The country was in a state of chaos. There was no place right now that a fight wasn’t taking place. Everyone was committing violence. Some for enjoyment, some for ambition, some for loyalty, and some for survival. The reason didn’t matter. Blood was on their hands and no noble cause would change that.

In this circus of madness, one man watched the acts of violence and made gestures matching them as if he was a conductor or in this case a Ringmaster. This person was Miko.

“You seem quite pleased with what’s happening.”

Tia smiled at him.

“You even have a cute little devilish smile on your face. Do you love seeing people suffer that much?”

Miko watched as a man who was clearly a civilian repeatedly stabbed an injured soldier from the Four Pillars’ forces. He yelled frantically as blood splashed on his face. He stopped long after the soldier had stopped moving. The man started laughing in a deranged manner. He lifted his hands up towards the heavens.

“Oh, my glorious queen! I have rid your world of this heretic, a traitor worthy of the death I’ve given him! May the heavens take this sacrifice and aide you in defeating those traitors standing against you!”

A big grin appeared on Miko’s face.

“Tia, have I ever told you how much I hate humans?”

“You used to say it even in your sleep.”

“Then, have I ever told you how much I love them?”

“Now, that’s news to me.”

Miko nodded.

“I hate them but I can’t help but love them. Do you know why? It’s because of how ugly the human nature can be. Especially, in times of desperation. Their ugliness is both entertaining and repulsive.”

He pointed at the man who went to hide, probably waiting for another wounded soldier to stumble his way.

“In his eyes what he’s doing is just. He’s killing traitors who have destroyed the harmony that his country once had. But what about that man he just killed? He fought for what he believed in and perished for it. Was his cause just or was he just evil?”

“It depends on who wins this war in the end. The winner decides what’s just and what’s evil.”

Tia said.

“If the pillars win, that soldier will be a hero who died for the greater good. If they lose he’s just another bad guy who got what he deserved.”

Miko nodded.

“That’s why I’m smiling. I enjoy watching people fight in the name of their own twisted justice.”

“You sound like one of those cheesy villains from those comics you’re always reading.”

Tia laughed.

“I do? Well, I guess that makes me a cheesy villain.”

Miko also laughed but that only lasted for a short while. He soon put on a blank face and looked at where the man was hiding.

“Well, you all can fight for your justice as much as want. Not that it matters.”

He turned his head away and started walking in the opposite direction.

“Pride, greed, ambition, loyalty, love, or hatred. Whatever reason you fight for doesn’t matter to me.”

A devious smile crept on his face.

“It will all be meaningless once I destroy everything.”

Meanwhile, there was an intense battle inside the Red Light District. The battle was between Renacido’s forces led by Edward and Bella versus the Pillars and Newgate’s forces.

“Shit! Run!”

A group of soldiers started retreating out of the city as fast as they could. Hot on their tail was Edward who was in his battle suit. He swung his hand in front of him and a metallic whip shot out of his arm and hit those in the back. Their bodies were torn apart from their hips. This caused the remaining soldiers to increase their speed.

“What the hell?! We’re wearing battle suits like him but we’re no match!”

A soldier screamed. The metal whip wrapped around his head and forced him to halt. Before he could scream his head was yanked off his body. Edward ran past his headless corpse and materialized a cannon in his hand. He fired the cannon and blew up the rest of the soldiers.

(Warning. Hostile presences are approaching.)

He got a warning from the system in his suit. He smiled. Behind him were two soldiers attacking him with high-frequency swords.

*Bam!*

Before they could reach Edward their brains were blown out of their heads and splattered on the ground. Edward turned around and looked to the east.

“Thanks, Bella.”

Two miles away Bella was on top of a building looking through a sniper scope.

“Don’t give me unnecessary work, Code Breaker.”

An explosive sound came from behind her. It was caused by something falling from the sky. She slowly turned around and saw four robotic soldiers. All hostiles.

“I have a lot of work as it is.”

She threw her sniper to the ground and pulled out two Janbiya daggers from behind her.

“I don’t normally fight on the frontlines but the Don is giving me a lot after this.”

She grinned.

“So I naturally have to earn my keep, even if I die trying.”

She rushed towards the soldiers and they came at her and begun a chaotic battle on the roof. The building was soon seen crumbling and Bella held down a soldier on falling debris.

