章 27: Chapter 27
The motion of swinging his arms consumed one calorie too many and his body decided to shutdown in order to conserve energy.
The last words he heard were of Baraquiel cursing his entire lineage to hell and back.
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|DxD|
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Baraquiel and Azazel were at the former's home. It was now around 14:00, meaning it had been roughly 4 hours since Igor had won. Right now, the blonde was sleeping in the guestroom upstairs while Baraquiel and Azazel were sitting in the dining room. Shuri had already left half-an-hour ago to pick up Akeno from school, leaving the two fallen to continue discussing the contents of the battle.
Briefly enjoying the ruffling sounds of the tree leaves coming in through the open window, Azazel stretched his hand to take a batch of chips before speaking.
"Don't feel so bad about losing, brother. Remember, the brat said it himself. He had a decade to train for the fight against you."
Baraquiel also stretched out his hand to reach into the packet of chips. He seemed unnerved but a trace of unease could be noticed.
"But 10 years? All it took was 10 years, brother? Even without that red aura boosting his power, his base strength is higher than mine. In fact…were it not for me using the Phenex tears, my loss would've been more miserable."
Although Baraquiel had pride, he also knew when to admit defeat. He was thoroughly convinced of his loss. What he couldn't accept was that just after almost ten years of training, Igor could easily defeat him.
But Azazel cut off his thoughts.
"It's not just ten years."
Taking the time to chew, he swallowed before continuing.
"He's probably trained for a few decades. The last ten were what he needed to surpass you."
"How are you so sure?"
"I asked Cleria. She had paid attention to him a few years ago. She told me that just five years ago, he was barely middle-class and since all he did was kill a few ruffians, she didn't bother him. So in my opinion, what was possibly five or six years to us were more than five decades of solid training for him."
Looking at his brother's serious expression, Baraquiel's own gaze also turned serious.
"How sure are you?"
"Completely. I just checked the brat for a sacred gear and yet all I found within him was something similar to an hour-glass. If I'm right, which I am, then the coveted time chamber Aryans were known for using is within him."
Baraquiel widened his eyes. He knew what would happen if word of this got out. Not only was the blonde Aryan, but he possessed the exact same artifact the Aryans were annihilated for. The Aryans were already a stronger variant of the human race. But what made them even more fearsome was the immense power they had. No other race in the entire world could deploy an army comprising of thousands of humans comparable to the strength of ultimate-class devils. The other races didn't dare to undermine the Aryans. It also helped that the Aryans were known for their relatively secluded lives in their personal dimension.
But when everyone caught wind of the reason why Aryans were so strong was because of their time chamber, it was like the opening of Pandora's box. Greed and envy brewed in the supernatural world for years. It wasn't until the early 20th century that under the leadership of a few gods, dozens of different races began launching subtle attacks at the bases of the Aryans on Earth. They were also aided by the First World War since attacks were easier to launch. The Aryans did try to fight back at first. But with quite literally, millions of entities attacking them, their meagre numbers couldn't bring any results. In the end, the Aryans decisively secluded themselves in their dimension and were not heard from again for two decades.
It wasn't until the late 1930s that the last active entryway for their dimension was found in the regions of Italy. Even if the Angels and the Vatican wanted to do anything to protect the Aryans, they couldn't. Not only had Adolf Hitler soured the reputation of Aryans, but anyone who even had an inkling of protecting the Aryans changed their mind when they saw the number of races eager to annihilate them.
But even though they had massive numbers, the alliance of races couldn't break through the dimensional gate. It wasn't until the late 1930s that the wielders of the True Longinus and Dimension Lost sacred gears were found and brought to the gate. After a few attempts, the owner of the True Longinus finally managed to pierce through the gate while the Dimension Lost user stabilised it.
And so, in 1939, the dimension of the Aryans was invaded. Despite their strength, they lacked the numbers. They tried to fight from both the supernatural and mundane front with Hitler handling the latter. But they couldn't even last a decade before they were finally annihilated in 1945. The alliance was ecstatic. They didn't waste any time and searched the dimension high and low for the time chamber. And yet despite the thorough search, they couldn't find it. Even as the decades passed, the numerous losses they suffered were for nothing since no one could find the time chamber.
Baraquiel was very familiar with this story. Although most of the fallen never participated, Kokabiel was one of the more active fighters. Of course, neither of them cared for the time chamber. Being long-lived races, time held no meaning to them. And with their level of strength, they could already walk backwards on most battlefields. *
Although it was undeniable that having such an artifact could indeed boost the strength of their forces, most leaders of several factions were already tired of war. It was also because of his long life that Baraquiel didn't have any designs on securing the time chamber.
Rather, he was worried for the blonde.
"Brother…word of this must not leave this room."
Azazel released a coy smile.
"Oho? Have you started caring for the brat?"
"It doesn't matter whether I care for the young Dimori or not. That boy has a lot of potential that he has yet to realise. We've lived for countless millennia, brother. Although we haven't trained much, we are powerful. Yet this boy, in less than a century, with no sacred gear, has already surpassed us in potential."
Silence…
Azazel listened to his brother. There was a hint of reminiscence on his face.
"Do you care so much because he resembles Yered?"
Baraquiel shook his head.
"That was before. After fighting the brat…"
Baraquiel looked up to the roof while letting out a sigh.
"...he seemed to have awakened something in me."
He briefly clenched and unclenched his fist a few times.
"Brother. We are weak. Although I am many times weaker than you, Dimori will eventually surpass you in strength."
He propped his elbows on the table and leaned forward with a serious expression.
"Knowing all of this, I've decided. I am going to start training again."
Azazel looked at his arm that was broken just a few days ago.
"Hmmmmm…maybe you have the right idea about this. I've already studied sacred gears for so long."
He grinned challengingly.
"Maybe it's time I study our people. Who knows, maybe we could become Super Fallen-"
Their conversation was cut off when Shuri walked in along with Akeno.
"Daddy!"
Akeno didn't waste time and ran towards her father the first moment she saw him.
"Daddy! Daddy!"
Baraquiel released a genuine smile as he opened his arms.
"Ohhhh! My little princess!"
Akeno jumped onto his lap and buried her head in his chest. She wrapped her little arms around his torso and tightened them like a vice.
While Baraquiel was rubbing her head, Shuri walked towards him and kissed him on the lips before greeting him.
"Hello, husband~"
"Hello, my wife."
Looking at the aura of love released by the family of three, Azazel felt as if he had eaten something bitter. While normally he would interrupt this moment, he found his mind drifting to Cleria.
Since the moment when they almost kissed, Azazel found himself thinking about her more often than not. While he assured himself it wasn't love, he couldn't deny that he was feeling a few emotions for her.
But what surprised him even more was that he never once thought of her breasts. It was always her face that ran about in his mind, particularly her smile or her cute frown when he teased her-
[Oh no…]
Azazel looked at the happy family and gradually, the image distorted to show the same scene but with Azazel, Cleria, and their lovely daughter with long white hair.
[Am I…falling?]
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AN
I'm pressed for time so I'll be short. Tomorrow is Saturday and for those who don't know, I don't upload on Saturdays.
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