章 95: Chapter 95

"It will soon become too dangerous for her to remain here."

Igor processed his words in his mind. He could feel the subtle trace of killing intent emanating from the old man. He wanted to ask what he would do, but he felt it was not his place.

So he could only agree to his request.

"...Alright. I will take Asia with me."

|DxD|

The moment Igor accepted Vasco's proposal, the old man released a tired smile.

"Thank you. It saddens me, but she will be happy with a normal life."

For three years, Asia had worked for the church and brought untold benefits to them. The number of followers and believers she brought in for the church in one year was quite literally more than the church had brought in fifty. Her Twilight Healing was quite literally a miracle and not only did her healing ability fill the church halls, it also filled the vaults and coffers with billions in sponsorships and donations.

Yet all she received as payment was scorn and empty titles. She wasn't even compensated for her services on the claims that she was far too young to wield the money responsibly. They were even audacious enough to use reasons such as, "She is doing the work of the lord.", "It is in the best interest of humanity.", "Her gift is by the grace of God. She should use it for God's people, no?", and many more such nonsensical reasons. She received no benefits and was always locked up for "safety" reasons.

Unfortunately, Vasco could do nothing about it. Too many politics were at work and as famous as he was, his political power was not much. The 'Strongest Exorcist' was simply a glorified grunt in the eyes of the upper echelon. It did not matter how powerful he was because he was still under their hands.

But now, political power did not matter. After sensing Igor's power and later hearing how the Himejima were exterminated, he realised that in front of strength, things like politics, connections, and money were nonsense. Who you could call did not matter if you were already dead. Influence was nothing when you weren't stronger than your enemy. Money meant nothing when your adversary was already in front of you and ready to kill. And this realisation made him come to a decision.

He will once again pick up his sword and reform the church through his might. The upper echelons of the church? He was stronger than them. The sponsors? He was stronger than them. The pope? He was stronger than him. Vasco knew diplomacy wouldn't work for what he wanted to do. So he would force them to accept his authority.

Blood would be spilt and dissent would be widespread. But he would rather the church bear a few years of turmoil for its betterment than for it to remain the cesspool it is for the next century. And the only way for him to begin reforming the church was to become the next pope.

It was controversial and even bordered on heretical. But he would do it regardless. His decision would result in many changes and he didn't want Asia to be here when it happened. Many people know how much he cared for her and they would surely use her as a weak point.

He wanted to call Sun Wukong first, but since Igor was alive, he would be better suited for the role of taking care of Asia. He wanted to distance Asia as far away from the church as possible and if possible, he truly wanted her to experience a normal life.

But Igor was very quick to refute that thought.

"It's impossible for Asia to have a normal life, old man. We both know that."

"..."

Vasco couldn't help but sigh.

"I know. Or at the very least, I hoped it wouldn't be the case."

There was a faint hope that maybe it was possible, but Igor was right. As the wielder of the Twilight Healing Sacred Gear, a normal life for Asia was impossible. If it isn't the church, it will be either Grigori, the Devils, or some other faction, organisation, or pantheon that would take her…be it willingly, or forcefully. The Twilight Healing was far too valuable for any organisation to let go and the very, very slim chance that Asia could possibly live a normal life was taken away the moment she became a Saintess.

Everyone faction knew how she looked and the moment it was revealed that she was no longer in the church's possession…

"They will hunt her…"

It was an irrefutable truth that Vasco had to come to terms with, something that caused the blonde to clench his fists in frustration.

"Yes. Those bastards will."

Igor had learnt a lot from this incident with the Himejima. It doesn't matter how powerful he gets. There will be instances where he will be too late. It doesn't matter how fast his [Instant Transmission] was. If knowledge of the situation was kept from him, it would border on impossible to rescue those close to him.

And that will be the same for Asia, unless he did one thing.

"They will hunt her, but I will train her."

Vasco looked up in surprise, but Igor continued.

