Chapter 459: Instinct

Selene’s house, nestled in the forest, was silent. The scent of dried herbs and burning wood hung in the air. Outside, the wind blew through the trees, but inside, the world seemed suspended.

Sepphirothy stood at the wooden table, her gaze fixed on the window. Her fingers drummed lightly on the tabletop, but her face remained motionless, a mask of patience about to crack.

“Selene.” Her voice cut through the silence like a blade. “Find Vergil.”

The other woman, sitting in the armchair near the fireplace, looked up but didn’t move. “There’s nothing we can do right now. He left of his own free will… and you know how he is when he decides something.”

Sepphirothy looked away from the window, and for a moment, the weight of her presence seemed to fill the room. Her eyes narrowed slightly, and the room felt… smaller. “You think you understand. But you don’t.”

Selene arched an eyebrow. “It’s not like he’s unprotected.”

The soft tapping of her fingers ceased. Sepphirothy lifted her chin, as if finally deciding to speak what she’d been holding back. “If we don’t find him soon… the worst will happen.”

The words didn’t fall to the floor—they stuck.

Across the room, Katharina, Ada, and Roxanne, who were leaning against the wall watching silently along with Sapphire, Stella, and Raphaeline, exchanged uneasy glances. Ada was the first to break her silence.

“The worst?” she asked, leaning forward slightly. “And exactly what does ‘worst’ mean?”

Sepphirothy turned her gaze to her. For a moment, she didn’t answer. Then she exhaled slowly and turned to the side, as if choosing her words carefully. “Instinct.”

The word hung in the air, charged with something everyone felt, but no one immediately understood.

“Instinct?” Raphaeline was the one who repeated, her tone more curious than concerned.

Sepphirothy nodded slightly. “Instinct is… the primal essence of being. That which does not depend on choice or consciousness. It is what your body, your soul, and your very existence seek inevitably, no matter what.”

She took a step forward, and the firelight cast long shadows across her face. “Sapphire’s instinct, for example… is to become stronger. Always. She lives, breathes, and moves toward it, even when she doesn’t realize it.”

Sapphire frowned, as if trying to deny it, but remained silent.

“Mine,” Sepphirothy continued, “is to be absolute. To dominate the space I occupy, until nothing can rival it. That is why, wherever I am… I am inevitable.”

Selene crossed her arms, tilting her head. “And what does this have to do with Vergil?”

Sepphirothy glanced at her over his shoulder. “Everything. When I began training Vergil, I wanted to help him develop an instinct of his own. Something that would define not just how he would fight… but why he would fight. An instinct is more than a strategy—it’s an unavoidable impulse.”

Raphaeline, who had kept her gaze on the ground until then, slowly looked up. “And what is his instinct?”

Sepphirothy took a deep breath. Her voice, as she answered, sounded lower, heavier.

“Seek and Destroy. Seek and Dominate. Create and Devastate.”

The silence afterward wasn’t empty—it was tense, as if the house itself had understood.

Katharina shifted uneasily. “This… doesn’t seem like something that can be stopped.”

“It can’t,” Sepphirothy confirmed. “And it shouldn’t have been possible… but Vergil created it himself. I just… gave him the first tools. The rest… grew out of him.”

Roxanne clenched her fist. “And you’re saying that… if something happens now, he’ll enter this state?”

“Yes.” Sepphirothy took another step, now close enough for everyone to feel the calculated coldness in her tone. “The problem is, once activated… there’s no control. He doesn’t distinguish enemy from obstacle. He doesn’t distinguish present from future. He simply follows the flow of this instinct… until nothing else exists to satisfy him.”

Selene leaned her elbow on the arm of the chair, touching her lips with her fingers. “So… if we don’t find him, he might… just start hunting and destroying anything?”

“Not ‘might,'” Sepphirothy corrected. “He will. It’s inevitable. The only question is what will awaken him. A threat… a challenge… or even boredom.”

Sapphire crossed her arms, but her gaze was serious. “And you don’t know what happens when he… ends?”

Sepphirothy remained silent for a few seconds before replying, “I’ve never seen him reach his end. Maybe because, when he starts… there’s no end. Maybe because everything around him has already been destroyed before he can stop.”

The crackling of the fire seemed louder now.

Ada tilted her head, her voice firmer. “So… what’s the plan?”

Sepphirothy looked one last time out the window, into the dark forest. “The plan is simple. Find him before something—or someone—awakens the instinct. If we fail…” She didn’t finish. She didn’t need to.

Stella, who had been watching silently, finally spoke. “What if he’s already in that state when we find him?”

Sepphirothy closed her eyes for a moment, as if considering this possibility. As she opened them, there was a barely perceptible flicker of… unease. “Then pray he recognizes us before he recognizes us as targets.”

Sepphirothy took a deep breath, slowly turning to Selene. Her steps were firm, the sound of her boots echoing on the wooden floor, each beat marking the rhythm of the tension already saturated the air.

When she stopped in front of her, the fireplace behind her cast shadows over her features, leaving her with an expression almost carved in stone.

“Stop wasting time…” Her voice was low but sharp. Then, without looking away, she added: “Artemis. Find my son. Now.”

The name fell like a muffled thunderclap.

For a moment, no one moved.

Katharina blinked, trying to process what she had heard. Ada straightened, as if certain she had misunderstood. Roxanne, who always seemed to maintain a cool control over herself, opened her eyes slightly, genuine surprise escaping for the first time.

“Artemis?” Ada broke the silence, looking from Sepphirothy to Selene. “You… are you saying that—”

Selene held up a hand, interrupting her before the question could finish. Her expression remained serene, but there was something in her eyes… an ancient weight, of someone carrying a name they’ve long since stopped using.

“It doesn’t matter what name you use, Sepphirothy.” She stood slowly, the movement carrying the calculated calm of someone controlling every gesture. “I left Artemis behind a long time ago.”

“You think you did.” Sepphirothy took a step forward, moving closer until their faces were just a few feet apart. “But the world doesn’t care what you try to bury. It remembers. And so do I.”

Raphaeline looked from one to the other, confused. “So… Selene is Artemis? Is… Artemis?”

“Yes,” Sepphirothy replied, never taking her eyes off the other woman. “Hunter. Tracker. Olympian Goddess…”

Katharina let out a nervous laugh, crossing her arms. “And we thought you were just… a crazy recluse in the forest.”

Selene didn’t respond to the provocation. Instead, she took a deep breath and looked out the window, as if mentally measuring the distance to Vergil.

“What if I don’t want to go after him?” she finally asked, her voice emotionless.

Sepphirothy tilted her head slightly, and for a second, the air seemed to grow heavier. “So, Artemis… you’ll see what happens when my son’s instinct awakens. And… when that day comes, it won’t be just him you’ll have to face.”

The silence that followed was thick. Even the crackling of the fire seemed to waver.