146th Adversary: Fun Game

Dragna Empire. Sasha was visiting her father to see if any news of Miko's whereabouts had been found. She was accompanied by the rest of her family.

"Daddy, did you find him yet?"

"Oh, my beautiful family. Did you come to keep this lonely old man company?"

"...."

Sasha and her family kept quiet and didn't reply to Nero. It wasn't that they were being rude, it's just that they needed to process what they were seeing.

Nero was on ground was being stepped on by his wife Kimiko, while their son Nova was tied up and thrown in the corner.

"…Mother, could you not perform these acts outside of the bedroom. What if the twins become a traumatized because of it?"

"Does this look like roleplay to you?"

"Well….Yeah."

Sasha nodded.

"You have it wrong, Sasha. If this was roleplay, the roles would be reversed-Ow!"

"What are you saying to our daughter, you pervert!"

Nero screamed out in pain as Kimiko increased the strength in her foot.

"Your idiot of a father along with your stupid brother said something that I couldn't ignore so I'm punishing them."

Kimiko said.

"What did they say?"

"All I said was that we should let Miko handle this whole Dragon Storm ordeal on his own."

"Mama, break his spine."

"How cruel! I am your father you know!"

"You're no father of mine if you would send my child to his death."

"Seriously…"

Nero pushed himself off the ground and caused Kimiko to step back.

"You guys keep looking down on Miko. He's already a warrior striving for the throne. You can't baby him forever."

"I know that, but last time Miko was taken from me and I don't think I can bare to seeing that happen again."

"I understand where you're coming from, my adorable little sister."

Nova broke from his chains and stood up and dust himself off.

"But that's in the past, we're talking about now. Just because he failed then, doesn't mean that'll he'll never succeed."

"I never said that he'll never succeed…It's just…"

She didn't want to even think about what would happen if he lost again.

"If you're so worried then why don't you fight along side him when the time is right?"

Nero said.

"Instead of worrying from a far, why not accompany him on his path and help pave the way? This will surely increase his chances of survival."

Sasha along with the rest of her family were silent after what Nero said. As she was to answer him-

"My lord!"

A servant burst through the room doors all sweaty.

"It's Miko! He did something crazy!"

Let's rewind a bit to a week after Miko gave Gary Braun an ultimatum.

There was a building that wasn't in any public records and no one could trace who owned it. This building was the meeting place of the infamous Council of Hermès. Currently all 13 members of the council were gathered to discuss the nomination of a new member.

"Braun, since you recommended this Mikel Roca, I'm counting on you to inform us of what kind of person he is."

The person who sat at the head of the table gave an order to Braun. This person looked like he was overflowing with experience and had the eyes of a man that had survived a thousand battles to get where he is today.

"Yes, Mr. Charles."

Braun stood up and looked at his "comrades". They ranged from all ages, some weren't even human. After looking at their faces, Braun remembered something.

(These people were only my competitors from the start and that hasn't changed.)

His eyes became cold.

(As such, I'll be a fool to show them mercy now.)

"Why should I tell you about him, when he can do it himself?"

The door to the room opened and Miko walked in a black vest suit with an azure tie, hat, and gloves.

"Good evening, members of the council of Hermès. My name is Mikel Roca. It's nice to make your acquaintance."

Miko introduced himself with a boyish smile.

"This kid is Mikel Roca?"

"You're recommending this child? Are you mad Braun?"

Members of the council immediately started voicing their disapproval.

"Mr. Roca, I wasn't aware that you would be here today."

Charles asked while glancing at Braun who wore a straight face.

"That's because you weren't supposed to know."

Miko walked towards the table with playful swagger in his steps.

"Members of the Council, I'm here to relieve you all of your duties."

He pointed at himself and grinned.

"I'll be taking over the council as it's sole member."

The members' expressions became serious.

"Kill him, and Braun too."

At Charles' orders a group of guards appeared out of nowhere. They rushed towards Miko and Braun simultaneously. As the members were about to smile, everything in front of them blurred. The next thing they knew, Miko was standing right beside Charles.

"I'll leave these here."

*Thud!*

Miko placed nearly a dozen heads on the table in front of Charles. This caused the members to become paled with shock.

"There's nothing to be surprised about. Truly powerful warriors can only be employed by powerful empires and organizations. With the level of cash that you all possess, the chances of you employing guards stronger than myself are extremely low."

Miko placed his hand on Charles head and smirked when he felt him trembling. He moved to his front and looked him in the eye. Charles saw a black fog coming out of Miko's mouth. His eyes turned the darkest black.

"Oh, it looks like my symptoms are kicking in again. Currently there's a voice in my head telling me to crush your skull like a watermelon and slaughter everyone in this building."

Charles felt Miko's grip tightening on his head, causing him great pain. And then, the grip loosened again.

"But I didn't come here to kill you guys. So relax."

Miko patted his head and stepped away. He looked at Gary who also seemed a bit pale. He never knew the kid who seemed so playful was powerful enough to kill all of their guards in a mere instant.

"This is why strength is necessary along with intelligence. If you were all stronger, I wouldn't be the one controlling your lives right now."

