The field before the destroyed fortress remained silent for only a few seconds. Thousands of werewolves retreated in disordered ranks, avoiding direct contact with Vergil, while others still watched Alexa in his arms with a mixture of astonishment, guilt, and fear. The red sky of Sankaria remained heavy, crisscrossed by black lightning and swirling clouds, as if the kingdom itself had fallen ill. The tension was so thick that even the wind seemed to hesitate before touching anyone.

Then the ground trembled again.

Not because of Vergil’s aura this time, but because of synchronized and violent footsteps coming from the north. Ranks of warriors forced their way through as four figures advanced through the crowd. No ordinary wolf dared to block their path. Respect came not from affection, but from survival. Those four exuded brutal, ancient authority, inherited by blood and reinforced by countless battles.

Alexa’s brothers had arrived.

The first was enormous, with dark gray fur, shoulders as broad as gates, and scars crisscrossing his bare chest. He carried a double-bladed axe strapped to his back and walked as if each step were a warning. The second was thinner, with white fur and cold yellow eyes, wearing light armor covered in bone talismans; his posture resembled that of a strategist accustomed to ordering others to die for him. The third was a tall, muscular woman, with black hair tied in thick braids and metallic claws covering her forearms. The fourth was the quietest: young by their standards, yet frighteningly calm, with a black spear and an empty gaze.

When they stopped a few meters from Vergil, the surrounding crowd retreated even further.

The largest of them took a step forward and growled, his voice coming out like a dragged stone.

"Who the hell are you to invade Sankaria and turn our kingdom into this mess?"

The white-haired one narrowed his eyes at the surrounding scene: cracked walls, smoke, craters, corpses, and a distorted sky.

"You killed councilors, crushed entire clans, and destroyed our outer defenses. Answer me before I decide to rip your head off."

The sister crossed her arms, staring at Alexa before looking back at Vergil.

"And why are you carrying the traitor?"

The younger one said nothing. He merely adjusted his spear and analyzed the distance between them, searching for any nonexistent opportunity.

Vergil remained completely calm. As if the four were just another minor interruption on a tiring day. Instead of answering, he turned his face slightly to Alexa, still leaning against him.

"Was it them?"

Alexa raised her eyes to her siblings. There was no sadness there. No hesitation. Just an old weariness mixed with something harder than hatred. She observed them one by one, like someone revisiting ghosts that no longer frighten.

"They were."

The answer came out simply.

But it was enough.

Vergil nodded once, like someone confirming an administrative detail. Then he carefully placed Alexa on the ground, supporting her by the waist until her feet touched the destroyed earth. The brothers frowned, realizing the intimate naturalness of that gesture.

The big man spat on the ground.

"She’s become a demon’s mascot now?"

Alexa flipped him the middle finger without even looking at him.

Vergil then raised his right hand and pointed two fingers at her chest. A light appeared between his fingers, first white, then golden, then mixed with bluish streaks that spiraled. The energy touched Alexa’s body like warm water seeping through ancient cracks.

Everyone around froze.

The whip marks disappeared first. Then the bruises vanished like washed-out ink. Deep cuts closed instantly. Broken ribs lined up beneath the skin with clean cracks. The swollen eye returned to normal. Dried blood fell to dust. Exhaustion drained from her body like smoke expelled from her pores.

Alexa’s eyes widened.

She touched her own face. Then her arms. Then her abdomen.

"...What the hell?"

Vergil lowered his hand as if he hadn’t done anything wrong.

She took a step back, genuinely surprised, something very rare.

"You didn’t do this."

"I do now."

"Since when?"

"Since I got bored of limiting my options."

The siblings exchanged quick glances. The braided sister involuntarily took a half-step back. The white-haired one narrowed his eyes even more.

"Positive energy... in a demonic being?"

Vergil completely ignored the question and turned to Alexa.

"What do you want from your race?"

The entire field fell silent again. Even those who were far away felt the weight of that question. Because it wasn’t curiosity. It was an offer.

Alexa took a few seconds to respond. She observed the thousands around her. The clan banners. The warriors who had hunted her. The faces that turned their heads while she was tortured. The entire system that decided she should suffer for choosing her own life.

When she spoke, her voice came out low and clear.

"I don’t give a damn about the werewolves."

The brothers stiffened.

"They killed our mother and called it tradition. They hunted me for years and called it honor. They tortured me for no reason, just because I ’betrayed the race’ when I joined Kaguya."

She smiled humorlessly.

"Then fuck them all."

The crowd reacted with indignant growls, but none advanced.

Vergil only smiled slightly. There was something almost gentle in his expression now, which was far more disturbing than his previous fury. He approached and placed his hand on Alexa’s head, slowly ruffling her white hair.

"I understand."

She closed one eye, annoyed that she liked the gesture.

"Then I guess I can do this~"

The light tone confused even the brothers. No one understood what he meant until the air changed.

Vergil placed his other hand in the center of her chest. Not to hurt. To transmit.

Dark demonic energy rose first, heavy, ancient, dense as liquid night. Then came positive energy, luminous, pure, vibrant as the rising sun. The two opposing currents clashed over Alexa’s body.

Everyone expected an explosion.

But there was evolution.

Spontaneous runes appeared beneath her feet. The ground opened luminous cracks. Alexa’s body arched backward as the energy coursed through muscles, bones, blood, and soul. Her eyes turned golden, then red, then both at once. Her white hair grew a few inches and floated around her face.

