Chapter 142

Manifesting out of nothingness, a little girl in gothic clothing appeared. With an expressionless face, her eyes surveyed the remaining traces of ki that had yet to dissipate during the exchange.

"Strong…"

She would remember that boy, and they would meet again.

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|DxD|

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Deep within the confines of the time chamber, Aurelia was alone as she hovered in the air next to Igor's sphere. All the magic circles around her had vanished, her lust for knowledge drenched in the discovery of the blonde's daring scheme.

Her eyes remained focused on the sphere, her heart threatening to leap out of her throat with each centimetre it shrunk without his return.

[Damnit, Igor.]

She was torn between the opposing grasps of rage and sadness. The unsurety of the situation had frustrated her to no end. Six minutes had already passed out of the ten she estimated this sphere would last. And clinging true to her estimations, it was already four-tenths of its original size.

Watching its radius shrink minute by minute, she was torn between trying to supply it with her mana or placing her hopes that he would return before it completely disappeared. But, knowing the relatively volatile relationship between ki and mana, she decided to wait and see.

Zuuu… Shu! …Zuuu

Yet, when the sphere rapidly shrunk by another tenth, that resolve to not tamper with the sphere wavered.

*Clenches Fists*

For the first time in decades, Aurelia was on the verge panicking. This situation of complete helplessness, of being unable to do absolutely anything, was the exact same scenario she had to endure when her family was slaughtered in front of her.

[Please, God. Please don't let this happen again. Please…]

With two powerful behemoths residing in the Dimensional Gap, she feared what would happen if Igor were to chance upon them. With the commotion caused by him fighting his clones, the chances of him attracting their attention was rather high, too high for her comfort.

With her hands clasped to her chest, Aurelia earnestly prayed.

"Please, dear God. I beg of you. Please…please keep him safe."

With tears leaking through her tightly shut eyelids, her arms trembled.

"Even…even if he doesn't come back, please keep him alive."

For her, the most painful thing she would have to endure would be his death. Not because their lineage would be finished. Not because it would be a "shame". But because, she would be alone once again.

Even after decades had passed, she hadn't completely recovered from losing her family. If she were to lose him too…

"I-I…I can't lose him too, Father. I can't! Please…please don't let him be taken from me. If he dies…if he…"

Unable to hold herself from weeping, she tried to keep herself strong. But the fear, the crippling fear that made itself present within her heart tore apart the walls she used to keep her tears at bay.

"Please…Igor. Live. Please live."

And as if to answer her prayers…

Tswii!

He appeared.

.

.

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Silence…

"Nice to see I made it."

Appearing in tattered clothing, the blonde gave himself a once-over to see if there weren't any weird spells or circles planted on his body without his knowledge. After that weird, yet very awe-inspiring encounter, he felt his efforts to work harder redouble.

Gradually cancelling his demigod state, he turned around and was about to address his sister when half of his face was suddenly buried in white hair.

"Oof!"

Without saying anything, Aurelia had buried her head into his chest, her hands holding on tightly to his shoulders.

"Idiot! You idiot! Idiot! Idiot! IDIOT!"

"..."

On a normal day, such repetitive insults would've ignited the furnace of his anger, even if the courier of such insults was Aurelia. But as his senses readjusted, he felt her turbulent emotions that evoked his worry and concern.

Gone were thoughts about that presence. It wasn't important right now. Gone were new plans to increase the intensity of his training. That could be planned later.

Right now, he was focused entirely on his sister.

"Sister? Did something happen?"

Embracing her in a hug, one arm was on her lower back while another was on her hair.

"Tell me what's wrong and I will handle it. I promise."

Regardless of whether she was the older one between them, he would never use seniority to turn down family in need of help.

"..."

Feeling his arms around her, she didn't reply. She clung onto him tightly and absorbed his presence, her relief soaring through the roof that…

"You're okay. Thank God you're okay…"

It was unsightly for a woman of her stature to weep like a child. But the immense relief she felt at his arrival eclipsed all those thoughts. Using her mana to scan all over his body, the blonde didn't make any moves to stop her inspection.

Despite feeling that nothing was wrong with his body, Aurelia still felt she had to ask.

"Are you…are you alright?"

With her face still hidden beneath his chest, the blonde subtly questioned himself why she scanned his body multiple times in a row.

Regardless, he answered her.

"Don't worry, sister. I'm alright."

"..."

But it appeared that despite verbally suading her worries, she still wasn't convinced. From what he could feel from her emotions, they weren't calming down at all.

"Don't worry so much, sister."

Gently scratching her head, he continued to reassure her.

"I'm telling you. I'm fine. I really am. You can perform another check on me if you need to."

Sealing the deal with a tactic that worked countless times on Asia, he slightly propped her head up to expose her forehead.

Chuu~

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.

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Badump…

With her heart skipping a beat, Aurelia felt embarrassed that he really dared to do such an embarrassing on a woman decades his senior.

"Y-you…why did you…do that?"

"Do what? Kissing you?"

Gently stroking her hair again, his hold on her lower back tightened.

"Why not? It's not like you're some random woman. You're my sister."

As if to prove his point…

Chuu~

…he gave her another right at the top of her head.

"If you're upset, it's my job to comfort you."

"..."

Having her silence as a reply, he worried that he may have overstepped his bounds.