“Glory to the Don!”

She lodged her daggers in his chest and neck as the chunks of concrete hit the ground.

“Sis….”

Her brother, Yota witnessed this battle from afar. He was standing in a bloodstained street with countless corpses laid out around him.

“D-Damn, monster!”

A soldier rose from underneath a pile of corpses and fired a cannon at him. The cannon hit its mark and caused a huge explosion. The soldier started laughing. Not because he had killed his enemy. The complete opposite. He saw it. Yota blocked the attack by simply lifting his hand. His battle suit detected no magic or Vita readings. That meant he did it with his bare hands. Yota silently walked towards the soldier who laid the cannon on the ground.

“Just where have a monster like you been hiding?”

He mumbled with an absent look in his eyes.

“Five hundred. They were five hundred of us tasked with rescuing a girl named Hana. We were strong. So strong that we should be able to take down any member of Silver Crow other than Jin Makoto.”

He clenched his fists.

“And yet, you wiped us out in a mere 10 minutes and without even using magic and Vita?”

He glared at Yota.

“You damn monster.”

“Monster huh? Just because you don’t understand something you disrespect it and call it a monster? Such a weak mentality. No wonder you got wiped out.”

Yota stomped the man’s head into the ground squashed it in an instant.

“I don’t really care about the spotlight and normally tries my best to stay out of it; but I’ll make an exception this time.”

He walked away from the carnage he created.

“It’s the Don’s orders after all.”

Meanwhile, Kristen was walking down the streets of a town near Elon. Just like the other small towns this one was in shambles. Kristen stopped beside a mountain of rubble and turned his attention to Elon.

(The larger cities will definitely be heavily guarded. Even if most aren’t because they spread out their forces, this city will be. This is Gear’s base after all.)

He thought.

(If we’re gonna win this war this city needs to fall.)

His gaze became sharp.

“Can I take it on my own?”

He shook his head.

“I’m not Tessa. I won’t just run in there and start throwing punches and hope that will solve anything. No, I need to think this through. I’m finally away from that pest of a sister. I have time to think for once and not get dragged into her recklessness.”

He stared at the tower in the center of the city.

(Kristen, you have a tendency to overthink things, you know that?)

His brother’s voice played in his head.

“……..”

He stared at the tower in silence.

“?!”

He leaped away from where he was after his instincts screamed danger. He heard an explosion and turned around to see a pillar of flames shooting up to the sky.

“Hahahaha! Finally! I’ve finally found one!”

He saw something emerge from the flames with a loud laugh. It was a delinquent looking man with hair and eyes matching the flames behind him. Kristen recognized him from the list of enemies that must be defeated.

“Ryker, huh?”

Ryker grinned with a deranged look in his eyes.

“I’ve finally found you!”

He leaned his body forward like he was getting ready to pounce at Kristen.

“My first prey!”

“Prey? Me?”

Veins started bulging in Kristen’s head.

“Come on. Let’s see who’s the prey.”

Ryker rushed towards him and Kristen did the same. Crimson flames surrounded Kristen’s feet and it left scorched footprints in the ground as he accelerated. Ryker formed flame wings on his back and increased his speed.

“Prey? Do this look like something a prey would do?!”

Crimson aura formed a gauntlet on Kristen’s right arm and pounced at his enemy.

“No matter what you do, a prey is a prey!”

Ryker transformed into a streak of flames. Kristen pulled his arm back and punched the flames come at him.

*BOOM!*

An explosion of flames erupted in the center of the town. The winds caused by the explosion blew away all the rubble in the town and created a flat field.

“Ahhh!”

Kristen was blown out of the explosion screaming in agony. His hand was badly burnt and was almost pitch black.

“I said it before, didn’t I?”

Ryker came out of the flames wearing a huge grin.

“A prey is a prey.”

(This bastard…!)

Kristen gritted his teeth and glared at him. He stopped glaring when he felt a chill up his spine.

(What was that? I felt something sinister.)

He looked at Ryker again. For some reason, he could see a ghastly face with a sinister smile behind him.

“Now then…”

He started walking towards Kristen.

(Something is wrong here…What the hell is that I’m feeling?!)

Ryker's smile caused Kristen's skin to crawl and his body to tremble.

“Let’s begin the hunt.”