Nebulous City, Renacido.

In the Renacido HQ, Layla Song was sitting in her office going through some paperwork when she heard a knock on the door.

“Come in.”

With her permission, Jason and Oden walked in.

“Oh, you’re back. Good work, I heard you two were able to force Dragon Storm out of Dale and Aloe.”

Jason and Oden took a seat in front of her desk. Oden sat with his legs crossed and leaned back in his chair to relax.

“It wasn’t easy, I’ll tell you that. I lost quite a bit of my kin.”

“I heard, but you were also able to rescue your people who were sold into slavery.”

“I merely trade some lives for others. That’s nothing to feel good about.”

“You’re right. My apologies.”

Layla bowed her head.

“You don’t need to do that. I wasn’t angry at you or anything. I’m just sad that I couldn’t save everyone. I guess that’s just reality.”

Oden sighed. Layla nodded.

“Jason, were you able to find any useful information about Dragon Storm from their soldiers?”

Jason nodded.

“Apparently, Dragon Storm changed leaders in recent years. The current leader’s identity is a secret, at least for those at the bottom of the organization anyway.”

“If I remember correctly, the previous leader was a powerful warrior whose policy was to crush all opposition with overwhelming power. He was a ruthless man who didn’t hesitate to commit insane acts. Do you know if the new leader is anything like that?”

Jason shook his head.

“I have no idea. The only thing I know is that because of the new leader, Dragon Storm has extended their reach into all kinds of new fields, legal ones. They now own a lot of businesses across the world and have accumulated never before seen wealth.”

Jason dug into his pocket and threw something at Layla, who caught it.

“What’s this?”

“It’s a scale from a true dragon.”

“Really?! This thing is worth a fortune!”

“Every soldier I caught had one of these. It's like proof of their acceptance into Dragon Storm.”

“Interesting.”

Layla lifted the scale in the air, as if trying to find the proper lighting that’ll make it shine beautifully.

“It’s a beautiful azure color. For some reason, it reminds me of Miko.”

She started smiling while she admired the scale.

“Hm?”

Layla started looking at the scale more closely.

“For some reason, this scale looks off.”

“How so?”

Oden asked.

“I can’t put my finger on it…..”

Layla stared at the scale for almost a minute before the smile started fading from her face. What replaced it was a look of shock and then horror.

“Shit!”

She threw the scale on the wall.

“What’s wrong?”

“I saw a mechanical light coming from the scale!”

“It’s a tracking chip!”

Oden gathered fire in his palm and then blast the scale.

*Flash!*

A bright like came from the scale and illuminated the room.

“Testing, testing. Is it recording? It is? That’s good.”

A new voice echoed in the room. Layla and the others were frightened to discover that the voice was coming from the dragon scale which survived Oden’s attack.

“Good evening, or is it morning? It’s possible that you hearing this at night time. Well, whatever.”

The voice was computerized so they couldn’t tell who it belonged to.

“Hello, Renacido. If you’re hearing this that means you’ve successfully driven out our men out of Dale and the Aloe Kingdom. Congratulations.”

Despite being computerized, they could tell the voice was mocking them.

“I feel that it’s necessary for me to reward you for all of your hard work, so I’ll give you a present. What kind of present you ask? You’ll be hearing about it soon.”

*Bam!*

One of Layla’s subordinate burst through the door.

“Ma’am, this is terrible!”

“Calm down, what happened?”

Layla had a bad feeling.

“The Aloe Kingdom has set Jara Jungle ablaze!”

“What? Then hurry and put out the fire!”

“We tried, but no water or ice attack is working! The fire is quickly spreading too!”

“I think you should’ve heard about our present by now.”

The computerized voice came from the scale again.

“Once this recording started playing a signal will be sent to all of those carrying these scales and hiding along the border. Once they get the signal they will set the jungle ablaze.”

“You son of bitch!”

Oden roared.

“By now you’re either rushing to try and stop the blaze or cursing. Maybe even both, but don’t waste your breath. We created a highly combustible formula just for you. The fire will continue to spread until it burns out, kinda like Greek Fire. We call it Dragon Fire for jokes.”

The veins in Oden’s head started swelling as if they were going to burst. His third eye was trembling with anger.

“Are there perhaps citizens of that jungle hearing this? If so, you must be really angry right now. Your home has literally gone up in flames after all.”

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“You son of a-”

“Keep calm, Oden! Getting angry is what they want!”

Layla shouted.

“Man, I have a hard time containing my laughter when I think about what kind of face you’re making right now.”

The voice laughed while Layla and the others were shaking in anger.

“Now then, let’s get down to business. The Sky Net.”

“?!”

Their eyes widened.

