The Imperial capital was in chaos. In addition to the battles between Miko and the Nebulous men, riots were occurring all over the city. Those participating were those who had lost someone when Miko clashed against Layla’s men some days earlier. These people got caught in the crossfire and lost everything. They were understandably mad, but they didn’t have the guts or resources to act on their anger. Well, that was until they anonymously received everything they needed to fight back a few days ago. Someone then rallied these people together and convinced them to take matters into their own hands and not wait for the emperor. This led to riots that plunged the city into chaos.
Countless buildings were set ablaze, and the people started attacking the law enforcement officers and all who were associated with the Imperial rule. Acts of violence were occurring everywhere.
“No matter how many times I see it, humans who lose everything are amusing to watch.”
Near the royal palace, someone stood on the roof of a tall building looking down on the burning city. This person was Darry. No, Nebulous.
“They become so unreasonable and stupid that I can’t help but laugh.”
He was dressed in a black vest suit, white striped undershirt, and red tie around his neck. He watched as a group of rioters ambushed an officer and repeatedly attacked him with weapons. The guard had seemingly reached his limit and started attacking back. He slaughtered the citizens and laughed manically before falling dead.
Scenes like this were happening everywhere.
“Hahaha….”
Nebulous laughed when he saw that. He laughed but stopped when a tear fell from his eyes and flowed down his cheeks.
“What? Are you grieving for the people, Darry?”
He wiped away the tear.
“Or are these tears of happiness? Are you happy now that we’re finally coming to an end?”
The tears flowed from his eyes nonstop. Despite this, Nebulous didn’t have the face of someone crying. It was as if the tears came out of their own will.
“Well, I admit that I’m glad too. That’s why I’ve prepared this grand stage for us, while you prepared the perfect enemy.”
He looked towards his west.
“Today is gonna be a good day.”
He grinned and clenched his fists.
Meanwhile, Miko was running through the city as fast as he could. Countless criminals and citizens attacked him the moment they saw him. He slaughtered them without mercy and continued moving.
“You bastard! You took everything-”
*Bam!*
He smashed the head of a man that blocked his path and continued on his way.
“Yeah, yeah. I’ve heard the same thing at least a thousand times today.”
Miko mumbled.
“Where is that bastard?”
He saw a group of armored vehicles break the corner with machine guns attached to them. The machine guns fired at Miko without warning. Miko pulled his Trident in front of him and fired it.
*Bam!*
The blast from the trident destroyed the vehicles and cleared the path.
“Looks like I really need to blow this whole city away before I reach you, Nebulous!”
Meanwhile, the trio of Ace, Sora, and Hina faced off against NoFace and his men.
“He’s able to control this many people? Are they puppets?”
Sora said while looking at the enemy which surrounded them.
“There's gotta be a limit.”
“There is, but most people wouldn’t be able to survive fighting until I run out of copies. So knowing the limit wouldn’t make that much of a difference.”
NoFace had a relaxed vibe surrounding him as if he wasn’t in battle.
“I see. So we just have to keep fighting until we kill everyone.”
Ace said.
“Or we could try killing you.”
His body started glowing with a blue light.
“Character Change: Gunner!”
His appearance completely changed. His body became a bit more muscular, his skin darkened, his hair grew wild, and tattoos of twin revolvers appeared on his shoulders. He was wearing a military-style uniform with ammo strung up across his chest in the shape of an X, combat boots, and guards.
He stretched his hand out and a chaingun appeared in his hand.
“Huh?”
NoFace’s eyes widened when he saw Ace’s transformation. Ace turned his giant gun at him and showed a wild smile.
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“Taste lead, motherfucker!”
*Bam!* *Bam!* *Bam!* *Bam!*
The metal monster started spitting fire like a dragon. NoFace moved his hand and the masked men formed a wall in front of him.
“?!”
However, the meat wall was ripped apart in mere seconds. He had to retreat with all he could.
“Leg Boost!”
Ace shot forward and leaped into the air and kept firing his gun at NoFace. The bullets ripped apart the ground while traveling toward their target. NoFace leaped back with all of his strength and made the masked men block the shots again.
He then pulled a trident and fired it at Ace. Ace threw his gun in the way to block it. He summoned two automatic shotguns and fired them at NoFace. NoFace avoided the shots and returned fire with his Trident.
“Resound!”
Sora popped up beside him and slammed his palm on his side and hit him with a sound attack. This caused his attack to miss Ace, and him to get hit by Ace’s attacks.
*Bam!*
The shots hit him in the chest and shoulder and caused him to sway from left to right.
“Ow!”
NoFace swung his Trident to hit Sora, but Sora already escaped.
“The hell? What did I just hit?”
Sora appeared next to Hina looking at his palm.
“Is it as I thought, a non-human?”
“I don’t even know if that is a person. I felt an impact when I attacked him, but it didn’t feel like flesh. It felt like…..I don’t know what it felt like.”
They looked at NoFace who was still in a gun battle with Ace. The other masked men didn’t attack and only remained motionless.
“Looks like he can’t control them and attack directly at the same time.”
Said Hina.
Ace changed his guns again and popped up in front of NoFace. He fired his desert eagles into his body without mercy. However, NoFace tanked them and swung him off him. Ace retreated and returned to Sora and Hina.
“What the hell is he?”
“I don’t know. But I think we’ll find out if we continue attacking him.”
Said Hina.
“Ow! Ow! Ow!”
