Dragna City.

Currently the capital was in an uproar. That was because there was news that both Dale and Aloe had pledge themselves to the empire and have stated their willingness to be subjugated by the Dragna empire. Many were confused by this news.

Why did dale and the Aloe Kingdom suddenly do this? Only those in the inner circles of the three governments knew the answer. They were all saying the same name.

Miko.

The man of the hour himself was nowhere to be seen in the three nations though. This caused another uproar in the Dragna top brace.

“He sent two countries to us and left without a word….I can’t even begin to guess what he’s thinking.”

Rouge said after hearing the news. He was with the rest of the branch leaders who were discussing what to do with their new found territories.

“I wonder what he’s gonna do next?”

Ecko asked.

“I think this is starting to become fun.”

“There’s nothing fun about this. Even though what he did was impressive we still don’t know what state of mind he is in. That is dangerous.”

Alexus said.

“If it was me I would go and have revenge against that Tang brat.”

Andreas said.

“I would set up a trap and slaughter his entire organization.”

“Then he’s out for revenge?”

Rouge shook his head.

“We don’t know for certain. I guess it’s time we bring him home so that we can see for ourselves just what kind of state of mind he’s in.”

“Heh.”

“What’s funny, Gamiko?”

Rouge asked after seeing Nero silently laughing to himself.

“No, I was just thinking what would be the most unexpected thing for Miko to do and started laughing because of how weird it would be.”

“What’s that?”

“No, I doubt he’ll do that. Even I wouldn’t do something that strange….Then again I think that’s exactly what I would do if I was looking to have some fun.”

“Say what it is already.”

Nero took out a letter and showed everyone.

“Did you know that today was Grim Academy’s graduation day?”

Grim Academy. Today the academy was having its graduation ceremony. As such, the academy had a festive feeling as people from all over came to see those who were graduating from this prestigious institution. There were a lot of scouts that came from global powerhouses, who came with the intention of obtaining talents for their nation or organization.

The main target of most of those targets was the student who remained #1 his entire time here, Klaus. That being said, Klaus is already from a powerhouse so recruiting was equivalent to convincing him to betray his birth country, which he was the crown prince of by the way. So even though he was their top target no one really had their hopes up.

“You’re finally graduating. It’s about time.”

Zora said to Klaus who was getting ready for the ceremony.

“What’s with that tone? Do you want me to leave that badly?”

“Of course. You only cause me trouble when you’re here. When you’re gone I’ll be able to live a bit more quietly and focus on defeating Kaido.”

“Didn’t you already defeat him?”

“Tsk. That was pure bullshit.”

Zora became upset.

“I can never understand your warrior’s pride. A win is a win no matter how you got it.”

“Well, I was born and raised in a tribe of warriors. I was taught that you’ve only defeated someone when it’s fair and square.”

“Yet you go along with my schemes?”

“That’s why I want you to hurry up and graduate! Every time I’m with you I have to soil my honor to keep you alive. Sometimes I question why I’m even friends with you.”

“Well, we grew up together. So there’s that.”

Klaus laughed. He didn’t care for Zora’s complaints.

“Anyway, now that I’ve graduated I can work towards succeeding my father.”

Klaus frowned while straightening his tie.

“But before I do that I think I need to settle a few grudges.”

Klaus was humiliated at the hands of Miko’s group time and time again. He couldn’t just let it go.

“There’s also Tang. I’ve never defeated him and it’s a haunting memory in my head. I must settle the score with him.”

“I feel the same way. I’ve always considered Tang the biggest obstacle to becoming the strongest dragon Proxy in our generation.”

“I feel offended but I’ll let it slide.”

Klaus said.

“Anyway, I’ve decided that I’ll convince my country to target Tang’s dragon storm.”

“You’re taking it that far? That would lead to war.”

“You said it yourself. That bastard is too dangerous to leave alone.”

After he had finished preparing, Klaus headed to the auditorium where the graduation ceremony was being held. The place was packed with thousands of people, despite it being an invitation only ceremony. The ceremony started on time with a speech from the instructors.

The speech were pretty much the same. They talked about how the students should choose their future paths wisely, they shared stories from their youth, and gave life lessons, all while reminiscing about their time with the graduates.

It was now time from an address from the principal.

“Hm?”

When everyone expected for Principal Matters to take the stage they instead saw Tiana Draxler walked on the stage and walked up to the platform.

“Ahem, I regret to inform that principal matters won’t be able to make it in time for his speech.”

She grinned.

“He’s a little tied up at the moment.”

She stepped back and pointed to her left.

“Instead we’ll have one of our students say a few words to the graduates.”

Everyone looked at where she pointed and saw someone dressed in a grey and white vest suit with a grey and black hat and black gloves, walked onto the stage and up to where the mic was.

All of the students were shocked to see who it was.

“Miko?!”

Miko’s appearance had caused an instant uproar.

“My upperclassmen and those who came to see them, I thank you for coming tonight. My name is Gamiko Dragna the Third, more commonly known as Miko.”

Miko’s gave a textbook introduction with a bright smile.

