The Flameheart Residence, Lushun. The head of the Flameheart Clan Darwin Flameheart was walking down the hallways of his home. He had a troubled expression on his face. He recalled the conversation he had with the Grand Elder of the clan, Maria Flameheart.

“It looks like there are members of the clan who are acting on their own.”

“I’ve noticed. It looks like we can no longer hold them back.”

“What are you going to do? If it continues like this they may end up causing a war between us and the Dragna clan.”

“I’m having Jeffery keep an eye on those who seem to be the ringleaders. To be honest, I really feel like punishing those people but doing so would have a negative effect on the rest of the clan. It will also seem like I’m siding with the Dragna clan. It wouldn’t be strange if they start organizing a rebel in retaliation.”

“An immediate rebellion wouldn’t happen though, but there’s no denying that it could happen in future. This is the reason why I stayed out of this. Once our fire has been lit it’s hard to stop us after all.”

“And I’m stuck in this disastrous situation.”

“Well, you are the clan leader.”

“No sympathy for your brother-in-law, huh? You’re the same as always.”

“…….”

Darwin walked in silence while countless thoughts ran through his mind.

“Hm?”

That’s when he noticed that the door of one of the rooms nearby was opened. This room belonged to Luka.

“Did she forget to lock it?”

He smiled and shook his head and approached the door.

“That girl can sure be forgetful sometimes.”

He placed his hand on the doorknob and was about to close the door but he noticed something. It was a piece of paper. He stooped down to pick it up.

“She’s littering too…Huh?”

He froze when he saw what was written on it.

“MIKO.”

Normally Darwin wouldn’t think much of it if he found a paper with Miko’s name on it; after all, he was aware of Luka’s feelings towards him. But….

“It’s written with blood?”

A paper with Miko’s name on it written in blood? That wasn’t something he could ignore. He stood up and pushed the door open and walked inside. The room was pitch black which gave Darwin an eerie feeling. He took a deep breath and flicked the lights on.

“?!”

His eyes widen and his body stiffened when he saw the state the room was in. The room was a complete mess. Paper was scattered all over the room, but that wasn’t just it. The furniture in the room were all broken and looked like they were flung across the room. But that wasn’t the most disturbing thing about the room. It was the pictures that were on the ground and hung on the walls.

“Miko…..”

There were countless pictures of Miko everywhere he looked. Some were ripped to shreds, some were cut up, some had knives stuck in them, some were burnt, and some had the faces marked out.

“…..What the hell?”

Darwin walked deeper into the room and looked around.

“There’s blood on the walls and ground.”

He went to take a closer look and saw bloodstained fist marks on the ground and wall. He turned and looked around again and saw that blood was splattered on a lot of pictures. He looked at the floor again and found some stacks of paper nearby. He stooped down and started going through them.

“Kill Miko!”

“Kill Miko?”

“Miko?”

“Why?”

“Help me!”

“Love.”

“Hate.”

“Die!”

“Run!”

“Fight!”

Stuff like this was written on them, all using blood.

“Luka, what happened to you?”

*Drip!*

He felt something fall on his head and ran down his face. He wiped it off with his finger and looked what it was. It was deep red liquid. This caused him to look up.

“?!”

His eyes once again widened and his body trembled.

“My god….”

He found himself frozen in place looking at the ceiling. He didn’t even move when another drop of blood fell on his face. On the ceiling, there was something written in bold large letters.

“KILL MIKO ❤️ !”

Darwin’s body started to tremble and before he knew it tears started flowing from his eyes uncontrollably. He gritted his teeth and clenched his fists.

“WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS?!”

Meanwhile back at Renacido.

“What, Miko was challenged to a Proxy Duel?”

The one who asked the question was Sora who had just returned with Ace.

“Yes. The one who challenged him was Darius’ niece, Luka Flameheart.”

Hina answered.

“Luka? I heard about her. Rumor has that she’s a super genius who is also a proxy.”

Ace said.

“I’m surprised that she would challenge Miko though.”

“Why?”

Hina asked.

“Because she’s Miko fiancée of course.”

“But she’s a Flameheart and Miko is the enemy of her clan. She challenging him isn’t that odd.”

