The return was silent, without any spectacle or exaggerated distortion of space, as if traversing worlds had become too simple a habit to demand attention. Vergil’s presence appeared in the main room of his residence alongside the vampires, and the environment naturally rearranged itself around them, as if nothing had happened outside that place. Still, there was a different weight in the air, something subtle, but perceptible to those familiar with the normal pattern of that space. It wasn’t uncontrolled tension, but it wasn’t pure routine either. It was a decision being formed.

Kaguya was the first to let go of his hand upon realizing they had arrived, but she didn’t stray far, remaining close enough to react if necessary. Viper and Raven spread naturally throughout the room, each occupying a different point, like predators accustomed to assessing territory even in safe places. Neither of them spoke immediately, and for a few seconds silence dominated the space, interrupted only by the distant sound of movement in other rooms of the house.

It was Sapphire who broke that silence.

She didn’t appear dramatically, there was no announcement, no perceptible movement. She was simply... there, leaning lightly against one of the columns in the room, arms crossed, a look that already indicated she knew exactly what was happening before any words were spoken.

"Do you really want to go after that she-wolf?" she asked, directly, without beating around the bush, like someone who already expected the answer but still insisted on asking.

The tone wasn’t provocative, but it wasn’t light either. There was a clear assessment there, an attempt to gauge how solidified that decision already was.

Vergil turned his face slightly towards her, unhurriedly, as if the question were merely part of a logical process already underway.

"She’s missing," he replied simply.

Sapphire let out a small sigh through her nose, slowly uncrossing her arms as she moved away from the column.

"Yes, I noticed that part," she said, taking a few steps across the space, as if mentally organizing the situation. "That’s not the point."

She stopped in front of him, tilting her head slightly.

"The point is where she is."

Kaguya crossed her arms beside him, her gaze already a little more closed at hearing that.

"Sankaria," she murmured, almost as a confirmation.

Sapphire nodded slightly.

"Exactly," she replied. "And if you think this is just another territory... it’s not."

Viper, leaning against one of the walls, raised an eyebrow.

"Werewolves are always troublesome," she commented, without much emotion, but with a slight interest in the conversation.

Raven let out a small sigh, crossing her arms.

"Especially when they have their own kingdom," she added.

Sapphire ignored the side comments for a moment, keeping her focus on Vergil.

"Getting involved with those people never ends simple," she continued. "They don’t function like demons, they don’t function like vampires, and they certainly don’t function like humans. They are... territorial on a different level."

Vergil showed no immediate reaction. He simply listened, absorbing each word without interruption, as if fitting it into a larger picture that was already being formed.

"There’s no alternative," he finally said.

The answer was calm, but definitive.

Sapphire stared at him for a few seconds, assessing whether there was room for insistence.

There wasn’t.

"Of course not," she murmured, almost to herself, averting her gaze for a moment before returning to him. "Because if there’s someone you’ve decided to go get, you’re going."

Kaguya let out a small sound of approval, almost imperceptible.

"Obviously," she said, as if that were the only possible scenario.

Sapphire brought her hand to her forehead for a second, like someone who had already accepted the inevitability of the situation.

"So let’s make one thing clear," she continued, now more direct. "You’re not just going to ’walk’ to Sankaria."

Vergil tilted his head slightly.

"Explain."

Sapphire uncrossed her arms completely this time, adopting a more explanatory posture.

"You’re going to have to go to Brazil," she said. "The Amazon rainforest."

Viper let out a small, low whistle.

"Far away," she commented.

Raven nodded.

"And complicated," she added.

Sapphire continued, again ignoring the comments.

"And when I say rainforest, it’s not just walking in and out," she said. "The area where Sankaria exists isn’t accessible in the usual way. There’s no map, no direct route, no obvious path."

Vergil remained silent, indicating that she should continue.

"You’ll have to find the indigenous tribes that live near the border areas," she explained. "They’re the ones who know the signs, the changes in the environment, the distortions that indicate where the border begins."

Kaguya frowned slightly.

"Tribes?" she repeated.

Sapphire nodded.

"They don’t call it Sankaria," she said. "Nor a kingdom. For them, it’s just... something that exists beyond. But they know when you’re near."

