“It’s been a long time, Miko.”

Rihan waved at Miko with a smile.

“I’ve heard that you’re really making something out of yourself. I must say that I’m proud as your uncle.”

“……..”

Miko stood in silence staring at Rihan as his mind raced.

(When did he get here? No, how did he get in here? This place is hidden with camouflage spells and technology. People are supposed to naturally ignore it.)

“What’s wrong? You look pale.”

Rihan showed a devilish smile.

“Did my sudden appearance throw you off?”

(Of course, it did, you fucker! You’re the last person I want to meet now!)

“Not at all. I’m just a bit surprised.”

“Ah, it must because I destroyed the spell surrounding your house. My bad, it was a peculiar spell so I wanted to study it a bit and ended up accidentally destroying.”

“As long as you replace it, it’s fine.”

(This is bad. This man can see through every lie and can even con the devil. He’s extremely hard to deal with.)

Miko wore a smile contradicting his thoughts.

“Miko.”

He turned his head and saw Ace, Sora, Hina, and Luka on their feet with weapons drawn. Their breathing was heavy and their bodies were covered in cold sweat. They looked like beasts backed in a corner.

“Wha?!”

Miko sprung to his feet.

“What are you doing?!”

“We’ve got to kill that monster before it kills us.”

Sora looked at Miko with unfocused eyes.

“What are you doing?! We should attack it together!”

“Stop it, you fools! This is my uncl—”

“Hahahaha.”

A low laugh cut Miko off. He turned around with a glare.

“What did you do to them?”

“Me? I did nothing, nothing at all. All I’ve been doing is sitting here. They are the ones calling me names, wanting to attack me.”

He showed off his sharp teeth.

“If this continues I might need to defend myself.”

A thunderous sound resounded and shook the entire house. A crimson aura leaked out of Miko’s body.

“Touch them and you die.”

“Oh, it seems that your demonic powers have developed quite well. Excellent.”

“Um…Miko?”

“Step back Tessa.”

Miko forced his sister behind him.

“I’ll say it again. Touch my friends and you’re dead.”

“I don’t understand what you’re so angry about? Don’t I have the right to defend myself? Shouldn’t I care about my wellbeing? I naturally will try to defend myself if I’m in danger. I only want to live.”

“You!”

“Calm down, Miko.”

Tia appeared out of nowhere and placed her hand on Miko’s shoulder. She pushed him behind her and walked up to Rihan.

“Free them from your malice, Rihan.”

Rihan scanned Tia with his eyes and smiled.

“You’re as beautiful as I heard, Tiamat. I can’t say that I’ve always wanted to meet you but I did think that it would be at least somewhat entertaining.”

“Did you not hear me?”

“Fine, fine. Even I wouldn’t openly defy our goddess.”

Ace and the others suddenly collapsed on the floor. Miko looked at them before glaring back at his uncle. However, he didn’t say anything rash and asked a simple question.

“Why did you attack my friends?”

“Again, I didn’t attack them or anything. They just couldn’t handle being in my presence and lost their marbles.”

“What are you-”

Miko paused.

“…Malignancy.”

Rihan nodded.

“When dark beings reach the pinnacle of evil they start emitting a special energy/aura that can corrupt the minds of everyone around them with just their presence alone. This is called Malignancy. I really didn’t do anything, it’s just that your friends couldn’t handle my malice and it affected their minds. For example, Luka knows me yet she couldn’t recognize me because my malice was devouring her mind.”

Rihan pointed at Miko.

“Aren’t you capable of using different forms of Malignancy yourself, Miko?”

Miko’s Dark Lord and Chaos Lord both affect the minds of others. Dark Lord stirs primal fear while Chaos Lord clouds your mind with chaotic thoughts.

“You should’ve kept your malice under control but you purposely exposed them to it.”

His eyes narrowed.

“Are you picking a fight with me, Uncle?”

“I’m the one who should be asking you that.”

Rihan stood up and walked towards Miko. He was however blocked by Tia.

“Don’t go near him.”

“Well, aren’t you protective? You’re almost like his mother.”

“It’s natural to protect those precious to me.”

“Really? Then the Dragna Clan means nothing to you.”

Tia’s eyes sharpened.

“Angry? You should be since only I spoke the truth.”

