The sky was dark and overcast, some soldiers of the Dragna Empire were scanning the area with sharp gazes.
“Damn…..This is horrible.”
One soldier said as he looked down on the disfigure corpses all around the area.
Splashing sounds could be heard as they walked in the rain and investigated the area. That’s when a group of military vehicles were seen coming from the distance.
“Looks like the emperor’s team is here.”
One of the soldiers said.
“That’s not surprising considering who we lost.”
“Shh! You better be quiet. The emperor might hear you.”
One of the soldiers warned his friend.
Thanks to the speed of the vehicles it didn’t take long for them to reach the base that was attacked by the bikers.
The first to get off was Miko.
He was covered in bandages from head to toe, but one wouldn’t think that he was hurt considering how fast he walked. His feet splashed in the puddles as he walked, refusing to wait for someone to bring him an umbrella.
He walked past the saluting soldiers and entered the destroyed base that Exsul was using. Upon entering he saw countless body parts scattered about and lots of destroyed equipment.
He stopped and looked at the faces of every dead person there. This allowed the rest of his team to catch up to him.
They frowned when they saw the corpses.
“These are all members of Exsul….”
Bloom said.
Everyone knew that Exsul was the organization that Miko created during his time at Grim City. They were soldiers that he groomed himself and people who fought with him during his various battles in the city.
“……….”
Miko silently looked at these people who he remembered laughing and fighting with. Him remembered their admiration and worship towards him. It honestly pained him to see them like this.
Even so, he turned his back on them and walked to his next location.
He walked towards an area which was sealed off by a group of soldiers.
“Your Majesty!”
When the soldiers saw Miko and his team walking towards them, they all stood at attention and saluted. However, Miko didn’t seem to acknowledge them as he walked past the tapes and stood in front of a dark mist that was contained in a large flask.
“What is that mist?”
Seeing that Miko wasn’t in a talking mood, Sasha asked a nearby soldier.
“Poison, Imperial Mother.”
The soldier answered.
“After some tests and analysis we discovered that this was a deadly poison that was strong enough to kill up to a X Class.”
“It’s that lethal?”
Momo asked in surprise.
“Um…”
The soldier looked like he wanted to say something, but didn’t know if he was allowed to.
Sasha saw that he was occasionally taking peeks at Miko’s back while fidgeting.
“Go ahead, I allow you to speak.”
“Yes!”
The soldier then began to make his report.
“After analyzing the poison for extensive periods we found out that the mist had traces of human DNA mixed in. At first we thought that it was the two enemies who we found that were hit with the poison.”
The soldier pointed at two skeletons that were being examined by some soldiers.
“It wasn’t?”
“No, Ma’am. The DNA had a match in our citizen database.”
When the soldier said that, everyone who was familiar with Exsul and the royal family of the Azalea Kingdom all had an idea of who the DNA belonged to.
The soldier continued.
“We believe that the newly crowned queen Sola Azalea unleashed this poison at the cost of her life.”
Those who were keeping an eye on Miko saw his shoulder tremble for a second, but that was it.
At this moment, Tia appeared with both Ishma and Regis beside him. All three of them were very familiar with sola and rest of Exsul. As much as Miko to be honest.
“This is definitely that girl’s work. I can feel her presence within.”
Ishma said as she looked at the mist.
Regis nodded with a pained expression. As the one who was connected to Miko’s emotions, she felt the surge of emotions that he felt while looking at the mist.
Sadness, grief, anger, and regret.
“……..”
Miko stared at the mist for a while before coldly turning his back towards it.
He slowly walked towards the next location. Everyone who was watching him from behind, sensed a gloomy aura engulfing him, even so they couldn’t bring it in themselves to say anything to him. That was because he gave off a feeling that made it hard to approach him.
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
As Miko walked, memories of a time not long ago resurfaced in his mind. It was the time he awoke with a blanket over him and a sleeping Sola near him.
