The Hot Springs.

A place you usually go to once or twice every year if you were a normal person with a normal wage.

If you were some kind of rich guy with no responsibilities or things tying you down, you could probably spend time there about 2-3 times a month…

But if you're not normal adventurers like us who somehow get through life with a horrible party setup and just about 40 million eris with some deadbeat teammates, you could probably spend just about a whole week here and not make a dent in your savings….

...but hey, it's a good thing that the people here are horrible so I'm just gonna take my time and soak in the great hot springs for the next 20-30 minutes since I'm never gonna come back here...like ever…

Me and Kazuma had finally reached the Hot Springs area, and just like any normal Hot Springs, there are 3 different areas there, Men, Women, and Mixed.

I, making the obvious choice, headed towards the mens bathing area.

But Kazuma…

"Hey, where're you going?" He asked…

I looked at him with a confused face, "Men's bath area?" I replied.

"I thought you were gonna join me in the mixed bathing?" Kazuma said.

"Ok, ok, Hold on. Since when did I say I was gonna join mixed bathing?" I told him, I knew Kazuma was going to mixed bathing since I'm not gonna stop him from getting the weird looks, but like hell I'm gonna be the one joining him.

"We made a mutual agreement back in the carriage! Did we not share that moment of mutual agreement where I'd say I'd help you with you problem!" Kazuma said as he started to argue.

"No we did not, I was thinking about my family and wanting go bring them to the Hot Springs one day, you were thinking about the mixed baths and almost visible boobs." I argued back correcting Kazuma.

Kazuma stayed silent for a moment, "Ok, maybe I was thinking about those things, but this is a once in a lifetime opportunity for us reincarnated brethren to share a moment in the mixed bathing!" Kazuma declared proudly.

"Ok, that sounded a bit gay." I commented.

"Not in that way! I don't mean share a moment in that way!" Kazuma retorted while blushing…

"Doesn't matter what you say, You're not gonna convince me to join you in mixed bathing." I told him before leaving to the mens baths.

"What if I could convince Darkness to get into the mixed bathing?" Kazuma said seriously

I stopped where I was walking and glared at him, "You wouldn't."

"Hmmmm, I don't know. I mean she does like sticking close to you these days, so It wouldn't surprise me if she did go in there if it meant that you were also there." Kazuma said smugly, "Could you imagine it? You and Darkness sitting close to each other in a bathhouse?"

"No, I can't. Nice try Kazuma." I said sternly before entering the

men's section.

While I was unconvinced at Kazuma's theory, because it's always good to be Cynical and Skeptical, part of me really did hope that Darkness wouldn't fall into any of Kazuma's traps or temptations.

No. Actually, forget that.

I'll trust Darkness fully, even I know that she won't give in to Kazuma's words, she's smarter than that, I know that.

At least I hope…

As I got unchanged and about to spend a good amount of time by myself, I headed towards the sliding door to open it only to find out that it wont open.

The hell?

I tried to open it a couple more times only to have it stay shut.

I took a step back and looked around the door to see if some asshat is pranking me jamming the door with a stick, but there was no stick nor any snickering I could hear.

What I did find was a small poster near one of the compartments where we put our clothes…

Due to an unexpected pipe bursting, the Men's bath is under repair.

Repairs should be completed by tomorrow night.

We're sorry for the inconvenience.

Hey, what the fuck is this?

Are you actually fucking with me right now?!

Is life basically forcing me to join in the Mixed bath with Kazuma?!

Ok, calm down, let's use logic…

I can either A) Skip the bath and be a nasty nibba, or B) be ridiculed by most of the party for being almost like Kazuma…

Goddammit, both are fucking bad!

Those 3 know me enough to know that I wouldn't do this kind of thing by choice so I should be good. If not, then I could always pretend that I got Pill Cosby'd by Kazu-

No, that won't work. They won't even understand the reference...

Ugh...welp, time to rely on luck and the amount of Aqua's still active brain cells.

I put on my clothes again and grabbed my towel as I headed into the Mixed bath.

