Elsewhere, Marco and Miko were locked in battle.
*Boom!*
Miko's twin blades clashed with Marco's saber.
The two separated and then leaped towards each other and swung their swords.
*Boom!*
Marco was able to block both of Miko's swords, and kicked him away.
Miko flew back and twisted his body in the air.
“[Dragon Rage]!”
Purple aura surrounded him and turned into swords. These swords flew towards Marco, intending to skewer him.
Marco's swords started to glow a crimson color.
“[Crimson Cutter]!”
*Boom!*
He swung his sword and a crimson arc flew and ripped through the aura swords like paper.
The arc flew towards Miko without a drop in speed.
“Heh.”
Miko gathered his Qi in his right hand and caught the arc.
*Boom!*
He crushed it like it was an egg shell.
“He can actually crush aura? That's a pretty good skill.”
Marco thought honestly.
Miko then gathered Qi in his right palm.
The Qi twisted together into a ball, that shone brightly.
“[Demonic Qi Blast]!”
The energy ball shot from Miko's palm and expanded in size.
The ball destroyed everything it past, and shot towards Marco.
Marco smiled and swung down his sword.
*Boom!*
The sword cut through the blast and cut it in two.
He then rushed forward.
Miko started firing dozens of energy balls from his palm.
Marco cut through them with his saber, and continued to move towards Miko without concern.
Miko smiled when he saw that.
He started using both hands to fire energy balls. He even spurted his wings and flew back.
Seeing that, Marco put power in his legs and kicked off the ground.
He appeared in front of Miko and swung his sword at his neck.
Miko saw that evasion was impossible, so he did the next best thing.
He crushed the sword with his fangs.
“?!”
This caught Marco off guard.
Miko slammed both palms on his chest.
*Boom!*
The energy blast blew him back with his uniform and skin burnt.
He flipped a couple times and landed on his feet.
“Nice. This Qi blast is just like those in DBZ. I knew that this was a good time to try it.”
Miko suddenly felt the urge to use two hands to fire a highly popular blue blast, but after remembering how long it takes to fire just one, he discard the idea.
“You don't seem to be taking this seriously, third.”
Said Marco.
“You too.”
“Well, I just find it funny how just a few years ago I could easily squash you like a bug. But now, here you are. Standing on the same stage as me.”
“Isn't life funny sometimes?”
“I guess you're right.”
Marco still had a carefree smile on his face.
“You know, I was ordered to kill you and Leon today.”
“How's that turning out?”
Miko said with a mocking tone.
He saw when Leon knocked Marco out with one punch. It was obvious that Marco could no longer kill Leon.
But what about Miko?
Common sense dictates that Miko was the easier target.
‘Common sense’.
“You know, I'm someone who will never be a leader. But I'm one hell of a follower. Give me an order and I'll do it without question.”
“You mean that you're a lapdog.”
“And a very good one at that.”
Marco said proudly.
“I'll admit that killing Leon is impossible, so I already fail one order. But I can still kill you and carry out another order.”
“Ain't that good for you. But killing me is also impossible for you.”
Miko's body started glowing.
“Since you've failed as a lapdog, how about becoming a test dummy instead?”
A light flashed, and Miko had entered his [Dragonite Mode].
“It's been years since I've used this in battle. So be a good boy and help me get warmed up.”
He then took a step forward.
*Boom!*
The ground cracked open and Miko disappeared.
*Boom!*
Marco suddenly felt like he was hit by a truck. He was sent bouncing off the ground a few times before getting back to his feet.
He scanned his eyes around, but couldnt see Miko's figure.
He quickly stretched out his aura and used it as a radar.
“?!”
He sense that something was coming from his left.
He moved back.
*Boom!*
If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.
But his chin was grazed by a fist, which was enough to make him fly a few meters to the side.
“He's incredibly fast, and his attacks packs a lot of punch.”
Marco wasn't aware of the existence of [Dragonite] before this battle. That was because it was never used inside the capital city before. So he found it extremely dangerous.
He went on full alert and tried to track Miko's movements.
“!”
He quickly jumped several feet in the air.
*Boom!*
The spot he was just standing at was destroyed by a punch.
Marco looked down at Miko and felt a chill run down his spine when he looked in his eyes.
*Boom!*
Miko disappeared again.
“!”
Marco used his aura to dodged to side.
He suddenly saw an afterimage of Miko throwing an uppercut.
“If that had hit me, my head would've definitely flew off!”
Marco could immediately tell that Miko's physical abilities far surpassed his in this state.
It would be suicide to fight him in a fist fight.
However, he needs to take desperate measures to even have a chance of living.
Marco immediately landed on the ground and condense the aura around his body to form a protective shield around his body.
*Boom!*
He suddenly felt like a flying mountain had crashed into his chest.