When he asked why she had returned from the battlefield, she replied that she was too worried and had to come back. It was from that moment that he realized her feelings for him, but still chose to ignore it. He couldn’t help but to began to think what would’ve happened if he hadn’t ignored it.
Would he be happy? Would she be happy? For the first time in along time Miko felt like he was just a powerless human.
He walked in silence until he reached a massive crater that was being investigated by soldiers.
The soldiers greeted him, but he was incapable of greeting them back.
He quickly approached and stood at the edge of the crater. He didn’t need anyone to tell him what happened here, he could sense it the moment he got here.
Someone had used a bomb he had ordered to be made and blew themselves up.
As for who, he also didn’t need anyone to tell him that either. He recognized the magic presence that was at the core of the crater.
It was Yota’s.
Not only Miko, everyone who was familiar with Yota immediately recognized his presence. They all deduced what happened from the two unfamiliar presence in the crater along with Yota.
This made them once again look at Miko, they all felt like the gloomy aura he gave off had increased and it made even harder to say anything to him.
Miko looked at the crater for a while before turning his back to it and headed to his final location.
His steps were heavier, his body felt more rugged, and mind became more clouded the closer he got to his destination.
His heart ached, as memories started flooding into his mind. Fun times, rough times, everything started rushing towards him.
“Ugh.”
It was so intense that it visibly affected Tia, Ishma, and Regis who all had a connection to him.
“So heavy…”
Ishma said.
Even so, the three followed behind Miko silently bearing his heavy feelings.
In his clouded state of mind Miko found himself standing at his final location. By this time, he could already feel himself fading away. Yet, he still past the soldiers and walked up to the body that laid on the ground.
He looked at the pale corpse that wore a smile on its face. His pupils contracted, his body shivering, and his lips trembling, Miko slowly spoke the name of his friend that laid in front of him.
“…..Edward.”
As if that was trigger, everything around him came crashing down.
“Ugh!”
Ishma and Regis felt a great pain in their very soul which caused them to fall to their knees.
Tia wasn’t spared from this pain herself, but she bore it because if she collapsed who would be there lift up Miko again.
Everyone could feel the tension surrounding Miko. They all couldn’t imagine what was going on in his mind.
“Code Breaker…..”
Kaido who knew Edward the longest, clenched his fist in frustration until it started to bleed.
Bloom was struck was a sudden feeling of grief as she looked Miko’s back. She couldn’t help but to be reminded of his days as Logan Cross.
“Your Highness.”
A soldier hesitantly approached Miko.
“A-After our investigations we’ve deduced that General Edward fought and killed the enemy leader.”
He gestured to the headless body not too far away.
“But it seemed that the General was poisoned and later died as a result. We wrote up a report of all of our findings, if you like we could-”
“That’s enough.”
Miko cut him off.
“That’s enough of everything.”
The moment Miko said that Tia, Regis and Ishma all felt the waves of emotions Miko was feeling vanished into thin air. All they felt in return was numbness, pure utter numbness.
So much that if he wasn’t standing in front of them, they would’ve thought that he was dead.
Everyone else also sensed that the gloomy atmosphere had disappeared without a trace as if it wasn’t there.
They watched as Miko stooped down and removed the ring, that was outside the armor’ gauntlet, from Edward’s finger. He stood up and pocketed the ring.
He then turned around and faced everyone.
“?!”
When he did, everyone saw Miko with a deadpan expression and eyes so dark and lifeless that they looked like that of dead fish’s.
This was the first that they’ve ever seen him look like this. Not even his friends and family have ever seen him look so doll-like, and with eyes that was complete devoid of any emotions what so ever.
The only one who saw anything close was Bloom, who was instantly reminded of Logan Cross when they first met. But even then, Logan had a bit of emotion in his eyes, the person who stood in front of her was completely emotionless like a walking corpse.
“Hinami.”
