"Kaito-san," Sona nodded in greeting, walking towards him outside of the towering resort.
"Please, call me Azuma, Sitri-san," Azuma smiled charmingly, nodding back in greeting, "We're friends at this point, aren't we?"
"I suppose so. Then you may call me Sona, Azuma-san," Sona agreed, though she still wouldn't speak informally despite using his first name, "I didn't expect for you to ask to meet so suddenly. You're lucky I had already finished with the Student Council work for today."
"Sorry for the short notice, but thanks for coming so quickly," Azuma hummed, turning to face her completely as he locked eyes with the woman.
This is a bit of a rushed plan, but it should work.
Azuma had planned for this part of his overall plan to happen much later, but with Serafall arriving right now, he could kill two birds with one stone.
"I've just heard that you're quite good at chess," Azuma started to explain, "I'm a bit of a chess player myself. I have a tournament I'm playing in tomorrow, so I wanted some last-second practice."
"...You play chess?" Sona asked doubtfully, her eyes glancing up and down his body, "I didn't take you as one to enjoy such a thing."
Azuma couldn't blame her for having that opinion - he definitely didn't look like a stereotypical chess player with his muscular physique and handsome face. He also didn't act like one either, considering he swore like a sailor and was openly staring at Rias's chest most of the times he had met with Sona.
"I do. I doubt I'm on the level of someone like you, Sona-san, but I'm decent," Azuma nodded, drawing Sona into his trap.
"Well, I suppose I wouldn't mind helping you practice," Sona agreed, her lips twitching upward at the thought of crushing Azuma in a game.
"I appreciate it," Was all Azuma replied, gesturing for her to follow him as he led her into the resort. They walked through the massive rooms as Azuma led her to the area he had prepared.
It was a large room, filled with tables that each had a chess board on them.
"I didn't think there would be something like this here," Sona muttered, her voice a mixture of surprise and impressed. Considering the resort had more of a 'vacation/party' vibe, there being a room solely devoted to chess was unexpected.
There wasn't until thirty minutes ago.
Azuma thought idly. Upon seeing that Serafall was at the resort, he had hastily had this room set up, along with the posters hanging on the wall.
"This is where the tournament is being held," Azuma nodded, gesturing to one of the posters on the wall, which had a large king in the middle along with the tournament time, details, and cash prize, "I'm not surprised you hadn't heard of it, Sona-san. It was supposed to be held in celebration of the resort opening, but the turnout was so much larger than we expected that we had to delay it. It was only announced today, so it's more of a test run for future tournaments we'll hold."
The majority of that was a lie - the tournament had just been set up solely for the purpose of reeling Sona in - but the last part wasn't. Holding events at the resort would only bring in more visitors in the form of competitors and fans, so Azuma planned to hold a variety of tournaments - ranging from sports to video games, and from chess to fighting, for a cash prize.
"I see," Sona muttered, following him as he led her to a table with a chessboard sitting on it.
"Please take white, Sona-san," Azuma nodded, gesturing to her side of the board, "I need to practice this side more."
And, you need to think that I don't intend to win.
It wasn't a secret to the supernatural world that Sona broke off her previous arranged engagement through a game of chess, stating that anyone who couldn't beat her didn't deserve to marry her. It also wasn't a secret that her doing so had led many young, usually poor and low-class, bachelors to challenge her for the chance to marry her.
Not that beating her forced her to marry you or anything, but considering that no one else had ever beaten her, you'd be the only one with a chance. And, you'd get some serious points in your favor with the Sitri heiress.
But, while it wasn't a secret, it wasn't super well-known either. So, Azuma needed Sona to believe that he hadn't asked her to play chess for any ulterior motives. If she thought he was trying to court her, then she'd assume he was good at chess. He needed to surprise her.
Of course, considering that Sona had never lost in chess, Azuma wasn't certain he could beat her. But, it wasn't like she was the best player in the world - some super genius like Ajuka Beezlebub could probably beat her, but they had no reason to play against her.
Hopefully my progress is high enough.
Azuma had spent countless hours moving a chess piece back and forth one space on a board, farming [Chess Proficiency] and INT in the process, as he knew that he'd have to beat Sona one day. Along with Artoria buffing his progress gained, he managed to reach the number one rating on an online chess website.
But I'm not sure if it's enough. I thought I'd have more time to raise it.
