For advance 40+ chapters /patreon.com/HandsomeDuckGod
[Resurrection Coin]:A miraculous gold coin that allows resurrection upon use.
It actually worked.
Luke felt a surge of genuine excitement. Riven—his lucky charm, his gacha goddess.
Even with all the empty drops, a resurrection coin was invaluable beyond measure. A literal extra life.
But doubts crept in. Was this true resurrection—his soul returned to a restored body? Or would it create a copy with his memories, while the original Luke ceased to exist?
The philosophical implications were uncomfortable.
"Don't die unless absolutely necessary," he told himself. The coin was insurance, not permission to be reckless.
"Did something good drop?" Skadi asked, noticing his expression.
She and Tifa could see Luke's excitement. Part of them felt jealous that Riven had been the lucky one—but seeing Luke happy made them happy too.
"Something excellent." Luke squeezed all three of their hands in turn. "Thank you, Riven. Thank you, everyone. Our combined luck made this possible."
He didn't explain what the item was. None of them would ever need to know, because none of them were ever going to die. The resurrection coin would stay in his inventory, gathering dust forever.
That was the plan, anyway.
Umbrella Corporation's underground training facility had been specifically reinforced for superhuman combat.
Luke faced Tifa across the sparring mat, both in fighting stances.
Training partners were a delicate matter when your companions could casually murder you. Skadi didn't know how to hold back—a serious strike from her would kill Luke instantly. Riven could control her power better, but even restrained, she risked crippling him permanently.
Tifa was different. Her strength, while superhuman, existed on a scale Luke could actually survive. She was the closest match to his current capabilities.
And Luke needed to train. Badly.
Something was changing inside him. He could feel it—strength building in his muscles, reflexes sharpening, a growing sense of potential waiting to be unlocked. The Sparda bloodline was stirring.
He just needed a push.
Tifa's fist connected with his crossed-arm guard. The impact felt like getting hit by a car, but Luke only skidded backward ten meters before stopping. His arms ached, but nothing was broken.
I'm getting stronger.
Tifa didn't let up. She closed the distance instantly, those gorgeous long legs whipping toward his head in a devastating kick.
She understood what Luke wanted—to push his limits, to force his latent power to the surface. If that meant beating him senseless, she'd do it with love.
Luke blocked, dodged, counterattacked. His movements were still clumsy compared to hers, but he was learning, adapting faster than should have been possible.
Then everything changed.
Riven moved.
No warning. No explanation. She launched herself at Luke with her broken blade raised, aiming directly at his skull.
Tifa's eyes went wide. She threw herself toward Luke without hesitation.
Skadi was a heartbeat slower to react, but when she saw Riven's killing strike, she moved too—desperate to intercept.
Luke saw the blade coming and froze.
Riven wouldn't hurt me. She loves—
The thought shattered.
Killing intent crashed into him like a physical force. Riven had released everything—the accumulated murderous experience of a warrior who'd survived Texas's hellscape, the primal aggression of someone who'd killed more enemies than she could count.
Fear seized Luke's mind. Rational thought vanished. All that remained was instinct and the broken sword descending toward his face.
BOOM.
Something inside Luke broke.
Or rather, something awakened.
Like Nero facing death and finally accessing his demonic heritage, Luke's survival instinct triggered a cascade of genetic activation. The Sparda bloodline—dormant until now, slowly building potential—exploded into full expression.
His cells transformed. Human DNA was overwritten by something older, something more powerful. Viruses and bacteria that had lived in his body were annihilated. His immune system dismantled itself and reconstructed according to demonic specifications.
His circulatory system changed.
Black hair bleached to silver-white in an instant—the same shade as Dante, as Vergil, as Nero. His features shifted subtly, the Eastern characteristics softening into something more European. His body rippled with new muscle, dense and powerful, the kind of physique that belonged on a Greek statue.
Skin that should have bronzed instead remained pale with a healthy flush—perhaps a quirk of his mixed heritage.
Luke opened his eyes.
Riven's blade was still falling.
He caught it.
Bare-handed, effortlessly, his fingers closing around the broken edge without drawing blood. The metal that could cleave through steel stopped dead in his grip.
Then he pulled.
Riven tumbled into his arms just as Skadi's retaliatory strike whistled through the space where she'd been standing. Luke spun them both clear, moving with a grace he'd never possessed before.
"Easy now." He held Riven against his chest, one arm around her waist. "I'm fine."
Tifa had already figured it out. The transformation, the power surge—she recognized the signs.
Skadi took an extra moment to process, but understanding dawned.
"You used fear to trigger my awakening," Luke said, looking down at Riven. "Clever."
He could feel it now—demonic energy surging through his body, power coiling in muscles that had been rebuilt from the cellular level up. This was probably comparable to Dante's first awakening on Temen-ni-gru. Raw, untrained, but real.
"I thought of it just now," Riven admitted. "Watching you train with Tifa, seeing how close you were to breaking through... I remembered how Nero awakened. How you told me demons gain power through crisis."
She'd been paying attention to his gaming knowledge. Using it to help him.
"Still scared the hell out of me." Luke leaned down and kissed her.
Riven didn't blush or pull away. Instead, her arms wrapped around his neck, deepening the contact until neither of them needed to breathe—which, Luke realized, was literally true now. His respiratory system had been optimized for demonic efficiency.
An irritated cough from Tifa. A pointed silence from Skadi.
Luke and Riven finally separated, and then he had two more women demanding equal attention.
By the time everyone had been properly kissed, Luke was feeling distinctly motivated toward other activities.
Then he remembered that Skadi could still probably crush him accidentally during intimate moments, and his enthusiasm cooled.
I'm stronger now, but not THAT strong. Let's not test the resurrection coin so soon.
"My immune system is completely different," he said, examining his internal sensations. "Circulatory system too. I'm not really human anymore."
The demonic reconstruction had been thorough. Diseases that affected humans wouldn't touch him. Poisons would be metabolized harmlessly. His organs now operated on principles that had nothing to do with terrestrial biology.
He was half-devil. For real this time, not just in potential.
And somewhere deep inside, he could feel the Devil Trigger waiting. A transformation he could access instinctively, though he wasn't yet sure what form it would take.
This is just the beginning, Luke thought, flexing fingers that could now catch a sword blade. Time to see how strong I can really become.