Chapter 934: The Sword Goddess’s Offer

Vergil let Inari’s observation pass without responding. If he started explaining everything he kept hidden, that conversation would probably take the rest of the day, and he still had a more important problem to solve. He adjusted his posture before the Fox Goddess and rested one hand on his knee, leaving the other near Yamato out of pure habit.

"Inari, can you take me to Miyamoto Musashi?" he asked directly. "I have something I need to discuss with him."

Inari’s amused expression faded slightly. She seemed to have already expected the subject to come up, especially after everything Raphaeline had explained before his arrival. One of her large white tails moved lazily behind the throne as she considered the best way to answer.

"I can take you to Musashi. I know exactly where that old man is." Inari sighed, resting her face against one hand. "But I wouldn’t get your hopes up. He probably won’t agree to speak with you, regardless of who takes you there."

Vergil frowned slightly.

"Raphaeline mentioned something about Shuten-dōji."

"So she already told you." Inari nodded. "Musashi has finally decided to face Shuten-dōji for the title of the strongest Oni. That fight has been anticipated for quite some time, and now that the two of them have finally reached an agreement, Musashi has practically isolated himself. He doesn’t want visitors, disciples, old acquaintances, or any other distractions until the confrontation."

"When are they going to fight?"

"Soon. There’s still no official date, but no one expects a long delay." Inari observed Vergil for a few seconds. "If you show up at his bungalow asking to talk about swords, there’s a good chance he’ll slam the door in your face. Even if I’m standing beside you."

Vergil slowly exhaled and ran a hand through his hair.

"That’s not good."

Susanoo noticed the irritation in his voice.

"Are you really in that much of a hurry?"

"I’m bothered by it." Vergil briefly glanced at Yamato at his waist. "I want to settle this quickly."

Susanoo pushed herself completely away from the wall and took a few steps toward him. Until then, she had seemed content simply observing the conversation, but that answer finally sparked her curiosity.

"What exactly are you looking for from Musashi?"

Vergil remained silent for a moment, mainly because he still found it somewhat ridiculous that he needed to explain the reason behind his journey. After what had happened with Scathach, however, pretending nothing had happened would be even more pointless.

"Scathach said I’m completely useless with a sword."

Susanoo blinked.

Inari raised her eyebrows.

Vergil continued before either of them could ask whether they had heard him correctly.

"According to her, I don’t even know the bare minimum about the Path of the Sword. After beating the shit out of me for a few hours using a stick and a leaf, she lost interest in continuing to train me and told me to find Miyamoto Musashi. Apparently, he can teach me what it means to walk that path."

Susanoo looked directly at Vergil.

Then her eyes slowly descended toward Yamato.

The katana remained motionless at his waist, its seemingly ordinary sheath concealing the absurd nature of the weapon Susanoo had witnessed during the Celestial Tournament. She still remembered perfectly the cuts Yamato had produced and the ease with which Vergil had wielded the sword during the battle.

The Sword Goddess sighed.

"Scathach probably isn’t quite right in the head."

Vergil raised an eyebrow.

"That wasn’t exactly the conclusion I came to after getting beaten by a leaf."

"I’m not saying she isn’t an extraordinary swordswoman. I’m saying her conclusion about you is strange." Susanoo subtly pointed toward Yamato. "I saw you fight. Your ability with a sword is obvious. Someone truly useless would never be capable of developing a connection like the one that exists between the two of you, much less wielding a blade capable of cutting through space-time the way you do."

"That’s Yamato’s ability," Vergil corrected.

Susanoo immediately shook her head.

"Not like that."

Vergil continued staring at her.

Susanoo stepped closer, now observing Yamato with far greater attention.

"Your sword isn’t simply an enchanted weapon you found and learned how to use. She is a spiritual sword directly connected to your soul. Her strength grows with yours, and your ability to express what she represents depends on the connection between the two of you. Yamato is strong because you are strong."

Within the inner world, Yamato remained silent as she listened.

Susanoo continued, unaware that the sword herself could hear her.