Sona sat down across from him, making the first move as she pushed her pawn forward. Azuma followed in her stead, and the battle began. As the game progressed, Azuma found himself a tiny bit concerned.
She's better than I thought.
He knew the Sitri heiress was good - but she was really good. It was to the point that Azuma's brain could barely keep up with her moves, his hand moving on its own
As his chess proficiency had increased through his training, his brain had also improved - in regards to the game and in general from his increasing INT. Azuma was actually intelligent, though he didn't choose to act like it often. Throughout his chess games, his hands would move before his brain, but he would still be able to process the moves he made. He could see where the direction of the game was going, if he was in a winning position, and who was ahead overall.
But, in this instance, his brain felt like mush. He couldn't see the direction each move was leading the game into, and he could do nothing but trust his hands to win the game for him.
And, in the end, they were on the right track. Throughout the game, Sona's face changed - dropping from unserious to slightly concerned, then thoughtful, and then to complete concentration.
"You're good," Sona muttered at one point in the middle of the match, and Azuma merely thanked her.
As the game progressed, her forehead became creased, her eyes snapping around the board as she seemed at a loss as to how she was slowly losing the match.
Azuma wasn't so much better than the game was a landslide, but he was steadily in the lead, and he was keeping it. As the number of pieces dwindled, the outcome became obvious.
"You're…" Sona didn't finish her sentence, her body slumping as she realized the reality of the situation. She was about to lose.
Reputation Update!
Your Affection with [Sona Sitri] has advanced one stage!
[Neutral] -> [Liked]
Well, at least she's impressed.
Then, as if on cue, the door to the large room swung open.
Perfect timing, Ivy.
"Ooooh! My So-tan loves this game!" Serafall cheered, the busty woman bounding into the room. Azuma couldn't help but let his eyes run over her body - the woman was even hotter in person.
Her face was impossibly cute, looking even cuter with her big pink eyes, black twin tails of hair, and the pink magical girl outfit she was wearing. The cuteness of her face didn't fit with the rest of her body, and the woman was honestly unfair.
Usually, women could fall into one of three archetypes - sexy, cute, or beautiful. If you had an incredibly cute face, like Koneko or Mittelt, then you had to have a petite body to even it out. If you had a devilishly sexy body, like Akeno's, then you couldn't also be adorably cute. If you had neither overwhelming cuteness nor sexiness, like Sona did, then you could have an elegant type of beauty. But, in the end, you couldn't have two, or all three, of these characteristics. That would simply be unfair.
But, Serafall managed to do something that Azuma had only seen Rias do so far - she had all three. But, she did it in the opposite way that Rias did.
While Rias was impossibly sexy, very beautiful, and still managed to be pretty damn cute, Serafall was the opposite. She was impossibly cute, had an air of elegant beauty to her, and still managed to look sexy at the same time. Her breasts were large, and her ass was thick and doughy, but they couldn't hold a candle to Rias's. Meanwhile, her beauty was obvious to anyone who looked at her, less than but still comparable to Rias's. But, her cuteness factor was where she really shined - exceeding even Rias by a mile.
She's a total babe.
"This is the chess room, Levi-tan," Ivy said, gesturing toward the room with a nervous smile as she walked in behind Serafall. She obviously didn't seem comfortable with calling the maou 'Levi-tan' but Serafall had likely insisted that she did.
"O-Onee-chan?" Sona stuttered out, ripping her thoughts from the game as she looked over at Serafall in shock.
"Eh? So-tan is here?" Serafall asked, looking over at Sona in surprise. Then, she smiled widely, literally launching herself through the air at Sona, "Sooooooooooooo-tan!"
She consumed Sona in a hug, literally ripping the girl out of her chair as she rolled onto the ground, "So-tan! So-tan!"
"W-Why are you here, Onee-chan?!" Sona stuttered again, her face flush red as her older sister fawned over her.
"I heard about this super-cute place in your town, so I came to check it out!" Serafall cheered, grinning up at her blushing little sister, "Do you come here a lot, So-tan? If I knew that, Onee-chan would've come to visit you sooner!"
"N-No, I don't," Sona hastily tried to save herself, "P-Please get off me, Onee-chan…"
The two sisters continued to roll on the ground for another minute while Serafall fawned over Sona, before Sona finally managed to climb back to her feet.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Leviathan-san," Azuma grinned, nodding at Serafall as she also climbed to her feet, "I heard you were here, but I didn't think we'd run into each other so soon. Sorry for not greeting you personally - I was caught up in a chess game with Sona-san."
