In the end, only the branch and clan leaders went with Nero. Miko stayed back with everybody else.

“I’m surprised that you didn’t go with them.”

Sora approached Miko.

“I think they’ll be fine on their own. There’s something I need to do.”

He turned to Alec.

“Do you have recordings of all the battles?”

“You want to review them now?”

“I might as well since I have the time.”

Miko took a tablet from Alec. He then turned to his parents.

“I have a good idea of your abilities, but I would like it if you could make a list of all your combat skills and strengths and weaknesses you’re aware of.”

He turned back to Alec.

“A list with everyone from the Golden Generation abilities is on the tablet, along with their stats.”

Miko nodded.

“Why does he have something like that?”

Kouta looked disgusted.

“Don’t ask.”

Kirika shook her head.

“What are planning to do with all this information?”

Kristen asked Miko.

“I told you why I organized the competition but there’s one thing I left out. I wanted to see the limits and potential of those in my generation.”

Miko started watching Ashur and Renatus’s battle.

“In my head is a library filled with countless techniques. The world is about to move towards an era of constant turmoil. I want to make everyone reach their full potential and even beyond that, so we will be the ones to lead this era. To do that, I need to analyze you.”

He looked up.

“In order for the empire to survive…No, win the wars to come, the Golden and Catastrophic Generations need to become stronger than they could ever dream of. This is because from now on, the empire will be built around them. This doesn’t mean that the current top brass will be discarded. Any organization that aims for longevity must always focus on developing the next generation equally as much as they focus on maintaining the current.”

He turned to the guardians.

“That being said, I can’t really help develop you guys because your foundations are already set in stone. So it’s too late to change your fighting styles without destroying the foundation you worked all your life to build. But, I can help you strengthen your current styles and fix some flaws. It’s the same with the Clan Leaders.”

The Quartus Guardian, Shina stepped out.

“Miko, what about Krul?”

Krul was frozen by Miko at the end of the competition. People tried to free him, but they were unable to figure out how he was trapped. They couldn’t recognize what Miko used on him. They didn’t want to tamper with him and accidentally destroy him. As a result, Miko has Krul’s life in his hands.

“Of course, I plan to free him. We can’t really afford to lose any of the current or future generations.”

“You said that you could cure him…”

“It will be difficult but I can do it. Actually, I plan on fixing Krul, Ashur, and Christensen’s side effects.”

“Is that possible?”

Christensen seemed interested. Miko didn’t answer and turned to Alec.

“I don’t know, is it Alec?”

Everyone turned to Alec. They immediately realized that Alec knew how to fix the side effects that came with Celestial Bodies but kept quiet.

“….It’s possible.”

He answered after frowning at Miko for exposing him.

“There you have it.”

“Question. What are Her Grace and the Guardian Beasts doing? You asked them to do something for you, didn’t you?”

“Oh, they’re preparing something for us. Now that a Clan Leader has been chosen all the restrictions set by Augustus will be removed. The Dragna clan will now be able to access its true resources. They’re making sure the process will go smoothly.”

Miko answered Raven. Miko suddenly paused as if pondering something. After some time, he spoke.

“I didn’t originally plan to do this until way in the future, but the information I got from Falkon changed things….Since Augustus planned to do this, I’ll do the same.”

“What are you talking about?”

Miko paused for a bit before answering his father.

“I’m gonna teach you how to permanently kill an Irregular or beings similar to us like Aniket.”

“Wait, kill an Irregular?”

“You can kill the Supreme Being?”

At the same time, Falkon was talking with the clan leaders.

“According to Augustus, you can. As I thought, that Miko kid didn’t say anything. He must’ve wanted to wait.”

“….I can’t even imagine the Supreme Being dying.”

Darwin mumbled.

“Well, he can die in theory but most wouldn’t even think about it even if they knew the way to kill him.”

“Why not?”

Andreas asked Falkon.

“First of all, permanently killing an Irregular is extremely difficult. According to Augustus, if you destroy the source of an Irregular’s power, their Irregularity, they’ll become normal beings. After that, Fate will pass judgment on them.”

“Fate? What does he mean?”

Falkon shook his head.

“He refused to explain that. I doubt Miko will either. It seems to be a great taboo of some kind.”

