Free Web NovelChapter 813: Authority of Death.
Ada was the first to react after silence returned to the suite. For a few seconds, she watched Vergil’s back as he stared out the enormous panoramic windows, completely still. The city continued to awaken outside, indifferent to the gravity of the situation, but something had irreversibly changed inside that room. The energy that had previously filled the air with anxious tension now felt different. Heavier. Colder. More dangerous. Ada had known Vergil long enough to know when he was worried. She also knew when he was angry. This, however, was neither of those things.
It was worse.
She took a step forward, trying to find the right words before he made a rash decision. Despite everything that had happened, much information was still missing. They didn’t know who was involved. They didn’t know where Sapphire and Sepphirothy had been taken. They didn’t know the true extent of the threat. Moving forward without information almost always ended in disaster, regardless of the strength of those involved.
"Vergil, you can’t make decisions before—"
She didn’t finish the sentence.
Not because she had given up on speaking.
But because, at that instant, Vergil partially turned his face in her direction.
It was just a look.
Nothing more.
No threat.
No words.
No surge of energy.
Still, Ada felt the words die immediately before they left her throat.
The intensity of that look didn’t carry anger directed at her. There was no hostility either. What existed there was something much more uncomfortable. It was the expression of someone who had already made a decision and simply had no more room to be convinced otherwise.
Katharina noticed the same thing.
Roxanne too.
None of the three spoke again.
Because they immediately understood that this was not the time for arguments.
Vergil looked away from Ada and turned his attention to Neberius.
The demon remained motionless, still trying to process everything that had happened since her arrival. Although her wounds had completely disappeared thanks to the impossible healing performed just minutes before, the weariness remained etched on her face. Some experiences left marks that wouldn’t disappear with magic alone.
When Vergil finally spoke, his voice remained as cold as before.
"Where is Lilith?"
Neberius froze for a moment.
The question seemed simple.
But it wasn’t.
She involuntarily looked away.
Perhaps because she knew exactly the weight of that answer.
Perhaps because she didn’t want to be the one to pronounce it.
The silence stretched for a few seconds before she finally found the strength to answer.
"In a coma."
The words came out low.
Dry.
Without beating around the bush.
The entire room seemed to become even quieter after that.
Katharina slowly closed one of her hands.
Ada looked away. Even Roxanne had completely lost any trace of the lightness she normally carried with her.
Lilith in a coma.
Sapphire kidnapped.
Sepphirothy kidnapped.
The situation worsened with each new piece of information.
Vergil, however, showed no visible reaction.
None.
He only nodded once.
A small movement.
Controlled.
But it seemed to close something inside him.
It was as if each new piece of news was eliminating a part of the hesitation that might still exist.
Without saying anything more, he slowly raised one hand.
He didn’t draw Yamato.
He didn’t perform incantations.
He didn’t use symbols.
He didn’t pronounce ancient words.
None of that was necessary.
His fingers simply moved in the air.
The space before him responded immediately.
A dark line appeared in the void, thin as the cut of an invisible blade. Then, the fissure began to expand slowly, tearing reality like wet paper. The dimensional fabric opened before them in a black wound surrounded by bluish fragments of spatial energy.
Neberius watched in silence.
Even after all he knew about Vergil, certain displays of power still seemed absurd.
Opening dimensions without Yamato should be impossible.
But impossibilities had long ceased to be relevant to him.
The rift continued to expand until it formed a stable passage.
On the other side, nothing could be seen but darkness.
Deep.
Ancient.
Empty.
The kind of darkness that seemed to exist even before the concept of light.
Vergil observed the portal for a few seconds before finally turning to the three women.
It was the first time he had looked directly at them since learning of Sapphire and Sepphirothy’s disappearance.
Katharina immediately felt the weight of that gaze.
Ada did too.
Roxanne remained motionless.
None of them liked what they saw.
Because Vergil seemed completely calm.
Too calm.
And they knew exactly what that meant.
He looked first at Katharina.
Then at Ada.
Finally, at Roxanne.
Then he spoke.
"Return to the Underworld."
No one answered.
He continued.
"Gather everyone."
His voice remained controlled.
Cold.
Precise.
"I want everyone waiting when I return to Sparda."
The order hung in the air for a few seconds.
Katharina was the first to fully understand what it meant.
He wasn’t asking for reinforcements.
He wasn’t organizing a search.
He wasn’t forming a rescue team.
This was preparation for war.
A real war.
Ada realized the same thing.
Her stomach clenched immediately.
Because she knew the man standing before her all too well.
Vergil rarely made exaggerated emotional displays.
He didn’t shout.
He didn’t break objects.
He didn’t impulsively unleash his anger.
He simply decided something.
And then made it happen.
Without detours.
Without hesitation.
Without mercy.
Roxanne watched the open portal behind him and felt a growing unease.
Because she, too, realized something important.
Vergil hadn’t explained where he was going.
He hadn’t shared plans.
He hadn’t asked for company.
