Alex was still sitting in the clinic's break room with Shizuka and Mari. After the regular, perpetually injured visitors were unceremoniously kicked out, the clinic finally fell silent, allowing everyone to relax a bit. Without them, there was much less to do, and usually Shizuka and Mari just passed the time waiting for new patients—or went home, declaring their workday over.
Alex was chatting with Mari about a little bit of everything, while out of the corner of his eye he watched Shizuka feed Anya cookies with loving care. The girl was curled up on her lap, munching on the treats with appetite, looking like a little hamster.
Alex was planning to head upstairs soon to finally talk to Recca. He hadn't disturbed her yesterday—she'd been completely absorbed in her lab work. He understood: this was how Recca was coping with the heavy new truth—the truth about the world... and about him. Everyone handles such revelations in their own way. So Alex didn't press her, simply gave her time to process it all.
But today, with a few free minutes on hand, he decided to take advantage of them.
When the conversation with Mari and Shizuka came to an end, Alex gently lifted Anya from Shizuka's lap. Shizuka pouted, clearly disappointed—she wanted to pamper her daughter a bit longer. At home, Anya was always surrounded by the other women or busy playing with the kids' group, so now Shizuka had a rare chance to spend quality time with her. But Alex had just cut that chance short.
Seeing Shizuka's sulking expression, Alex and Anya exchanged a glance—then both kissed her on the cheeks at the same time. Shizuka immediately melted, her face blooming into a happy smile.
"Alright, time to continue our journey. Anya, say goodbye to Mom," Alex said, standing by the door with the girl in his arms.
"Bye, Mom! Bye, Mari!" Anya waved cheerfully.
The women smiled and waved back, and Alex, giving a slight nod, left the room and headed upstairs with his daughter.
First, he decided to peek into the lab—just out of curiosity. What were they up to now? Gently opening the door, he peeked inside with Anya. And just as expected, the usual "storm" reigned within: the group of scientists was once again fiercely arguing.
Alex glanced at the board and immediately understood the reason: the dispute was over a virus developed by two different teams. Each one insisted their version was more effective, and no one was backing down.
"Dad, are they stupid or what?" Anya whispered, pointing at the arguing adults.
"No, they're just big kids. They're fighting over whose toys are cooler. Don't mind them—they'll calm down soon. Let's go check on Recca instead," Alex replied, quietly closing the door so they wouldn't have to listen to the scientific squabble.
"Is she my new mom?" Anya suddenly asked, looking up at her father.
"Who knows," Alex said with a faint smile. "Maybe yes, maybe not yet. But I think she might be soon. You wouldn't mind, would you?"
"Mmm... nope. The more moms, the better! They all love me and spoil me!" Anya declared seriously, nodding energetically.
"Yeah, all you care about is being spoiled, little gremlin," Alex chuckled and gently pinched her nose.
Anya giggled, trying to squirm away. Shaking his head, Alex walked up to Recca's private office. He knew exactly why she had claimed it as her lab. After all those endless arguments with her colleagues aboard the aircraft carrier, she had finally had enough—and seized the first opportunity to get a room of her own.
He gently pushed the door open and peeked inside. Recca was asleep, her face resting on her arms on the desk.
Alex and Anya exchanged a glance, then quietly stepped inside. He sat down next to the girl, and Anya looked at him questioningly—wake her up or not? Alex just raised a finger to his lips, signaling: shhh… let her rest.
Anya nodded seriously and even pressed her hands to her lips, as if taking an oath of silence. Alex smiled softly, opened his inventory, and pulled out a warm blanket. Carefully, he draped it over the sleeping Recca, who, despite her exhaustion, looked peaceful.
Looking at her, Alex guessed that she had probably spent the entire night working in the lab until she passed out from fatigue. Not wanting to wake her, he decided to let her rest a little longer. Taking his phone and a pair of earbuds from his pocket, he put one earbud in his ear, gave the other to Anya, and played a random movie he thought she might enjoy.
Anya settled into his lap, leaning her back comfortably against his chest, and stared at the screen with interest. The two of them quietly watched the movie while Recca continued to sleep at her desk. Time passed unnoticed.
After a while, Recca began to stir. Slowly opening her eyes, she lifted her head a little and rubbed her stiff neck — the price of sleeping at her desk. Stretching and rubbing her face with her hands, she noticed a warm blanket covering her shoulders — something that definitely hadn't been there before.