Kazuma was just about to enter the baths until he saw me, and had the big smug grin.

"Not a fucking word…" I said as I got undressed and had to mentally prepare myself for anything I might see whether be be old man sack or the funbags of life.

Whatever I see within the next 30 minutes, good or bad, will have a good chance of being burned entirely inside my brain...

I took a couple of breathers before opening the door and it wasn't even 2 fucking minutes before Kazuma put his arm around my neck and present the Mixed bath.

"Tsukiyo," Kazuma said, "Look at it, the glory of uncensored skinship between adults. Look at it!"

I tried ignoring Kazuma as much as I could when he did his little speech.

I moved his arm away from my shoulder, "I'm not like you, I have some standards you know…"

Kazuma just chuckled to himself as he heard me, "Oh Tsukiyo, the moment you entered here is the same moment you cast aside your standards. Face it! You're just like now…" He said all villain-like.

I walked past him and sat in the Hot Springs, "Ok, ok. I get it, stop talking before people here start to stare." I said in an annoyed tone.

"Pssh, like you're one to talk Mr. Demon Arm." Kazuma said normally as he sat right next to me.

I started to sink my body in the water even deeper as I laid back and just stare up at the sky.

This was nice, and the Hot Springs were really good.

I could already feel my body getting lighter and lighter with each minute that passes by.

My mind started to feel more and more at ease too while I was in the Hot Springs too.

There weren't any of my old classmates being loud as fuck while trying to decide who could stay under the water the longest or guys pressed up against the wall trying to hear the girls in the other bath (just yet), it was peaceful with no one trying to kill me or shame me for being a demon.

"So, returning back to our conversation right before we left Axel…" Kazuma started off with.

Oh for fucks sake, right when I'm just trying to relax.

"...how far are you with Darkness?" He asked.

"I'm not obligated under any contract to explain my relationship with Darkness, your honor. You have no right to question or Judgement while I relax from bitching about reality." I said to Kazuma as I try to dodge his question.

"Overruled. We are currently in the bath house and you're bound to the contract of the Bro code. I'm enabling the 'Whatever happens in the bath house, stays in the bath house' into effect, and you have no choice but to answer to the judge." Kazuma said in a fake professional tone.

The Bro code, huh? Alright, if that's how you wanna take things…

"Alright, then. Tell me: Do you or do you not have feelings for Crimson Demon loli weeb Megumin?" I started to question Kazuma.

Kazuma stayed silent for a while as he contemplated his answer.

While I did think that I was able to catch him off guard, I was proven wrong as he thought seriously about it and gave me his answer.

"I don't know, maybe I do." He finally answered.

I sat up from where I was laying down and looked at him, "Really?" I said in genuine honesty, "What about her do you like? I honestly thought that people like Darkness would've been your type, I still remember the way you looked at her when we first met her."

"Yeah, I did too, but the more time I started to spend with her the more I started to think that 'Hey, I wouldn't mind being in a relationship with this person.' I mean, it just sorta happened when we went to do some Daily explosions in the Dullahans Castle." Kazuma said as he started to recall his memories from the Fall.

"But hey, A lot of things can happen before we actually go out. I might be able to have my own harem." Kazuma said as he started to fantasize.

Alright well, seeing as Kazuma was able to be an honorable person and say things like that I guess it's time for me to be the honorable one.

"I guess...for me and Darkness…" I started out, but when I was about to explain myself, Kazuma looked uninterested and looked like he was spacing out until I caught a glimpse of what he was looking at ahead of us.

What he was staring blankly at was a woman with short red hair across from us covering herself up with a towel while she was right next to a well built guy with short brown hair who was sitting the Hot Springs.

The women looked a bit uncomfortable as she sat there, and chances are that it was Kazuma's fault for her feeling that way.

"Hey, didn't your mom tell you it's rude to stare?" I said while looking away from the woman.

"Oh hush, don't be such a child. It is mixed bathing, I'm just acting normal in this kind of situation." He said as he continued to stare at the women.

"And here I was convinced at your feelings for Megumin…" I mumbled to myself.

