Chương 105: Chapter 101- A Seed

A giant magic circle spanned the skies. It was beautiful with many symbols woven to form the crest of the Belial clan. It glowed once, and all chaos was calmed.

"I guess that's enough sparring for today." … |DxD| - Chapter 101- A Seed …... Crack One. Crack Two. Crack Three. Above the ocean's surface, Igor hovered in focus. His body cracked with each passing second as it shrunk to normal size. He was alone in the vast ocean, a testament to how far Sairaorg had sent him. The devil was incredibly durable and his strongest opponent by far. Igor slowly opened his eyes. His left eye was red after a vessel had burst from when he was punched above the brow.

It was his lesson to not believe in victory so soon, but he didn't expect Sairaorg would dare gamble against his swing and rush forward.

"Hehe. History repeats itself again." For that alone, he was willing to admit defeat in this fight. But their next bout wouldn't have him giving up victory so easily. Igor paused, then smiled at the thought. Was this the beginning of a rivalry? It… wasn't bad. He looked into the distance and sensed Sairaorg's presence. That dense coat of touki prevented Igor from sensing too clearly, but he wouldn't be surprised if his foe was ready for another go.

Through their clashes over the hours, he'd learned Sairaorg was just like that. Igor rose higher above the sea. He was still in a position to fight, but Akeno still needed to be fetched from school.

"What do you think of Sairaorg, Igor?" A hand touched his shoulder, and Igor had to calm the jolt in his heart. There was no getting used to Baraquiel's sudden appearances. The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

"Sigh…" He collected himself and then stared seriously at Sairaorg's energy signature.

"He's strong, old man. No doubt about it. I thought I would be dealing with the power of destruction, not a brawler who likes to get close. He's fast as well. I can't match him in raw speed. He has incredible endurance and an even stronger body. My edge against him was my vitality and perception."

"In what way?"

"Suppression." Igor continued.

"My vital energy is denser than his touki. It gives me a suppression advantage and allowed me to endure hits above my threshold."

"If you were to fight again, are you confident in securing victory?"

"..." Igor didn't answer immediately. His eyes strayed in thought and his brows furrowed.

"In a battle of attrition, I can defeat him. I can heal and my reserves regenerate quickly. With my means, I will still hold an advantage as long as I'm careful."

"And friendship-wise?"

"?" Igor turned to face Baraquiel with a raised eyebrow. The man was smiling, but Igor shook his head.

"Isn't that a bit too forced, old man? We just met four hours ago."

"One fight can tell you more than a year. Don't tell me you don't have a good impression of him?" Igor remained quiet. It was an admittance. Sairaorg did seem like a proper person, but calling him a 'friend' was too soon.

"Let's settle it at 'sparring partner', old man." He said no more and looked ahead. A 'dust cloud' of water formed behind a man running across the ocean's surface. He was as fast as planes traversing the skies, and his yell was just as loud too.

"IGORRRRRRR!!!" Igor grimaced. That shout was really too loud. Sairaorg came to a stop and flew up to join them. His eyes beamed with fighting spirit.

"Igor! That was the best fight of my life. We HAVE to do it again!"

"I'm not against it. Friday?" Igor stretched out his hand and Sairaorg shook it.

"Friday it is, Igor. This time, it'll be my win."

"What do you mean? You obviously won."

"Nope." Sairaorg shook his head.

"That swing of yours hit me so hard it injured my windpipe. I couldn't breathe properly after that. If we continued, you would've won." Igor scoffed and pointed at his eye. The bleeding was a visible indicator that strikes from his left could be exploited.

"I can barely see out of this one. If we fought now, then victory or defeat would still be uncertain."

"I didn't hurt you too bad, did I?" Sairaorg asked with genuine concern that surprised Igor for a moment. He paused momentarily, then smiled while shaking his head.

"I could ask the same of you, Sairaorg. But, no. Give me half-an-hour and it'll be fine."

"Ha!" Sairaorg snorted and pointed at himself.

"If there's one thing I have confidence in, it's my body, Igor."

"I can attest to that." Diehauser's voice drifted in. He'd appeared beside Sairaorg as if he were always there.

"Sairaorg is an anomaly of his generation. He sought body refinement over energy cultivation. It was an unconventional choice, and it led to him being accepted as this century's strongest devil."

"Really? Then losing to number one is not embarrassing." Igor commented and Sairaorg scoffed.

"Fat chance. I'm not so pompous as to claim a victory undeservedly. If Lord Belial didn't heal me, then I'd barely have the energy to run."

"Then are you saying you can't fight without holding your breath? That's more than enough time to work around my depth of view." Igor was disbelieving and Sairaorg was feeling frustrated.

"You know what? Let's settle this with rock, paper, scissors. Whoever wins is the winner of this fight."

"..." Igor looked at Sairaorg. Then looked at his strange hand gesture. Sairaorg had placed a fist on his open palm.

"Rock, paper…what is that?"

"???" Sairaorg was greatly shocked. This game was thousands of years old. How could Igor not know it?

"You know what? I won't even ask. I'll just teach you. In return, you'll tell me how you trained."

"Only if you tell me as well. So I can win next time."

"Deal."

END