The Imperial Treasure Vault.
It had been a month since Miko had entered this place in search of a method to end this war. He was currently sitting in front of 6 gold statues. Theses statues were that of Augustus and his children that had their bodies inside it.
In other words, Miko was sitting in front of his own grave.
He looked at the statues with cold, lifeless eyes, and a solemn expression.
“I didn’t want to use these statues, but since that damn thing is being stubborn looks like I have no choice.”
He said.
“The reason why it won’t work is because it no lingers recognizes you as its master.”
Tia walked up beside him and said.
“It is something that live for entertainment. If it no longer finds you interesting, it’ll just ignore you.”
She said.
Behind her, were Ishma and Regis in the distance, trying all kinds of different clothes and jewelry lying around.
“Entertainment huh?”
Let’s rewind back to when Miko first entered the vault.
After realizing the hidden powers that dwelled in the underworlds, he determined that the current Dragna Clan won’t be able to survive the war if they don’t do something. To make sure that doesn’t happen, Miko came to retrieve something.
He walked for a long time through this golden world until he ran into the jet black coffin wrapped in chains and had countless swords stabbed into it. This was what was responsible for Augustus’ death.
“……….”
Miko now knew just what kind of being laid inside it.
It was the incarnation of corruption and death itself, Samael who bore the title Satan.
Miko paused at the coffin and stared at it for awhile, before continuing on his journey. He didn’t come for this coffin or anything that was in the Imperial Weaponry that was beside it.
No. What Miko wanted was something that was located at the very end of the treasury. A secret item that only a few people like Augustus and his generals knew about. Not even the branch leaders knew about its existence.
With the item in mind, Miko continued his journey through the gold world. Only after what seemed like forever that he came across area that lacked any form of treasure. Only thing that was there was the gray floor, walls, and ceiling.
Even so, Miko didn’t stop and continued walking.
The further he walked away from the treasure world, the darker it became. Soon he found himself walking in pure darkness. Yet, the thought of turning back didn’t cross his mind.
He walked through the darkness for countless hours in silence. That’s when he saw a silver light piercing through the darkness. Miko walked towards the light with a solemn expression.
After what felt like another eternity, Miko arrived at a place covered in silver. At the center of this area, he saw a stone monument. The monument was plain and looked like a huge chunk of concrete.
Miko approached this monument that lacked even the simplest form of writing on it or design.
He stood silently in front of it for awhile as if waiting on something. After a while, the monument lit up with a silver light and soon began to sparkle as if it was the moon itself.
Miko soon saw a transparent hand emerge from the monument. This didn’t surprise Miko in the least and he silent watched it.
Soon he saw another hand emerge, and then a pair of legs. He then saw a torso, before long everything emerged except a head. The being emerging from the monument seemed to be having a hard time pulling out its head.
It struggled and struggled, but the head just wouldn't come out.
“Do you need help?”
Miko asked.
The transparent being frantically waved its hands telling him no. Seeing that, Miko sat on the ground and decided to wait until it got free on its own.
He watched it struggle, get angry and kick the monument only to wiggle because of the pain, give up, and began struggling again. After repeating the cycle for who knows how long, the being somehow got free.
“I’m free!”
It shouted out in joy.
“Good for you.”
Miko said as he watched it celebrate.
What stood in front of him was a transparent child with rainbow colored wings and a beautiful face. This child was completely naked and sexless.
It was a surreal and beautiful being.
The child looked at Miko. It was confused for a while, but a smile soon appeared on its face.
“Ah, its you, Augustus.”
It said.
“I’m no longer Augustus. My name is Miko.”
The child smile when it heard that.
“I see, so the ritual was a success?”
“I don’t know what you’re referring to, but if you’re referring to my reincarnation, I’m sorry. I no longer have any memory regarding it, so whether it was successful or not is beyond me.”
Miko replied.
“No memory?”
The child frowned.
“I see. So you were successful but failed at the same time.”
It sighed.
“How could you have failed even after I told you everything you needed to do? I even wrote it down so that you wouldn’t forget.”
It said.
“It’s my fault. If I knew that you were this stupid I would’ve tattooed it on your forehead.”
