Chapter 46

Both elders watched on as the blonde soared away in a red blaze of fury. But while Vasco was heavily concerned, Sun Wukong only looked once at the blonde's direction before huffing and grabbing Vasco's pants.

"Don't worry. The one who's going to die deserves it."

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|DxD|

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Igor blazed forward, his target entering his sight. He could see the man was wearing a robe with a hood covering his head. But the blonde cared not for his appearance. All he could see was that his sister was struggling to escape, and this man was about to inject her with a substance.

In that moment, all Igor saw was red. Pure unadulterated rage stemming from primal fury resulted in a roar of anger that shook the surroundings and stunned the kidnapper.

"RAAAAA!"

Tswii!

BOOM

The man couldn't even properly react before his head was blown to pieces by Igor's punch. The impact was so fast and powerful that everything from the neck up was shattered into pieces before being flung into different directions by the force of the punch. The scene was so gruesome that if Asia had witnessed it, she would've been traumatised. Luckily, Igor had ripped her away from her would-be kidnapper and tossed her to the side before delivering the final blow.

With the now headless corpse about to fall over, Igor immediately paid attention to Asia who had covered her ears and was in a fetal position. The crunching sound of bones cracking and exploding completely terrified her young and fragile mind. Although she did not witness the gruesome scene, just the auditory aspects were more than enough for her to completely shiver in fear. The little blonde was so scared that Igor wasted no time and hurriedly went over to console her.

He knelt down and brought her into his embrace. Immediately, Asia moved her hands from her ears and wrapped her arms around his waist. Burying her head into his chest, she did not consider whether he was an enemy or not. All she wanted in that moment, was to latch on to the nearest source of comfort.

Igor was momentarily surprised but did not reject her. He rubbed her back while muttering words of comfort over and over again.

"It's okay. It's okay. It's okay."

The blonde himself was also smitten with panic. In that brief moment when the kidnapper was about to inject Asia with the syringe, he felt more panic than fear. It was fear that came from the depths of the heart, the same fear that comes with almost losing a loved one. Thus, these words of comfort were not just for Asia, but for himself as well. 

In mind, he kept telling himself that it was over. There was a tiny part of himself that questioned the rationality of all of this. Holding such immense affection for a little girl he just met was completely irrational. But that tiny part slowly disappeared under the massive waves of affection he now harboured for little Asia. All he knew was that his feelings were genuine. Asia was family and that was more than enough for him. The hows and whys were for smarter people to consider. He simply went with his gut feeling.

Sun Wukong and Vasco kept their distance from the two blondes. While Vasco did repeatedly insist on rushing towards his surrogate granddaughter, Sun Wukong stopped him. The old sage knew that Igor was like a mother hen protecting her chicks. If anything even remotely dangerous approached them, he may lash out. And having given Vasco a once over, he appeared completely dangerous. With his absolutely muscled physique, the lack of any sag would make anyone question if he was truly an elderly in his seventies. If it wasn't for his hair full of white, many people would rather be beaten to death than believe Vasco Strada was a man old enough to become their ancestor.

Standing with his arms crossed, it took a while for him to eventually temporarily suspend the idea. Instead, he decided to address a question he had that had recently risen in his mind.

"Old Sun. I was wondering for quite a while now. Why does that boy treat my little Asia as his sister? Is he a yokai that imprinted on her?"

Sun Wukong summoned his staff and ruthlessly bonked him on the head with it.

"Did your senses rust after all these years? Focus on his aura and properly feel him."

Vasco begrudgingly rubbed his head and extended his senses towards Igor. In that instant, all his grievances vanished when he finally sensed that Igor was indeed human.

"?!"

To say that he was surprised was an understatement. As far as his knowledge went, it was impossible for humans to use ki. It was a universally acknowledged rule that had been known for countless years. 

Vasco couldn't help but glance at the blonde again. Even though he was old, his eyesight remained far superior to that of a normal human. Thus he could scrutinise the blonde in detail. 

Over the course of ten seconds, his eyes gradually widened, the profoundness of Igor's abnormality dawning on him.

"He…he truly is human."

If there was one thing that Vasco prided himself on, it was his senses, especially after having had Sun Wukong's tutoring. Having battled numerous foes that take on a human form, being able to recognise their race was absolutely vital, especially in his latter years when they disguised themselves in order to get close and assassinate him.

Faced with such a discovery, the elderly exorcist couldn't help but turn towards Sun Wukong who was grinning to himself.

"Old Sun. How is this possible? There's absolutely no trace of yokai heritage that I can find within him."

Sun Wukong grin only widened.

"Of course you can't. Even I've never seen such a scenario before. Not even the Aryans that came before him could use ki. It makes me wonder whether he awakened a sort of bloodline mutation or something else."

Compared to before, Vasco was not surprised about Igor's Aryan heritage. He had suspected it due to his appearance and the power he had. But instead of being worried, he felt pride.

