My Wives are Beautiful Demons

Chapter 844: You’re taking all the fun out of it.

Sapphire continued guiding his movements for some time, but the conversation did not leave the room. It was present in every correction, in every silence, every time Vergil repeated a sequence without clearly answering whether he would take her or not. The spear cut through the air with more precision now, and his posture was already adjusting better to the weapon, but Sapphire was not paying attention only to technique. She was watching the way he thought. Vergil became more silent when an answer began to form, and she knew that well."You are almost saying yes," she commented.

Vergil spun the spear and rested it against the floor. "I am almost saying there may be a situation where your presence would be useful."

Sapphire smiled. "For you, that is practically a declaration of love."

"Do not exaggerate."

"My husband considers me useful in Tartarus. I am moved."

Vergil stared at her.

She took a step toward him, her expression still teasing, but her eyes serious. "I am not asking you to release me in the middle of Tartarus like a hungry beast, Vergil. I am asking you not to exclude me from a war that struck me too. If Cronos or any other Titan is being used as an anchor, I can help identify the most brutal way to break that connection."

"Brutal does not mean correct."

"But sometimes it is efficient."

"And sometimes it opens a larger crack."

Sapphire accepted the answer with a small movement of her head. "That is why I told you to help me do it properly."

Vergil was silent for an instant, then walked to a side bench where other weapons were arranged. He placed the spear on the stand and ran his fingers over the shaft, as if still weighing both the training and the conversation at the same time. Sapphire remained in the center of the room, watching him with patience. Rare patience, but dangerous all the same, like that of someone who would wait only until the right moment to insist again.

"You would need preparation," he said.

Her smile immediately returned.

"I knew it."

"Do not celebrate."

"I am celebrating on the inside."

"You are celebrating on the outside."

"A little."

Vergil turned to her. "If I even consider taking you, Seris will review any seal connected to your soul first. If there is any risk of Cronos using your ambition as an opening, you stay."

Sapphire did not like the condition, but she did not immediately contest it. "Accepted."

"Viviane and Morgana will analyze it too."

"Accepted."

"Sepphirothy will examine your spiritual structure."

Sapphire’s expression hardened for a fraction of a second, not from total rejection, but from ancient pride. Still, she breathed slowly and nodded. "Accepted."

Vergil narrowed his eyes. "You accepted too quickly."

"Because I want to go."

"And because you are already planning how to convince Sepphirothy."

"That too."

"If she says no?"

Sapphire held his gaze. "Then I will hate the answer and listen anyway."

That seemed to surprise him more than any previous declaration.

She noticed and smiled more calmly. "I said I am more in love, Vergil. Not more stupid. If I want to stay at your side, I need to know when my desire can make me vulnerable. I do not like it, but I understand."

Vergil approached again. "And if I say no?"

Her smile lessened, but did not disappear. "Then I will be furious."

"That is all?"

"I will train until I destroy half this room, call you an overprotective idiot for a few hours, maybe days, and then look for another way to become stronger." She tilted her head. "But I will not betray your trust by opening a path alone."

Vergil observed her for several seconds.

The answer was honest. And that was enough.

He raised his hand and touched her face. Sapphire closed her eyes for an instant, immediately leaning into the touch, as if that small caress mattered more than any argumentative victory. Her intensity truly was different. There was less distance, less defense. She wanted to be touched, wanted to be recognized, wanted to be chosen, and did not seem ashamed of it.

"You changed," he said.

"I came back."

"That is not the same thing."

Sapphire opened her eyes. "No. It is not."

For a moment, neither of them said anything. The training room grew quiet except for the low sound of the regenerative runes on the walls, erasing old marks from strikes. Sapphire brought her hand to his, holding it against her own face.

"When I faced that old version of myself," she said, more softly, "I thought I would need to kill her. Take her power back, crush everything I had been, and come out stronger. But that is not what happened. I had to accept that woman was me. The ambition, the violence, the pride, the envy, all of it. And I also had to accept that loving you did not make me weak. I allowed myself to become complacent because I was happy for the first time in a very long time."

