Chapter 176: Scum
—
Neji put the dragon's huge head and Hisashi's headless body into his inventory.
He planned to destroy all these dead bodies later on, inside the dungeon, though he will keep the dragon's head as a form of a trophy.
"Alright, let's go back now." Looking around the city, the destroyed terrain where nothing remained except for raging fire here and there, Neji deemed sure that he should leave.
But he didn't want to leave using Surge or Float.
He wanted to use his dragon wings.
Neji coughed in his hand, uncertain if opening his new wings will tear his costume or not, as he did so anyway.
It felt like he released a breath that he's been holding all his life, something very natural without any drawback, as two glossy white wings with starlike glittering spread across their form popped up from his back.
His suit was fine, meaning
Neji looked at his back, holding back a smile as he saw the glitter of his wings, the smooth surface and glossy outlook gleaming just like his cosmic blue eyes.
Then, awkwardly, he flapped his wings once.
Once.
-Blast~!
And the sound barrier broke as he was thrown kilometres in the sky.
Luckily, he was used to speed.
—★—
Neji soon reached his home, but he didn't have to walk inside to find his girls. The four of them were by the gate, gawking at the fire and smoke that was rising from the just-destroyed city in the far.
Neji came from behind them, floating high, so they didn't notice him until he decided to drop to the ground, retracting his wings.
"A-ah!"
Momo flinched, jumping back while the other girls turned at him on high alert.
"Oh…"
"..."
"It's Neji!?"
But seeing it was just Neji, the first one to jump up as Nejire as she went and hugged him.
"Neji, did you win?!" Pushing her face onto his, their nose touching together, Nejire looked into his eyes. "Did you?!"
"Maybe~ You think I would come back without winning?"
"True~!"
She hugged him, pushing her cheek against his as she rubbed them together, rolling on the air.
However, the other girls didn't look so cheerful.
They looked confused.
"A-ahem, young master…" It was Kimi who broke the silence, looking at him with strange eyes. "Um, did something happen? I feel like… there's something different about you?"
Nejire turned to Kimi, blinking as she saw the other two girls, Rumi and Momo, nod at Kimi's words.
"Hm? What are they talking about?" Nejire was confused and curious as she tilted her head. "I don't see any changes though…?"
Neji shrugged at their words.
He looked at Kimi's blush, Rumi's awkward movement as she tried hard to cover for her sudden heavy breathing–and Momo's sweet nervousness.
He could already understand what was happening.
The Perk [Predator] was at work.
It was turning on these three girls with animalistic characteristics.
"Um…"
Momo fidgeted around. "I also feel… weird? Can this be considered weirdness?"
Rumi only nodded, coughing in her hand, as she crossed her arms under her breasts. Her hair was still her black, glossy.
She seemed to be the most affected, even though she tried to hide it. Probably because she was in her «Wild» form.
"Mhm…"
She was rubbing her thighs together, standing behind Kimi and Momo to avoid their gaze.
"..."
'It's probably because we're a couple. I don't think any stranger girl will act like this just because of the perk… maybe.'
Neji was baffled. But not in a bad way.
"Oi, Kimi, help Rumi turn back please," Neji said to Kimi, who flinched out of her daydreaming (that she was doing by staring at his eyes without blinking).
"Erm, ah, yes!" Kimi turned around and jumped closer to Rumi, who flinched but didn't reject her help.
Momo walked closer to Neji.
"So, um, what's up with this?"
"It's a 'perk' I gained from stealing Hisashi's quirk." Neji answered, patting Momo's head. "As you heard inside the Dungeon, the monsters referred to me as [High Human]. That's a race beyond normal humans. That race mixed with the dragon quirk once I stole it from Hisashi, so I gained a few racial prowess–one of them being this sexy aura around me."
The girls looked surprised at his words. So he stole the dragon's quirk… How strong was he at this point?
Neji didn't care about that however.
"Mhmm~" Nejire hummed from behind him, frowning. "Why don't I feel anything through?"
Neji smiled at her awkwardly. "Well, uh, it only affects girls with beast-like natures, which I assume means females with either partial animal blood in them or just a beast-like personality. As far as I can remember, you are none of the two."
"Oh."
"Yes."
"Tsk."
Nejire looked mad. That's why Neji didn't explain the latter part of this perk.
``–They'd feel more satisfied than ever by mating with you.``
She'd probably annoy him to death if she learned about it.
But Neji felt bad.
He didn't want his sister to feel left behind.
Three of his four girls had animalistic characteristics.
Only Nejire didn't.
Which made Neji sad since she wasn't just his lover, but his sister too. He didn't want her to fall behind, if anything she should be receiving stuff from him before anyone else.
Suddenly Neji's eyelids twitched.
An idea popped up in his head.
"Onee-sama?"
Neji said as Nejire frowned at him cutely.
"What do you want?"
"Didn't you say your potential energy manipulation only works when you touch something?"
"...Yes, what's wrong."
Neji took out his long-used earring from his inventory. He wasn't wearing it in this fight since using permeation meant it would fall off from his ear.
He handed it to her, watching her eyes glitter.
"Remember when you tried to steal this a few months ago?"
"Hm? Oh, I don't know what you're talking about." Nejire giggled, looking at the earring and quickly putting it on her ears. "Hehe…"
"...True, I also seem to have forgotten whatever happened. Well anyway, try using this telekinetic force to 'touch' an object, preferably one of the debris of the destroyed wall, and then see if you can manipulate the potential energy."
Logically it shouldn't work. But at the same time, it was a magical item so logic wasn't a concern, so it might as well work.
"Okay~"
Nejire pointed a finger at a small chunk of concrete, as Neji watched the concrete gleam with a soft golden light and then become a perfect round ball.
"Ohhh!"
It worked.
