Chapter 427: The Dirt Cleansing
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The bedroom had a cozy and intimate feel to it, as warm and gentle sunlight streamed through the window. A gentle breeze blew in through the curtains, moving the soft fabric and anyone outside would have had the chance to see the naked man on the bed.
Neji was sitting with his back against the bed frame, staring up at the empty space, his expression lost in thought. The redhead beside him was still sleeping, arms around his waist, her alluring visage barely hidden beneath the blanket.
"Mhmm…" Rias' eyelids fluttered.
He was broken out of his daze as he looked down at her. "Good Morning," he said with a smile. It wasn't a completely forced smile either, despite his mood. He always made sure to show compassion to a girl he just slept with. Especially if she was a virgin.
Rias' blurry eyes gained clarity, and she quickly pushed herself up, putting her arms around his neck and kissing him over the lips.
"Good morning, indeed." She said with a small grin. "A really great morning. You woke up early."
He hadn't slept. "Yeah," Neji nodded and ran fingers through her hair. "You should have slept some more. I was watching your sleeping face."
"Liar," Rias said with a bright grin and a small smile. "You healed me? I thought I wouldn't be able to walk for a few days… after what happened last night."
Her blush grew but she didn't look away, she was one bold girl. Neji laughed. "Yeah, I did. If you don't like it, I can always make you return to the state again."
Her face grew redder as she put her legs around his, sitting down on his lap and looking into his eyes. "I'd love that."
"I'm joking, princess." Neji shook his head and flickered a finger on her nose. "You know I am busy."
"Heartbreaker," Rias grumbled and pouted. "But I understand. My lover is a big shot, after all."
'Hah. Lover was a big word, but sure.' Neji didn't say it out loud. He instead leaned over and kissed her nape, his hand going back and squeezing her butt, making her let out a sweet little moan. "Glad you understand."
"Ahn~ y-yes," Rias bit her lower lip and nodded. She clasped his face with her hands and looked into his eyes with love filling her eyes. "Make sure to not overwork, come visit me every day."
That was asking for too much, but then again that's why he had clones and copies.
"Yeah," Neji nodded. "Let's get fresh. I'll meet with your peerage one last time before I leave."
Rias agreed by leaning in forcefully and kissed him and then the two of them got off the bed.
* * *
Half an hour later, they were in the living room. Neji was sitting on the couch beside Rias, while Rias' peerage was sitting on a larger couch facing them.
Akeno was staring at Neji with narrow eyes; unlike the past few days, she didn't look as confused or haughty. She looked like her usual self, now looking at them with amused and knowing eyes. The amount of sound Rias made last night was naturally noticed by everyone living in the mansion.
Koneko was looking at Neji with innocent threatening eyes, as if warning him to not do anything weird to Rias. Kiba looked the most normal, polite even. Issei Hyuudo, however, had a dark and unreadable face as he sat down with his eyes on the floor.
Hinata wasn't there, of course. She was in Neji's mansion, along with Ingvild. Neji observed their faces for a bit and then spoke.
"Firstly, I apologize for the little drama that happened a few days ago," Neji said. "I am not apologizing for killing your kind, but for giving you the idea that I'd do the same to you guys. Naturally, I could never, given you're the peerage of my cute Rias."
The peerage members exchanged glances and looked back at him.
Akeno, as the Queen, decided to speak for everyone. "I'd have said I don't believe you, but you did reach out to me and told me to follow your plan. So sure, if you say so."
"Yes, thanks for understanding," Neji said. "Now, as for my promise to you, my little fallen angel. I already fulfilled half of it, your Queen and your friends are alive. So you need to give me a bit of time before I can complete the other half."
Rias and the others looked at Neji and then Akeno. Rias spoke first, "What promise? Is there something you didn't tell us, Akeno?"
"...."
It seemed Akeno hadn't discussed the plan of reviving her mother with her peerage.
"Oh, so it's a secret?" Neji looked at Akeno too. He squeezed Rias' hand gently, nobody missed that gesture. "Leave her be. Akeno, as you can probably guess, the God who is related to your mother's soul isn't me, but the Shinto God of death. Since she was a shrine maiden of theirs. I'll have to talk with the Shinto Gods first before I can fulfill your promise."
