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Chapter 415: Draconic Things
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Right after Neji and Grayfia disappeared, they reappeared on a rooftop. They found themselves stepping on the dark stone of the castle under them while the red sky of this dimension shone over their heads.
"Where's this?"
"The audience chamber where the Game will happen."
Grayfia answered Neji's inquiry with a soft incline of her head toward the western direction. Neji looked and found two more castles, smaller than this, facing each other. There were intricate runes surrounding both of them in a square shape, like an arena, and he noticed a few devils doing some last-minute checkup of the spell formula.
The entire space was surrounded by a line of seats that connected with the sides of this dark castle, like a massive colosseum that was kilometers long. Rating Games were popular amongst devils anyhow, but this time almost all of the seats were occupied, as there were thousands of devils here to witness the fate of Lucifer's sister. There was a screen hovering high in the air too, that would presumably show the match in it once it would start.
Neji took in the scene and hummed.
"I see. But why did you teleport us to the rooftop?"
Neji turned back to her and asked. She was looking at him sharply.
"I wanted to ask you something alone. That person by your side earlier… that girl was an angel, was she not?"
"She is an angel, yes." Neji didn't care to hide it from her since she already knew.
"...." Grayfia stared at him. "Why is there an angel in your house?"
"I picked her up, kind of like an adoption," Neji said with a sigh, his hand reaching out to grab her harshly by the chin. "Gray, what is this, are you interrogating me? Strange that you didn't ask this earlier when you inquired about the Shinto Gods. Almost as if you waited until I was in your realm so that if things go wrong you could receive help from others. How heartbreaking."
Grayfia held her expression firm, staring at him sharply, as he stared down at her. He said it was heartbreaking but his expression held no emotion, he only looked into her eyes with a challenging glint in them.
"What are you, anyway? For an angel to serve you, you m-"
"Oh, Fia, sweetheart," Neji's interrupting voice boomed with authority as he tightened his grip around her face. "Get on your knees. I don't like your face right now, let us change that."
He said that and she tried to say something, but when he pressed on her shoulder while narrowing her eyes, she gulped and almost instinctively fell to her knees. From below, Grayfia looked up at him, her expression a veil of indifference hiding a shade of red, her hands moving to undo his belt even as she bit down on her lip in mixed emotions.
* * *
Sirzechs Lucifer sat on a throne beside his fellow Satan, Serafall Leviathan. They were observing from the watchtower of the dark castle as the devil magicians rounded up their spells around the arena.
He was feeling pretty good today; Rias called him yesterday to let him know how happy she was. Apparently, his skepticism about Neji Hado's help was unneeded. The person he provided Rias with was powerful enough to guarantee an easy and clear win in this Game. He couldn't wait for the Game to get started already.
"How much longer?" Sirzechs turned his head to the left and asked the man by his side.
It was Lord of the House Phenex, who sat on a throne of his own, but it was slightly smaller than Sirzechs' and Serafall's throne. There was a similarly smaller throne beside Serafall too, occupied by Lord of House Gremory, Sirzechs' father. Sirzechs had put his seat near Lord Phenex instead of his own father just to show that he didn't have any familial bias in this.
"Ah, it should start anytime. Maybe five more minutes?" Lord Phenex said, stroking his chin.
Sirzechs nodded and heard a giggle from his fellow Satan, sitting by his right. "My, it's rare for you to show impatience before a Rating Game. You must be excited to see your sister fight for her marriage."
Sirzechs let out a polite laugh at his fault and waved her off. As he did that though, he took a look at his old friend with an odd sense of change. Did she look prettier now? How unusual.
About then, two knocks fell on the door of this chamber. Sirzechs already sensed who it was behind the door and permitted them to enter. When the door opened, Grayfia and another man walked inside.
Sirzechs paused. The two old House Lords didn't seem to notice, but Sirzechs was sure Serafall noticed it too. His senses perceived emptiness from the man beside Grayfia, and he hadn't even sensed him outside the door just now too. When one seemed too out of place, too plain, that thing was often more complex than what meets the eye. That man right there was dangerous.
Sirzechs stood up, approaching the two of them. He wore a smile as his eyes glanced with Grayfia for a moment, who looked away for some reason, and then he looked at the man—the Dragon Sage.
"Neji Hado," Sirzechs reached out a hand that the man accepted easily, returning the smile. "You have my utmost gratitude for lending a helping hand. I'm glad to finally meet you."