Vergil listened without interrupting.

"Now I am still happy," Sapphire continued. "But I no longer want happiness to become distraction. I want to love you with everything I am. And everything I am includes wanting enough power to never fall so easily again."

Vergil brushed his thumb over her skin. "You did not fall easily."

"I fell enough."

He did not argue, because he knew she would not accept false comfort.

Sapphire took a deep breath and let his hand slide down to her chest, holding it there for a moment. "So, if there is a real chance to take something from the Titans without putting everyone at risk, I want to try. Not out of vanity. Not only for revenge. But because this world is becoming too large for weakness."

Vergil held her gaze. "Weakness is not failing once."

"I know."

"It does not seem like it."

"I am learning."

He was quiet for a few seconds, then nodded slowly. "Then learn before trying to devour Cronos’s heart."

Sapphire laughed softly, and this time there was relief in the sound. "That was almost permission."

"It was a condition."

"I accept conditions when the reward is worth it."

"Are you talking about Cronos’s heart or me?"

She moved closer, wrapping her arms around his neck. "Yes."

Vergil released a sigh, but did not move her away.

Sapphire smiled against him, satisfied, and rested her forehead against his chest for a few seconds. Her possessiveness no longer came only as provocation. It was contact, presence, the desire to mark that she was there and had no intention of moving away. Vergil passed one hand over her back, accepting the embrace without hurry.

"You know the others will want to go too," Sapphire said.

"I know."

"Aphrodite will worry because Olympus is involved."

"Yes."

"Seris will want to accompany us to study the Outer Sepulcher."

"Unfortunately."

"Sepphirothy will pretend it is for strategy, but she will want to watch Nyx."

"Probably."

"Lilith will want to stop everyone."

"With reason."

Sapphire raised her face. "And Katharina?"

"She will try to escape training by using the crisis as an excuse."

Sapphire smiled dangerously. "She will not succeed."

"I imagined so."

"By the way, she needs to train against a real spear. You should help."

Vergil narrowed his eyes. "Are you trying to turn my decision about Tartarus into an excuse to train Katharina?"

"I am trying to solve two problems at the same time."

"That is cruel."

"That is motherhood."

Vergil almost smiled, but held it back.

Sapphire noticed anyway. "You found it funny."

"A little."

"I will consider that support."

"It was not."

"It was enough."

She finally stepped away, but only enough to take another spear from the stand. The weapon seemed better suited to her, with a reddish shaft and a tip ornamented by golden lines. Sapphire spun it once, and the movement was so natural that the room seemed to recognize the true owner of that technique.

Vergil watched.

Sapphire assumed a stance before him. "Now you are going to train with me."

"I was already training."

"No. You were practicing movements. Now you are going to learn against someone who knows how to use a spear properly."

Vergil picked up his own weapon again. "Confident."

"I always am."

"That has caused you problems before."

"And also given me many victories."

She advanced without warning.

Vergil blocked the first strike with the shaft, but Sapphire had already expected that. She spun the spear underneath, changed the angle, and attacked his side with absurd speed. Vergil retreated half a step, narrowly dodging, and the tip of her weapon scratched the air where his rib would have been. The movement was clean, technical, and aggressive. Unlike many warriors who used strength to compensate for flaws, Sapphire used precision to force the enemy into making flaws that did not yet exist.

"You talk too much when you want to distract," Vergil said.

"And does it work?"

"No."

She smiled. "Liar."

The next exchange was faster. The spears clashed in a dry sequence, metal against metal, shaft against shaft, tip against defense. Vergil was superior in raw power, reflexes, and overall control, but Sapphire had an intimacy with that weapon that turned every centimeter of reach into a threat. She forced him to use the spear as a spear, not as a substitute for Yamato. If he tried to dominate with strength, she slipped off axis and attacked his base. If he tried to cut the distance with speed, she controlled the space before he could enter.

