Capítulo 65: Chapter 64 - New Training

Despite Marilyn's claim that she was going to train them the first thing she did was give them a week's worth of physical training and tests not including Cebrail whose physical prowess was only possible due to magic. Elmenhilde due to her physical parameters being far above all of them given that she was a Vampire had different training.

It was like hell on Earth for the three girls as they were forced day in and day out to push themselves beyond their limits until they threw up and still had to keep going.

For Cebrail however, it was rather boring given that her aunt was ignoring her so often that she'd go out to do who knows what in the Human World as well as go to school in the Underworld keeping herself quite busy.

Now it was the start of the second week and a few days before Cebrail had to go to Rias' sleepover and she was in Kuoh Town once again looking for something to do.

While she was doing this Reginleif, Tosca, and Elmenhilde were being briefed on their next training method.

"You see, you guys are absolutely pathetic without that niece of mine backing you up. In the grand scheme of things a regular Human with a gun could kill all of you." Marilyn laid in on them as bluntly as possible, not wasting any of her time pulling punches. They were stronger than humans and their equipment wasn't half bad but they were still incredibly weak if you were to compare them to Cebrail. Worse still in the grand scheme of things Cebrail too wasn't that strong so it was a case of being weaker than a weakling at least in Marilyn's eyes.

"Uhh… What about me?" Elmenhilde asks a bit jokingly.

"What about you?" Marilyn questioned sassily. Her tone was clearly quite flippant as though the question was the stupidest thing she had ever heard.

"Right… ahahaha…" Elmenhilde responded, laughing awkwardly as she knew if she pointed out that she could heal from most bullet wounds rather easily, Marilyn would insult her for not taking into account automatic weapons. They could easily hit her enough times so she loses too much blood to continue regenerating.

"Tosca."

"Y-Yes Ma'am!" Tosca stuttered but saluted the woman with great respect. Her mannerisms and temperament were so similar to that of Cebrail's Tosca felt as though she basically had to treat Marilyn with the same respect.

"Do you remember what I told you?"

"YES MA'AM! THERE WILL BE NO SHEEP IN MY HEART ONLY A WOLF! A BIG BAD WOLF!" Tosca shouted like a soldier in line.

"Hm. Hm. That's right. Only wolves are allowed in the heart of a warrior." Marilyn nodded her head in approval. This was the only good thing that has come from being forced into training her niece. All of these little girls were simply so cute.

At the word, "warrior" Tosca's eyes were set ablaze with determination. Cebrail may have said that Tosca didn't really need to do anything for her Tosca still wanted to be of use deep down, she was even already wearing a maid outfit now and had begun learning how to organize Cebrail's room.

It may seem like a simple job but due to the sheer amount of stuff and space it had, it took all the maids working together around three days to organize it all. Even then Cebrail would usually just mess it up again by just throwing more stuff in randomly.

"Reginleif, since Cebrail seems to think highly of your strategic skills and intelligence I'll make you the leader of this training exercise. Consider it extra leadership training so you can keep that stupid girl from just whipping out The Ark like a drunk guy whips out his-" Marilyn pauses and looks at the girls. "*Ahem* Well you know what I mean."

"I was already planning on it."

"And Jeanne we'll be continuing your normal training after they leave so stay here."

"So it's finally time for me to dive deeper into Chaos?" Jeanne says in a deep voice with a hand over half of her face in a traumatic fashion.

The other girls didn't even blink at these strange words, they had already grown incredibly used to the future saint's strange way of acting.

"The training I'll be having you guys do is simple." Marilyn looked at the three girls with her nose pointed up. "You all simply have to defeat Cebrail before she goes to that silly sleepover or whatever."

"What…?" All of them suddenly had empty eyes and said the exact same thing as though Marilyn had just asked them to jump all the way to Pluto then convince people to start calling it a planet again.

"That look, are you already giving up?"

"W-Well it's not that it's just…" Reginleif hesitated, not able to find the words for what she wanted to say.

"What Leif is trying to say is, none of us can beat Cebrail. And I suspect even if all of us went at her together we'd still be completely out matched…" For once Elmenhilde had no lightness in her tone and instead was completely serious, she really didn't think they stood a chance.

"Y-Yeah and I can't p-p-possibly attack Ms. C-Cebrail!" Tosca didn't protest because she thought it was impossible to defeat Cebrail but because it was impossible for her, a loyal subordinate of the girl, to point her weapon at the Seraphim Princess.