“Guh?!”
He flew back like a bullet and crashed through several buildings.
He crashed into the streets and created a crater.
“Cough! Cough!”
He coughed up some blood while on his knees.
“….That hurt far more than I had hoped.”
*Boom!*
He was suddenly sent flying up in the air by a kick.
He flew like a soccer ball and crashed through the roof of a building.
His entire body was aching.
“…Damn. Cough!...Just what the hell is up with that technique.”
He was unable to lift his body.
“Just a little more….Hm?”
He saw something falling from the sky.
At first it was faint, but after awhile he could make out what it was.
It was Miko, who was aiming to stomp Marco into the ground.
“Shit!”
He covered his body with all of his aura, and formed the thickest armor he could.
“Fuuuuccccckkkk!”
*BOOM!*
Marco was stomped through the floor and broke through 4 floors before hitting the ground.
*BOOOM!*
The building exploded, and large cracks ran through ground like spider webs.
When the dust cleared Miko was standing on Marco whose eyes were rolled to the back of his head.
His body was stained with blood.
“That idiot!”
Markus naturally knew what Marco was doing. Even though it was his only choice, because Miko's physical strength was just that frightening, it was reckless and honestly suicidal.
Just a little more and Marco could've died.
However, he didn't die. That only made his plan succeed.
*Boom!*
Miko leaped back when he saw an overwhelming crimson aura burst out of Marco's body.
Tribal markings appeared on his face, and rose like a zombie.
Marco had activated [War Face].
When Miko saw that-
“Finally, you're ready to fight.”
How could he not know what Marco was doing.
Even an idiot would know that this was his goal from the moment he stopped fighting, and openly accepted Miko's attacks.
It was a reckless and stupid idea. But in the face of supreme power, stupidity and recklessness was sometimes the most appropriate means for survival.
A savage look was present in Marco's eyes as he looked at Miko.
“Thank you for going along with my stupidness.”
“Shut up and fight. Otherwise, I would've just wasted my time and energy.”
“Hahaha!”
Marco laughed and then looked at Miko with a ferocious gaze.
“Then let's not waste anymore time!”
Marco disappeared from his spot and appeared in front of Miko.
*Boom!*
He kicked Miko across the face.
*Boom!*
Miko replied with an uppercut.
*Boom!*
Marco hit him with a knee strike. His arms then started glowing crimson.
“[Crimson Murder]!”
A Giant crimson ball hit Miko in the chest.
*BOOM!*
Miko was blown back with his scales stripping off. There was a crater were he once was.
He sunk his feet into the ground and forcibly stop himself.
He was secretly surprised. He didn't expect Marco to get so strong after [War Face] activated. It was definitely abnormal.
‘Could it be that the Saevio clan had ways to draw out more of Beleth's power, that I didn't no about?’
He grinned and showed off his dagger-like fangs.
“Interesting.”
He activated his Qi to the fullest.
He could feel his physical abilities rise even further as the demonic Qi flowed through his body.
He didn't use his Ruler’s Qi too because just like his identity as a proxy, he wanted to keep it a secret until he becomes king.
With his strength rising to a new level, Miko eagerly rushed towards Marco.
He desperately wanted to test out how much stronger [Dragonite] became after the application of Qi.
Marco charged at him as well.
The two met midway.
*Boom!* *Boom!* *Boom!* *Boom!* *Boom!*
They quickly started pounding each other.
Miko fired three hooks on rapid. They all connected and caused Marco's body to sway about.
Marco slammed his fist savagely on Miko's chest. Every punch caused a cracking sound in Miko's body.
Miko grabbed Marco's face and began to feed him with knee strikes.
Marco used his fingers and dig into Miko's side and rip his flesh.
Miko was forced to let go.
Marco took that chance to step in Miko's face and forced him to the ground.
Marco then used his crimson fists and slammed them on Miko's defenseless body.
*Boom!* *Boom!* *Boom!* *Boom!*
Every fist caused the ground to break open under Miko.
Miko could tell that every hit was stronger than the last.
The situation was suddenly getting bad. Marco's strength was obviously growing by the second.
For the first time, Miko experience how terrifying [War Face] really was.
“Hahahahahaha!”
But to everyone's surprise, Miko suddenly started laughing hysterically.
“Rawr!”
He suddenly caught one of Marco's fist in his mouth. He pulled it and dragged Marco towards him.
*Boom!*
He slammed his fist in Marco's face and forced him to step back a couple times.
Miko quickly got to his feet.
“Hahahahah!”
*Boom!*
He swung a right hook.
“Hahahahaha!”
*Boom!*
He swung a left hook.
“Hahahahaha!”
*Boom!*
He slammed his leg against Marco's chest and burst it open.