But Neji didn't feel that happy. Later on, he planned to give her something else, something really useful.
"Young Master, it worked!" Kimi notified from the side. But she wasn't talking about Nejire, who suddenly got busy with Momo.
Turning, Neji found Rumi back to her old self, although still looking a lot more beautiful than before. Her white hair looked softer, silkier and more bright, her skin looked as if she just got the world's best skin treatment, but this time it was permanent.
"Good. She was losing her mind in that form."
"I-I was not-"
Rumi couldn't finish her words before Neji put a hand on her head and patted her.
"..."
"Good girl, don't be so flustered. It's not your fault that you are horny."
"Yep, I agree~ you should embrace horny." Kimi supported while the other two girls sighed, even as they were busy going through Nejire's quirk.
"Speaking of which, where is Ryuko? Is she back to her senses yet?"
"That…"
"What's wrong?" Neji asked, seeing Kimi smile nervously.
"Well, she woke up a few seconds after you left, then she started to attack us. I had to take her down."
When she said 'take her down', Rumi flinched from the side, even though Kimi pretended not to notice.
Just what did she do…?
"Anyway, Kurai is watching over her inside the mansion. Let's go." Kimi said, pulling Neji by the arm as the other girls followed.
—
"Free me this instant!"
"No."
"Why! You demonic cat!"
"No."
"Agh…!"
"Lame."
Ryukyu was tied by shackles of mana, obstructing all of her movements as the cat responsible for it sat in front of her lazily.
Ryukyu fell to the ground, rolling around as she tried to free herself, to no avail.
"Imagine getting brainwashed," Kurai got up, yawning as she stretched her body. "Weak. Dragon my foot."
That's when footsteps came towards the living room, as Kimi and Neji entered the room with the other girls following. Kurai wasn't surprised. She could feel Neji approaching from miles away.
Ryukyu also noticed them, her red eyes locking on Neji as they shook.
"It's you! The who hurt my master-"
"Shush. Don't yell."
She was interrupted by Neji who started to walk closer to her.
"..."
Ryukyu sat up, her eyes wary as she crawled back.
"Stop."
"Hm?"
"Don't come any closer."
"Why?"
"S-stay away-!"
As Neji approached her, crouching down, Ryukyu fidgeted around weirdly.
Kurai was confused.
—
–Ba-dum!
Neji's heart was beating.
"S-stay away~ Nghn~"
And Ryukyu was moaning, just from Neji touching her chin and raising it up to meet his eyes.
It was the effect of the skill- Dragon's Heart.
"You know, your 'master' is dead. Why didn't you return to normal? Scary power."
It was in effect even after the user's death.
Luckily, Neji had all this scary power under his claw now.
Neji pulled her chin upwards, while the other girls watched and Kimi covered Kurai's eyes, as his cosmic eyes started to change.
The colour remained, and so did the reflecting cosmos. The change was in pupils, as his normal humane pupil became slit, looking like a dragon's majestic eyes.
Ryukyu's red eyes froze.
"Obey me."
They became blue, losing to the authority of the previous brainwasher. After all, Neji was a "High Dragon" because of his other race.
"...Master."
"Shush. Don't call me that."
"As you wish-"
"Wake up."
Time seemed to freeze for Ryukyu.
Her blue eyes dispersed, flickering away as Ryukyu blinked, her eyes going back to golden.
"Uh…"
"Are you okay?"
Neji didn't release her chin.
"N-Neji? O-oh…. Ah, yes, yes." She was about to nod- but she froze midway. Her eyes shook as memories returned. "I… no, I am not… o-okay."
Neji stayed silent.
"It seems… I… I seem to have done some unsightly things."
Neji released her chin, as Ryukyu slumped on her ass, looking vulnerable.
"What are you talking about?" Neji was prepared to comfort her but hearing her next words… he changed his mind.
"I… I am not a hero anymore, I am not worthy to be called that anymore. I have killed and murdered innocents, just to find students from your class… and hand them over to that man."
"..."
"Itsuka Kendo… Fumikage Tokoyami… Mezo Shoujo… and Tsuyu Asui. Those three were the ones who I captured and handed over to that man who murdered them in front of me."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"W-what am I supposed to do now? I- this- I didn't…"
Ryukyu was devastated.
'She must have killed many more with her own hands while in search of those three…'
Neji could understand why she looked broken, why tears were trailing down her cheeks.
He raised a hand, stopping Rumi who was about to intervene.
"I don't think she will be able to converse with anyone else."
He could feel it. The only reason Ryukyu was speaking with him was his Predator perk, along with his Dragon Heart skill. Nobody else, not even Rumi, would be able to converse with her because of her current mental state.
Neji crouched down again, hugging her and placing her head on top of his heart, watching as her body relaxed at the sound of his heart.
``–The beating of your heart would sound strangely charming to female dragons and other reptile-females alike.``
The wording here was 'charming', which could mean many things. In this certain scenario, it meant she was ought to trust him more and also relax around him.
"Everyone, give us some space. Go to some other room."
He said, patting Ryukyu's head as she started to cry loudly, feeling as if she was in the embrace of her guardian.
"...Alright. But please… take things slow."
Neji could understand what Nejire meant by that statement.
Turning back, he found Nejire looking pained at her mentor's state, it seemed she was barely controlling herself from intervening.
Meeting Neji's eye, she reluctantly took the other girls out of the mansion. Maybe they were going to roam in the city? Save citizens maybe.
They were still heroes, after all. Even if they promised not to interfere with Neji's "work".
Unfortunately for Nejire…
Neji wasn't so nice.
He had a selfish reason behind this seemingly kind action.
He wasn't going to take things slow.
Because that's just how he was.
A piece of trash.
"...Ryukyu, just relax."
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Master4thWall Note: Scumbag Neji strikes again 😳😔
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