"I have to find a way."
His fists did not relax and his eyes did not falter. His ancestors did not have a path for him, so he'd forge one himself. His life was already one of defying fate. He'd done it before, and he'd do it again.
"No matter what."
He promised himself, because that was all he could do to find solace. He had to reach high-class. Too many people, too many lives counted on him to do so.
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|DxD|- Chapter 75- Persistence Of The Damned
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Time Chamber, 6 Years Later, 10 Years Since Entry
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A heavy glaive hovered next to her wielder. He sat cross-legged on the ground, deep in focus. Steam wafted off his naked torso like a gentle mist. Each breath he drew pronounced the deep muscles in his broad back hidden beneath flowing locks of blonde hair.
His hand stretched out, and she fell into his grip. He rose to his feet and deep golden eyes opened. Standing before them in this empty grey, was Liu Xin.
"Come, Serana."
At twenty-six years of age, his voice had a deep calmness to it. Igor twirled Serana with his dexterous fingers. The steam wafting from him grew with deeper intensity. He shifted his feet, and split the air with his swift vanishing technique.
*CLASH!*
Glaive met sword. Both were evenly matched. This Liu Xin far surpassed his real-life counterpart. The past years had been spent refining and learning, and only a stronger Liu Xin could work as his whetstone.
Both opponents disengaged. Igor ducked a flying knife to the skull and kicked out his leg with ill intent to break a knee.
Liu Xin jumped back and parried a thin needle of energy aiming for his throat. A clone wielding a chain and sickle formed to his left. From their empty smiles to the faint scar beneath their eyes, there was no difference between them.
Wordlessly, he charged forward while his clone circled around to launch supporting attacks. He leaped over a disk of energy and slashed apart a volley of tiny blasts. He spat out a sharp needle, a courtesy return to Igor's earlier attack. It struck true in the forehead, but it phased through air instead of squelching through flesh.
By the time Liu Xin reacted, a monstrous fist was headed for his chin. He could see every sinew of muscle and stretched veins. It was far too close for him to dodge and his hands wouldn't rise in time.
*Puchi!*
Liu Xin's head exploded into bone fragments and brain tissue. Flesh and fluid covered Igor's fist like a bloody crown dripping towards the floor. He stood up straight with the same neutral eyes as when the battle began.
All that remained was a bloody ear barely held aloft by what little remained of the head. His fist had carved a road through the skull like a shovel through mud. The corpse fell, but where a sword should've clanged on the ground, it was a chain and sickle instead.
"Serana."
Igor called out and his glaive floated into his unsullied hand. Metres from him, Liu Xin swallowed a pill while dozens of spectral clones formed behind him.
*Drip* *Drip*
The seconds ticked as blood dripped from his fist. Igor didn't panic. A golden flame of vitality covered his hand, burning all the blood and gore. He calmly raised it to the sky and atop his palm, a spinning ball of energy formed. It was small, non-threatening, barely the size of a fruit. But in the next moment, it changed.
It grew swiftly, like a vacuum sucking the air around it. It ballooned to monstrous sizes, swiftly scaling to dozens, hundreds, then thousands of times. What was the size of a fruit became a full-fledged dome that could swallow a home from the very foundation.
Igor was a toothpick beneath this glowing sun. It promised swift destruction and little room to escape. He flung it, and the restraint was gone. It defied its size and enveloped everyone with surprising speed. It was a burning meteor sent to deliver a kiss of death that ended in a deafening explosion.
It swiftly expanded, drowning Igor until he faded from a silhouette to nothingness. The blast had no eyes and only sought to expand its range. Hundreds of metres were painted gold. Clouds of rock were plowed clean from the ground. When it all faded, a massive hollow crater remained. Its size could hold a lake that would last for many seasons.
In the middle of it all, a bright figure hovered above the centre. His skin remained unblemished and not a fabric on his pants was singed. Every hair on his head was accounted for and his breaths showed no signs of labour.
Igor readied himself, and two new Liu Xins replaced the one he killed. From the edges of the crater, they attacked with a deluge of flying weapons, leaving no place to dodge.
A thin shell of energy formed around Igor. He rapidly filled it with vitality, and it quickly expanded into a giant barrier that all the knives and needles clattered against. Igor increased the power and with a little change, the barrier suddenly became a blinding light that pierced the eye.
He formed two discs of energy that attacked both his aggressors. Still blind, one Liu Xin relied on instinct to escape. The other one was bisected from the waist down. He fell over his own pool of guts, screaming and wailing until he turned into wisps of smoke.
The second one was swiftly dispatched with a stab through the heart. Through it all, Igor was barely troubled.
Three Liu Xins became four, five, then six. Instead of it being difficult, it only became easier. His foundation was solid and his techniques were too tyrannical for a trickster.
To face heavy numbers of his latest enemy had taken him years. Each fault saw him refine areas he was lacking. Through visualisation training, Igor had tempered himself to become better, to become the strongest version he could be.
Part of it was in hopes that he could reach high-class. A spark could come from anywhere and a realisation could not be forced. But he was getting tired.
Six years since he swore to find a way, he hadn't brushed upon a potential outlet. It was frustrating because he was three years past his predicted ascendance to high-class.
*Puchi!*
Another Liu Xin died by his hand. Of the six, only one remained. It would be all too easy to crush him and start over. He'd trained so much that even if the original was resurrected, he could defeat him with fair ease.
Igor threw out a crushing kick and watched Liu Xin fly away. In front of strength, all means and tricks became useless. He barely needed to use Serana, and a wave of his hand could end it all.
It was…gratifying in a way. His eyes returned to the past when he first fought the stray devil Jonathan. He was nothing more than a child with a spear, yet managed to turn the tables and evolve into a supernatural being.
His journeys and battles through the years played in his mind. From his weak five year old self to his current self, silhouettes at different stages of his life stood before him. Their strengths were different, but one thing always remained the same. Their backs were straight and in the face of true adversity, they remained staunch.
Igor froze in realisation. And as Liu Xin's blade pierced his chest, two words were all he said.
"I see…"
*Puchi!*
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AN: First, hold up. That took way, way, wayyy longer than expected. I was expecting a timeskip of "1 month later", not a whole six years. I mean, props that he can beat his imaginary foe, but damn. He better steal a sacred gear after this because this is too slow. I bet Vasco Strada was Ultimate-Class at his age.
Chapter 75
END