Chapter 944: Power Under Control

Amaterasu remained motionless in front of Vergil for a few seconds, her red eyes glowing while her divine perception passed through his body repeatedly. She searched for demonic energy, sacred power, Authorities, draconic energy and even that strange presence of Death she had sensed earlier, but found absolutely nothing escaping to the outside. It was as if all those sources had simply disappeared, although her senses also told her something contradictory: Vergil was much more powerful than he had been a few minutes earlier.

"What the fuck happened to you?" Amaterasu finally asked, completely losing her divine composure as she approached him and placed a hand on his chest. "You just disappeared from my radar! There’s not a single drop of power leaking from your body!"

For a few seconds, the real shock was not that Vergil had managed to do exactly what he had repeatedly failed to do.

It was that Amaterasu had cursed.

Susanoo slowly turned her face toward her older sister, with an expression so surprised that she seemed to have completely forgotten about the training. Even Vergil blinked a few times, because that majestic, elegant woman who seemed incapable of losing her composure had just cursed with impressive naturalness.

Tsukuyomi was the first to break.

"That was good!" Tsukuyomi started laughing, bringing one hand to her stomach while continuing to float in the air. "I knew there was still a fun Amaterasu hidden beneath that responsible older sister act!"

"Tsukuyomi." Amaterasu gave her a threatening look, but that only made the Moon Goddess laugh even more, especially because her cheeks had turned subtly red after realizing that she really had lost her patience.

"No, no, keep going. I’m liking this version." Tsukuyomi wiped a small tear from the corner of her eye before looking at Vergil again. "Now I also want to know what he did. Five minutes ago he couldn’t hide even half the things inside him, and now he looks like a completely ordinary human."

Vergil raised one hand and observed it. The difference was absurd even to him. All that energy was still there, now in a much greater quantity, but there was no longer that constant sensation of consciously needing to prevent something from escaping. Qliphoth had simply taken over all the work of circulation and distribution, leaving his mind completely free.

"I did a little something inside myself." Vergil replied after a few seconds, moving his fingers while getting used to that new sensation. "Now it seems like things are much easier."

Tsukuyomi stared at him.

Then narrowed her eyes.

"Let me guess." Tsukuyomi pointed at Vergil while an amused smile appeared on her face. "It was such a huge mess in there that the red-haired World Tree organized everything with her management magic."

Vergil remained silent for a moment.

Then nodded.

"Basically that." Vergil touched his own chest, feeling Qliphoth’s roots working on a much deeper layer of his existence. "Everything is fine now. She organized the sources, separated the flows and took over management of the energy that reaches the outside."

Amaterasu still had her hand on his chest.

Her expression became even stranger.

"No." Amaterasu slowly denied while deepening her perception, this time trying to ignore the complete absence of energy leakage and observe the physical and spiritual capacity that remained hidden. "It wasn’t just that. What the fuck did that tree do to you? You’re more than twice as strong."

Once again, there was silence.

Susanoo looked at Amaterasu.

Tsukuyomi bit her lip to stop herself from laughing again.

Amaterasu realized too late that she had cursed for the second time.

Vergil, however, was more interested in the question.

"Apparently I was in energy-saving mode." Vergil shrugged, repeating the explanation he had received from Qliphoth in the simplest way possible. "My body produced demonic and sacred energy at the same time, but the two kept getting in each other’s way. Qliphoth said I was operating far below my real capacity because my own physiology limited both to prevent problems."

"That’s unreal." Amaterasu removed her hand from his chest and took a step back, still trying to understand how someone could spend so long using only a fraction of their own capacity without even realizing it. "You weren’t simply restraining power. Your entire organism was functioning inefficiently, and even so you managed to reach the level you’re at."

Vergil briefly thought of Odin.

He thought of Gungnir piercing his body, the difficulty of that battle and all the times he had needed to push his abilities to the limit.

The conclusion was a little irritating.

"It would’ve been nice to discover that earlier." Vergil murmured while looking at Yamato, imagining how many problems could have been avoided if Qliphoth had decided to mention that ability a few months earlier.

A red light appeared beside him.

Vergil immediately closed his eyes.

"Qliphoth..."

The World Tree materialized before he could stop her.

This time, however, something was different.

The complete connection with Vergil’s soul apparently had not altered only the internal system Qliphoth managed. Her humanoid manifestation had also evolved. She was still clearly the same red-haired woman, but her form looked more mature and developed, as if the energy received through the new connection had refined the avatar she used to manifest. Her long red hair was more vivid and voluminous, flowing down her back like a crimson waterfall, while her eyes possessed a much more intense ruby glow. Her pale skin seemed almost luminous in contrast with small black root-like marks that appeared near her arms and disappeared beneath her clothes.

