Chapter 553: Only the three of us
Vergil’s laughter echoed through the room like muffled thunder, reverberating off the newly decorated walls of the mansion. Kaguya raised an eyebrow, seemingly unsurprised, while Alexa simply blinked several times, as if she didn’t understand the reason for such humor.
He brought his hand to his face, still laughing.
"You guys..." he said between laughs, catching his breath, "really didn’t waste any time."
The air around him trembled slightly as his aura escaped for a moment, as if his own body had reacted to what he’d just heard. His eyes glowed an intense blue as he watched Alexa and Kaguya.
"Twenty-five percent of Alucard..." he repeated, almost savoring every syllable. "That’s more than I expected from you in less than a year."
Kaguya stretched her legs out on the sofa, crossing them with her typical nonchalance, and smirked. "You think you’re the only one who can cause chaos, Vergil? We know how to play too."
"Play?" Alexa interjected, still excited. "That wasn’t a game! It was a bloody hunt. Alucard must be seething with rage by now."
Vergil stopped laughing. His smile faded, becoming more serious, but his eyes still shone with that savage delight he never hid.
"Hm." He moved to the bar in the corner of the room, pouring himself a glass of whiskey. The amber color reflected his aura like flames trapped in crystal. "Alucard will react. He always does. But you cut off too much of his body... and now he’s going to bleed."
Kaguya tilted her head, studying his every move. "You don’t seem worried."
Vergil took a sip, letting the silence answer for a few seconds before turning to face her. "Worried? No. Excited." He smiled. "Every furious enemy is just another step toward their downfall."
Alexa crossed her arms, biting her lower lip. "But... don’t you think this might bring war to your doorstep?"
Vergil looked at her as if he’d just heard a naive joke. Then he walked over to her, placing his hand firmly on her shoulder.
"War, Alexa... it always comes." His voice sounded low, like a restrained growl. "The difference is that now... we choose the battlefield."
The silence that followed was dense, broken only by the cartoon still playing on the TV, completely out of place in the charged atmosphere.
Kaguya let out a short, almost sarcastic laugh. "Hah. You really haven’t changed. Always so sure of yourself, even when the whole world wants to rip your head off."
"It’s not confidence," Vergil replied, turning back to the bar. "It’s certainty."
He refilled his glass, but this time didn’t drink. He stared at the amber liquid, as if seeing far beyond the reflection.
"And tell me..." he said finally, without looking up, "what do you really want from me? You didn’t come here just to watch cartoons in my living room."
Kaguya and Alexa exchanged quick glances. The weight was no longer hidden.
Kaguya was the one who answered, her voice firm, no longer playing games:
"We want to go out on a date with you, of course. We need rewards for the great work."
The silence that followed that sentence was almost comical.
Vergil blinked slowly, his eyes still glowing an intense blue. For a moment, it seemed as if time itself hesitated at Kaguya’s boldness.
Then he lifted his glass of whiskey and drank it all in one go, as if needing to confirm he’d actually heard that.
"A date?" he repeated, his voice slurred, thick with disbelief.
Alexa nodded with such conviction it almost seemed obvious. "Of course! After everything we’ve done, we deserve a reward. And there’s no point in coming here with speeches like ’war always comes’ or ’Alucard will bleed.’ We know how to fight too, Vergil. But..." she crossed her arms, staring at him firmly, "we want more than war."
Kaguya added, with that lazy smile that hid something deeper: "We want time with you. Just the three of us."
Vergil blinked over six hundred times at the sound of "Just the three of us."
"When did these two become... such good friends? Wait, is that even possible? Isn’t this a trap?" He questioned himself as he analyzed, but there was no danger, no lie, and his intuition and instincts didn’t deny it...
Vergil fell silent.
He closed his eyes for a moment, letting out a heavy sigh. "Hm." I come back from months in the forest, find you in my living room watching cartoons... and the first demand you make is... a date?
Alexa tapped her foot impatiently. "It’s not a demand. It’s justice!"
"Justice," Vergil repeated, almost laughing.
Kaguya leaned forward, resting her chin on her palm. "And you know you won’t be able to dodge this, Vergil."
Finally, he let out a low, muffled, but sincere laugh. The kind of laugh that didn’t come from war, or from spilled blood, but from the absurd life that insisted on tangling itself with his destiny.
"You’re not really afraid of me, are you?" he asked, glancing at them both.
"Afraid?" Alexa shrugged. "We’re past that stage."
"Exactly," Kaguya added, flashing a sharp smile. "We’re not afraid. We’re hungry."
Vergil straightened, finally allowing the thought to sink in. He placed his empty glass on the counter, turned, and walked to the sofa, stopping in front of them. His presence filled the entire space, and yet, there was something different in his eyes now: not just the flame of war, but a rare spark of... acceptance.
"Hm," Vergil murmured, his voice low but heavy. "Then we’ll do it your way."
Alexa’s eyes widened in surprise. "You’re saying..."
"A date," Vergil confirmed firmly, almost as if decreeing a sentence. He let the silence weigh heavily before continuing, his blue gaze shining with demonic intensity. "But let me be clear: you said ’just the three of us.’ So it will be the three of us together. Or did you think I would... deal with each one at a time?"
His tone wasn’t a question. It was a challenge.
The air seemed heavy, and they both felt Vergil’s sharp gaze pierce them like a blade. He had already noticed, of course. He knew very well what was happening there.
Yes, they were friends. Or at least they pretended to be. But their friendship had a common thread, and that thread was him.
The atmosphere was shattered when Alexa turned abruptly to Kaguya, nearly stumbling over her own words:
"Hey! Why did you say ’just the three of us’?!"
Kaguya, who had maintained a serene demeanor until then, slowly turned her head, fixing Alexa with an icy glare.
"It was your idea to play the little friends." Her tone was sharp, ironic. "Now rethink your plans, you idiot."
"My idea?!" Alexa pointed at her indignantly. "I just said it would be fun if... if the three of us..."
"Fun?" Kaguya interrupted, letting out a dry laugh. "You really are a child."
Vergil watched the exchange, motionless, but with a wry smile growing at the corners of his lips. To him, this wasn’t confusion. It was confirmation.
"Hm." His voice cut through the air again, deep, filled with inescapable authority. "So this is what you call a union?"
They both froze. Vergil’s demonic gaze intensified, piercing deep, exposing what they both tried to hide.
"Friends?" he continued, taking a step forward. "No. You’re nothing more than predators feeding on the same prey... but without the courage to admit it."
The silence that followed was deafening.
Kaguya looked away for a moment, Alexa bit her lower lip.
Vergil finally let out a low, almost amused laugh and turned toward the hallway.
"Excellent. This is going to be more interesting than I imagined."