章 241: Chapter 241
"N-no…"
Shuri didn't want to rely on him like this.
"I can still fight, Dimori-kun."
"Yep. You can fight alright. But not now. Still, you were pretty strong, aunty."
"I…"
She wanted to dispute him again, but froze when she heard him call her 'strong'.
"I see. Thank you…Dimori-kun."
.
|DxD|
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Strong. Whenever Igor used that word, it spoke of him truly acknowledging a person as a fellow warrior. Very, very few people have been praised by him like him.
Perhaps it may be considered a foolish objective, but Shuri's entire goal today was to change the way Igor and everyone else looked at her. She was no longer the same person who played meek housewife, but a willing combatant who would continue to get stronger.
"Hey, aunty. Can you tell me what happened and how you got strong so quickly? I can sense another entity in you."
"..."
Somehow she was not surprised when he sensed her newest tenant.
"I will happily tell you, Dimori-kun. But I would prefer if Aurelia-san was present as well. That way I won't have to repeat myself."
"No problem. You can stand, right?"
"Yes, Dimori-kun."
He slowly let her down and allowed her to stand on her own legs, only to almost sink into the ocean.
"Woah there!"
He held her up once more.
"Nope. If the little chick sees you like this, she'll hate me. So I'll have to be rough with you a bit, aunty."
"Ah?"
Shuri was not prepared for the warm surge of energy flooding her body. It felt like she was being rejuvenated in real-time.
"This is my ki. It should help put some stamina back in your tank."
She felt his energy travel all over her body. Her fatigue was diminishing and her vitality was recovering. This energy of his was not just aiding her recovery. It was improving the quality of her mana!
"?!"
The realisation made Shuri almost beg him not to stop. This level of mana refinement was something that would take her years to achieve, yet it was being accomplished in mere seconds.
She would hate herself immensely for this, but she didn't want to take advantage of his ability.
"Dimori-kun. That's enough now. Thank you."
"Hm? Why? Your body can still accept more without harm."
"I…because…"
Her mind was in a twist. Dark thoughts were telling her to remain quiet and accept the free gain in power while the other urged her to come clean.
"Because I will feel like I have cheated you. Your ki is helping me refine my mana to levels that would take me years to achieve."
She half-expected him to stop here and there. But it was the unexpected that happened.
"Just that? I know."
"...then-"
"Aurelia told me my ki does that. I've been helping her refine her mana every week now. I would've done the same for you aunty, but your body was too weak back then. Fortunately, you're much stronger now so you can handle it."
"..."
She did not know whether to feel insulted or relieved.
"Oh. By the way, aunty. I just want to make sure but, you didn't bargain away your soul for this power, right?"
"No. I didn't."
"Good. It's never worth it."
He didn't elaborate any further. It was unclear whether he saw the results of such cases, but Shuri decided to take his word of advice.
He gently let her stand on the water's surface once more. It was calm as if no explosions ever happened in the first place.
"Are you good enough to head back?"
"Not yet, Dimori-kun. I want to ask a few things before we leave."
"Oh? Alright, aunty."
She got him alone. This was a chance to ask some questions that she'd long since wanted to know the answer to.
"Dimori-kun. When I died-"
It was brief, so brief that even someone as sensitive as her thought it was a slip of her senses. But when she saw Igor's slightly forced smile, she knew that the killing intent she felt was not a fault in her perception.
"Aunty. Can we not…talk about it?"
His eyes were closed, a small smile spawning on his face.
"Dimori-kun. Do you remember Amaterasu-sama's words?"
"Aunty. We just had a good fight."
His fists clenched.
"Don't bring that up."
But Shuri wasn't going to stop. It was precisely because they fought that she picked this opportunity.
"Dimori-kun. You smelled the blood on me, right? I killed people to get this power. Would the previous me have done it?"
"..."
The answer was blatantly obvious. Shuri was a pacifist right down to the bone. Her very, very first kill was Masaru Himejima, the hulking man who threatened to kill Akeno. If Shuri survived that night, it would not mean that her aversion to killing would suddenly be gone.
"Your silence tells me everything I need to know, Dimori-kun. Do you know why I'm doing this?"
He didn't reply. His eyes remained tightly shut to the reality in front of him.
"Dimori-kun. On the sixteenth of July…I di-"
"Aunty!"
His eyes opened to reveal crimson orbs filled with immense fury.
"Don't…"
"..."
Shuri slowly pulled out her dagger from its holster.
"I have no memories prior to my death. This is not amnesia, Dimori-kun. The part of my soul associated with my identity was cleansed."
"Stop it. Just stop it!"
