Chapter 29

*Holy music stops*

"WHAT?!?!?!?!"

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|DxD|

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Igor was somewhat oblivious to Baraquiel's sudden yell. He was too focused on eating to hear what Akeno said. With his mouth full, the blonde quickly looked up to see what was wrong. But upon looking at the drumstick in his hand and Baraquiel, he became conflicted…

*Bites chicken thigh*

…for a split-second.

[Must eat.]

Whatever caused Baraquiel to yell like that, the blonde didn't care about that right now. But Baraquiel certainly did have a problem. Although his first instinct was to clobber Igor on the spot, he thought rationally about this.

So slowly unclenching his fist, he forced a smile through gritted teeth.

"Tell me what happened first."

Akeno looked at the eating blonde with an expression full of grievance.

"When he took the meat from me, he also kissed me! Al-although it was a bit on the edge, i-it still counts right?!"

She looked up at Baraquiel with puppy-dog eyes.

"Papa. I don't wanna be a frog."

Watching from the sidelines, Shuri couldn't help but let a laugh escape through her lips.

"Pfft…pfft."

Akeno heard those barely restrained laughs and cried out.

"Mamaaaa!"

Her face was full of indignation with little tears stringing down her face. Soon enough, Shuri stopped laughing and walked forward to hug her daughter.

"Don't worry, Akeno-chan~. You won't become a frog."

As for Igor, he remained oblivious to these events. All the brainpower he had was focused on filling his stomach. And with the massive pot he was eating from, he was happy as can be.

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|DxD|

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The next day arrived. It was already nearing the afternoon and the blonde had just finished ransacking the supermarkets of Kuoh, forcing them to reschedule deliveries for their meat products. It was due to having one of Azazel's cards that he could walk down the streets with a giant backpack the size of a truck's cabin filled with different meat products.

Walking down the streets towards the outskirts of town, Igor sung to himself while enjoying a meat skewer.

"Holy meat~. Holy meat~. All meeeaaat, is HOLY MEAT~"

Repeating the song he composed on the spot, the blonde had a smile on his face. He had just beaten Baraquiel thrice, equalising the score to 3-3. Furthermore, he enjoyed three full pots of chicken and rice and now today, he was going to enjoy some meat in the silence of the forest.

Not caring for the gazes of the few people on the street, the blonde eventually reached the boundaries of the forest and began flying since walking would be too inconvenient with the massive size of his backpack. 

Rising up into the skies, he showed no signs of being burdened by a backpack over five-times his size. Flying over the trees, he even had time to enjoy the radiance of the sun fell upon him. He flew deep into the forest, covering a kilometre a minute. He wasn't in any particular rush as of right now. He was still enjoying the afterglow that came with having a very satisfying battle with Baraquiel just a few days ago. 

Getting to the scene of their battle, the blonde promptly landed. There were slash marks dozens of metres long from his aura sabres and fist-sized holes stretching a few metres underground from Baraquiel's light spears. There were barely any patches of grass left and in contrast with the rest of the forest, this former field looked like a desert with years of experience. *

Flying over towards the edge, the blonde landed by a tree before he begun emptying his backpack of all frozen meat. Taking out a foldable tray from his bag, he laid it out on the ground before turning towards the meat. Unwrapping and disposing of the plastic containers, the blonde began channeling his ki into the meat, quickly cooking it.

The smell of meat quickly wafted throughout the entire forest, attracting some less-than-friendly animals. But a simple release of killing intent chased them away. It didn't take long before the blonde could smell the meat was fully cooked.

*Sniff* *Sniff*

"Smells good!"

Without wasting any further time, he picked the cooked leg of a sheep and began feasting.

 "And it tastes good!"

Digging in, it wasn't until two hours later that Igor ate his fill. Packing everything up, he got ready to make his way back to Baraquiel's house with a content smile on his face.

"After seeing the old man and his family, I'm satisfied. I think I'll leave tomorrow morning. Training so high up in the Himalayan Mountain Range shouldn't get me annoying attention from random people."

Surrounding himself with aura, Igor flew over to Baraquiel's home.

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|DxD|

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Arriving at the house, Igor was just in time to encounter Shuri grabbing her umbrella.

"Hey, aunty. Where you goin'?"

"Dimori-kun. I'm going to the store first then I'll go and fetch Akeno on my way back."

"Oh. Can I come with you, aunty?"

"Ah? Of course, Dimori-kun."

"Let me put this bag down first. I'll catch up to you later, aunty."

