Chapter 912: Three Against One

The main hall of the Sparda mansion was strangely quiet for a residence that normally gathered demons, warriors, supernatural creatures, and a worrying number of people capable of destroying walls during an argument.

That afternoon, however, the biggest conflict taking place was inside a massive television installed in front of the sofa, where three women were completely focused on a Mario Kart race.

Katharina occupied one end of the sofa with the controller clutched tightly in both hands, leaning her body from side to side as if that might somehow help the kart on the screen take corners better.

Ada sat in the middle, much more still and apparently calm, although her narrowed gaze revealed that she was taking the competition as seriously as any mission.

Roxanne, on the other side, had given up pretending to be elegant at least two races ago and was practically sitting on the edge of her seat.

"Who threw that blue shell?" Katharina asked, watching her lead disappear only a few meters from the finish line.

"Wasn't me," Ada replied, perfectly calm as she passed Katharina.

Roxanne started laughing.

"Me."

Katharina slowly turned her head toward her.

"You were in sixth."

"And now I'm in fourth."

"You ruined my race without gaining anything."

"I gained satisfaction."

Ada crossed the finish line in first place and rested the controller on her leg with a small victorious smile.

"Technically, she did gain something."

Katharina looked at the two of them as though she were seriously reconsidering their friendship.

"You're horrible."

"You said exactly the same thing three races ago," Roxanne commented as she navigated the menu to start another.

"Because it continues to be true."

Ada picked up the glass she had left on the table and took a sip, but her smile faded slightly when she noticed the empty fourth spot on the sofa.

"You know who else is horrible?"

Katharina did not even need to ask.

"Vergil," Roxanne answered immediately.

"Vergil," Ada confirmed.

Katharina sighed and let the controller fall onto her lap.

"One week."

"Practically," Ada said.

"One week without properly showing up," Roxanne added. "And when he does appear, he stays five minutes, says something about a dimensional crisis, and disappears again."

Katharina crossed her arms.

"I heard he fought Thor for someone else."

Ada gave her a look.

"I heard he stole Mjölnir for a Valkyrie."

"I heard he confronted Odin through a conversation I wasn't even part of," Roxanne added, clearly offended. "Do you understand the level of that? The man confronts Odin and doesn't even think: maybe I should tell the women who live with me."

Katharina pointed at the television with the controller.

"Exactly! He apparently almost had half his body erased, got chased through dimensions by a divine spear, stole the Bifröst, brought thousands of Valkyries to Sparda..."

Ada raised one finger.

"Approximately twelve thousand."

"That makes it worse!"

Roxanne leaned back against the sofa.

"And then he shows up like it's normal."

Ada slowly exhaled and looked at her own hands.

"I feel neglected."

The sentence came without drama, which made Katharina and Roxanne look at her.

Ada was usually the hardest of the three to read.

Even when she felt something, she preferred to bury it under a layer of irony, calm, or provocation.

This time, she did not.

"I'm not saying he needs to stay glued to us all day," she continued. "I know who he is. I know what he does. I know there are things that genuinely need his attention. But..."

Ada paused briefly.

"He could at least come talk to us."

Roxanne nodded immediately.

"I agree."

Katharina stared at the television for a few seconds before muting the game.

"I'm dissatisfied too."

Roxanne looked at her.

"You're talking like you're going to file a formal complaint."

"Maybe I will."

"With who?"

"With him."

Ada smiled.

"Excellent idea. 'Dear Demon King, your wives and companions would like to inform you that your emotional attention service is below the contractual minimum.'"

Roxanne started laughing.

"Include a fine."

"With interest," Katharina added.

"I apologize. I had to deal with the Goddess of Death."

The male voice appeared so naturally in the middle of the room that none of the three reacted immediately.

Roxanne blinked.

Ada slowly turned her head.

So did Katharina.

Vergil was sitting in the corner of the sofa.

Completely relaxed.

One leg crossed over the other, one arm resting along the backrest, and an utterly calm expression on his face, as though he had been there for at least half an hour watching the three of them plan an emotional lawsuit against him.

All three fell silent.

Vergil looked at the television.

"By the way, you're terrible at this game."

Katharina's eyes widened.

"VERGIL?!"

He barely had time to smile.

All three attacked.

Katharina was the first to practically throw herself at him, grabbing his face with both hands and kissing him before he could finish another sentence.

Vergil made a muffled sound of surprise, but kissed her back on pure reflex.

The reaction did not last long, however, because Ada was already pulling Katharina away by the shoulder.

"My turn."

"Wait!"

"You had three seconds."

"THAT ISN'T ENOUGH TIME!"

Ada completely ignored the complaint and took her place, grabbing Vergil by the collar while kissing him with far less delicacy than her usual posture suggested.

Vergil tried to put one hand around her waist, but Roxanne was already behind Ada counting mentally.

"One... two... three..."

Ada raised one hand without breaking the kiss and showed her the middle finger.

Roxanne narrowed her eyes.

"Cheater."

She simply pulled Ada backward.

"Hey!"

Roxanne immediately took the space and grabbed Vergil by the face.

"One week."

"I can expla—"

She kissed him.

Vergil gave up on the explanation.

For several seconds, all he could do was try to keep up with the chaotic sequence of the three women, who had apparently transformed a week of accumulated longing into an extremely aggressive competition over who could monopolize him the longest.

Katharina came back.

Then Ada.

Then Roxanne again.

Vergil tried to breathe between kisses.

He failed.

"Wai—"

Katharina kissed him.

When she pulled away, Vergil dragged in a large breath.