“………”
Miko remained quiet.
“Hm? No cheeky comeback?”
The child started flying around Miko.
“Are you really the cheeky brat who stole my home?”
It floated upside down and asked.
“Hm?”
It was then that it realized something.
“You….You killed your emotions?”
Miko nodded.
The child frowned.
“Why did you went and do something boring like that?”
It said with clear dissatisfaction.
“If I hadn’t, my emotions would’ve gotten in the way of my goal.”
Miko responded.
“Are you stupid?”
The child asked.
“Any goal that requires you killing your emotions isn’t worth pursuing.”
It said.
“I only formed a contract with you because you were someone who lived by his desires; someone really fun to watch.”
It suddenly looked uninterested in Miko.
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“Leave.”
“I can’t do that. I need your-”
“I don’t care what you need. You disappoint me.”
It turned its back to Miko.
“I have no use for such a small person.”
“Whether you have use for me isn’t-”
“I said leave!”
The child pushed its hand out towards Miko, who suddenly felt his entire body being pushed away. He was pushed so hard that everything passed him by at a speed he couldn’t follow.
*BOOM!*
All of sudden, he slammed into something and came to a halt.
He fell on his face, and slowly got up. When he looked around he realized that he was back at the entrance of the Treasure Vault. He was pushed all the way back here in an instant.
He dusted himself and mumbled.
“This will be a problem.”
Since then Miko went back and tried to pursue the child over and over again, but it always would result with him being pushed all the back to starting point. After a while he gave up and started to think of alternatives.
This brings us back to his present convo with Tia.
“I doubt you can change its mind, Miko. Once it deem you uninteresting it refuses to pay you anything attention.”
Said Tia.
“Hey, what exactly was that brat, Lizard?”
Ishma walked up and asked Tia.
“Use your bird brain to figure it out.”
Tia responded.
“It’s call the will.”
Miko responded.
“Other than it can grant me immense power, I don’t know anything else about it.”
“It’s an ancient being that has existed since the dawn of time. It’s more like a system rather than a person.”
Tia explained.
“I didn’t know that Augustus had made a contract with it.”
“Well, there’s a lot of things you don’t know about him.”
Miko stood up and said.
“Are you going again?”
Regis asked him.
“Yeah. On second thought using these statues are too much of a waste. I’m going to force the will to cooperate.”
“Forcing it, won’t do.”
Tia warned.
“I’ll think of something.”
Miko ignored her and walked away.
The girls stood and watched him walk away.
“Is it me, or did he seem upset and irritated?”
Ishma asked.
“That’s impossible. He killed his emotions remember?”
Regis replied.
“No. The stupid crow is right.”
Tia replied.
“I still can’t feel any emotion from him, but Miko was definitely irritated.”
She ignored Ishma who was cursing her and pondered something.
“Could it be…..?”
After Miko separated from the girls, he went straight towards the end of the vault. However, just as he was about to past the black coffin the world around him became pitch black.
“……….”
Miko silently halt and look around.
He knew that he was nowhere near the dark area in the vault so he knew that something else had caused this.
“The coffin huh.”
He quickly deduced.
In front of him, he saw a serpent appeared out of nowhere. Soon he saw more and more serpents slither their way towards him. Soon there were countless serpents in front of him.
“I’m kind of busy, so if you’re going to appear do it already.”
He said.
As if listening to his words, the serpents began to entangle together and slowly formed a human shape. Miko soon saw the serpents perfectly form one person.
When Miko saw the person he frowned.
“What’s the purpose of turning into me?”
The person was an exact copy of Miko in every way except his expression.
“I can’t turn into my true form because of all the restrictions so your form will have to do.”
They answered.
“I see. So what do you want, Samael?”
The person, Samael asked.
“Because someone turned off their emotions I was unable to reach them using their madness.”
“So? I’ve been in here for over a month and has passed you countless times yet you only appear now. Why?”
“Hey. I am your father you know? You should talk to me with more respect.”
Samael said with a frown.
“I don’t see the purpose of entertaining your fetish.”
“You’re really a cheeky brat, you know that?”