Looking around, she finally saw Alex and Anya sitting nearby, both quietly watching a movie with faint smiles on their faces.
Alex noticed Recca waking up and looked at her with a smile of his own.
"Looks like you're awake. How was your nap?" he asked, removing the earphones from his ears.
"Horrible," she muttered, rubbing her neck. "Everything's sore. Have you been here long?"
"Not really. When we came in, you were already asleep. I figured you could use the rest, so we decided to pass the time with a movie," Alex said with a smile, gently stroking his daughter's cheek.
"Mmm... thanks for the blanket," Recca said with a hint of gratitude, handing it back to him.
"Don't mention it. I've got all kinds of stuff in my inventory. Want me to help with your neck?" he offered, tucking the blanket away and watching her continue to rub her stiff muscles.
"I'd appreciate it," Recca nodded. "This pain's driving me crazy."
Alex nodded and motioned for her to come closer. Recca grabbed a chair and sat with her back to him. He reached out, his hands glowing softly with a green light, and began to gently massage her shoulders and neck, gradually easing the tension.
Recca felt a pleasant warmth spread through her body as the fatigue slowly melted away. His hands were steady and gentle, making her nearly drift off again. Alex worked with quiet focus, the kind of skill that only comes with experience — and he definitely had it. He had massaged the girls in his family more than once and knew exactly how to release muscle tension.
Anya watched the scene unfold with interest. Hearing Recca's thoughts, she began to wonder—was her dad really that good at it? Lifting her eyes to him, it was clear she was about to ask for a massage of her own. Alex, noticing her thoughtful look, nodded knowingly. Anya beamed and snuggled back against his chest.
"So, feeling better?" he asked with a smile as he finished the massage.
"More than better. It feels like all my exhaustion just melted away," Recca said with relief, rolling her neck. "Now I get why the girls around you always seem so refreshed. It's all about the massages."
"It's not just the massages," Alex replied with a smirk. "But tell me, how'd you end up asleep in the lab again?"
"What do you think?" Recca rolled her eyes and poked him in the chest. "It's not every day you find out the guy next to you is the son of a god and the first demon on top of that. Add in the invasion of two insanely dangerous beings into our world... Honestly, I'm surprised I didn't have a full-blown mental breakdown."
"Yeah, the truth has always been a heavy burden. It's like learning the ending of a book before reading the first chapter," Alex sighed. "But I'm glad you held it together. How are Claire and Moira doing?"
"They seem okay. Moira talked with Becca and Revy. Claire had a chat with the other girls," she said, covering her eyes with her hand.
"And you decided to just lock yourself in the lab and deal with it all alone? Not very sweet of you, Recca," Alex said, shaking his head.
"You're one to talk," she huffed. "This is all your fault. So? How did the others react to your true 'self'?"
"Surprisingly calmly. Most of them were more curious about the different worlds and how to travel between them. I think they're more drawn to the idea of adventure than scared by the threat of universal annihilation," he said, spreading his arms. Anya mirrored the gesture with a smile.
Recca raised an eyebrow in surprise, watching Alex and Anya stretch their arms in perfect sync. She barely stopped herself from sighing—they're so alike. Father and daughter, even their movements matched. Even though Recca knew Anya wasn't Alex's biological daughter, anyone seeing them like this would assume they were related by blood. If she didn't know he had rescued the girl from a lab on Veskra Island, she might've believed it herself.
When the conversation shifted to other worlds and the possibility of traveling between them, Recca couldn't help but grow curious. She looked at Alex intently, waiting for him to continue. Her gaze clearly said, "Tell me more."
Alex caught the hunger for knowledge in her eyes and didn't hesitate.
"There are countless worlds out there. Some are ordinary, not too different from this one before the virus outbreak. Others are absolutely absurd," he said with a faint smile. "For example, there's a world where hats wear people, not the other way around. Or one where chairs sit on people. And finally…" — Alex paused dramatically — "there's a world where vegetables grow humans like regular crops."
Recca listened, growing more and more suspicious that Alex had lost his mind. But he described everything with such confidence and so many details that she couldn't help but believe—or at least allow herself to consider that he was telling the truth.
"There are other, more 'normal' worlds too. Like one similar to Harry Potter or The Lord of the Rings. So not all of them are as crazy as you thought at first," he added, as if trying to reassure her.
Recca relaxed a bit, realizing not all alternate realities were the product of a madman's imagination. Anya, on the other hand, was fired up with enthusiasm:
"I want to go to the world where chairs sit on people! That sounds like fun!"