"Call me Levi-tan, Azu-chan!" Serafall cheered, deciding for Azuma that he was fine with her calling him 'Azu-chan' as she stepped toward him, "I already heard about you, Azu-chan! Thanks for sending Ivy-chan to show me around!"
As she finished, she leaned forward, forcibly pulling Azuma into a huge - and shoving his head down into her huge breasts. It was an impressive feat, considering that Serafall was multiple inches shorter than him.
"I didn't know you were friends my So-tan!" Serafall said happily, "You're so cute too! So-tan, why didn't you tell me you had such a cute friend? Is he your…"
In an instant, the entire room seemed to drop in temperature. Azuma winced, even the warmth of Serafall's breasts not keeping away the cold as a chill ran down his spine. A literal chill - as particles of ice started to attach to his body.
Meanwhile, Serafall robotically turned her head to look at Sona, shadows covering her eyes, "...boyfriend?"
"N-No he's not, Onee-chan! Stop embarrassing me!" Sona huffed, the woman's face an even deeper red as she watched Serafall fondle Azuma's face into her breasts.
"Oh, yay!" Serafall cheered, and the icy temperature went back to normal, "If Azu-chan tried to steal my So-tan, then I'd have to kill him! You get to live, Azu-chan! Yay!"
"...yay," Azuma replied dryly, finally pulling back as Serafall released him from her grip.
That was scary for a moment. I'm a lot stronger than I used to be, but I don't think I'd be able to escape her, even with time dilation.
Through Azuma's training with Artoria, and thus her accelerating his stat farming a lot, he'd become a lot stronger. He had surpassed Ravel in pure power, and if you add in his developing swordsmanship, he was a big step above her. Ravel suspected that he could even defeat Riser at this point, though not having a way around his regeneration made that not guaranteed.
But, while he was steadily in the ranks of high-class devils in power, and in the upper half of that rank, he still wasn't ready to take on an ultimate-class devil like Serafall.
"I was just helping him practice for a tournament, Onee-chan," Sona huffed again, straightening her posture as she composed herself, "There is nothing between us."
"A tournament?" Serafall tilted her head cutely, then spotted a poster on the wall, "Oh! A chess tournament! You love chess, So-tan! And you're super good at it! You should join!"
"I will not be doing that," Sona gritted out, her face becoming annoyed as she glanced over at Azuma, "Our game was interrupted, but I believe it is your win, Azuma-san."
"Nah, we didn't finish. We can just call it a draw," Azuma waved her off, causing Sona's eyes to widen slightly.
"No, I must insist that you won, Azuma-san," Sona shot back, apparently having her pride hurt as Azuma gave her a pity draw, "You were clearly going to win. I will accept my loss - I won't take a pity draw."
"We didn't finish, so nothing is certain. I could've blundered," Azuma countered again, "I won't take a win that I don't deserve. It's a draw."
"B-But…" Sona started again, looking like she was trying to think of the right words to say.
"If you're really that hung up over it, Sona-san, then play in the tournament tomorrow," Azuma suggested, "You weren't taking me seriously at the start anyway - if you hadn't been underestimating me, then the result might've been different. Let's play again tomorrow, and whoever wins will win fair and square."
Sona stared at him uncertainly for a second, then gestured to the chess board they had been playing on, "An official match like that… why don't we just finish our match right now?"
"Nah, your sister is here. That's more important than a chess game," Azuma waved her off, not giving in, "It wouldn't be nice to make her watch. How about you join her for the rest of the tour? Where were you going to show Levi-tan next, Ivy?"
"We were heading to the hot springs after this," Ivy answered, sticking to their plan. As she did, Serafall's eyes went wide.
"You already showed me around on the opening day, remember? I don't need to se-" Sona started to shake her head, but Serafall interrupted.
"H-Hot springs… hot springs with… So-tan…" Serafall was practically drooling at the prospect, staring to chuckle creepily as she turned to Sona, "L-Let's go to the hot springs, So-tan…"
"O-Onee-chan?! I-I've already seen the hot sprin-" She was cut off again as Serafall grabbed her arm, starting to drag the girl away.
"Let's go change, So-tan! So-tan in a bikini… hehe…" Serafall dragged her away, ignoring Sona's constant attempts at refusing.
"Oh, and since the tournament will be held here tomorrow, Sona, why don't you just spend the night here?" Azuma suggested to the stuttering, red-faced Sitri heiress. Sona opened her mouth to refuse, but Azuma added the icing on top.
