“I’m back. After a year I’m finally back.”

Miko said as he and his group approached the borders.

“I wonder if your plans were all carried out the way you wanted it?”

Asked Tia, who sat beside him while he rode on the Nemean Armored Vehicle.

“There’s no need to worry about that. I’m sure everyone was able to finish them without me.”

“Hey, Miko. What kind of place is the Dragna Kingdom?”

Asked Bloom who sat on his left.

“What kind of place?”

Miko smiled.

“Even I don’t know.”

“Even though you’re the king?”

Miko nodded.

“I might see it one way while you'll see it the other way. That’s why if you want to know what kind of place it is you’ll have to experience it yourself.”

“Why do you have make everything so complicated….?”

Bloom said with a sigh.

“Boss, we’re about to reach the check point.”

One of Miko’s subordinates reported.

“I see.”

Miko looked ahead and saw a fortress at the border.

When the people at the fortress saw Miko’s group approaching they all became serious.

They quickly organized themselves and prepared for battle.

When Miko saw that he smiled.

The soldiers didn’t panic when they saw a suspicious group, but instead readied themselves for the worst. This showed that they were trained well.

“Looks like Leon wasn’t slacking off in the last year.”

He said to himself.

He lifted his hand up in the air and signaled for everyone to halt.

He jumped off the vehicle and walked towards the border.

“Halt and state your name!”

A soldier who seemed to be the one in charged came forth and spoke.

“Soldier, you seem quite strong. How old are you?”

“What? I asked you to--?!”

The soldier stopped talking and looked at Miko with shock.

“Y-Your Majesty!”

He immediately fell to his knees.

“King Miko?!”

When the rest of the soldiers heard what their captain had said, they looked at Miko again and immediately recognized who he was.

They all started kneeling as well.

Some of them were even trembling.

“Are they afraid of him?”

Nana asked when she saw how the soldiers reacted.

“They are but that isn’t why they're trembling.”

Said Kaido.

“They’re excited. They’re excited to be in the presence of their beloved king.”

Hana said with a smile. Her eyes were able to see what emotions the men were feeling.

“Could you stop with the kneeling and just answer my question?”

“Yes! I’m currently 19 sir!”

The soldier stood up and shouted.

“Hm, 19 and an A Class. Not bad.”

“Um….Your Majesty. Would you like to know my name as well?”

Miko shook his head.

“Learning your name from you is meaningless.”

“I….see.”

The soldier became depressed when he heard that.

Miko smiled when he saw that and spoke.

“I want learn it from the mouths of our enemies.”

“Huh?”

“You heard me.”

He poked the soldier's chest with a finger.

“If I must learn your name I want to hear it in the screams of our enemies. I want hear the fear in their voice when they say it. I want your name to echo so loud that even the deaf will know it. I wish for it to become a name I must learn whether I want to or not.”

He smiled.

“Can you do that, Soldier?”

The soldier’s eyes and face lit up as he nodded.

“Good.”

Miko then turned to the rest of the soldiers.

“That goes for you guys too! I don’t want you to politely tell me your names! I want you to force me to learn it by using your own strength and achievements! Not just me, I want you to force the whole kingdom to know your names and keep them locked away in their hearts! That’s the type of men I want to guard our borders! You got that?!”

“YES, YOUR MAJESTY!!!!”

The soldiers all roared together with excited expressions on their faces.

“Open a path for the king!”

The captain shouted.

All the soldiers immediately did as they were told and bowed their heads in respect as Miko walked past them with the rest of his group following closely behind him.

“What scary charisma.”

Said Chrome.

“This is Miko’s other self. A charismatic leader that knows how to sway his people into action with his mere presence. The mad man that lived for war was just a way for him to cut loose. From now on you’ll truly see the reason why he’s the Heavenly Demon King.”

Said Sapphire.

Bloom nodded in agreement.

As Logan, Miko had always showed signs of possessing an unique form of charisma but it was something he barely used, but now she’ll get to see it at full power in this new world.

After passing the border, Miko had finally returned to his kingdom.

He past by the rural sections while observing the country.

“There’s a lot of farms out here.”

Bloom said.

“Yeah, I ordered for more farms to be built to supply the people with more food. Looks like this was successfully carried out. Also I’m glad to see that they’re more villages now.”

