Chapter 22

These few things made him go back to the basics but all in all, the blonde was confident that before he exited the time chamber, he would have a few more tricks needed to survive.

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|DxD|

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Time Chamber: 3 Years Later (9 years after entering)

"Okay. I think I've got everything, right?"

After three years of hard training, Igor finally had enough. Besides practicing techniques such as the Instant Transmission to a satisfactory level, he had also exhausted all of the potential in his body. 

Appearing to be 13 years of age, Igor's muscular figure could clearly be seen through his black t-shirt. The blonde wore a dark blue haori and same coloured pants. His pants were held together by a dark blue sash while on his feet, he wore black open-toe boots, a personal preference.

Strapped to his back was a rolled-up straw mat and some books bound together by some rope he had in the gym.

With Igor's current appearance, it was relatively easy to get his purpose.

"I'm not sure if I can access the time chamber after I leave so having these books can be some insurance."

Deciding to leave almost a year early, the blonde stood in front of the massive door leading to the outside of the time chamber.

He smiled to himself, taking in the immense height of the door.

"Almost 50 years have passed and this is the first time I take the initiative to use this door."

There was a small amount of uncertainty. But it was just that- small. That uncertainty was like a fly that the blonde chased away.

"No need to wait any further. I'm wasting daylight here and I have an old man beat up."

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|DxD|

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1995/09/03* - 1996, July 2nd, Baraquiel's Home, Kuoh Town, Japan

Sitting outside on deck chairs, Azazel and Baraquiel were quietly watching the sunset. For the past year, both fallen had been extremely busy after Igor's little stunt. While Azazel was able to hush down the incident of Igor and Baraquiel fighting, the giant globe that had enough energy to cause untold destruction through Japan directly destroyed all his efforts at easily appeasing Cleria Belial, the current overseer of Kuoh.

In fact, Cleria wasn't the only problem. There were also the yokai who wanted an answer for the matter. Azazel had to spend a long amount of time handling public relations while Baraquiel had to expel any hidden forces that tried to approach the scene. Fortunately, his killings could be disguised as protecting his place of residence. While the information was not widespread, there were a few people among the upper echelons who knew that Baraquiel resided somewhere along the outskirts of Kuoh. Although no one truly knew the explicit reason. However, no one would truly make a fuss out of it. With a person of his calibre, it was a sort of unwritten rule to not bother them if they did not cause any trouble. After all, it would cause too many unnecessary problems if powerful entities from various factions were blocked by subordinates at every turn.

But what caused the biggest problem was that the giant globe was made out of ki. The moment that Igor had formed it, it directly shattered the bounded field surrounding the entire forest. The result of this was that any yokai and other party familiar with ki could feel the massive energy coming from Kuoh.

To make sure that there wouldn't be too many problems, Azazel who was chatting with Cleria at the time had to silence her…with bribes. Cleria was a smart woman who had long since begun to observe the blonde. It was inevitable that Igor would be found out when multiple humans kept dying for the past four years. Although, it wasn't like the blonde was trying to hide anyway.

While Azazel and Baraquiel had once thought to just expose Igor, they immediately abandoned that thought. The consequences would far, far outweigh the temporary gains. So the brothers defaulted to blaming the entire incident on a rogue yokai who wanted revenge. The excuse was usable since yokai weren't united and Baraquiel truly did slaughter a few races over the years, yokai included.

In the end, the issue was somewhat suppressed and their daily lives could go back to normal. But while the months passed, Azazel couldn't let the matter rest. It completely intrigued him that a child that young was able to release an attack equivalent to that of a low-satan class*. To him, Igor was equivalent to a walking Longinus sacred gear. Although there was a slight hypothesis he had arrived at when it came to the source of the blonde's strength, he had to wait until he saw Igor to verify it.

But right now, he would enjoy the sunset with his brother.

"It's truly been a while since we relaxed like this, brother."

Baraquiel replied with a groan, the barest of smiles on his face.

"Indeed, brother. But maybe it would be better if Shemhazai could also join."

Azazel flinched slightly. He could already imagine how the other Fallen would berate him for neglecting his work again.

"Don't make jokes like that, brother. It's bad for my health."

"Hmph."

After Baraquiel's mocking grunt, the two brothers sat down in peaceful silence for quite a while. The gentle breeze of the wind ruffled the leaves atop the tree they were sitting under, causing a few dead leaves to fall. One of those leaves happened to fall on his forehead. 

Giving off an annoyed grunt, Azazel crushed the leaf in his hand and chucked the pieces at Baraquiel, eliciting an annoyed yell from him.

"Hey!"

"Hahahaha!"

"Tch!"

Baraquiel began brushing off the pieces of his shirt.

"You always were a nuisance, brother."

"And yet you're still here, brother! I know I'm too handsome to leave."

"You misunderstand, brother. The only reason I've remained with you all this time is because I know Shemhazai can't handle you alone and Kokabiel definitely won't bother with you."

Azazel laughed.

"Heh~. Speaking of Kokabiel, what do you think our beloved brother is doing?"

"How would I know? Maybe he's nurturing another army of lunatics like him."

Azazel chuckled.

"Not maybe. He is."

"And you already have a plan in mind, don't you?"

"In the future, yes. For now, I'll let our dear brother be our pot" *(Handle the blame)

Baraquiel offered a grunt of confirmation before continuing.

"Speaking of pots, have you found out anything about the brat? If I'm going to take the blame for his little stunt, I believe I have to know who he truly is."