"I've thought about this for a while old man. When I got to Kuoh, Aunty Shuri was already dead. I was too late, and I had to…"

Recalling the memory made his eyes moisten.

"...I had to watch her die in front of me. I was powerless to do anything. I don't want that to happen again to me. I'm strong old man, but not strong enough to go through that. Not again. I can't go through that pain again. I'm thankful that Amaterasu revived her but still, it was too close…way too close."

He then looked up to Vasco with a gaze full of resolve.

"It is why I've decided to train Asia…and them also. I'll see if I can convince-no. I will MAKE them train. Shuri, Akeno, and Asia. Whether they want to or not, I will make train them by force, especially Asia. I love my little sister and I know she wouldn't want to hurt anyone, even if that person is attacking her. But I will force her to. I will fasten a weapon to her hand if it is the last thing I do. The world has shown me that it is not kind even to those who try to distance themselves from the supernatural. Even if you live in the middle of nowhere, as long as you have a treasure, someone will want to take it from you."

Vasco nodded quietly, his mind recalling a proverb Sun Wukong once told him.

"It is a sin to carry jade, without the ability to protect it."

"What?"

Vasco sighed.

"It's some sort of Chinese saying. Although Asia wants no trouble and wouldn't hurt a fly, many people will come after her simply because she has Twilight Healing. Even if she tried to hide and never use it, it is impossible since the entire world knows her face."

He clenched his fists, his mind coming to a decision.

"You are right, Igor. Asia must get strong. With how important her sacred gear is, many people will come after her in the future once she leaves the church. So I hope you will train her very well, lad. Because I'll depend on you to protect my granddaughter."

The blonde smiled lightly.

"Don't worry, old man. My plan is to at the very least, get her to god class. It will be hard and maybe she'll hate me, but I rather she hate me and be alive than be a corpse."

Igor had a good grasp of just how timid the little blonde was. In the first week they met, she felt sad that the person who kidnapped her had died. The memory was something he would never forget. He couldn't comprehend how she would feel pity for someone who tried to harm her. His philosophy was straightforward. Both good and bad, he would repay a hundredfold.

But she believed in the concept of every life being equal. Despite who the person was, their life was equal in value. She hadn't said it, but she showed it. Regardless of who it was who interacted with her, she treated them kindly even when they harboured malicious intent against her. It was somewhat endearing and Igor was willing to let her maintain such pure thoughts. She was the light and he would gladly eliminate the shadows that threatened to encroach on her radiance because, her innocence was what made him more determined than ever to get stronger. Her kind nature was so rare in this world that he wanted to do his utmost to let it shine freely.

He wanted to preserve it, to let that little beacon of purity shine in the dark and turbid world they lived in. In a world where blood was spilt everyday and schemes were concocted at every waking moment, he wanted to let her keep her ideology. Yet realisation dawned that no matter how strong he was, a simple moment was all it would take for him to lose her.

In a confrontational situation, Asia would undoubtedly be very easy to manipulate and protecting her who lacked the capabilities to even defend herself against a normal person was hard. Even if he could get her as strong as he could, her naive mentality would make her victim to even the common grunt in any faction. Her trusting and tolerant nature would make it very easy for a blade to be slipped into her heart, something he dreaded.

He couldn't let that continue, wouldn't let it continue. He loved Asia, but he wasn't sure if she would still share those same thoughts once he was through with her. Undoubtedly, the hardest part would be for her to take a life. For him, it was a very simple process. He wouldn't kill randomly, but it also didn't take much for him to take someone's life.

For Asia, Igor knew firsthand that even if he brought the most vilest of beings in history, she would hesitate. There was even a very high likelihood that she wouldn't kill them in the end. Her inherent kindness wouldn't let her. But he would change it. Even if she hated him in the end, as long as she finally got the resolve that was needed to survive in the supernatural world.

Because for him, her survival was his topmost priority.

[I'll make her strong through any means possible.]