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Chapter 399: Someone Special
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Neji sometimes slipped and said stuff that wasn't very conventional in this world's setting. Referring to a high-school girl as "mongrel" was a pretty weird thing to do.
Sadly, it was inevitable. As powers came with his possession of Neji Hyuga and King Gilgamesh, the memories came too – memories of a subtly modified reality where the possessed character had lived a life suitable to his personality, but memories all the same. Some habits die hard, and sometimes slight characteristics flare up abruptly – Neji could do nothing to stop that.
Internally shaking his head, he stopped behind the girl in front of a door. Even from the outside, it managed to look better than the Principal's office. Tsubaki knocked and was promptly allowed permission.
"Come in."
Opening the door, Tsubaki stepped in, as did Neji, while the door closed itself. Neji didn't pay that much attention and instead looked ahead. A low table was in the center of the room, and two large couches stood on either side of it. Sona was sitting on one of the couches, and to his surprise, Rias was present there too – sitting right beside Sona.
Neji also located Akeno who was standing behind Rias, soon joined by Tsubaki who chose to stand behind Sona. Other than them, he couldn't see anyone else present in the room, unlike last time. Whatever they planned to talk about with him, they were unsure if all of their peerage members should know about it.
The other couch was empty. Sona spent a glance to look at his new look, and then she gestured towards it. "Thank you for coming on such short notice, please take a seat."
"No big deal. It's amusing to interact with you devils, after spending most of my time around normal humans."
Neji sat down, his eyes flickering towards Rias to give her a smile. The redhead tried not to react, but her lips twitched as she blushed and looked to the side. Giving her queen a look, Neji was perplexed by the intent confusing glare she was shooting at him. She didn't seem to be… hating on him, but just out of her mind instead. That was odd, given how she had been for the past few days. What changed?
"Is this related to the incident this morning?"
"Barely. We have been wanting to talk to you for a while now, and this incident just allowed the perfect opportunity. I must thank you for saving Reya, she is an important piece of my peerage, a very close friend."
To Neji's surprise, Sona bowed a little. His surprise only grew when she flinched and then coughed in that position, straightening immediately and looking around. He instantly understood what had happened though, she was punished for bowing to "God" as even taking the name granted them pain.
Still, she was confused about what had happened, so she just apologized to Neji. Neji pretended to be oblivious and played along. At the same time, his brain was busy thinking about how to push this situation to play a game of chess with her – as he planned to last night.
"If it's not too much to ask, may I know if you were approached by any faction to join them? Or if you've already been part of one. My apologies, but I'm not very knowledgeable about Kunlun's circumstances."
Neji was looking around the room, and his "mountain boy" background let him get away with it as he considered her words. After noticing what he was looking for, he spoke while staring at the chessboard folded on a shelf to the side.
"No, not really. Dragons are proud, lone creatures. I understand where your question must be originating from, as a few dragons have served on one of your major three factions. I heard the bearer of the Sacred Gear that has the White Dragon Emperor sealed in it, is working for the Fallen Angels – and he is half a devil too. I also noticed the boy in your peerage, Miss Rias, who wields the Sacred Gear of the legendary Red Dragon Emperor; he is in my class, and I was quite disappointed when I first realized a legendary dragon is chained within him."
Rias paled now, her blush gone as she looked at him seriously. "You are not going to hurt Issei, are you?"
"Hmm, do I look like I will?" Neji laughed. "I only plan to pick on that Vali Lucifer boy in the near future, and then take Divine Dividing for myself. If you haven't noticed, I am a White Dragon myself – and I was thinking of making the mantle my own. Issei, your boy toy, is safe here."
That was a lie. He would have taken Issei's gear already if he could steal it. Sadly, his [Mine] didn't work on magical soul-bound artifacts. He would steal it in the future, but preferably after Divine Dividing – in his case, that was the better power, as the enemies who endangered his life usually stood at the pinnacle. So if he got to divide their power mid-battle and add it to his arsenal, he would have a better chance, than to continuously boost every 10 seconds. It wasn't bad, but the circumstances differed.
Rias opened her mouth to retort his last line, but Neji spoke first. He pointed at the chessboard, folded on the shelf.
"By the way, you play Chess, miss Sona? I saw the game last night, quite fascinating, I've played it for a while. Would you mind a match?"
He knew chess from before, one of the contractors from his first life had taught him that. It was precisely Yasmin, the woman he met in the airport on his recent visit to the Prime Omniverse. However, it would be amusing to see Sona's reaction if he told her he was a new player; well, in his defense, he hadn't played in a long time, but eh.
Sona quite understandably looked a little irritated. She had a complex with chess, and to be invited to a match by a total newbie hurt her pride. Still, for the sake of this talk, she sighed and nodded. She nudged Tsubaki, her Queen quickly bringing the board and spreading it on the table.
Sona reached out to assemble the pieces, putting them on the board, but Neji stopped her.
"Let me."
With a snap of his finger, telekinetic forces danced and the white and black pieces were positioned on the board in a second.
"Neat trick."
Sona looked impressed, in the way that she found it handy.
Soon, the game began. Neji naturally had the white pieces, while Sona had the black ones. The other girls also paid attention, all devils were familiar with chess due to how the peerage system worked.
At first, the game happened in silence. In just the first minute, everyone just expected Sona to end the game with a Check Mate so that they could continue with their talk. But it soon became clear that Neji was a harder opponent than that, so Sona started talking while making moves.
"Back to the topic of factions. I am glad you are part of none and don't seem to bear any antagonizing ideas for the Devils either. I am sure a Sage like you must have caught on, and I say the word 'Sage' more heavily now, after realizing how wise you are. This level of chess skill overnight is no joke."