Giving a gentle nod of her head, Shuri walked away while the blonde put down his backpack. He took out the folded tray inside and leaned it against the wall. Looking over at his backpack laid out on the grass, his expression darkened when it took up a large area. Briefly grumbling about how he would have to fold the backpack, a spark of inspiration suddenly struck him.

He grabbed the edge of the backpack and closed his eyes.

[I forgot to try this after I went out. But, can I freely enter and exit the time chamber? I don't want to hide my backpack in that old warehouse anymore.]

Thinking along the lines of using the time chamber as a storage treasure, Igor replicated the feeling of entering the time chamber. In almost an instant, a white light covered him and his view changed to the familiar sight of the time chamber. 

But upon seeing the backpack in his hand, the blonde grinned.

"It works-huh?"

Looking at his hand, Igor could see it was illusory. Even the bag itself was illusory. But upon letting it go, it regained solidity.

"...meh. Thinking about how this works is beyond the scope of what I'm willing to learn."

Looking towards the massive door in the chamber, he briefly wondered if he could exit without using it.

"Since I'm ghost-like, it should work-?!"

His words were cut off when the view of the time chamber shifted to that of the front yard in Baraquiel's home.

Igor looked at his hands and noticed that he had also regained solidity.

"Huh…neat. As long as it works."

Deciding not to ponder too much about these things, he searched for Shuri's energy signature while holding two fingers to his forehead.

"Aaand…there she is!"

Tswii!

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|DxD|

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Shuri walked along the streets without care. With a perpetual smile on her face, she hummed a low, sweet tune while carrying her handbag with both hands. Having worn a long dress with floral patterns, she embodied the appearance of a young wife. Her lush, black hair flowed down along her back and despite wearing a sunhat, the male students from different schools were enchanted by the radiance she exuded just from being silent.

Many of them were used to her walking along this path and it is precisely why many clubs, especially those related to sports in different schools were lacking male members. Many boys knew of Shuri Himejima who was a miko at the shrine near the outskirts of town. So it was understandable that instead of working to earn sports scholarships or study hard, they would prefer to watch her smiling face and be satisfied with it.

For years, they've never seen a different expression on her face. Not one of anger or surprise. She was an ethereal goddess that would remain unchanging in their hearts…until today.

When Shuri happened to walk by another house, Igor appeared behind the wall of that house and vaulted over the wall.

Tswii!

"Osu!"

"Kyaaa!"

Seeing Igor swing his legs over the wall, Shuri dropped her handbag and damn-near relieved herself on the spot. 

Landing with a thud, Igor flashed his signature sunny smile.

"Hey aunty!"

If Igor could read minds, he would've heard a myriad of curses one would never expect from someone as kind as Shuri. 

"Dimori-kun! You frightened me!"

"Perception 101, aunty. Death can come from anywhere so always keep your eyes peeled."

"I…you…*sigh*"

She couldn't muster any strength to argue with the blonde. So she chose to drop the issue and pick up her handbag.

"Let's go, Dimori-kun."

With the both of them walking away, the boys on the street stood still, their horizons widened. While some of them were angry at Igor for tarnishing the image of their goddess…

[Damn deliquent!]

…some were praising the blonde with tears in their eyes.

[Fellow brother. Thank you for the 'kya' moment.]

The only reason they weren't jealous was because they clearly heard the "aunty". Otherwise, Igor would've been cursed to oblivion.

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|DxD|

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Igor and Shuri had just come out of the supermarket with two plastics full of ingredients and spices that were finished back home. Now, they were walking towards the kindergarten Akeno went to. Just like before, they walked in silence. While Shuri found it a bit unnerving, Igor showed no signs of being uncomfortable.

With the only last words spoken being Igor offering to carry the plastics, Shuri decided to talk about something.

Her interest was using this time to find out who the blonde was.

"Dimori-kun?"

"Yeah, aunty?"

Deciding not to be too direct, Shuri decided to ask in a somewhat roundabout way.

"I'm curious. Where are you from?"

"Me? I'm from Italy. Well…my family's from Italy while I grew up in America."

Noting that information, she continued.

"I see. And where is your family now?"

Without missing a beat, Igor replied.

"Dead. They were killed."

"Oh…I'm sorry to hear that."

"Don't worry, aunty. It was a long time ago so I've healed enough to talk about it."

Knowing she almost stepped over a line, Shuri decided to stop questioning the blonde's past and focus on his future.

"If you don't mind me asking, what do you aspire to be, Dimori-kun?"

And as if a light had been switched, Igor confidently grinned. His eyes blazed into her soul as he uttered this sentence.

"The strongest in the universe."

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AN

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