"I understand," Akeno nodded with a blank face.
"Mhm," I looked at her. "Wanna become an Angel? I can remove that half devil wing and turn you into a proper an-"
"No."
"Alright." Neji shrugged. He gave her the offer, it's up to her if she didn't want it.
A few minutes later, he stood up. "In that case, I should leave now."
"Hey, Neji, so…" Rias stood up with him and held his hand. "When will you release us? This isn't a bad place, but heaven or not, this feels so confined. Will we never return to earth?"
"We will," Neji tilted his head and thought over it. "Give me a week. I need to finish some things. Then we'll descend our heaven to a certain spot on earth. Like how Mount Olympus is a real location in Greek myths; this heaven will have a physical location on earth too."
"Alright, a week is it." She smiled. Then she leaned in, putting her arms around his neck. "Anything else you wanna say?"
"Ah, that's right," Neji recalled the real reason he had come here. Well, not that he had forgotten. He just didn't have a chance to say the words before. He reached out a hand and gently moved a strand of red hair behind her ear. "Would you mind giving me your Power of Destruction?"
"...?"
Rias blinked and everyone else in the room turned to look at him weirdly. For a second, they wondered if he was joking. Then they realized he was God, and he probably could take her bloodline power away if she said yes. But why?
"Why, Neji?" Rias asked.
"Outer Gods," Neji said. "A thousand or more alien beings who can destroy Earth multiple times over. I am gathering power to fight them. I'll return it to you, or give you something better, in the future if you give me your PoD."
Neji gently held her chin as she stared up at him. Her eyes trembled and she gulped at his face. Neji raised his lowered CHA a bit as she looked away, blushing. She looked back soon and nodded.
"Well, if it's you, then-"
"President! You can't!" A yell interrupted her soft words. Neji's eyes twitched. The interrupter, Issei Hyuudo yelled again. "Are you really going along with everything he says?! F-first he seduces you, and now he is taking your power away. Think about it a little, he isn't a good man! He can't be God! Don't get fooled by him, c-come on. Return to reality, don't be delusional!"
A silence fell on the room as eyes moved around and locked on Issei. Neji looked at the boy as well, his gorgeous blue eyes gaining a silt in the middle as his dragon side reacted.
Rias was frowning, she didn't look amused at Issei's words. She was about to speak, but Neji spoke first. "The Red Dragon Emperor has an interesting power too. Since I'm going as far as to ask my girl for her power, it'd be unwise to not take the Boosted Gear too."
He raised his hand at Issei, making the boy freeze. Before he could do anything, Rias flinched and stepped forward.
"Please don't kill him."
"Hm," Neji stared at her silently.
"He's still a member of my peerage, he is a little slow, but…"
"I do not want a harem-seeking perverted and dirty fool in my woman's peerage," Neji narrowed his eyes. "Move."
Despite all her arrogance and spoiled nature, Rias trembled in front of his voice. She opened her mouth in a frightened way, but Neji's sigh interrupted her as he lowered his hand.
"Fine, be it your way." There was no point in killing him anyway. "I am still going to take his Sacred Gear, though. He won't die, don't worry."
"N-Neji, I-"
"Silence."
Rias tried to argue, but Neji stepped past her and towards Issei. The young human-turned-devil-turned-djinn gulped and took a step back. The others of the peerage shook on their spot, but they were unsure what to do. He just promised he wouldn't kill him; so would it be wise to face him? Knowing he could obliterate all of them with a wave of his hand?
"Y-you, stay back! [Boost]!" Issei himself did fight back though, he used his power and rushed at Neji.
Neji didn't even have to use his hand as his telekinetic authority held the young man in the air and made him unable to move.
Issei's eyes locked on Neji, trembling. He looked around, at his friends, and begged for help with his eyes. But no help came.
"No hard feelings," Neji said and grabbed his left hand, where the gauntlet had already materialized.
Being God, the creator of Sacred Gears, he could take out the Gear from inside Issei. He didn't have such powers before, that's why he had waited this long. [Mine] didn't have the power to steal it either, as it wasn't a bloodline power. Now it was different.