Well, INT 13700 was no joke. Plus Neji's 12700 WIS magically took care of the lack of experience part. INT just allowed faster thinking, and chess was much more than just that, and that's where WIS came to play. Some may say that's cheating, but losing against an AI and complaining it wasn't fair because it was a computer was just dumb.
"To say you're glad that I'm part of none while proposing to me to join you, is quite an approach to things, Miss Sona. Allow me to entertain the idea and say I do wish to join, how do you plan to sort it out?"
Rias looked delighted at his words, but Sona looked worried as she frowned at the board. Nobody could tell if his words were the reason for her frown or the game. A minute later, she spoke.
"I and Rias were hoping you'd join either of our peerages. It's technically my turn since the last of our targets was taken in by her, in the form of Issei Hyuudo, but she claims apparently you're too big for me to have you. That I should be oh so kind and let her, my cute childhood friend, have you too."
At that, Neji looked at Rias with a raised eyebrow, as the girl blushed. That was kind of pathetic, but… well, it was cute that she wanted him so much.
"Obviously, I declined." Sona continued. "But at the same time, she is too clingy to just give up. So she pleaded that if you plan to join our side, you should get to choose between us yourself."
"Must be why she came to seduce me last night."
Neji dropped the bomb casually as Sona frowned, snapping her head to the side.
"Hey! Seduce, what seduce?! I-if anything, you were the one who-"
"Oh? Is student Rias saying she's already seduced by a single kiss on the forehead? How boring…. I expected more resistance, you know?"
"...!"
Rias stood up, stuttering, while Sona shot Rias a glare. She looked genuinely pissed for once, groaning at her friend.
"Rias. That was not what we agreed upon. You approached him on your own, and did your little honey trap thing again?!"
That surprised Neji too as she yelled. She stood up, standing an inch below Rias, as she glared at her friend behind her glasses.
"Ah…"
Rias blinked, looking away from Neji and at Sona.
"I… this- Sona, I can explain…?"
"You can? Alright, go on, what is it? What is the explanation, other than you using your body to make him choose you? You did the same with Issei Hyuudo, and now this?! After I compromised and let you in, even though it's my turn? Rias?!"
'Oh shit.'
Neji would have whistled, but he held on. This could break their friendship, Rias had done this too many times.
"Girls, calm down."
He tried, but Sona shot him a glare.
"Please, this is between the two of us. I-"
Well, that was not true. They were fighting for him, without ever asking him about this, of course this wasn't just between the two of them.
"Calm down, I said."
Neji decided to step in. He released a gentle wave of nature energy, entering his Sage Mode. The scent of flowers bloomed in the air, and the wind sounded like they were on a beach. The girls blinked, then looked at him.
The window had burst open, and cherry blossoms were flying in. The sky was clear, the weather was perfect, and the atmosphere was so lovely.
"I am a dragon," Neji said as he stood up. His voice boomed, but not in the usual threatening way when he was in his hybrid form, as he was in his Sage Mode. "A dragon does not serve, and if they do, they only serve the strong. Both of you are weaklings, and I mean no offense, but your strength is pathetic, even if your potential is great. A dragon does now bow to timid princesses. He claims them."
Neji met the four pairs of shocked eyes, his own gaze calm, as the girls calmed down too. He sat down, the world returning to normal, as he canceled his Sage Mode. The two girls say down too, gulping and looking at him in a different way.
"And,"
Neji raised his hand and made one move on the chessboard.
"Checkmate."
* * *
Neji was unsure how this meeting would change things, but he didn't really care much. His goal was to play a chess game with Sona, and he finished it.
Progress Bar: | 7.21%
Walking back to his home, beside Sisty and Asia, he checked his progress bar. It had increased by one percent, and that was pretty good in his opinion.
Three more percentages, and he planned to play the game a bit more actively.
"What are you going to do with them?"
A sudden question greeted him, coming from Sisty who walked on his left side. She had a lollipop on her mouth, as she played on a Nintendo Switch.
"I know you're… holding back since you aren't in the mood, but I think taking them to the bed would give you a jump in the percentages."
She was the System's AI, so she would know. She didn't look back from her Mario game as she spoke, but Neji knew whom she was talking about.
"Well, it's somewhat attractive I guess. To grab both of the friends who are in a bad mood and make them good friends again overnight."
"Huh. I wasn't saying both at the same time, but now that you say it, it does seem interesting. How about you make their Queens watch?"
"I am not going to do it, I was just saying it's an attractive idea. If… I am gonna take someone to the bed anytime soon, they have to be special. Those two are childish, even Sona who might disagree with me."
Plus, they were weaklings. He couldn't let loose on their weak bodies, and in the end he would just regret doing it at all. If he was going to take a woman to bed, he needed her to be strong enough to relieve his stress properly, not just stroke the edge of it.
"Fair."
"What are you guys talking about?"
Asia was curious about what they were whispering to each other, looking up as she licked a flattened lollipop herself.
"It's nothing. It's adult talk."
"Oh, okay."
Then she returned to walking by his right side. A minute of walking later, they were interrupted by a call.
"Hey! Isn't that the Saintess?!"
"The Witch, you mean."
From afar, Neji heard two feminine voices say. Turning with a frown, ready to erase their memory of this part, as they must be priests, Neji paused.
Two girls, clad in white robes, to hide the sword they were carrying, stood meters away from them. They stared at Asia, not looking very amicable.
[Irina Shidou – Peak Tier 15]
[Xenovia Quarta – Peak Tier 16]
Even without activating Jogan, his Aether Sense told him about the swords they were carrying. With Jogan, he could see them naked. Just like the piece of Excalibur that he got himself earlier, these two carried a piece of Excalibur each.
As the two girls approached, wearing stern expressions, Asia went to hide behind him, while Neji looked forward to filling his treasury with more magical swords.
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