He looked towards Sun Wukong a grin.

"Old Sun. My human race has another powerful member in its ranks."

*Slight Vein Twitch*

Sun Wukong only looked away with a huff before replying.

"Hmph. I thought the beating he gave you would lower that arrogance of yours." *

Vasco placed a hand on his waist as he laughed out loud. Knowing he riled up the old sage, he couldn't help but take a jab.

"Hahahahaha! Didn't you hear the lad? You have ten years to prepare those buttocks for a beating, Old Sun!"

*Vein Bulge*

"You punk! Is that how you speak to your elders?! See how I discipline you!"

Vasco didn't take Sun Wukong's threat seriously.

"Hahahaha, Old Sun! You remind me of the old days!"

A few decades ago, friendly banter like this was the norm between them. During the Second World War and a few years after, Vasco had spent a lot of time with Sun Wukong when he was routinely deployed across the world. 

Knowing that Vasco was trying to rile him up, the old sage merely scoffed.

"Tch. Even as an elder, you're still annoying you damn punk." 

Instead of riling Sun Wukong any further, Vasco smiled as he gazed in the direction of Igor and Asia. He could still remember the numerous times multiple people of the supernatural world tried to kill him for interfering in their attempt to destroy the Aryans. If Sun Wukong had never interfered or taught him some of his skills, he would not have lived long enough to grow a gain a crown of white.

Looking at the touching scene ahead, Vasco spoke.

"Thank you, Old Sun. If you hadn't saved me, I wouldn't be alive to see this."

Right there cradled on Igor's lap, Asia was already dozing off while the elder blonde scratched her scalp with absolute care. The gentle gaze on his face was so peaceful compared to his usual boisterousness that Sun Wukong couldn't help but shiver in awkwardness.

Covering his face with his hand, he looked away.

"This…this is too abnormal. The Igor I know isn't like this."

There were literal sparkles around the blonde's face. The gentleness in his gaze and the care in his eyes was a complete opposite to the absolutely murderous expression on his face just a few minutes prior. Even now, this picture of serenity was ruined by the headless corpse of the former kidnapper causing a puddle of blood to form on the spot. 

The fact that Igor could casually caress Asia with a corpse less than five metres from him was the only reason that Sun Wukong was assured the blonde wasn't an impostor. There were numerous bits and pieces of bone, meat, and brain matter acting as impromptu fertiliser yet not once did the blonde flinch. It was as if aside from him and Asia, nothing else existed.

Vasco didn't understand why the old sage was shivering. He could only watch in confusion as Sun Wukong covered his face.

[I don't get what is going on in this old monkey's head. I know I would've done much worse to that scum and still cradled my lovely granddaughter with love.]

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|DxD|

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"..."

"..."

"..."

All the exorcists surrounding the area quietly looked at each other awkwardly. Neither knew whether they should retreat or secure the vicinity. And with how things were, neither of them had the guts to approach Vasco, especially with Sun Wukong in the mix.

They could still vividly remember how they suddenly couldn't move when they tried to intervene in the fight between Igor and Vasco. They were aware of who was responsible and that only further added to their feelings of hesitation.

Despite being top class elites, they were still human too goddamnit!

"So…what do we do?"

Unfortunately or fortunately, that exorcist's question was heard by Vasco. Immediately, the strongest exorcist bellowed.

"What are you damn wastes waiting for?!?! Secure the perimeter immediately or else I'll triple your training tonight!!!"

"""?!?!?!"""

Immediately, they moved with silent precision.

Swoosh Swoosh Swoosh Swoosh Swoosh

Just the threat of their training being tripled was more than enough for them to move at full speed. Their blurry figures dashed all over the Vatican as they sealed it off so tightly that even a fly would be able to buzz through. 

Any spies that tried to pass off any messages were immediately apprehended. It cannot be seen whether it is fate or a stroke of luck, but the delayed reaction from the exorcists made the spies bold under the assumption that the Vatican was on the verge of falling.

How wrong they were. Right now, the supernatural world was on the verge of turmoil. Numerous existences had sensed Igor's ki in the Vatican and were extremely curious as to why the same energy signature that was in the Himalayas had also appeared at the Vatican. If the Kaioken didn't significantly alter Igor's ki signature, they might've also connected him to Kuoh as well.

With two major events having occurred and the Church's sudden increase in security made everyone all the more curious as to what exactly happened.

Yet the party in question cared not for what he just did. Right now, his only concern was Asia who was sleeping on his lap.

The affection in his gaze could not be hidden in the slightest.

"Don't worry any longer. Big brother Igor will always be here for you, little sister."

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AN

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1. "Hmph. I thought the beating he gave you would lower that arrogance of yours." 

Explanation: When Vasco mentioned humanity having another powerful member in its ranks, the keywords are "another member". This means that Vasco included himself in the list of powerful members, hence Sun Wukong's reply.

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