“But I can’t. I can’t leave things to chance. I don’t want to leave here, only for the sons of those I’ve killed to seek revenge. I have slaughtered husbands and fathers. I’ve destroyed their homes. They WILL want revenge.”

His body began trembling.

“Even if…even if the consequences involves losing my mind, I cannot let threats to those I care about remain alive. I’ve already lost aunty. I…I don’t want to lose anyone else.”

Shiva sympathised with Igor…for only a brief moment.

Slap!

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|DxD|

.

“Listen here, Dimori. I am not asking you. I am not suggesting. I am telling you to stop. You do NOT have the capacity to kill innocents.”

Shiva looked at Igor right in the eye as he spoke those words. The last thing he needed after investing this much effort was the boy to gradually descend into insanity simply because he did something that was far beyond what he could handle.

“...”

Igor stayed silent because everything Shiva said was true. A killer he may be, but the thought of killing innocent women and children caused a tremor within his soul. The action of spilling the blood of a mother protecting her child made his body tremble because it made him draw parallels to Shuri’s situation.

It was not to say that there were no innocents among the men either. However, his definition of “innocence” differed from the globally accepted definition. To him, anyone who supported Shuri’s death didn’t qualify as innocent. Whether they had killed or never killed before, it did not matter.

He was able to tell just how “guilty” someone was by the darkness in their hearts. It was the sudden instinctual ability that came with his rapid absorption of malevolent nature energy. When he took in the energy of the world, all that was in his mind was to kill everyone responsible for Shuri’s death. And gradually as he dominated the malevolent energy, the world seemed to acquiesce to his demands and “showed” him all those who actively had a hand or silently supported the death of Shuri and Akeno.

But for some reason, none of the women had that spark of darkness in their heart. Their minds were as light as a feather and naturally, the children had absolutely no clue what was happening. It was why he was so hesitant in killing them. Because it wouldn’t be just killing them anymore, it would be murder. Trash was killed. Nothing more, nothing less. But his mind wavered at killing innocents.

Just like Shiva said, he did not have the capacity to do so. Despite this concerning the future, he found this action more difficult than anything else. It wouldn’t even take long. A moderately sized ki blast and everything would be finished. But he still showed signs of hesitation.

Yet he couldn’t understand why someone like Shiva would stop him. As the God of Destruction, it was extremely peculiar that he would take time out of his day to help him like this. In fact, it seemed more natural for the god to be nonchalant at the lives of mortals. But Shiva stopped him not out of a sense of preserving morality, but of preserving his sanity.

So Igor turned to face the god.

“Why. Why help me?”

Shiva looked at Igor meaningfully. He could tell that the redhead wanted a proper reason.

“The official reason is balance. You are the Adam of this era. If you reproduce, humanity will ascend in status within a thousand years, placing it amongst the ranks of dragons or at the very least, yokai. Keeping you alive would be paramount in gradually restoring the balance of power. But, my personal reason is simple. I want to see how far you can grow.” *

Shiva began flying around Igor with his head held up.

“I’ve lived for millions of years. Among the gods that exist, I am the most powerful. With one word from me, I can make sure that no god ever dares attack you. Many are watching us, yet none dare act because of my presence.”

He then turned towards Igor with a slight smirk.

“I mean, truly. Did you expect that you could waltz into the heart of the Shinto Pantheon and murder off one of the principal clans without repercussions?”

“...”

Just from Igor’s silence, Shiva could tell that the boy was so blinded by rage that he didn’t even consider the consequences. Yet given the circumstances, it was understandable. Having lost someone important to him, it would’ve been more suspicious if he didn’t set out for revenge. Though, a normal person wouldn’t have been this blatant about it.

Regardless, Shiva could feel that Igor’s power was quite something.

“Of course, I recon that even without my presence, you could’ve still exacted vengance, though not this simply. Regardless, all the gods have stagnated and my position has grown unchallenged for years.”

He did not elaborate any further and chose let Igor have his own intepretations.

“However, don’t you think it appropriate that you cancel your technique? You are using up quite a bit of lifespan maintaining it.”

“Oh…right.”

Boasting such a powerful power-level, it did not come without a price. To maintain this much power had required Igor to pay up in lifespan. Despite only twenty minutes having passed, ten years of lifespan had been used to maintain his recent transformation. Because his body had far surpassed the brink of the Kaioken multiplier it could handle, only the pure healing power of lifeforce could aide in making sure that he did not suddenly explode into a mess of blood and gore.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

Although his total lifespan had surpassed five hundred years, further losing lifespan pointlessly was not something he could afford yet. With his Kaioken x2, he was only able to earn an average of forty years of lifespan a year. Losing ten years in less than an hour was a bit too much.

So he started by cycling down his multipliers, his power visibly decreasing. His hair gradually reverted from its spiky red appearance to its original smooth blonde appearance. It fell down like a floppy, wet mop. Without the hairband to hold it back in a ponytail, it showed that his hair had grown longer over the years with it reaching just beyond his shoulders.

The bulging veins and inflated muscles gradually shrunk as well while the malevolent nature energy he absorbed slowly dissipated. The dark energy evaporated from his body like mist under the sun. He powered down completely to his base state without the Kaioken. He appeared slightly drained but that was all…which confused the Shiva.

This matter of how Igor was still able to stand on two feet greatly interested him.

[Oh? Could it be that the state he accessed wasn’t just a simple multiplier, but a transformation?]

It would explain why the blonde wasn’t down on the ground crying his lungs out. Just a few months ago in the Heavenly Realm, he had used Kaioken x50 to fight off a literal army of high-god class elites powered by blessings that boosted their powers. It was a good battle that the blonde eventually won. But the moment he exited the Kaioken, he collapsed on the ground in a crying mess.

