The Red Light District. Miko arrived carrying Chrome over his shoulder and a grin on his face. He quickly met up with his allies and greeted them with a big smile on his face.

“Good job, guys. I hope you had fun on your field trips.”

“Hina almost got killed by Isabel Luna.”

“Tessa, there’s no need to let him know!”

Hina shouted.

“I see.”

Miko looked at Hina.

“She was strong wasn’t she?”

Hina nodded after some hesitation.

“I fought against Illusionary Sword Arts before but she was something else. It makes me wonder how you were able to fight her.”

“Well, she’s most likely gotten a lot stronger since then. Anyway, if you practice what I teach you, you’ll surpass her.”

Miko messed with her hair a bit before walking away.

“Where’s our other guest?”

“She’s in the room you told us to put her in. It was easier than I thought to find her.”

Sora said.

“Before he defected, I made Ace give Kaido a bracelet and a letter telling him to put it on Hana to keep her safe. I bet everything on how much he trusted me and as luck would have it he gave her the bracelet before they lost to Bastian. What he didn’t know was that the bracelet had a tracker in it and a camouflage feature that activates by itself when the wearer’s heart rate is escalating above normal. I think both he and Hana completely forgot about it with everything going on, which is what I was hoping for.”

He tapped Chrome.

“As for her, it’s was a bit more difficult since it took months of planning. I had Robin and the others pose as citizens in the capital before the war even happened for this exact reason. I wanted to capture this brat.”

Earlier when Miko arrived at the capital, he contacted his people on the inside and gave them the plan. When the fight started and he used his River Delta technique to separate everyone, Robin and Luka’s other Apostles took the chance to mix in with the soldiers. While the other members were preoccupied with Miko, they quickly took out Chrome with a combined effort and left the city with Lucio, who showed them an escape route he learned about after years of working in the capital.

“Why did you go through so much trouble to kidnap these two?”

Kristen asked.

“Chrome is a dangerous and very unstable genius. I can’t sleep well knowing that she could nuke this city at any moment. Since I can’t assassinate her I took her out of the picture a different way. As for Hana, I simply felt sorry for her. I can’t imagine how bad it must to be used as a bargaining chip against your lover….Anyway, the two will be kept here.”

“Won’t that piss off our enemies even more?”

Miko laughed.

“I’m counting on it.”

A couple of hours later, Miko was leaning on a wall looking at Momo who was going through a pile of books that was stacked in front of her.

“Incredible right? These are all ancient techniques and spells that have either been lost or are extremely hard to get.”

“Can I really keep these?!”

Momo’s eyes were sparkling.

“Of course. I’ve picked out the ones I believe are most compatible with you. I need you to get stronger as fast as possible and learning the stuff in these books that I’ve written will help.”

“That’s great! I love you!”

“Hahaha, I love you too.”

Miko then left the room after telling Momo to have fun.

(Each of those books has priceless knowledge in them. Are you sure about giving them away like that?)

Tia spoke in his head.

“Of course. She’s sacrificed so much for me. I’ll give her the world if she asked.”

Tia laughed.

(The thing is, Momo should’ve been far stronger than she is already. I thought that she was getting over her trauma but it looks like it isn’t that easy.)

“Trauma, huh? The thing with her dead twin brother Vanz is annoying but I guess you can’t force it or she might have a mental breakdown.”

Miko walked down the halls.

“Next, I’m going to teach Ace the way I use Vita and see if it can get some inspiration. After that, I’ll teach the twins how to better utilize their demon arts. After that, is sparring against Luka’s new Dragonite and help her improve it. Then, I’ll have a look at that technique Sora said Aeon helped him develop. As for Hina, she’s already learning Primordial Dark Magic so she’s covered.”

(You sure are busy but If everyone is busy training themselves, who is gonna protect this city?)

Miko grinned and pointed at himself.

“Leave everything to me. I’ll make it clear to anyone who comes here that they’re not allowed in.”

“Hello, Ladies.”

Miko entered a room filled with luxurious furniture with a smile on his face. In the room was Hana who was sitting on a sofa.

“How are you, Hana?”

“…I’m fine, I guess.”

“I see, that’s great. I was worried that you weren’t comfortable.”

“Oi.”

Miko looked over at his other guest with a weird smile.

“Yes?”

“Don’t you think the difference in treatment is too great here, you sadistic shit?!”

Chrome screamed while being chained to a wall.

“Well, Hana is a friend of mine while you’re a psychotic bitch who’s a secret lesbian.”

“Who are you calling psychotic?!”

“So you won’t deny the lesbian part?”

Miko laughed.

“Hana, help me out here!”

Chrome decided to plea to her fellow captive.