"And I bet you want to watch her play, right, Levi-tan? I'll give you guys a suite room for free. It's on me, so why don't both of you stay the night?" Azuma asked, subtly nodding at Ivy.
"Oh, my apologies, but the only suite left only has one bed," Ivy fake frowned, looking apologetically at Azuma. Obviously, there was no suite in the entire building that only had one bed, but Azuma had cleared out all the beds but one in a suite room earlier that day.
"O-One bed… sharing a bed… with…" Serafall chuckled creepily again, turning to Sona, "A single bed is fine! We're staying the night, So-tan! Let's go!"
"W-Wait! Onee-chan! A-Azuma, hel-" Sona was cut off as Serafall dragged her out of the room, slamming the door behind her as she and Sona went to get changed for the hot springs.
"That worked quite well, Master," Ivy smiled, looking at Azuma with impressed eyes.
"It did. We've guaranteed that she'll stay at least one night, and I can probably rope her into staying after the tournament tomorrow," Azuma hummed, a grin forming on his face.
Azuma couldn't force Serafall to stay for an extended amount of time - the woman was still a Maou after all - as she had duties that she needed to attend to. She couldn't vacation for weeks at a resort. But, he could extend her short stay as long as he could.
Even just one day was a big boon - the woman gave a hundred thousands points a day, after all. Even if he couldn't farm millions of points off of her, even keeping her here for just a few nights was good.
—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Serafall-sama stayed for the entire day, just as you planned, Master!" Ravel proclaimed excitedly, bursting into Azuma's bedroom.
"...she did? Great… great…" Azuma groaned out, his head lying flat on the desk in his room as he lifted it to glance back at the chess board in front of him. He forced his hand into motion, moving the white king back and forth between two spaces.
"H-How long have you been doing that, Master?" Ravel asked worriedly, walking up next to him.
"...all night…" Azuma wasn't the one who answered, but instead, a slumped Artoria, who had finally given up on her pride and laid down on the bed, "...All night…"
"I gotta make sure I can beat Sona," Azuma groaned, forcing his hand to keep moving. He would've beaten the girl the day before, but that was when Sona was underestimating him, and it hadn't been a blowout.
I gotta beat her… I need to kick her ass.
If he not only defeated Sona, but thoroughly trounced her after no one else could even come close to matching her skill in chess, he would gain some serious reputation points.
"You should get some sleep before the tournament, Master," Ravel suggested, concern coloring her voice.
Sleep… sleep sounds nice… but…
"Nah," Azuma shot her down, "Sleep is for bitches."
—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I wish I was a bitch. Hell, I am a bit of a bitch - I should've slept.
Azuma felt exhausted as he finally left his room, getting ready to head to the resort for the tournament. Then, he stopped abruptly as a thought came to him.
Aph is supposed to be useful for something… right?
"Aph?" Azuma called out down the long hallway, heading toward the main 'dungeon core room' of the dungeon. As he reached the room, he spotted Aphrodite sitting on the couch as she watched TV.
"Yeah?" She asked simply, looking up at him.
"You know spells and stuff, right?" Azuma asked with a raised eyebrow, "Do you know any fatigue-reducing ones? Or, like, energy buffs?"
"Oh! I know lots of those!" Aphrodite nodded proudly, floating up from the couch to in front of his face, "Do you need one?"
"Yeah. Give me… a bunch of 'em. Just whatever ones you know," Azuma sighed, not even having the energy to try and bully Aphrodite.
"Got it!" Aphrodite nodded, her face becoming cutely concentrated. She raised her hands, her eyes squinting shut, and then held them out. As she did, a soft green glow surrounded Azuma's body, and then dissipated. Then, she did the same thing a couple of times in a row, the glow changing color each time.
[Special!] [Aphrodite] has cast a buff on you!
[Energy Buff] - You have received 50% of your maximum stamina!
[Special!] [Aphrodite] has cast a buff on you!
[Fatigue Buff] - Your fatigue has been cut in half!
[Special!] [Aphrodite] has cast a buff on you!
[Mana Buff] - You have received 50% of your maximum mana!
[Special!] [Aphrodite] has cast a buff on you!
[Cognitive Buff] - Your cognitive process has increased by 50%!
Azuma blinked, feeling his body suddenly feel much less tired. He felt as if he'd had a good night's sleep, and had only been up for a couple of hours.