I spoke out to the couple ahead of us, "I'm sorry for my friend here, he's a natural born perv who never acts normal." I said apologizing to them.

The woman ahead of us was kind enough to dismiss this, "Oh it's alright, I mean it is mixed bathing so this is sort of expected." The woman said slightly awkwardly.

"Thank you for clarifying this area, so don't mind me." Kazuma said as he didn't break his gaze on the woman.

"...but you on the other hand," The woman spoke out to me, "You're...not normal, are you…"

"Well you're right about that, I'm not normal. Especially with this arm…" I said while still looking away.

At this time, the man in the bath spoke up after being silent this entire time, "Are you a demon?" he asked sternly.

Oh great, here's the golden question…

"Well, sort of. But I'm not part of the Demon King's Army or anything." I responded looking straight at the man while trying my hardest not to glance at the woman.

"Pretty risky of you going out in the open in a place like this with an arm like that. You a halfling or something?" The man said as he looked at me seriously.

"Not exactly a halfling, but close. Besides, I already had people trying to kill me this morning, but thanks for your concern." I said.

"Uh-huh." The man grumbled before laying back and sinking his body deeper in the water.

The woman who was right next to the guy started to stand up and head towards the exit.

"C-can you please not stare at my body as I leave?" she requested as she covered her body with the towel.

"Sigh...alright…" Kazuma said as he looked the other way letting the woman leave in peace.

"So...you were saying?" Kazuma said boredly.

"Oh right, well the thing is between me and Darkness is that-" I would've explained myself once again but this time, I was cut more by more rudeness...

"Whoa! The Hot Springs in here is so big! As expected for a High Class Hotel." A familiar voice said along with some pretty frequent splashes

My blood started to turn cold.

"Hey, Megumin it's rude to swim in the Springs, even if we have it to ourselves."

"Come on Darkness, we're not in the mixed baths. No need to be so shy!" Megumin said

"Megumin, you're too bold. Hey, my Towel! Megumin, stop!" Darkness said shyly

Now I'm in hell, in literal Hell right now!

If I get caught by those two, logic might be thrown out the window before I could even explain myself.

While I was stressing about the fact of getting caught by those two, Kazuma looked completely normal and maybe even completely calm as the both of us heard what was going on in the Women's bath.

Before I knew it, Kazuma started to float over to the wall of the bath that separated the mixed bathing from women's bathing.

I grabbed his arm stopping him from getting any nearer to the wall.

"Hey, what do you think you're doing?" Kazuma whispered to me, "Why are you denying me my right of passage?"

"I couldn't care less if you were peeping on some random girl and got the consequences, but I'm going to do everything in my power to stop you from listening in on Megumin and Darkness." I whispered back.

Kazuma smirked when he heard me, "Oh Tsukiyo, what an innocent boy you are. Alright then...Join me then!" he whispered with a evil grin.

"You must be out of you're fucking mind if you think I'm gonna join you." I whispered as I tried to drag him away from the wall.

"Oh? Well how about I expose the both of us? We bathe together, we fall together!" He whispered evilly.

And As if they were on fucking cue…

"Hey Megumin, stop! Kazuma might be on the other side listening in!" Darkness tried to whisper.

"Ughhh, you're right. Knowing Kazuma, he might've been listening in this whole time…" Megumin said in slight disgust.

"...But…" Megumin started to question, "What do you think are the chances Kazuma somehow persuaded Tsukiyo to join him?"

No, No, No, No!

"Tsukiyo wouldn't do something as shameless as Kazuma. I know for a fact he would go there by choice." Darkness said with full confidence.

Oh how I'm so happy Darkness has some kind of faith in me…

...it just hurts knowing that she's sort of right and wrong at the same time….

"I guess that's my cue…" Kazuma mumbled to himself.

"Hey guys-" Kazuma tried to speak out to the girls, but I instantly covered his mouth with my hand as I tried to drag him down in the bath.

"Shut the fuck up! Shut the fuck up!" I said low enough where the two on the other side wouldn't hear me.

