Chapter 43: Mother-in-Law
Vergil, panting and sweaty, looked at Katharina in confusion. "What's happening? Did I do something wrong?"
But before Katharina could respond, the humming turned into a devastating crack.
The atmosphere around them began to fracture, as if reality itself were crumbling under a colossal force.
A chill ran down Vergil's spine, an overwhelming sensation of something far more powerful and terrifying approaching.
"Ah... it's her..." Katharina sighed, rolling her eyes in annoyance. "I figured she would make a dramatic entrance."
Suddenly, the reality around them shattered completely, like glass being crushed by immense power.
The light that permeated the dimension was sucked away, replaced by a deep darkness and an oppressive aura that made every hair on Vergil's body stand on end.
A wave of devastating power filled the empty space.
It was something primal, frightening, bringing the feeling of a predator far greater and more dangerous than anything Vergil had ever felt before.
The air felt heavy, making even breathing difficult.
The once-stable and imposing battle dimension had been utterly annihilated by this presence.
And then, she appeared.
The world fractured like a mirror again, this time much worse, much more brutal than when Novah had arrived...
Vergil was trembling...
From the depths of the darkness, an imposing figure emerged.
Her feminine silhouette was the first thing to stand out, but any trace of delicacy vanished instantly under the crushing aura radiating from her body. Her long red hair cascaded in perfect waves down her back, almost touching her waist. Her face bore features similar to Katharina's, but much more mature, and her eyes...
those beautiful emerald eyes that quickly penetrated Vergil's soul, but he pulled back.
"Get a grip, don't fall for her charm," Katharina said, elbowing him.
Katharina's mother, a woman Vergil thought would take longer to meet, had just arrived...
"Here we go..." murmured Katharina, crossing her arms and assuming a pose of false innocence.
"Vergil, meet my dear mother, Sapphire Agares." She said as the woman glared at her furiously.
Vergil swallowed hard. The pressure this woman radiated was suffocating, making every cell in his body scream to flee.
A true demon queen.
And, unlike Katharina, she didn't seem to have any intention of being playful or indulgent.
Sapphire looked at the two of them as if evaluating the scene, then her voice filled the space with the force of a storm.
"So this is my son-in-law." Sapphire said, looking directly into Vergil's eyes, assessing his very existence.
Vergil, already trembling, caught a whiff of something... pure and primal, Fear. That was what he felt just from hearing the woman's voice directed at him...
Vergil had never felt such fear in his life.
His heart raced at a speed that made him question if it was even possible, his instincts screaming, "Disappear! Run for your life, you bastard!"
It was the strangest and most devastating sensation he had ever experienced; compared to his mother's anger, this feeling was brutal.
His body was cold with sweat just from hearing her footsteps as she drew closer.
'A demon! The worst of demons! A true monster!' Vergil could only swallow hard, feeling that if he moved, this monster could erase him from existence without him even noticing the attack. His body was completely paralyzed.
'I can't show weakness…' Vergil thought, 'This monster will kill me if I even think of being weak in front of her…' He began to gather enough demonic energy.
'Fuck it, I won't bow to anyone but my wife.' Vergil thought as his fists clenched to the point that his nails began to dig into his flesh, and his aura started to rise against the woman in front of him.
'Come at me, supreme monster,' he murmured. Fuck fear; he wouldn't stand still to die.
He bit his tongue until he tasted blood, ignoring the pain completely, and his body surged with adrenaline.
Vergil lifted his face and looked directly into the eyes of the woman who faced him, like a monster ready to kill.
When he met her gaze, she wore a wide grin, teeth like a shark's, looking at him with curiosity and intrigue.
Vergil couldn't help but laugh at her expression, a gentle smile spreading across his face, causing her to pause immediately.
"Oh... Fufufu." Her smile began to grow even more at his reaction. 'He lost his fear? Fufufu, how interesting.'
'Strong! Extremely strong! How I wish to be! Stronger and stronger! The strongest of all!' Vergil suddenly fell into a strange sea of emotions, the fear completely wiped away by the excitement of remembering that… this woman was called the strongest demon!
His entire body screamed in euphoria as he recalled Katharina's words: 'She is the strongest monster of all.'
Vergil could feel it, feel that entire being in front of him! Despite being an ant, he could see; he saw in the woman's gaze the abyss of difference, yet it didn't frighten him…
Seeing Sapphire was like seeing the top of the world in a single instant… His confused emotions shifted completely, focusing on one thing, that which he told Katharina…
'I WANT TO BE LIKE THAT!' he screamed internally, idealizing his goal… all of this lasted less than a minute, or rather, twenty seconds. Beside him…
'These emotions… is it Vergil?' she wondered, sensing a huge excitement coming from his head, as if a massive source of energy was calling to her in some way, shaping her thoughts… 'Damn it… Battle Maniac…' she thought.