Samael sighed.
“I wasn’t able to reach you because I was too restricted. It took me a while to be able to connect with your soul.”
“I see.”
Miko simply replied.
“So what do you want?”
“What I want?”
Samael grabbed Miko’s collar.
“You ungrateful brat! I gave you a doorway to obtain my power, to become my successor, and what do you do? You fucking threw it all away!”
He was very angry.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about?”
“Oh, you don’t?”
Samael released him.
“Fool! You throwing away your emotions is the same as throwing away Deus Malum!”
“What?”
Miko was seemingly surprised to hear this.
“Think about it. Deus Malum is a technique that uses desires and emotions to grow. It uses your darkness, your chaotic nature, your madness, your maliciousness and your wickedness. All of these are needed to be nurtured for it grow. If you removed all of them from your heart, you’re basically killing your own technique.”
“Nonsense. I was able to use Dark Apostle just fine.”
“True, but your technique will never grow. And what happens to something that stops experiencing growth?”
“…..It begins to experience deterioration….”
Miko answered.
Samael words were correct. Deus Malum was a technique that grew based on the user’s emotions. Its for that reason why it’s strong and considered the ultimate technique.
This thought was unable to be processed by the current Miko, which led to his thoughts coming to a halt.
He couldn’t understand the importance of emotions, because all he could remember was the mistakes caused by him following his emotions. One of his biggest mistakes caused him the life of his partner.
“Emotions and desires get in the way. Logic and reason are the most efficient.”
*Pah!*
Samael suddenly slapped the back of Miko’s head, which caused him to put on a surprise look.
“What kind of cliché shit are you spouting? And this is coming from a guy who is as old as this world.”
Samael said.
He snapped his fingers and two chairs appeared out of nowhere.
“Take a seat, my son.”
“………..”
Miko looked at the chair for a while before sitting.
“You come too, idiot.”
He snapped his fingers and Augustus appeared on the chair next to Miko.
“Wha?!”
*Pah!*
He was immediately smacked upside the head by Samael.
“The fuck?!”
Augustus was confused because he didn’t have the slightest idea of what was going on.
“You wanna go, you son of a bitch?!”
Augustus stood and roared.
“It doesn’t matter which life, you’re an incredibly disrespectful son.”
Samael looked down on him and said.
“Hey, Miko. Who is this bastard? Can I kill him? I wanna kill him. Ok, im killing him!”
Augustus raged.
“He’s Samael.”
Miko answered.
“Wha?! Samael?!”
“Weren’t you watching?”
“No, I was too busy keeping your emotions in check.”
*Pah!*
Samael slapped Augustus across the face when he heard that.
“So this is your doing, stupid son?”
“Oi, did he just slap me?”
Augustus asked Miko in disbelief.
“Does your cheek hurt?”
Augustus nodded.
“Then he slapped you.”
“I see.”
Augustus waved his hand and something appeared in his hand. It was a gun.
“So where do you want it, the new asshole I’m gonna make for you.”
He clutched the gun with veins pulsing in his head.
“Calm down. The opponent is the 2nd strongest being in the world. I doubt a bullet would do anything to him.”
Said Miko.
“I don’t care. The bastard slap me not once but twice. I’m gonna catch a body!”
“You’ve been listening to too much rap from my memories.”
“Don’t interfere! This is God’s Plan!”
“And you’re quoting Drake of all people.”
“…..I think I might have chosen the wrong person to give my power to.”
Samael shook his head and said.
He snapped his fingers again and Augustus gun disappeared.
“This might be inside your soul but my spirit far out ranks yours. In others words, I’m the boss here.”
He said.
“Now then, my sons. Let’s have a talk about the importance of our feelings.”
“Gayyyyy!”
Augustus shouted.
“What?”
“He’s right. That did sound a bit queer.”
Miko added.
“I’m seriously considering destroying you both.”
Samael said.
“Listen, my stupid sons. If you believe removing your emotions will make you stronger you're making a serious mistake.”
He pointed at himself.
“Look at me. My stories are always filled with raging emotions and I’m almighty.”
“And locked in a coffin.”
Augustus added.