While trying to silence Kazuma and keep my dignity as a man, he started to thrash around the bath making sort of loud-ish splashing.

"Hey, did you hear something?" Megumin asked.

"Hmm? No, not really." Darkness replied, "But whoever is on the other side splashing sounds like they might be in trouble…"

Why does your sense of heroism have to appear at the worst times…

While I did have a good grip on Kazuma's mouth and head, the bath water was making my hand slip.

This let him get a couple of chances of breaking free…

...or he could just start to play dirty and use his create water to push me away from him.

"Oh, Hey guys….Fancy meeting...you two on the edge of this wall as well...Isn't that right….Tsukiyo!" Kazuma said after panting a little.

Fuck.

"Wha!?" Darkness gasped in surprise.

"I can't believe it. I already expected Kazuma from his personality, but….I thought you were better than that Tsukiyo." Megumin said in disappointment

"I am not here by choice!" I said trying to explain myself, "There is a very clear difference between coming here by choice and coming here with no choice.

"Hmm? So? Tell me the difference." Megumin interrogated me.

"The men's bath is broke and under construction. I'd rather not smell like a dead cow until morning, so I forced myself to come here." I explained. "I'm not here by choice, unlike Kazuma trying to catch a glimpse of some busty women."

"Hey, Hey, Hey! Don't try to turn this around on me!" Kazuma complained.

"Sorry, but I'm just trying to state the obvious!" I started to argue.

"So tell me…" Megumin said angrily, "Did he get a glimpse of a Busty woman?"

"Well in my perspective he was staring at one to the point of making her uncomfortable…" I said without much care in the world.

"You snitch!" Kazuma said angrily, "What happened to the Bro Code!? Both of us are still bound by it!

"Objection!" I said confidently, "You sullied the Bro Code by trying to expose me first!"

"That doesn't mean you could just rat me out like some kind of--Ow!" Kazuma got cut off as he got pelted in the head by a bar of soap.

"You and your constant talk of older women and their boobs!" Megumin shouted as she probably threw literally everything she could get her hands on over the wall, Chomusuke included.

"Whoa!" I barely caught it from getting dunked in the water.

"Hey, don't throw the cat!" Kazuma said as he got up and nursed his head.

"I've tried to wash it only to have scratches all over my arm, one of you go do it for eavesdropping on us!" Megumin said angrily.

Chomusuke was shaking in my arms as it got close to the water, frightened to the point where he dug its claws in my arm to make sure it didn't fall off.

This hurt a lot.

Seriously, this hurts like a bitch!

Let go cat! Stop digging your claws in my arm!

I let it go onto the stone path and it ran as far away from the water as possible near one of the corners.

I know cats and water don't mix well, but that's but overkill…

Kazuma sighed to himself as he started to get up from the bath.

"Where're you going?" I asked as I wiped off the bloodstains from my arm.

"Back to the Inn, my moods already spoiled…" He said bitterly.

He sluggishly got out of the bath and walked out with a disappointed face.

I watched him walk out along with the other dude who was also on the bath with me. He didn't look impressed as he just laid back down onto the bath.

I laid back onto the wall that separated the mixed and womens bath as I tried it relax knowing that part of my standing with Darkness and Megumin has partly crumbled.

I came here to relax from bullshit popping up from random places and somehow it always finds a way to find me…

Feeling sort of exhausted from everything that's happened so far, I felt my eyelids get very heavy as I started to nod off.

Alright well, I might as well get out and take a nap. I'd rather not fall asleep here and somewhat drown.

~ ~ ~ ~

And I wouldn't save you if you did fall asleep here.

Noted

~ ~ ~ ~

Alright, I'm getting out.

"Kazuma already left, so you guys can bathe in peace. I'm gonna catch a nap." I called out towards the wall.

As I got out of the water, Chomusuke ran towards me and jumped in my arms.

Yup, me and him? Her? I forgot what gender it was, but regardless we just wanted to leave at this point.

Since Megumin did tell me and Kazuma to wash it, I might as well do so back at the Inn.