Vergil crossed his arms slowly, processing the information.

"And then?" he asked.

Sapphire gave a small, wry smile, but there was no real humor in it.

"Then you find the portal."

Vergil stared directly at her.

"Portal?" he repeated.

Sapphire nodded again, this time more clearly.

"The Werewolf Kingdom isn’t entirely physical," she explained. "It’s divided."

Raven tilted her head slightly, interested.

"How so divided?" she asked.

Sapphire took a few steps, as if organizing her explanation further.

"One part is newer," she said. "More superficial. That one stays in the forest itself, mixed in with the physical world. It’s where the younger ones stay, where they test, where they show themselves."

Viper made a small sound through her nose.

"Like an outer layer," she commented.

"Exactly," Sapphire confirmed. "But the core... isn’t there."

The silence deepened slightly.

"It’s in another dimension," she continued. "An extension of the territory that doesn’t exist entirely on the same plane as ours."

Vergil didn’t seem surprised.

"So the portal leads to this second layer," he said, more stating than asking.

Sapphire nodded.

"Yes. And that’s where you actually find Sankaria."

Kaguya narrowed her eyes slightly.

"And that’s where they’ll try to kill anyone who doesn’t belong," she added.

Sapphire shrugged.

"That too," she said matter-of-factly.

Viper uncrossed her arms, clearly more interested now.

"So it’s not just going in and out," she commented. "It’s invading territory."

Raven nodded slightly.

"Protected territory," she added.

Sapphire looked at Vergil again.

"And if Alexa’s been there for weeks..." she said, pausing for a second, "...then she’s not in the outer layer."

Vergil didn’t respond immediately.

But his gaze shifted.

Not visibly to anyone, but enough to indicate that the situation had been internally reassessed.

"She’s in the core," he concluded.

Sapphire nodded slowly.

"Probably."

Kaguya slightly clenched her fists beside him.

"Then we’re going straight into the worst possible place," she murmured.

"Yes," Sapphire replied.

Without softening her stance. Without further ado.

Silence returned, but this time it wasn’t silence.

It was silence.

Vergil slowly uncrossed his arms, his gaze already fixed ahead, as if the path were already defined even though it wasn’t yet visible.

"Then we’ll start in the forest," he said.

Sapphire let out a small sigh, shaking her head slightly.

"You really don’t waste any time," she commented.

"There’s no reason to waste any," he replied.

Viper gave a small, sideways smile.

"I like that," she said.

Raven simply nodded, more restrained.

Kaguya looked at Vergil for a second, and then gave a small smile as well, but her gaze carried something more intense.

"We’ll find her," she said.

...

The journey to Brazil had no visible impact on the environment around Vergil, but the contrast between his domains and the point where he emerged was immediate. The air was more humid, denser, teeming with life on a level that didn’t exist in demonic or urban territories. The constant sound of insects, leaves, and natural movement created a continuous, uninterrupted base, as if the forest itself were always awake. Yet, what was most striking wasn’t the noise, but the absence of large-scale human interference.

Vergil appeared in a small clearing near a nearly abandoned dirt road, wearing something that definitely didn’t match the battle scene that usually accompanied his actions. A light shirt, open at the collar, simple trousers, sunglasses resting on his face, and a neutral expression that, ironically, made everything seem even more out of place. He held a cell phone in one hand, attentively observing a map, analyzing the distribution of cities in the region as if he were dealing with strategic data.

"...It really is an underexplored region," he murmured, sliding his finger across the screen while zooming in on specific areas.

The map showed an almost repetitive sequence of small urban points, most of them with extremely low populations. Isolated villages, remote communities, areas that barely appeared in more common records. Some didn’t even have complete data available, which only reinforced the pattern he was already identifying.

"Few cities have more than four thousand inhabitants," he continued, more to himself than to the others, still focused on the screen.

Kaguya appeared beside him without any warning, the movement so natural that it seemed she had been there all along. Unlike him, she didn’t seem out of place. Her eyes scanned the surrounding forest with an almost instinctive familiarity, like someone who recognized that type of territory even without ever having been there specifically.

"That’s why they live here," she said, crossing her arms slightly as she observed the line of trees. "Dense nature, little interference, lots of unmonitored area."

