Chapter 13

"Uh…Uncle Azazel. My answer is no. I have everything I need at home."

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|DxD|

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(Ten minutes earlier)

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Azazel walked over confidently towards the blonde, ready to use his tried and tested method of recruitment.

"Hey kid. How about I tell you a few things. For starters, do you know what you are?"

Igor looked away from Baraquiel. But instead of looking at Azazel with curiosity, he looked at the cadre with a slightly confused gaze.

His head tilted slightly while he raised his hand to point at himself.

"Me? I'm a Dimori."

"..."

Azazel coughed lightly, choosing to ignore the blonde's ignorant reply.

"You're partially correct. But you're more than that. You, are an Aryan, direct descendants of Adam."

Silence…

"Oh…cool. And?"

For all his confidence, Azazel almost fell over himself. But where would his dignity be if he let the stupidity of a four-year old on steroids falter him.

So, bringing back his smile, he explained further.

"You are a superior race of humans identified by their characteristic traits of blonde hair and blue eyes. Being direct descendants of Adam, they possess immense strength and capabilities that far surpass ordinary humans."

Silence…

Azazel inwardly smiled to himself.

[He must be very awed-]

"Huh…neat."

"..."

Azazel stared blankly at the boy. He almost wanted to drown him in light spears then and there, but years of living allowed him to keep his cool-

"Can I go now?"

"..."

*Vein Bulge*

Spotting his brother was about to lose himself, Baraquiel muffled Azazel's mouth with his hand while he explained to the blonde in a language he knew he would understand.

"What Azazel means brat, is that your people could make things explode using their own power."

Igor looked at Baraquiel weirdly.

"I'm not stupid. I'm a kid. I know what Uncle Azazel said, old man. What confuses me is that you people keep saying I'm an Aryan when I'm not one."

Baraquiel looked at the blonde…REALLY looked at him. It was as if he was judging where to accurately punch the idiot so that his brain would rewire itself.

But remembering his brother who was taking deep breaths, he thought to do the same.

*Breathes in*…*Breathes out*

"If you say you are indeed, not an Aryan, then explain this. My daughter is 5-years old this year. How is it then that despite you being a year younger, you have shown me the power of a peak high-class entity?" *

Igor's eyes narrowed to the size of a pinhole. His face was completely frozen like that of a statue. Baraquiel was about to give himself a pat on the back for uncovering the blonde's lie. Azazel looked on in intensity, eager to see how Igor would break himself out of this predicament.

[He probably never guessed we would figure out his true age.]

But far from their expectations, Igor's face morphed into one of excitement.

"HIGH CLASS?! I'M A PEAK HIGH CLASS?!?! REALLY?! REALLY REALLY?!"

Igor was very proud of himself. Being ranked as high-class gave him a world of confidence. Thinking about how his hard work paid off was enough to excite him for days. All those years of training himself into the dirt were not for nothing. He was ready to shout to the skies about his monumental achievement.

That was until he remembered…

"Hey old man. How powerful is high-class again?"

""…""

Baraquiel and Azazel stood gobsmacked. Azazel was especially tired.

[I give up.]

Baraquiel however, decided to answer the blonde's question.

"From what I've seen so far, you're strong enough to destroy a good chunk of this city. This makes you high-class."

"Nice!"

Igor nodded to himself appreciatively. But while he was flexing his muscles, Azazel decided to push forward.

"Hey kid. You sure you don't want to work with us?"

In the midst of his excitement, Igor calmed down and looked at Azazel. Spotting the man's downtrodden expression, Igor smiled awkwardly.

"Uh…Uncle Azazel. My answer is no. I have everything I need at home."

"Oh…"

While Azazel sunk into a semi-depression, Baraquiel caught one important word in the blonde's sentence.

"And where is this home you speak of?"

With a look of clear suspicion, Igor replied.

"Why would I tell a weird old man where my home is?"

*Vein Bulge*

"What are you trying to…imply?"

The wood was piled up and the oil was spilt onto it. Just one more stupid word and Baraquiel was ready to forsake his promise and beat Igor up then and there.

It was only through sheer will that he-

"You're a pedophile..."

"..."

Even though Igor said it through the quietest of whispers, his words didn't escape the ears of the Fallen.

*Eye Twitch*

So many veins bulged on Baraquiel's face that it seemed as if worms were crawling underneath his skin. 

"Pedophile, you say?"

"?!"

Igor immediately raised his guard. He knew not to let his guard down when Baraquiel got like this. The spark had been lit and the flames were about to burst. Emphasis on 'were'. 

It was only because Azazel still hadn't left that he quickly defused the situation. 

"Relax brother~ I'm sure the brat is joking."

Had he not been there, another fight might've broke out. 

[I wasn't even able to place my hand on the door handle and those two were about to fight again.]

