“I see. So Bloom is suspected to be in a coma.”

Red Light District, Miko was changing out of his bandages while getting a report of what was happening.

“Natasa also seems to be running wild which she can do since the Pillars were the only side at full strength.”

He put on his jacket and straightened it with a smile on his face.

“So from what I heard we’ve been completely on the defensive. Is that right, Edward?”

“I’m ashamed but that is the case. If you wish you can punish me.”

Edward kneeled in front of Miko not daring to look up at him.

“Why are you being so dramatic? You protected this place in my stead so there’s no need for punishments. In fact, I’ll reward you later.”

Miko walked past him and took up his swords that were leaning on the wall. He touched them and they lit up before taking their human forms.

“…Yawn~!”

Ishma yawned while stretching her body. Regis, on the other hand, just stood there blinking her eyes with an unfocused look on her face.

“You two have been sleeping long enough. It’s time to wake up.”

Miko said. A bright light flashed behind him and Tia appeared there with a smile on her face. She immediately hugged Miko.

“I was so worried. I’m glad that you’re okay.”

“Hahaha. You worry too much, Tia. Even if they killed me I would just crawl my way out of hell.”

Tia released him and laughed a bit.

“It’s good that you’re still your old self. Hm?”

Tia looked at him for a bit before asking-

“Is there something different about you? Your presence is completely different than before.”

Miko laughed and turned his back to her.

“I’m the same as always. If anything, just a bit more refined.”

He headed towards the door.

“Anyway, let's get going.”

“Where to?”

Miko turned around and smiled which confused everyone.

“You said we’ve been the ones on the defensive this whole time, right?”

“Oh!”

The first one to realize what he meant was Ishma.

“So we’re gonna do it, huh?! I’ve been waiting for ages!”

Her reaction caused everyone to realize what Miko’s next words are going to be.

“It’s time we go on the attack, don’t you think?”

The Military City, Romix. The city was under heavy guard for three reasons. One, the country was at war so it naturally needed to be on guard. Two, this city was attacked once before and it was also where most of the military’s firepower was stored. Three, Natasa Kingsley pissed off a lot of people in the last month and they’ll definitely come looking for revenge.

“Someone’s coming.”

One of the soldiers guarding the main entrance to the city saw someone leisurely making their way towards them. This person who was dressed in black jeans and shirt, and an azure jacket and shoes, was immediately recognized as Miko.

“Enemy sighted! Prepare to engage!”

An alarm was set off and soldiers started running to man the gate and walls. Even with the number of his enemies rapidly increasing and countless weapons being aimed at him, Miko’s pace didn’t increase or decreased in the least. He simply stooped down and placed his hand on the ground. A black-light then spread out across the ground in a flash.

“Black Ruin.”

Starting from where Miko was, large cracks spread out in the ground and the earth burst open with a catastrophic force.

“What the?!”

The soldiers started panicking with the ground underneath them bursting open, throwing them out off balance. One of them turned around to warn those on the wall.

“No way…”

All he saw was his allies falling while getting crushed by pieces of the wall. He, himself, was soon crushed as well.

“……..”

Miko silently stood up and continued his way to the city. He walked past the confused and frightened soldiers and even stepped over all the corpses and entered the city.

“Halt!”

He was immediately surrounded by soldiers and armed vehicles who were all aiming their weapons at him.

“Saying halt instead of firing on sight? Are you fools still afraid to kill me?”

Miko smirked.

“Well, the idea that any of you here could kill me if you could is ridiculous in itself.”

“Son of a bitch!”

Miko could hear the sounds of weapons clutching which amused him.

“Quinta-Dragon Martial Arts.”

The soldiers saw the images of five dragons appear behind him and was taken aback. The dragons all had a different color: Azure, Purple, Crimson, Green, and Black.

“Azure Dragon Style…”

All the dragons except for the azure dragon disappeared and it became five times bigger. An azure glow covered Miko’s body as he walked forward.

“Let’s see what you fools can do.”

“Fire!”

“Too late!”

Miko accelerated with a sonic boom and quickly cut the distance between him and the enemy.

“Flood Step!”

*BOOM!*

Miko started rained down lightning-fast attacks on everything that was in front of him. Punches, kicks, palms strikes, knees strikes, etc. He mercilessly bombarded all of these soldiers and their vehicles without letting up even for a second. The army was instantly ripped apart as disfigured bodies and scraps of metal were blown into the air. To those watching from afar felt like the army was a forest that was being mowed down by the flood that was Miko. In less than a minute, the casualties were already piling up. When he finally stopped a trail of destruction was left in the middle of the army.

“Not even the armored vehicles and powersuits that were made extra sturdy against magic attacks could resist being crushed to pieces…”

A soldier looked at Miko and his entire body trembled. Miko smiled while looking at his hands.

“It still needs some refining but it seems that I’m capable of using at least the Azure Dragon Style in this body without any issues.”

He faced the rest of the army.

“Now then, you people seem to have gotten a bit too cocky while I was away.”

He clenched his fist and smiled.

“How about I put you in your place?”

“Oh? I was just thinking the same thing.”

The army parted and Bastian was seen walking towards him.

“I think this is the first time we’re meeting face to face. I’m Bastian Brant, it’s a pleasure to meet you, Miko.”

Miko’s expression didn’t change in the least when Bastian showed himself. In fact, he seemed amused.

“So you’re the man who trained Natasa.”