Miko answered.

“Looks like the population increased quite a bit since we were gone.”

Said Tia.

“That’s good thing. There were a lot of unoccupied land that needed to be used.”

Miko used his Qi to scan the surrounding areas.

“There seem to be a lack of security though. I’ll handle that in the future.”

He mumbled to himself.

“……..”

“What?”

He asked Edward who was staring at him.

“No, it just that I’m the one who normally manages Exsul so it feels weird seeing you actually managing something.”

“How rude. I was on vacation so I let you manage everything outside of fighting. Since I’m back I have to resume my previous position and responsibilities.”

“I see.”

They travelled for a while with Miko taking note of every change that he noticed. After a couple hours, the capital city was in site.

“Woah!”

Bloom and others couldn't help but exclaim when they saw the kingdom.

Miko smiled in satisfaction when he saw the black walls with golden dragons embedded in it.

The wall was made with a rare metal called Night Jade. It was not only known for its illustrious look when it reflected the sun, but also for its ability to gather mana in its surroundings.

Because of that, the capital and its surroundings were now overflowing with natural mana.

This will help crops grow faster, increase the rate that the citizens grow stronger, and increased the overall health of everyone.

“This wall costed quite a bit but it was worth it.”

Miko said with a smile.

He also noticed that the capital was now two times it was when Miko first came here. It also looked far more modern and worthy to be called a capital city.

Miko walked up to the gate.

“Hm?”

However before he could two persons appeared in front of him.

These figures were hidden using a shadowy aura, and Miko couldn't pick up a scent from them either.

He had no way of telling who they were.

“Heh.”

Even so Miko smirked.

“This is quite the welcome.”

The figures didn’t say anything and took a fighting stance.

“Fine then. Let’s celebrate my return with a dance!”

He and the figures shot forward at the same time.

Miko jumped and kicked at one of them. They lifted their hand and blocked it.

Miko didn’t let that stop him and twisted his body and released another kick.

The figure ducked under it and placed all their strength in their legs.

*Bam!*

The ground cracked open as they jumped to headbutt Miko in the stomach.

Miko twisted his body and barely dodged it.

The figure shot past him and leaped into the air because he missed his target.

At this moment the other figure appeared over Miko thrusting a palm down towards his chest.

Miko quickly crossed both arms across his chest and protected it.

*Bam!*

The palm hit Miko and forced him into the ground.

The figure followed up by twisting his body and stomping towards Miko.

*Bam!*

Miko rolled out of the way and the spot he was just laying on was destroyed.

He quickly got to his feet and spun around and caught the other figures kick, he then lifted a knee and blocked the palm of the other figure.

“These two are strong.”

Said Kaido.

Jin nodded in agreement.

“Should we help Miko?”

Sapphire asked.

“No. There’s no bloodlust behind their attacks. This is nothing but a prank on the returning king.”

Said Jin.

“I know that you’re just playing around but attacking the king in broad daylight is punishable by death, Ace and Sora.”

The moment Miko called their names the shadow disappeared and revealed their true forms.

The one Miko was holding by the leg was Ace. The one who hit Miko with his palm was Sora.

The two smiled and distanced themselves from Miko.

“Who’s going to punish us? We’re the ones who normally do the punishing.”

Said Ace.

“You just left by yourself a year ago so we thought we’d give you a good beating.”

Said Sora.

“Is that so?”

Miko looked at the two who didn’t really looked any different from a year ago and smiled.

“But I gotta say that you look even more feminine Miko. Do you still have your balls?”

Said Ace.

“You want me to cut off yours?”

Miko replied.

Ace laughed.

Sora looked behind Miko.

“But I gotta say you’ve returned with quite a crowd.”

“Hey, your Holiness! You look as beautiful as always!”

Ace shouted and waved at Tia like an idiot.

Tia smiled and waved back.

“Huh?!”

That’s when Ace suddenly froze in place.

His gaze froze on Bloom who was sitting beside Tia.

“Sora! Miko brought another goddess back with him!”

“Seriously?!”

Sora immediately ditched Miko and stood beside Ace and looked Bloom.

“My god! It’s a fairy!”

He shouted.

“Look, Partner! He brought more!”

Ace pointed at Sola and said.

“That motherfucker! He was collecting beauties and left us behind!”

