Chapter 477: Blood for the Cow

Vergil kept Yamato low, watching every step the cow took.

Her calculation was real—she looked for angles, avoided frontal attacks. But after three lunges, he knew: it was just an advanced reflex. She wasn’t thinking. She was just imitating.

He sighed in disappointment.

“You’re still stupid…” he murmured, his voice low but thick with frustration.

The next blow was so fast she couldn’t even react—a shallow cut, just to make her flinch. Vergil didn’t want to kill her; he wanted to remind her who was in control. She roared, her bare hands curling into fists, but there was no strategy in her gaze. Only force.

Rize, who was watching with a half-smile, seemed to notice the boredom on his face.

“Not enough, is it?”

Vergil didn’t answer. He was evaluating, and that evaluation wasn’t ending well for her.

Six fights later, he was already certain.

Even after consuming his arm, even with the energy of a greater demon coursing through her veins, she had only become faster and stronger. Her mind was still the same prison of instincts.

He stopped in the devastated field, wiping the blood from his blade.

The cow panted, dropped to one knee, her ribs marking beneath her skin. Her human body—the one he had shaped—trembled with exhaustion, but her muscles were still tense, ready for another clash.

Vergil took a deep breath.

“Strength without a mind… is a waste,” he said, as if speaking to himself.

Titiana looked up from the stone she sat on. “So it’s over? Are you going to admit she’ll never be what you want?”

He smiled slightly, and that smile made Zuri flinch. “No. I’m just going to change my approach.”

His approach was calm, almost gentle.

The cow looked up at him, breathing heavily, her nostrils flaring.

Vergil knelt before her. For a moment, she hesitated, unsure of what he would do.

“You like my power, don’t you?” he asked.

She didn’t answer, but her body leaned forward slightly, like an animal sniffing.

Vergil then ran his fingernail over his left forearm, making a shallow cut.

The blood that flowed was unusual: thick, a deep red that veered toward bluish hues. An intense energy spread through the air, like a physical pressure that made her skin crawl.

The cow stared at the liquid.

Her muscles tensed.

“Not just meat,” he continued. “Today… you will drink.”

In a slow, almost hypnotic movement, he placed his arm against her face. The scent was addictive, and before she could think, her mouth opened, her teeth touched his skin… and then she began to suck.

It was like lighting a fire.

The sound was wet, intense. Each gulp made her body shiver.

Vergil didn’t flinch; on the contrary, he held her head with his other hand, keeping her pinned against his arm.

Zuri took a step forward, startled. “What are you doing?!”

Titiana narrowed her eyes. “That’s not just blood. There’s something more there.”

Vergil, without taking his eyes off the creature, calmly replied, “I’m going to steal Raphaeline’s ability a little… and control her body with my blood.”

Rize laughed, amused. “You’re a genius Master.”

The cow drank as if it were the first meal of her life.

Each drop seemed to ignite something inside her—her black veins throbbed, her chest rose and fell in an irregular rhythm. Vergil let it, controlling exactly how much she received. His fingers tightened on the back of her neck whenever he felt resistance.

The wind carried the metallic scent of it.

Even the predators prowling in the distance backed away.

There was something unnatural about the scene, something that screamed absolute dominance.

Zuri clenched her fists. “You’re going to kill her like this.”

“No,” Vergil said, finally looking up at them.

The expression was cold, but the smile… it was that of an artist in the midst of a work. “I will redesign her mind. My blood won’t just strengthen her muscles. It will mingle with hers, carry my energy and… my orders.”

Titiana watched silently, as if trying to calculate the consequences. “This is a huge risk. If she resists control…”

“…then I’ll kill her,” he cut in simply. But if it works…” He looked at the cow, who was now letting out a low moan, still drinking. “…she will be perfect.”

Time seemed to distort.

Vergil let her drink for endless minutes, the wet sound and heat mingling with the smell of blood. When he finally pulled his arm back, it no longer had the same tone—his skin was pale, almost cold.

The cow lifted her face, breathing heavily. Her eyes…

Were no longer the same.

There was something there. A different focus.

Not just fury or instinct.

“Can you hear me?” Vergil asked. She blinked, and slowly nodded.

It was a simple gesture, but enough to make his smile widen. “Good… now, get up.”

She obeyed. Without hesitation.

Zuri took a step back. “You’re really controlling her…”

“Inducing,” Vergil replied, as if already anticipating the fight that would come next. “But the goal is for her to learn. And when that happens…”

He ran his hand over her chin, lifting her face to face him. “…she won’t need my orders anymore.”

Titiana let out a heavy sigh. “You’re creating something that will challenge you.”

“That’s what makes it interesting.”

Hours passed.

The field was silent, except for the distant crackle of stones cracking with the residual heat of previous battles. Vergil sat on a fragment of black rock, Yamato propped up beside him. Kneeling before him, the girl—once a common demonic beast—breathed steadily.

Her skin had a strange glow, as if something new was coursing through her veins. Small, arcane markings, almost invisible, pulsed beneath the surface—remnants of the runes he had carved into his own blood before offering it.

He watched her like a sculptor assessing a block of marble. “Now we’ll see…” he murmured.

In the last few hours, he hadn’t just fed this creature his blood. He had “prepared” it: a quick ritual in which he traced memory transfer symbols on her skin, a set Raphaeline often used to imprint fragments of knowledge directly into the minds of her servants. The goal was simple: not just to give strength… but to force language into her mind.

The first signal came as a hoarse sound. “Vuh…” She coughed, choking. The muscles in her throat contracted, unfamiliar with the new use. “Vuhh… gil…”

Vergil tilted his head slightly, as if listening to a rare music. “Continue.”

She blinked, her gaze lost, but something was organizing there. The runes burned softly inside her, sending new connections to her brain.

“V… egil.” This time, clearer.

Zuri, who was further away, widened her eyes. “She… spoke?”

Rize smiled, satisfied. “I told him he’d get it.”

Vergil kept his tone calm. “More.”

The girl frowned, her lips moving as if searching for shapes.

“Hunger… want… blood.”

The smile that spread across his face was inhuman. “Excellent. You already know how to ask for what you want.”