Logically, Shiva expected the same scenario to happen here.

[It seems that he managed to tap into some kind of state?]

Shiva narrowed his eyes and examined Igor’s body in its entirety until he found what he was looking for.

[Ah. His strand of divine ki shows subtle traces of mutation. Did absorbing the malevolent energy of nature somehow allow him to attain a sort of demigod transformation? Truly intriguing. But Nandi should know more than me.]

However, while he was intrigued, it was evident that the blonde didn’t notice any peculiarities. It was rather odd given how Igor was always aware of his body. Rather, his mind was currently elsewhere. Shiva followed his gaze and saw that Igor was looking intently at the plot of forest on the ground. But it was not the forest itself that had his attention, but the bunker underneath it. Shiva could tell that the blonde was still worried about leaving potential trouble, yet did not have the desire nor resolve to kill people who were still innocent.

It was a massive internal battle that had Igor still clenching his fists, an expression of worry filled on his face. Those serene blue eyes that had never once faltered, were now filled with hesitation and indecision. To kill everyone and prevent any cases of revenge, or let them live and he lives on with a clear heart. It was a situation that had him unable to calm his heart.

But, Shiva grabbed the blonde’s shoulder.

“It seems you underestimate just how much destruction you have caused to the Himejima. Do not worry about their revenge. It will not happen, not when they witnessed your power.”

Those words were true. Just the massive sphere he conjured would silence any dissenters and his power, power which would only continue to grow would dissuade any vengeful hearts. If that wasn’t enough, the reasons for his actions would place him in a positive light and the world would support his actions given how terrible the reputation of the Himejima were. But Igor wasn’t one for thinking of politics like this.

He looked down on the ground. He could ‘see’ their closely huddled bodies, the crying babies and the confused children. He could see the worried mothers pacing about and other women huddled in prayer. There was only one elderly male that he sensed, but he didn’t feel ‘dark’ like the ones he killed.

Now that he truly took the time to feel each and everyone of them, he now more than ever, didn’t want to kill them.

So he looked at Shiva, his eyes pleading for confirmation.

“Can I really leave them alive?”

Shiva did not hesitate.

“Yes.”

In an instant, it was as if a heavy weight on his shoulders had been lifted. He was not overly familiar with Shiva, but he had enough conversations with Sun Wukong to know the god was honourable, meaning his words could be trusted.

The blonde took a few deep breaths before looking at Shiva again with clear gratitude in his eyes. Those very same eyes that had dulled in colour had regained a semblance of their normal ocean blue.

His smile was sincere as he looked at Shiva.

“Thank you.”

Shiva waved him off.

“Go now. Settle things properly.”

Igor smiled sadly. He knew what Shiva meant and he would get to it as soon as possible. Shuri was still lying on that cold forest floor. He had not buried her because he could not do so with a heart clouded by vengeance.

But now that he had killed those responsible for the hunt, he could now bury her, the grudge, and his grief. He could bury her with peace of mind in knowing that he sent thousands of men to serve as her footstools in the afterlife and left the truly treacherous ones a fate worse than death.

Just the thought alone made him feel a sense of peace.

“Yes. I will go now.”

So giving Shiva a respectful bow, he vanished.

Tswii!

.

|DxD|

.

Igor did not expect many things when he teleported back to the forest of Kuoh. His only goal was to take Shuri back to her house and wash her body of all the blood and dirt it had. Then he would dress her in the finest clothes and steal the finest coffin for her before finally bringing Akeno to grieve and say her farewells.

As for Baraquiel, he did not even entertain the thought. Igor was angry at the fallen not because he wasn’t present, but because he had warned him of the Himejima three years ago. Yet he spouted nonsensical reasons that led to him not taking action. There was no way Igor could tolerate his presence at this moment.

But, he never expected that when he appeared, he would find Shuri sitting upright as if she had just woken up from a nap. Her face and neck were still covered in Masaru’s dried blood that she got from tearing open an artery in his throat. Her nightdress was still in tatters and it teasingly exposed her beautiful body. Her limbs which had been horrendously broken were now straightened from the tips of her fingers right down to her feet. Her long hair flowed down her back like a curtain. Even with it being dirtied, it significantly enhanced her beauty. With the destroyed landscape of the forest acting as a backdrop, Shuri appeared like a lioness that just had its first kill.

Igor was mesmerised not by her beauty, but by the bright lifeforce he could sense from her. This wasn’t the lifeforce of a dying person. This lifeforce was vibrant, equating to a completely healthy body.

*Badump*

His heartbeat quickened when he felt it was her and not something else possessing his body. The lifeforce wasn’t different in the slightest. Her aura was the same signature he was used to. Yet even with all this proof in front of him, proof that Shuri was alive, his mind couldn’t help but dread the possibility, the possibility that all of this was an elaborate prank or a joke. He feared that this was some sort of illusion. He couldn’t bear it if this was some trick that was being played on him. Igor feared that his mind would really break if all of this was some sort of joke.

But when Shuri spoke…

“Ara…where am I?”

…all his doubts vanished.

“Aunty!”

.

AN

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1. “The official reason is balance. You are the Adam of this era. If you reproduce, humanity will ascend in status within a thousand years, placing it amongst the ranks of dragons or at the very least, yokai. Keeping you alive would be paramount in gradually restoring the balance of power. But, my personal reason is simple. I want to see how far you can grow.” *

Explanation: Confusing part here. Shiva could either be talking about the Aryans or the ancient humans when he speaks of restoring the balance of power.