Nebulous City, Renacido.

“What? Miko woke up?!”

Layla Song sprung to her feet upon receiving the news from Oden.

“Yeah, apparently he woke and caused a huge commotion immediately after.”

“What kind of commotion?”

“I don’t know but the whole palace was on lockdown for a while. Everything seems to be alright now. Although, I heard Lady Sasha throwing a fit and saying that she’s gonna strangle him. She just got out of the hospital too…”

Oden sighed.

“As long as he’s fine, then everything is ok.”

Layla sat back down on her seat and looked relieved.

“With the boss awake, everything should go more smoothly now.”

“You’ve been doing a great job though.”

“Yeah, but there’s a limit to what I can do.”

She rested her head on her desk.

“The face of Renacido is Miko. He’s the one that always head to the frontlines and expand our territory and show off our strength. After his victory against Dragon Storm people have been coming to our doorsteps in the droves wishing to work with us. However, after a while those same people started to wonder if Miko will ever wake up and soon they started to look at Renacido as something to snatch up rather than bow down to.”

“That’s why I hated the idea of working with those bastards. They’re all opportunists looking to get rich off our hard work. They’re looking down on us.”

“I agree but who can blame them? Miko is the backbone of Renacido. Our connections to the Dragna, Flameheart, and Saevus clans are through him. If he’s out the picture then there’s not much we can use to keep back the hungry wolves of the world.”

Despite saying something so negative, a smile appeared on Layla’s face.

“Well, at least not yet.”

She sat up.

“Oden, how’s everything coming along?”

“The Former Guardians are all in the middle of building and training their respective armies. At the moment, they each have a hundred men under them.”

“Good. Remember, quality over quantity. We could easily draft all of our members into the new military program but we need our own elites as quickly as possible. Only those with potential or resolve will be accepted….And what about your own training?”

“Yes. The former guardians and I are preparing to head into training.”

Layla’s eyes sparkled.

“Then, you got permission?”

“Yes.”

Oden smiled.

“We’ll take our teams and go to the Ruined World where Miko spent his time training and we won’t come back until the guardians and myself have broken into the divine realm.”

“That’s great! Then everything is coming together nicely. Everyone looks down on us because of our lack of strength so we’ll fix that and show them there’s more to Renacido than Miko.”

“And what about you?”

“Me?”

Layla smiled.

“I’ll continue my training under the Flameheart Clan. I can’t be slacking off either. As for Renacido, it will be led by the various representatives of Jara, Aloe, and Dale. They’re all people I chose personally so I can leave it in their hands when I’m not here. Of course, all major decision will still be made by Miko or myself.”

Just how Miko was growing, so were the people who were around him. This was truly the beginning of the rise of a new power.

*******

“I can’t believe that you did something so dangerous right after you woke up.”

Alec was looking after Miko who was now covered in bruises from nearly being killed by Sasha and Kimiko in a fit of rage.

“Like always, the women in this clan have anger issues.”

Miko laughed before groaning from pain.

“You’re lucky they didn’t put you back in a coma. I sure would’ve.”

Kirika who was leaning on wall added her own thoughts.

“Like I said, anger issues.”

“I think anyone would be angry though.”

Gizmo mumbled.

“So, why did you gather the three of us here?”

Alec asked.

“Well, I’m going on a trip soon and wanted you three to protect Renacido for me while I’m gone.”

“What about Layla Song?”

Kirika asked.

“Since I was out for six months I’m sure she got pressured a bit by all kinds of people. Knowing her, she’s not gonna take that laying down so she’s probably busy developing some countermeasures. It’s possible that she’s even putting herself through training to get stronger. I want her to focus on improving herself and Renacido without any worries. I just want to eliminate the possibilities of traitors emerging during that period, who would try to take Renacido for themselves.”

“It seems you’ve thought this through.”

“Well, when you’ve been conscious but unable to do anything physically for half a year you start thinking about stuff.”

Miko chuckled.

“You’re planning on going to the Newgate Country?”

Gizmo asked.

“That’s right. I have a few reasons I need to go there. I might spend some time down there too.”

“Is your mother fine with that? Or are you bringing your apostles along?”

“Hm…I’m thinking of going alone for now.”

“For now? Do you mean you’re planning to call them there later?”

“If there’s a need I’ll call them. As for my mother, I don’t think it’ll be hard to convince her to let me go. I just need to bring Momo.”

“You’re leaving everyone else but Momo….Why aren’t I surprised?”

Miko showed a sly smile.

“What can I say? She’s been with me from day 1.”

“Yeah, Yeah. I understand.”

Alec didn’t seem like he wanted to pry into his business.

“Oh, yeah.”

Miko suddenly looked like he remembered something.

“You said that you can create a drug that can suppress my satanic side right?”

“I did. I have your biological map and tons of data on you. I can pretty much create any drug relating to your body.”

“That’s good to hear. I’m in desperate need of suppressants at the moment.”

“Are your symptoms getting worse?”

“If I told you that I’m starting to have hallucinations what would you think?”

