章 10: Agares.
"Come here!" he roared, a sound that was not entirely human, and charged with all his might.
But Leon was ready...
The exorcist blocked the attack with his blade, easily deflecting the blow, and then countered with a powerful punch that struck Vergil in the stomach.
The force of the blow made Vergil spit out blood as his body was thrown backward, crashing through another cabinet and slamming into a wall.
"Bleehehh" Vergil vomited more blood as his body seemed to be completely shattered...
'No way...' he thought as he tried to focus properly... He had never felt such pain before... 'I'll never make it... Damn...'
The pain was so intense he didn't even know how he was still alive, but it was obvious... it was that feeling inside him... that bad feeling, that tingling in every part of his body.
It was the regeneration he had...
"I'm surprised, your regeneration is greater than any demon I've ever encountered," Leon admitted, stepping through the hole in the wall, brushing off the dust by waving his hands.
'This guy... he's not even trying to kill me and still mocks me...' Vergil had already noticed...
It was pointless... Nothing... He could try, but he already knew the result... 'I won't die without fighting to the end, even if it's completely useless'
As his body healed, he felt a stranger tingling... It was warm, as if it passed through his whole body and stopped at his heart.
'This...? What is this?' He didn't understand well, it was like an electric current, and not just one, but four... 'Is this... Demonic Energy?' he murmured, not even knowing if it really existed, but following the concepts he knew from manga and anime, novels, and such...
A demon has demonic energy, right?
'And if I...' he murmured, using his thoughts to try to direct the pathways...
'!!!'
He managed it, he directed all the energy to the damaged parts... 'I swear, if this works...'
'!!!'
'It worked!' He felt his whole body healing even faster. 'I... was regenerating passively? If I use this energy... does it speed up?'
All these thoughts passed in a microsecond, just the time it took for Leon to walk up to him and stand in front of his body.
"You..." Leon said upon seeing Vergil scared and curious as he looked at his wounds healing almost instantly...
'A freak... I have to eliminate him.' Leon thought, 'He was healing unconsciously, now with consciousness... This man...'
Leon approached slowly, his blade gleaming dangerously. He seemed to savor the moment, each step calculated to prolong Vergil's pain.
"You're finished," Leon said, his voice cold and final. "There's no point in fighting anymore. Accept your fate, demon."
Vergil, still panting and covered in blood, looked up, his eyes burning with hatred as his body healed. "I... will... never... give up," he murmured, trying to stand up again.
Leon sighed, as if dealing with a stubborn child. "Then so be it," he said, raising his blade to deliver the final blow.
But before he could strike, Vergil, in one last act of desperation, gathered all his remaining energy and lunged forward.
He had no plan, only the blind determination to fight until the end.
His fists flew towards Leon, but the exorcist easily dodged, spinning and using the momentum to grab Vergil by the neck.
Vergil tried to fight back, but Leon's strength was overwhelming.
The exorcist lifted him off the ground, holding him by the neck with one hand while the other held the blade poised for the final strike.
"Hasta la vista," Leon said, but before he could deliver the blow, he changed his mind.
Instead, he used all his strength to hurl Vergil towards the second floor of the building, like a sack of rotting potatoes.
Vergil felt the world spin around him as he was thrown upward with supernatural force. He crashed through the hallway ceiling, breaking beams and walls in the process.
His body finally came to rest on the building's roof, covered in debris and blood. The pain was unbearable, each breath a struggle.
He tried to move, but each attempt was met with a searing pain that ran through his body.
Leon, meanwhile, was in no hurry. He calmly ascended the stairs, his gaze always fixed on the direction where Vergil had been thrown.
"So naive." He murmured, seeing the man sitting on the ground among the debris, like a throne of trash, drenched in his own blood.
Vergil's once grayish-white hair was now dark red, covered in dust.
"Hm... it seems you didn't have time to learn to control Demonic Energy; truly, you were a newborn," Leon said, observing Vergil motionless and nearly unconscious.
"You are different," Leon murmured, more to himself than to Vergil. "You are not like the other newborns. Most of them barely survive their first contact with an exorcist, but you... you have something more, something that seems to have been wasted."
Leon knew what was before him: a High-Blood Demon. It was rare to find one, especially outside a clan.
These demons had immense potential from birth, their innate abilities far surpassing those of common demons. Yet, here was Vergil, without a clan, without direction, without control.
A raw talent, but lacking the polish needed to truly threaten someone like Leon.
"What a waste," Leon murmured again, raising the golden blade above his head. "But I can't allow a demon like you to live. You might become a threat, and that... I cannot allow."
Vergil, still panting, tried to move, but his body wouldn't respond. He knew he was on the brink of death, that there was no escape. Leon's blade shone, ready to fall and end it all.
But before the blade could descend, something unexpected happened.
A feminine, elegant, and strong hand grabbed Leon's wrist, interrupting his motion.
The exorcist looked to the side, surprised, and his eyes met the figure of a woman.
She was stunning, with red hair cascading down to her hips, flowing like a river of fire.
Her eyes were deep, shimmering with a mix of charm and danger. She wore modern leather attire that clung provocatively to her sculptural body, accentuating every curve. There was something about her that radiated power and confidence, a presence that even rivaled Leon's.
"I think he's suffered enough," she said, her voice smooth but laden with authority. She held Leon's wrist firmly, but effortlessly, as if she were holding something trivial.
'High-Blood Demon!' He felt the pressure run through his veins; she was not ordinary, no, she was destruction...