“The Sky Net is a defense system developed by the Tertitus Branch of the Dragna Clan. It acts as an invisible net that can defend against a surprise attack of a Divine Level being, a truly impressive system. I can totally understand why your leader would pay a fortune to have it installed over this country. I’m sure it’s worth every penny.”

They didn’t know why, but hearing the voice talk about their defense system sent a chill down their spines.

“But there’s one problem. The Sky Net is something that can be bought. It’s really expensive but it’s still for sale.”

Layla and others slowly started to come to a terrifying realization.

“Guess what? We own one too. The exact same model and everything. We tweaked with it a little and figured out everything about it. From how it works….To how to disable it.”

“Sound the evacuation alarm! Everyone get out of Nebulous City now!”

Layla screamed.

“It’s too late. The moment you took our men to your base to get information out of them, you already lost.”

*Bam!*

Static started emitting from the scale. The static wasn’t particularly strong but it stung. At the same time, a box that contained all the scales taken from those Jason and Oden had captured, erupted and released a powerful static charge which shoot through the ceiling and up into the air.

The citizens outside of the Hall of Rebirth saw the pillar of electricity spread across the sky. Suddenly, a web-like net appeared surrounding the city. This was the Sky Net.

“The Sky Net has been disabled!”

“It’s not safe! Everybody run!”

*Flash!*

A bright light that rivaled the sun appeared over the city. This quickly condensed into a serpentine dragon for all to see. Layla looked at the dragon with horror while the computerized voice echoed in her ear.

“Experience the wrath of a dragon.”

The dragon dove onto the city. A devadtasvexplosion completely wiped it from the map.

Grim Academy. Even though the preliminaries of senior tournament was over, there was still a lot of commotion. The reason was simple, Tang Xian had suddenly dropped out of the academy!

Tang was one of the Four Dragon Stars, so him dropping out right before his final tournament was shocking to say the least. Especially when you considered the fact that he was certain to graduate.

“I wonder why he didn’t just wait a few more months to graduate?”

“Maybe it’s a family emergency?”

“Whatever the reason, it must’ve been serious.”

Students, staff, and visitors alike were discussing Tang dropping out. It caused so much of a commotion that it seemed like all that happened in the preliminaries weren’t important. All everyone talked about was him.

“Wait, doesn’t this mean Tang left the academy undefeated?”

“Now that I think about it, you’re right. No one was able to beat him even once.”

“Not even Klaus was able to beat him. Yet, he’s ranked 4th.”

“He’s only ranked 4th because he would drop out at random points in the tournaments or just don’t show up. If he wasn’t strong, his rank would’ve been much lower because of his bad attendance.”

“Now that you think about it, Tang has always been a weird one hasn’t he?”

“He obviously doesn’t care about being the best and he would seem bored when he’s around others, but would look like he’s having fun by himself.”

“In the end, I doubt anyone can accurately say what kind of person he was.”

Meanwhile, Miko and the others were still at the infirmary.

“Looks like I’m the only one who came out of this tournament unscathed.”

Miko laughed.

“I want to punch you but I don’t think I can even form a fist right now.”

Sora said. He, Ace, and Hina were all getting treated for injuries they sustained.

“I’m surprised that even your Apostles have incredible regeneration rates.”

Hina said to Luka who was sitting in a chair. Her injuries weren’t healed but anyone could see that she was recovering.

“Well, Ouroboros’ Infinity Element boosts all of your abilities including your healing abilities. They can’t compare to me but they should be fine after a few days rest.”

“Of course they will. It’s not like I hurt any one of them that badly.”

Miko said.

“You broke 4 of Robin’s ribs.”

“Well, that was just payback for calling me a monster that brings destruction. There’s no hard feelings left now.”

Luka glared at him which Miko ignored.

“What about you, Ace? Don’t you have some healing ability in that cheating power of yours?”

“Nothing that can make me recover from all of these damages.”

“Oh, so there’s a limit? That’s good to know.”

Miko laughed again.

“Miko.”

That’s when Momo, Kimiko, and Ishma and Regis came into the room.

“Oh, what’s up? Did you enjoy the show?”

“More or less.”

Kimiko responded.

“The real shocker was that Tang guy. He just got up and left. What’s up with that?”

Ishma asked.

“I don’t know but there’s no use thinking about it.”

Miko looked at Regis.

“Where’s Tia?”

“She left to go to the Summit Of The Gods after hearing that Tang dropped out.”

Regis answered.

“Why?”

“I have no idea, but I think she went to talk with Shenlong, Tang’s God Parent.”

“…..Well, she must have her reasons.”

Miko looked at his comrades.

“You guys should spend the night here so that you can be ready for the main tournament tomorrow. Luka and I will return to our dorms and come visit early tomorrow morning.”

“Alright. Goodnight.”

“If you say so.”

“Man, I’m sleepy.”