“Y-Yes!”
Hina was caught off guard by the way Miko called her. It was the first time he’s used her full name in years.
“Prepare funerals for everyone here, and be sure compensate their families if they have any.”
“O-Okay.”
Miko then looked at the soldiers.
“Are they anyone checking to see if the attackers had any allies close by?”
“Y-Yes sir. We’ve sent troops to investigate the surrounding areas.”
“I see. Any clues on where the enemies are from?”
“Not as yet! But we strongly believe that they're from the Seven Moons Alliance!”
“Oh? And why’s that?”
Miko asked.
“I-I don’t understand the question, Your Highness?”
“There’s nothing complicated to understand. You said that they were from the alliance and I’m asking why do you believe so?”
“……..Because they’re who we’re fighting at the moment?”
Miko looked at the soldier for a while and sigh.
“Nevermind. Just order the soldiers to search the area for any clues that they can find, for one day. We can’t afford to waste anymore time than that on something like this.”
“Something like this?”
Miko’s words shocked everyone who heard it. That was because it was like he was implying that the deaths of Edward and others were nothing serious. Which was a coldhearted statement to make after everything they’ve been through.
As if sensing their displeasure Miko looked at them all again. This time they sensed an unimaginable madness swirling in his eyes. Just looking inside them made their minds clouded as well.
“Miko, are you alright?”
Bloom asked.
“Hm? Oh, my body is almost fully recovered and I feel like I’ve finally suppressed whatever was digging at me from the inside.”
He responded.
“No, I mean about Exsul.”
“Oh, that? We’re at war so loses are to be expected. Besides, they made sure to take down the enemy. They fulfilled their jobs as soldiers, now it’s time for us to do the rest and not let their deaths be in vain.”
He answered.
Miko’s words caused everyone to be silent.
His words were logical, but they carried no emotion for the decease. It wasn’t words they expected to hear from Miko who cared about his love ones to even an excessive amount.
While it was good that he wasn’t lashing out, it was disturbing to see how emotionless he had become.
“It couldn’t be…”
An idea came to Momo.
“Miko.”
She called out to him with a serious expression.
“Answer me honestly. Have you started cultivating Deus Malum 3rd Stage?”
“That’s right.”
Miko answered.
“Ah, I see.”
Alec suddenly understood the situation.
“You’ve completely lost mind your mind, but somehow retained your rationality by turn off your emotions.”
He said.
Miko didn’t answer but that was enough to confirm what Alec said. This caused everyone to become shocked.
They all looked at Miko and could immediately see the aura of madness in his dead eyes.
“This could be troublesome….”
Said Tia.
“Not necessarily.”
Miko answered her.
“For now my current objective is still the same. Conquer this continent and establish the Dragna Empire as a global powerhouse.”
Miko looked at Edward again.
“But there is a difference with the situation that wasn’t there before.”
He then looked at the overcast sky.
“This war might surpass my previous expectations.”
The rain fell on his face and drenched his body as he stared at the dark sky. This scene created a scenery of melancholy despite Miko’s face lacking any emotion.
“Looks like I need to change the ways I have been doing things a little bit. A war to decide who survives on this continent might begin at anytime after all.”
He brought his head down and looked at the others.
With his face wet, water was flowing down his cheeks creating the illusion of him crying, but the fact that the current Miko is probably incapable of such thing made everything even sadder.
They felt sad not only for Miko but for those that died for him who will never be mourned by him.
Everything in this wasteland that was being drenched by rain, spoke sadness.
“Well, whatever.”
Miko said, oblivious to the atmosphere that he had created.
“The Capital was attacked as well, so I will be returning to see if I can learn anything new about our enemies. Feel free to accompany me or stay here.”
After saying that he began walking away without waiting for their response.
With Exsul’s destruction and Miko’s change, a new phase to this Intercontinental War was about to begin.
Are the enemies truly just the Seven Moon Alliance?