“M-M-Mother-in-law!”

Sasha was in the kitchen on the second floor, when she suddenly heard Hina’s panicked voice coming from the lobby.

When she headed down the lobby she saw Ace and Sora, who also rushed down, surrounding Hina.

“What's wrong?!”

She asked frantically.

“Mikky was kidnapped!”

“Eh?”

Everyone froze when they heard that.

Sasha then remembered when she confronted Miko earlier. He seemed as if he was waiting for something.

“Hina, calm down and tell me what happened.”

Hina took a deep breath and started to recall what she witnessed earlier.

It was midday. Hina was heading towards the commercial district to buy something to eat, when she spotted Miko from a far.

It had been a long time since she's seen him. So with her heart pounding from excitement, she moved to call out to him.

It was at that moment, She saw Miko distance himself away from a girl younger than him.

Even she who was far away could tell that he was frightened to the point his animal instincts took over.

Hina wanted to move and help him, but when the girl lifted and swung down her umbrella, the view of her whole world changed.

All the buildings around her were flattened like pancakes. But unbelievably nobody was killed.

When the buildings flatten everyone inside them were moved outside as if they were teleported.

Hina looked up and saw Miko attacking the girl. But he was immediately wrecked and was on the verge of death.

Hina was unable to take a step forward. Her body refused to listen her. The longer she stared at the adorable girl the more terrified she became.

Not even Marco Saevio made her feel an ounce of the amount of terror she felt then.

It was then she saw the girl heal Miko and let him down. The two spoke for a bit, with faces full of smiles.

Hina then saw another unbelievable scene.

A large pair of clock hands appeared in front of the two of them. The long hand moved and when it made a full circle Miko and the girl disappeared.

“…….”

Sasha silently pondered Hina's words with a frown.

“Hina, what did the girl look like?”

Hina thought for a while before answering.

“She was extremely cute, she wore a pretty dress and had a cute umbrella.”

Sasha's eyebrows creased.

“And her hair color?”

“It was Azure with black endings. I thought that she was a Dragna but I wasn't sure.”

Sasha creased her eyebrows further. There were indications of anger in her eyes.

“Final question. What was her [Class]?”

“That’s the strangest thing. I wasn't able to see her [Class] no matter how much I tried.”

“MOMO!”

Sasha suddenly released an angry shout followed by the activation of [Dragon Rage].

The same time, more than 100 km away, Miko was running through the forest. Beside him, was the little girl who crushed him earlier, Momo Dragna.

“You're pretty fast for a kid.”

Momo said with a teasing tone.

“Not as fast as you.”

Miko looked at momo who was literally skipping with ease, while Miko was using his full strength to run.

“I guess you're right.”

Momo laughed heartily.

“But is it really okay to leave without telling Auntie first? She'll be mad you know.”

“If I told her, she would've stopped me.”

Miko knew that Sasha didn't want him to meet anyone from the Dragna Clan. She most likely didn't want him to become like her father and brother. She also secretly wanted to change the way Miko viewed the world.

But, it was for this reason that Miko left his home in the first place. He didn't want Sasha to change him, which he believed she possessed the ability to do. As his mother, Sasha was undoubtedly the most important person in Miko's life. However, she didn't understand him.

There was only one woman who truly understood him.

“That's true. Auntie still bares a grudge at our grandfather. She never liked that he tried to eliminate your father.”

“Is that so?”

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

Miko honestly didn't care about Leon's and Nero's relationship. He was more interested in something else.

“Are we heading straight to the Dragna Clan or we're taking some detours?”

“Aren't you eager? Do you crave strength that much?”

Momo said while grinning.

“You taking over the crime world in the city created a lot of problems for the Secundus Branch. They called and complained to us because they weren't able to make a move against you without the possibility of a war. It was beginning to strain our relationship with them. So Gramps asked me to bring you to him before you caused anymore problems.”

She then looked at Miko and grinned some more.

“I was also told to gauge your strength and potential. I was quite impressed though. Even though you didn't have a master, you reached that level of strength from a young age.”

Momo suddenly sped up then turned around and started skipping backwards. Even though her back was turned, she still didn't hit any tree.

“Hey how about a little game?”

“Game?”

“I'm going to double my speed every five minutes. If you're able to keep up with me for an hour when we reach the clan I'll be your support if you're ever in need.”

Miko's eyes widen when he heard that. Even though he just met her he was sure that Momo had a high position in the Clan. Even if she didn't, she was obviously favored by Nero for him to trust Miko's retrieval and power assessment to her. Especially since if Sasha's words were correct, he cherished Sasha and wants her back. Since Miko was Sasha's son he can't afford for anything to happen to him while he was involved. Otherwise, he'll be on the receiving end of her hatred and anger.