"Huhhh?" Marilyn glared at Tosca who let out a small 'eep' and shrank into herself.

"This is exactly why you guys need to defeat her. If all three of you together are weaker than one of her, then all you guys are is dead weight. You are quite literally not even strong enough to make a difference if you ever get into a battle in which my niece is struggling." Marilyn stared down at them as though they were meager insects and spoke in a cold tone but matter-of-fact tone. Her words were the complete truth as well. "You're nothing but grunts."

The last words hit them pretty hard since they were even more true given that Cebrail refused to fight alongside them.

Specifically, both Reginleif and Tosca couldn't help but think about their encounter with Buffy the werewolf. They would have died there and yet the moment Cebrail showed up Buffy seemed like nothing but an ant attempting to stand up to a giant.

A difficult enemy for both of them together was small fry to the Seraphim Princess.

Elmenhilde also thought about Cebrail's fight with Marilyn. Even if she had wanted to help, looking back she would have been a burden and clearly, Cebrail herself knew this since the Angel knocked her out before the second confrontation.

"I see that you understand my words to be the truth. That's good. The first step to growing stronger is the acknowledgment of one's weaknesses." Marilyn complimented them as she understood the three girls were not her apprentice, who was used to her, nor her niece who would take her words completely objectively. "This is why all of you need to defeat my niece together, if you can manage that you'll be far closer than you think to acquiring the strength you desire."

The three girls looked at one another and then Reginleif stepped forward as the one Cebrail left in charge whenever she wasn't around it was her duty to be an example which the others could follow.

"You're right. Sorry for the hesitation Ms. Marilyn." Reginleif said seriously and with great respect.

"Mhm…you all don't have to worry about killing her. Nothing in your arsenals could actually do her in-" Marilyn pauses and looks at Tosca. "Except that spear of yours since it bypasses regeneration. So use a normal spear."

"A-Alright!"

"Well getting beat up by Cebrail doesn't sound too bad~"

"Then it's decided! We'll be hunting Cebrail for the next five days!"

"""Let's go!""" All three of them cheered bringing a small almost imperceptible smile to Marilyn's face.

–

Above watching the girls cheer about hunting the Seraphim Princess was Gabriel herself looking out of a window and couldn't help but let out a long sigh.

"I am unsure if this is a good or bad thing…" Gabriel muttered to herself a bit distressed.

Cebrail's little friends were getting stronger which meant Cebrail would be safer in the long run however Cebrail learning magic was no good at all.

Not just because it was a heretical art, Cebrail could do as many heretical things as she wanted and Gabriel would not bat an eye so long as she was happy and safe.

No, it was also because now it was assured that she would have to confront her father along with his ambitions and the fact was no magic would work on the man. He was given the name Merlin for a reason, being the strongest magician of the current age he could cast spells capable of erasing entire continents with a snap of his fingers and even wield far grander spells if given enough time.

Her Light Power wasn't good enough for her to specialize in and even if it was using it damages her.

"It's a good thing, Lady Gabriel." Adriel said respectfully from the shadows.

"You think so?"

"Indeed. The young miss has always been very intelligent and creative when she puts her mind to something. I'm certain she'll figure out a way to bypass her fathers' immunity to magic."

"Mmm… still… I wish she could find a retainer if she really has to participate in this death game." Though Gabriel said this there was another wish in her heart, a sad wish.

She wished to at least know what her daughter wanted out of Solomon's Game. As she met all of the requirements to be a king candidate which meant that somewhere in her heart she desired to destroy the world.

"She'll tell you when she's ready. Or perhaps she doesn't even know it herself. Children have to find themselves through the path they take."

"I hope so… I hope so Adriel…" Gabriel's worries as a mother were not quieted in the slightest and Adriel knew this. He could only imagine the kind of pain she was in knowing that the love of her life and her precious daughter were destined to fight as only one person could take the empty throne and Merlin was a Human.

A Human with a dream is the most dangerous opponent for any supernatural being. Humans can't give up on their dreams even after they die. That dream gets passed down over and over again until eventually, it comes true.

Merlin was a Human that could not give up on his dream no matter how hard he tried. Gabriel loved that about him, so it's unfortunate that this is what was keeping them from being together as a family like they always wanted.