“Also, I heard that she and Miko had a rough relationship. Rumor has it that they fought a lot and really hated each other.”

“Who told you that nonsense?”

Momo walked up to the trio with a frown.

“The two may have competed against each other a lot as kids, but those two never hated each. In fact, they…”

She stopped speaking and seemed upset.

“I’m going to try and convince Miko again. No matter how bad the relationship between the Flameheart and Dragna are, there’s no reason for those two to fight in something like a proxy duel.”

She immediately stormed off after saying that.

The trio looked at each other seemingly worried.

“Looks like the relationship between the two wasn’t as simple as we thought.”

Hina said. She looked somewhat depressed.

“By the way, a Proxy Duel is an official duel where two proxies decide who is superior right? Does it have to be a battle to the death?”

Ace asked.

“No, but from the mood around here I’m sure this one will be.”

“….I’m going to see Miko too.”

Hina was about to walk out but she stopped when she saw Momo rushing back inside.

“Miko’s gone!”

The Imperial Capital, Dragna City. Miko was walking through the crowded streets with both hands in his pockets and a frown on his face.

“It’s Miko.”

“Quick, make way.”

People quickly noticed him and tried their best to avoid him. Everyone realized that something was off about him and didn’t want to upset him today of all days. However, there will always be exceptions.

*Bam!*

The ground he was walking on suddenly came alive and formed four walls which surrounded him and slammed into him.

“Get him!”

Several men jumped out of the shadows with spears and swords and thrust their blades in the gaps between the walls and aimed directly at Miko. They leaped back and cracklings could be heard coming from the sky.

*BAM!*

A giant bolt of lightning fell from the sky and hit the trapped Miko directly. The walls of earth were disintegrated and everyone could see Miko being electrocuted.

“Don’t let up!”

More people jumped out and fired two gigantic fireballs at Miko. The fireballs mixed with the lightning and caused a storm of fire and lightning. Even more, people came out with magic guns and started firing at Miko. One after the other attacks keep hitting Miko.

The continuous attacks lasted for over five minutes. The citizens stood in shook and watched the display of powerful assaults on Miko.

“T-This…might work.”

“Even if it doesn’t, I’m sure he’ll be severely injured.”

Smiles started appearing on the people’s faces.

“Do it! Kill him!”

“Yeah, Kill that bastard!”

They even started cheering on the assassins. After nearly ten minutes the attacks finally ceased. The attackers which were a little over a dozen people were all breathing heavily. Everyone was staring at spot that was covered with smoke. Their hearts were racing and some even started praying.

When the smoke finally dissipated everyone’s eyes widened.

“H-He’s on the ground! Miko’s on the ground!”

They saw Miko laying in a crater with his body covered in sooth and his clothes reduced to rags.

“They did it!”

“They killed Miko!”

“Thank the heavens!”

Even though Tia had asked the people to give Miko a chance, his actions of creating a monster country had made them instantly lose all faith in him. So many still wished for his demise, and know they were able to witness it. This was undoubtedly the best day of their lives.

“Ahh~.”

Well, it was.

“Huh?”

A small sigh which wasn’t m loud at all silenced the cheers of the people in the area. They saw Miko’s fingers twitch and it felt like their hearts had twitched as well.

“He’s not dead! Attack him again!”

The assassins all immediately pounced at Miko. A couple of them drew their swords, daggers, and Spears and stabbed down on Miko’s body.

“Die! Die! Die!”

They chanted as they desperately stabbed him with all of their might.

“Di-”

“Shut up already.”

The one who was standing directly over Miko suddenly had their throat grabbed. This caused the others to instantly back away. They looked and saw Miko’s shadow spread out on the ground and started moving like tentacles underneath him. They then witness the 2D shadows pop off the ground and became black tentacles. The tentacles pushed Miko off the ground slowly and made him stand up.

Everyone could see countless wounds on his body, yet..

“There’s no blood….”

Despite having several large cuts no blood flowed out of Miko. They then saw something terrifying. Threads of darkness came out of the wounds and started wiggling like they were insect legs. The threads of darkness then started piercing in and out of Miko’s skin and started sowing the wounds shut.

