mind and she won't be able to control herself. I'll need to find a way to hide get out of her range. Once she tires herself out, I'll rip this bitch to shreds. Either that or I'll need to eat a human to corrupt their anima to increase my contra. Luckily, I have the perfect bait for both plans nearby. Maybe I'll even be able to do both at the same time."
The demon couldn't help but smile at the image of it all in its head. This only made Asuka more sure that the demon was mocking her.
"What the hell are you laughing at!"
Another pulse of pain ran through her head, this one much more intense than the ones before. She stumbled as her mind momentarily went blank due to the pain. The demon saw this and didn't miss its chance. It began to go on the offensive and planted two of its arms on its right side on her head and body sending her flying. This however did nothing to the girl as she landed on her feet and swiftly countered the demon's incoming blow.
"Damn it! These headaches are unbearable. They shouldn't hurt this much."
Again, another pulse rang in her brain even more painful almost making her lose consciousness. This time, the demon did not attack. It watched the girl clutch at her head for a few moments before letting out a loud and audible laugh. She looked up at the with an expression of fury and pain. She tried to speak but the pain she felt was too much for her to talk.
"Look at you. You're basically frothing at the mouth. Is your desire to kill me that strong? But why? Is it really because of that friend of yours. You're so consumed by rage that I doubt her pain even crossed your mind. Maybe, somewhere deep inside, you're even enjoying this battle."
A strong shiver went up Asuka's spine at the demons words. But instead of a look of anger, all that was written on her face was fear, and a realization.
"Why haven't I ended this fight already? Our contra levels should be about equal now and I have far superior skill. I should've killed this thing a long time ago. Am I really finding this....fun?"
"You've instinctively discarded the idea of saving your friend already. While far from intentional, I think the fact you did it without even knowing is a lot more telling."
To say Asuka was shocked would be an understatement.
"What? When did I...I never..."
Inside of her inner world, Annie hearing Asuka's thoughts tried her best to reach the girl, but all attempts in the end were futile.
The voice sharing the inner world with Annie was letting out a mocking laughter.
I don't know what's funnier. Her mind shattering or your desperate, pathetic pleas to save her.
On the outside, the demon continued on with his speech.
"You really think you're some hero huh. I suppose it's fine to live in your delusion. But I'm here to tell you right now, you're still part demon. No matter how much you try to separate yourself from it, there is no changing that."
"S-SHUT UP! You know nothing about me."
"And yet I know all that I need to. Your demonic blood will lead you to destroy everything you hold dear. So you might as well give in. Its useless to resist. It's your fate. I might even let you eat your friend. But only after I make you as I tear apart what remains of her."
Here we go.
"No. ASUKA!"
Something strange happened in that moment. Specifically, something strange was going on inside and outside of Asuka. In the inside her, a figure surrounded by an empty darkness was kneeling on the ground with its legs bound by four black chains. Two for each leg. One of its arms was free while the other was bound by two chains. Then suddenly, one of the chain began to dissolve. And with it, a burst of ominous and dark power flooded out. The dark power spread into the darkness until a small brightness could be seen. the brightness and the darkness crashed into one another, but didn't mix. Until after a few seconds, small parts of the brightness turned black.
Just a little more.
On the outside, the demon was covering its face with all four of its arms. Its skin was being singed blocking Asuka's contra. It tried to peak through but its eye was immediately incinerated. It flinched in pain before it regenerated back. The demon would've seen black flames dancing around a girl who was writhing in pain on the ground. Small pulses of energy exploded out spreading out portions of the flames into the air.
"This is it," said the demon.
The screams of the girl filled the air before it suddenly got silent. The flames died down revealing the girl kneeling on the ground. She slowly stood up revealing her drastically changed form. Her face was cold and emotionless. Two horns were protruding from the front of her head. The longer one was shaped in an arc like the letter S and the second had only grown an inch or two. And on the left side of her head, a third horn began to grow.
The eye which initially wasn't affected by her contra, now had a bit of black seeping into it. The black markings were now even larger and seemed to be a lot more lively as they actively shifting around her body.
Then, her back started to deform with her shoulder blade stretching out with loud crack sounds emanating from it. After a moment, the skin holding it back tore away with blood spraying out. And with it, two black forms emerged. Spreading out with a wingspan 5 meters, bony wings could be seen being slowly engulf with black flames.
She looked at the demon, her expression unreadable. Then tears formed in her eyes, and when they fell the ones from the left eye were colored blood red. She then slowly opened her mouth and whispered silently...
"Amelia..."