Sons of a devil-Chapter 126: the training

"Rina!" Selene yelled from across the garden, halfway through her sword practice with Eira. "That fireball almost singed Cain's eyebrows!"

"Not my fault he doesn't moisturize," Rina said sweetly.

Cain raised an eyebrow. "You've been spending too much time with Eira."

"Hey!" Eira laughed. "I'm a delightful influence."

Eren leaned over to Leo from the sidelines. "This is either the worst idea or the best. I haven't decided yet."

Leo chuckled. "We'll know when someone gets blown up."

Rina zipped around her cousins, lighting flames beneath their feet. "Come on! One of you explode or something!"

Azrael Jr. growled and finally surged with lightning, sending a crackling wave across the tiles. Rina somersaulted over it, landing beside him and tapping his head.

"Boom. You're dead."

He scowled.

Cain held up a hand. "Stop. Everyone breathe."

They did.

Selene walked over, wiping sweat from her brow, sword sheathed. "We need more than brute force. Seraphis is clever. He's counting on us being hot-headed."

"Then we give him something else," Eren said, approaching. "Something colder. Calculated."

Rina threw herself onto the ground dramatically. "Do I have to be calculated? Can't I just be the wild card?"

"You are definitely the wild card," Eira said. "But we need to out-think him."

Suddenly, one of the palace guards rushed into the courtyard.

"My prince! My princess! We've intercepted a message—it's a location."

Selene stepped forward. "Where?"

The guard unrolled the parchment. "The Valley of Shattered Time."

Cain exhaled slowly. "He's waiting there."

"Perfect," Azrael Jr. said, fists clenched.

"No," Selene said sharply. "Not perfect. That place is cursed. If we go in unprepared—"

"I'm done being prepared," Caelan said. "He killed Grandma Isolde."

Cain looked between his sons, then the others.

"We go at dawn."

"Together," Selene added.

Rina grinned. "Time to pack... death and glitter!"

---

Later that night, the palace glowed with a quiet anticipation. In the throne room, Eira and Eren stood by the old war banners, touching the symbols.

"Feels weird," Eira murmured. "We used to be enemies. Now we're the kingdom's last line."

"We were never enemies," Eren said. "Just... misaligned."

They stood in silence, watching the stars glint through the stained glass.

In the nursery, the twins sat with their father and Selene, heads bowed as Cain showed them the dagger once carried by Azrael the First.

"This belonged to the man you're named after," he told Azrael Jr. "He fought until his dying breath."

"And now I'll fight for him," the boy whispered.

Selene placed her hands on both their shoulders. "Then fight with love. Not vengeance."

Outside, Rina stood on the roof, watching the moon.

"I'm coming for you, bad guy," she whispered. "And I'm bringing everything."

The courtyard, scorched and cracked from countless power surges, had turned into an elite training ground. The sun hung low, casting golden glimmers across the stone as the twins—Azrael Jr. and Caelan—stood opposite each other, crackling with energy.

"Focus, Azrael!" Cain barked from the sidelines, arms crossed. "Control the storm, don't become it!"

Azrael Jr.'s eyes glowed white, sparks dancing around his fists. He closed his eyes and took a slow breath, and the lightning around him began to weave into a glowing orb. The clouds above rumbled slightly, echoing his heartbeat.

Meanwhile, Caelan stood barefoot on the ground, shadows swirling at his feet like a cloak. "Let's try the shadow blink again," he muttered, locking eyes with his father.

Cain gave him a nod. Caelan vanished in a whip of smoke, reappearing behind Cain with a dagger made of obsidian magic pressed gently to his back.

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Cain grinned. "Better. But next time, go for my neck."

Selene, watching with arms folded, chuckled. "You say that like you're not their father."

"I am," Cain said, "but I'm also their weapon master."

Across the field, Rina was floating mid-air, surrounded by small flaming orbs. She grinned mischievously. "Guess who figured out how to make fire wings!"

With a dramatic laugh, she extended her arms, and flames erupted from her back in the shape of two wild, fluttering wings. She zoomed past the training dummies, leaving a trail of sparks.

"Rina!" Leo shouted from the bench. "Watch the—"

BOOM!

A dummy burst into flames and flopped over.

"My bad," she yelled. "But also... worth it!"

Eira clapped her hands. "Okay, okay, calm your flames, baby phoenix. Let's do defensive formations!"

Eren stepped up beside her, conjuring a wall of golden wind around the trainees. "This will resist elemental attacks for about fifteen seconds. Time yourselves."

Caelan hurled a sphere of shadow at the barrier, and Azrael followed with a strike of pure lightning. Rina zipped around it with fireballs aimed at weak spots, yelling, "This is so much cooler than school!"

Selene leaned into Cain. "They're becoming a force."

"They already are," Cain said. "But they don't know it yet."

The twins stopped and looked up, panting. "Again?" Azrael asked.

"Again," Caelan said firmly.

They reset, standing at the ready. Rina landed beside them, grinning wildly. "Last one to break the barrier has to do the dinner dishes."

Azrael smirked. "Hope you like soap, cousin."

"Hope you like burnt plates," she shot back.

The second round began with more precision. Azrael struck with a refined bolt, sharp and calculated. Caelan's shadows wrapped around Rina's fire, blending in a beautiful, destructive harmony. Eira and Eren exchanged impressed glances.

"They're syncing," Eira said softly.

Eren nodded. "Just in time."

When the final strike broke the shield in exactly fourteen seconds, Selene clapped her hands. "Perfect. That's enough for today."

The kids collapsed into a pile of sweat, soot, and laughter.

Cain walked over and ruffled Caelan's hair. "Not bad. You nearly had me."

"I'll get you tomorrow," Caelan muttered, too tired to threaten properly.

Rina popped her head up. "Do we get dessert?"

"You burned dessert," Leo replied from the shade. "And possibly the kitchen."

Rina shrugged. "Guess we're having toasted walls and regret."

Everyone laughed.

As the sun set behind the mountains, Selene looked around at her chaotic, powerful, deeply bonded family. Tomorrow they would face ancient danger. But tonight? Tonight, they were just kids—just family.

She smiled.

Let the world tremble. Her storm was ready.