Martha had always kept her true nature locked down tight because of her identity as a saint.
But hearing someone claim these were words she herself would speak in the future made the caged beast inside her stir, just a little.
It was only a faint loosening for now. The beast still hadn't broken free of its prison.
The [Martha] standing opposite her, however—the one Adam had already stripped clean inside and out—had no chains left at all.
[Martha] snatched up her iron fists again and launched straight into a brutal close-range brawl.
She opened with Jacob's Limbs.
Martha hurriedly blocked with her cross, but the weapon felt clumsy and restrictive in her hands.
[Martha] spotted the opening, drove a heavy uppercut that sent the cross flying, then slammed another punch right into Martha's chest.
The impact launched Martha backward, straight through the several-meter-high earthen slope behind her.
She stared at the hand still gripping the cross—it was shaking hard—and a bright red fist mark burned across her chest.
Peering through the tunnel her own body had punched into the slope, Martha locked eyes with [Martha] on the other side and ground her teeth. "I—"
The second the words left her mouth she realized what she'd said, clapped both hands over her lips, and forced herself to calm down again.
[Martha] watched her, clearly unsatisfied. She clicked her tongue. "Stop holding yourself back. This isn't even fun."
"But I…"
Martha's face twisted, still torn.
[Martha] suddenly seemed to think of something. She glanced at the swimsuit Jeanne Alter standing beside Adam, and a mischievous grin spread across her face.
"Think about it. You're under Jeanne Alter's Madness Enhancement right now, aren't you?"
"So any way you fight that isn't exactly 'saintly'… it's all because of the Madness Enhancement, right?"
Swimsuit Jeanne Alter, who had been quietly watching the whole thing: "???"
"Is… is that how it works?"
Martha's voice trembled. The moment she heard those words, her expression crumbled into pure hesitation, and the cage holding the beast inside her rattled violently.
"Of course it is."
"You're Berserk right now. Even if your fighting style isn't very saint-like, it's obviously the Madness Enhancement's fault. Everything is!"
[Martha] wore the face of someone who had just solved the world's problems, watching Martha expectantly.
Swimsuit Jeanne Alter: "???????????"
After listening to the whole speech, Martha's expression turned almost comically abstract—playful, a little apologetic, and shot through with the sheer joy of finally being set free.
"I… I'm sorry, Lord. This isn't my fault. It's because I'm under Madness Enhancement right now."
She had an epiphany. The corners of her mouth split into a wild, abstract grin. She dropped the cross, freed her hands, and raised both fists.
Martha was officially ready to use Jacob's Limbs and throw down with her other self in the most satisfying, no-holds-barred fight imaginable.
The observing pigeon: "..." The pigeon said nothing. It simply remained silent.
[Martha] and Martha stood several meters apart, eyeing each other through the tunnel in the slope.
Then both of them stepped forward at the same time, fists raised to greet the other properly.
Inside the tunnel carved through the slope, their fists met fist-to-fist.
The several-meter-high mound exploded like a bomb had gone off, blasting dust everywhere.
Both women wore wide, unashamed grins—the kind you'd see on the bosses of certain crews.
They locked fists, pushing against each other for a second or two. Then the punches started flying like hailstones.
ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA!
MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA!
Their fists collided, parted, collided again in a relentless storm. Every impact sent shockwaves ripping through the air. The entire slope was pounded flat, erased as if dozens of bombs had detonated at once.
The flying dirt and gale-force winds from their punches reached Adam and the others dozens of meters away.
"Wait—what the—?!"
"Did I walk into the wrong show? Is this JoJo versus DIO?"
Fujimaru Ritsuka's eyes went wide as she stared at the two Marthas trading blows, instantly reminded of the invincible man and the time-stopping vampire.
The way they were pummeling each other looked exactly like Star Platinum and The World going at it.
Mash rubbed her eyes, making sure she wasn't seeing things, then hurried over to Ritsuka after hearing her comment.
"U-um, Senpai… the elegant Lady Martha from a minute ago just turned into a total brawler!"
"It really is like Metatron Jeanne said—she's become a completely different person!"
Then Mash thought she heard some very colorful language coming from the fight. She tugged Ritsuka's sleeve again, stunned.
"W-wait, Senpai… Lady Martha just said something… really dirty."
Jeanne, watching the real Martha reveal her true colors, felt her mind spin from the sheer contrast.
She looked at the lazy, laid-back Metatron Jeanne beside Adam.
She looked at the two Marthas still hammering each other and dropping the occasional curse.
Then she looked at herself and remembered what Metatron Jeanne had said about her own hidden desires.
A single thought floated up in Jeanne's mind.
Heaven is doomed.
[Fujimaru Ritsuka Emotion Value +10]
[Mash Emotion Value +10]
[Jeanne Emotion Value +10]
...
The two Marthas kept trading blows for dozens of seconds.
Finally they sprang apart.
Martha's hands were bleeding and she was gasping for air, but she had never felt more alive.
All the saintly restraint she once carried had been thrown to the wind. She spoke her mind without a trace of shame.
"C'mon, that was way more fun than swinging that stupid cross around."
The [Martha] facing her still had perfectly unharmed hands and plenty of stamina left.
Seeing Martha's face finally free of all that bottled-up tension, [Martha] smiled with genuine relief.
"That's more like it. You already decided to go out swinging—why keep holding back? The final battle should be a proper release."
