Chapter 7

Baraquiel was coming to a decision…a decision that he had never made in a long, long time. In order to make such a decision, he needed to see if Igor had one more thing.

FUUUSH

[He must have an iron will.]

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|DxD|

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[Shit!]

Igor hastily evaded a fist to his chin but couldn't evade the other one that landed on his chest. Even with his ki acting as armour, Igor still felt his chest threaten to cave in.

For the last few minutes, the situation had completely reversed. Before, it seemed as if they were equal. But out of nowhere, Baraquiel suddenly released this intense aura before his power suddenly increased. Now, Igor was being completely overwhelmed. Despite his best efforts, Baraquiel was able to completely dominate him in combat.

Baraquiel's fighting style had also changed. While before, he mimicked Igor's, now he utilised something completely different. His attacks were more overbearing than before and packed much more power. Even though Igor found them easier to read, just the sheer weight behind those fists and kicks made him feel queasy.

Baraquiel's style of fighting had shifted to one similar to that of a barbarian. His attacks were head on with minimal regard for defence. But even if Igor tried to exploit said lack of defences, one or two of Baraquiel's wings would block his own counter. That left the blonde starved of choices, and a black eye as a side dish.

So Igor could only do his best to evade the attacks. All of his focus was shifted into survival at this point.

But Baraquiel wasn't having it. After delivering a particularly nasty punch to the gut that caused Igor to keel over, he proceeded to land a double axe-handle to the back of the blonde that had him falling to the forest below.

Suuuuu-BOOOM

A massive plume of dust rose up in the wake of Igor's crash. Baraquiel stayed in the air, his eyes and senses trained on the crash site below. He could feel that Igor was alive, yet the boy was struggling to move.

Igor was lying face down, a stream of blood painting his chin. His eyes were fierce with rage and unwillingness to stay down. 

But his injuries were getting to him.

COUUUGH…Cough Cough Cough Cough

He spat out a mouthful of blood in one fierce cough that was further followed by smaller subsequent coughs. The force of the impact had caused him to suffer some internal injuries. With some effort, he rolled over to his back, taking deep breaths in the process. His torso suffered bruises and cuts while his pants were littered with tears and dirt. He couldn't keep his eyes open anymore. Exhaustion had caught up with him. Despite having spent decades training, his body was fundamentally, still young. He had yet to even enter puberty where his body would begin to truly realise one of its fastest stages of growth. 

Baraquiel looked at the barely breathing pre-teen and scoffed.

"BOY! IS THIS TRULY YOUR BEST?!"

"..."

Like a trigger, Igor's eyes opened. Absolute fury was veiled behind those cerulean orbs. The word, 'boy' acted like the ignite required to kickstart the circulation of his ki. 

Igor slowly got up in a smooth motion, seemingly ignoring the protests of his aching body. Not even a grunt of pain escaped his mouth. Instead, those cold cerulean orbs were trained on the form of Baraquiel.

Then, he hunched over, his arms spreading to his sides and his mouth turning into a vicious snarl. The word 'boy' replayed in his head over and over again while yellow ki balls formed in his hands.

"Calling me 'boy' over and over again…"

The veins on his face were bulging due to his reverse scale being touched.

"FUCK YOUR MOTHER!"

Su Su Su Su Su Su Su Su Su Su Su Su Su Su Su Su Su

He began launching ki blasts left and right. Each of those yellow orbs were homed upon the stone face of Baraquiel.

"Hmph. Good enough."

Clang Clang Clang Clang Clang Clang Clang Clang

With an impressive display of technique, Baraquiel deflected the ki blasts using only his hands. While he stayed stationary in the air, his hands whizzed around him in an impressive display of speed. Baraquiel didn't even show any signs of physical exertion or pressure. 

Not even a drop of sweat covered his forehead.

[The power and density of these blasts is not bad. One of them could theoretically, flatten a boulder the size of an average bedroom. And with this current quantity, rendering an entire city block into a state of invalidity is not an impossibility.]

He became more and more impressed with Igor.

[Teaching this brat shouldn't be…hmm?]

He noticed the rate of ki blasts coming towards him decrease. When he paid closer attention, he could see that they were still coming at the same rate. But instead of all of them heading towards him, they veered off target.

Baraquiel was slightly confused by this.

[Is he possibly…reaching his limits? If so, then I will end this quickly-?!]

At this moment, the steady streams of ki blasts stopped. But instead of the sight of an exhausted 11-year-old panting on the ground, Baraquiel saw the signature look of a man who just caught his prey in a trap. Years of instincts kicked in and made Baraquiel expand his senses. It was then that he saw the hundreds of floating little ki blasts that were stationary behind him. 

He cursed himself inwardly for making such a rookie mistake.

[I dismissed their existence once they got past me. Never again.]

Not a second passed between Igor's confident expression and Baraquiel's thoughts before the blonde clasped his hands together.

"Got ya!"

Like clockwork, the ki blasts promptly enveloped Baraquiel from nearly all angles. Continuous explosions resounded throughout the vicinity. The explosions carried for well over ten-seconds, leaving Baraquiel's fate…unknown.

But Igor wasn't about to take chances.

[I bet my left nut that old bastard will shrug off that attack.]

He stood sideways and spread his legs, his left hand moving over to clasp his right wrist. There was some discomfort from his chest, but he shoved the feeling down.

[I have one attack left that I can try.]

The smoke from the ki explosions began to clear up. With his keen eyesight, Igor could make out the shadowy figure of Baraquiel standing with his wings out.

[And I have just enough ki to execute it.]

Blue aura covered his form before he shot towards Baraquiel like a torpedo. His left hand remained firmly clasped over his right hand, a faint purple energy forming in it.

[I'll put you in the ground old man!]

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|DxD|

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Back in the smoky confines of the explosion, Baraquiel brushed off a few burnt strands of his coat that got burnt at his shoulder.

[Good thing I wore a suit underneath.]

Briefly mourning the damage to his coat, he glanced down at the slightly hunched form of Igor. Even though the smoke decreased visibility, he could still rely on his senses to monitor the situation. 

That allowed Baraquiel to sense Igor gathering up ki within his palm.

[Is he about to release a final attack?]

A slight glimmer of anticipation and curiosity flashed in his eyes.

[Let me see it then, young warrior.]

He watched Igor fly towards him. Even though the distance between them was just less than 300-metres, he covered it in less than a blink.

Baraquiel readied his hand in preparation to catch Igor's blast. He could practically feel the huge amount of ki nested within the purple orb in the blonde's palm.

The anticipation got the better of him that he yelled just as Igor was less than 30-centimetres away.

"COME!"

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|DxD|

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[I'll put you in the ground old man!]

He was very close now. He could see Baraquiel already begin to raise his hand to block his attack. 

"Heh~"

In a sudden turn of events, Igor cancelled the attack and reabsorbed the ki into his body. Then immediately, he used [Instant Vanish].

"?!"

Baraquiel's senses tingled desperately as a sense of danger came from behind him. He managed to turn his neck to Igor above him. His clasped right hand was held above his shoulder, almost as if he was about to serve a baseball. There was a purple energy ball in his palm that despite appearing small, Baraquiel could feel the immense amount of ki contained within it.

It was then that he heard Igor's roar, the culmination of all his power and proof, that he put everything into this one attack.

"GALICK GUN!!!"

BOOOOOOOOOOOOM