Chapter 49

The words were so soothing that she immediately hugged him back. The level of comfort she felt made her very reluctant to let go.

Burying her head in his chest, she couldn't help but plead.

"D-don't leave. Please don't leave…b-big brother."

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|DxD|

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Igor never expected Asia to have a nightmare like this. When he heard her frantic screams a few moments back, he immediately teleported to her room to provide comfort. Even as he held her in his arms, he couldn't help but feel immense hatred for the dead kidnapper. From the bottom of his heart, he wanted to resurrect the kidnapper and slowly torture him to death for his actions. Her shaking like this in fear almost had him frothing from frustration and regret at having killed the kidnapper so quickly. Furthermore, he now felt absolute hatred towards whoever orchestrated the kidnapping. 

Just because he was ignorant doesn't mean he wasn't observant. Igor knew full well someone must've paid the exorcist to kidnap Asia. There was no other viable reason for that exorcist to kidnap Asia just for himself. The gains far outweighed the risks. So the only conclusion he could come to was that someone from outside wanted her and they paid the exorcist to get her.

He also guessed that Asia was someone important to the church. There was no other reason for someone as powerful as Vasco Strada himself to stay with a little girl. Igor briefly entertained the thought of Asia being Vasco's granddaughter, but they looked so different from each other that he immediately crossed out the thought. The only last viable reason was that Asia had something important, something like a sacred gear.

Yet Igor cared not for this. All he knew was that Asia was his little sister. She could grow horns for all he cared and he'd still hold her.

Cradling the little blonde desperately gripping the fabric of his coat in her hand, Igor discontinued his thoughts and focused on comforting her.

"Big brother is here, Asia. Big brother is here and no monsters will dare to come here."

He felt Asia weakly nod against his stomach, which made him sigh. Such a little action reaffirmed that these feelings of desire to protect her were his genuine feelings. There was no mental prompt or compulsion forcing him to feel this way. To him, she truly felt like a little sister. Although the reason remained unexplained, he was comfortable enough to dwell in these moments.

Yet as he held Asia, he couldn't help but bemoan the fact that he would be leaving tomorrow. Second thoughts were piling up like rocks in his mind. Scenarios like staying behind or taking Asia with him surfaced all over.

Yet the blonde knew those were either foolish or temporary comforts that would bite him later on.

[Don't waver, Igor. You can play with Asia once you come back.]

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|DxD|

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The moon and came went as the sun set and rose. Igor stayed with Asia the whole night while Vasco never came back. The whereabouts of Sun Wukong were unknown but the blonde knew he would soon come for him. The old monkey had the uncanny ability of appearing out of nowhere at the strangest of times. The only problem Igor had was that whenever Sun Wukong did that, he could not sense the old monkey's aura. 

It had become something of a little project for him to now solve.

"I wonder when he'll come."

Feeling the first rays of the sun peel through the windows, Igor couldn't help but glance down at Asia. The little blonde was calmly sleeping with one arm hooked on his thigh. The pillow beneath her head threatened to swallow her little face, yet even it failed to hide her content smile.

Igor couldn't help but remove a few strands of her hair and gently rubbed her cheek with his finger. The soft smile on his face perfectly conveyed the love and care he held for her. He truly wished to enjoy these last few moments, but upon feeling the sudden displacement of the air, he sighed.

Turning his head towards the source, he glanced towards Sun Wukong standing in the middle of the room before shifting his gaze towards the clock on the wall. 

It was already the seventh hour of the day, far too late for the blonde on a typical day, but much too early under his current circumstances.

Looking back towards Sun Wukong, Igor was about to speak when the old monkey cut him off.

"No. I'm leaving now, with or without you. Ten seconds."

The old monkey was unusually stern this morning, but he had his reasons. He wanted to test Igor's conviction now that a "distraction" had fallen upon him. He particularly came in the morning when his sense of unwillingness was particularly high and he gave him ten seconds to decide since he didn't want the blonde to delay unnecessarily.

But it seemed that once again, he underestimated Igor.

"No need, monkey sage. Let's go now."

Igor was completely clear on his priorities. Slowly peeling away Asia's hand that hooked around his thigh, he got up from the bed and looked at the sleeping little girl. Even with his convictions clear, his hands couldn't help but clench into fists. Looking down at her, he seemed to dispute a decision in his head before finally coming to a conclusion.

Leaning down, he brushed away the mop of hair on her forehead before delivering a tender kiss to it.

"I will come back soon, little Asia. It may not be today, tomorrow, next month, or even next year. But I will definitely come back."

Standing up again, he was about to speak when he noticed the monkey grinning at him.

"What?"

Sun Wukong waved him off.

"Nothing. Just grab my hand so we can leave."

Igor grabbed it without reluctance.

"Let's go, monkey sage."

Sun Wukong looked up to the blonde before shaking his head and chuckling.

"Heh~"

And in that moment, both of them vanished from the scene.

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|DxD|

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Vasco was returning to his house after a long meeting that lasted all night. It was already nearing the eighth hour and he knew Asia would soon wake up.

And also…

"Old Sun must've left by now."

Vasco was used to Sun Wukong's habits by now. He used to do the same exact thing whenever he visited him. Without fail, the old sage would leave early the next day.

What he was curious about though was…

"Did the boy leave?"

Although it was for a short while, he had seen how overly attached the blonde seemed to be towards his surrogate granddaughter. He wouldn't be surprised if he stayed, but he would be slightly disappointed. Vasco knew of the blonde's potential. Igor had not even exited puberty and his strength already had the potential to surpass his at his peak.

Vasco was extremely clear on how powerful Sun Wukong was and how beneficial his training would be. 

[Old Sun trained me for seven years and my strength surpassed even that of Lord Michael. If he were to train young Igor, I wonder how explosive his growth would be.]

Over the course of World War II and a year after, Vasco endured secret training from Sun Wukong. Just a few words of guidance and by 1946, he was the strongest card the church had at just 25 years old. The combination of the war and some words of guidance from the former monkey king allowed him to progressively grow in power to the point that he was at the absolute peak of god class (peak-satan class) in power alone.

Unfortunately, age played a significant factor as after he turned 40, his power progressively began to lower until it stabilised around the upper end of low-god class.

Shaking his head at the memories of his glory days, Vasco pushed open the door to his house and entered. Upon finding numerous banana peels on the floor, he placed a hand on his forehead in exasperation.

"Of course. Of course you would leave me a gift like this, Old Sun."

Grabbing the broom by the door, he began to sweep them away, his mind wandering curiously.

"I wonder how many years it will be before I see them again."