“I see…So how do you destroy an Irregular’s Irregularity?”

Nero showed interest in the topic.

“By using another Irregular. Irregulars cancel each other out so when they fight they have to rely on their own strength and not their Irregularities. This is because when two Irregulars clash using their Irregularities, it causes some kind of phenomenon that basically turns them into normal people for an instant. The source of their Irregularity will also become visible. If you can strike that source you can kill them.”

“So if Miko and Supreme Being clash…”

“If you’re fast and strong enough, you can sweep in and kill them both.”

“That’s easier said than done. The Supreme Being is the strongest entity in the universe. Who has the guts to try and kill him? That instant might seem like an eternity for him. He’ll have enough time to kill you a million times over.”

Falkon nodded in agreement with Joesph.

“That’s why I said, it would be extremely difficult, but Augustus believes that it’s possible in theory. However, actually killing the Supreme Being has even more dire consequences than attempting and failing.”

“What do you mean?”

“The Supreme Being and the Universe are one. They were born at the same time…”

“And they die at the same time.”

Nero glanced over his shoulder at his brother.

“Is that right?”

Falkon nodded.

“If the Supreme Being dies, the universe and everything within it will cease to exist.”

After walking in silence, digesting what Falkon told them, the group arrived at the palace.

“Let’s forget about something that won’t happen and focus on what must happen, freeing Ravel.”

Nero marched into the palace without hesitation. Falkon and the rest followed closely behind.

“Woah…”

Darwin gasped after seeing the interior of the palace. Every bright color imaginable opened up before his eyes. Life-sized animals were walking about, all dressed like servants. Inanimate objects had faces and were singing and dancing in a cartoonish manner.

“The last time I saw something like this, I was getting high with a pack of werewolves I met in the Asgard Empire.”

Nero spoke with a hint of nostalgia. Falkon leaned over to Rouge.

“…What happened to him while I was frozen? Why is he like this?”

“I ask myself that question every day.”

“More importantly, I think this is proof that Ravel’s powers grew during her slumber.”

Ecko looked around.

“This was a normal-looking palace 10,000 years ago.”

“There she is.”

Nero pointed to the back of the palace. There they spotted a bed around twice a king-sized bed. On it was countless stuffed animals forming a fort around a woman. They approached the bed and took a good look at the woman. She looked like she was in her late teens or early twenties. Her purple and azure spread across the entire bed. She was in light-colored robes.

“She’s thin.”

Falkon mumbled.

“Well, she has been asleep for thousands of years. Of course, a spell that supplied her nutrients was cast on her. However, that’s just to keep her alive not to keep her health.”

Nero walked up to her bedside.

“Looks like we were worried for nothing. Her magical power has certainly grown, but she won’t be able to use her full strength with a body suffering from malnutrition.”

“Under normal conditions I would agree, however, don’t forget that we’re dealing with the person who was the first being born with a Celestial Body in the empire’s history. She inherited Tiamat’s Primordial Chaos on top of that. Her mana pool had already seemed bottomless as a kid and that has grown over the years.”

Joesph walked over to the other bedside.

“Chaos is the beginning of everything, the universe was born from it. It’s not something to underestimate. Especially when the one using it isn’t of stable mind.”

Nero took out his insignias of each clan.

“I’m depending on you to handle this.”

Joesph nodded.

“That was my intention in the first place. You of all people should know that I’m great at subduing rampaging Divine Warriors.”

Miko smirked. The insignia in his hands lit up. Light fired from the insignia and hit Ravel. The light engulfed her body for nearly a minute before fading away.

“………”

A thick silence covered the room. It was broken by a loud thud. The animated stuffed animals and objects lifelessly hit the floor.

“………”

Ravel silently opened her eyes. The first to come into her vision was Nero’s smiling face.

“Good morning, Ravel. How are you feeling? It’s me, Gamiko.”

She blinked and Falkon also entered her vision.

“Hello, Ravel. Are you okay?”

“……….”

She didn’t say anything and stared back with a lifeless gaze. It took some time before life appeared in her eyes.

“Ah!”

Her eyes widened. She tried to sit up but didn’t have the strength to.

“Ravel, calm down. It’s us, your brothers.”

Nero gently held onto her shoulder. Her eyes raced around in her head. Her chest elevated as her breathing became rugged.

