Chapter 91: Don't overthink, just feel.
"Failed." Sapphire said as she watched him shift positions, trying to create things that didn't make sense.
"Again," she repeated incessantly as he continued to try and learn.
"Failed, try harder." Even as he gave it his all, the demon woman never stopped pushing him.
"The direction of your target is wrong, stop being logical," she kept explaining, but nothing was working, nothing was getting through to him.
"Boy, stop using your head!!" She yelled, watching him try and try, over and over again.
"Screw this, I'm done." Sapphire stood up angrily, stomping the ground and creating a crater in the training area.
"What the hell! I'm doing exactly what you asked!" Vergil shouted back, showing all his indignation to Sapphire, who raised her voice once again.
"BE AN IDIOT AGAIN! FIGHT WITH INSTINCT, NOT YOUR BRAIN!" she screamed, her feet slightly scraping the ground from the force of dragging him.
"Instinct? You want me to just stop thinking and... what? Throw myself to death like an idiot?" he shouted back, his hands trembling from exhaustion and anger. Sweat dripped down his forehead, mixing with the dust rising from the craters in the ground.
Sapphire didn't back down. Her eyes glowed with a signature rage, but her face also showed a mix of impatience and something almost like... disappointment?
'It's no use... I'll have to use that,' she thought.
She approached, her presence overwhelming, but what followed wasn't another shout.
"Vergil," she said, calmer now, though the intensity was still there. "You keep trying to figure things out like you're solving an equation with that twisted little brain of yours. But here... none of that works. What's inside you, that dormant beast, doesn't obey logic or reason, power doesn't come from learning."
She stepped closer, her gaze locked onto Vergil's eyes, which met hers, still breathing heavily, but less defiant.
"You need to stop trying to understand," she continued, her voice now lower but filled with a dark gravity. "Let instinct take over. Stop trying to control. Just... let it happen."
Vergil gritted his teeth. "That doesn't make any sense! How am I supposed to learn without thinking?"
"Exactly, boy." Sapphire replied with a cryptic smile. "You don't learn by thinking. You learn by feeling."
She stepped back a bit, her eyes never leaving his. "Now... try again. But this time... don't think. Feel. Feel the uncontrollable rage that would make you erase the entire world, feel all the negativity of losing your wives. Now do it—do what you would do to the man trying to steal Ada from you."
Vergil hesitated for a moment, frustration still visible on his face. But something in Sapphire's words resonated within him. He closed his eyes, trying to block out the logic and analysis that dominated him. He let his muscles relax, focusing on his breathing, allowing something deeper to take control.
Sapphire watched closely. "That's right... Now, attack!"
Vergil opened his eyes and lunged. But this time, there was no hesitation, no planning. He moved like a predator, fast and instinctive. And for the first time that day, something worked.
Sapphire smiled in satisfaction, her eyes gleaming. "That's it... now you're starting to get it," she said, watching the result marked in the air.
'It was a good thing I made that girl disappear... Fufufu... I'm creating a... No, there's still much to do... I need to teach him everything I know... Then, I'll truly create him...' Sapphire murmured, seeing the boy confused as he looked at his hand.
...
Location: Baal Mansion...
While Vergil was immersed in his training, determined to save a certain someone...
That certain someone was sinking into the bathtub, her eyes unfocused, staring at the ceiling as the hot water made her skin tingle. The white foam gently swirled with her slight movements, but her body barely moved. Her mind was heavy with thoughts and... longing.
'Why did I agree to this?' she repeated in her mind like an echo, trying to find a logical reason for the decision she had made.
Sapphire, with her insistent gaze and venomous voice, had convinced her in the most cowardly way possible. "Disappear for a while, give him motivation. Vergil needs to feel your absence... he needs to grow stronger to protect you." She could hear that snake whispering in her ear with every second spent away from her beloved husband.
She sighed, her hand sliding through the water, creating tiny ripples.
Of course, she understood why Sapphire wanted him stronger. After all, dealing with a Phenex was never easy, and she knew her husband wouldn't give up, but she was deceiving him.
