My Wives are Beautiful Demons

Vergil remained at the center of the great hall after the last Valkyrie received the mark. The process had taken time, but the result was exactly what he needed. Each seal worked as a minimal extension of his own perception, not strong enough to control whoever carried it and not invasive enough to interfere with the soul, but stable enough to resist the distortions affecting Helheim. The initial heat of the marks had already faded, and the warriors were beginning to reorganize while Brynhildr checked that none of them showed rejection to the demonic energy. Hela remained near the throne, watching everything with an interest that shifted dangerously between professional and something far less appropriate, but Vergil paid no attention to her at that moment.

He raised his right hand and spread his fingers. Demonic energy began flowing from his palm in thin threads, forming lines in the air before him. First came a simple representation of the hall where they stood. Then appeared the corridors he had walked through since arriving at the palace, the main entrance, the square before the fortress, the road to the broken bridge, and finally the route traveled from the point where the Bifröst had left them in Helheim. Vergil did not invent regions he did not know. The map ended abruptly whenever his own perception lacked sufficient data, leaving large areas submerged in dark, shapeless fog. In exchange, everything he had already seen appeared with almost absurd precision, including differences in elevation, underground corridors, bridges, structural cracks, and even the points where the spiritual routes seemed to fold over themselves.

Then came the markers.

Red points began appearing inside the three-dimensional projection, some stationary within the palace, others scattered along the walls and nearby bridges. More emerged throughout the already mapped regions, accompanied by short trails representing recent movement. Within seconds, more than two thousand signals were pulsing inside the structure, a combination of the marked Valkyries, their successive positions recorded by the seal, and traces left during their previous movements. It was not simply a map of people. Vergil was building a spatial memory of Helheim through them. Every step taken by a marked warrior added a few meters to the representation, filling spaces that had previously been unknown and allowing him to compare real routes with those the realm itself was trying to present.

Hela approached the projection and watched one of the lines form as a Valkyrie crossed a side corridor. "That is quite clever," she admitted, examining the levels Vergil was organizing. "You are not trying to discover Helheim through my maps. You are making the realm draw itself through the people walking inside it."

"If the routes are being altered, your old map will only show me how they are supposed to work," Vergil replied. "I want to know how they work now."

Hela raised an eyebrow, clearly pleased. "And if a passage folds?"

"The trail folds with it."

"And if the warrior is teleported?"

"The point disappears from one position and reappears in another. I see the distance, direction, and change in signature."

Brynhildr crossed her arms while studying the map. "And if the mark is blocked?"

Vergil looked at her. "Then I finally find where the regions capable of blocking my energy begin."

The answer made some of the nearby Valkyries visibly less comfortable. The logic was flawless, but it was also too simple to hide what that meant in practice. To map the unknown regions, someone would have to enter them. To discover where the marks disappeared, some Valkyrie would need to approach the same phenomenon that had already caused thousands of their sisters to vanish without explanation.

The murmuring began quietly among the ranks.

Vergil noticed immediately.

It was not cowardice. None of those women had survived eras of wars serving Odin because they feared danger. The problem was different. They had watched companions enter apparently normal corridors and never return. Some knew entire patrols that had disappeared without a fight, without a scream, and without any trace of destruction. When Vergil ordered them to go out again, even with a mark on their bodies, he was essentially asking them to trust him against a threat even Hela did not understand.

Vergil left the projection floating over the hall and turned toward them. "You are thinking I am using you as bait."

No one answered.

The silence confirmed it.

"That is exactly what it looks like," he continued. "And, in part, that is what I am going to do. I cannot locate a region that hides its own existence by sitting inside this castle. I need movement. I need the routes to be traveled, and I need whatever is interfering with them to be forced to react."

One of the oldest Valkyries raised her voice. "And if it reacts the way it did with the others?"

"Then I follow you."

"If we manage to stay alive."

Vergil held her gaze without showing irritation. "None of you are going to die."

There was a slight change in the formation. The woman seemed to want to believe him, but did not accept the statement without question. "With all due respect, Demon King, the missing ones were difficult to kill too."

"I did not say you are impossible to kill."

He raised his hand and pointed toward the red marks on the map.

"I said I will not let you stay dead."

The hall became quieter.

Vergil continued with the same natural tone. "If any of you are killed while linked to me, I can feel the rupture of the mark. The soul will not escape without me noticing. I can pull it back, prevent it from being absorbed by the route, and reconstruct the body."

Some Valkyries exchanged looks.

Göll raised her hand. "Like... resurrecting?"

"Yes."

"Even if the person is cut in half?"

"Yes."

"Decapitated?"

"Yes."

"Exploded?"

"Göll," Brynhildr murmured.

The young Valkyrie lowered her hand slightly. "I am just checking."

Vergil looked at her. "Even if exploded."

Göll seemed strangely more reassured by the answer.

A warrior in the back asked, "And if the soul is destroyed?"

Vergil took a little longer to answer. "That is more complicated. But the mark was made precisely to prevent anyone from destroying the soul without first passing through my authority. If something out there can do that, then we have a much bigger problem than missing Valkyries."

The honesty helped more than an absolute promise would have.

Brynhildr stepped forward until she stood beside him and faced her sisters. "The Demon King is not lying."

The Valkyries turned their attention toward her.