Vergil slightly raised his gaze from his cell phone, following the direction she was looking.

"Werewolves don’t like urban centers," Kaguya continued. "They can adapt, but it’s not the ideal environment. Here... they don’t need to hide as much."

Viper appeared soon after, resting one hand on her hip while analyzing the place with a more critical eye.

"In other words, perfect territory for those who want to exist undisturbed," she commented.

Raven appeared a few steps behind, her gaze more attentive to the details of the environment than to the conversation itself.

"And also perfect for those who don’t want to be found," she added.

Vergil locked his cell phone and put it in his pocket with a simple movement, completely diverting his attention from the map to the real environment. He took a few steps forward, feeling the ground beneath his feet, the density of the air, the constant presence of life around him. There was no evident demonic energy, but there was... something. A subtle mark, almost imperceptible to anyone not looking for it.

"You mentioned contracts," he said, without looking directly at Kaguya.

She nodded.

"Yes," she replied. "They aren’t completely isolated from the humans who live around here. But it’s not normal coexistence. It’s an agreement."

Vergil tilted his head slightly, indicating that she should continue.

"The indigenous tribes that live near their areas of influence know they exist," she explained. "Not officially, of course. But they know enough."

Viper made a small sound through her nose.

"And they just let it go?" she asked.

Kaguya shrugged.

"Not exactly," she said. "They respect them. And in return, they aren’t attacked."

Raven crossed her arms, thoughtfully.

"So it’s a kind of balance," she commented.

"Yes," Kaguya confirmed. "The werewolves don’t mess with them, they don’t invade, they don’t hunt in the tribes’ protected areas. And the tribes... they don’t expose, they don’t interfere, and they don’t try to cross certain boundaries."

Vergil remained silent for a few seconds, absorbing the information slowly. His gaze swept across the forest again, but this time not as someone observing an unknown environment, but as someone searching for hidden patterns within something seemingly chaotic.

"And these tribes know where the access is," he said, more stating than asking.

Kaguya nodded again.

"They can tell when you’re near," she replied. "It’s not something you can easily find on your own. The forest changes."

Viper raised an eyebrow.

"Changes how?" she asked.

Kaguya tilted her head slightly, trying to find a more direct way to explain.

"Paths that weren’t there appear," she said. "Or disappear. The environment becomes... strange. It’s not exactly an illusion, but it’s not completely physical either."

Raven nodded slowly.

"A kind of natural filter," she commented.

"More or less," said Kaguya. "If you don’t know what you’re looking for, you just walk in circles."

Vergil took a few more steps forward, now partially entering the shade of the trees. The temperature contrast was immediate, the air becoming cooler, but also heavier.

"Then we need a guide," he concluded.

Kaguya grimaced slightly.

"Or someone willing to talk," she corrected.

Viper crossed her arms again.

"And considering they’re isolated tribes in the middle of the Amazon... good luck with that," she said, with a slight hint of sarcasm.

Raven didn’t comment, but her gaze indicated she agreed with the difficulty.

Vergil, however, didn’t seem worried.

"They already have agreements with non-human entities," he said. "That reduces the initial resistance."

Kaguya looked at him for a second, analyzing how he was approaching the situation.

"Or increases it," she commented. "It depends on how they see you."

Vergil stopped completely this time, turning his face slightly in her direction.

"Then there’s no need to seem hostile," he replied simply.

Viper let out a small laugh.

"You? Not seem hostile?" she commented.

Raven looked away for a second, almost hiding a slight smile.

Kaguya just observed. "Can you do it?" she asked directly.

Vergil didn’t answer immediately.

But his silence wasn’t doubt.

It was a choice.

"There’s no need to demonstrate anything beyond what’s necessary," he finally said.

Kaguya held his gaze for a second longer, then gave a small, wry smile.

"Alright," she murmured. "Let’s see how this works."

The group remained there for a few more seconds, adjusting their perception to the environment, sensing the invisible layers that began to reveal themselves as their attention increased. The forest wasn’t just a physical space. There were signs, small details out of place, patterns that didn’t follow common logic.

Vergil started walking again, this time without looking back, like someone who had already chosen a direction even without a visible path.

"Let’s find someone who knows," he said.