He looked at the tattoos on his arm and laughed.

“So that barbaric technique still exists even in this era? You humans never change, huh?”

“Hm? Do you recognize my technique? Impressive. This is an ancient technique that not many know-”

“Yeah, yeah. I’m quite knowledgeable about the topic. More importantly, are you here to fight me?”

Bastian shrugged.

“You attacked my city. I must stop you even if I don’t want to.”

Miko grinned.

“That’s exactly what I wanted to hear.”

Miko broke out in a sprint and soldiers moved to block his path.

“Stop! Do you think that we’ll just let you-”

“Who gave you fodders lines?”

Miko's speed had an explosive increase and he instantly tore apart everyone who blocked him and continued to make his way to Bastian, who moved towards him and threw a punch at Miko’s head.

“Flow Step.”

Miko avoided his punch completely with swift and smooth steps and stopped behind Bastian.

“Are you angry that your men were killed before your eyes?”

Miko turned around and faced him with a mocking smile.

“They actually dared to try and stop me. Death was the only outcome. After all, won’t bugs get crushed if they stand in the way of a running elephant?”

“I never took you for the arrogant type.”

“If speaking the truth makes me arrogant then so be it!”

The two rushed towards each other. Bastian threw a punch at Miko’s head again but Miko avoided it with swift and smooth movements.

(His footwork is amazing.)

Bastian thought while spinning around and throwing a kick.

*Bam!*

Miko blocked the kick by crossing his arms in front of him. The kick forced him back a bit and Bastian chased after him.

“He allowed himself to get hit. Why?”

He straightened his fingers out and thrust them towards Miko’s heart. Miko stomped the ground and azure energy form a circle around him before shooting up like a pillar to shield him from Bastian's attack.

“Defense Wave.”

Bastian strike hit the pillar and was blocked. The pillar disappeared the next instant which caught Bastian off guard.

“My turn.”

Miko took a step forward and alarm bells immediately went off in Bastian’s head.

(I’m gonna get killed!)

“Flowing Serpent Strike!”

Miko straightened his fingers and thrust them at Bastian with lightning-fast speed.

*Bam!* *Bam!* *Bam!* *Bam!* *Bam!*

The continuous strikes hit Bastian’s smallest vital points with deadly accuracy and speed. They rocked him and caused his upper body to dance as if he was having a seizure. With how fast the attacks came along with the azure glow around Miko’s fingertips, it looked like Bastian was being attacked by a den of snakes. Miko’s hands finally came to a halt after nearly a minute. He smiled.

“Despite your laid-back personality, it seems that even you fear death. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have learned that self-preservation skill.”

Bastian was covered with a green glow while the turtle tattoo on his arm was glowing. He looked completely fine after taking Miko’s attack but that was only physically.

(….I could’ve died just now. There’s no doubt about it after seeing it close up. If that had landed my body would be filled with holes. He would’ve punctured my heart and lungs, maybe even rip them out my chest.)

Cold sweat was flowing down his cheek and his pupil was visibly shaking.

“Heh.”

His body flinched when Miko grinned. The look in his eyes was one of mockery.

“You!”

“Ah, don’t worry. I acknowledge that you were merely caught off guard and that I would still lose in a fight against you. After all, I currently lack the firepower to break through your Turtle Shell. Especially with this…”

He lifted one his arm and showed a purplish bruise that was on it. Bastian immediately knew that he got it when he took his attack.

“I would definitely lose in a fight but…”

Miko smirked.

“But you’re scared of me aren’t you? The fact that you won’t undo that technique that makes you unable to move in exchange for absolute defense is proof.”

Miko brought his face closer to his and stared in his eyes.

“You’re fully aware that just one slip up against me and your head will roll. After all, you don’t know how to react to my techniques and you’re aware that I’ve only shown off a mere fraction of what I can do, while I’m very familiar with that technique that you’re using.”

Being forced to look into Miko’s slit eyes sent chills down Bastian’s spine. He felt like he was looking into a dark abyss that was dragging the soul out of his body.

“But don’t worry.”

Miko suddenly stepped back.

“I only came here to knock you guys off your high horses. I have no intention of killing you…”

He smiled.

“At least not yet anyway. For now, I’ll just enjoy tormenting all of you.”

He turned around and started walking away. This time no soldier moved to block his path.

“Oh.”

He stopped and glanced behind him at Bastian.

“Be sure to tell Jin, Kaido, and Natasa. Get stronger, get far stronger than you are now as quickly as possible.”

He started walking away again.

“Otherwise, it won’t be fun.”

He waved as he headed out the huge hole he created.

“See ya.”

It was only after he felt his presence disappear that Bastian relax.

“….We were wrong, Gear. There is a bigger monster in this country.”

“You really attacked the city by yourself.”

Miko met up with his comrades not long after leaving the city. They were stationed outside in case things got dangerous for Miko, despite him assuring them that he would be fine.

“I must admit. You’ve gotten a lot stronger.”

Luka said.

“Not necessarily. I just finally learned how to fight at my full potential.”

Miko looked at them all with a smile.

“I’m going to help you all do the same.”

He then specifically looked at Momo.

“I can’t defeat Bastian yet and probably won’t be able to until I properly tone my body to how I want. So I’m leaving him to you. Can you take him?”

Momo looked at Miko for a bit before nodding.

“Leave it to me.”

Miko grinned when he saw her confidence.

“Then, I’ll leave it in your hands.”