Hence he would only send someone he completely trust to bring Miko to him.

If Miko was to gain the support of such a person, even he couldn't  predict how beneficial that would be.

He smiled.

“You're on.”

Momo smiled back.

“Alright.”

She then spun back around without stopping.

“Then catch me if you can!”

With an explosive step forward, Momo increased her speed and distance herself from Miko.

Miko grinned and lightning appeared at his feet as he activated [Electric Skates].

His speed increased several folds and he was once again directly behind Momo.

“[Electric Skates]? Not bad.”

She grinned as she ran with leisure. Miko spoke to her.

“You said that you were my older cousin, but how old are you really?”

“I'm not that old, I'm quite young.”

“How young?”

“53.”

Miko almost tripped when he heard that.

“How is that young?!”

He shouted.

“What are you talking about? That's really young. In Dragna laws, I'm not even considered an adult.”

Miko was shocked when he heard that.

“Then how old do you have to be to be considered an adult?”

He asked while they entered a mountainous area.

“100.”

If 100 was considered an adult then Momo wasn't even a teenager by Dragna standards; and Sasha was a toddler.

“Five minutes.”

Momo suddenly increased her speed and left Miko in the dust.

He gritted his teeth and poured more power into his feet and struggled to keep up.

It took he nearly 3 minutes to catch up to her.

He was starting to sweat hard. But he still asked the question he was curious about.

“Hey, old is Nero and Nova?”

Hearing his question Momo spun around and had a pondering look while she ran backwards.

“I don't know their exact age but I think Gramps is over 10,000 years old, while Uncle is around 5,000 years old.”

Because they were moving through the mountains, Miko who received a massive shock and spaced out for a second, forgot to decrease his speed when he reached a cliff and ran off it.

He immediately used [Ignition Step] to push himself back on the mountain path. But that short moment caused the distance between him and Momo to greatly increased. Especially since she increased her speed again.

Miko cursed his mishap but remained calm. He knew that his speed couldn't keep up with Momo’s.

So he came to a stop. But that didn't mean that he gave up.

“Tiamat, it should be okay to use it against her right?”

(Hm? Ah, you don't need to worry. It's impossible for you to be a threat to Momo no matter what you do. So you're free to use it.)

“Good know.”

Miko grinned.

“[Dragonite]!”

Momo had already moved out of the mountains and was now on flat plains.

“Its nearly 20 minutes since I've last seen him. Could it be he gave up?”

Momo eyes looked dull when she mentioned Miko giving up. There was obvious disappointment in them.

Even so, she still continued increasing her speed every 5 minutes. Whether it was her keeping her word or mindless effort, she didn't know herself. She just continued running.

*Boom!*

It was then she an explosive sound coming from behind her.

When she turned around and looked, she saw an azure light flying from the mountains in the distance and heading towards her.

*Boom!*

The light crashed into the earth and caused the plains to shake.

Momo then saw something shot out of the dust, the crash created, and headed towards her.

It was a dragonfied Miko.

It took no longer than a few seconds to cut 3km distance between them, appear next to Momo.

“I caught up.”

Said Miko.

The moment she looked in his eyes, Momo could feel her dragon blood reacting.

She looked at him from head to feet and smiled with excitement.

“What's with you?! You just keep surprising me! Do you want me to claim you so much?!”

She was extremely excited. She started moving around him while running, noting every feature on his body.

“This is simply amazing! I can't feel a single ounce of magic coming from you, but this transformation was definitely caused by it. You're not a dragon, but you're not human either. It's the perfect combination between them.”

She looked incredibly intrigued.

She then grinned and increased her speed.

The distance increased again, but to her surprise Miko caught up in mere seconds.

“Incredible! It looks like you can still keep going!”

A river was coming up ahead of them.

Momo didn't stop or turned, she ran on the water surface without leaving a single ripple on the surface. She instantly crossed the river.

Miko was different. He kicked off the ground and jumped almost 300m in the air. He landed on the other side of the river and kept chasing Momo.

“Then how about this?!”

Momo once again entered a forest, but this time ran on the tree top instead of the ground.

This was because the forest was tightly packed together. So there wasn't a proper path to navigate through it.

When Miko saw the forest he pulled his arm back and released a punch.

*Boom!*

The force from the punch mowed down countless trees and created a path.

When Momo saw Miko punch his way through the forest she started laughing.

“Hahahahaha! Are you a bulldozer or something?!”

She was clearly enjoying herself.

When they left the forest Momo once again doubled her speed.

“I'm going to finish it here!”

She became so fast that she easily broke the sound barrier several times.

The distance she created between she and Miko was vast. He couldn't even glimpse her with the impressive senses of a dragon.