As I dried myself off and got my clothes on, I half expected Darkness to come rushing out to join me on the way back, but surprisingly and thankfully she didn't.

The hot springs is once in a year or two occasion that she should take full advantage of, and I don't want to rob her of relaxing at a Hot Spring just so she can waste 5-10 minutes to walk with me back to the room…

...well...that and I'm a bit too embarrassed to look her in the eye after discovering that I was in the mixed bath with Kazuma…

As I got closer to my room, I could already hear Aqua sobbing loudly from outside the room.

I entered the room and walked passed her sobbing on Wiz's lap blubbering about something while Kazuma sat across them with a bored look.

"O-oh Welcome back Tsukiyo...I know I don't ask much favours, but could you do me one right now? Aqua's sobbing purified tears and it feels like needles hitting my lap, could you please get her off?" Wiz asked while in slight pain.

Kazuma snapped out of his small trance for a moment only to grab Aqua's hair and drag her from Wiz's lap into a bathroom where there was one toilet. He then closed the door and propped it with a chair.

"Better?" He asked in a monotone voice.

"Y-yeah, but don't you think that's a bit cruel?" Wiz asked.

"Nah, it's just right." Me and Kazuma said at the same time

"Besides, what's she crying about this time?" I asked as I prepped a nearby sink with warm water to wash Chomusuke.

"She's crying about the fact that she was kicked out from the Hot Springs from accidentally turning the water in the women's bath into purified water. She also busted a pipe from the Men's bath when she tried to do a trick that involved existing water…" Wiz listed out

Aqua started to sob louder from the bathroom after hearing Wiz say that, "B-b-but I-i-i'm their G-g-goddess! They shouldn't d-do this to their G-g-g-Goddess!"

I unknowingly had a death grip on Chomusuke after hearing this while trying to wash it. It Squirmed and meowed loudly, while it tried biting my hand trying to get out.

I let it go after finally feeling the pain as it jumped out of the water and onto Wiz's lap.

"Here, let me wash it. You look tired." Wiz said as she started to caress Chomusuke's head.

Wiz, the lifesaver and severely patient lich god, comes to my rescue.

I thanked Wiz as I left the girls' room and went over to the room where me and Kazuma would stay for the night.

I flopped flat on the bed as I knocked out into dreamland in an instant.

Like literal dreamland.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Dream Space ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I stood right in the yard, right in front of a large gated stone mansion with bushes and small trees around the gate and house.

In front of the mansion a pretty empty landscape with vibrant green grass and one large tree that gave out a good amount of shade.

Strangely enough, I could faintly hear classical violins playing in the background with a calm melody (DMC5 OST - Legacy Instrumental Vers.)

Sitting on that shade was Vergil but without his coat. He wore a black woven style button up shirt with gold trim and accents.

He was looking at a cityscape that was overlooked by the mansion since it seemed to be on a hill.

While he wasn't smiling entirely, you could tell that he seemed peaceful and actually happy as he sat there.

He noticed me from where he was sitting.

He didn't move an inch, but just waved over to me to come sit with him.

Despite having that 'issue' with Vergil, seeing him in a casual place without his cold glare made him a bit more approachable than normal.

I walked over to the shade where he was sitting at and sat right next to him as we started our talk, but somehow just noticed that he looks a bit older.

It was just me and Vergil alone in front of this house.

"So...where are we?" I asked.

As I looked around, nothing seemed familiar at the very least, but I could definitely tell that this was in the modern present.

"Take a guess." Vergil said, but it wasn't in his usual cold voice, it was a casual one at the very least.

"Alright then." I said as I took in the scenery around us and around the house.

I thought for a while as I took in the scenery around us and made a wild guess.

"You and Dante's home?" I guessed.

"Correct. 12207 Belmont Drive; Red Grave City, United Kingdom." He stated out. "It's the childhood home me and Dante used to live in with our mother. Right before

Mundus sent his lackeys to kill her."

"Sorry, you had to bring that up." I apologised

"As much as I wouldn't like to admit it, I'm still hung up about it. Even after Dante had already taken down Mundus." Vergil said.