With a complex move of his willpower, the gauntlet shone and he yanked it off Issei's hand. It phased through flesh and came off, without harming the young man.
"Good," Neji held the Sacred Gear in his hand and dropped Issei, who dropped to his ass with a silent agape expression.
Neji used [Observe].
===
Name: Boosted Gear
Rank: Longnius
Description: A red gauntlet housing Ddraig, the Red Dragon Emperor, which allows the user to double his powers every ten seconds without limit until the user reaches his limit, whether it's their physical abilities, magic, or demonic power based on the user.
===
So it depended on the user's limit. Then, does the Gamer have a limit?
Neji held back a grin. 'Sisty, how do I equip it?'
[You shouldn't do it right now.] To his annoyance, Sisty suggested something else. [It has a sentient spirit in it, and the spirit is the thing that is channeling this power. But thanks to "Gamer's Mind" it's going to get obliterated and most of its powers will be lost.]
'Then what? This is too good to give to someone else. The Gamer will benefit the most from this.' Neji asked.
[You don't have to give it to someone else. Just upgrade "Mine". It's been a while since you last evolved it. Level it up and make it so that it can steal divinities and such. In that case, you can just steal the ability from the gauntlet. It shouldn't take you long to evolve it.] Sisty came, explained, gave a solution, and left.
Neji was satisfied with her answer. He could farm levels starting today. He needed a week-long seclusion training anyway, in that time his clones could farm that Quirk for him.
Regardless, the Boosted Gear had been obtained.
Neji deposited the gear inside his inventory for now and looked at Issei. The young man was looking at him with a hateful gaze filled with emptiness.
"That's not good," He had enough on his plate, he didn't want the World Chosen's wrath on him. He couldn't kill him either, which was a pity. Neji reached out a hand and touched his head.
"N-Neji, please, don't kill him! You said you won't!" Rias quickly rushed to him, looking at him with teary eyes. "Let him be, please! I-I hereby disown him from my peerage, so just let him be."
"I am not going to hurt him, stupid." Neji didn't spare her any glance and used his still-not-fully-formed divinity.
God's Omnipotence acted up as Neji's senses expanded. The room vanished and he appeared in a white space, filled with something more ethereal than memories. It was history. It was Issei's existence.
Neji looked around, there were threads, ropes, text stories, film rolls, and so many weird formats of things. Neji focused on the film roles, a series of images. It reached out to him and floated in front of him. It spun, showing Issei's life like a movie. Neji was not interested in it and skipped to the part where he met Raynare.
Neji waved his hand and everything since that date got erased. Issei's existence got cut and all this rage and anger he felt vanished. He still wanted to be harem king, maybe he would, or maybe he would wake up from the delusion when he became an adult. But he never encountered anyone from Rias' peerage, and his personal history was altered. The reality outside would be the same, Neji wasn't strong enough to alter that, but he had altered Issei just now. This was more than mere memory erasure.
Then, he took care of some side things. He couldn't affect the entire reality but he edited memories of the people around Issei, other than Rias' peerage. His family, friends, school, and his presence in the video stream earlier. Neji affected all this in seconds, his divinity spiraling out of this dimension to take effect on the earth.
When he was done, with a thought, Neji returned back to the room. Not even a second had passed since he entered that plane.
Issei sat on the floor, blinking. "Where is this place?"
He began, but Neji snapped his finger and sent him away. Back to earth, to his family.
"What happened to him?" Rias asked.
"He's fine. I just removed his existence since the day he met Raynare. It's a pain to do all that, but I didn't want to go against a request you made crying." Neji said and pulled her into a hug, kissing her head. "He is fine back on earth. He will live like a normal human. That kind of life is easier and safer for him. Don't be mad."
"I… uh, alright. It does seem better for someone as cowardly as him, I guess…" Rias promptly agreed, slowly nodding.
"Mhm. Anyway, I am late. Let me take your Power of Destruction and I'll leave. See you in a week." Neji lifted up her chin, while her peers watched, and kissed her deeply. He mined her power away with that move and then teleported away.
….
A week passed in no time, though to Neji it felt very long since God's memories were anything but short. In this short time, the Earth went through massive changes. All the Pantheons have decided to descend on the mortal plane. The entire planet was in chaos.
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