Most importantly… my brain is going fuckin' turbo right now.
Due to Aphrodite's cognitive buff, Azuma felt like thoughts were flooding and leaving his head at a million miles a second. The world around him seemed to grow clearer, his eyes taking in the sight and his brain processing the information faster than before.
Is this what cocaine feels like?
"Why haven't you done this before?" Azuma asked simply, staring around the room dumbly, the words even coming out faster.
"You never asked," Aphrodite answered eloquently.
"Yeah, that's about what I expected," Azuma hummed, "I wish I knew about this sooner - I could've been so much more efficient. Whatever, good job Aph."
"Thanks!" Aphrodite smiled smugly, completely ignoring the first half of his sentence.
This would be overpowered if I was ambitious. Whenever I got tired, I could just get her to give me an energy boost, and I'd need to sleep less. I can definitely utilize this to train more!
…
Hah. As if. I'm too fuckin' lazy for that shit.
"Are you going to the resort, Master? Let's go together!" Ravel called out to him before he left the dungeon, and Azuma blinked as he turned around. The girl was in a rather nice pink dress, blushing lightly as he looked at her.
"You look good," Azuma said bluntly, staring down at her breasts, which showed partially at the top of the dress, "What're you all dressed up for?"
Ravel usually just wore her 'suit with a skirt' around the dungeon, as she loved roleplaying as his secretary.
"I'm going to go watch the tournament!" Ravel explained, her face blushing even deeper as she turned away and didn't meet his eyes, "I-If my b-boyfriend is competing… I should go watch him…"
Azuma stared at her blankly. Then, he shrugged.
"Fine by me. Let's get going," He hummed, holding out his hand, which she hurriedly grabbed with a beet-red face. They quickly left the dungeon, heading to the resort as the tournament was about to begin.
As Azuma walked into the chess board filled room, he quickly spotted Sona - who looked incredibly embarrassed as Serafall talked loudly next to her.
"My So-tan is the best! The absolute best! She's going to beat everyone - even you!" Serafall pointed her finger dramatically at the man in front of her, and Azuma blinked.
Is that fucking…
Standing next to Serafall was a tall, green-haired man in an expensive-looking coat. He had slicked-back hair, sharp eyes, and an angular, slightly feminine, looking face. Azuma wasn't gay, but he could only describe the man as beautiful.
Game respects game. But also, that's fucking Ajuka Beelzebub.
"Please ignore my sister, Agares-san," Sona sighed, the woman trying her best to ignore her sisters ranting as she looked at the girl next to her.
Oh. And that's Seekvaria Agares.
The other childhood friend of Rias was standing next to the Sitri heiress, her face looking aloof and cold.
She's… a lot hotter than I expected.
Compared to some of the gorgeous women Azuma had seen, like Rias and Akeno, the woman was definitely a step down - but not by all that much. She had gorgeous greenish-blonde hair that flowed down her back, a beautiful face, and sharp pink eyes. Her body didn't have the same impossibly sexy proportions as someone like Rias or Akeno, but it was still incredibly sexy. She was curvy, with large hips and huge breasts that hung down from her chest.
She was wearing a rather tight blue shirt, along with long pants, so Azuma couldn't see the entirety of her body, but he saw enough to know…
She's a total babe.
"Ah! Azu-chan!" Serafall called, spotting him and Ravel and waving them over, "This is the owner! He's also playing!"
Azuma smiled confidently at he walked towards them, not letting the sudden encounter with both Seekvaria and Ajuka throw him off his game, "Levi-tan, Sona-san. It's lovely to see you both again."
He turned to Seekvaria, then nodded at Ajuka, "I don't believe we've met. I'm Azuma Kaito - the owner of this resort."
"I am Seekvaira Agares. The next head of the Agares family, rank Archduke." Seekvaria replied stuffily, glancing at Azuma with cold eyes, "I will be joining your tournament. If we meet, I hope you will give me a good match.
Cold from the get-go, huh? I also have some more competition now, but she's likely not better than Sona.
"I'm Ajuka Beezlebub," Ajuka said simply, glancing down at Azuma, "Nice to meet you. I'll also be competing in the tournament - let us have a good match if we cross paths."
Azuma blinked, staring at the literal supergenius blankly.
Fuck.
—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
AN: Thank you for reading! The next chapter will be out the day after tomorrow!
Or, up to chapter 17 is available on Patreon.com/Koyon !