35th Adversary: The Demon Shadowing Them

"I heard that the Dixie Corp was destroyed yesterday. Apparently, hundreds died in what people say was a terrorist attack."

Momo suddenly said to Miko.

"The Dixie Corp? Where I heard that name before?"

He was currently sitting on a spinning orb of water that was the size of an exercise ball. He had his arms extended to the side, with orbs of spinning water floating above the back of his hands. This was him training his magic and water manipulation skills. Since he was the Proxy of Tiamat, the first water entity, he could manipulate water, especially the sea. He was training to master this skill. By the way, Momo was watching him close by.

"It's the name of the publishing company that publishes and distributes Hina's works."

"So what do the deaths of hundreds of humans have to do with me?"

"You do realize that if they're destroyed, so is Hina's series, right?"

"?!"

Miko lost control of his magic and fell on his butt. He was soaked by the water.

"I forgot about that."

He stood up and wrung the water from his shirt.

"Wait, I can just have Hina continue her series for me to read privately."

"Do you know how unreasonable you sound?"

Momo wore a frown.

"Anyway, there's another reason why I brought it up. While I was investigating the trio, I realized that they all were signed to Dixie Corps. Hina is signed to their publishing sector, Sora to their record label, and Sora to their gaming company."

"So the company they all are connected to was attacked and destroyed. You think that they had something to do with it?"

Momo nodded.

"At the very least, I believe that they know something."

"....."

Miko silently started to think to himself. He started to think about the possibility of the trio being involved in the bombing.

"I can't deny the possibility that they were, but what does that have to do with me?"

"Gramps and the others are out. So it's up to us to keep things in check."

Momo placed her hand over her heart.

"If there's a possibility of terrorism we must handle it."

"And your real reason?"

"I want to know if Hina lost some unpublished works in the bombings and if she has backups if that's the case. Also, I've recently become a fan of Sora's music. I would like to know if he lost anything either."

Momo spoke her honest thoughts.

"That is a reasonable concern….."

Miko nodded in agreement.

"Okay, let's go pay them a visit."

Gael.

Since Momo was already keeping taps on the trio, it didn't take long for her to figure out where to find them. She and Miko arrived in the outlaw country and soon entered the neighborhood they lived in.

"It's been some time since I last came here."

Miko said.

"Why did I have to come too? I was busy with my blog."

Tia complained beside him.

"First, it was gaming and now it's blogging? I don't think I've ever seen such a modern goddess."

"Hey, don't you think the tension here is quite high?"

Momo whispered to them while looking around. Everyone around them had tense expressions and all had some kind of weapon hidden on them. They, however, didn't look like they were targeting Miko and the girls. Instead, it seemed as if they were on the lookout for something.

"Looks like they're on the alert. There's a possibility that some gang war is about to start, or is already underway. This is a criminal den after all."

Miko looked at those around them again and refuted his own words. If it was a gang war, they wouldn't have ignored them, who are obviously strange faces. That meant something bigger might be happening.

"It seems like we came at a delicate time."

Tia now looked more interested.

"I see one!"

Someone suddenly shouted. Miko saw everyone around them pull out the weapons they had hidden. They all had a bloodthirsty look in their eyes.

"Let's go!"

Everyone headed in the direction the voice came from.

*Bam!* *Bam!* *Bam!*

It didn't take long for explosions to reverberate through the area.

"Sounds like they started fighting someone."

Momo mumbled.

"I wonder who could accumulate so much hate that so many people would be after them?"

Miko looked at her funnily.

"Yeah, I know. From the flow of events, it wouldn't odd if it's one of them."

Momo sighed.

"I just wanted to add some suspense to the scenario."

"Ahhh!"

Screams drowned out the sounds of explosions. They saw people being blown past them drenched in blood.

"Well, that was quick."

Tia looked at a heavily bleeding person who landed in front of her.

"I wonder if they have anything worth taking?"

Miko stooped down to check the pockets of a dead man.

"Miko, put that down. You don't know where that's been."

Momo lifted him to his feet.

"As usual, you people have a few screws loose."

Sora walked towards them dragging the corpse of two men. He threw the corpses to the side and dusted off his hands.

"So one of you really was involved."

Miko smiled after seeing Sora.

"Looks like you guys heard about what happened to Dixie and came to investigate. As you can see, everything is being handled."

"Who are these guys?"

"I can't say."

"Why?"

"Because if I do, the chances of you getting involved will double. Unlike Hina and Ace, I don't want that. I don't think it's right to get you involved in something like this."

"What a reasonable answer."

Miko literally applauded Sora.

"However, your answer only piqued my interest."

"…I didn't take you for the nosey type."

"I'm not. I'm just curious."

Miko showed a bright smile. Sora returned that smiled and turned his back to him.

