Vergil Is Back-Chapter 37 - 30: Ember in Crimson Silence

The rain fell quietly over the hills just outside the Gremory domain, soft and steady, as if the world itself were trying to soothe the tension rising beneath its surface.

Leon sat beneath a worn-out wooden shrine, cloak draped over his shoulders, eyes closed. Steam rose faintly from his skin—his body still adjusting to absorbing the second Vritra fragment. Each piece came with more than just power.

It came with memory. Will. A piece of something ancient trying to remember what it once was.

"You walk a path the others feared to finish."

Vritra's voice had changed. No longer just a growl, but layered. Heavy. Echoing through Leon's mind like a dragon trying to awaken from centuries of slumber.

Leon didn't answer right away. He watched the rain drip from the eaves of the shrine, Yamato laid across his lap, glowing faintly with sealed void energy.

"I'm not doing this for you," he finally murmured.

"And yet... your soul is reforging me. Each battle, each kill. You're not a host. You're a forge."

Leon's eyes opened—silver with faint streaks of violet, a reflection of the power coiling beneath his skin.

Later – Gremory Territory, Border Pass

The path into Gremory land was patrolled, but not heavily. Leon moved through the trees like a ghost, not hiding, just... unbothered. He knew they'd detect him the moment he stepped across the leyline boundary. That was the point.

He wanted them to know.

He wasn't sneaking in. He was coming.

Gremory Estate – Council Hall

Rias sat at the long marble table, flanked by her peerage. Across from her, a minor Devil noble argued about territorial safety, leyline instability, and rumors of a "rogue dragonborn" approaching their land.

"He's not rogue," Rias said sharply, crimson hair glowing slightly from her rising frustration. "He's not attacking you. He's hunting something dangerous that none of us are prepared to handle."

The noble sneered. "A hybrid empowered by a corrupted Sacred Gear, wielding an unknown system, tearing through leyline sanctuaries—and you expect us to welcome him?"

Rias's eyes narrowed. "I expect you not to be fools."

Akeno touched her arm gently. "They're afraid, Rias. He's moving like a storm. No one knows where he'll land next."

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"She's right," Kiba added quietly. "But he saved us in Kyoto. We owe him more than fear."

Outside the Estate – The First Glimpse

As the storm broke over the Gremory sky, a bolt of violet lightning cut through the clouds.

From the guard tower, a sentry shouted:"He's here!"

Walking calmly across the wet stones of the outer courtyard, Leon approached—coat fluttering, void aura gently pulsing, Yamato across his back, Sacred Gear draped like dark flame around his right arm.

No words. No warnings.

Only purpose.