It was a rainy day in the capital.

A large crowd of people were looking on what laid on the ground in shock.

“K-King….Miko?”

Someone muttered in shock.

What laid in front of them was a face that they all knew very well.

It was their king, laying motionlessly in a pool of his own blood.

“Kyaaa!”

People started screaming, while others started weeping.

Some couldn’t look at the sight, and turn away their heads.

There was one person in the crowd who showed no emotion at all.

They were dressed in a dark hooded trench coat, and was largely built.

“Heh.”

They laughed and walked away and disappeared in the rain.

Let’s rewind a bit.

Miko was walking by himself in the commercial district.

Even though it was raining, he didn’t have an umbrella, and let the rain wet his body.

He looked absentminded, as he walked alone.

However such a Miko didn’t draw any attention to himself because he had concealed his presence.

Yet, someone was still able to find him.

“Hm?”

Miko stopped when he saw someone appear before him.

This person’s appearance was hidden by layers of shadows, which made it impossible to identify them.

“Who-”

Before Miko could speak, the person disappeared and reappeared behind him.

“?!”

He span around and was immediately stabbed in the stomach by a shadowy arm.

“Y-You bastard!”

He stretched out towards him, but then-

*Boom!*

Something exploded inside Miko and caused him to freeze up.

Blood leaked from his mouth, ears, and eyes.

The shadow person removed their hand and gently pushed Miko.

Without any resistance, Miko collapsed on ground and laid motionlessly.

His technique that concealed his presence deactivated, and he suddenly appeared with his blood being watched away in the rain.

This naturally caused a scene which drew the attention of the nearby people.

Which brings us back to the present.

“Make way! Make way!”

A group of soldiers led by Sora parted the crowd.

“?!”

He was shocked when he saw Miko.

He grimaced and then spoke.

“Take him away! Hurry!”

The soldiers sprung in to action and covered Miko with a cloak before taking him away.

Sora gave the crowd one last angry look before departing.

At the Saevio Residence in the Royal District.

The head of the Saevio Clan, Markus Saevio sat in his study with a smile on his face.

“Good work. Thanks to you, we got rid of that pain in the ass.”

He said to the shadowy figure in front of him.

“No problem, I was just doing my job.”

The shadow person answered.

“But I have to ask for my compensation to be delivered as quickly as possible. I just killed Nero’s grandson. I need to hurry and leave before he finds me.”

“So even those from the notorious Juggernauts are afraid of death?”

“Of course. We might live in the shadows but we’re just like everyone else. We fear death.”

Markus laughed.

“Fine. My people just confirmed that the king was pronounced dead. So you’ve completed your job.”

The moment he said that countless masked people wearing crimson surrounded the shadow person pointing countless weapons at them.

“What is the meaning of this?”

The person calmly asked.

“It’s nothing special. It’s just that now that we’ve killed the king we can’t afford for any loose endings to stroll about.”

Markus said with a smile.

“I see. This is a natural occurrence in this line of work.”

“Is that why you’re so calm?”

The shadow person shook their head.

“I’m calm because you can’t kill me.”

“What?”

“I’ve said it myself. This is a normal occurrence in this kind of work. So I obviously have countermeasures to prevent this.”

As they said that the shadow around them disappeared and their true appearance was shown.

They were dressed in a black suit, wore red gloves, a silver ring with the word "Joker" engraved on it and a jester mask with a red heart in the center of the forehead .

Their gender was impossible to figure from their physique alone.

However, their purple and azure hair peeking out alarmed Markus.

The person slowly took off their mask and revealed their face.

“?!”

Markus was shocked to see who it was, but quickly calmed down.

“I see. So this was how you were connected to Juggernaut, Rihan.”

Markus shook his head.

“No, Juggernauts’ Red Joker.”

A few days ago, a particular guest paid a visit to the Saevio Clan.

Rihan Dragna.

He approached Markus with a plan that he couldn’t resist.

The assassination of the current king miko.

“You should be aware already, but that Miko is a very dangerous individual. I dare to say that he’s more dangerous than myself.”

Rihan said with a smile.

“To be honest, he and I are currently at odds. Normally I wouldn’t care about a small time king, but when it’s someone who has the backing of multiple Higher Beings, then even I would get nervous.”

“So what does all this have to do with us?”

Markus asked.

“I’ll cut to the point. I want allies. Powerful ones. The flameheart clan is already being infested by his charms so I can’t rely on them.”

“So what makes you think you can rely on us?”

“Because you’re in a hot spot yourself.”

Rihan leaned forward in his seat.

“I heard about it. Miko killed your youngest son, Marco.”

Markus’ face twitched when Marco was brought up.

“I also heard that you lost yourself in rage and charged at Miko, only to he stop by my relatives.”

Rihan started laughing.

“I wished I could’ve seen your pathetic display.”

“You bastard! Did you come here to mock me?”

Markus roared.

Rihan shook his head.

“I said it earlier, I’m looking for allies.”

He took something out of his pocket and threw it towards Markus.

Markus caught it and looked at what it was.

It was an envelope with the royal seal on it.

“Open it. I’m sure you’ll be shocked.”

Rihan gestured with a smile.

Markus broke the seal and took out a letter.

“?!”

He was shocked paled when he saw what it was.

“A royal order to destroy the Saevio Clan, once the country upgrades into an empire?!”

He couldn’t help but to shout.

“Apparently, because of his recent clash with his brother, the king has become wary of what the Saevio clan can produce. As the brilliant tactician he is, his next move is to get rid of a potential threat.”

“That little shit!”

Markus roared.

“So? What are you going to do, Markus? Wait to be butchered like a fish on a chopping board, or join me and get rid of our problem?”

Markus looked at Rihan for a while.

