Chapter 60

"This…haaaaaa."

He lowered his head in complete defeat. He could already how hard it would be to teach a loose cannon like Igor.

"I will never drink again."

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|DxD|

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Over a month had passed since the war and things were relatively peaceful in Svargaloka. Two weeks ago, Igor had met up again with Atid and their reunion was…explosive. As self-proclaimed followers of the Dragon Ball religion, there was only one way they could ever greet each other- through battle.

Swoosh Swoosh Swoosh Swoosh Swoosh

For the last two weeks, the boys had constantly sparred with each other, their conversations always devolving into battle. With both knowing the existence of Super Saiyan 4, it was always a debate between who was stronger between Vegeta and Goku. As a devout follower of Vegeta, Igor always felt it was his duty to disprove Atid's reasonings. 

And the way to do that was through beating him in a fight.

"[BOOST]"

"Goku will always be the strongest!"

*Block!*

"Bullshit! Vegeta is the number one warrior in the universe!"

Swoosh Swoosh

Just like every other day, the boys had another argument and they were solving it through their fists. So far, there was no definite winner in their scuffles, though Igor was clearly the one who came out looking nicer in the end. His agility gave him an edge over Atid who, although was quick, was more linear and didn't possess the same flexibility as the blonde.

But that didn't mean he was easy pickings.

"[BOOST! BOOST! BOOST! BOOST! BOOST!]"

As a hybrid between a mixed deva-human and a god, Atid possessed immense power and stamina. Once he used the Boosted Gear's Balance Breaker, his power could skyrocket to upwards of a thousand times his initial strength. But that would only last for less than a second before his strength would start rapidly decreasing. 

While the Boosted Gear did truly have the ability to continuously double the strength of a user, it had its weaknesses. The strength gained by boosting is finite and the duration depends on the wielder's capabilities. Furthermore, if the user is not proficient enough in using the gear, they may not gain the total doubled power from boosting. It was not rare for a user to only gain a fifth of the total [Boost], the other four-fifths having been lost during the process of boosting.

But Atid had been training himself in using the Boosted Gear ever since he was a child. After over a decade of training, he doesn't suffer from loss of power during the [Boost] process and his highest controllable boosted power could last for a second compared to the mere moments from before.

Although a second sounded short, it was relatively long between these two warriors. In a fight of their magnitude, Atid would have roughly three chances to hit the Igor, and that was with the blonde doing his hardest to stay away from his fist. Although Igor was certainly slow in terms of locking on to an energy signature in this combat situation, he could become quite a nuisance once he's gotten used to a particular energy signature. Having sparred with Atid for so long, Igor had gotten so familiar with his energy signature that he barely needed to focus to maintain his lock-on on Atid. 

And he was about to become a nuisance again. Having heard Atid boost ten times in succession, Igor also amped up his Kaioken to the twenty-fifth multiplier. With Atid having increased his strength to over a thousand times, his only hope of reacting quickly enough to the hybrid's attacks was 'boosting' himself to Kaioken x25.

So with two fingers to his forehead, the blonde gave off a grin before vanishing.

Tswii! Tswii! Tswii! Tswii! Tswii!

Atid almost groaned in annoyance but he held it in. With Igor spamming [Instant Transmission], the hybrid would have to focus and time his attack just right. Having trained with his sacred gear for years, he had fully learnt to control his boosts and keep the attained energy from escaping, thus fully doubling his power with each [Boost] instead of losing over 75% of it due to improper control. 

But even with all that power, he only had a second to use it before his strength would begin to rapidly plummet. Having over a thousand times his strength for one second, he was just barely able to see Igor vanish in and out of existence. But he was remained undeterred.

Closing his eyes, he began focusing on feeling the vibration of the air and the direction of the sounds made by Igor's disappearance and appearance.

[Find the pattern.]

Igor continued to teleport around Atid, his movements seemingly random. But the hybrid could already tell that while the movements seemed erratic, a pattern was gradually forming. He had sparred with Igor long enough that the blonde had a tendency to teleport behind him more often than in front. 

Tswii! Tswii! Tswii! Tswii! Tswii! Tswii! Tswii…

[Twice in front, six times at the back, four times at my sides.]

Having picked up a vague pattern, he just had to time everything right while he still had his boosted power. With the second almost ending, he had only a few moments to strike before all his efforts were rendered naught. He had to calculate the distance between them as well as the interval between the blonde appearing and vanishing.

While Igor could simply vanish somewhere else in Svargaloka and wait a second before coming back, there were three reasons why he did not do so. The first reason was to train his instincts. The blonde did not know if he would face such a similar situation in the future and would not have the liberty of teleporting somewhere else. 

The second reason was that having to search and lock-on to another energy signature would take too long compared to simply teleporting around Atid. It takes him a good two or three seconds to lock-on to another energy signature and form a connection strong enough so that even if he entered the Teleportation Zone, he could use that energy signature to bring himself back to reality. However, in those few seconds he needs, Atid can [Boost] himself much faster than he can lock-on. And in the process of locking on to an energy signature, the blonde is left vulnerable since his attention is split, significantly damaging his reaction speed should he be attacked. It was simply easier to lock-on to Atid since he was both closer and he was more used to his energy signature.

The third and most important reason, was that it was too cowardly. If he did such a thing, he would be disgracing himself and would not have the face to call himself a disciple of Vegeta. 

