76. Why..
The demon launched forward, claws scraping against the marble floor, its roar shaking the chandeliers.
Marcelline didn't flinch.
She didn't even step back.
Instead, she slowly rotated her wrist, cracking her knuckles as if warming up.
"Pathetic," she whispered.
The demon jumped at her head—
THUD!!
She caught its entire arm in one hand.
Max's eyes widened.
A creature that had overpowered Eleanor…
A creature that had thrown guards like broken dolls…
Was now struggling helplessly in the grip of a girl half its size.
Marcelline twisted.
A snap echoed.
The demon shrieked.
Max swallowed hard.
His heartbeat thundered.
This wasn't human strength.
This wasn't normal.
Whatever Marcelline was…
She was something far more dangerous than the demon itself.
---
Max's voice cracked, barely leaving his throat:
"Why are you… protecting her?"
Marcelline didn't answer immediately.
She slammed her foot into the demon's chest—
BOOM!
—sending it sliding across the floor like a ragdoll.
Only then did she glance back over her shoulder at Max.
Her glowing yellow eyes softened just one degree.
"I'm not protecting her," she said plainly.
"I'm protecting you."
Max froze.
Me…?
He stepped back a little, confused, shaken.
Marcelline turned her head fully now, her aura flickering around her like molten gold and black smoke.
"She's your mother. If I kill her body, you'll break."
Her tone was simple.
Cold truth.
No sugar.
"And I don't like seeing you break."
Before Max could react—
Before he could understand what she meant—
the demon rose again and charged at them both.
---
Max saw it clearly now.
The demon wasn't fighting a human.
It was fighting something else entirely.
Marcelline stepped forward calmly, expression blank.
The demon tried to slash her neck.
She vanished.
WHOOSH.
Reappeared behind it.
Her fingers curled, nails shimmering into sharp demon-like blades.
"Stay down."
She slashed.
CRACK!!
The demon screamed, stumbling as dark smoke spread from the wound.
Max's brain scrambled to understand—
A demon was fighting a girl…
A girl who moved like lightning.
A girl who didn't feel fear.
A girl who didn't look human when she fought.
A girl whose eyes glowed like ancient fire.
"Who ARE you…?"
The words slipped from Max's mouth, stunned, frightened, fascinated.
Marcelline didn't answer.
She kicked the demon into the wall again, so hard the plaster broke.
Then she stepped forward, slowly, dangerously…
Her aura lighting the entire hallway.
Not human.
Not normal.
Not safe.
Yet—
She was protecting him.
Protecting his mother.
Fighting for them.
And Max's chest tightened in a way he had never felt in his entire life.
--