He didn’t trust him in the least, and even acknowledge that there was a high chance that this royal order was fake.

Yet, he couldn’t get the possibility that it’s true out of his head.

After minutes of inner conflict, he finally agreed.

“Fine, I’ll join you. But just how are we going to kill him without it being traced back to us.”

Rihan smiled.

“Don’t worry about that. I have some acquaintances that would be of great help in this department.”

Present time.

Rihan continued to smile even though he was surrounded.

“I always knew that you were rotten, but I didn’t expect you to be rotten enough to kill your own nephew.”

“To me killing is killing. Who dies doesn’t mean anything to me as long as I get to kill.”

“I see. An answer fitting of a devilish man like yourself.”

Markus stood up.

“Kill and cremate him and bring me his ashes in a special urn.”

He ordered and left the room.

He hummed and walked down the hall.

“Miko and then one of the leaders of juggernaut. Heh, I’m on an impressive killing streak.”

“I agree.”

That’s when he heard a familiar voice echoed in the hall.

When he turned back around he saw a face similar to his.

“Leon.”

“Hello, grandfather.”

Leon said with a smile.

“What are you doing here? Ah…So you came with Rihan.”

Markus smiled.

“Now that I think about it, he’s always been shielding you. Because he took you in, we were unable to touch you. Even more when you married his sister.”

“Yeah. I’m grateful to my father.”

“Father?”

Markus burst out laughing.

“You really think he sees you as his son? That Devil only saw you as a means of entertainment.”

Leon smiled.

“Even if that’s true, he was still a better father than your son.”

Markus smirked.

“If you consider that a father, I can now understand why you yourself couldn’t act like one to your own children.”

“…….”

Leon didn’t respond immediately and took out a bag.

“I guess you’re right. That’s why I came back here to examine what a ‘father’ was truly like.”

He took something out of his bag.

“?!”

When Markus saw what it was, his eyes almost popped out.

“It’s too bad that he broke before I could figure it out.”

Leon held a severed head in his hand.

The head belong a man with crimson hair and face similar to Markus’ and Leon’s.

“Marc?!”

It was the head of Markus eldest son, and Leon’s father Marc Saevio.

“Y-You bastard! You killed your own father?!”

Leon smirked.

That caused Markus to lose it.

“You abomination!”

He roared and charged towards Leon.

Leon didn’t turn to flee and watched as Markus charged towards him.

It happened when Markus was only a few meters from him.

*Boom!*

A black pillar burst out from out of the ground and pierced through Markus.

“Ugh?!”

He groaned out in pain, unable to move.

“You really are too hot-tempered, grandfather.”

Leon walked up to Markus with a smirk.

“You didn’t even stop to think how I was able to kill someone several times stronger than me.”

He stooped down and picked up a black needle.

“This is the Joker’s Needle. One of Rihan’s Demon artifacts. It’s mostly used for surprise attacks so you need to make your opponent get reckless before you can use it.”

Leon spun the needle between his fingers.

“It impales its target and trap them to one spot, while continuously injecting paralyzing poison in them. There’s no way to escape once you’ve been caught.”

He explained.

“Hey, don’t you want to know how I got my father to let his guard down and become reckless.”

He smiled creepily and walked up to Markus’ ear.

“I captured his wife and killed her in front of him.”

“?!”

Markus’ body flinched when he heard that.

“I don’t really have much memory of the clan when I was a kid, but I do remember her being among those who hated my guts. I think I remember her calling me cursed and laughing when my mother died.”

He stepped back.

“Then again, I might’ve remembered it wrong and she was a kind person.”

Leon shrugged.

“Oh, well. The bitch is dead.”

He smiled.

“Along with your son.”

“Y-You! I’ll kill you! I’ll fucking kill you!”

Leon started laughing.

“Hahahaha! You two really are father and son. He said the same thing when I killed his children. I didn’t even know that I had siblings. Couldn’t you have at least sent me a card or something?”

He said while laughing.

“I should've had you gutted at birth!”

“From what I heard, you and my father did want to do that. If my mother hadnt protected me I would’ve died the same day I was born. That’s why you've always hated my mother and even had her killed.”

“The bitch was cursed! Just look what she gave birth to!”

Leon laughed and took out another head and showed it Markus.

“If that’s true then this bitch of a grandmother was cursed as well.”

It was Markus wife and Leon’s grandmother.

“Huaaaah?!”

Seeing her Markus started screaming hysterically.

“Guards! Guards! Kill this bastard!”

He roared.

“The guards are dead.”

Another voice came from behind Leon.

This time it was Kristen who stepped out holding a lamp releasing black fumes.

“We put them to sleep with this, and then I beheaded every single one of them.”

Said Kristen.

“I-Impossible! How can two weaklings like you do this?!”

Markus shouted.

“You’re not very smart are you?”

Rihan opened the door leading to Markus’ study and walked out with a smile on his face.

“I’m the co-founder of history’s most notorious mercenary organization, Juggernauts. It would be natural to expect that I would get my hands on some heaven-defying artifacts in our 1000 years of service.”

He smiled.

“Everyone here was dead before I even entered your office. You’re the only one from the Saevio main family that’s alive.”

Markus body went limped when heard that.

He heard of all of the impossible feats accomplished by the Trumps (Juggernauts), some even included causing the fall of countless countries and organizations. Taking down the Saevio clan wasn’t anything special to them. Especially, when it came to its leaders who’s been there from day one, the Red and Black Joker.

“Kill me. Just kill me and get it over with.”

Marcus muttered absentmindedly.

“Kill you? No, no, no, Markus. We have special orders on what we’re suppose to do with you.”

Rihan smiled and said-

“The king wishes to see you.”