NoFace held his chest.
“These copies don’t really have any use do they?”
He nodded.
“Alright. Return.”
All the masked men turned into light and rushed into NoFace’s body, leaving their weapons.
“?!”
Once he did that, the trio felt a powerful presence coming from him. It was like he had gotten countless times stronger.
“Don’t tell me that those mask men were a part of his true strength.”
Hina asked in shock. The trio put on serious expressions.
“Looks like we can’t hold back against this one.”
Hina’s body started to undergo severe changes. Her purple eyes turned golden, and those golden eyes started glowing a red hue. Tears of blood flowed down her face. White wings appeared on her back, but those white wings were twice as large as they normally were, matching the size of her body. The wings flapped once and Hina shot up into the sky. She spoke with a coarse voice.
“Genome Shift.”
*Crack*
Cracking sounds came from her body as her limbs broke, reformed, and then repaired themselves. Her skin rapidly darkened, and her hair returned to its natural white color; she even grew fangs.
“Oh, it's Dark Hina.”
Ace started to applaud her.
“You know she hates that name. Don’t come crying to me if she hit you.”
Sora said.
“Hahaha! No thank you. I really don’t wanna get hit by that. I’ll die you know.”
Hina swooped down and hit NoFace with a flying kick.
*BAM!*
NoFace blocked it by crossing his arms in front of him. His arms bent out of shape from the force of her kick. Hina twisted her foot and further destroyed his arms, before retreating. She then swung her hands to the side and released her claws.
“Quite some power you got.”
NoFace’s arms instantly regenerated. He used them to block Hina’s claws. He punched her. She stooped under it before jumping and slashing NoFace’s chest. Long claw marks appeared on his chest, but no blood sprayed from them.
NoFace slammed his leg into Hina’s side and forced her off the ground. He spun around and slammed his palm on Sora’s palm.
*Bam!*
Two explosive sounds rang out and Sora was the one forced back.
“He canceled out my sound attack?”
Sora was surprised. Ace summoned two mounted Revolving Cannons and started firing them at NoFace. The foot-long shots ripped through the air and tore apart everything they collided in. Buildings were demolished and the ground was ripped open.
The bullets hit NoFace and caused his body to dance all over the place. When Ace stopped, NoFace stood there with the shots at his feet.
“His body stopped them all.”
The trio was shocked.
“Just how are we going to deal with this?”
Elsewhere, Miko was fighting his way through the city. The number of people he had to face decreased the more he advanced in a certain direction. Realizing that, Miko increased his pace and readied himself for the real battle.
“?!”
He halted and looked to his east. There he saw someone standing on a roof with his back facing him.
“……..”
He silently stared at the board back. His mind and heart were surprisingly calm. He took a deep breath before leaping into the air and landing before the person.
“Yo, you must be Miko.”
Nebulous turned around and slowly faced him. There was a bright smile on his face as if he was happy to see him. He looked like a child who had received a new toy.
“You sure went all out, Nebulous. For you to turn the whole city into your pawns.”
“That was just for pure entertainment purposes until you got here. Humans turning into the very thing they hate are always fun to watch.”
“Then what about you? When we last met you looked like you were turning into something you absolutely hated. So when you’re laughing at others, aren’t you just laughing at yourself?”
“………”
Nebulous was quiet for a while. Miko continued.
“You’re someone who always preaches about freedom, yet here you are not only restricting others but also yourself.”
“You really don’t want to fight me, do you?”
Nebulous smiled.
“Are you trying to understand me with useless banter? If so, you disappoint me.”
He rolled up his sleeves.
“Trying to come to an understanding is pointless. We’ve already reached the point of no return!”
He cut the distance between himself and Miko with a single movement and stood right in front of him. His right foot lit up. He swung his leg like a whip. Miko bent his back to avoid it. He saw a sickle of light shoot from Nebulous leg. That light cut the building behind Miko in half.
“So stop being sentimental and fight me.”
Nebulous brought down his foot and watched as Miko straightened his back. Miko looked at him with a cold glare. It was as if he no longer saw the person in front of him as an equal.
Only garbage.
He took a quick step forward and thrust out his palm. Nebulous was going to stop it with his arm, but he immediately retreated when he saw it glowing. A light fired from Miko’s palm and destroyed part of a building behind Nebulous. The metal parts of the building started melting after being hit by the light.
“Surprised? I’ve been fighting your other half for some time now. I’ve finally realized the trick behind your technique after facing a trident.”
Miko formed a fist with his hand.
“The light is a laser made from high-concentration flames using magic. It’s a high-level technique, but after awakening my demon blood my affinity with flames has improved, so I’m able to pull it off as well!”
He threw a punch and fired a laser. Nebulous swung his leg and countered with a laser of his own. He leaped in the air and aimed a flying kick at Miko. Miko replied by throwing a punch.
*BAM!*
The punch and the kick collided and a bright light devoured the two and the building they stood on. When the light faded, the two stood not too far away from each other while being surrounded by flames. The building they stood on was destroyed, and only a crater and a few rubbles remained.
“Hahaha! Interesting! Truly interesting! This is the first I’m facing someone with the same fighting style! I guess Darry didn’t train you for nothing.”
Nebulous took a fighting stance with his fists in front of him and his legs closed together.
“Let’s do this, Miko! Let’s end this all!”
“Sounds like a plea for help, but whatever.”
Miko took a similar stance.
“I’ll help you….across the Styx River that is!”