"Unless you want me to…stop?"

"..."

He was once again presented with no reply. But, the tightened grip on his shoulders was all he needed as confirmation. Without any hesitation, he continued to hold her without complaint.

"No matter how many minutes, hours, or days, I'll hold you for as long as you want me to, sister."

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|DxD|

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Three days had passed since that incidence and things had returned to normal. Seated on the steps by the exit to the time chamber, Igor was reading the Dragonball Manga. Despite having read it over a dozen times, he found himself continuously enraptured by the story.

About to join him was Aurelia who had just walked out the gym. Wearing a training vest and some tights, the blonde idly wondered how far she ran on the treadmill.

"Seeing how your legs are shaking, you must've set a new personal record."

The silverette seemed to ignore him and was more content with wiping her face with a towel. Shrugging his shoulders, Igor was about to continue reading again when all of a sudden, Aurelia walked over and sat down next to him.

*Boing* *Boing*

"..."

Turning to face his book again, Igor reminded himself.

[It's just lumps of fat, Igor. It's just fat. It won't help you get stronger.]

Redoubling his focus on the Gohan versus Cell arc, Igor carefully read through the scenes with eyes sharper than a hawk's. But before he could immerse himself, he heard Aurelia speak.

"Igor. Do you realise what you did?"

"Huh?"

He turned towards her with a questioning look.

"It's too early in the morning to be speaking in riddles, sister. You're making me look like those guys on TV shows who were caught cheating or something. Just say it directly."

"..."

With her remaining focused on the horizon, she replied.

"Igor. You went to the Dimensional Gap."

"Yes."

"And you stayed there."

"Yes."

"For seven minutes and forty-one seconds."

"Kinda felt like five minutes to me. But if you say I stayed that long, then yes."

"..."

Feeling a bit prickled at how he was so casual about this, she calmed herself.

"Igor. You yourself told me how dangerous it was for you to stay in the Dimensional Gap. Even if you didn't, I know how dangerous the Dimensional Gap is. Even some of the strongest beings on this planet don't venture there without appropriate methods to return."

"..."

Igor didn't say anything, but pointed at her.

"Appropriate return method? Check."

"...what?"

Aurelia looked at his finger which was pointed at her.

"Igor. What do you-"

"I mean exactly what I mean. You were my return method. I've already memorised your energy signature to the point that even if I am in the Teleportation Zone, I can still sense you."

"Then what about the orb? What was it for then?"

The blonde simply shrugged his shoulders.

"I don't know. I just made it as a backup measure for you know, just in case I couldn't sense you for some reason. Maybe you'd decide to hide your energy signature or something and that'd make it hard for me to sense you. That's why I made that little ball. With it releasing high volumes of energy, I'd be able to sense it even through the Teleportation Zone. Although, sensing you is much easier. How can I put it? It's like a stench. It's easier to smell another person's than your own."

"..."

Vein Bulge!

[Right. Why do I even worry about him?]

Doing her best to keep her composure, she stood up.

"Since you have set precautionary measures in place, it seems that I no longer need to worry."

But just as she was about to leave, she suddenly stopped.

"You did not encounter anything else while you were there, right?"

"Do those weird colours count as weird?"

"...no."

Without turning around, the silverette walked away until she disappeared inside the gym.

"..."

With Aurelia suddenly leaving like that, the blonde just shrugged his shoulders.

[Huh. Then I guess that presence I felt wouldn't count as weird.]

With that immense power level still freshly lingering in his mind, his resolve to train redoubled itself. And with Aurelia also training in the gym, his muscles also ached to pump some weight.

"Alright! Let's make this last week count! To the gym we go!"

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|DxD|

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05/08/1999- August 15, 1999, Grigori Headquarters, Underworld (30 days since Igor and Aurelia have disappeared)

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In one of the lakes owned by Grigori, Azazel had come to spend some time away from work. With the tranquil sounds of the moving waves and the sight of multitudes of fish swimming in the clear waters, it was a perfect location to clear his mind through his favourite pastime- fishing.

But, today was different…because he was joined by Baraquiel. With Baraquiel's presence growing increasingly unwanted in Kuoh, the cadre decided to retreat to the Underworld just a few days after his older brother left.

Now, as both brothers sat on the edge of the wooden docks with their feet dangling over the waters, none of them bothered to say anything. Minutes gradually turned into hours as both brothers sat aside each other.

But with the clock turning, work would soon call and Azazel knew he would have to leave. Figuring that his brother had enough time to clear his thoughts a bit, he decided to casually remind him about a very important factor.

"Baraquiel. You have around eleven months to resolve this issue with Shuri and Akeno peacefully."

"..."

Baraquiel could understand what he meant. Or to be exact, 'who' he meant.

"Dimori."

Azazel nodded.

"Yes, brother. If he is indeed in the time chamber along with Yasaka's attendant, then you have around eleven months to reunite your family."

Placing a hand on Baraquiel's shoulder, he left one final message.

"Use that time wisely brother."

"..."

.

AN

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Azazel was almost right about his estimations except for a few parts that were wrong. First of all, it isn't 'months'. It's 'hours'. And…he forgot to place a '.' between '11'.

If you're interested in reading ahead, here's the link: patreon.com/HolyGambler