"Ugh… with all this information, my head's going to explode," Recca muttered, rubbing her forehead. "But tell me… are you really going to be able to handle those two powerful enemies?"
"My daddy will definitely handle them!" Anya declared proudly, puffing out her chest. "He's super cool and strong! He's already saved three entire universes! Amazing, right?"
"You're such a daddy's girl," Recca smiled and couldn't resist pinching the girl's cheek. "Well, if you say so, then he'll manage."
"Now that your worries are settled, we can get to the most important thing," Alex said, grinning.
"What else could that be?" Recca asked warily, narrowing her eyes.
"Are you going to be one of my moms?" Anya asked innocently, raising her hands over her head.
Recca froze. She looked at Anya, then shifted her gaze to Alex, who was only smiling mysteriously. Her cheeks flushed—surprised, confused… and something else.
A mother? So, Alex's wife…
She couldn't deny it—she really liked Alex. They had already kissed. She had even thought about being with him… but Anya's blunt question knocked the ground out from under her feet.
Noticing her hesitation, Alex decided to lighten the mood:
"Listen, Recca, let me give you a few reasons that might help you decide," he said with a playful smile.
"And what reasons do you have to convince me to be your girlfriend?" she smirked, looking at him suspiciously.
"First," he began, pretending to give a business presentation, "you get a handsome, strong, amazing husband. Second—a sweet and charming daughter. Third—a big family made up of all kinds of people, even gods. And finally, you get the chance to travel between worlds, learn new things, and keep growing. How's that?"
Recca couldn't hold back and laughed, clutching her stomach. She definitely hadn't expected such a proposal. No romantic candles or rings—just a funny sales pitch, as if he were selling a family package deal called 'happiness plus adventure.'
But honestly, she couldn't deny—it sounded tempting. She liked Alex. A lot. And the idea of becoming part of this big, noisy, lively family warmed her heart, especially since she had no one left in her world.
"You know…" she sighed, wiping a tear from laughing. "When you put it like that, I can't say no. Alright, I'll be your girlfriend."
"Since you agreed… it's time to seal the deal. This journey's going to be a long one," Alex said, stepping closer.
"And how exactly do we seal it?" Recca raised an eyebrow.
"Well, how else?" Anya declared, grabbing Recca's hand. "With a kiss! Now kiss my daddy and become my new mommy!"
Recca didn't resist when Anya pulled her by the hand. She leaned in closer and gently kissed Alex on the lips. Anya smirked proudly—she had managed to get herself another "mom" who would spoil her. If Alex had heard his daughter's thoughts at that moment, he would have definitely called her nothing less than a pink-haired gremlin.
The kiss didn't last long—Anya started actively pushing their hands apart to prevent the moment from dragging on. The little palms decisively wedged between them, making Alex and Recca burst out laughing. Their eyes met on Anya, who, with a serious expression, was trying to "separate" the adults.
"Enough already," Anya muttered, puffing out her cheeks.
Recca couldn't help but gently pinch the girl's cheek, then suddenly realized: she really did have a daughter now. And, surprisingly, she wasn't opposed to it—in fact, she liked this sweet, stubborn little girl.
"Well, now that the main questions are settled, how are you doing with the virus?" Alex asked, raising an eyebrow. "We dropped by the scientists, and they almost started fighting over a disagreement. I'm curious—were you able to modify the infection mechanism?"
"You could say thanks to you, yes," Recca replied, pulling out a tablet. "After your confession about being the Demon King and all that… I decided to throw myself into work to distract myself somehow. In the end, I managed to significantly improve the first virus—the very mix of plague, smallpox, and anthrax. I made it more deadly, and now it can be transmitted through the air. And thanks to your portable mini-lab, I was able to conduct field tests. The results showed the virus quickly passes from carrier to carrier, and its lethality and spread rate have increased many times."
She handed the tablet to Alex, showing him graphs and calculations.
Alex took the device and carefully flipped through the data. He was a bit surprised by Recca's pace of work, but considering the lab was connected to his personal server and used the computing power of GIR and MIMI, the result made perfect sense. Despite the virus's effectiveness, he was slightly worried about the possibility of mutations—especially if the infection accidentally jumped to humans.
"Aren't you afraid the virus might mutate and become a threat to humanity?" he asked, handing the tablet back.
