Chapter 522: A primordial forgotten by time
The air grew heavy as Vergil spoke the words. Lucifer’s name echoed like a burning blade in that prison, a forbidden reminder of rebellion and ruin.
The creature suspended by the chains trembled, and for a moment its gaze wasn’t just of pain, but of something… human. Memory. Recognition.
“G-grandfather…?” The voice reverberated like muffled thunder. “Um… descendant?”
Vergil’s chin twitched, a cold smile plastered across his face.
“That’s right. Son of Lucifer’s daughter… and Lilith.”
The hall trembled. Not from the chains, not from the magical energy, but from the creature’s presence.
A long sigh echoed throughout the chamber, like a hot wind crossing forgotten deserts. The suffocating aura seemed to waver for a moment.
“Good…” the entity murmured.
Vergil arched an eyebrow. “Good”? What the hell do you mean by that?
The creature slowly shook its head, its golden eyes burning like furnaces.
“It’s good to know… that he sank alone… and didn’t drag our entire race to ruin.”
The words fell like daggers.
Rize’s eyes widened, nearly choking on her own breath. Roxanne opened her daggers tightly, her fingers trembling. Titania wept softly, as if each sentence were an ancestral memory etched into her soul.
Vergil, however, only narrowed his eyes at her, curious.
“Interesting. So you have a grudge against my ancestor.”
The creature sighed again, and then its voice echoed again, firm:
“Who rules… the Underworld now?”
Virgil didn’t hesitate.
“The four archons. But among them, Amun holds the highest title.”
The name reverberated through the walls, and the entity closed its eyes as if relieving centuries of anguish.
“So… my ideals have survived…”
The chains trembled. A latent force coursed through the bound body, causing the runes to explode in sparks of energy.
Vergil felt the pressure immediately, but unlike the others, he didn’t flinch. His smile widened.
“So will you tell me who you are, or will you have to force it out of you?”
The golden eyes glowed intensely.
“No… you don’t deserve to just hear my name… Not in this pathetic form.”
The chains fell to pieces, one by one, shattering like glass under pressure. The runes that had once glowed red and blue extinguished like candles in the wind.
“I must introduce myself… specifically.”
The ground shook.
The chains crumbled into luminous dust. The cracked skin, once gray and disfigured, began to mend, as if a liquid flame were flowing through it, reconstituting muscles, flesh, and curves.
From the chained colossus, a new form emerged. The body began to narrow, the bone structure reshaping itself, revealing a feminine figure. The cracks in her skin released not only light, but also a golden glow that molded itself into fabrics, adornments, and light armor that hugged her curves as if they were part of her.
Her hair—once again diffuse flames—now expanded in long, scarlet waves, falling like cascades of liquid fire. Her eyes were like rubies burning in amber, her pale skin reflecting the golden light of the embers dancing around her.
The trajectory that formed over her body didn’t hide: it enhanced. Liquid gold outlined her waist, her thighs, her shoulders covered by a shimmering white tunic, so thin it seemed about to dissolve into thin air. Black and gold bracelets encircled her arms, and a crown adorned with related flaming fragments sat on her forehead.
The hall, once oppressive, now seemed too small for her.
Vergil stepped forward, completely still, absorbing every detail of this transformation.
Rize, still on her knees, let out a shaky breath.
“This… isn’t just a demon…”
Katharina smiled broadly, her eyes glowing like embers.
“This is perfect.”
The newly freed woman parted her lips. Her voice, once echoing and thundering, now sounded husky, sensual, yet eloquent and gentle. A contrast that sent shivers down even Roxanne’s spine.
“I… am Naberius.”
The name exploded in the hall, vibrating through the stones, coursing through the veins of everyone there. Titania fell to her knees again, her entire body trembling.
“N-naberio?”
Nabério’s eyes sparkled, and for an instant, she shone. An enigmatic smile, full of magnetism, that made everyone there stare at her with fascination and fear.
She took a step forward. Her walk wasn’t just elegant—it was a promise of power, every curve of her body highlighted by the light surrounding her. The entire room seemed to lean around her.
“Centuries… millennia… of oblivion. I have to lose my ideas, my voice, my memories… I had to lose myself.” Her eyes turned to Vergil. “But now I see the flame still alive.”
Vergil crossed his arms, facing her head-on, unbowed by the weight of her presence.
“Naberius… You speak of ideas as if you left a legacy.”
“I did,” she replied, her voice firm yet compelling. “Balance. Oh, knowledge. The survival of the race. While Lucifer plunged into the abyss of his own vanity… I fought for the Underworld to have order.”
Her eyes glowed brighter, and the atmosphere grew hotter, almost suffocating.
“And you, descendants… are proof that my seeds have blossomed.”
Katharina chuckled softly, her blood-stained lips curling in question.
“I like her.”
Roxanne, however, narrowed her eyes suspiciously.
“She might just be playing nice.”
Naberius turned to her slowly, and in his gaze there was both recognition and power.
“Descendant of the Sitri… don’t worry. If I wanted to lie… you wouldn’t live to hear it.”
The tension wasn’t palpable.
Vergil, however, only sent it even further.
“So, Naberius… why did Lucifer betray you?”
The hall fell silent.
Naberius’s face shifted, and for an instant his expression ceased to be merely sensual or mysterious. There was pain there. Memory stabbed like a blade.
“Because I saw… what he would become. And he couldn’t bear it.”
Vergil tilted his head, interested.
“A weakling, then.”
She smiled. A warm, yet dangerous smile.
“No. A god who believed himself absolute… but who didn’t know how to deal with those who dared disagree.”
Her gaze fell on Vergil again, more intense, more intimate.
Then… an attack came with all the strength in the demon’s body, throwing Vergil backward with absolute force.
“VERGIL!”
They screamed, but he… was already laughing.
And he rose from the hole the impact had created in that prison, his blue eyes meeting Neberius’s suns.
“You are the son of the White Primordial. No, she must no longer use that… Sepphirothy… yes, I remember well.” Neberius said, smiling…