Surprisingly, Igor didn't take advantage of the situation. Instead, his gaze became serious, something that caught both fallen, especially Baraquiel off-guard.

"Uncle Azazel. Old man. My home is my home. I acknowledge that both of you are much stronger than me. And despite my…behavior, I am thankful for you two not…"

He looked to the side for a bit, his brows scrunched up in hesitation.

"...killing me."

As much as it grated his pride to admit it, Igor knew he was outclassed in every way possible.

[The first time I lost, I could use my weighted clothing as an excuse for my loss. But the second time…]

The second time, he had the complete advantage. The element of surprise was with him and he had the momentum. He can't even elude his loss to the [Aura Burning Technique] draining him of ki since he didn't even last long enough for the skill's side-effects to show.

In short, he wholeheartedly lost and he acknowledged his loss. 

So, standing to the side of the bed, he continued his previous statement.

"Although I still don't get this Aryan stuff, I do know how to repay debts. Although I cannot join you, or any other faction, I will owe you a favour for sparing my life and for nursing my injuries." 

And inwardly, he added.

[And for ignoring what I said about you being a…yeah…]

Although it was Baraquiel who started all of this, Igor would ignore the semantics…for now. 

[I'll still beat him up in the future.]

Even if Igor tried to hide it, both Azazel and Baraquiel could see the twinge of battle lust the boy was exuding. Azazel released a sigh while Baraquiel released a proud smile. Both their reactions confused the blonde for a bit.

But before he could further focus on why they looked at him like that, he suddenly felt a hand ruffling his head.

"?!"

He quickly looked up to see Baraquiel smiling gently at him, which in turn caused Igor to get angry.

"Stop touching me!"

He tried to remove Baraquiel's oversized hand, but the job was proving to be harder than normal. He almost opted to use ki to reinforce his body, but Baraquiel's next words made him falter.

"You remind me of my first student. His name was Yered, although many know him as Jared. He was the great-grandson of Adam. He was quite the disobedient brat."

Baraquiel's gaze seemed to gain a filter of nostalgia atop it. When he looked at the curious Igor, his face would briefly overlap with that of another grinning blonde boy with a ponytail.

"Kid."

His gaze turned serious, and Igor naturally felt it.

"Are you sure you don't want to be my disciple? I may not be the strongest in the world, but I've lived for a very long time. I can show you techniques you wouldn't find in any libraries and styles of combat long since lost to history. Although I may not seem like it, I possess an oasis of knowledge that few could compare to. So even though I may be a Fallen, there will be no problems with me training you. So I ask again. Are you sure you don't want to be my disciple?"

Igor's gaze changed into one of embarrassment and shyness.

[How…]

He looked down at his feet.

[How do I say no to him?]

It was indeed a dilemma for the young blonde. For one, he had a library full of books, possibly hundreds of them. Of those hundreds, just reading one allowed him to reach his current level of strength. If all he had was the time chamber, then maybe he would've considered it. He may have even accepted. But that time chamber came with everything he would ever need. Although Baraquiel's offer would appeal to others, there was no merit for him in accepting it.

But that wasn't his biggest problem. He had just been told that he was the last of a race of very powerful humans by two very powerful people. 

Both made their intentions to recruit him clear.

[Will they kill me if I say no this time?]

Having Baraquiel's palm on his head didn't help much to dissuade his fears. That seemingly gentle hand on his head could easily splatter it. Although Igor knew that he wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed, he wasn't dumb. After all, the entire reason for his current existence in this world was a result of the concept of: 'If you are not with me, then you are against me.'. Even though four decades had passed from his perspective, he had not forgotten how his entire family was gunned down just because his father was a potential rival for the leadership position in the syndicate.

So he wouldn't be surprised if for some reason, both Fallen decided to outright kill him here. Even if logic dictated that he should accept now and vanish later, there was something within him that refused to follow through with such a disgraceful action.

So steeling his gaze, he looked up to the Fallen with a gaze of finality.

"Like I said old man, I have everything at home."

Silence…

The room was locked in complete silence and Igor was wary his fears would come true. But he was not afraid. 

In fact, the blood in his veins seemed to churn at the prospect of fighting them.

[Even though the situation is dangerous…]

He unconsciously began to smile.

[I can't help but feel excited!]

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AN

1. "If you say you are indeed, not an Aryan, then explain this. My daughter is 5-years old this year. How is it then that despite you being a year younger, you have shown me the power of a peak high-class entity?" *

Explanation: Emphasis on the word "shown". This means that so far, Igor has only shown the power of a high-class. In DxD, the scale of a high-class isn't quite clear but they are somewhere around city-blocks to city-level. So far, the only attack we've seen that could come close to that scaling is the Galick-Gun. Then again, Igor does potentially have the energy to destroy the entire city of Kuoh.