It was a typical morning, one of more than three hundred and fifty since we had settled in Kuo. The holidays were over and classes were about to start.
During all the time I had spent in this city, I had come to regret getting involved in all this. Sazex, a demon, couldn't get away with just evil deeds; he had to pay much more for this! I can't say it was all bad, but I felt like I was constantly being watched. And if it were just ordinary mortals, that would be fine, but no, the two kings of this city (or so they think) were obsessively trying to drag me and my sister into their clubs.
Okay, Rias, judging by the looks on their faces, I just caught their eye as a cute peer who didn't look at her like an object of desire, hence the interest. But why is Sona so persistent? I don't believe she has the same reason as Rias, she's not that kind of person... demon. But, thanks to random luck, I managed to find excuses by hook or by crook. This year, judging by the body language of the heiresses' entourage, they will take up recruitment with renewed vigour and enthusiasm.
But we will no longer have any reason to hide, because the fallen ones will appear, Koki-chan with Excalibur and Raiser. Sazex, judging by the hints in our conversations, wants to use me to break off his sister's engagement. In principle, I'm not against it, but I'll take the payment up front.
"Wake up and sing, ma chérie," a sweet voice whispered to me, "the early bird catches the worm," the speaker's laugh was like the ringing of bells.
With difficulty, I opened my eyes after a heavy night of calculations for the next ritual and looked around the room with a dazed gaze, but saw no one. The use of detection magic also yielded no results.
"Oh, oh, don't look for me, I'm where you least expect to find me," and again that ringing laughter.
"Who are you?" I asked, preparing the Spear of the Sun. "Show yourself and we'll talk, peacefully. That is, if you came here with peaceful intentions."
"Ha ha, talk about peace while holding a weapon? Although I can't see it, I can feel the light it carries. You are a true demon to use something like that. Something that can destroy the soul. I like you already.
"And yet, who are you and where are you? Since you haven't attacked yet, you either came in peace or are preparing to strike when I'm not ready...
"Or," my interlocutor interrupted me, "I don't want to attack at all." Hearing my grunt, the invisible continued, "Yes, imagine that, it happens. What kind of paranoid are you, expecting an attack from everyone?
"Don't change the subject, answer my questions.
"And you dive into your subconscious," — it hit me like a bolt of lightning, — "It's sooo interesting here. How long has it been since you've been here?
"Drag, please enlighten me, what the hell is inside me besides you, be kind. — I asked, sinking into my subconscious and trying to find someone, anyone. But there wasn't even a dragon, who always greeted me.
"You're interesting, son of a bitch, you're clearly not my brother's descendant," a voice behind me chuckled. But when I looked back, I saw no one. "You have a very interesting story, Virgil, or should I say Third?
"Hmm, you figured it out, so you're in the system. Otherwise, you wouldn't have been able to get this information. — I scratched my chin, relaxing, because the protective protocols of my artefact would save me from the intruder. My father protects his assets."You caught on quickly," — a human figure began to appear in front of me, glowing brightly but not blindingly, "Allow me to introduce myself, I am your uncle, Morning Star.
"F***," I exhaled, taking a step back, "You're dead, that's impossible, you f***, and you f***, and then you f***, how the f*** can that be possible! The stream of profanity coming out of me was unstoppable. I swore for a long time with relish, remembering everything I knew, in order to convey the depth of the psychological wound that this highly respected individual had inflicted on me with his appearance.
The dragon's loud laughter brought me out of my state of shock, and as soon as he landed, he burst out laughing again.
"Oh, I can't, I told you you'd like him.
"You redskin, why didn't you warn me about the new guests?!" I pointed an accusing finger at Ddraig.
"I didn't know what happened for a long time myself. Just at one point, after your transformation into a demon and energy adjustment were complete, a soul entered the body, but it was absorbed by the artefact. It's incredibly voracious.
"It was months ago, and you didn't bother to warn me about the strange things happening to me?
"Hey, don't blame me, I'm not a mage or an artefact maker, I don't know anything about this kind of thing. Besides, your mechanism is completely beyond my understanding, I didn't know if it was normal or not." He turned away, looking annoyed. "It didn't manifest itself, so I forgot about it as an insignificant detail."
