After they separated from Arsene, Miko and Luka walked around in the Royal District.

Miko was still fuming, while Luka was observing him from the side.

“Miko.”

She called out to him after a while.

“Yeah.”

Miko replied.

“Why did you do that just now?”

Luka asked.

“Do what?”

“Break all pretense with New Era. I know that they’re the enemy, but I don’t think provoking them is wise.”

“It isn’t.”

Miko immediately admitted.

“If you knew that then why?”

“Because I refuse to give up those three.”

Miko replied.

“Those three, or just Hina?”

Luka asked with a strange tone.

Miko looked at her when he heard it.

“What? Are you jealous?”

“Of course. You picked a fight with such a dangerous group all for her. That alone shows how much she means to you.”

Luka said as if pouting.

Miko found it cute, but kept a serious face.

“Listen, I love you, but I also love Hina. And I refuse to let her go without a fight.”

He then placed his hand on her head.

“If it was you in her position, I would’ve done the same thing.”

He smiled at her for a second before becoming serious again.

“Besides, it’s not just Hina I refuse to give up. I refuse to give up Ace and Sora.”

“I didn’t know you swing that way.”

Luka put on a shocked face and said.

“I don’t!”

Miko angrily shouted.

But he didn’t stay angry since he knew that Luka was only joking.

“Tell me, Luka. What do you think of the trio?”

“What I think?”

Miko nodded.

“I mean from a warrior point of view.”

Hearing that Luka started to think.

“Well….I think that they’re quite talented and have the potential to be great warriors in the future.”

She said.

“I see. So unlike Kaido you can only see the surface of their true worth.”

“What do you mean?”

Luka asked with a confused expression.

“I asked Kaido the same thing once, and his answer was that theyre monsters in their own right.”

Miko looked her in the eyes.

“I agree with him completely.”

He said.

“I mean think about it. Can you say that it would be a piece of cake defeating any of them?”

Luka thought about it and shook her head.

“If i wanted to defeat them I’ll have to fight seriously, but I would definitely win.”

She answered.

“I think the same thing. I can definitely beat them, but it wouldnt be a breeze.”

Miko added.

“Now think about our linage. In my blood is the power of several Higher Beings. Yours isn’t so extravagant but your bloodline is extremely rare as well. Not only us, Kaido has two regalia inside his body and Jin is like a mutant even among Infecteds. Even so, I don’t think none of us can discard the three as weaklings not worth mentioning. Why?”

Luka couldn’t answer, because she never really thought about it before.

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that she had one of the most powerful bloodlines in the world. She also had one of the purest. Following this logic, she should be miles away from the trio in power, but they were right on her tail instead.

She only realized how strange that was.

“But in Hina’s case, her strength comes from the powers she was born with.”

She said.

“Is that what you really think?”

“Huh?”

Miko once again said something that caused her be confused.

“Do you really think there’s nothing more to Hina than her Infected abilities?”

Miko asked her again.

“Because I don’t think so.”

He said.

“Why?”

“Hina was able to draw the attention of Nova you know. To you who drew the attention of Nero, it might not be a big deal but it is.”

Miko was right. Luka didn’t think anything was odd about Nova wanting to train not only Hina, but Sora. That was because she was being trained by Nero.

She knew that what attracted Nero was the fact the she was ouroboros Proxy, as well as her extraordinary talent, and rare Qi type.

All of this could attract anyone, not just someone like Nero.

But what was it about Hina and Sora that attracted Nova?

Not only that, Nova didn’t train them just once and got bored with them, he chose to train them on a regular basis.

From what she heard about nova, he was indifferent to most things.

Although she learned that most things she heard about him was different from what she’s witnessed, there had to some truth in them.

“You might not know this, but my uncle is a very picky person. He’s only interested in those who are special. Normal people won’t even have their presence acknowledged by him. But such a person chose those two as his students? There must be a reason.”

Said Miko.

“I believe Hina’s hidden strength goes beyond her infected powers. I believe that there’s something special about her that none of us have realized as of yet. Even Hina herself.”

“Do you have any idea of what that is?”

Luka asked.

Miko pondered for a while before shaking his head.

“I don’t know, but it must be something unbelievable.”

Even though he didn’t know, he was certain that it must be amazing considering that Nova was interested in it.

“What about Sora and Ace? They seem like normal humans no matter how much I look at them.”

Asked Luka.

