"I've had enough of torturing him." Sapphire said as she twirled her sword between her fingers, its crimson glow reflecting off the blades of energy still dancing in the air.
She kicked one of the smoking shards off the floor that had been destroyed during Vergil's battle, which bounced off a still-standing wall.
"Yeah… I'm fed up." Sepphirothy replied, blowing on a silver lock of hair that was now stained red, as if death were just dirt that could be removed with a gesture.
With a snap of her fingers, she enveloped the strands in a thin layer of negative energy, which crackled like black fire, drying the blood.
"His regeneration has increased too much. What a pain in the ass." Vergil's torn body before them had already begun to nd itself. Cracked bones were rearranging themselves, his skin was regenerating with unnatural speed, and his eyes were already beginning to move again. But they weren't Vergil's eyes.
Not anymore.
Sapphire sighed, crossing her arms with a slight shrug. "How long do you think it'll take?"
Sepphirothy watched the creature with a clinical gaze, as if she were evaluating a rebellious lab animal.
"A few hours, maybe. This bastard is persistent... He must be trying to get around so internal limitation. Sothing about mind control, probably increasing the curses to take over the body completely. Not that that would actually happen."
She swung one leg over the other, sitting elegantly on a fallen column, like a bored queen.
"He probably trapped Vergil in a psychic prison... He must be feeding on so deep fear."
Sapphire raised an eyebrow and then, with surgical calm, pulled a small tallic cell phone from her belt. The screen lit up with an electric blue glow as she began to scroll through the contacts.
"Fortunately," he said with a faint, venomous smile, "when I t him, I made sure to prepare him for this sort of thing."
"Ah, yes... Viviane told ." Sepphirothy smiled with the corner of her mouth, her demonic eyes half-closed with nostalgic malice. "You threw him into that putrid lake where he had to be killed by his own wives and even killed them in the process, didn't you?"
"Yes." Sapphire replied emotionlessly, her eyes fixed on the screen of her cell phone, as if it had no more weight than the weather forecast.
"I was cruel, yes. Maybe even unnecessary... even for . But it was a gamble." She shrugged, as if ignoring the sound of a distant lant.
"I risked my daughter's life in the process. But I knew... he would co back."
"Ahhh, that's right, your daughter... You still haven't told her, have you?" Sepphirothy let out a short laugh, dry as distant thunder.
"It's a good thing she bonded with soone like him. She may be a walking problem, but in ti, she'll be simply… invincible." She rested her chin on her crossed fingers, watching Vergil slowly rise to his feet. The crack of regenerating vertebrae echoed like a grotesque march.
Sapphire continued to slide her finger across the screen, the glow of the interface reflecting on her serious face. Each na she passed brought back small mories until finally she stopped. Her thumb remained still over a single na.
She looked at the contact, took a deep breath, and spoke softly. "Okay… let's see if he still answers."
As the body in front of them finished reconstituting itself, the tension in the air grew thick. The demonic energy around it vibrated like a battlefield about to implode. The being inside shifted restlessly, as if finally realizing the mistake it had made in trying to take over that body.
"Hello... co here and bring that." Sapphire's voice was firm, dry, and almost bored. She didn't even wait for a response before she hung up the phone with a sharp snap and tossed it back into her pocket as if nothing else mattered.
Sepphirothy arched a brow in disdain, her arms crossed, her leg dangling slightly over the rubble where she sat.
"Who's calling now?" She asked, her eyes never leaving the unconscious body in front of her—the constantly regenerating heap that had once been Vergil.
"I'm here, Mistress." The answer ca before Sapphire could even open her mouth.
Viola erged from the darkness with the elegance of an obedient shadow, bowing before her mistress like a faithful specter. Her presence was nearly silent, yet utterly lethal… like a velvet-covered dagger.
Sapphire didn't even smile. She simply tilted her chin approvingly. "Did you get that?"
"Yes." Viola held up a small, almost opalescent blue orb that pulsed with icy energy.
The light it emitted seed to blot out the colors around it, as if it carried the weight of eons of pain.
It was the eternal prison of the Platinum Dragon Empress.
Sapphire simply nodded slightly and took the orb.
"Alright. Now go back ho. Tell the others that Vergil has been sealed and that soone is temporarily possessing his body. Don't make a fuss—just say what's necessary. And let them know that I... and his mother... are taking care of it."