"Is this where you usually hang out at whenever you're not in your human form?" I asked.

"Yeah. In my past life, wherever I go, the demons would always follow me, bringing ruin with them." He said, "This is the only place I have where they can't follow me, somewhere where I can be at peace."

"Well, you have the Yamato, so it's not like they can overpower you can they?" I said, Vergil has been demon hunting longer than I've lived and then some, so it shouldn't be much of a problem for him to take them down by himself.

"You're right, but those aren't the kind of demons I'm talking about." He said correcting me "The demons that follow me are the ones from Mallet Island, and from when I used to be Nelo Angelo."

"Mallet Island?" I said confused.

Vergil chuckled to himself for a bit when he heard me, "Right, you haven't played that game…."

Vergil started to explain his story to me, "When me and Dante were in our teens, we did not see eye to eye on many things, his affinity with guns, my strict attitude for using the blade only, and my obsession for power.

"Of course, we fought from time to time because of it resulting in either one of us getting impaled by our blades or knocked unconscious from our wounds. One thing lead to another and I was manipulated by someone in fully resurrecting Temen-Ni-Gru, a tower filled with Devil Worshippers holding Sparda's power, killing hundreds of thousands of people in order to obtain said power.

"I lured Dante to the tower in hopes of defeating him and taking the other amulet he holds to forge the Sparda and unlock the tower, but in doing so I failed to complete my task and lost to Dante as I fell down to hell. Soon after that, I foolishly tried to take on the Prince of Darkness, Mundus, only to fail and become a pawn of his.

"I fought Dante later on in Mallet Island along with Mundus' other pawns, Griffon, Shadow, and Nightmare. While I was under Mundus' mind control, I recognized the amulet that our mother gave us and started to feel the restrained memories rush back in my head. Mundus' control would continuously repress these memories whenever they come up, but within each minute I fought him, the memories always came back.

"It took me nearly dying to break free from Mundus' control, but by then it was already too late. All the damage had been done, I had no way to atone."

"Griffon, Shadow, and Nightmare? Do you think V might be-" I wanted to ask Vergil, but it seems that he already knew what I was going to ask.

"I don't know for sure, but something about him is suspicious, yet familiar." Vergil said, "Compared to the last time I saw Griffon, he wasn't nearly as foul-mouthed or regular sized as what we saw from our trip here."

"We can only hope that, that person, V, does not become our enemy in the near future. Things may get very complicated if he does." He said.

"But aside from that issue, there's something else we need to address…" he said before turning to me.

"You had a vision back when we were travelling to the Hot Springs. Tell me, What did you see?" He asked with a serious face.

Should I tell him?

Part of me wanted to steele my resolve and face him completely if I did tell him what I saw, but a small part of me wants to cower away since I'm scared of what he might do when I tell him...

….you know what?

I'll just tell him…

Even if 'that day' does come and I can't trust Vergil anymore, I might as well trust the one who has my back and is my Mentor of sorts.

I can only hide it for so long before it would've started eating me out from the inside...

"The vision I had back at the camp...it showed that you're body was falling apart, like it was crumbling. With that, you were able to rip off my demon arm and still retain your human form. I was bleeding out, while you impaled Kosuke onto a tree with his sword, it was at that time that V came up to me and drug me out of wherever we were through a portal." I said as I finally confessed what I saw.

My heartbeat was beating loudly to the point where I heard it in my ears and felt it beat against my chest.

"Is that so…" Vergil finally said after staying quiet for a minute or two.

That was what Vergil said before he continued to look into the distance at Red Grave City

He didn't kill me, he didn't try to kill me, nor did he try to attempt to harm me in anyway shape or form.

He just looked into the cityscape.

While I wanted to speak up, there wasn't anything I could say to break the awkward silence between us until Vergil broke the silence.

"Tsukiyo, give me your necklace for a moment." He said as he held up his hand.

I wasn't sure why he wanted my necklace but he seemed pretty serious, so I took off my necklace and placed it in his hand.