"Alright, fun's over. Time to get serious."
Martha instantly understood. The next exchange would decide the winner.
Still riding the high, she decided to strike first.
She swung her arm and roared, "Tarasque: O' Tragic Drake Who Knew Naught of Love!!!"
The dragon that had been fighting Mash and the others vanished and reappeared behind Martha in an instant.
What Tarasque did next left Ritsuka and the rest confused.
The dragon looked terrified. It curled up inside its shell as fast as it could, as if one more second outside would be fatal.
A heartbeat later they understood why.
Martha leaped behind Tarasque, wound up, and slammed a powered-up punch into the dragon's back, launching it like a cannonball straight at [Martha].
She had activated her Noble Phantasm.
With a deafening boom, Tarasque spun through the air like a blazing projectile.
The sound was so loud Ritsuka instinctively covered her ears. She couldn't help thinking:
Everyone knows force has an equal and opposite reaction. If Martha just hit that dragon with that much power, is the poor thing even going to be okay?
Before she could finish the thought, [Martha]'s next move left her speechless.
[Martha] jumped high, neatly dodging the spinning, flaming dragon hurtling toward her.
Mid-air, she swung her own arm and shouted, "Tarasque: O' Tragic Drake Who Knew Naught of Love!!!"
"?!"
Martha heard the Noble Phantasm chant and locked her eyes on [Martha], ready to dodge the moment Tarasque appeared.
But things didn't go the way she expected.
In her mind, Tarasque should have materialized right beside [Martha] the instant the chant finished, just like her own.
Then [Martha] would punch it and fire it back.
Except… a fraction of a second passed and nothing happened.
Where's Tarasque? Shouldn't it have appeared by n—
The thought had barely formed when an enormous weight slammed into Martha from behind, driving her straight into the ground.
"Wha—?!"
She twisted her head with difficulty and looked back.
Attacking her was [Martha]'s Tarasque.
"How—?!"
In that split second, Martha's attention had been completely focused on [Martha] herself.
[Martha] had been flipping through the air after her own chant, so Martha had been watching the space right beside her.
Tarasque had actually appeared more than ten meters behind [Martha]—exactly in Martha's blind spot—then spun forward like a missile.
Martha had no idea the dragon could even be used that way!
But it wasn't over.
"You're not getting away!"
With [Martha]'s shout, she landed on top of Tarasque's shell and started raining down punches.
MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA!!!
On the final heavy blow, the entire dragon was driven deep into the earth, carving out a massive crater.
"Iron Fist Holy Judgment!"
A violent explosion erupted beneath Tarasque.
Martha and the dragon were swallowed together in a sea of flames.
Martha defeated.
Ritsuka, who had watched the entire fight, wore the most abstract expression imaginable.
Ritsuka: "…"
She had already mentally replayed [Martha]'s Noble Phantasm scene as a yellow-coated vampire dropping from the sky while hugging a road roller, screaming "Road roller coming!" and hammering the machine the whole way down.
The battle ended. [Martha] dusted off her hands and turned to Adam with a grin.
"Done, Adam."
She planted her hands on her hips, looking extremely proud and still savoring the fight.
Adam and the others slowly walked up to her.
Ritsuka glanced at Tarasque, now embedded so deeply in the ground it looked impossible to pry out.
She pursed her lips, then asked [Martha] curiously, "Um, Lady [Martha]… if I may, is the dragon you just launched okay?"
"Oh, you mean Tarasque? Don't worry, she's tough as nails."
[Martha] gave the shell a couple of knocks to prove it.
"But… she looks charred."
[Martha] glanced over. Tarasque's shell—er, dragon shell—had turned pitch black from the explosion.
"Totally fine. That temperature is just a nice warm bath for her."
Ritsuka raised an eyebrow, unconvinced. "Really?"
"I mean, you punched her like fifty times. We could feel the shockwaves from dozens of meters away. She's really okay?"
[Martha] just laughed and waved it off. "Relax. Tarasque's dragon species is special—her shell is ridiculously hard and she doesn't feel pain."
Right then, the deeply embedded Tarasque trembled and let out a few pitiful cries.
"Wuuu~" (Special translation: Please stop hitting me, it really hurts.)
A chunk of the supposedly invincible shell cracked and fell off—especially the exact spot [Martha] had knocked on earlier to show how hard it was.
Ritsuka: "…"
[Martha]: "…"
Everyone else: "…"
"Uh… that sounded pretty bad," Mash said, blinking.
"Must be your imagination~" [Martha] laughed awkwardly and scratched her head.
"Wuuu~" Tarasque cried again.
BANG! (Martha's iron fist)
Hearing the dragon still making noise, [Martha] delivered one more solid punch. Tarasque went completely silent.
Then [Martha] patted the shell gently and gave everyone a big thumbs-up.
"See? Told you she's tough~"
"After a hit like that, she didn't make a sound."
Everyone fell silent again.
Adam quietly offered a small prayer for Tarasque in his heart.
Tarasque, keep hanging in there today…
After two seconds of silent mourning, Adam started thinking about the next step.
If everything went as expected, only three Servants remained.
Saint George,
Kiyohime,
and Elizabeth Bathory.
And they were all conveniently located inside the same city.
***
If you want to read up to 25 chapters ahead, don't hesitate to visit our patron: pat reon . com / XElenea (remove space)