Two horns slowly emerged from the strands of hair, curved and elegant, black at the base and light at the tips. Enormous wings burst forth from her back, formed of dark bone structure and translucent membranes marked by shimmering lines, half celestial, half infernal. Her nails lengthened and became curved claws that seemed made to tear through steel. The wild wolf scent vanished, replaced by something far more dangerous: a conscious predator.

The entire crowd recoiled.

The brothers took several steps back simultaneously.

Alexa looked at her own hands, opening and closing her fingers. The force vibrated within her like a newly awakened engine. Each movement seemed too light for the power it carried.

She stared at Vergil, completely confused.

"What?"

He replied as if explaining something obvious.

"You are no longer a werewolf."

The silence that followed was almost sacred.

The big brother exploded first.

"HERESY!"

He advanced with his axe in hand, muscles bulging, a partial transformation covering his body in thick fur. He leaped at an absurd speed by normal standards, aiming for Alexa’s head.

Vergil didn’t even flinch.

"Come on. It’s time to test your new self a little... right?"

Her face lit up like that of a child receiving a violent toy for their birthday.

She rose from the ground without realizing she was flying a few centimeters.

When she raised her hand, she repeated the same instinctive gesture as always: forming claws to fight.

Only these claws were no longer lupine.

Five blades of energy emerged from each finger, black on the outside and golden on the inside, serrated, alive, emitting metallic noises even though they were made of raw power. The space around them trembled.

Alexa looked, amazed.

"Okay."

Her brother was already above her.

"I’ll test it." She vanished.

To all observers, it seemed like teleportation. In reality, it was pure speed amplified by newly awakened wings and strength. Alexa appeared beside her brother mid-leap and swung her claws just once.

The axe fell in two pieces.

Then the arms.

Then the armored chestplate.

Only then did the rest of the body realize it had been severed.

The giant landed on the ground in perfectly aligned pieces before collapsing into a grotesque pile.

Alexa landed a few meters ahead and looked at her own hands.

"...Wow."

Vergil crossed his arms.

"Acceptable control."

The strategist brother shouted immediate orders. Dozens of warriors rushed forward as he activated talismans attached to his chest. Magical chains shot from the ground toward Alexa.

She flapped a wing.

The shockwave pulverized the nearest soldiers and ripped the chains from the ground like dry roots.

Then it appeared before him.

He barely had time to widen his eyes.

Alexa cupped his face in one hand.

"You’ve always been the worst."

She squeezed.

His skull imploded like ripe fruit.

His body fell trembling.

The braided sister roared and entered full beast form. Her body expanded, bones grew, jaw lengthened, black fur covered everything. She became a three-meter monstrosity with embedded metal claws.

She charged forward roaring.

Alexa grinned widely.

"I’ve hated this one for a long time."

The two collided in the center of the field. The impact opened a circular crater and sent dozens of wolves crashing to the ground. The sister attacked with a brutal sequence of heavy blows. Alexa dodged them all with irritating ease, almost dancing.

Then she gripped both of her opponent’s fists.

The new claws pierced the metal, flesh, and bone together.

The sister screamed.

Alexa pulled her arms to opposite sides and ripped them off completely.

Before the scream ended, a tail of energy surged from behind her, piercing the she-wolf’s chest and lifting her off the ground.

Alexa brought her face close to hers.

"I remember every lash."

The next explosion reduced her torso to red mist.

The last brother, the silent one with the spear, finally moved. Not out of fury. Out of calculation. He used the distraction to appear behind Vergil, aiming for the nape of his neck with a perfect thrust.

Vergil tilted his head an inch.

The spear passed by.

He gripped the shaft without looking back.

"You’re the best of them."

The young man tried to pull the weapon away. He couldn’t move an inch.

"Too bad."

Vergil pushed the spear back.

It pierced its owner’s chest and stuck him in the ground twenty meters behind.

The boy coughed up blood, staring incredulously at the wound.

Vergil finally turned to face him.

"If you’d been born somewhere else, maybe you’d be any good."

A snap of his fingers.

The body turned to ashes.

The entire crowd began to retreat en masse.

Thousands.

Without orders.

Without formation.

Without honor.

Only fear.

Alexa slowly turned to watch everyone fleeing. Her open wings cast a huge shadow over the field. Her new body seemed tailor-made for war. She took a deep breath and felt every detail: lighter muscles, clearer senses, infinite energy coursing beneath her skin.

Then she began to laugh.

She laughed loudly, freely, almost hysterically.

"I feel wonderful."

Vergil approached.

"Great."

"Do you do this often?"

"No."

"Then I’m special."

"Unfortunately."

She struck him with her wing.

The survivors were already running for cover in forests, caves, walls, and any direction that didn’t include the two of them.

Alexa pointed at them.

"Can I continue testing?"

Vergil looked at the horizon filled with fleeing prey.

"You can."

She shot off like a black-gold meteor, tearing through the red sky.

The first hundred didn’t even understand what hit them.

Vergil watched the carnage begin in the distance and put his hands in his pockets. Black lightning still cut through Sankaria. Screams echoed among gigantic trees. The entire kingdom was collapsing socially, militarily, and spiritually all at once.

He let out a small, satisfied sigh.

"She’s quite beautiful~"