Blood sprayed from Marco's body as he was blown back.
However, [War Face] prevented him from falling.
“Hahahaha! This is fun! This is really fun! I haven't felt this great in a long time!”
Miko's words were loud and clear.
Even with his body soaked in his own blood, this boy looked like he was having the time of his life.
This made everyone nervous.
“He's a total battle maniac like his grandfather.”
Rouge said coldly.
Marco who faced such a Miko, was actually enjoying himself as well.
This fight was far more exciting than all of his boring jobs over the years.
He got so excited that he broke a rule that he should never break.
“[War Face 2]!”
“That idiot!”
Markus stood up and shouted.
But it was too late.
*Boom!*
Marco's aura suddenly reached a new height.
The marks on his face started glowing like fire, and spread down to his chest and covered his back.
His muscles slightly grew and he now had fangs and claws.
Marco had made his demonification pass the recommended phase and enter a place of no return.
When Miko saw that Marco's strength had increased by several folds in return for a part of his humanity, he couldn't help but to remember his deal with Beleth 3 years ago.
It was during the third month of Miko's seclusion to tame his demon side.
He was facing Beleth's while eating some meat jerky.
“You want some?”
He asked Beleth.
“….No need.”
“Come on. I know you're curious about the taste. I can tell from the way you always take peeks at me whenever I'm eating.”
“I said I'm fine.”
“Don't be so stubborn. Enjoy life a little. Isn't that what being a king is all about?”
Miko threw Beleth the meat, and even took out some wine and gave him.
“In this place you have a physical body. Which means you can enjoy the pleasures of the living again. Don't waste this opportunity.”
After that, the two no longer showed hostility towards each other. They spent months talking about all kinds of stuff, and never once mention the matter of rebirth.
Miko spoke of his old world, while Beleth spoke about his past exploits in the war.
Miko listened intently to Beleth's war stories. Hearing how the demons rise against the gods were very entertaining.
“Hey, Bel. If you were to be reborn, what would be the first thing you would do?”
Miko asked this around the 5th month.
“I would go around and see the world. 10, 000 years have past, I'm sure it turned into an interesting place.”
“I see. I want to travel the world too. But I need to handle some stuff here first.”
“You're trying to become king, right?”
Miko nodded.
“I want to keep my promise to a beautiful woman.”
“Do you love that woman?”
Miko's face was blank when he heard that.
“No way. I just owe her a lot, that's all.”
Beleth didn't say anything more.
On the 7th month of their time together, Beleth and Miko's friendship had reached a new level.
It was said that spending a long time alone with someone would generate a sense of camaraderie. This was an example of this.
“Miko, would you like to become the new me?”
Beleth suddenly asked.
This question surprised Miko.
Beleth continued.
“I've been thinking about it for a while. I mean, I've been trying to be reborn for thousands of years now, and I still cant evolve from a wisp. Doesn't that mean that rebirth was impossible?”
“You gave up?”
“I'm not giving up, I'm just passing on my will. I'll still try to revive myself using other souls, but I'll also use you as a plan b.”
“You mean that I'll be an insurance in case you fail?”
Beleth nodded.
“At least if I fail, I'll have a successor.”
He looked at Miko.
“So what do you say? Do you want to play a game to see if you'll become the next Beleth or will I revive in a new body?”
Miko smiled.
“Sounds fun. You're on. But if I win you have treat me to a meal.”
“You took the words out of my mouth.”
The two laughed.
“Since you're willing to sacrifice a part of yourself to gain strength, then we're not that different after all.”
A devious grin appeared on his face.
He remembered Beleth's words.
“Since I'm just a wisp, the power I can grant you is limited. If you want to receive real power then you must sacrifice a part of yourself to me, and in exchange I will grant you half of my soul that is lingering about in the ‘void realm’.”
Miko's right arm suddenly darken and was covered in crimson runes.
This was Miko's sacrifice to Beleth. His right arm was now that of a demon. In return the power he received was enormous.
“[Sin King]!”
*Boom!*
Demonic crimson aura burst from Miko's body and caused an oppressive feeling over countless of people.
The weaker ones already fainted from fear, while the slightly stronger ones could only hold their trembling shoulders.
Even members of the Triad could feel the dreaded aura clearly. Even though it was weak, it was still the aura of a Great Demon King of hell.
Every Saevio member could feel their blood reacting to this aura.
Meanwhile Miko's appearance changed slightly.
His hair became wild and spiky as it turned crimson. Tribal markings appeared over his entire body. Only his black arm that already had crimson runes on it, didn't change. His right eye turned crimson, and demonic flames could be seen burning inside it.
This was the form Miko got from Beleth.
[Sin King].
He smiled demonically at Marco.
“Now then, shall we commence our clash between demons?”