Sora voice was actually filled with angry as he scanned the faces of Chrome, Mayumi, Nana, Hana, and Sola.

“Hm?”

That’s when his eyes caught sight of Jin.

“…Say Ace.”

“What is it, Partner?”

Sora pointed at Jin.

“When I look at that one I get a weird feeling of confusion in my pants.”

Ace looked at him as well.

“I feel it too. I feel like I’m looking at our worst enemy.”

“That’s because I’m a boy.”

Said Jin.

“I knew it! Curse this cruel world playing with my manhood!”

Sora shouted.

“It’s a trap!”

Ace shouted.

“Hm?”

That’s when Ace noticed that there was someone hiding behind Jin.

He disappeared and reappeared beside Jin.

“?!”

This caught Jin off guard. Even though he was relaxed, it still shouldn’t have been so easy to approach him undetected.

This showed the level of strength the current Ace held.

“Hm? Where have I seen you before?”

He said while looking at Sapphire who hiding behind Jin since he and Sora revealed their identities.

“Hm!”

Ace looked at her more closely and then at Sora, and then at her again. He repeated this a few more times.

And then-

“Pfft!”

He fell on the ground and burst out laughing.

“Hahahahahahahaha!”

He laughed loudly while rolling on the ground.

“What’s going on? Do you know him, Sapphire?

Asked Bloom.

“Well….”

“Sapphire?”

It was then that Sora finally saw her.

“H-Hey, Sora….”

Sapphire waved at him awkwardly.

“Ah, I remember now!”

Miko suddenly said.

“When Sapphire came here a year ago, she approached Sora in order to get closer to me. I left with her the day they were supposed to go on a date.”

“Hahahahahahahahahahaha!”

Ace started to pound on the ground with his fists while dying from laughter.

“Shut it, Ace!”

Sora roared.

“Hahahaha! I cant! Hahaha! It’s too funny! I mean in order to get to Miko she used you like a puppet! Every time I remember the happy look on your face when she first spoke to you I can’t help but burst out laughing!”

Ace laughed until he was literally crying.

“Is that true, Sapphire?”

Jin asked.

“Yeah. But I was just doing my job so no hard feelings, kay?”

“Hahahahahahahaha!”

Ace laughter grew even louder.

“I’m going to kill you if you don’t shut up, Ace!”

Sora roared.

“Hahahaha!”

“Ace, that’s enough.”

Miko walked up beside of Ace and said.

“B-But just look at his face when he saw her again! Hahaha it was priceless!”

“C-Come on…haha…Sora is our friend….hahaha….we can’t just laugh at his misfortune..haha..”

Miko peeked at Sora’s expression.

“Pfft!”

He couldn’t hold it any longer.

“Hahahahahaha!”

“Miko!”

Sora roared again.

“S-Say, Ace. What kind of face did he make when he saw Sapphire leaving with me?”

Ace stopped laugh and put both hands on his head and showed comically horrified expression.

“The Scream?! Hahahahahaha!”

Miko couldn’t take it and started rolling on the ground while laughing.

“Hahahahahaha! I can’t breathe! Hahahaha! I-I’m dying! Hahahaha….”

Ace suddenly froze and tumbled over.

“His heart stopped?!”

Chrome said.

Everyone looked on in shock.

Ace literally laughed to death.

“Hahahahaha!”

However Miko still continued laughing like nothing happened.

And then-

“Haaah!”

Ace sprung back up with a deep breath.

“?!”

This naturally shocked everyone because they knew that Ace’s heart really did stop earlier. Which meant he died and came back alive.

“I can’t believe you actually laughed yourself to death. If Respawn didn’t kick in you would’ve died for real yo know.”

Sora said with a sigh.

“Hahahahaha!”

Miko was still laughing on the ground.

This naturally pissed of Sora.

“Stop laughing already….!”

Sora instantly popped up beside Miko.

Jin was shocked to see him move at a speed comparable to his own.

“You damn idiot king!”

*Bam!*

Sora suddenly kicked Miko and he was hit by a powerful sound wave and sent over the wall and into the capital.

“Sound magic?!

Chrome shouted in shock.

“What’s up with these two?!”

Sora slowly turned around and faced Tia.

He then did a courteous bow.

“Your Holiness, if you will. Let’s enter the capital.”