"There's no reason to worry. The virus can only mutate if there are factors triggering adaptation," Recca calmly explained. "If it's used exclusively on demons and contact with humans is prevented, there won't be any mutations. Historically, virus mutations happened as a response to the development of immunity in humans. Even something as simple as the flu has mutated thousands of times over its history. The first flu outbreaks made people seriously ill, sometimes fatally. Archived data and genetic analysis show it was originally extremely dangerous."
"Interesting… Luckily, that's not something I need to worry about. I basically can't get sick," Alex said with a slight smirk.
"Mom Recca is smart!" Anya suddenly said, nodding firmly.
"That's right, little one," Recca smiled warmly. "And if you ever do get sick, I'll cure you right away. No getting sick for you, understood?"
Alex watched their interaction with warmth. But his thoughts soon returned to the virus. Now he had to find a place to test it. He even regretted having destroyed an entire horde of demons the day before, one that had been preparing to attack a settlement. It had been foolish.
Sighing, he pondered where he could find a new horde without revealing himself. His thoughts tangled until suddenly a click sounded in his mind — another Red Marker thread he had been tracking every day had been cut.
This was the second one in recent weeks. The last time it happened was when he destroyed Wesker. That meant the demons were becoming active again and continuing to destroy the Red Markers.
"Your face changed... Did something happen?" Recca asked, noticing the change in his expression.
"It's nothing," he shook his head. "Just thinking about where to test the improved virus."
"And where do you plan to do that? Something tells me finding a demon gathering won't be easy," she sighed, shaking her head.
"Don't worry, I know a place where there are plenty of them. We can head there right now," Alex said, giving a thumbs-up.
"And where exactly are you going?" Recca asked, narrowing her eyes.
"To Italy. More precisely — to the Vatican," Alex answered with a mysterious smile.
"Dad, what kind of place is that?" Anya asked curiously.
"Hmm... how to explain... The Vatican is like a country within a country. It has its own laws. The people living there believe they worship your grandfather, but in reality... they're just using his name to control others," Alex said, thoughtfully stroking his chin.
"You have quite the prejudice against the church, especially considering who your father is," Recca noted, watching him closely.
Alex just shrugged, refusing to justify himself. In his eyes, every religion was, in one way or another, no more than a tool for controlling people. If faith were truly spiritual, sects wouldn't exist in the world. But to Anya, his words sounded strange. She couldn't understand what a "country within a country" was or how it was even possible.
"All right, let's not waste time. I want to deal with this as soon as possible," Alex said, getting up from his chair.
"Wait, I'll gather everything we need, then we can go. But are you sure we should take Anya with us? What if it's dangerous?" Recca asked, nodding toward the girl, who was comfortably settled in his arms.
"It's all under control. She's safer with me than anywhere else in the endless multiverse," Alex said confidently, shaking his head.
Recca looked at him suspiciously but still nodded. She was still uneasy about Alex's mysterious power. As a scientist all her life, grasping the scale of his abilities was difficult. Especially now that she knew who he really was — the son of a being at the origins of all existence.
Not wanting to burden herself with questions without answers, she took off her white lab coat, put on a jacket, and slung a backpack with packed things over her shoulder.
"I'm ready. You can start conjuring your portals," she said, zipping up.
Alex nodded, carefully handed Anya into Recca's arms, and summoned Chastiefol. In the next second, the spear began to change, its form transforming into a large flying cushion. Anya squealed with delight when she saw the weapon turn into something so cute and soft.
Recca, on the other hand, froze in confusion. The transformation of a battle artifact into something so homey was too unexpected for her. Still, she decided to postpone questions for now so as not to clutter her mind.
Alex wrapped his arm around Recca's waist and gently helped her and Anya sit on the cushion. Anya immediately began squeezing it with her hands to test its softness and finally lay down on it with a satisfied expression, pressing her cheek against it. Recca nervously stared into the space beneath them, trying not to think about the possibility of falling.
Meanwhile, Alex summoned Yamato. With one swift motion, he sliced the air with the blade—the portal opened with a characteristic sound, as if the fabric of reality had been cut with a knife. He stepped inside, and the cushion with Anya and Recca smoothly followed him.
On the other side of the portal, Recca realized with anxiety that they were at an enormous height—clouds slowly drifted past them.
"Is this really the place? I hope you didn't get the coordinates wrong, because all this… doesn't inspire much confidence," she said, scanning the sky.