Azazel sat up from his lawn chair and scratched the back of his head.

"Aya~. I first tried finding anyone with the surname 'Dimori'. We found a few in Russia, Italy, and Brazil but none of the current generation has blonde hair. There was an ancestor or two from centuries ago that did have blonde hair but that's it. I went further and searched for anyone on the planet with blonde hair, was born around the late '80s to early '90s, and has a name that means 'warrior'. While there were a few thousand results, none of them looked even remotely similar to our blonde."

"Did you take into account that perhaps, face-changing magic was involved."

"Brother. What do you take me for? Of course I did. I sent a few runts to confirm the existence of every single one of them. I even gave them a few trinkets to help detect any sort of distortions. But like before, the results came back negative."

Baraquiel sighed.

"So we have no clue who the blonde is other than the basics?"

Azazel grinned and looked at his brother.

"No. On the contrary, we do. You see, I thought about the story little Akeno told me. She said he always appears around the 9th of August at the same spot and it has been that way for roughly 3 years without fail. And then there's this home he talks about. I assume that whenever he vanishes, he goes to that home."

He then paused, his gaze becoming even more serious.

"I cannot give you concrete evidence, at least not until I see him again, but that home of his is probably where the Aryans lived. I won't continue any further until I see him, but I also have a good guess as to where his strength comes from. And if it is where I think it comes from, then this completely solidifies his identity as a child of Aryan descent."

Baraquiel remained quiet, his head down in thoughtfulness.

"So, if your hypothesis is indeed true, what are our next steps?"

Azazel simply laid down again on his chair with his eyes closed.

"Simple. We do nothing. The blonde is not a threat to us."

Baraquiel narrowed his gaze.

"I know you, brother. Those are not the extent of your thoughts. You have a plan in that head of yours, don't you?"

Azazel simply gave a lopsided grin while adjusting his position for comfort on the deck chair.

"Don't look at me like that Grouchyquiel. I mean it when I say that we won't do anything apart from what we've been doing before. I think-no. I know that as soon as the brat comes back, he'll come looking for you for a fight. And… you're probably going to lose."

Baraquiel immediately snorted.

"Hmph! As if I'd lose to that foul-mouthed brat."

Azazel raised his hands in mock surrender.

"Whoa, hey! I'm just saying, if he comes back from where I think he comes from, then there is a high chance you'll lose brother. Of course, maybe his overconfidence will let you win, but it will not be an easy battle for you, brother."

"What makes you so confident in that little theory of yours, Azazel?"

"For one simple reason. You didn't see it, but I did. When Igor released that huge ki sphere at you, he forced you to go full power. Before that brat vanished, he felt you at full power…and he grinned before he vanished. He grinned like a madman, like how the mountain he thought had no peak was suddenly so close to reach." *

And exactly at that moment, both cadres felt a disturbance similar to teleportation in the forest.

"Aaaand, he's here… a month early."

Azazel looked at Baraquiel with a grin. But before Baraquiel could retort, both of them suddenly felt something similar to a sonar wave wash over them, causing Baraquiel to groan.

"And the brat found us-"

Baraquiel suddenly stood up. He could intimately feel how Igor's ki suddenly zeroed in on him like a rope tying around him. Instinctively, Baraquiel released all his wings, not caring at all as to how his shirt got torn apart.

But nothing absolutely prepared him for Igor suddenly appearing in front of him.

Tswii!

The blonde appeared in all his glory. His blue haori slightly blew in the breeze, his hair gently shaking with the wind.

But compared to the peace and serenity of the scene, Igor was exuding pure battle lust.

"I found you, old man! Time for a rematch!"

Azazel watched the scene with an amused gaze.

"You've gotten stronger, Igor."

"Of course, Uncle A! I have to be if I'm going to win against Old Man Baraquiel."

The fire in his eyes was unquenchable and the powerful aura on his body was unmistakeable. To Baraquiel's dissatisfaction, Azazel fished out a bottle of lubrication from his pocket, his meaning clear.

[You're screwed.]

AN

Important notes will be in the next chapter. For now, let's do explanations.

1. 1995/09/03* (September 3rd, 1995)

Explanation: The previous date of August 29th, 1995 was incorrect. It was supposed to be the date above. Igor is kicked out of the time chamber for roughly 35 days before he can regain entry.

2. It completely intrigued him that a child that young was able to release an attack equivalent to that of a high-ultimate class*.

Explanation: Power levels have been reviewed. It was somewhat messy before but now, here it.

Low-Class

Middle-Class

High-Class

Ultimate-Class

Satan/Seraph/Governor/God-Class

Super Devil/Supreme God-Class

Ophis and Great Red

This is not the neatest setup but it's a rough version. Right now, Igor in base is already in the lower-satan class. Most of us are more familiar with "satan-class" than "god-class" so we'll go with satan-class for now.

3. "In the future, yes. For now, I'll let our dear brother be our pot" *

Explanation: Literally means that Kokabiel will be the scapegoat for anything or everything that happens. It's like the youngest child in the family. Anything breaks, they're asked first.

4. He grinned like a madman, like how the mountain he thought had no peak was suddenly so close to reach. *

Explanation: Here's an example. Close your eyes and drink from a cup full of water. Don't take a breath and keep drinking. At some point, you'll stop to take a breath before you finish. Upon noticing that there's only a very small amount of water left. That's the feeling Igor got. The seemingly insurmountable Baraquiel would be beatable in ten years.