“Now, I’m sure you’re all wondering why I’m here. Well, I heard about the graduation and thought that it would be rude of me if I didn’t show some respect to the graduating class by giving them so advice.”

Miko scanned the crowd with his bright blue eyes and stopped when his eye fell on Klaus and Zora.

“Think carefully before you make decisions in the future, because the wrong decision could lead to your destruction.”

He moved his eyes away from them and continued to speak.

“For example, I made the decision of not taking this place seriously and ended up suffering a huge defeat because of it. I mean, I never truly trained myself while I was here and as a result, by the time of the ranking tournament I was overtaken by my own apostles and the Four Dragon Stars were far out of my league. I only learned that after being completely destroyed by one.”

Everyone was shock to hear Miko openly speak about what happened with Tang. He even stated that he was weaker than his own apostles, not many could admit that.

“Man, when I think about it I was really over my head and didn’t even realize it.”

He genuinely laughed as if he was reminiscing about some good memories. This made a lot of people feel confused.

“Did he lose his mind our something?”

“Shh! Who knows if the Dragna clan are here too!”

Whispers started coming from the crowd, but Miko didn’t seem to mind. He looked at Klaus.

“Klaus, my people humiliated you, for that I’m sorry.”

“Huh?!”

Klaus sprung up to his feet. Miko’s “apology” was like a sudden slap to his face.

“I don’t need your apology! You should be grateful that you and your group are even still alive!”

He pointed at Miko and shouted.

“By the way, you have some nerve acting like this after the humiliation you tasted recently.”

“You’re right. I was humiliated and defeated. But I’m actually grateful.”

Miko’s grinned.

“Because I was able to learn from of it. Besides, I consider this whole thing as a game. Tang had his turn, and now its mine.”

“Game? Turn? You’ve already lost!”

Miko’s gaze sharpened when he heard that. This caused Klaus to shout his mouth on reflex.

“Hahaha!”

He then started laughing and slowly turned his gaze away from Klaus and faced everyone again.

“Graduates, I hope you take my advice. Make your choices wisely. A wrong choice will lead you down the path to hell.”

He stepped back.

“With that, my speech is over. Take care and make sure we never meet on the battlefield.”

He walked away while waving.

“……”

The auditorium was silent for a while after Miko left. It was Klaus who spoke what was on everyone’s mind.

“What the hell was that?”

*********

The rest of the graduation happened as planned. Principal Matters made it near the end, a bit out of breath. He glared at Tiana before giving the students their diplomas.

After the graduation, Miko met with Kaido.

“You created quite the stir.”

Kaido said to Miko who was sitting on the edge of the roof and staring at the sunset.

“In the end I couldn’t understand what you came here for.”

“I said it didn’t I? I just wanted to honor those who were graduating with some advice.”

“Your advice sounded like a warning more than anything.”

“Well, they’re soldiers. So there’s a chance that we’ll meet in the future. If we do I won’t show them any mercy, I just wanted them to know that.”

Miko stood up on the edge.

“Oh, I also wanted to thank you.”

“For what?”

“You warned me about Tang. Even though I didn’t listen, you still looked out for me. For that, I’m grateful.”

He turned around and showed a friendly smile.

“So I’ll give you a warning too.”

He walked up and placed his hand on his shoulder. For some reason, his hand didn’t feel like a human’s hand to Kaido. Instead it felt like the paw of a beast.

“I’m a very dangerous entity. I’m currently unstable, so much that I might try to slit your throat for no reason at all. It’s not that I hate you or anything it’s just that I’m suffering from some…mental issues? Anyway, there are times that I feel the need to carry out my darkest and evil desires and thoughts, and there are times that I’m extremely whimsical and will create chaos for no reason at all.”

Kaido peek at Miko’s face.

“?!”

That’s when he saw that his right eye was as black as the night while his left eye was a neon blue color. There was even a very distorted smile on his face that sent chills up one’s spine.

“If even knowing this, your boss wants to form a beneficial relationship than I’m in.”

“I think-”

“I just gave a speech on how to think carefully before you make decisions. You should do the same, because I won’t be held responsible if you’re dragged to the deepest pits of hell with me.”

After saying that, Miko left Kaido alone on the roof. He stood in silence and did as Miko said and thought about it. After thinking about it for a while, he decided to make a call.

“Bloom, we need to talk.”

*******

“Yo.”

After he left the roof Miko walked around the academy a bit before running into Tiana Draxler.

“Thanks for allowing me to make my speech.”

“No problem. I thought it would be fun, and it was.”

Tiana laughed.

“So what are you going to do now? Go after Tang?”

“I’m gonna go home. I’m sure a lot of people are worry about me right now.”

He started walking past her, but stopped when he was directly beside her.

“You know, it feels strange meeting a kin like this. Are there a lot of you in your organization?”

Tiana was taken aback but quickly regained her composure.

“Are you curious? If you join there’s a chance that you’ll discover your true family.”

“I already know my family, but I’ll think about your offer.”

Miko continued walking past her.

“Our goals are pretty similar after all.”

“It must be engraved into our very being because all of us kin are the same.”

The two spoke in unison while their backs faced each other.

“We just want to see the world burn.”