"Hmm... the clouds don't look like cotton candy at all, like they said," Anya muttered disappointedly as she sat on the cushion.
"Who told you that, Anya?" Recca asked, surprised.
"Lucy and Zero Two. They said clouds are cotton candy…" the girl pouted and complained softly.
Alex couldn't hold back his laughter. He shook his head—how Zero Two and Lucy managed to fool even Anya, who could hear thoughts, was a mystery. Recca also laughed, imagining Anya trying to find the taste of clouds with a serious face.
Luckily, Alex had already shown his daughter the Moon so she wouldn't think it was made of cheese like in old fairy tales.
"As for where we are…" Alex pointed downward. "We're right above the Vatican. More precisely, above St. Peter's Square. High in the sky, right over its very center."
"I'll take your word for it," Recca said, turning away, "but I'm not going to look down. It's way too high…"
Alex just shrugged and said nothing more. But Anya, on the contrary, looked down with curiosity. Alex understood perfectly well how curious children could be, so without a word, he extended his hand toward Recca and Anya, creating an invisible barrier that would prevent them from falling off the floating cushion. Now Anya could safely look down—if, of course, she wasn't afraid of the height.
She immediately understood what her father had done and smiled at him broadly. Alex returned the smile warmly and lowered his gaze downward.
Below them unfolded a gruesome scene: right in the center of St. Peter's Square lay the shattered remains of a destroyed Red Marker, around which demons slowly roamed, trampling the bodies of dead necromorphs—those that had died immediately after the Marker's destruction. Alex wasn't particularly surprised that one of the Markers was near the Vatican. Faith in God had always reigned in this place, and he could easily imagine how the local clergy had swapped their god for a new… much darker one.
Deciding not to waste any more time, Alex blew a light breath downward. Black clouds began to thicken under his feet, and the sky was split by the first rumble of thunder. Recca looked at him in surprise.
"You just blew… and already clouds?" she murmured, glancing upward.
"All right, let's do the virus. We'll spray it with the rain now," Alex said, extending his hand.
Recca nodded, took off her backpack, and quickly pulled out a vial filled with a deadly virus. Alex took it, tossed it lightly in his palms to feel the weight, and after a brief pause, opened the container and simply dropped it into the thickening clouds.
Thunder rumbled again, this time much louder.
The demons in the square simultaneously raised their heads to the sky. At first, an ordinary rain began, but as the drops touched the ground, they immediately evaporated, leaving behind a whitish, almost transparent mist that rose upward, filling everything around.
Only a second passed when one of the demons staggered and suddenly vomited blood with chunks of internal organs. This was the start of the nightmare—the others followed. St. Peter's Square turned into hell: everywhere there were retching roars, bubbling sounds, and the noise of bodies falling. The demons vomited blood and pieces of flesh, convulsed violently, and died.
Alex watched silently, noting every detail. If these had been humans in the demons' place—he would have been considered a monster. But this time, the genocide was aimed not at humanity, but at hell. Imps, hell knights, barons, mancubi, cacodemons—all that filth writhed in death spasms. Even Alex had to nod in approval: Recca was right—the new version of the virus was far deadlier than the previous one.
Seconds passed, and all the small fiends were already dead. The larger demons still held on but were on the brink of death. Yet the most important thing was that their deaths attracted the attention of the others. Demons from all over Rome began rapidly converging on the square—and, infected, they died just the same. The virus spread from one to another like the plague. In fact, plague was part of this deadly cocktail.
Within minutes, it had spread throughout the city. The longer the rain fell, the faster the demons died.
"So what's down there?" Recca squinted. "With your clouds, you can't see a damn thing."
"Thank God for that. Believe me, you don't want to see it. It's like watching a plague outbreak in fast-forward. The virus has already spread through all of Rome… and it's doing it damn fast," Alex said as he lit a cigarette.
"That effect… According to the simulations, it should have taken about an hour. But here—it's less than ten minutes," Recca muttered, tapping her finger on her chin.
"I think it's because I dispersed it through the rain. That sped up the spread," Alex replied, pointing down.
Recca nodded in agreement. Indeed, if the virus had been dispersed the traditional way, it would have taken much longer—as the calculations had shown. But the rain… the rain played its role perfectly.
Alex could only hope that the virus wouldn't spread beyond Rome's borders. He didn't want all the demonic filth in Europe to die off at once. That could ruin his plans. But even he had to admit—the carnage unfolding below was truly a bloody spectacle.
To be continued...
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