Viola bowed even lower, like a knight receiving a divine order.
"Your wish is my command, master." And she disappeared in a purple swirl, leaving a faint scent of dead flowers in the air.
Sepphirothy whistled softly, impressed. "Very useful... but couldn't you have just called Katharina directly?" She was twirling a small stone between her fingers, absentmindedly, but her eyes were sharp.
Sapphire smirked and twirled a finger at her temple, as if to indicate, "Because my daughter is crazy."
And she continued, "Katharina would co here imdiately. She would try to kill anyone who got between her and Vergil. Viola can punch her if necessary. And she won't hesitate."
"Hmmm…" Sepphirothy stretched lazily, her bones creaking.
"Viola is going to deal with all this alone? In that house there's Ada, Roxanne, Katharina herself, Viviane... And in the human world there's still the little wolf, the witch, and the two psychoactive maids. Good luck."
Sapphire let out a carefree sigh. "She'll take care of it. I guess..."
She shrugged, like soone dropping a grenade and hoping it won't explode.
"Great news," Sepphirothy replied sarcastically, leaning back again as her scarlet eyes returned to Vergil's body—now inert, but still pulsing with energy.
"In the anti, our dear guest is still breathing... Tsk."
The sound of elegant footsteps echoed through the cell. "It seems you're done here."
The voice ca steady, full of authority and coldness—Paimon. She erged from the doorway like a controlled storm, her gaze clinical and her aura heavy as lead. She was dressed as always: impeccably, with a sharp and cruel beauty.
"I warned the others about the unexpected. They said you had it under control." His eyes road Vergil's prone body with almost scientific interest. "Half-Angel. Half-Demon. Half-Human."
She paused, then slowly turned to Sepphirothy, her eyes narrowing.
"Judging by the state you're in… You had no idea, did you?"
Sepphirothy's chin arched, her gaze sharpening to a razor's edge. "If I'd known… I would have warned you."
She stood up slowly, each movent exuding pent-up power, like an ancient beast awakening just enough to remind the world why it fears. "Especially considering who I am."
Tension hung for a second.
Even Paimon hesitated, as if a forgotten truth had crept to the surface.
"Well…" Sapphire broke the silence, twirling the orb between her fingers as if toying with fate.
"Now that he's quiet, let's open his head… and see who's inside, shall we?" Sepphirothy slowly crossed her arms, eyes narrowed, staring at the orb in Sapphire's hands as if it were a nest of vipers about to bite soone—preferably her.
"Okay… now what? What's the brilliant plan this ti?"
Sapphire cracked her neck casually, as if preparing for a morning stretch rather than potentially permanently cursing soone with the essence of an ancient entity.
"Simple. If he doesn't co back on his own…"
She held up the blue orb, which pulsed with a dense, unnatural light. "…I'll cast that dragon's soul into his mind."
Paimon, so distance away, just narrowed her eyes.
Silent. Calculating. She watched like a judge who would not prevent the cri and would only record it with elegance.
Sepphirothy choked. Literally. She coughed hard, as if she had inhaled a teor of stupidity.
"ARE YOU CRAZY?!" The scream echoed through the broken cell, the stones vibrating with the intensity.
Sapphire slowly turned her head towards her, with the sa expression as soone choosing shampoo at the market.
"Hm? Well..." She twirled the orb between her fingers, the glow reflecting in her eyes.
"What could go wrong? He's already a freak. If he turns into a dragon, it won't change much."
"You're going to rge the soul of a Nephilim with a god-class dragon empress, Sapphire!" Sepphirothy shouted, already gesturing in an exaggerated way, like a yoga teacher losing her patience with a student who lights up in the middle of class.
"He's already half human, half demon, half angel — what else? Are you going to mix him with a fucking ancient soul of draconic destruction and hope he doesn't blow up the continent?!"
Sapphire shrugged with the naturalness of soone who's just proposed throwing a grenade into a furnace. "He'll survive. He always does."
Her voice was calm, almost sleepy. But her eyes… those were alive. Too alive.
"Sapphire… This isn't an experint." Sepphirothy spoke with wide eyes, taking a step closer, now lower, more restrained, trying to maintain control.
Seeing that Sapphire wasn't going to back down... Sepphirothy sighed.
"Let's wait another two hours. If he doesn't regain control, we'll make him swallow this." Sepphirothy said.
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