“Hah! Hah! Hah!”

“She’s having a panic attack!”

Ecko pounced at Nero and flung him back. Joesph did the same to Falkon.

“HAAAH~!”

Ravel let out a deafening scream. A wave of mana spread through the palace. Ecko thrust both palms in front of her and halted the wave. Azure sparks came from her palm and danced around her. She groaned as her kimono sleeves were ripped to pieces.

“To think you would block that with raw physical strength.”

A wall of emerald light was erected in front of her. It held back the wave of mana. Joesph walked up beside her.

“You’re more of a musclehead than I thought.”

Ecko looked at her hands. They were burnt black.

“It was the right decision to leave everybody else behind.”

“She grew stronger than I expected. I think that she’s just below Darwin.”

“Master, why are you making it sound like I’m the weakest one here.”

“Because other than Falkon, you are. However, I used you because no one here, except me, can defeat you without killing you.”

“I don’t know if that’s a compliment or not.”

Joseph didn’t answer Darwin’s mumbling.

“I now understand why Nero believed that you were more dangerous than Falkon.”

He walked through the wall and entered the wave of mana. Emerald light formed a skin-tight shield around him.

“Immense power and an unstable mental state…You’re pretty similar to Miko.”

He moved his finger in the air. A golden light followed his every moment.

“Wait, is that…”

Falkon’s eyes widened.

“…..?”

The golden light pierced the wave and reached Ravel.

“Oh, so you recognized this light?”

The intensity of the wave slowly started to weaken. Joesph continued to move his finger. Ravel’s lips trembled as mumbled.

“Grandpa…”

“Unfortunately, I’m not Augustus.”

An image of a golden rose appeared in front of Joesph.

“Conqueror Arts: Emperor’s Rose.”

The rose bloomed. Golden petals rushed at Ravel. Her vision was devoured by light. She entered a daze. Tears started flowing from her eyes.

“Mama.”

She immediately lost consciousness.

“I’m not Augustus.”

Joesph walked up to her and wiped away the tears with his hand.

“Augustus would’ve never made you cry when using this technique.”

“I knew that you learned some of my grandfather’s and the Divine Generals’ techniques, but I didn’t expect that you would’ve learned that one.”

Falkon approached the bed again with everyone else.

“That’s a technique used to pacify your opponent by letting them see the thing they yearned the must, to grant them peace. Why would you want to learn it? Especially, during those times of turmoil.”

“My master created that technique to use against his children for when they are throwing a tantrum. Something he made up as a joke if you will.”

“And yet, you learned it?”

Joesph smiled.

“I wanted to look after Augustus’s descendants for all of eternity. So I thought it would come in handy.”

“……..”

Everyone became silent. This silence continued until Nero spoke up.

“I want to seal Ravel’s power. We can’t help her get over her trauma if we’re fighting for our lives trying to talk to her.”

“Do you have any techniques that could do it?”

“Do I look like the type to use such delicate techniques? I use violence to solve all my problems.”

“Then, I’ll do it.”

Ecko stood at Ravel’s bedside. She used one hand to form a hand sign. She thrust the fingers of her other hand down. Her fingers struck Ravel’s body at a lightning-fast speed. With every hit, a light appeared on her. She stopped and the lights connected and formed a pentagram.

“Hah!”

With a shout, the pentagram hovered over her body. It spun in the air emitting rainbow-colored light. The pentagram exploded into light particles that entered Ravel’s body. A white light scanned over her body before disappearing.

“Wait…You can use Onmyōdō?”

Markus asked in surprise.

“I learned it during my time in the Wakoku Nation. However, I only learned defense and support spells because I didn’t want to make the fighting style I had unbalanced.”

Ecko stepped away.

“Her powers are sealed.”

“The time limit?”

“A month. She’s incredibly powerful, so that’s the longest I can do. You two will have to fix your sister during that time.”

Meanwhile, Miko was with the others. He had just finished explaining how to kill an Irregular. There was thick silence as he watched the battles on the tablet. He paused the video and looked up. There he spotted the clan leaders returning. Nero was seen carrying a thin Ravel in his arms. Miko smiled.

“With this, we can finally move further after 10,000 years, Augustus.”