Silence… It was hard to explain what was happening… And honestly, did it really matter? Well, the three women could only sit and watch what Vergil wanted, the contract wouldn't allow them to interfere…
Theoretically, Katharina could break the contract and override the order, but… when she tried…
She couldn't. No matter what she did—whether through reverse engineering with her understanding of Runes and Demonic Magic, reversing the Energy flow, or even trying to force dominance—it didn't work.
'He has a purer lineage than mine…' That was her only conclusion. There was nothing else she could do but wait for him to finish whatever he intended to do… 'He's going to get hurt badly…'
She was worried, far more than she ever thought she'd be. "It's alright…" Ada murmured, "I can feel his heart… It's pumping demonic energy like I've never seen before…" Ada muttered… She was much more sensitive than the others, so when focused, she could sense the energy waves even more intensely than anyone there… and Vergil's heart was like a power plant of demonic energy.
"It's not just demonic energy," Roxanne, who had just begun to heal herself, said as she struggled to stand up just to watch the man in front of her. "His eyes… they're not normal," she muttered, staring at the man's broad back.
"What do you mean by that?" Katharina asked.
"Just look… I don't think he's even going to get hurt," Roxanne commented.
While they could only watch due to the order he gave, Vergil looked at the man, who was getting up and healing…
"Come on, kid, it wasn't my fault. What he did was on orders from the higher-ups…" Leon said, a little tense, his ribs cracking as he returned to his normal form, his wounds being healed by some sort of golden light. Night was already falling in the desert, so the stars and the light were becoming even more visible…
'Left pocket,' Vergil murmured, sensing the environment as his vision sharpened. He saw a golden trace flowing from the man's pocket toward his broken ribs and other injuries.
With no time to hesitate, Vergil moved forward, closing the distance before Leon could react.
"Damn it!" Leon blocked the first punch.
The fight began with a direct clash of blows. First, Vergil attacked, using his impressive speed, which was growing exponentially, his body moving fast enough to confuse Leon.
'No way!' He really tried to defend, but Vergil had reached a different level from a week ago when they first met. Unlike before, when it was purely about survival, now it was driven by a sheer desire to kill.
Leon was trying, but he was struggling to keep up with the speed and strength Vergil was exerting over him.
He tried to land a punch, two, three... but Vergil dodged effortlessly, countering with even more powerful attacks. Leon didn't even have time to draw the sword he carried—he was being overwhelmed.
'He's so much stronger!' Leon thought, dodging an attack that generated enough speed and wind to lift the dust from the ground, which he quickly used to gain an advantage, emerging from the cloud of dust...
A hand almost grabbed his face. 'He's already here!' Leon quickly ducked, delivering a kick into the air where he still couldn't see Vergil's face…
"You didn't think you could hit me like that, did you?" The whisper brushed his ears as his leg...
Crack!
With an elbow strike after catching the kick, Vergil shattered Leon's calf, sending him into excruciating pain. But it wasn't just that—Leon received a punch, sending him flying backward, crashing into a rock.
'T-the artifact...' Leon murmured, not truly feeling the pain, more like a dulled sensation, numbed by the adrenaline and the artifact in his pocket.
"Is that all you've got?" Vergil taunted again, his voice, for the first time during the entire fight, sounding arrogant, clearly excited, almost manic. He had become so immersed in the fight, his adrenaline spiked to the point where reality briefly distorted for him.
There was nothing else but the fight. His absolute concentration and focus only further enhanced his skill and aggression.
Every blow he dodged, every strike he delivered was with unshakable precision, and Leon started to realize it too—Vergil was no longer a mouse that could simply be crushed...
'A battle maniac… of course… with a body like his, who wouldn't want to use it for that?' Leon thought, seeing the sadistic, insane smile... 'He's not a newborn... he already seems like a Pure-Blood Demon of the highest caliber.'
The fight resumed, with Leon charging at him once again.
Leon used the divine artifact to start healing again, and his leg returned to normal, but soon, it was useless…
Vergil was copying and adapting to his techniques with impressive speed.
"It won't work, buddy," Vergil said, kicking him in the stomach and sending him away. "I thought I was too weak when we fought, but it wasn't that I was too weak; I just didn't know what I was… Now it's different." Vergil said, looking at his hand. It was numb, but it felt so good, so… exciting! He wanted more! He wanted to be stronger!
'I have to flee!' Leon realized… he couldn't fight this… not like this… not against him… He vaguely remembered when he first met Vergil…
He wanted to toy with Vergil when he met him, to test his limits and treated him like a cockroach easily crushed by him, but he regretted what he had done. He should have just devastated and killed him immediately, but now, it was too late.
'No way…' he murmured in a moment of despair. Leon unleashed a wave of golden energy towards Roxanne, who was healing, trying to divert Vergil's attention to escape.
The attack was fast and unexpected, but Vergil didn't let it pass. His sharp reflexes acted instinctively, and he didn't hesitate to intercept the energy. He appeared in front of the energy before it approached and absorbed the impact with his bare hands.
His hands were almost destroyed.
The force was tremendous, and Vergil's hands burned, but he showed no sign of pain. He didn't seem to care about the attack; his focus was solely on Leon.
"You're pathetic," Vergil growled.
His hands burned even more as they healed. He wanted to cut him to pieces, to dismantle the man, to turn him into chunks of dead meat, to slice him up like sushi…
This man, Leon, dared to attack his wives… 'Demonic Energy…' He thought, for a moment, as if he felt the path. Vergil's hand was being guided to something, as if his thoughts were shaping something…
With a sudden and unexpected move, Vergil made a horizontal cut in the air, using his demonic energy to create a projected strike with his own hands.
Leon felt the exact moment when the cutting energy blade projected against him, and the impact was a brutal and definitive blow. The cut started as a cold, almost ethereal sensation but quickly turned into a sharp and piercing pain. The blade sliced through his flesh and muscle with cruel precision, and blood spurted immediately, hot and viscous.
The first sensation was a deep shock. The pain, initially a distant hum, soon became an explosion of sensations that consumed his entire arm. The muscle was pulverized under the blade, and the bone was sliced with surgical precision. Leon felt intense pain, as if fire and ice were clashing inside him.
It was a sensation of tearing and burning, of disintegration.
As the blade cut, his thoughts became chaotic. Panic overtook his mind; he knew he was losing control. "No, no, no…" he desperately cried. "This can't be happening. I can't let this happen!"
His mind spun around the feeling of despair, trying to find a way to reverse the situation. The pain was almost unbearable, an overwhelming force that left him paralyzed and helpless.
The sight of his own arm being dismantled, with flesh being torn apart and blood spurting, was almost surreal. He tried to force his magical energy to contain the wound, but it was like trying to hold back an avalanche with bare hands.
"You've become so pathetic." The man's voice in front of him, looking at him with a sad and dark expression… "I thought you could entertain me more… But you're just a disappointment." Vergil said, the game had completely turned…
"No, no, no… Please! I don't want to die!" Leon pleaded, trying to stem the blood with his other hand, but it was already too late… "The Artifact!" He thought aloud, and Vergil didn't care about what he wanted to do; he just let the man try… he pulled out a golden coin from his pocket, with no sign of divinity…
He was exhausted.
"It's o-over…" He stammered, his face completely falling, his hope gone in the blink of an eye… the shadow of the man in front of him fell over him. "I hope you've learned a lesson." He said before raising his hand.
"I'll see you in Hell, asshole." Vergil said before launching another projected cut… This one… sliced the man's head and torso in half…
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Hey, remember to use your Golden Tickets and Power Stones to help the work reach new heights!