The idea of disappearing just to make Vergil miss her seemed so... manipulative. And deep down, she knew she was playing Sapphire's game. But now... she regretted it deeply.
"I want my husband!" She splashed her body in frustration, sending some water spilling over the edge of the tub.
"Damn it! Why did I agree to this?" Ada shouted internally, her mind swinging back and forth, replaying every poisonous word from that woman. Was this really what she wanted? For Vergil to depend on her, to grow stronger, just so she could be protected? Part of her wanted to believe there was more to this, something Sapphire hadn't told her.
The soap bubbles clung to her body as she sank deeper into the water, trying to find relief from the tension gripping her. "This is ridiculous," she muttered to herself, feeling the weight of decisions she hadn't fully thought through. And yet, here she was, hidden away, waiting for Vergil to grow stronger. It was as if something inside her was divided.
"Never again am I listening to that prehistoric painting," she said, crossing her arms, her pale breasts lightly floating in the water.
Suddenly, the door creaked open, and a familiar presence filled the room. Raphaeline, her mother, stood there, her long black hair shimmering in the soft light of the bathroom. Her red eyes, piercing and intense, locked onto Ada with a calm but worried expression.
"You need to see something," Raphaeline said, her voice soft, though Ada immediately sensed something serious. Her mother was not the type to interrupt Ada without reason, and that made the young demon straighten in the bath, the bubbles slowly slipping off her shoulders.
"What is it now?" Ada asked, her voice tinged with exhaustion, but seeing the tension in her mother's face, she already suspected this wasn't just a casual matter.
"It's serious, Ada," Raphaeline insisted, her expression leaving no room for doubt. "Get dressed and come with me. You need to see this."
Reluctantly, but curious, Ada rose from the bath, water streaming down her skin as she grabbed a towel to dry off quickly. The steam still hung in the air as she wrapped herself in a light silk robe and followed her mother to the large window of the grand room they occupied in the castle.
Raphaeline stood before the window, her eyes fixed on the horizon.
When Ada approached the window beside her, she braced herself for something mundane—after all, her mother's urgency usually revolved around things she found incredible, like a new sword or when the Baal clan's servants did something worthy of praise. But as she looked out the window, her heart skipped a beat.
The horizon... It was clear... But... But...
"Mom… right there... wasn't there a... a mountain?" Ada stammered, her eyes wide. "Where the hell is the mountain?!"
She knew the landscape of that region well. A massive mountain, an imposing icon that had always been there, had simply... vanished. In its place lay a desolate emptiness, as if the very earth had been erased; it looked as though someone had cut it away and evaporated everything else, leaving only a strange, handcrafted plain.
Raphaeline crossed her arms, a line of concern etched on her forehead. "This isn't a simple disappearance... something of great power has been unleashed."
"Do you think..." Ada began, but her voice trailed off. She couldn't comprehend how absurd the sight was; it was so unbelievable that she couldn't finish her sentence. "He's training, but... this? This wasn't him, was it?"
Raphaeline sighed deeply, her hand lightly touching her daughter's shoulder. "I wish I could believe it was anyone else, but... there lies the Agares mansion..."
A chill ran down Ada's spine at her mother's words.
"It can't be..." she whispered, her gaze fixed on the emptiness where the mountain once stood.
Raphaeline, always calm and composed, seemed somewhat shaken as well. Her eyes narrowed as she studied the space, as if trying to find answers in the newly formed plain. "Sapphire likely pushed Vergil to this point. But the power required for this... it exceeds what I had imagined."
'How strong are you getting to protect me?... This... this is so much more than I could have imagined... It's simply unreal,' she thought now, certain of one thing...
"Despite the methods, my decision truly was the best one," she concluded, seeing the results.
'I'm starting to love him more and more... this... is good... I think.'
"I'm waiting for you... come save me... even if they're blocking the contract temporarily, and you can't feel where I am, know that I'm waiting for you... my handsome husband."