He smirked.

“When Augustus lost, you left your children to fend for themselves for thousands of years. If they weren’t as resilient as they were there would be no Dragna Clan today. If that isn’t neglect, I don’t know what is. I can see why there are people who want to remove your bloodline from this country.”

His eyes widened.

“Sorry, did I say too much?”

Tia’s dragon eyes were quivering as she glared at Rihan.

“Rihan!”

Miko’s voice caused Rihan to look past her. Miko was also glaring daggers.

“What did you mean earlier? How am I picking a fight with you?”

“So you don’t even know that and yet you want to become Clan Leader?”

“What?”

“Listen, Miko. Being cautious is a good move. The capital will probably become a hotspot for chaos soon, however, there are times when you need to throw caution to the wind even if you know it might cost you.”

“What are you-”

“Your mother.”

Miko swiftly shut his mouth.

“Why haven’t you visited your mother?”

“……..”

“I see. So she means nothing to you.”

“?!”

Miko clenched his fist but he didn’t make any moves.

“You have control over yourself. That’s good.”

The smile slowly faded from Rihan’s face.

“But you know, you’re still too indecisive.”

He stretched his palms out in front of him.

“Humanity or Ambition.”

He moved his hands up and down like a scale.

“Eventually, you’ll need to decide between them.”

He put his hands down.

“As long as you haven’t your enemies will always have an opportunity to get the upper hand.”

“………”

Miko froze and his mind started to race.

(Was everything he did all to tell me this? No! This is Rihan we’re talking about. There must be an ulterior motive…..There’s also the chance that he’s just messing with me.)

Rihan smirked seeing Miko’s silence, which only pissed him off.

“Such an inexperienced satan.”

“Hm?”

Miko looked up at him.

“What did you-?”

A memory flashed in Miko’s head. It was when he had just resolved himself to destroy the world when he was 10. It was before Nero stopped him.

“So this is what you’ve chosen?”

Miko remembered Rihan appearing before him after he had just killed a city official. Miko remembered Rihan looking at him with disappointment.

“Your heart is in the right place but your reasoning is lacking. What you’re doing now is merely throwing a tantrum and nothing more.”

Miko thought Rihan came to bring him back so he lashed out at as any child would. The look of disgust on his face that day was vivid even now.

“Such an inexperienced Satan.”

“………..”

Miko stood in silence with widened eyes.

“…How?”

That encounter was almost a decade ago. Long before Miko became a Proxy. At that time, no one knew that Miko was a Satan. Not Miko or even Tia who knew he was an Irregular….That was supposed to be the case, and yet…

“How?”

“What? Did you remember something?”

Rihan showed a devilish grin.

“Anyway, I think I must get going. I believe they’re preparing to call a meeting. I want to be there when that happens.”

He turned his back to Miko and Tia.

“Wait!”

He glanced at Miko behind him.

“You…Who are you really?”

The moment Miko asked that question a hammer slammed down in his heart. He instantly remembered when Krow asked him the same question in a different situation.

The tables have turned.

Rihan grinned and turned back around.

“What about are you talking about?”

He took a step and disappeared but his voice lingered.

“I’m just your uncle, Rihan.”

The voice disappeared leaving Miko and others alone. With Ace and the others passed out on the ground and Tia and Tessa standing not so far away from him, Miko stood motionlessly in the center of the room. His head was down and mouth was moving but his words were inaudible.

“………”

“………”

Tessa and Tia watched him for a bit before Tessa got closer.

“Miko, are you—”

She froze when she lifted her hand to touch him. Miko’s eyelids were widened to the max, his pupils were shaking, and his eyes were bloodshot.

“Me of all people?”

She began to hear his mumbles.

“I was being toyed with? Me? Me of all people? Toyed with? Strung along? Made a fool of? Me? Me?”

A rusty smell reached her nose. She looked down and saw blood draining from Miko’s tightly clenched fists. She slowly stepped back. Tia held on to her.

“Let’s give him some time to himself so that he can sort out his thoughts.”

Tessa looked at him and back at Tia before bitterly turning away. Miko continued to stand there mumbling to himself with his body shaking for a long time. And then-

“!”

He clenched his teeth with demonic crimson eyes in his head.