Chapter 52

Sun Wukong almost ripped out the hairs on his body in absolute fury and paranoia.

[One job! You had one job! Why are you so stubborn!!!]

As for Indra, he matched Igor's gaze with a confident smirk.

"How bold of you. Out of respect for Wukong, I will accept this instead of annihilating you on the spot."

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|DxD|

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Far away from the palace, Igor and Sun Wukong were walking towards the barracks where the army resided. Aside from a concrete road, some towers, and a few buildings scattered here and there, there was nothing else of note. Both Igor and Sun Wukong were least in their own thoughts, one questioning the intelligence of the other and the other reevaluating their ideals.

Along the way, Sun Wukong finally couldn't help but ask the question that had been plaguing his mind.

"Kid. Do you have rotten banana for brains?! What was that!!!"

The blonde looked to the side abashedly.

"Well…"

Igor shrugged his shoulders when he didn't know how to carry on. Even he was still questioning the intelligence of his actions back there.

*Vein Twitch*

Sun Wukong glared angrily at Igor. He truly wanted to smack the boy into the concrete.

"Are you suicidal, kid? What happened? Or did my warning mean nothing to you?"

Igor frowned after hearing Sun Wukong's words.

"Come on, monkey sage. How was I supposed to act when he treated me like a number? I'm not an asset. I'm a Dimori. Just because others settle for it doesn't mean I should."

Sun Wukong was speechless. He truly had never heard…

"Such idiocy! Instead of keeping quiet, you were willing to lose your life?!"

Igor became equally angry as well. Having Sun Wukong devalue his convictions also riled him up.

"Hey! I'd rather die a man than live as a pansy!"

To Igor, just the thought of entertaining the scenario of remaining silent disgusted him to the core. Where would his pride as a man be if he did nothing? He would absolutely be disgusted with himself for backing down.

Yet Sun Wukong thought differently.

"You…you…YOU IDIOT! YOU'RE GOING TO DIE BECAUSE OF THAT STUBBORN HEAD OF YOURS!"

Sun Wukong felt that it was far, far too early for Igor to have such a stiff spine. There were very powerful people who would be willing to kill for far less. The old sage feared what would happen if Igor met them.

But for Igor, his thoughts were different.

"Hmph. I'd rather die now than live another century having remained silent."

"..."

*Vein Bulge*

"Do you…understand what you are saying? Do you TRULY understand exactly what you are saying? Or are you saying all these words just because you think they sound nice."

Igor looked at the old sage. His gaze was deep, his manner serious.

"Monkey sage. I'm not an idiot. I've been alone for over half a century. I've had decades of time to be alone with my thoughts. My convictions were born in that time chamber. When I tell you that I would rather die than remain silent, I do not say it as a joke. It is not a gag. I am not trying to act cool or appear tough. I am not trying to portray myself as a fearless warrior. I truly mean, that I would rather have my journey end on the spot, than live with a stain on my pride."

"You-"

"Monkey sage. I fear death. I fear death just as much as a normal person. The concept of death terrifies me to the core, monkey sage. But, I would rather it be my body that dies, than be a dead soul in a living body."

Igor took a deep breath, his gaze tilting upwards to take in the golden radiance of the sky.

"Listen to me, monkey sage. To me, pride is everything. I am proud of who I am as a person. I am a proud Dimori, a proud human…a proud Aryan. My values are worth far more than my life. My dignity is worth far more than my life. My integrity, my values, my PRIDE. All of it is worth far more than my life. Under NO circumstances will I compromise my ideals out of fear. If I shed away my ideals for a chance at extending my life, then I will become no different from a dead soul in a living body."

Igor looked at Sun Wukong again, his fists loosened like those of a defeated man.

"I will say this again, monkey sage. I am afraid of death. But at the very least, death is instant and hopefully, I'll reincarnate and start again in my next life. Once I lose my physical body, there is hope in the next life. But if my soul dies first, if I lose my values before a blade, then that is when there is truly no hope for me-"

Sun Wukong cut off the blonde.

"There is always hope, kid. There always is."

Igor chuckled weakly.

"Not for me, monkey sage. Let me tell you something. To you, half a century is short, barely long enough for a nap. But for a fourteen-year-old teenage brat who's still wet behind the ears, that is an awfully long time to be alone. No parents, no siblings. Just some weights, training manuals, food, and all the time in the world…to be alone with the voices in his head. The reason why I hold these values of mine so stubbornly, to the point that I'd even risk death, is because these values of mine are the only things keeping the demons away. My pride is why I haven't fallen yet. My integrity is why I have not faltered. If I compromise even a little bit, the demons will come in through the cracks of my fractured mind."

Sun Wukong listened quietly to Igor's words. He did not interrupt the blonde since he felt that this was something he needed to get out. And right he was.

Igor continued on from his previous words, his fists now clenched tightly.

"Indra is strong, very strong. I felt it very clearly when I entered the room, monkey sage. I know full well that even if I were a hundred-times stronger, I wouldn't be able to touch him. Under your logic, I should lower my head and endure whatever he does. But…"

Igor gritted his teeth when he remembered how Indra referred to him as an asset. He was angry to the point that his Kaioken activated automatically.