"Let's walk and talk."

Miko and the girls followed him and looked at all the bodies that lay around them.

"Everything started yesterday after the three of us decided to leave Dixie Corps. Not long after we announced our intentions, Dixie was bombed and everyone was killed."

"Why?"

"Dixie had someone in the shadows who controlled them and all of their assets."

"And that person destroyed Dixie?"

Sora nodded.

"Isn't that overreacting?"

"Not for this person. Once something no longer has any use to him, he won't hesitate to destroy it."

"Let's go back a bit. Why did you leave Dixie in the first place?"

Momo asked.

"Because they were asking so much from us that it was basically bullying. We would never allow that, so we decided to cut our ties."

"Sounds like there's more."

Said Miko. Sora hesitated for a while before explaining.

"When we lost our guardian, we as kids didn't have a way to earn money, so we decided to sell our skills. We went to Dixie because they were a small company at the time, so we figured we would have a chance. We wowed them and they signed us. They then went on to use our skills to build up the company to the level it was before it was destroyed."

"So you owed them a lot?"

Sora nodded.

"We however had a demon shadowing us. That demon would naturally follow us to Dixie. We informed them, but they then ensured us that they would be alright. At first, I thought that it was their greed talking, but I soon learned that there was more to it. Apparently, that demon had already devoured them since the moment we set our hopes on them."

"So that demon continued to harass you through Dixie, which was your main source of income?"

Sora nodded.

"However, he's gotten really bad lately. Maybe because of what happened with Ace, but the harassment went beyond what we could handle, and we finally snapped. Everything you see today and the destruction of Dixie is his reaction."

He scanned his surroundings with his eyes.

"From the moment we set foot back in our neighborhood, we were trapped. He's currently having his men siege us here, but I believe that this is just him playing around."

Sora avoided the sneak attack from a few thugs. He quickly circled around them and sent them flying with sound attacks. They started bleeding from their orifices.

"Playing around, huh?"

Miko looked and saw that they were surrounded. He couldn't even estimate how many people they were, especially if he thought about those that were hidden.

"Sending hundreds of people at you guys, is just playing around? Sounds like a very influential demon."

Momo was frowning. She only knew one person who could control so many criminals at once, and that was the empire's Crime God.

(If it's him, then they're in a real desperate situation.)

"So now that you know, what are you going to do?"

Sora turned to Miko. He suspected that Miko had already figured out who their enemy was.

"I feel there's a lot more to the story, but I guess I can let it slide for now."

Miko smirked.

"The question is, do you want to break out of this siege and follow me?"

Sora was surprised at Miko's question. It completely caught him off guard.

"Now that you all left Dixie, that means you're all free agents, right?"

Miko asked ignoring his shock.

"Well, I guess that's true."

Miko happily clasped his hands in front of him.

"That's great. I needed some people to join my company, but since I'm a shy person it isn't working out as I planned."

Miko looked at Sora.

"But you guys are young, talented, and somewhat fun to be around. I believe you would be great additions to my company."

Sora looked at him strangely for a while before sighing.

"I guess I have no choice, but I can't just join a company without knowing its goal."

"Goal? That's easy."

A grin crawled on Miko's face.

"We aim to live freely."

Sora remained quiet for a while before replying with a smile.

"If it's just that then sign me up."

He stretched his hand out towards Miko, who grasp and shook it.

"I look forward to working with you."

"The pleasure is all mine."

Miko released his hand and looked at those surrounding them.

"I don't want to come off as a slave driver, but I want to put you to work right away."

He stretched his hands to the side, and giant orbs of water quickly formed above his palms.

"Some people are standing in the way of our company's mission. I want you to get rid of them. But don't worry, I as the CEO will help my employee out!"

He threw the orbs in two different directions.

*Bam!*

The water orbs hit a group of people and ripped them apart. The ones who got hit head-on, lost their upper bodies, while those who had a limb touch it, immediately had those limbs grind into pieces before disappearing. Even buildings had parts of themselves devoured after coming into contact with the water orbs.

"That technique uses compressed water spinning at a godly speed to grind and devour everything it touches. It's like sticking your finger in a blender, the spinning blades will tear your fingers to pieces."

Tia nodded before looking at Momo.

"You sure taught him something handy."

Momo laughed proudly in response to Tia's praise.

"Hahahaha!"

Sora burst out laughing.

"If my boss insists, then I must obey."

He leaped into the flood of enemies. Soon the sounds of agony and destruction could be heard.

Not far away, a figure stood and watched everything with keen eyes. They took out a communication talisman and spoke into it.

"Elder, I believe we've finally found a way to destroy Miko."

They said.

"Please tell, Lord Krow that Miko has made contact with Nebulous's Men."