Gradually, Vergil began to adjust.

Sapphire noticed and smiled even more.

"Good," she said. "Now you are listening to the weapon."

"You make it sound mystical."

"It is not mystical. It is intimacy."

"With the weapon?"

"With everything you intend to dominate."

The answer came with a look far too direct, and Vergil understood she was not speaking only of the spear. Sapphire advanced again. He parried, spun the shaft, and tried to pin her against the wall. She escaped underneath, passed far too close to his body, and struck the lower part of the spear behind his leg, trying to unbalance him. Vergil reacted in time, planted his foot, and grabbed her shaft with his free hand.

The two stopped close.

Very close.

Sapphire was breathing faster, but she was smiling.

"You improved," she said.

"You tried to knock me down."

"I still can."

"You may try."

Her eyes gleamed. "Do not provoke me."

"I am only training."

"Liar."

She pulled the spear, but Vergil did not release it. For an instant, the contest of strength was locked between them. Then he let go on purpose, and Sapphire nearly advanced more than she intended. Vergil used her movement to spin, pass behind her, and place his own spear near her neck without touching.

Sapphire went still.

Then laughed.

"That was dirty."

"It was efficient."

"You are learning from me."

"Then it is your fault."

She turned slowly, without moving away from the blade. "My husband learns quickly."

The word returned carrying that same possessive weight.

Vergil lowered the spear. "Are you going to keep speaking like that?"

"Yes."

"For how long?"

"Until I get tired of it."

"And will that happen?"

"No."

Vergil accepted the answer as one accepted a new inevitable condition of life.

Sapphire then approached and adjusted the collar of his clothes again, though nothing was out of place. "When you decide about Tartarus, I want to be in the room."

"You will be."

"And I want my proposal to be discussed, not discarded."

"It will be discussed."

"And I want you to tell the others that I am the best option to deal with any awakened Titan."

Vergil looked at her. "That is debatable."

Sapphire tightened his collar with a dangerous smile. "Not very."

"Sepphirothy may disagree."

"She may try."

"Lilith too."

"Lilith will complain about everything because she is mother to both of us. That is normal."

"Aphrodite will call this insane."

"Aphrodite is right about many things and wrong about this."

"Seris will want to study first."

"Seris always wants to study first."

Vergil was silent for an instant. "And me?"

Sapphire’s expression softened slightly. "You will want to protect me."

"Yes."

"Then protect me by letting me become strong enough to return with you."

The sentence was simple.

And because of that, difficult to refute.

Vergil looked at the spear in his hand, then at Sapphire. "You will have to obey my orders inside Tartarus."

She opened her mouth.

He continued before she answered. "No creative interpretation. No deciding an opportunity is worth more than the mission. No advancing alone. No touching anything connected to Cronos without my authorization."

Sapphire grimaced. "You are taking away all the fun."

"Yes."

"Cruel."

"Responsible."

"Horrible word."

"Necessary."

She sighed, but there was victory in her eyes. "Accepted."

Vergil narrowed his eyes again. "You are accepting too easily."

"Because you just used ’inside Tartarus’ as if my presence were a real possibility."

He realized it too late.

Sapphire smiled.

Vergil closed his eyes for an instant. "You are impossible."

"And in love."

"That too."

She seemed to like the confirmation very much. She approached, touched his face with one hand, and kissed him briefly, but firmly. It was not a long distraction, nor a theatrical gesture. It was a mark. Then she stepped back with the same satisfied smile.

"Now," she said, raising the spear again, "one more sequence. If you are going to enter a place where the exit may not exist, I am not going to let my husband use a spear like a lazy swordsman."

Vergil looked at her for several seconds.

Then assumed position.

"Again, then."

Sapphire smiled like a war queen receiving exactly what she wanted.

"Again."