“What kind of hallucinations?”

“They’re all pretty random so they’re hard to describe; but some times it feels like I’m not myself.”

Miko shook his head.

“No, I’m too much of myself, if that makes sense. I’m beginning to see my own life go by as if I’m watching a movie. Sometimes, I see myself in the ancient past, other times I’m in the not so distant future.”

Miko placed a hand on the side of his head and smiled like he saw something amusing.

“There are times when I lose sight of myself, even forgetting my own name. When that happens I have to say my own name to remind myself who I am.”

He looked up at the ceiling with a strange look in his eyes.

“The funniest thing about all this is that even when I forgot my name I still know my identity.”

A cruel smile appeared on his face.

“The man that will baptize this world in the flames of hell, Satan.”

“……”

The trio looked at Miko in silence and then he looked down and the smile on his face turned in a bright one.

“That’s why I need you to create that suppressant. If you don’t, I might really turn into the last boss you know.”

“I see.”

That’s when the door opened and kirika abs Alec’s father, Alexis Dragna walked in.

“Here.”

He threw something at Miko and he caught it before looking at what it was.

“Pills?”

“Take those and your symptoms will temporary disappear for quite sometime.”

“Father, did you create suppressants because you knew that this would happen?”

Kirika asked her father.

“I wasn’t certain that it would happen but it was one of the many possibilities. Also, considering the nature of the situation it isn’t something I can just leave to chance. Countermeasures has to be prepared.”

“……”

Miko looked at the pills that he was holding and then at Alexis.

(Alexis Dragna….Along with Alexus Dragna, his father, he’s the greatest mind in the entire Dragna clan. I don’t really have that much memory of him but he does leave an impression.)

“What’s wrong? You got the medicine that you wanted. Go ahead and take it.”

Alexis said. Miko looked at Alec and he nodded. Seeing that Miko opened the pill container and threw a pill into his mouth and swallowed it.

“?!”

The moment he did he felt a burning sensation in his chest. It felt like his heart was on fire. The heat then spread to the rest of his body as if it was pumped into his bloodstream. Soon Miko’s hazy mind became clear and devilish thoughts that filled his head were no more.

“How do you feel?”

“….A lot better. Thank you.”

“Mhm.”

Alexis nodded and then walked out of the room.

“The effects will last for a day at most so you need to take them daily. If you miss a day the symptoms will return. If you miss a few days they will most likely worsen, so be careful.”

He disappeared after saying that. Miko looked at the pills again and smiled.

“Looks like I get to be myself for a while longer.”

********

Later that day, Miko returned to Renacido and met with his people. He was currently sitting at the head of a table with all of them. At his sides were Luka and Hina while Layla sat at the other end of the table. Sora and Ace were by her sides and the twins were on the sides as well. Momo was no where to be seen.

“You’re going to Newgate by yourself? I’m against that.”

Layla said.

“Not by myself. I’m going with Ishma, Regis, Tia, and Momo.”

“Your usual group, huh.”

Ace said.

“Besides, I’m going to serve as a vanguard, the rest of you will come later on. So we’ll only be apart for a few months. Once I’ve gotten a full grasp of the situation and decide what I want to do down there then I’ll call you.”

“You mean you’re going down there without a goal in mind?”

Luka asked.

“Is there a problem?”

“There’s a huge problem. If you don’t have a goal that means you’re going into potential enemy territory without a plan. This is Kaido we’re dealing with here. Did you forget that we fought a huge battle against the rest of the Dragon Stars?”

“Calm down. Going in without a plan is a part of the fun. It’s like watching a movie without even watching the trailer. You don’t know what you’re getting yourself into but you can still enjoy yourself.”

“Please tell me you’re joking.”

Miko laughed.

“Don’t worry. I have certain objectives in mind for my trip. Also, if things turn south I’ll contact you all right away.”

“….I guess we can’t stop you anyway.”

Miko smiled.

“Alright. Now to collect my invitation.”

Miko stood up and walked out of the room. Everyone already knew what he was going to do from what he said.

After Miko left from his meeting, he went into the city. He was walking around without a disguise so he naturally drew a lot of attention. Citizens would greet him with smiles and tell him that they were happy that he was awake. Miko would reply to them with a smile and happily greet his human and non-human citizens.

“It seems that you’re really popular.”

Many didn’t know when, but someone appeared beside Miko and was walking side by side. This person He was over 6ft tall, had tanned skin, black hair with white ends that stretched down to his back, gold eyes and a mole under his left eye. He was wearing a black overcoat with a white dress shirt neatly tucked into his dark jeans. A black tie was around his neck and black points were on his feet. This person was Kaido.

“Of course they love me, I’m the Don King.”

Miko laughed.

“Well, congratulations on your victory against Tang. It was a good fight.”

“Yeah….But let’s cut to the chase.”

Kaido nodded and took out an envelope and gave it to Miko.

“Gamiko Dragna the Third, you are officially invited to the Newgate County by our Queen, Bloom Newgate.”

Miko smiled and took the envelope.

“Road trip.”