Saying that out loud while his father and Lord Phenex were listening may have been a little foolish, but what could they do? They were frowning right now and staring at their interaction, but that was all they could do. But after the result will be clear, they might do a bit of commotion.
"Rias is a good friend of mine, it's only natural I'll lend her a hand when she needs it." Neji shook his hand. "The pressure is mine, the rumors don't do the Super Satan justice."
Sirzechs just gave him a smile. He looked like a nice enough young man, though he couldn't be sure how "young" Neji really was.
"Neji!" Right when the handshake ended, Serafall Leviathan leaped from her seat and landed in Neji's arms. "I missed you, let's sit together."
Now that made Sirzechs surprised. Neji's hands held Serafall by her waist while she hung from his neck. It was an intimate scene, and while Serafall was always a bit flirty and carefree, it was still unusual. Had his old friend finally found a man, Sirzechs wondered. If so, he was happy for her, Neji seemed like a competent man.
"It's just been two days since we last saw each other," Neji's squeezing grip lowered from her waist to her ass. "And no, we can't sit here. There aren't enough seats for me, and it's disrespectful towards you guys. I'll go out and sit with the audience."
Serafall pouted and pointed at her throne, "Look, it's so big. We can share, I can just sit on you."
Sirzechs laughed while the two Lords looked at the situation with mixed frowns and nervous looks. Were they planning to deal with this mysterious Dragon earlier? — if they were, seeing a Satan so close to Neji must have poured water on their plans.
Naturally, Neji didn't accept Serafall's plea, despite her annoyance and the relief of the two Lords. Still, Sirzechs couldn't just let him sit in the audience seats alone amongst unfamiliar devils. So he ordered Grayfia, his wife, to continue accompanying Neji for as long as he'd be here. Sirzechs was happy that Grayfia didn't look displeased, though she did shoot him a weird look.
Neji and Grayfia left, while the Satans and Lords took their seats again to focus on the match that was just about to start.
* * *
It was as Neji had guessed, Sirzechs was incredibly strong. He was Tier 49, and as he even had a "True Form" transformation, it meant he could step into the Tier 50s. The nerfed Tiamat Eurynome was at Tier 49 too, though he was pretty sure overall powers exceeded that. So Tier 50 must be another league of its own.
Still, all of that power didn't do Sirzechs much help. He was unlucky.
"Your husband is such a good guy, I feel bad for him now." Neji's hand raised and fell as he walked through the hallways, his hand squeezing Grayfia's plump ass as they walked side by side. "That fate had such a cheating wife prepared for him."
"S-hut up…" Grayfia tried even as a moan escaped her. "Don't say these things…"
Neji let her go, sighing in his head as they began to walk in silence. Grayfia turned to look at him since he stopped, wearing a weary and surprised expression. She opened her mouth, but she hesitated too much. She wanted to ask him why he stopped, but when she realized she wanted to ask him that, she felt too prideful to go through it.
Neji felt her struggle but he didn't bother dealing with her, he didn't feel like it. It felt kind of worse now that he had experienced normality a day ago.
Neji paused suddenly, he turned to Grayfia. "Right, do you know where Ingvild is? That girl from a few days ago, Leviathan. Did she come here?"
Grayfia, who had looked expectant when he suddenly turned to her, frowned. A part of her wanted to say no just out of irritation but she sighed and closed her eyes, nodding.
"She is. Serafall noticed you like that girl's song, so she ordered Katerea Leviathan to send Ingvild here. She is in the audience's seats right now." Grayfia said, "Katerea herself wanted to come, to see you, but her request was denied. She is going through an important mission on our behalf, and we don't want her distracted."
Neji smiled a little. Maybe he should have kissed Serafall before leaving the room, she was a considerate woman even though she looked like an oblivious little girl. Sweet.
"Good. Take me to her," Neji ordered. He wasn't really interested in the game. He wouldn't bat an eye if it just ended without him getting to see it at all, he knew who the winners would be anyway. So rather, he would spend some time relaxing.
At that, Grayfia silently began to lead him away, without saying anything. Her walking pace grew faster and she was frowning. Neji scoffed out a laugh at that, his hand rising in the air before it fell on her ass, making her moan again, but this time she didn't try to hide it. She still kept a straight face, even though her cheeks were red, as she walked by his side with a barely recognizable smile on her lips.
…Later, after the Rating Game would end, Neji would realize it was a good idea to pursue relaxation. Because an intense headache fell from the sky in the form of a Dragon King.
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