Ada immediately grabbed his chin.

"Oh, no."

"You already had your turn."

"You disappeared for a week," she replied before kissing him again.

Vergil began to notice a very specific problem.

He still needed to breathe.

That was a particularly humiliating realization for a Demon King capable of regenerating limbs, crossing dimensions, surviving divine attacks, and trading blows with Odin.

Apparently, three irritated women were capable of discovering an extremely simple physiological weakness.

Oxygen.

When Ada finally released him, Roxanne came again.

Vergil raised one hand.

"No."

She stopped.

Katharina frowned.

"No?"

Vergil took a deep breath.

"I'm going to die."

All three stared at him.

Ada raised an eyebrow.

"You regenerate."

"I'm not interested in testing whether suffocation kills me faster than my body recovers."

Roxanne started laughing.

Vergil breathed again, regaining some of his dignity.

"Even as a Demon King, I still need to breathe."

Katharina crossed her arms.

"Your problem."

"That is extremely cruel."

"One week," she reminded him.

Vergil looked at Ada.

She shrugged.

"I'm with her."

Then at Roxanne.

"Same."

Vergil closed his eyes and rested his head against the sofa.

"Three against one. Cowardice."

Katharina pointed at him.

"You stole the Bifröst."

"Yes."

"You stole Mjölnir."

Mjölnir, fastened at his waist, vibrated faintly.

Katharina immediately looked at the hammer.

"Did she hear that?"

"Unfortunately, yes."

Another vibration.

Vergil narrowed his eyes at Mjölnir.

"Don't encourage them."

Ada leaned forward to look at the hammer more closely.

"So it's true that she really chose you?"

"Yes."

Roxanne looked toward the sword on his other side.

"And Yamato wasn't jealous?"

Yamato vibrated.

Vergil fell silent.

All three looked at him.

"Vergil."

"I don't want to talk about it."

Katharina started laughing.

"She was."

"Katharina."

"Yamato got jealous of the hammer."

The sword vibrated harder.

Mjölnir answered.

Vergil pointed at both of them.

"You two be quiet."

Ada leaned back, looking satisfied to have finally found something capable of causing him problems without putting any kingdom at risk.

"I would like to say I feel sorry for you."

"But you don't."

"Not even a little."

Vergil sighed again and looked at the three women around him.

The joking was still there, but now that the initial attack was over, he could see something behind it.

It was not only longing.

They were genuinely hurt.

His expression became slightly more serious.

"It's my fault."

Katharina lost part of her smile.

Vergil ran a hand through his hair.

"I should have come talk to you. The situation in Asgard started with Freyr missing and kept growing until it turned into an improvised war with Thor and Odin. Then came the Valkyries, Helheim, Yggdrasil, Niddrog, the Inverted World..."

He slowly exhaled.

"By the time I realized it, I had spent days solving one problem after another."

Ada watched him closely.

"That explains why you were busy."

"It doesn't explain why I didn't come talk to you."

Vergil nodded.

"I know."

Roxanne crossed her legs on the sofa.

"Not even a message?"

"I was negligent."

Katharina remained silent for a few seconds before approaching again, this time without trying to kill him through oxygen deprivation.

She sat beside him and rested her head against his shoulder.

"We just want to know you're alive."

Vergil looked at her.

Ada sat on his other side.

"Especially when we hear from someone else that you took an attack capable of erasing half your body."

"I regenerated."

All three looked at him.

Vergil realized the mistake.

"That didn't help."

"No," Ada replied.

Roxanne sat partly on the arm of the sofa, close enough to touch his hair.

"You always think that if you can survive something, then you don't need to tell anyone."

Vergil remained quiet.

She was right.

Katharina raised her face.

"Next time, send a message."

"While Odin is trying to kill me?"

"After."

"Fair."

Ada pressed one finger against his chest.

"And before disappearing into another dimension."

"I'll try."

"No. You'll do it."

Vergil smiled faintly.

"Yes, ma'am."

Ada looked satisfied.

Roxanne then leaned over and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.

"There. Forgiven."

Katharina immediately looked at her.

"Who said?"

"Me."

"You don't represent the group."

"Then we vote."

Ada raised her hand.

"I partially forgive him."

Katharina looked at both of them, betrayed.

Vergil took advantage.

He slipped one arm around Katharina's waist, the other around Ada, and pulled both of them closer while Roxanne immediately moved in as well.

"I really am sorry," he said, this time without joking. "I shouldn't have left you waiting."

Katharina remained sulky for a few more seconds.

Then rested her face against his chest.

"Idiot."

"Yes."

Ada settled against his shoulder.

"Negligent."

"Also."

Roxanne smiled.

"Arrogant."

Vergil looked at her.

"That one wasn't part of the apology."

"But it's true."

He started laughing.

The tension finally disappeared from the room.

For several minutes, the three simply remained close to him, as though trying to make up for an entire week of silence.

Vergil did not complain.

After the past few days of being pulled from realm to realm, this was perhaps exactly the part of Sparda he had truly missed.

Until Katharina raised her face.

"Wait."

Vergil looked at her.

"You said you were dealing with the Goddess of Death."

Silence.

Ada slowly lifted her head from his shoulder.

Roxanne stopped smiling.

Vergil immediately realized he had just found a problem much bigger than Thor.

Katharina narrowed her eyes.

"What kind of 'dealing'?"

Vergil stared at the three of them.

Mjölnir vibrated.

Yamato did too.

He closed his eyes.

"You two are useless."

Ada smiled slowly.

"Vergil."

He took a deep breath.

Maybe fighting Odin again would be easier.