"Now that's hurtful," the light emanating from the figure became less intense, allowing me to examine my companion.
And there was something to look at. Perfect skin, face and body shape, proportions. It was all so beautiful that I started to think about my sexual preferences. Brr, it even scared me. Eyes the colour of the bluest ice looked at me with warmth and a hint of playfulness, you could drown in them forever, they were like an abyss that wouldn't let you look away. And the hair, curling in perfect ringlets that fell to his shoulders, was the colour of the sun itself.
Damn it, if I keep looking at him, I'll fall in love for sure.
"Oh, my dear descendant," the First's voice became even sweeter, sounding more and more like a woman's, "If you continue to devour me with your eyes like that, I will have to take responsibility.
"Me?" I managed to say with a dry throat.
"No, silly, me," Lucifer ran his hand through my hair. "But enough staring, wake up."
"I can't...
"You can, just want it.
But how? I love looking at him, his face, his body, drowning in those eyes... But a tingling sensation in my heart distracted me. Looking down, I admit it took a titanic effort, I saw my own artefact piercing my chest.
"What is it?
"Amazing," exclaimed the first fallen one, whose beauty was no longer so attractive to me. "An artefact that allowed you to suppress the divine will! Who is your father? I never found that out from your memories." He turned to me.
"No idea," I shrugged, trying to pull out my weapon. "So what are you doing here? And what is this divine will?
"The will of the Biblical one, which he put into my essence so that I would be the most beautiful of all, the embodiment of HIS desires. But there was a side effect to this 'blessing': everyone who saw me couldn't take their eyes off me until I left. And when I became a demon, those who looked at me began to feel lust. Your mechanism was able to suppress this influence, even though it had to directly affect your soul.
"Hmm, that's clear, but what about the first question?" — Why won't it come out, you fucking spear?!
"My soul, like the souls of all seraphim and archangels, returns to heaven, to the System, after the death of the body. Regardless of whether they fell, became demons or not. But," he raised his finger instructively, "we must wait for rebirth into a new body. And since my Father has passed away, there was nowhere for our bodies to appear. There was no one to create them. And after your experiment to implant my genes, the purest ones, into yourself, you became my descendant... almost... I was transferred into you. But your spear prevented me from taking over the body, absorbing my soul.
"What do you mean, almost?
"You are literally my clone, especially after I woke up and my energy began to feed your body. Of course, it won't give you any extra strength, but it can improve your body and bring your work to its logical conclusion. Now you are me. Are you happy?" He fluttered his long eyelashes playfully.
"I don't really care, if there are no bonuses, then there's nothing to be happy about. — I shrugged, — Unless there are problems if they find out about me. By the way, why are you so calm? Logically, you should be tearing your hair out after such a failure, but here you are, calm as a Buddha.
"You try sitting locked up for God knows how many years," I crossed my arms discontentedly, "and in the System, time feels different. It feels like a couple of tens of thousands of years have passed for me. There's no one to talk to, and you can't go crazy! The System won't let me! That biblical beast screwed me over here. But I had plenty of time to think and work on my mistakes, and that's why I'm different now!" Lucifer raised his hands. "You could say I started a new 'life', even if it's in your artefact. Ddraig is somehow surviving," he laughed at the dissatisfied growl of the suitcase.
"Damn, I don't even know how to get rid of you if I need to," I said to myself. "Well, you can't hurt me anyway, so another companion will be useful. Especially in a two-on-one sparring match where it's every man for himself.
"You're right, kid," the dragon forgot his resentment and began to prepare for battle. "Then let's start training! You need a smart opponent with experience, and this winged amoeba will be just right for you.
"Pride of the dragon," sighed the amoeba, "have you forgotten how we chopped you and Albion to pieces?
"Grr, no, get ready to get your ass kicked, feathered chicken. I've wanted to stick that spear in you for a long time," the dragon exhaled a jet of fire at the archangel.
"So it 'hit a nerve'?" Apparently, it hit a very sensitive spot, because the red one became even more enraged.
"I'll eat you! I'll burn your soul, you'll beg for mercy!" Apparently, this is very personal. I think I'll get out of here before it gets to me. I think I heard Issa's scream. Hmm, maybe the dragon's flame hit him. Oh well, screw him.