“W-What the hell?!”

This scene freaked out everyone that saw it.

It didn’t take long for all the wounds to get stitched up and disappear. After that the darkness which made him stand him wrapped around Miko like tentacles and quickly formed clothes. When everything was done Miko didn’t look any different from how he did before he was attacked.

“…….”

He silently looked at the person he was holding by the throat. Their appearance was hidden but from the body line, it was a woman. She was trembling and was trying her to free herself from his grip.

“L-Let her go, you monster!”

One of the woman’s comrade stepped forward and shouted. Miko silently looked at him and then-

*Crack!*

He crushed the woman throat and then threw her aside like she was garbage.

“Happy?”

He looked at the man and asked.

“You bastard!”

Static started crackling in the man’s palm as he pointed it a Miko.

“Regis.”

Miko stretched his left hand to the side and his figure suddenly flickered.

“?!”

Before anyone knew it, Miko was standing behind the man with Regis in his hand. The static disappeared from the man’s hand.

*Thud!*

His upper body slowly slid off and hit the ground while his lower body was still upright. Blood sprayed into the air and the lower body also hit the floor.

“Ahh?!”

People screamed in horror., while Miko only stood in place and slowly put away his sword. He then turned around and left.

“….Huh? He’s just leaving after killing two people?”

His actions came as a shock to everyone. They thought that he would kill all of his attackers and everyone who cheered for his death. They didn’t expect him to spare so many people.

“Could it be that he’s more injured than he looks?”

“No. It’s just that Miko isn’t really in the mood.”

A voice caused everyone to turned around. There they were shocked to see five monsters and a man with an eye at the center of his head. A manticore, a lizardman, a winged lion, a dark elf woman, and an Orc. They were the former guardians of Jara Jungle and the leader of the Parasite Demons, Oden.

“He isn’t in the mood to waste his time on a bunch of insects like you.”

Oden said with a cruel grin on his face.

“So we’ll take care of you in his place. But don’t worry we won’t kill you.”

He pointed at his third eye.

“You’ll become keys to awaken my people.”

“Run!”

The people and the assassins scattered and started running. They weren’t fools they could tell the monsters in front of them were incredibly strong. They were strong enough to earn themselves a rank of elder in the dragna clan. They were monster through and through.

“Hahaha! I can’t believe I get to hunt humans freely.”

The manticore Aiden laughed joyfully.

“Remember, Miko said that if he ever ignore people deserving of death they are to be captured and have their souls devoured by the Parasite Demons and help them awakened. We can’t kill them.”

The dark elf Acacia said.

“As long as we don’t kill them it’s fine right? Then we can eat a limb or two no problem.”

Oden and the former guardians all had cruel smiles on their faces. They then proceeded to capture everyone who attacked or prayed for Miko’s death, and beat to an inch of their lives before taking them back to Renacido.

Meanwhile Miko stopped once again. This time he was standing in front of the person he was searching for.

“Luka.”

Luka had her hands and arms wrapped in bandages. Her eyes had black circles under them and her skin looked pale, yet there was a crazed smile on her face. When Miko saw her a similar smile appeared on his face.

“Miko, you’ve came. Now when and where do you want to die?”

Luka asked.

“Funny, I was about to ask you the same thing. How about now, if you can do it?”

He showed a mocking smile.

“Alright. I have a location in mind. Follow me.”

Black wings appeared from Luka’s back and she used them to instantly shot into the air. Miko immediately followed behind her.

“They’ve both left.”

Immediately after they left some men with emerald and black hair appeared from the shadows. From their features alone it was safe to say that they were from the Flameheart Clan.

“The assassins failed and were even taken captive.”

“It was really unexpected, to think that Miko has such strange abilities.”

“He’s really a monster.”

“It doesn’t matter. The battle between him and the Princess is about to happen. All that’s left to do is to prevent them from being interrupted.”

“It was unfortunate that we couldn’t at least wear him out and make it easier for the princess to win, but there’s no helping it now. We’ll just have to have faith in her strength.”

The Flameheart members nodded in agreement.

“Either way, there’s no stopping them now. No matter who wins and loses, we will go to war with the Dragna clan and earn our freedom.”