“Well, I’ve kind of figured out Ace’s origins.”

“Really?”

Miko nodded.

“It was an accident though, but I’m certain.”

He then smiled.

“In fact, it’s something you said that made me figure it.”

“Something I said?”

Miko nodded.

“Do you remember when we just met and you brought me to an arcade? You then explained the different games to me and told me something interesting about the game designers.”

“Wait. Don’t tell me that Ace is a part of the Gamestar Family?!”

Miko nodded.

“Are you certain?”

Luka asked.

Miko nodded again.

“I was just guessing at first, but after I once asked Ace about the Gamestar gaming company, and his reaction was unnatural. It was then that I discovered that he had been reprogrammed to remain oblivious to anything that has to do with the Gamestar name. Not only him, but the same was for Sora and Hina as well. None of the three can realize Ace’s connection to the family.”

“Damn…..”

That as all Luka could say.

“If that’s true then Ace’s family is dead…”

Miko nodded.

“Right now I don’t know if Ringo had a hand in it, or not.”

He said.

“Do you think that he slaughtered Ace’s family just to attain him?”

Luka asked.

“Honestly, I don’t know. But I researched about the Gamestar Clan during my time at Grim City. I thought that if any place was gonna have info on them it would be that city.”

“What did you find?”

“I found out that the family was consisted of geniuses like you said, but it was a different type of genius from the two of us. The family didn’t have any relation to martial arts and only focused on creating revolutionary technology for gaming.”

“So unless Ace was a rarity who was born with great talent in war, there was no need to slaughter the family to take him away.”

Luka started to ponder it further.

“Could’ve Ringo acquire Ace by pure coincidence?”

She asked like she was muttering to herself.

“That might be the case, but we can’t rule out that he planned everything.”

Said Miko.

Ringo was too mysterious to accurately predict or comprehend his actions.

The only thing one could do was to guess.

“This brings back up the question, just what is special about the trio?”

Luka asked herself.

“I don’t know, but I can tell that they aren’t normal.”

Miko answered.

“To be honest, my instinct is telling me that we haven’t even seen the surface of what they’re really capable of.”

He said.

“I think that their potential is too great to measure with common sense. That’s the only thing that could attract someone like Ringo.”

From his knowledge, Ringo wasn’t a small figure inside New Era. In fact, it was possible that he was one of its core members.

But someone like that, chose to groom the trio personally.

That signified something, but what it signified was a mystery for Miko.

Luka looked at Miko.

“So what are you going to do? Leaving them alone is way too dangerous.”

“I’m not going to do anything.”

“What?”

Miko’s answer confused Luka.

“I’m not going to do anything to them. I refuse to prosecute them when they haven’t done anything.”

“Haven’t done anything? They’re the enemy!”

“They’re not the enemy.”

Miko looked at Luka with a sharp glare that made her be quiet.

“They’re precious to me.”

“More precious than your life?”

Luka asked with a challenging tone.

“………”

Miko didn’t answer and kept walking.

“I refuse to let anyone or anything that can harm you exist around here.”

“So what? You’re going to kill them?”

“If I must.”

She answered.

“You and I both know that’s impossible for you. Even if you can kill Ace and Sora, your Flameheart blood would cause your mind to shatter after killing Hina. Killing her is like suicide for you.”

“………”

Luka didn’t answer because Miko was right.

As a Flameheart, she was far more emotional than others. The guilt from killing a friend would lead to her end.

Even though the two disliked each other at first, she and Hina became quite close over the years and viewed each other as sisters.

This ended up being her shackles.

“Leave the matter of the trio to me. I promise that I won’t let anyone have them.”

Miko spoke with a resolute expression.

Luka wanted to say something, but it was then she sensed something.

She turned around and saw a servant appear in front of her.

“Madam, a letter from Robin.”

“?!”

Miko was slightly shocked when he heard the name he hadn’t heard in years.

An excited smile soon appeared on his face when he remembered what he had Luka assign him and the rest of Fate to do.

Luka took the letter and opened.

She read the details throughly and a small smile appeared on her face.

“Well, what did it say?”

Miko asked.

She looked at him and smiled.

“It says the plan is a go. We can finally start start our conquest.”

Miko couldn’t smile any brighter when he heard that.

“Hahahaha….Finally.”

A dangerous light shone in his eyes.

“Time set this Continent a blaze and build my empire on its ashes.”