Waking up again in my bed, I stretched and continued to lie there with pleasure, not wanting to leave the cosy confines of my bed. My thoughts flowed smoothly from the realisation that Lucifer, whom I had almost fallen in love with, forgive me Lord, lived inside me, to my complete transformation into his clone. In theory, this shouldn't be profitable, but who knows.
"Virgil," my mother called me from the first floor, "Stop sleeping, you'd better sit with us instead of working on your drawings.
Oh yes, with all the commotion surrounding the last ritual I was developing, I had started to spend less time with my family. Not much, but it was noticeable. Especially compared to how it used to be. So, deciding that today I would devote to my relatives, my legs carried me to the bathroom.
"Woo-hoo," I jumped onto the sofa, hugging Akeno in mid-air and landing smoothly on her lap, "Today I'm all yours. As compensation for my bad behaviour, you can do whatever you want."
Shuri exchanged glances with her daughter, and a silent dialogue passed between them, resulting in their eyes glinting menacingly at me.
"In that case," my sister smiled sweetly, "then we'll go shopping. And you're not allowed to stray more than five metres from us.
My eyes filled with pain and despair. I hated shopping trips even more than going to the academy. It seemed to me that Lilith had invented them to annoy her beloved. What a terrible woman!
"Don't talk like that about my wife," the fallen angel said to me. "She may have come up with many different tortures, but she wasn't that cruel."
"You're right," I sighed to myself. "All right," I said aloud, "I pray to the gods that our budget can withstand this."
"Wonderful," Shuri kissed me.
And about an hour later, I was standing in the women's clothing department, holding a pile of clothes in each hand to try on. All this under the mischievous glances of the saleswomen and visitors, who laughed when they saw my sour expression.
"Oops," squeaked a girl who bumped into me. "Sorry, I didn't see you." She looked up and froze. "Virgil?" The wave of mixed emotions was all too palpable. But what I sensed in her was a desire to kill me, which made me wary.
"Hi, Hedo," I smiled at the girl, "How was your holiday?"
"I asked you to call me by my name," the girl blushed as she stood up. She was dressed in a plain blue sundress and sandals.
"I'm sorry, Miyuki, but when you're sulking, you have such a funny expression on your face.
"Grr, I asked you not to tease me on purpose," she stamped her foot, looking even more like a fighting hamster.
"I didn't say I'd stop. I promised to think about it, but after racking my brains, I decided against it. So get over it. Mwah-ha-ha-ha. Don't hit me in the ribs, you monster!
"It's your own fault," the girl grunted, turning away, but her emotions betrayed her satisfaction and desire for attention. "Are you alone here, or...?"
"As you can see," I said, raising my hands with my things.
"Do you have a girlfriend?" Hedo asked in surprise, but her emotions were filled with a thirst for murder. Oh my.
"No, I'm here with my sister and mother." I nodded towards the changing rooms. "Why the reaction, are you jealous?" I leaned conspiratorially towards her face.
"N-no, I just asked. That's all." — I was incredibly red.
"By the way, are you alone?"
"Wh-what?
"I mean, are you here alone or with a friend, like... Rias?" I listened to my senses and confirmed my theory. Miyuki had been turned into a demon, and judging by the colour of the energy, it was her friend Gremory.
"Yes, we split up, she went to the next department," the girl waved her hand in irritation, she didn't like that I remembered the other one.
"Miyuki," I heard from another department, "Where are you? It's time to go."
"Here she is," Hedo sighed and looked at me with the eyes of a beaten kitten. "I have to go, see you later, Vergilius.""Yeah, bye," I smiled at her and, turning away, kept her in the corner of my eye. A little magic trick on the edge of perception, and now I can see her perfectly.
Before turning the corner, Miyuki looked at me with a smile that was anything but friendly. It was more like the grimace of a madwoman looking at a man she liked but couldn't decide whether to kill or hug. Thanks to her emotions, without them I would never have understood what was going on in her head. Well... part of what was going on. A small part...
Should I expect cookies with "love nectar"? Or cupcakes with needles and razor blades? Hmm, baked goods with "nectar"... I think my roof is starting to rattle too.
"Verg, are you waiting?" Akeno asked, coming out of the fitting room.
"No," I smiled, "I didn't have time to get bored."
***
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