piratefiction Chapter 817: An anger that burns to the very soul.
Chapter 817: An anger that burns to the very soul.
Victoria didn’t even have time to react.The instant Vergil lifted her by the neck, the difference between them became painfully evident. There was no struggle. There was no resistance. There was no illusion of balance.
There was only power.
A power so overwhelming it seemed to turn everything around into something insignificant.
Vergil’s hand tightened.
Then he threw her to the ground.
The impact made the entire chamber tremble.
Before any of the Sins could process what had happened, he struck her again.
And again.
Each blow made the hall shake.
Cracks in the floor spread in every direction.
Stones plummeted from the ceiling.
The pressure released by his presence made it difficult even to breathe.
Victoria tried to react.
She tried to gather energy.
She tried to summon any ability.
Nothing worked.
Because Vergil didn’t give her time to think.
Much less to fight. When he finally released her, she remained motionless among the rubble.
Defeated.
Unable to continue.
The silence that filled the chamber was worse than any scream.
The Seven Deadly Sins stared at the scene, unable to hide their fear.
It wasn’t just apprehension.
It was terror.
Pure.
Primitive.
Instinctive.
They were looking at someone who had completely surpassed the logic they used to measure strength.
Vergil slowly raised his head.
His eyes scanned the hall.
The temperature seemed to have plummeted.
Even Itharine remained motionless behind him.
Watching.
Waiting.
The black flames surrounding the dragon illuminated the room with a somber light.
Vergil spoke.
His voice was calm.
Too calm.
"Who had the brilliant idea of kidnapping my women?"
No one answered.
No one dared answer.
For a few seconds, only the distant sound of the collapses echoed through the depths of the Abyss.
Then Avarice tried to speak.
Tried.
It was a mistake.
Vergil disappeared.
There was no visible movement.
In one instant he was facing Victoria.
In the next he was facing Avarice.
The difference in speed was so absurd that several present couldn’t even keep up.
Avarice’s eyes widened.
Too late.
The blow struck her abdomen like an explosion.
All the energy accumulated in her body vanished instantly.
Her world seemed to stop.
The air left her lungs.
The pain extinguished any rational thought.
She tried to speak.
Tried to breathe.
Tried to understand.
Nothing came.
Vergil observed her as one observes an insect.
Without compassion.
Without pity.
Without interest.
"I asked a question."
His voice remained low.
Controlled.
Which made her even more frightening.
"You answer."
Greed fell to her knees.
Trembling.
Desperate.
Unable to muster the courage to face him.
Around the room, the other Sins had already lost any remaining confidence.
Gluttony recoiled.
Envy remained motionless.
Sloth seemed unable to decide whether to flee or simply accept her fate.
Vergil turned his gaze to her.
And that was enough.
Sloth immediately paled.
Her body began to recoil on its own.
Instinctively.
Like an animal before a predator.
Vergil began to walk.
Slow.
No hurry.
Each step increased the pressure.
Each step increased the fear.
Sloth fell to a sitting position.
Then she began to crawl backward.
Desperately.
"No..."
Vergil continued walking.
"You like to sleep so much."
One more step.
"Let’s talk."
Another.
"Who had the idea?"
Sloth panicked.
Completely.
Her self-control vanished.
Her pride vanished.
Her courage vanished.
Only survival remained.
She pointed immediately.
With trembling hands.
"It was her!"
Her voice came out almost as a scream.
"It was Envy!"
The entire room froze.
Envy turned her head.
Shocked.
Furious.
But also frightened.
Because she knew exactly what that accusation meant.
Vergil stopped.
Then he looked at her.
That was enough to send a chill down her spine.
He appeared before her.
Without warning.
Without transition.
Without perceptible movement.
His hand gripped her hair.
Lifting her off the ground.
Envy tried to react.
Tried to attack.
Tried to escape.
Tried anything.
Nothing worked.
Vergil watched her with a contempt so deep it seemed physical.
As if her mere existence irritated him.
As if looking at her was already unpleasant.
"Interesting."
His voice remained low.
"So it was you."
Envy tried to answer.
No words came out.
Vergil didn’t seem interested in listening.
Only in judging.
And executing.
The next impact echoed through the chamber.
Then another.
And another.
Those present looked away.
Not because they were incapable of enduring violence.
Everyone there had already committed atrocities.
Everyone was used to war.
But this was different.
Because it didn’t seem like a fight.
It seemed like a sentence.
An execution carried out by someone who had already decided exactly what the outcome would be.
When Vergil finally stopped, the silence returned.
Heavier than before.
More suffocating.
More absolute.
He released Envy.
Her body fell among the rubble.
Too weak to continue.
Vergil didn’t even look at her again.
His interest had already vanished.
He turned his head.
His eyes fell upon Sapphire.
For a brief instant, something changed.
Not much.