"I was in Asgard when he faced Thor. I was there when Odin appeared. I saw Gungnir pass through his body, I saw the wounds it should have left, and I saw Vergil stand back up. I also saw him risk his own position to ensure our sisters crossed the passage before Thor arrived." Brynhildr placed one hand over her spear. "If he says he will follow our souls, then I believe him. And I place my honor as commander on that."

The effect was immediate.

The resistance did not disappear completely, but its nature changed. This was no longer an order from an unknown king. It had become a decision endorsed by the person who had commanded those women for ages. One Valkyrie nodded. Another did the same. Within seconds, the movement spread through the entire formation.

Vergil turned back toward the map.

"Split into small groups. No one travels alone. I want enough distance between units to increase the area covered, but no more than three minutes of travel between one group and another. Do not enter new doors, do not answer familiar voices, and do not follow anyone who appears outside the original formation."

Brynhildr immediately began organizing the units. "Groups of six. Two combat warriors, two scouts, one responsible for the route, and one for communication. Nearby sectors first. No lower corridors without authorization."

Göll was already about to run when Brynhildr grabbed one of her braids.

"You stay."

"But I am reconnaissance."

"You are trouble."

"I am also fast."

"Exactly."

Göll made an offended expression, but obeyed.

Within minutes, the Valkyries began leaving the palace. Different groups crossed bridges, corridors, and spiritual routes, and Vergil’s map began to grow before them. Red lines advanced through the void, drawing streets, tunnels, abysses, and platforms that had not existed in the initial representation. Every new position was recorded. Some old regions were exactly where Hela expected. Others appeared displaced by dozens of meters. There were corridors that should have intersected but, in the current space, passed above one another without contact. Vergil recorded everything in silence, correcting the map as the patrols advanced.

Brynhildr remained beside him for several minutes, watching each marker.

"I should go too," she finally said.

"No."

She turned her head. "I know Helheim better than most of them."

"That is why you stay."

"I do not understand."

Vergil pointed toward the hundreds of moving lines. "I am still learning how your units behave. You are not. If any group makes a wrong move, enters a route they would not normally use, or stops somewhere they have no reason to stop, I want you to notice before I do."

Brynhildr looked back at the map and understood.

"You want me to monitor patterns."

"Exactly."

She nodded and moved closer to the projection, beginning to point out some of the routes. "This group is correct. This one too. Those six should have turned south, but they are probably avoiding the ice. That has happened before. The eastern-sector unit is moving too quickly."

Vergil enlarged that region.

"How much?"

"Almost twenty percent above standard speed."

"Are they running from something?"

"It does not look like it."

The mark remained stable. Vergil decided to observe before interfering.

That was when he noticed Hela.

The Queen of Helheim stood several meters behind them, clearly without any immediate role. She had crossed her arms and was making a small pout, alternating her gaze between Vergil, Brynhildr, and the map like someone who had been ignored for far too long.

Vergil looked at her.

"Is there a problem?"

Hela maintained the expression.

"Hey... you could give me a little of your time."

He frowned. "We are looking for almost two thousand missing Valkyries and Frey."

"I know."

"Then why are you making that face?"

Hela uncrossed her arms.

Only then did Vergil notice that her legs were slightly tense. It was not exhaustion. Her knees seemed to lose firmness from time to time, forcing her to correct her posture. The dark dress concealed almost everything, but there were a few small drops on the cold floor near her feet.

Vergil looked at the floor.

Then at Hela.

Then back at the floor.

"You are aroused?"

Göll turned her head so quickly that one of her braids struck Brynhildr’s arm.

Brynhildr closed her eyes.

Hela showed no shame whatsoever. On the contrary, she released a longer breath and placed one hand on her hip.

"I have been holding myself back for a very long time."

Vergil kept staring at her as though that were the least useful answer he could have received at that moment.

"How long is ’a very long time’?"

Hela tilted her head. "Depends. Are you asking since you arrived, or since Seris told me you stole the Bifröst?"

Göll covered her mouth with both hands to keep from laughing.

Brynhildr spoke without taking her eyes from the map. "My Queen, perhaps this is not the time."

"I know it is not the time."

Hela pouted again.

"That does not make it disappear."

Vergil ran a hand over his face. "How long have you ruled the dead?"

"A long time."

"Then you should be able to control your own body for a few hours."

"It is precisely because I have controlled everything for so long that I wanted to lose control for a few hours."

Brynhildr coughed.

Göll completely failed to suppress her laughter.

Vergil returned his attention to the map. "Later."

Hela raised her eyebrows.

"Later?"

He realized too late that the word had been interpreted as a promise.

Her smile changed immediately.

"I heard that."

"That is not what I meant."

"That is exactly the word you used."

"I meant we will deal with this conversation later."

"That works too."

Vergil decided to stop answering.

Hela moved a little closer, now visibly more satisfied simply because she had managed to extract that single word from him. Brynhildr continued trying to keep her attention on the map, although a very small smile had appeared at the corner of her mouth.

Then one of the red points disappeared.

The mood in the hall died instantly.

Vergil raised his head.

The mark had vanished at the far northern edge of the map.

One second later, five more disappeared with it.

The entire group.

Brynhildr stiffened.

"Unit one hundred and seven."

Vergil had already closed his eyes.

He felt all six marks.

Not destroyed.

Not ruptured.

Pulled.

All in the same direction.

When he opened his eyes again, the smile had completely disappeared from his face.

"We found it."

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