The trio sent off Miko and Luka without any objections.

Miko then parted ways with Momo, who went to the staff dorms. Kimiko disappeared on her own without him noticing. That left him and Luka walking to their dorms alone.

“What reason do you think he had for dropping out?”

Luka asked.

“I don’t know, but I’m sure we’ll meet him again if we continue down the path we’re walking.”

“I guess you’re right.”

They walked and talked until they made it to Luka’s dorm.

“Are you sure you don’t want to spend the night with me?”

Miko asked.

“For the hundredth time, no. Good night.”

Luka kissed him on his cheek before leaving. Miko watched her until she entered her dorm before leaving.

“…….”

He walked in silence while heading in the direction of his own dorm. That’s when he suddenly stopped.

“?!”

He leaped to the side. A tree that was in front of him cut into two.

“Oh? I was actually discovered.”

A man dressed in full black, and wearing a cloth mask over his face, appeared out of thin air.

“I’ve faced the techniques of history’s greatest assassin every night. There’s no way I’ll allow myself to fall to something like that.”

“I see. That makes sense.”

The man chuckled.

“Who are you?”

“No one important. After all, I’ll die pretty soon anyway.”

“I’m glad you know your fate.”

Kimiko appeared out of nowhere and grabbed the man by his throat.

“You have some nerve trying to hurt my grandson.”

She looked at the man as if he was garbage she was getting ready to burn.

“Ah, The Mistress of Death. I’m glad that I was able to meet such a legend in my final hours.”

The man’s words confused Miko. Since he appeared he talked about his death as if it was something he had long accepted.

“It’s as if he came here to die….Wait.”

Miko looked at his feet and saw a vortex underneath him.

“It’s a trap!”

“Miko!”

Kimiko threw the man away and moved towards Miko. She wasn’t able to reach him before he turned into light and was sucked into the vortex.

“MIKO!”

She roared at the top of her lungs and started looking around for him.

“That was a teleportation array, one that only goes in one direction. So you can’t follow him.”

Kimiko’s face turned into one of a demon’s as she looked at the masked man when she heard his explanation. She walked up to him and grabbed him by his neck again.

“You….Where did you send my grandson?”

“Who knows? My role was just to place the array so that he could be summoned. I was never told where he would end up.”

The man laughed.

“Who sent you?”

“Check back with home and you’ll figure it out.”

Kimiko looked at the man with a cold gaze.

“Die.”

The man started drying up in her hands. It was as if all the moisture was being sucked out of him. In an instant, he was reduced to a mummy, seconds later he was crumbling in her hands. From start to finish, the man kept laughing which creeped Kimiko out. After killing the man, tears started gathering in her eyes.

“Miko….”

Meanwhile, Miko found himself in some kind of ruins.

“Where are we?”

Regis, who along with Ishma was teleported with Miko, asked while looking around.

“Yo.”

Miko heard a voice and turned around. His eyes peeled open when he saw a familiar face.

“Tang.”

Miko saw Tang sitting on a broken wall.

“You’re the one who brought me here? Why?”

“It seems that you haven’t been keeping in touch with your people in Renacido. Or it could be they are purposely keeping you in dark. Either way, someone was being stupid.”

“What do you mean?”

Miko was on high alert. It wasn’t only because Tang mentioned Renacido, but because he seemed completely different from how he was at the academy. He couldn’t sense that playful air around him anywhere.

“Well, whatever. That’s not important.”

Tang jumped off the wall.

“The reason I brought you here wasn’t just because of Renacido and Dragon Storm. This is a personal matter between you and me.”

(Did he just say Dragon Storm?)

Miko was more on alert.

“Oh, I’m the leader of Dragon Storm by the way. But that isn’t important.”

“I think that’s very important in my book.”

Miko signaled Ishma and Regis to take their sword forms.

“Do you remember when we both agreed that we will eventually kill each other?”

Tang spread his arms as if to welcome Miko.

“That time is now.”

********

“So how’s things on your end?”

Tang was now sitting on the broken wall and was talking on a phone. He had cuts all over his body and his clothes were torn beyond repair. But there wasn’t any serious wound on him that could be seen.

“I see, the Dragna Clan are already trying to track us down.”

He nodded.

“My end?”

Tang looked in front of him. There he could dozens of giant craters and smoke covering the land. Not too far away, he could see someone leaning on a broken wall.That person had wounds all over their body. They were drenched in blood and had their clothes torn up. They had a hole in their stomach, and bones sticking out of their chest and limbs.This person was Miko.

Beside him were an angry Ishma and a crying Regis. They were both shaking him as if trying to keep him conscious. But it was no use. Miko’s body fell to the side, limped. This caused the girls to panic.

Seeing this, Tang smiled.

“Everything’s great on my end.”