He closed his hand tightly as started to concentrate fiercely as his hand glowed with dark blue energy being condensed in his hand.

By the time he re-opened his hand, my necklace that was once a dark Garnet color now looked like it was pulsing with power.

"I've induced some of my demon magic in the necklace with enough power to help you out." He said as he gave me back my necklace, "Keep with you at all times. When that day comes and I become a shattered husk like you say, I'm afraid you'll need all the help you can get to stop me, and if you have no other choice, then you'll need even more to put me down…"

"No other choice, huh?" I said to myself as I held the gem in my hand.

"The right choice is almost always the hardest one to choose, but even so, we must make that choice…" Vergil said before getting silent.

Me and Vergil spent the rest of the time looking into the city where the clouds moved slowly from one side to the other.

It really was peaceful here.

We stayed like this for a while until Vergil spoke again, "Your nap is almost up, you'll be waking up in a couple of minutes."

To be honest, I really didn't want to leave the mansion. It was the most peace I've had in a long time, with all the fighting, annoyances, and headaches, this was really relaxing for me.

I noticed that my body was starting to get a bit transparent with each second that passed by.

"Good luck with trying to deal with what's going on, you're gonna need it." Vergil said with a smirk.

"Thanks, I really will." I said before wanting to ask one more question, "But before I leave here, can I ask why you wanted more power?"

Vergil didn't moved from his spot as he laid back onto the grass, "Same reason as everyone else, We want power to protect the ones we hold dear to us. For me, I just want to prevent what happened before so it doesn't have to happen again…"

That was the last thing he said before I fully disappeared from the mansion and woke up.

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

So, it's been a year since I started this fic.

June, 23 2018. 1 year, 180 bookmarks, 132 likes, and 50 chapters later.

Now, I Intentionally waited a week later to post this cause if I posted this and stuck to my regular schedule, I would've missed the week.

I usually save this at the end of every Vol. that I post, but this week is just as important.

Thanks for reading this, seriously.

When I started this story, I was honestly fuckng around and wasn't taking this as seriously as I am now.

I had fun fucking around, and I'm having fun now taking this story seriously and wanting to make it a good story.

Of course, I will get burnt out again later, but by then It might be closer to the end of the story than where I am right now.

But hey, that's for later. I hope you guys can continue reading regardless of you having an account or not, if not, oh well then!

It's already been 3 weeks since I started working, and mandatory overtime sucks, but at least it's only 4 hours Saturday and Sunday.

Don't worry, I'm not overworking myself. I might not have enough time to fuck around, but I'm getting money so all is good.

By the way, have you guys heard of 'Code Vein'?

Just discovered it recently, and I really want to play it now.

For those who don't know what the game is, it's basically Anime Dark Souls.

But, aside from that, for my fellow gamers reading this, I know I'm one week late but….

...let's talk E3…

Honestly, this E3 was sort of underwhelming compared to last year where shit got really hyped as fuck and people went apeshit.

Xbox showcase was ok, but my man Keanu Reeves in Cyberpunk 2077 was the main attraction to make everything great. They showed off the next Forza Horizon 4 expansion which I had a clue on since leaks. Borderlands 3 looks promising but I need more gameplay to be convinced.

Ubisoft had my attention for most of the time since I play a good amount of Ubi games (R6 Siege, Ghost Recon, Crew 2, Division), and that was before they pulled out the pupper which got my full attention. First thing, Rainbow Six Quarantine, I need gameplay ASAP. Ghost Recon Breakpoint, although looks good looks similar to Wildlands, but I need to play beta to see if it's good or not. Old Granny in Watch Dog Legion, man...the memes will be great.

Bethesda was...meh...aside from Doom Eternal, there wasn't much to see. Fallout 76 got Battle Royale which makes to game now….uh...I don't even know anymore...But Ghostwore, on the other hand, that game has potential, like Hideo Kojima like potential in terms of sci-fi...

