Dragna Capital City, Royal District.
Nero appeared at the gates like a ghost completely startling the guards.
The moment their eyes laid on him, it was like their souls had left their bodies. They just stood there with pale faces.
Nero didn't even bother looking at them, before disappearing on the Triad Roads.
It was only after several seconds did the guards regained some life.
One of them almost tumbled over and fainted from fright.
There was one thing going through their minds.
“Why was the Demon Dragon God here?!”
Elsewhere, Nero already appeared in front of the palace.
When he looked behind him, he could see countless people trembling on the floor. There were even some groveling while shedding tears.
“Oi, oi. I just simply took a walk through the town and you people are acting like I slaughtered your entire linage.”
Nero said with a sigh.
But no one dared to respond.
They all knew that a being of the highest existence was among them.
There was a clear reason why the Secundus Branch feared Nero.
It was because he once strolled into the royal palace and killed the king and clan leader in broad daylight, and no one could've stopped him.
What made it more terrifying was that the king was Nero's cousin, and the clan leader was his uncle by Augustus.
Nero killed his cousin and uncle and hang their bodies on the palace gate.
Until now, no one knew why Nero did this. But this action forced Rouge to come back home and take over as clan leader and appoint a new king.
Strangely enough, Rouge never blame Nero or tried to avenge his branch’s leader. This created the misconception that Rouge feared Nero.
But they soon realized that they were wrong.
Since then no matter how much the Primus branch was bullied or mistreated by members of the Secundus Branch, Nero has never set foot in the capital city much less the royal palace.
This made everything clear.
Not even Nero would carelessly go against Rouge.
However, 250 years later Nero returned to the royal palace. This made the entire Secundus Branch enter a state of emergency.
“H-Halt!”
“Hm?”
Nero lazily looked in front of him and saw that he was surrounded by dozens Secundus members.
The strongest one was [Lower XXX Class]. This was considered a powerhouse on a worldwide scale. But even he was trembling in front of Nero.
Nero found this a bit amusing.
“Well, he’s not even a fraction of Krow's strength, so it can't be helped. Besides I'm someone who the Class System can no longer judge.”
If Nero wanted to, he could kill everyone here without them being able to react.
‘Hm…I wonder if I should play with them for a bit?’
A playful smile appeared on Nero's face as he thought that.
When the secundus members saw this smile, they felt like hell froze over.
Just as Nero was about to make his move-
“Gamiko.”
A woman with silver and pink hair, and dressed in a maid uniform, appeared behind him.
“Oh, my dear Celina.”
Nero relaxed his body and moved to give Celina a hug.
However, his hands only caught wind.
Celina had distanced herself from him.
“Hahahaha! You didn't have be so vigilant. You'll hurt my feelings.”
Nero said while laughing.
Celina remained emotionless.
“Feelings? Someone like you actually possess emotions other than lust?”
“Hey, I appreciate it if you don't make it out like I'm a sex addict.”
“A man who sneaked into our country and boldly declared in front of all the Death Maidens that you'll attempt to court all of them all at once, isn't a sex maniac?”
It goes without saying that Celina’s first encounter with Nero wasn't a good one.
“Hey, I was just a young teen going through puberty. You can't blame me for getting excited when I heard that there was a country filled beautiful women.”
“You destroyed our sacred hall dedicated to my mother.”
“I was drunk.”
“You slept with one of your ministers’ daughters on her wedding night.”
“Groom was drunk, so I lent a hand.”
“You robbed a foreign envoy at his welcoming party.”
“He was drunk.”
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
“You corrupted our most talent male youth, and ran around the streets naked together.”
“We were both drunk.”
“……..”
“……..”
“Leave.”
Saying so, Celina turned around and left.
Nero shook his head.
“Do you think I'll come all the way here, just to leave.”
He suddenly sat down, while the space around him twisted.
He had teleported while he was taking a seat and appeared in front of the throne.
On the throne wasn't the current king Dario, but his grandfather Rouge.
Rouge looked down on the sitting Nero.