Her body had also changed considerably. Qliphoth was taller, with wider hips, a defined waist and much more pronounced curves than before. The black-and-red dress she naturally formed through her energy had followed the transformation and now had a more elegant appearance, although it had difficulty hiding how much more voluptuous her figure had become.

Tsukuyomi examined Qliphoth from head to toe.

"Wow, what an upgrade." Tsukuyomi commented without any shame, leaning slightly forward in the air to observe her better. "Did you decide to update your appearance along with the system too?"

Qliphoth looked at her own body.

Then at her breasts.

Then at her hips.

"Ah." Qliphoth touched her own waist and seemed to notice the change only at that moment. "That explains why my manifestation was consuming different parameters."

Vergil looked at her with an empty expression.

"You didn’t notice?"

"I was busy reorganizing your soul." Qliphoth replied as if it were perfectly reasonable not to notice such an obvious change in her own body. She then ran her hands along the sides of her waist, apparently satisfied with the result. "But I like it. The connection is nourishing me too. Since you’ve become more efficient, I’m receiving much better circulation through the roots."

Amaterasu moved a little closer to Qliphoth, but her interest was much more focused on the spiritual structure of that manifestation than on her appearance.

"You really turned his soul into a network managed by your roots?" Amaterasu asked while observing the small black patterns that occasionally appeared over Qliphoth’s skin. "That explains why I can’t detect any leakage. You’re collecting everything before it crosses the spiritual barrier."

"Exactly." Qliphoth smiled proudly and raised one finger. "Produced energy doesn’t need to be wasted energy. Everything Vergil isn’t using stays circulating, stored or feeding the systems that need it. If he wants to release something, he just needs to tell me. If he doesn’t, I keep everything closed."

Vergil stared at Qliphoth.

"So you can do this permanently?"

"I can." Qliphoth replied immediately while some translucent roots appeared for an instant behind her. "Actually, after some time I won’t even need to think about it. It’ll become automatic."

Vergil took a deep breath.

"You really could have told me this earlier."

"I already explained my reasoning." Qliphoth looked away with an expression far too innocent for someone who had just revealed she could have made his life enormously easier long ago. "I didn’t want to make your evolution too easy."

Vergil raised his hand.

Qliphoth immediately protected her head with both arms.

"No flicking!" Qliphoth complained while stepping back twice, perfectly remembering the previous hits. "I just improved you!"

Vergil lowered his hand.

"Exactly."

Qliphoth smiled, satisfied that she had escaped.

Susanoo watched that entire conversation in silence. First Vergil had revealed that he possessed a World Tree inside his soul. Then they discovered she could manage his powers. Next he had become absurdly stronger, Qliphoth had undergone a transformation of her own and Amaterasu had cursed twice.

None of that, however, solved the problem that actually mattered to her.

Totsuka vibrated inside the sheath.

Susanoo lowered her eyes.

The sword vibrated again.

A small violet discharge ran across the hilt, almost as if the spiritual weapon were also becoming impatient after feeling Yamato grow alongside Vergil. Susanoo placed her hand on Totsuka and immediately recognized that familiar restlessness.

"Can we train now?" Susanoo finally asked, looking first at Amaterasu and then at Vergil. "My sword is starting to get restless."

Everyone looked at her.

Susanoo remained completely serious.

"Totsuka felt Yamato change." Susanoo explained while slowly running her thumb along the sword’s guard. "Now she wants to find out how much."

Yamato vibrated in Vergil’s hand.

The response was immediate.

Susanoo smiled.

Vergil did too.

Amaterasu realized exactly where that was going and raised one hand before either sword left its sheath.

"No cutting space." Amaterasu warned, this time choosing her words carefully so as not to give either of them any room for interpretation. "I don’t care how excited you two are. Control your weapons."

Vergil looked at Yamato.

The katana vibrated subtly.

"You heard her." Vergil said while placing his hand on the hilt, feeling for the first time the absurd difference in the connection between the two of them. "No cutting space."

Qliphoth crossed her arms behind him.

"Leave it to me." Qliphoth replied while her body slowly began dissolving into red particles. "I’ll hold back everything you don’t need."

Susanoo drew Totsuka a few centimeters.

Thunder responded in the sky.

Vergil did the same with Yamato.

This time, absolutely nothing happened to the space around them.

No fissure.

No distortion.

No energy escaped.

Amaterasu observed that in silence for a few seconds before finally relaxing her shoulders.

Tsukuyomi sat back down in the air.

"Now this got interesting." Tsukuyomi murmured while resting her face on one hand, curious to discover what would happen when Vergil was finally forced to fight using only the sword.

Susanoo finished drawing Totsuka.

Vergil drew Yamato.

And, for the first time since the beginning of that training, the Storm World remained completely intact.