He returned to where all the members could see him.

"I'm in a hurry so let's get this over with."

Miko took out a stack of pictures and threw them at all the members. They began to tremble upon see the photos.

"I currently have all of your loved ones captive, which means one word from me and they all die."

"You! How did you do this?!"

Miko laughed at the outburst.

"The biggest crisis for any organization is having a traitor in your mix."

Everyone looked at Braun with hateful eyes.

"Now, now. I'm sure you all would've done the same if you were in his shoes, so don't be a hypocrite."

Miko mocked them.

"What do you want?"

Charles asked.

"What would you consider the most valuable thing that you all possess? Fancy cars, property, money?"

Miko shook his head and pointed at his head.

"It's information, or rather the memories in your head."

Black fog oozed out of Miko's mouth as they were drawn in by his abyss like eyes.

"I'll be taking those memories and then I'll use them to flip this country on its head."

And then-

"Ahhhhh?!"

Terrified screams resounded in the unmarked building.

*******

Dale was one of the few democracies that existed in mundus. That meant the head of state was decided by the public vote rather than who was the strongest or who was descended from who. Currently, the president of Dale was inside his presidential home along with his wife.

"You're telling me you still can't figure out how Lucio escaped? He tried to kill me!"

The First Lady who was a beautiful blond woman that looked dignified, shouted at the people in front of her.

"My apologizes, my lady. But the footage of his escape was erased and there were no survivors to give testimonies."

"Enough. Hurry up and catch him before the public gets wind of this."

The president who was a dark haired, middle-aged man ordered.

"I can help you with your problem."

Miko popped up in front of the president.

"Who are you?!"

All the guards aimed their weapons at Miko while shielding the president and the First Lady.

"Hello, my name is Gamiko Dragna the third. Please call me Miko."

"Miko?!"

Miko's name was well known in Dale. After all, he was the leader of Renacido, that turned their country into a battleground, while being a son of the powerful Dragna clan.

"President Holness, I think we need to talk about the future."

Present time.

Miko was sitting in a room with Tia, Ishma, Regis, and Braun. He took up a glass of champagne that was in front of him and lifted it in the air.

"To a bright future."

"To a bright future."

The others did the same and cheered.

"..."

Braun silently looked at his glass without drinking it.

"What's wrong, Gary? Something on your mind?"

"I…I just can't believe it. You actually took over Dale and Aloe just like that."

"Hey, don't make it sound like it was something simple. It took a lot of planning and preparations to complete."

Miko said with a frowned.

"But it was to be expected. After I stole the memories of the members of the council of Hermès, I obtained a lot of secrets that was hidden from the public. Plus, I had obtained full control over Dale economy when you all transferred all of your assets to me. I was basically holding the country hostage. All I had to do next was to "negotiate" with the president on what terms I'll return his country to him."

"You made him turn Dale into a subsidiary of Renacido…."

"It was either that or I divide up Dale top businesses and sell them to foreign countries. If that happened to a weaken Dale then it was the same as the death of the country."

Miko drank some of his champagne.

"Well, I had to blackmail those in the government so that they'll agree and purge those who showed signs of being rebellious. So it was a bit of a hassle."

Braun couldn't forget the scenes of all those powerful politicians bowing down to Miko just so they can live a little longer.

"Aloe was even easier. They suddenly found themselves sandwiched between two enemies. One that had the power to easily destroy them and had a perfect excuse to since they burned down Jara Jungle. When I went to meet with the king, just revealing my identity was enough to make him shit himself. I think he thought that I was going to kill him or something."

Miko laughed.

This is what Braun found even more terrifying than Miko's true identity. The fact he barely killed anyone despite having reasonably reasons to. He showed his supposed hated enemies genuine smiles and didn't harm them in anyway. But doing this caused serious mental damage to his enemies. After all, they don't know when he'll suddenly kill them. They were currently living in fear.

(He has complete control over his emotions and knows when to kill and how to use his defeated enemies…..What a terrifying ability to always have a cool head and not be swayed by emotions.)

"Oh, I'm still swayed by my emotions."

Miko answered Braun's thoughts.

"It's just that I don't think I'm capable of feeling strong negative emotions any more."

He took another sip before speaking.

"I'm too busy having fun."

"Fun?"

He nodded.

"I'm sure you've heard about what happened with Renacido. I'm currently playing a fun game with the person who organized the attack. He's currently leading but that just makes it more exciting."

That's when Braun saw it.

"After all, the game is only just getting started. He had his turn and now it's mine."

He saw the overwhelming madness that was swirling in Miko's eyes.

"In a way, I'm grateful."

A grin that reminded Braun of a scary clown mask he saw as kid.

"I get to go all out without regard for anything or anyone."

For the first time since meeting him, Braun felt like he might end up regretting it.

"A game where we keep stabbing each other until our opponent's heart is ripped out and is devoured by us."

He regretted meeting the thing in front of him. This monster that was like a ball of chaos and madness.

As if he knew what Braun was thinking, Miko showed a beautiful smile that could make flowers bloom out of corpses.

"Don't you think that's a really fun game to play?"