“Miko, isn’t this too much?”

“She’s lucky that she’s still wearing clothes. She should be grateful.”

“I’ll kill you, you damn pervert!”

“Big words for someone chained to the wall. Oh, those chains aren’t special in any way. I’m sure you can break them whenever you want. So if you want to fight you can.”

Miko started grinning.

“Of course, I’ll take that as an act of aggression and will have to act in kind. So, if you really want to, I’m up for a round.”

“………”

Chrome became silent. She just quietly stared at Miko. The longer she stared at him the faster her heart started beating. No matter how hard she tried to think of a way she couldn’t figure out how to beat him.

“Miko, could stop messing with her?”

Hana spoke up.

“I just wanted to see the extent of her madness. Apparently, she’s still able to understand death.”

Miko swung his hand and the chains snapped freeing Chrome.

“This way you’re free to move without fear of provoking me.”

Miko took a seat on a chair and crossed his legs.

“Have a seat and make yourself comfortable.”

Chrome stared at him for a bit before sitting down.

“Don’t worry. If I wanted to kill you I would’ve done it already.”

“Then, what do you want?”

“A harem full of all the women I love and a world where I can mess around with my friends with peace at mind.”

“Huh?”

Both Hana and Chrome had a confused look on their faces.

“Oh, you mean what I want with you?”

Miko started laughing.

(This bastard….I wanna kill him!)

Chrome shouted in her head. Miko stopped laughing and put on a strange expression.

“Maybe I want an ally that can understand my POV.”

“What do you mean?”

Miko paused a bit before repeating to the girls what he told Jin. He told them his motive for this war.

“….You mean, you did all this to ensure her future?”

Hana asked. She was astonished by what she just heard.

“It’s true that there’s no telling who will be around Bloom to help her recover if she suffers a crushing defeat in the future…I mean, everyone has their circumstances that can lead them to betray others….”

Hana remembered Shòu’s face and felt a pain in her chest.

“The thing regarding Kaido, just leave that to me. I’m sure he only needs a good beating.”

Hana nodded with a wry smile. Miko looked at Chrome.

“What about you? Do you agree with me or am I in the wrong?”

“….It pains me but I agree with you.”

“Oh, I guess only crazy can understand crazy.”

“Don’t put me in the same category as you!”

Chrome frowned.

“I’m not blind. Bloom obviously has some mental issues that need to be sorted out. I couldn’t find a way to help her so I thought destroying her enemies would be a start, but maybe I was wrong. Sometimes it’s better to lose everything and start back from scratch than desperately holding on to something that could lead to your demise.”

She looked Miko in eyes and declared.

“I simply want Bloom to have ordinary happiness like everyone else. These constant battles and schemes will only make her life miserable.”

“Oh? You’re far more reasonable than Jin.”

Miko started applauding.

(Also, if he succeeds not only do I get to be there to comfort her, their relationship will be over. It’s a win-win!)

Chrome started grinning.

“Her thoughts are so obvious that it’s painful.”

Miko mumbled. He stood up.

“Anyway, since you agree with me then you have no problem staying here until everything is over, right?”

“On one condition. You don’t kill my comrades. Also, you can’t go overboard and traumatize them.”

“Alright.”

(That’s two conditions but since I already broke the second one it’s cool.)

Miko thought.

“With that settled, I need to handle some stuff. I’ll have someone come and give you your necessities later.”

He smiled and left the room. Hana looked at Chrome.

“I never expected that you would agree with his methods.”

“I sympathize with his goal, that’s all.”

(Also, I’m in the heart of the enemy base, so if I disagree with him he will lock me up and I won’t be able to help Bloom if she needs it. So I’ll just feed his ego for now. After all, I can’t trust him. There’s a high chance that everything he said was a lie and he wants to use me to lure the others here to kill them. It would be ideal if he truly wishes to save Bloom but if he doesn’t…)

Chrome’s eyes sharpened.

(If I see the chance to take him down, I’ll take it.)

“You know that girl doesn’t trust you, right?”

Tia appeared beside Miko and said.

“Of course. Hana can sense emotions so she knows I’m being honest, but Chrome won’t trust me going off my words or maybe even Hana’s words alone. Bloom means too much to her. She’s open to my solution but she’s looking for a chance to take my head at the same time.”

“And yet, you’ll allow her to roam free?”

“Yes and no. My senses have gotten a lot sharper. I can tell what’s going on around me up to a mile radius. Chrome will be in that distance at all times. For the off chance that I must go further away, Bella’s girls will keep an eye on her for me.”

“Why not just lock her up?”

“Where’s the fun in that?”

Miko grinned.

“Enemies from within and enemies from the outside. I’ll crush them all with overwhelming power.”