Square Enix, #2 contender for top spot in E3 2019. They outdone themselves with the FF7 remake gameplay, trailer and hype. KH3 DLC for the first time, instant buy because lore and Playable Roxas, sucks that I saw the leak before the show. Marvel Avengers, I'm interested in the game but I'm not sure how it'll play out, need more gameplay.

Nintendo, just like last year I think, won the entire thing again. Holy shit, they came out of the doors swinging with no rest. Breath of the Wild Sequel, Luigi's mansion 3, Pokemon Sword and Shield, Chibi Zelda game, Dragon Quest Hero and Banjo-Kazooie for smash, I feel like people might have damaged their voice from all the hype and screaming.

Those are my opinions, wanna ask something go ahead.

Edit: I wanna ask everyone right now of their opinion of Darkness and how she acts. Am I normalizing her too much or is she fine the way I write her to be? I feel like I might be taking away some of her charm...

General Responses:

Oran (Guest):

-Yeah, I hate the axis cultist just as much as I hate Aqua herself, but the episodes about them were pretty funny. While I would like to have some incredible violence happen with Tsukiyo, I can't do that sadly because it would somehow need to fit in with the story and I don't have enough big pp energy power to make up a convoluted plot to make it work out, but I might do something similar.

JourneyToTheEnd:

-As of right now, Vergil doesn't know who V is truly. He knows he's a possible threat, but that's all. Just as I told Oran, I really want to add some violence towards the axis cult, but can't because my iq smol. Aside from exorcising and and healing, Aqua really isn't that useful.

Funny thing about the bracelet scene, I really wanted to do the necklace thing just like in DMC4 and have some kind of necklace that was sort of similar to the one Tsukiyo has, but I decided against it since It might've been a bit too cliche/overdone, so bracelet it was.

DoortoLight47:

-Violence my guy, I want to add it but can't. His DT that he showed off back in the Cafe will come back to bite him in the ass next chapter.

Meiji (Guest):

I can only hope that I can write out something similar, but hey I can only hope.

(Worst KH Character) Terra (Guest)

-Overly Trusting and gullible are the same thing! I don't know why they have that in his description, it's a lie.

Terra doesn't become master - becomes edge lord like Vergil to seek more power - basically causes the entire KH plot to happen - too trusting of Xehanort doesn't realise until Eraqus gets oof'ed. BRUH. He only redeemed himself at the end of KH3 where he made that emotional reunion.

Strangely enough, I haven't really read any Romance Light novels. I only go for the manga as of right now, but that might change in the future.

Harem LN's are a different story, you and I both know shit isn't gonna happen between the main pair for a long ass time, while the community will ship another better pair.

Fucking Nisekoi started a big ass war back then…

DxHologram:

-Yeah you do need both amulets to awaken the Sparda to its full power. Vergil himself has an amulet with him. The real question is, whether or not Kosuke has one as well.

Trust me when I say this, shits gonna go down when the slime boss happens. While I haven't written down the chapter just yet, (or even started it) I do have some big changes in mind for the event and after. It'll definitely give me more material to write off of and it might just surprise a few of you.

Gen2324:

-There will be more training, trust me, You're probably gonna enjoy it when that chapter comes out.

Also, Tsukiyo can dodge most attacks on his own, it's just surprise attacks that'll leave him off guard.

Virtue (Guest):

-I mean, it sort of is Tsukiyo's fault that he has a demon arm since he asked for it, but the way the axis cult deals with people is sort of...normal(?) for them.

Morals (Guest):

-You know, I sort of wonder about that a lot whenever I'm writing. When I type down the interactions between Tsukiyo and Darkness, I feel like I'm toning down Darkness a bit too much and normalizing her. I don't know if It takes away from her charm or not, but her masochistic tendencies are only coming out whenever its for plot or convenience…

Not sure how I feel, I'd really like some feedback on it.

Edit: Might be better if I ask everyone reading this.

Tsukiyo, on the other hand, I can handle since he's a character who can naturally grow, personality wise.

Adis (Guest):

lmao kek.

Bento (Lunchbox Guest):

Don't worry, I'll add it in someday.

Nora (Guest):

Thanks.