"Enough already, mother…" Katharina murmured, sensing that if she continued, Vergil would lose himself in her mother's emerald eyes.
Unfortunately, the woman completely ignored Katharina.
"What the hell…" Vergil said, breaking the silence after a few more seconds. "This is really a big mess…" he said, his voice sounding disappointed.
The woman in front of him furrowed her brow and looked at him curiously, awakening even more of his interest. "What's so messed up, kid?"
"I'm gonna take a thousand years to be able to fight you satisfactorily... Right now, I'd love to attack you just to catch a glimpse of the top, but I'd die before I even got close... Seriously, that's messed up!" Vergil exclaimed, stomping hard on the ground and creating a spider-web-shaped crater.
"..."
"..."
"..."
The atmosphere shattered completely. Katharina looked at Vergil with such intensity that she melted; she couldn't believe he just said that to her mother...
Her mother... the literally Strongest Female Demon...
The ensuing silence was broken only by the absence of the woman's aura, which vanished entirely, followed by a loud laugh...
"Pfff..." Everything seemed to freeze as the woman covered her face with her hand, struggling to contain her laughter, but she couldn't...
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" she laughed loudly, making the entire place tremble...
'Oh no! This crazy woman! She's interested!' Katharina screamed internally, but soon something even worse happened...
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Vergil joined in, laughing heartily alongside her...
'Oh crap... crap, crap, crap!' Katharina was starting to get worried...
"Haa ahh... So, what did you find so funny?" Vergil asked, still smiling as he watched the woman gasp for breath from laughing so hard. He got a better glimpse of her figure but didn't look at her lustfully, just appreciating her beauty gently.
"Hehe... You remind me of someone I met a long time ago," she said, scratching her head. "What was her name again... Ah, whatever," she chuckled lightly before finally calming down.
As silence began again, Vergil sought help from his wife, who wore a shocked expression, staring at her mother and her behavior; she didn't seem to understand what her mother was saying!
Suddenly, the woman turned to Vergil. "Interesting!" she said, displaying a wide grin once more. "I like him!"
Katharina was stunned! She hadn't expected that! Her mother said she liked him?! That was too much! Okay, she accepted that it was interesting, but liking him?! What did she mean by 'I like him!'?!
She froze, as if her processor and RAM had crashed, resulting in a blue screen of death in her mind.
Seeing that she couldn't help, Vergil decided to press on...
"Thanks? I mean, I'm married, so don't get any wrong ideas, but for a woman like you to say you like me is a bit embarrassing, okay? Keep your distance," he joked, spotting a gap in the conversation.
Vergil continued to look at the woman, who had a mischievous smile reminiscent of Katharina's. Her emerald eyes remained curious about him, while her red hair flowed in the wind. She stood about 20 centimeters taller than Vergil at that moment.
She was beautiful... Beautiful was an understatement to describe her entire essence; she was a fierce beauty, a wild beauty, a woman who could drive any man crazy with just a simple gesture. But she wasn't just that... She was a warrior, incredibly strong...
'That's dangerous...' Vergil thought, not about himself... but about her... having a woman like that around... it wouldn't work... he was a man, he knew his limits...
She began to approach him, facing him, while analyzing his body from top to bottom.
"Interesting... Very interesting..." She said as her eyes began to shine, as if seeing through his body...
"Oh... how intriguing... fufufufu" She laughed contently, turning to her daughter... "You still haven't learned how to use runes properly, have you? But I must admit... what a great job you've done for your mother...
I got a present and it's not even Christmas..." She said smiling, as if she was taking possession of something...
"Your evolution is interesting, little boy. A very great potential... so great that I can hardly measure it.... Interesting..." His eyes were like two chasms.
"What an interesting woman..." Vergil muttered, for some reason he already sympathized with this crazy woman...
'No! She's not interesting!
"Mom, stop looking at my husband like that! You're affecting him with charm!" Katharina roared, but her mother glared at her, "Do I need charm for anything? Your mother is a big hottie who drives any man crazy, and look at that boy! He's more turned on by me being strong than by my body." Sapphire said pointing at the boy...
'Even though I didn't use 2% of my power to intimidate him... he could take 2%... that's a lot for someone who was born less than a month ago as a demon... That's interesting. Sapphire thought, smiling, as she watched the confused man.
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<Author's Note>
Hey, remember to use your Golden Tickets and Power Stones to help the work reach new heights!