But enough.
The fury was still there.
The pressure was still there.
The hatred was still there.
But there was something else.
Worry.
A worry so deep it seemed to fuel all that destruction.
Vergil raised his hand.
A blade of energy surged forth.
Precise.
Controlled.
It pierced the chains that bound Sapphire without harming her.
The shackles shattered instantly.
Her body slumped forward.
Before hitting the ground, a current of energy enveloped her fall.
Softening it.
Protecting her.
Vergil watched for just a second.
As if confirming she was still alive.
Then he repeated the process with Sepphirothy.
The chains broke.
The seals vanished.
The restraints were destroyed.
The silence that followed was almost unbearable.
The remaining Sins watched.
Paralyzed.
Not knowing what to do.
Not knowing where to run.
Not even knowing if escape was still a possibility.
Because now they understood something terrible.
Vergil wasn’t fighting to win.
He had already won the instant he entered that hall.
What was happening now was something else.
It was a reckoning.
It was a consequence.
It was the inevitable result of a terribly wrong decision.
The black flames of Itharine illuminated the environment.
The thousands of eyes scattered across the dragon’s body watched every corner of the fortress.
No escape route remained open.
No hope remained alive.
Vergil turned his gaze to the survivors.
His face remained expressionless.
Which made everything worse.
Because there was no pleasure in it.
There was no satisfaction.
There was no joy.
Only a cold rage.
Deep.
Ancient.
A rage fueled by the fear of having arrived too late.
By the constant thought that he might have lost someone important.
By the possibility of never hearing their voices again.
He stared at each of them.
And the Sins understood.
Finally understood.
They weren’t facing a furious demon.
Nor a warrior.
Nor a king.
They were facing someone who had descended to the bottom of the Abyss driven by a single certainty: That anything responsible for touching his family would cease to exist. And at that moment, observing Vergil’s cold eyes, they all realized exactly the same thing.
The true horror of that situation wasn’t that he had found them. It was that he was only just beginning.
Sephirothy watched the remaining Sins in silence.
The fear they had previously tried to hide was now etched on their faces.
There was no more arrogance.
There were no more plans.
There was no more trust.
Only the belated realization that they had made an uncorrectable mistake.
Vergil remained motionless for a few seconds, observing the destroyed hall.
Then he turned his attention to Sepphirothy.
The suffocating pressure that filled the fortress did not lessen.
But, for the first time since he had arrived, his voice did not carry that hostility directed at those present.
"Take Sapphire."
Sepphirothy raised an eyebrow.
Vergil continued.
"Take War and Conquest as well."
She followed his gaze.
The two Knights remained gravely wounded.
Unable to participate in any combat.
"You will get out of here."
Itharine’s enormous wings moved slowly behind him.
The black flames that coursed through the dragon’s body illuminated the ruins of the chamber.
"Itharine will lead you out of the Abyss."
Sephirothy observed the dragon for a moment.
Then she looked back at Vergil.
She already knew that expression.
She knew it all too well.
That’s why she asked the question that really mattered.
"And you?"
Silence filled the room.
The remaining Sins also looked at him.
Because they wanted to hear the answer.
Even though they already suspected it.
Vergil glanced at them.
Just a brief movement.
But it was enough to make several of them freeze again.
Then he answered.
"I will recover all the Authorities of the Sins."
His voice remained calm.
Cold.
Controlled.
Like someone announcing a common task.
But the effect of those words was immediate.
The faces of the Sins paled.
Because they understood exactly what it meant.
He wasn’t talking about defeating them.
Nor about imprisoning them.
Nor about making them retreat.
He was talking about completely erasing everything they represented.
About stripping them of what made them the Seven Deadly Sins.
About ending that story once and for all.
Sephirothy remained silent.
Not even she tried to argue.
Because she realized the same thing as everyone else.
Vergil had already made his decision.
Nothing would change that.
Behind him, the demonic miasma began to move.
The living mass of darkness, filled with countless red eyes, slowly emerged like a black tide.
The eyes opened simultaneously.
Watching.
Waiting.
Hungry.
The mere presence of that thing made the environment seem darker.
Heavier.
More hostile.
Vergil took a step forward.
The Sins instinctively recoiled.
No one wanted to be near him.
No one wanted to be the next target of his attention.
The miasma expanded behind his back.
Like a creature awaiting an order.
Like a predator watching already doomed prey.
Vergil didn’t take his eyes off the survivors.
His face remained expressionless.
There was no satisfaction.
There was no pleasure.
Only a cold determination.
Relentless.
Then he spoke one last time before advancing.
"Take them out of here."
Sepphirothy held his gaze for a few seconds.
Then nodded.
No jokes.
No taunts.
No comments.
Because even she understood the gravity of that moment.
She began to move towards Sapphire.
"You wanted a war? Very well. You got it."