So the deadly wait continued. With Igor abusing [Instant Transmission], Atid stood silently, his eyes closed under his crimson armour.

Tswii! Tswii! Tswii! Tswii! Tswii! Tswii!

On and on, the sounds of Igor vanishing filled his ears like an annoying fly. But after battling the blonde numerous times, he's gotten used to his rhythm.

Thus…

*Eyes Open!*

He spotted an opportunity.

Swoosh-Tswii!-BOOOM!

"...damnit."

He missed, having only struck empty air. While the power behind his fist caused a loud thundering sound, Atid was not satisfied causing such a phenomenon. 

"Damnit!"

Feeling the power within him begin to fade away, he frantically went after the blonde, but it was no use. With his power steadily decreasing to half of what it was, he had also lost the required perception needed to spot the blonde.

It was not by luck though that he missed Igor. While Atid observed Igor, the blonde also observed him. So when Igor noticed the slight movement of Atid, he teleported one last time and entered the teleportation zone. Instead of instantly vanishing as soon as he materialised in the colourful dimension, he powered up his Kaioken by one level, increasing it to the 26th multiplier before leaving again. And with the added perception, he was able to vanish again in just the smallest of seconds before Atid's strike landed. 

The blonde appeared a few dozen metres away from Atid, a hungry grin on his face. 

"I'm going to beat you up now."

Tswii…Gu!

With a powerful kick to the jaw, Atid was sent flying upwards into the golden sky. He was completely unable to react to the swift kick, his body and mind too tired to put up a preemptive block. The hybrid's last chance had been wasted and his stamina was beginning to wane. Having fought for over three hours, he was starting to feel the repercussions that came from boosting so many times repeatedly. As for Igor, he only had a slight trace of sweat on his forehead. Although the blonde's breaths were slightly heavier, he was in a much better condition than his fellow warrior.

Whereas Atid functioned as an explosive type fighter, Igor was more balanced but specialised in drawn-out battles. His strong physique, considerable energy reserves, and his high rate of regenerating ki gave him a bigger edge the longer the fight lasted. As long as he was well-fed before a fight, he could afford to be a bit reckless with his energy.

With his stamina, it was already considered a feat that he could hold the Kaioken at the 20th multiplier for these past few hours on top of constantly using the [Instant Transmission]. For the sake of preserving stamina, he only increased the multiplier to twenty-five whenever Atid began boosting. Even though he could not compare to the hybrid in terms of short bursts of power, he was a stamina freak in his own right.

Atid could boost multiple times, but his accummulated strength would always disappear after ten seconds at most, forcing him to boost himself again. Even if Igor did not have the [Instant Transmission], he could still use his [Instant Vanish], albeit with some injuries. Whereas [Instant Transmission] was untraceable, [Instant Vanish] could be tracked since when the blonde used the latter, he was only moving at high speeds whereas for the former, he genuinely teleported, making him nigh untraceable between Point A and Point B.

But even with all these advantages, Atid was not to be underestimated. The hybrid could still put up a fight and even injure the blonde on several occasions. Those punches of his packed quite a lot of power and his instincts enhanced by those of his dragon and godly side made him a severe challenge for the blonde who was almost fifty years older than him mentally.

And he was putting those instincts to good use.

"[BOOS-]"

CLASH!

Their battle was getting explosive. Igor was taking the opportunity to abuse his advantage in this fight. With him still having stamina, he stuck to Atid like glue, not letting him gather enough time nor concentration to boost himself. Having not gotten as injured this time compared to their previous clashes, the blonde was able to maintain a solid combo on the crimson-armoured hybrid who was currently twenty-times weaker than him. In order to maintain his stamina, Igor regressed back from the 26th multiplier because that was when he truly began to lose energy rapidly. Although it was only a difference of one level compared to the 25th multiplier, that one level was his breaking point in controlling the Kaioken. Even then, times-twenty-five still took a lot more out of him compared the 20th multiplier.

So he wanted to end this quickly before Atid could recover. Despite being that much stronger than the hybrid, the armour protecting him was a nuisance altogether. And since this was a little banter between them and not a true battle, energy attacks were not permitted as a silent agreement between them.

So his only option was to thrash and slam Atid all the way to the ground and bash him to the point that his armour broke or the brunet passed out. After dozens of consecutive draws and close losses or victories, the blonde was not about to let this chance to land an overwhelming victory slide by. This was his chance to prove that the way of Vegeta was the ultimate path and he would be damned if he disappointed his idol.

Appearing next to Atid, Igor reeled his fist back and let loose a few fast punches.

Gu! Gu! Gu! Gu!

Focusing more on speed than power, his fists struck Atid like a machine gun, the speed and concussive force stunning the hybrid. Luckily for Igor, the side of his helmet had already cracked, exposing the sides of his sweaty hair. And with another punch, Igor was able to shatter it, revealing Atid's ear. He only needed one more shot and he would be able to say with complete confidence that he won. 

Unfortunately, Sun Wukong appeared just as the blonde was about to end everything with a quick roundhouse kick.

"Enough!"

CLASH!

Silence…

*Smile fades*

With the old sage stopping his hard-earned victory, Igor frothed at the mouth.

"?#$^@!"

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AN

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I'll leave it at that. Today is Friday so I'll come back with a chapter on Sunday.

If you want to read ahead here's the link: p@tre0n.com/HolyGambler

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