He grinned savagely for the first time since using [Dragonite].

“300%!”

*Boom!*

He moved with an explosive sound. The world around him blurred as he didn't even tried to dodge anything that was in his path.

He burst through a cliff and shattered it without a single pause.

“Wha?!”

Momo was surprised when she saw Miko gaining on her.

“This is the peak of a [B Class] you know?!”

She immediately got over her shock and started laughing.

“Hahahahaha! This is the best! You're no way inferior to anyone of our generation when it comes to potential! It's too bad I can't go any faster without removing my [Limiter].”

Momo started regretting using such a strong [Limiter]. If she knew that she was going to have so much fun, she wouldn't have limited herself to [Upper B Class].

“Looks like times up.”

She looked at Miko and noticed that his eyes weren't clear.

“Looks like he shut off all of his brain functions that wasn't needed for running.”

Momo couldn't help but to like Miko even more after seeing how strong willed he was.

“I have to thank Gramps for giving him to me. It should be fun to polish this diamond.”

Since he obviously wasn't able to stop on his own, Momo decided to test the durability of his technique.

After another few minutes of running, Miko suddenly slowed down.

He then instantly returned to his original state.

Because of the speed he was going, his unconscious body still shot forward. Momo appeared in front of him and caught him before he crashed into the ground

“The limit for that technique is around an hour, huh.”

She said as she looked down on him.

She then lay him on the ground while keeping her hand on his chest.

Her hand glowed a gold light which engulfed Miko.

After a few seconds his eyes opened.

“Yo. You did it.”

Momo didn't wait for him to respond before putting him over her shoulder.

“Relax. I'm going to carry you the rest of the way.”

She then began running.

“Hey, what's the name of the technique you used?”

“….[Dragonite].”

“Hm? Cool name.”

She started running on the side of cliff like it was the easiest thing in the world.

“So how does it work?”

“Why would I tell you that?”

“Come on we're family.”

“I don't have good experiences with family.”

“Is that so?”

She then grinned and then said-

“Then is it alright for me to guess?”

“…Fine.”

She smiled happily and then pondered for a bit before speaking.

“You activate it by using all the magic inside you to boost the dragon cells in your body while suppressing your human cells and hormones at the same time. This causes your body to undergo severe changes as it is basically being remodeled off a dragon's.”

“……..”

Miko was shocked speechless. Momo had basically guessed the secret behind his technique just like that.

She continued.

“But this technique is extremely complicated. You need to manipulate all the cells in your body with magic to move the way you want to. Not only that you also need to forcibly mutate them into dragon cells all while keeping your blood pressure under control. This is basically changing one’s DNA or genetic code into that similar to a different race. How you came about the knowledge to do this is beyond me.”

Momo smiled knowingly.

She was right again.

With Tiamat's help, Miko was able to mutate his body and genetic code into something completely different.

As the creator of the dragon race, Tiamat naturally knew how to create them as well as how to strengthen them. She shared that knowledge with Miko who took it and mutated himself.

However, only Miko was able to use this technique. This was because of two reasons.

The first one was that Miko was one of the few mortals who knew how to make a dragon.

Second reason was because he's a Dragon Proxy. This means that he leans more towards a dragon than a human. Because of that, the amount of dragon cells he possessed and will possess in the future, rivals if not surpasses a normal Dragonman. Without this level of dragon cells in your body, it's impossible to use [Dragonite].

Of course [Dragonite] had its advantages and disadvantages.

When he uses it Miko is unable to use magic because all of it was focused on mutating his cells. If he slips up and makes a mistake, his blood pressure will raise and cause his heart to burst or give out.

However if done correctly he'll receive the strength, speed, durability, and mental abilities of a purebred dragon. But he can only maintain it for an hour. After that he'll be rendered motionless for a while and suffer immense pain.

These side effects didn't show themselves before, because Tiamat forcibly deactivated [Dragonite] which knocked him unconscious.

“From your face it seems that I was right.”

Miko didn't say anything, he was too shocked. Seeing that, Momo smiled.

“Don't worry. I'll tell how I figured it out when we reached the Clan.”

‘.....Tiamat, does the Primus Branch knows that I'm a Proxy?’

(Hmm…Its hard to say. You were being monitored, so Nero at least should know. But I doubt he would tell too much people about it. Momo is an exception, she's quite favored by him. She is the #1 magic genius of her generation after all. Even in this magic filled world she's one of the few who earned the title of [Witch]. As long as she doesn't die young, she'll definitely grow up into someone who can rival Nero and Nova.)

After hearing Tiamat's words, Miko was certain that getting the support of this woman who held such a promising future, would lead him closer to his goals.

“Looks like we're here.”