He hadn’t asked for opinions.
He simply communicated what they should do.
Like someone who no longer considered the possibility of failure.
Katharina finally stepped forward.
"Vergil."
He didn’t answer immediately.
She crossed her arms.
Trying to ignore the growing weight she felt in her chest.
"You can’t just go in alone."
Vergil observed her for a few seconds.
Then he answered.
"I can."
The simplicity of the answer was more uncomfortable than any argument.
Because he truly believed it.
And perhaps he was right.
Ada took a deep breath.
Trying to find some argument that could still reach him.
"You don’t know who’s involved."
"I’ll find out."
"What if it’s a trap?"
"Then someone made a bad choice."
The answer came without any emotional alteration.
Without arrogance.
Without provocation.
As if he were merely describing an inevitable fact.
Silence returned.
None of them could find anything to say.
Because they understood it was too late.
Much too late.
The decision had already been made the instant Neberius uttered those words.
Kidnapped.
Lilith in a coma.
Nothing they said now would change that.
Vergil turned towards the portal.
For a brief moment, the bluish light of the dimensional rift partially illuminated his face.
It was then that Roxanne noticed something.
He was scared.
Not outwardly.
Not visibly.
But he was.
Because that wasn’t the behavior of someone consumed only by rage.
It was the behavior of someone desperately trying to arrive too late.
And that made everything even worse.
Vergil took the first step towards the portal.
Then the second.
None of the three moved. None of them tried to stop him again.
Because they knew it would be useless.
Upon reaching the edge of the dimensional passage, he stopped only once.
Not to look back.
Not to say goodbye.
But because he seemed to hear something distant.
Perhaps a memory.
Perhaps a thought.
Perhaps just the echo of the last people he still couldn’t find.
Then he moved on.
His body slowly disappeared into the darkness.
First his shoulders.
Then his torso.
Finally, the rest of his figure.
A few seconds later, the portal began to close on its own.
The edges of reality slowly stitched together until no trace of his existence remained.
And then he was gone.
The room plunged back into silence.
A heavy silence.
Uncomfortable.
Almost suffocating.
Katharina stared at the spot where the portal had been for several seconds.
Without saying anything. free𝑤ebnovel.com
Without moving a muscle.
Ada watched in the same direction.
While Roxanne slowly clenched her hands.
It was Neberius who finally broke the silence.
"He went to the Abyss."
It wasn’t a question.
Nor a difficult conclusion.
It was simply the truth.
Katharina slowly exhaled.
"Yes."
Ada closed her eyes for a moment.
Because she knew too.
Deep down, they all knew.
From the moment he opened that rift.
From the moment she heard the word kidnapping.
From the moment she understood she could no longer sense Sapphire or Sepphirothy.
There was only one possible destination.
The Abyss.
That ancient place.
That cursed place.
That place where even powerful demons avoided staying for long.
Roxanne slowly approached the window and observed the city outside.
Millions of people went about their lives normally.
Completely unaware that something terrible had just begun.
She remained silent for a few seconds before finally speaking.
"Someone is going to die."
The sentence carried no humor.
Nor exaggeration.
It was simply a statement of fact.
Katharina didn’t answer.
Because she thought exactly the same thing.
Ada too.
None of them knew who had kidnapped Sapphire and Sepphirothy.
None of them knew what was really happening in the depths of the Abyss.
But they all knew Vergil.
And they all knew that there were certain lines that should never be crossed.
Someone had just crossed several of them at once.
Finally, Katharina turned towards the suite door.
The expression on her face had already changed.
There was no room for doubt.
Nor for discussion.
"Let’s go."
Ada nodded.
Roxanne moved away from the window.
Neberius also stood up.
The order had been clear.
Gather everyone.
No exceptions.
Because, somewhere in the depths of the Abyss, Vergil was walking alone towards something that even they didn’t fully understand.
And when he returned...
If he returned...
The world would probably no longer be exactly the same.
...
The dimensional rift opened over the devastated lands of the Underworld and Vergil emerged from it without hesitation. His feet touched the black ground before the immense crater that led to the Abyss, and he remained motionless for a few seconds, observing the darkness below. The place remained the same. Ancient. Hostile. Deep enough to make even powerful demons avoid looking directly into its depths. That colossal hole seemed like an open wound in reality itself, a path descending to regions where concepts, monsters, and entities had been forgotten for the rest of existence.
The wind blowing from the depths carried distant echoes, strange noises, and vibrations that would normally cause discomfort to any sensible creature. Vergil did not react. His attention was focused on something else. Since leaving the suite in Tokyo, he had been trying to find those familiar presences that had always been within his perception. He couldn’t feel Sapphire. He couldn’t feel Sepphirothy. The more he tried to find them, the more he perceived only emptiness. It wasn’t distance. It wasn’t ordinary concealment. It was absence.
He remained staring at the crater for a few moments while organizing his thoughts. For hours he had maintained control over himself. He had ignored the anxiety, ignored the fear, and ignored the anger. He had focused only on acting. Only on moving forward. Only on finding answers. Now, standing before the entrance to the Abyss, he realized that continuing to repress it was pointless.
