My Wives are Beautiful Demons

The ground of the clearing still pulsed, the roots spread out like sleeping snakes, the distant lake now calm, as if nothing had happened. But Vergil wasn't calm.

Lying on his back on the energy-soaked earth, he began to laugh. At first low, almost a whisper, a suppressed laugh that seemed to rise from deep in his throat. But within seconds, the sound exploded.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" His voice echoed throughout the clearing, piercing the trees, rising into the sky, mingling with the sound of the birds that fled in a stampede.

It was a ferocious laugh, charged with something no one there could immediately decipher: relief, insanity, power, or perhaps all at once. Vergil rolled on the ground as if he'd just heard the funniest joke in existence.

Sepphirothy, her long black hair rippling, immediately narrowed her eyes. She said nothing, just watched. Her calm expression hid a glint in her eyes that betrayed her: she had understood something none of the others had.

Sapphire, the demonic redhead, crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow, looking at Vergil as if he were a circus sideshow.

"He's completely lost it." Her voice held irony, but also a hint of annoyance. "Typical."

Katharina, with her always impeccable posture, was the first to approach. Her golden hair swayed as she walked toward her husband, who was still laughing like a madman.

"Vergil!" she called, her tone somewhere between scolding and concern. "What's happening to you?"

But he didn't answer. He just laughed harder, so loudly that tears streamed from his eyes. He doubled over, gasped, and slapped his chest as if he needed to catch his breath, yet he couldn't stop.

"HAHAHAHAHA!" Vergil kicked the ground, nearly choking, and for a moment he looked like he might faint from laughing so hard.

Ada, with her usual calm, put one hand on her hip and sighed. "Ridiculous," she muttered. "He's lost his mind."

Roxanne, on the other hand, covered her mouth with her hand, startled. "This isn't normal... he... he's... different."

Stella, always more direct, crossed her arms and huffed. "Tsk. He's just being dramatic. Maybe he's finally lost the sanity he lacked."

Raphaeline, her eyes ever watchful and her warrior's posture, stood firm, but clearly uncomfortable. "No... it's not just an outburst. I feel... something." Her hand instinctively went to the blade at her waist.

Vanny and Rize looked at each other, confused, uncomprehending. Titania, the fairy, flapped her wings restlessly, flitting back and forth as if searching for some sign in the air. Zuri, always more reserved, simply murmured softly, "He's changed."

Vergil's laughter finally began to fade, turning into gasps of breath. He slowly rose, still sitting on the ground, running his hand over his tear-stained face.

"Haa... haa... hahahahaha..." He let out a few more short laughs, trying to compose himself. His blue eyes shone unnaturally, intense, almost wild.

Katharina, now beside him, knelt and grabbed his arm, trying to force him to look at her. "Vergil, listen to me! What happened? Why are you laughing like that?!"

He turned to face her, still panting, and for a moment it seemed he was going to burst out laughing again. But he controlled himself. A wide, almost childlike smile spread across his lips.

"Katharina…" he said between laughs. "I… got a big deal."

Silence.

All the women around him stared at him as if he'd just said the most absurd thing in the world.

"…A big deal?" Katharina repeated, astonished. "Is that all?"

Vergil just laughed again, quieter this time, as if savoring a secret of his own.

Sapphire frowned. "What the hell do you mean by that? What deal?"

Vergil lifted his head, the smile still etched on his face, and ran his fingers through his silver hair, pushing it away from his bloodied face. His eyes sparkled with mischief.

"You won't understand," he said simply. "At least, not now."

"You've lost your mind." Ada crossed her arms impatiently.

"No…" Sepphirothy spoke for the first time. Her voice was calm but firm, and everyone turned to her. "He hasn't gone mad."

Vergil cast a quick glance at her. A silent look, filled with complicity. Sepphirothy held his gaze, serious, but revealed nothing.

Katharina still held her husband's arm, perplexed. "Vergil… tell me, what did you do?"

He let out a short laugh, tilting his head to the side. "I secured something none of you could ever imagine. A contract, a bond, an… investment."

Titania frowned in confusion. "Investment? With whom?"

"With the worst possible partner," Sapphire grumbled. "You have to."

Vergil only smiled wider, the wild gleam in his eyes stronger than ever.

"Let's just say... now I'm not alone anymore."

Vergil sat for a few seconds, savoring the incredulous reactions around him. The silence of the clearing seemed even heavier, as if even the trees were awaiting his next word. Then, he placed his hands on the ground and stood up.

The movement was slow, almost lazy, but the aura emanating from him left no doubt: he was no longer the same man who had fallen to his knees minutes earlier. His muscles creaked, and when he raised his arms above his head to stretch, it seemed as if even the air around him vibrated with it.

"Haaah..." he sighed, as if he had finally released an old weight. "Nothing better than closing a profitable deal."

He tilted his neck from side to side, the cracks echoing like bones breaking, before lowering his arms and adjusting his cape. The smile never left his lips—that confident, almost arrogant smile everyone there knew well.

His blue eyes twinkled, and then Vergil opened his arms as if presenting an entire stage.

"The territory…" he said firmly, dragging out each syllable. "It's all ours."

The words fell like hammers into the silence. Roxanne clapped her hand over her mouth, Titania stopped flapping her wings, and even Sapphire widened her eyes slightly, too surprised to hide it.

Katharina blinked a few times, trying to absorb what he had said. "You… you're saying that—"

"Exactly," Vergil interrupted her sharply. "There is no more discussion, no negotiation. This place, this clearing, this Tree… all of it is now under our control."

Ada arched a suspicious eyebrow. "You speak as if you've put chains on something that can't be chained."

Vergil gave him a sharp, almost amused look. "Chains? No." He held up a finger, wagging it like a scolding child. "I don't chain. I negotiate. And when I negotiate… I win."

Stella snorted, but didn't respond.

Sepphirothy remained silent, simply watching, but a faint smile curved her lips for a moment—subtle, almost imperceptible, but revealing that she knew exactly what had happened.

Vergil then spun on his heel, his silver coat billowing with the movement. He took a few steps to the edge of the clearing, the sound of his boots against the earth resounding like hammer blows in the chests of those watching him.

He stopped. He took a deep breath. And without turning around, he said with that cutting calm:

"Enough wasting time here." His tone was dry, definitive. — Time to go home.