Leon looked at her with suspicion. "Who are you?" he asked, trying to pull his arm away, but the woman did not yield. In fact... he couldn't move a single muscle...
"Not important," she said, smiling.
Leon furrowed his brow, uncomfortable with the confidence the woman displayed. He knew he couldn't underestimate her, but at the same time, he didn't like being challenged in this way. "You're interfering with the Church's affairs," he warned, trying again to free his arm.
The woman simply laughed, a melodious sound that contrasted with the tension of the moment. "The Church? I don't care about your rules. And deep down, you know this isn't a request, is it?"
Leon narrowed his eyes. He could feel the power emanating from her, a power that was different from Vergil's but equally dangerous.
'Demonic Energy...' Still, he was not willing to back down so easily. "If you know who I am, you know I can't leave an unaligned demon alive."
"And what if I told you he is from my clan?" she retorted, her voice taking on a more serious tone. "He hasn't found his place yet, but I intend to show him. So, why don't you spare us an unnecessary confrontation and leave?"
Leon hesitated, his mind calculating the possibilities.
The woman before him was not an ordinary person; that was obvious.
And although his mission was to exterminate demons, something told him that facing her here and now would not yield the results he desired. Besides, there was something in the way she referred to Vergil... as if she had some plan for him, something the exorcist couldn't decipher.
Finally, Leon sighed and lowered his blade but kept his gaze fixed on the woman. "This isn't over," he said. He yanked his arm roughly, freeing himself from her grip, and turned to face her directly, his expression hardened.
However... fighting against his instincts, he couldn't...
"I can't leave a demon alive, and you won't stop me." The woman maintained an enigmatic smile on her lips.
"Are you okay, Darling?" she asked from a distance, her voice now filled with an unexpected gentleness.
Vergil tried to speak, but his voice failed. He could only manage a small nod, feeling a wave of exhaustion overtake his body. At least he could sit in the debris, watching that woman...
'So perfect...'
There was a calmness in her gaze that seemed to mock the tension Leon tried to impose.
Without hesitation, he charged, swinging his golden blade in a deadly arc toward her neck.
The strike was quick and precise, but before the blade could reach its target, she moved.
It was an almost imperceptible motion, a smooth and fluid slide that made it seem as though she simply materialized in another position.
Leon felt the air shift around him, and then, in an instant, she was behind him.
"So... you have ten seconds," she said, her voice dripping with sarcasm, but he shivered at the coldness.
Leon spun, trying to attack again, but she was no longer there. Instead, he felt something tightening around his throat.
She had grabbed him by the nape, lifting him as if he were a child. Leon's eyes widened, not just from the crushing strength, but from how easily she had neutralized his attack.
"Since my lovely husband is watching..." she remarked, now holding him above the ground. "I'll show off a bit…"
Leon struggled to breathe, his mind racing for a way out.
He gathered all the energy he had left into a holy energy blast, firing a burst from his palm towards her face.
But the woman simply turned her head, letting the energy pass harmlessly to the side.
"Cute," she said, tightening her grip even further. "But it's so useless."
Desperate, Leon tried to use the blade again, but she was already tired of the game. With an almost imperceptible movement, she hurled Leon against the nearest wall, the force of the impact causing the concrete to crack and break around him.
Leon tried to rise, coughing blood as his desperate eyes tried to focus on her. He couldn't understand what was happening. She was far more powerful than any demon he had ever faced. There was no logic to it, no way for him, a trained exorcist, to be so completely overpowered.
"W-what clan..." he questioned, seeing the woman still smiling at him.
"You're weak," she said as she slowly approached, ignoring him. Her steps echoed in the room as she watched Leon, who was trying to regain his strength but had none left.
"No matter how much faith you have, or how pure you think you are... before me, you are nothing."
Leon, desperate, fired one last blast of energy, but she raised her hand, stopping the energy as if it were a light breeze.
With a simple movement, she reversed the force of the attack, sending Leon flying through the roof, his body crashing through the debris and landing back on the ground with a deafening thud.
He felt his entire body burning with pain, but before he could even process what was happening, she was on top of him, looking down with a mix of pity and disdain.
"You shouldn't underestimate someone like me," she said, her voice now colder. "You don't know who you're dealing with."
"But you know... I liked you... You helped me a lot, you know?" she whispered, lifting her foot and pressing it down on Leon's chest with enough force to make his ribs creak.
"URRRRGGTT!!" The exorcist screamed in pain, feeling the crushing pressure as the woman increased the weight on him.
Leon tried to summon more holy energy, but she just laughed, leaning closer. "Keep trying, little exorcist," she murmured. "I only had fun with you because you're a bit stronger than the others, but... in the end, you're just another weak human."
With one final look of disdain, she withdrew. She observed Leon, now incapable of fighting, crushed both physically and spiritually.
"I'll let you live for now because we are not enemies just yet," she said, taking a step back. "But remember this: never interfere in matters beyond your understanding. Next time, I won't be so... merciful... That will depend on my husband, of course."
She said this with a smile as she walked towards Vergil, who had already understood... She was one of them...
"What's your clan?!" Leon questioned, using his remaining strength. The woman stopped immediately and turned to him, "Agares," she replied.
Leon's whole body trembled... the name...
"Katharina Agares," she said, smiling as she turned to Vergil. "And you've just beaten my dear husband," she continued, still smiling. "I hope my mother doesn't hear about you, little demon exterminator."
Her smile was as terrifying as the end of the world...
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<Author's Note>
Hey, remember to use your Golden Tickets and Power Stones to help the work reach new heights!
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