Her words were giving rise to terrible memories, but Shuri wasn't stopping. She would not skirt around this issue.
"Dimori-kun. When you left, Amaterasu-sama came with an offer of power to me. But to get it, I had to execute one-hundred people with this very blade."
The dagger wasn't remarkable...apart from the blade that was blood-red in colour.
"Tell me honestly. Is this something your aunt would've done?"
"..."we
His fists were clenched, because she was right.
.
~Flashback~
"Your heart is too kind, aunty. At some point in time, I can see you sparing the wrong person and dying from an attack to the back."
Shuri wanted to refute it. She truly did but…she could only smile weakly.
"You're probably right. I am a healer, not a warrior. I just cannot bring myself to take someone's life."
.
Igor remembered the conversation he had with Shuri years ago. They were on their way to pick up Akeno from school when their conversation led to this admission.
Taking a life was something Shuri could never bring herself to do. The only reason she ever took a life in the first place was for her daughter.
"..."
But this woman in front of her…the scent of blood reeked from her body. Were it not for her lifeforce, were it not for her scent…
"I'm sorry. But I can no longer fulfil her role."
…he would've thought she was an impostor.
"Dimori-kun. On the sixteenth of July…"
It was a bitter pill to swallow, but this woman and his aunt…were not the same person.
"...I died."
.
.
Silence…
GRUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!
His power exploded in a giant fiery blaze of energy. The waters around him parted like a giant boulder was sinking into it.
The massive pillar of demi-ki fluctuated so violently and with such viciousness that the entire region was plunged into immediate darkness.
Gone were his eyes. The only thing in place was an empty white void filled with the ferocity of the world. Igor had an extremely violent snarl on his face. His gaze was locked on Shuri, but she didn't fear it.
Rather, she walked closer to him.
"You never had the chance to grieve her loss."
She didn't fear the overwhelming killing intent he was releasing. It was as if the force of his power and rage avoided her, allowing her the leeway to get closer to him.
"I am very sorry, Dimori-kun. I am not the aunty you knew and loved. I am…different."
It was subtle, but she could see the beginning of tears in his eyes. She opened wounds and even worse, poured salt on them. She was forcing him to actively accept that the previous her had died, that the current her could no longer be used as a placeholder.
Gently, she cupped his cheeks and pulled him into her chest.
"Igor."
For the first time, she called him by name.
"I want you to know that she loved you dearly until her final moments. Do not blame yourself anymore for her death."
"..."
It was the straw that broke the camel's back.
*Grab!*
His arms snaked around her and locked her in. He did not make a sound, but Shuri could feel her clothes get wetter and wetter with his tears. The violent surge of energy around him gradually dimmed. His risen hair slowly fell over his shoulders and light finally filled the region once more.
Shuri gently hugged him and let him pour out the grief he had bottled up for far too long. To him, it had been over ten years since she died. He had only seen her alive for less than a day before their separation.
It was inevitable that even though he didn't notice it, he would see her as the same aunty from before, something Amaterasu tried warning him against. But now, now he could grieve. She would let him grieve and finally accept the loss of that fateful day.
"I'm very sorry, Igor. I'm sorry…"
Her actions were initially inspired by selfish greed, a desire for him to see her as Shuri, not aunty, not a placeholder. But she could selflessly admit that seeing him like this, he truly needed this more than her.
.
|DxD|
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" *Hik*…*hik*…mama…"
"It's alright to be sad, Akeno-sama. It's alright to cry."
Aurelia, Akeno, and Asia were back at the house in the living room. Through magic, Aurelia allowed them to watch the fight between Shuri and Igor. It was also because of the same magic that all three of them witnessed this scene.
Apart from Shuri revealing the part about Amaterasu and how she obtained her power, Aurelia did not censor anything else. She wanted the girls to grow up, but not too quickly. Shuri's revelation was not within her expectations, but it was necessary.
Akeno needed this just as much as Igor. Shuri died that night. She was resurrected, but she was no longer the same woman they knew and it was not fair to force her to be.
"It's important that you don't blame yourself, Akeno-sama. Don't blame yourself for the actions of others. Your mother loves you dearly and would never change that for the world, alright?"
"Y-y-y-yes…"
"Come here…"
Aurelia gently pulled the little lass into a hug. She was confident Akeno could pull through this. It was a day of unwanted revelations and realisations. But they were needed nonetheless.
It was unknown how everyone would continue after this, but as long as the knots in their hearts were untied, it would all be well.
.
AN
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Thank you for reading. We are already on chapter 246 on my p.a.t.r.e.o.n if you're interested in reading ahead. Just look for HolyGambler.
Thanks for reading and until the next chapter.
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