"I am not an asset! I am a son of Dimori! I can't live knowing I allowed another person to call me an asset! I can't! I just can't!!! I don't care how powerful he is!!! He doesn't call me a bloody asset and expect me to say silent!!!"

With each yell, the Kaioken multipliers shot up with each outburst he had. The concrete creaked painfully with each outburst until it finally started cracking.

The amount of rage within the blonde's aura was palpable. 

"I WOULD RATHER DIE, THAN LIVE WITH BROKEN PRIDE!"

The sentence echoed throughout the area. His words were so profound that even Sun Wukong subconsciously repeated them.

[I would rather die, than live with broken pride…]

The old monkey began thinking of his days when he was young, fearless, and unyielding. Now, he was a shell of his former self, time having eroded away the bright spark of his youth.

[Hehe. For a kid to make this old man's heart beat again…]

Sun Wukong looked at the blonde with a slightly different gaze. But although he admired the blonde's ideals, he still had a question in his heart.

Once Igor had calmed down, the old sage threw the question.

"What about Asia?"

Hearing Sun Wukong's question, Igor replied, with a slight snarl.

"Don't go there, monkey sage."

But Sun Wukong wouldn't let it go. Levitating up, he grabbed the blonde by the shoulder.

"Tell me."

He looked directly into Igor's eyes. He truly wanted to know that for all his talk of conviction and ideals, what would happen now that he had Asia as another reason to live? This was a question that Sun Wukong would have the blonde answer no matter what.

Being completely stopped in his tracks, Igor released a sigh.

"Monkey sage. I care deeply for Asia. I truly do. But my answer is still the same. I cannot live with myself knowing that I sacrificed my pride just to further my life. I can't. I truly can't. You know why, monkey sage? Because I never forget. I will never forget this moment. Even if a thousand years pass and I become stronger than Indra, I will still remember this moment. Right now, I am proud of myself. I am proud that even when I faced a god, I never forsook my pride. But if I even dared to LOWER my head, it would become a stain on my heart that even after a millennium, I would still remember clearly. It would become a demon in my heart and I would be unable to get stronger because those who forsake their pride are not worthy of power. At that point, I would be useless to Asia and would be no better than a pansy."

"..."

Sun Wukong let go of Igor after hearing his words. Although Sun Wukong did not agree with Igor's methods, he could understand the blonde. Igor valued his pride too much to the point that it became his reason for existence. 

The old sage stayed silent, a myriad of thoughts circling through his head.

[Such a person, is too high risk to form any emotional attachments to.]

It was a conclusion that the old sage came to. Igor was someone who was in a race against time. He had to become strong quickly before he offended another powerful figure who would have no qualms killing him on the spot. 

It was such an unconventional solution that Sun Wukong palmed his forehead in exasperation.

[If only he was normal. Yet…]

He looked at the blonde who was looking at him in confusion.

[...he wouldn't be Igor.]

It was only after a short period of silence between them that he decided to speak.

"Kid. Here's a word of advice. Do not get a lover."

"???"

"Listen to me before you interrupt. While I do understand your ideals, I am someone who has family, kid. Everyone that lives on Flower-Fruit Mountain is my family. If they carried your ideals, I fear how many funerals I would have to hold every year. That is why I sincerely hope that no matter what, you will not bind yourself to a woman, at least not while you're this weak. Because should you do so and you end up dying…"

His words were clear. Igor was a liability to give your heart to. Sun Wukong did not want a young girl getting her heart broken needlessly. At the very least, the blonde must become immensely strong before he considers courting a woman, lest it end in tragedy.

But Igor already had that thought in mind, though the root of it was different.

"Don't worry, monkey sage. Women will only get in my way of becoming strong."

The blonde had seen many athletes in his past life suddenly grow bellies after five years of marriage. The last thing he needed was a woman interrupting his path to power.

With his curiosity satisfied, Sun Wukong let go of Igor's shoulder and continued to lead the way ahead.

[All this time I thought this kid was actually an utter airhead. Yet to have such conviction, his achievements will surely be one of a kind.]

The images of Igor's resistance against Indra filled the old sage's head. His evaluation of Igor soared into the skies, to the point that he considered the blonde as a true warrior.

Even the last question he had was shifted to the side by him.

"Kid. I would've asked you why you didn't hide in your time chamber, but I guess you had too much pride, huh?"

Silence…

Sun Wukong gradually stopped hovering ahead when his words were met with silence. He turned around to clarify, but when he met with the blonde's blank face, he suddenly had a bad feeling.

As for Igor who was covered in cold sweat, he looked down on the ground in shame.

"Hehehe…I forgot I could do that."

"..."

"Hehe…yeah."

"..."

Igor looked up with some concern on his face.

"Monkey sage?"

"..."

Sun Wukong…was absolutely furious. His evaluation of Igor soared right down to rock bottom.

"IDIOT!!! YOU IDIOT!!! YOU TRULY DO HAVE ROTTEN BANANA FOR BRAINS!!!"

"W-wait, monkey sage-"

"IDIOT!!!"

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AN

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We had a power outage in my area yesterday so I couldn't upload. But, I still remember the drill. Hope you enjoyed the two chapters. As always, you can read ahead on my p@tre0n.

Here's the link: p@tre0n.com/HolyGambler

Replace the '@' and '0' with 'a' and 'o' respectively. Or just search for 'HolyGambler'.