"It’s a simple truth that someone like Scathach probably has difficulty accepting, precisely because of the way she views the sword. To her, everything must come exclusively from technique, understanding, and the path she chose to walk."

Vergil rested his arms on his knees.

"You know Scathach?"

"Well enough."

Susanoo paused briefly before continuing.

"Scathach is a Grandmaster. She doesn’t possess some absurd collection of Authorities, she wasn’t born with a weapon capable of splitting dimensions, and she doesn’t rely on a source of power comparable to yours. What sustains that woman, above all else, is what she achieved through her own technique. She pushed weapon mastery to such an absurd level that she surpassed limitations that should have ended her life long ago."

Inari remained silent, allowing her sister to speak. Even she seemed interested in the difference between Susanoo’s perspective and what Scathach had told Vergil.

"She has lived for so long precisely because she reached a pinnacle that extended her own existence far beyond what would naturally be possible," Susanoo continued. "But if you take away the sword and everything she built around that path, Scathach isn’t a powerful existence in the same sense that you are. She is a swordswoman. A swordswoman so absurd that this single definition was enough to place her among beings who were born with advantages she never had."

Vergil grimaced slightly.

"That’s not exactly how it is."

Susanoo tilted her head.

"I got the shit beaten out of me."

For a few seconds, silence filled the room.

Inari covered her mouth with one hand, clearly holding back a laugh. Susanoo, on the other hand, merely shrugged.

"That’s probably exactly why she considers you useless."

Vergil narrowed his eyes.

"Is that supposed to help?"

"You possess a ridiculous number of powers, and yet you were completely defeated by a woman who faced you using nothing but her skill as a swordswoman. If I try to look at the situation from Scathach’s perspective, I can understand her criticism." Susanoo crossed her arms again. "You may be infinitely more powerful than her in many respects, but within what she considers the true Path of the Sword, all that power means nothing."

Vergil fell silent.

The explanation was irritating precisely because it came far too close to the feeling he had experienced during the training. Scathach hadn’t tried to overpower his strength. She hadn’t needed to compete with his energy, his Authorities, or any of the countless abilities he possessed.

She had simply picked something up from the ground and demonstrated that, in that specific field, an enormous distance existed between them.

Susanoo noticed that he was genuinely considering her words and continued in a less critical tone.

"That isn’t a shortcoming on your part, Vergil. It’s an accomplishment on hers. Scathach built something so extraordinary on her own that she can make someone like you look incompetent when you agree to fight by her rules. Very few people could do that."

Vergil lowered his eyes toward Yamato.

His fingers lightly touched the sheath.

"Either way, she was right about one thing."

Susanoo waited.

"I need to become stronger."

There was no irritation in those words. Vergil seemed to have moved beyond the frustration he had felt after the training. The problem was much simpler now: Scathach had revealed a weakness he hadn’t even known he possessed, and ignoring it simply because he was already powerful enough to compensate for it would be exactly the kind of complacency he despised.

"If there’s something about the sword I still don’t understand, I want to learn it," Vergil continued. "It doesn’t matter if Scathach exaggerated, if Musashi sends me away, or if I have to start from zero. Now that I know there’s a weakness, leaving it as it is will keep bothering me."

Susanoo observed him for several seconds.

Her gaze descended once again toward Yamato before returning to Vergil’s eyes. For the first time since she had appeared in that room, the Sword Goddess’s normally cold expression shifted slightly. It wasn’t quite a smile, but there was unmistakable interest on her face.

"I can train you, if you want it that badly."

Vergil froze.

Inari slowly turned her face toward her sister.

Even she seemed surprised.

Susanoo, however, kept her arms crossed and spoke as though she had just offered something perfectly ordinary.

"Musashi doesn’t want distractions. Scathach decided you aren’t suited to her method." Her violet eyes remained fixed on his. "I don’t have either of those problems."

Vergil studied the woman before him for a few seconds.

"Are you offering to teach me the Path of the Sword?"

"No." Susanoo answered without hesitation. "I’m offering to first find out whether you actually need someone to teach it to you."

She then pointed toward Yamato.

"And I want to see what you and that sword are truly capable of."