“Do you want me to kill you again?”
Samael snapped back.
He rubbed his temple like he was having a headache.
“Listen, what is your end goal?”
“To become #1.”
The two answered in unison.
“What happens after that?”
“I’ll obtain the women I love.”
Augustus replied.
“……..”
Miko on the other hand was silent.
“See? Without any emotions or desires you’re just a wandering ghost without a path. Just like that bastard.”
Said Samael.
“By bastard, are you referring to the Supreme Being?”
Miko asked.
“What Supreme being? There’s nothing supreme about him. He’s just a sad existence with no aim in life. Just a boring old man.”
Samael said.
“I refuse to let my son turn out like him!”
He declared.
“Besides, think about it. You currently missing on important opportunities because you lack your emotions.”
“Let me declare this first. I didn’t purposely seal off the emotions, I’m just stopping the madness from taking over.”
Augustus said.
“Besides, don’t you want his emotions back just so that you can drive him mad?”
“Hey……I won’t deny that.”
Said Samael.
“I mean, it’s what I do. I’m evil.”
“If so then why should I allow myself to be driven mad by you?”
Miko asked.
“What I’m doing is just trying to nurture you into someone who can take down that bastard for me.”
“You want me to kill the Supreme being?”
Samael nodded.
“You’re aiming to be #1 right? What better way to do so than killing the current #1.”
“He’s got a point.”
Said Augustus.
“However, I can’t afford for Miko to go around killing everyone. That’s not in my plans.”
Augustus said.
“So let’s do this.”
He lean over.
“Miko needs his emotions to master Deus Malum and gain the will’s assistance, but his madness is a problem. I know that it can’t be skipped and is something he needs to face to grow as a person, but I want you to stop interfering and egging him on to kill his friends. If you do and he really does it he’ll revert back to this state, and we’re all screwed.”
“I see. You got a point.”
Samael said.
“Fine. I won’t interfere, but even if I don’t he’ll hallucinate and go mad on his own.”
“Don’t worry, we’ll cross that bridge when we get there.”
Augustus said with a smile.
“Are you alright with that, Miko?”
He asked.
“It’s true that at the current moment my lack of emotions are bringing more losses than benefits, but how will I handle the surge of emotions?”
He asked.
Since he killed his emotions, all the feelings that he should’ve experience over the last couple months have been locked away. If he regained his emotions now, they’ll all come flooding in and overwhelm him.
“That’s easy. Just concentrate on the strongest emotion you’ll feel, anger. But learn to keep it under control don’t let it overwhelm you. Try your best to fuse it with your current calm and calculative self. If you’re able to do that, than you’ll truly be able to use your full potential.”
Augustus advised.
“I see.”
“Now that we’re on the same page, let’s do this.”
The moment Samael said that he and Augustus disappeared and Miko returned to the treasure vault.
Immediately after, he felt like a strong surge of emotions were released inside him all at once. He stayed calm and slowly suppress these emotions and placed them under his control.
He did it so fast and easy that he surprised even himself.
“Looks like having my emotion killed for so long grant me the experience I need to remain calm and collect.”
He said, before walking towards his destination. After a while he once again arrived in from of the monument.
As always, the child called “the will” came out and took a look at him. However, unlike the other times it didn’t immediately push him away. It had a look of curiosity.
“What did you come here for?”
“Power.”
Miko answered.
“Power to end this war.”
“And if I don’t give it to you?”
“I’ll take it by force.”
The child was surprised to hear this and began to smile.
“If I give you power, what you will do with it?”
It was at this time that Miko showed a smile. Upon seeing the smile, the child eyes brighten. This smile wasn’t a smile filled with happiness. It was a smile filled with madness, chaos and deep deep anger that feels like it can devour anything.
“What will I do?”
Miko laughed. He laughed and clenched his fist so tight his body started to tremble.
“I’m gonna remind this world that they are some people that you shouldn’t cross, no matter what.”
Miko’s emotions have returned, but they haven’t devoured him like always. He’s in full control and is keeping his calculative mind while stacking up his anger.
The abyss like anger he’s bottling up, will soon paint the world red.