“I haven't seen you in centuries, and you suddenly come here and cause a scene.”
He sighed.
“You never change do you, Gamiko?”
Nero responded to Rouge’s complaints with a smile.
It made Rouge think that Nero hasn't matured since he was a kid.
“Oh. Congratulations on your victory against our uncle, two years ago.”
“You don't look so happy though.”
“Don't misunderstand. I'm glad that you aren't dead, but with Krow's death you do realize that all our aunts and uncles are gone, right? This makes us the oldest survivors of our clan.”
“What about Basmu, Gallu and the other 11 Supreme Monsters? Aren't they our aunts and uncles?”
“They don't have Augustus’ blood. So they're different.”
“Well, Krow brought it down on himself.”
Rouge nodded in agreement.
He then used his eyes to size up Nero again.
‘Hm? He got stronger over the centuries. He's about half of Augustus now. Not bad.’
He thought to himself.
Even with Nero's growth, Rouge knew that they were equal.
In fact, he was 100% certain that the leaders of the Tertitus, Quartus, and Quintus branches were around the same strength as him and Nero.
This was because they all had a similar level of talent from birth.
‘If that rebellion didn't happen 10,000 years ago the Dragna clan would be one of the strongest empires in the world. We might've even been able to put an end to the Asgard Empire’s 10,000 year reign. It's too bad the branches are divided now.’
Rouge sighed as he thought this.
“So, what did you come here for?”
“Normally I would tease you a bit more, but let's get to the point.”
He said with a smile.
“Rouge, how about we play a little game?”
“A game? What kind of game?”
“A Throne War.”
“?!”
What Nero said visibly shocked Rouge.
Nero shouldn't have any interest in the throne. That was evident from the fact that he didn't state his claim to become king after he killed his uncle and cousin centuries ago.
Most people don't know the reason why Nero killed the King and the previous Secundus branch leader.
But Rouge knows.
His uncle had offended Nero big time. He not only made a pass at Kimiko, he even threatened her that if she didn't become his, he would make the Morningstar Empire destroy her country.
His uncle was friends with the with Silver Swordsman of the Seven Swords Of Lucifer, who was ranked 4th among them and controlled one of the 9 hells (countries) of the Morningstar Empire. It would be simple for him to crush Niflheim, even though he wouldn't be able to kill Kimiko herself.
When Nero heard this, he snapped.
He ignored Kimiko's warnings, and stormed into the Secundus branch.
He first killed the king who was his uncle’s son, and then killed his uncle and all of his descendants. Thus eradicating an entire bloodline.
Rouge didn't pursue Nero for what he did, because he would've done the same soon or later.
Niflheim was the home of his wife. So he couldn't just sit back and let someone threaten its existence.
Even so, Nero could've still used the chance to make the Primus branch the ruling family, but he didn't.
That's why his request now confused Rouge.
“….I thought you didn't want the throne?”
“I don't, but my grandson son does.”
“Grandson? You mean the one they call Miko?”
Nero nodded.
Rouge was even more confused.
If Nero wanted the throne for himself or even one of his children, then it wouldn't be so weird. But he actually wanted the throne for one of his grandchildren.
And the youngest one at that.
It didn't make sense.
“Why would your grandson want the throne? It couldn't be that you want to put him on the throne just to mess around, right?”
“Isn't that samething you did with Dario?”
Nero said with a smile.
Rogue frowned.
“No. Dario ascending to the throne was because of certain circumstances. It's a strategic move. However, I can tell from your face that you wanting to put your grandson on the throne is only for entertainment.”
“Hahahaha! I won't deny that it would be fun to see how Miko would run a country; but there's a legit reason for this.”
“Oh? Please tell me your reason.”
Rouge said with a relax tone.
“I can't say.”
However, his face twitch when he heard Nero say that.
“You can't say? Are you messing with me, Gamiko?”
“I'm not. I seriously can't tell you reason why Miko must take the throne.”
He said with a solemn expression.