Vergil slowly released the air from his lungs and abandoned any attempt at restraint.
His energy exploded.
The shockwave swept through the Underworld in all directions, destroying rock formations, cracking mountains, and making the very ground tremble for hundreds of kilometers. The space around him began to distort as his presence ceased to be something contained within a body and began to occupy the entire surrounding region. It wasn’t just demonic energy. It wasn’t just power. It was his will, his consciousness, and his hatred being released without any restraint.
A column of black light rose from the infernal heavens like a gigantic spear piercing the horizon. The demonic clouds were instantly torn apart, and currents of energy coursed through the atmosphere of the Underworld. Then, eyes began to emerge.
First, a few dozen appeared scattered throughout the aura surrounding his body. Then came hundreds. Thousands. Millions. In a few seconds, billions of red eyes occupied the colossal mass of energy expanding around him. Each one observed a different direction. Each one remained open, alert, and motionless. They were not illusions nor simple visual manifestations. They were extensions of his own perception, spread throughout a presence that now occupied an entire region.
The reaction was immediate.
Ancient creatures hid in deep regions of the Underworld. Demonic fortresses instinctively erected barriers. Ancient entities awoke only to identify the source of that overwhelming pressure and, upon recognizing who was producing it, decided to remain where they were.
Vergil remained standing.
His face showed no emotion.
But the hatred was there.
It wasn’t an irrational outburst of fury.
It wasn’t loss of control.
It was something far more dangerous.
It was the conscious decision to destroy anything that stood between him and the people he sought.
Knowing that Sapphire had disappeared was enough to enrage him. Discovering that Sepphirothy had also been taken had eliminated any possibility of emotional neutrality. It had been a long time since he had felt something so intense. It had been a long time since he had allowed that side of himself to fully emerge.
He closed his eyes for a brief moment.
Then he murmured to himself.
"Apparently, it’s best to accept this."
The sentence wasn’t directed at anyone.
It was a conclusion.
For years he had tried to control certain parts of himself. He had accepted some changes and ignored others. He had avoided looking directly at what he was becoming. Now there was no longer any reason to continue doing this.
The aura began to change.
The billions of red eyes scattered throughout the dark energy blinked simultaneously. When they opened again, their irises no longer possessed the same color. The red began to slowly disappear, replaced by increasingly intense violet and purple tones. The energy around it also transformed.
It ceased to resemble an ordinary aura.
It began to resemble fire.
Black flames erupted throughout the expanse of that colossal presence, burning without producing heat, consuming without destroying physical matter. The space around them seemed to deteriorate simply by being nearby. Reality became heavy. The air became dense. The silence became absolute.
Then another force began to manifest.
It was not demonic energy.
It was not celestial energy.
It was something more fundamental.
More ancient.
Closer to a concept than to a conventional form of power.
The authority of death responded. Vergil felt it immediately.
It was like fitting the last piece of a structure that had remained incomplete for a long time. Something that had always existed within his reach was finally becoming accessible. He understood the origin of that change almost instantly.
"Celeste completed the authority when I visited her with Lucy."
The conclusion came naturally.
Now everything made sense.
Celeste had completed a process that even she probably didn’t fully understand. The consequences of that achievement extended far beyond her. Part of that authority now recognized Vergil as its rightful bearer.
Black chains appeared around his fingers and disappeared again.
Death recognized him.
Not as a servant.
Not as a user.
But as a representative.
The title that had existed only as a possibility finally took concrete form.
The Knight of Death.
Not a legend.
Not a prophecy.
Not a metaphor.
A reality.
The energy before him began to condense.
A gigantic mass of black flames took shape a few meters in front of him. First, something resembling a quadruped animal appeared. The structure resembled a horse, large enough to carry an entire army on its back. The manifestation remained like this for a few seconds.
Vergil observed the creature.
Then he shook his head.
"A horse is useless."
The form began to change immediately.
The structure expanded several times. The legs lengthened. The spine grew. The ribs multiplied. Wings sprouted from its back in an explosion of black flames and demonic energy. The neck became longer. The head acquired reptilian contours. Thousands of purple eyes opened among the flames that composed its body.
The transformation continued until the creature assumed its final form.
A dragon.
Gigantic.
Made entirely of condensed demonic energy, black fire, and the authority of death.
Its presence was as overwhelming as Vergil’s own.
The wings slowly opened and covered kilometers of distance. Dark currents ran through its body like veins. The black flames that formed it burned continuously without ever diminishing in intensity. The thousands of eyes scattered across its structure observed the world in absolute silence.
The dragon lowered its head before Vergil. freēwebnovel.com
"You have grown, Itharine." Vergil spoke, touching the dragon’s head.
"Yes, my master." The voice came from within its head.
"Let’s go." Vergil said, climbing onto it. "Destroy all the floors, up to the 100th."