‘I can't tell you that he's our grandmother’s proxy. If I did you would lose your rationality and force him to have her appear before you.’
Nero thought.
“….Then I can't accept your game.”
Saying so, Rouge got up to leave.
“Aw, that's too bad. Then it looks like we’ll have to do this the old fashion way and take the throne by force.”
“?!”
Hearing this, Rouge froze in place.
“What did you just say?”
He spoke with a cold tone.
“I think you heard me.”
However, Nero’s voice was playful.
Rouge glared at him.
“Gamiko, are you threatening me and my branch?”
The moment rouge said so, Nero could feel a blade against his neck.
He didn't have to turn his head to know who it belongs to.
“You shouldn't play with sharp objects, Celina.”
“You came in here and threatened my husband. You should have been dead already.”
It was then that the smile dropped from Nero's face.
“?!”
Celina suddenly felt like an invincible force was grasping her heart.
“I'll say this again. You shouldn't play with sharp objects. If you think I won't kill because of Rouge and Kimiko, you're sadly mistaken.”
He spoke slow and but clearly.
She immediately knew that he wasn't bluffing.
“Celina, stand down.”
She looked at Rouge and slowly removed the knife from Nero's neck and faded away.
Rouge then looked at Nero.
“Do you understand the meaning of your words Gamiko?”
“If I didn't understand, then I wouldn't have said them.”
Rouge eyes narrowed.
“If we were to go to war, your branch would be destroyed. Did you forget the massive loss you suffered with Krow's rebellion?”
The war with Krow was like a double edge sword. Although most of the enemy soldiers were outsiders, over a million of them belonged to the Primus branch.
If you add that million with the million that stuck by Nero, a lot of infighting occurred.
Because of this, the Primus branch lost all most three quarters of their forces, which included 30 elders over [X Class].
It was definitely a huge blow to their military strength.
“It's true that 12 years ago, the Secundus branch lost a lot of soldiers. However, we still have all of our core members. If the two branches were to go to war, the Primus branch would be eradicated.”
“Hahahaha!”
However, Nero just laughed at Rouge’s words.
“Let's do a simulation. Other than you, Sparrow, and Raiser, who in the secundus branch can stop me, Raven, and Kroc? Let's say the six of us are in deadlock, who can stop Junior? Let's say that Marcel can stall him for a bit. Then what about Kimiko? No let's not involve our wives or any in-laws.”
Nero smiled and then said.
“Who’s left in the secundus branch that can stop Ravel and Falcon?”
“?!”
Hearing those names, Rouge’s eyes widen to the extreme.
“Gamiko, you actually freed those two from their imprisonments?!”
“Why wouldn't I? All the cowards who imprisoned them in fear of their powers are dead. Besides, their my brother and sister. What's wrong with freeing them?”
Hearing Nero's casual tone, Rouge knew that he wasn't lying.
‘If he really freed them, then if a full blown war was to erupt between us it will lead to both branches destroying each other.’
Rouge thought.
“Besides, Rouge. The throne shouldn't have belong to your branch in the first place. It's rightfully ours.”
Nero continued.
“In fact, your branch should've been destroyed a long time ago.”
“You think I don't know that.”
Rouge suddenly said with an irritated tone.
“It was my father who started the rebellion that led to the deaths of our parents and Augustus. Because he was jealous of your father’s birthright, everyone almost died. That's why I have no interest in ruling or developing the country. As long as I preserve it, it's enough for me.”
Rouge then had a pained expression.
“Our grandmother hates me, and that will probably never change. But my descendants are innocent. If they can somehow rebuild the country on their own, then there's a chance that she'll forgive the Secundus Branch. However, none of them have been able to do so as yet. But there's still a chance.”
He showed a determined expression.
“However, you're right Gamiko. The throne should rightfully be yours. So I'll give your family a chance to reclaim it.”
Nero smiled when he heard that.
“See. You're not so bad of a bastard if your remove the stick from up your ass.”
Rouge frown, spoke.
“Get to it. What are your terms for this Throne War?”