49th Adversary: The War Is On!

"He actually did it."

The others watched Miko mercilessly reduce the citizens to ash from inside the special space.

"With this, there's no coming back right?"

Ace asked.

"Ahh~. I sure picked a troublesome guy to follow."

Sora released an exaggerated sigh.

"Really? I think it's great that we get to follow someone who's filled with surprises."

"Where are you two going?"

Hina asked when she saw the two heading towards the exit.

"Where else?"

"If the boss is in trouble, it's the job of the employees to help him out."

The two turned around and smiled at Hina.

"Isn't that right?"

"You two are going to fight against Nebulous? Even though it will be against the real one, who has the whole underworld behind him?"

"Real? Is she implying that I'm fake?"

Layla muttered.

"Well, that's what we intended to do from the moment we joined Miko."

Sora replied.

"I know, but…."

"If you find it hard to fight against someone you looked up to as a father, I won't force you. But don't you wish to know what really happened with your grandmother all those years ago, and what led to him becoming the way he is? If so, gather the courage to take the first step."

He and Ace started walking towards the exit again.

"Either way, I'm always ready to protect you."

"...…."

Hina clenched her fists and started walking after them.

"I'm coming too. He might be my old family, but you guys are my family now. I can't just stand back and watch you do something so dangerous without me."

She caught up with them and they all exited the special space.

"What about you?"

Tia asked Momo.

"If you want, I can stay here and watch Layla. I wanted to have a chat with her about a few stuff anyway."

Momo nodded.

"Then I'll be off."

She too quickly exited the space. Only Tia and Layla were left.

"Now then, Layla Song."

She smiled at Layla.

"Let's talk about the past that led to this present, and what your future will be like."

"A chat with a goddess? I feel honored."

Miko remained floating in the air with his Dragon wings while looking around for more enemies. It was at that moment he saw everyone exit the mansion.

"You really went wild, huh."

Momo flew up beside him and said.

"Momo, I don't think Darry is the only one behind this attack. This mansion was supposed to be a secret even in the clan. He must've been informed by Krow about it."

"You think that Krow will aid Nebulous in this battle? Well, it is likely. He isn't here, but he doesn't lack pawns he can use."

Momo looked around.

"I'm starting to have a very bad feeling about all of this."

"Me too."

The area was quiet, only the sounds of fire burning could be heard. They found it hard to believe that was the end of Darry's assault. And they were right.

*Bam!*

Miko was hit on the side of the head with a projectile. He was forced out of the air.

"Miko?!"

Momo tried to catch him, but before she could touch him he was hit by another projectile. This one, however, dragged him away like a rat caught by a bird.

"What just happened?!"

The trio on the ground watched as Miko was dragged toward the horizon.

"Miko!"

Hina released a pair of white dove wings from her back and shot into the air like a rocket. She was so incredibly fast that she had turned into a dot in a mere second.

Momo tried to do the same, but something blocked her path. It was someone she knew very well. It was a man with short purple hair, a stoic face, a muscular build, and fierce blue eyes. Just from his physical features alone, it was obvious that he was from the Dragna clan.

"12th Elder."

It was an elder of the Dragna Clan. From what Momo recalled, he was rumored to be in Krow's faction, but because he never made any moves that showed any basis towards anyone, there was no proof that he was linked with Krow.

"Move out of the way, Elder."

"No can do. At this moment, I'm not the 12th Elder of the Dragna clan. I'm here as a member of the Law Enforcement Unit. Simply, Hector will do."

"Law Enforcement Unit?"

"Yes, I'm here to arrest a criminal for crimes like mass murder, plotting genocide, destruction of property, kidnapping, assault, and rebelling against the crown. I'm sure you know who I'm talking about."

Hector smirked.

"I see, so you're here to use your duty as a law enforcement officer as an excuse to kill Miko. I take it that you were the one who separated him from me."

"He was sent to where he could be rightly executed. I order you as your superior to not get involved."

"Over my dead body."

"I see."

Hector took off the robe he was wearing and revealed his sleeveless top and his muscular body underneath.

"Then I guess I'll have to execute you for being an accomplice."

"Try me, old man."

Momo had no signs of submitting and readied herself for battle.

"Ace, Sora. Go after Hina and Miko. I'll handle this bastard."

"Roger!"

Sora took out his headphones and placed them on his head. He then tapped them.

"1st Tempo!"

*Bam!*

An explosive sound rang out as power started flowing in his body.

"Leg Boost X2!"

Ace's legs doubled in size and looked like they were overflowing with power.

"Take care, Momo!"

*Bam!*

The two left with a sonic boom, leaving Momo and Hector behind.

"?!"

Hector was shocked by the speed the two were able to display at their age.

"What kind of magic did those two just use?"

"Turning your attention away from your opponent already, Hector?"

He looked back at Momo who had a fierce look in her eyes.

"I'll advise you to not underestimate me because I'm not an elder."

Her eyes became draconic.

"I'm the granddaughter of this empire's invincible ruler after all."

While they were running to catch up to Hina and Miko, Ace and Sora heard loud explosions coming from where they just came from. They quickly looked back to see the entire area being devoured by a large explosion.

"Just what kind of battle is happening back there?"

They quickly turned their attention back to their front. They needed to focus on catching up with Miko.

Meanwhile, Miko was still being dragged through the air by an invisible force. He followed where he was being dragged with his eyes and saw that it was where he fought against Nebulous men before.

"Is it another ambush?"

He gripped his swords and readied himself. The force disappeared and he landed on the ground. The moment he landed, he saw many men dressed in red and black and wearing masks appearing one by one. These were the men Hina and the others saw at Layla's base.

"These guys…..They're strong."

All of them were armed with some kind of weapon, but mostly swords and guns.

"So I take it that you're all here to kill me. But can you?"

"Whether we can or not is not important."

One of the men answered.

"We're only here to prepare you for our God."

"Oh, so Darry is your god, huh?"

Miko started laughing.

"By prepare, do you mean giving up your lives so that I can warm up for the boss?"

"...…."

"I see. I'm surprisingly talkative, aren't I?"

Miko activated his Dragon Rage and put away both his swords.

"Let's dance marionettes!"

The men all rushed towards Miko at the same time, he welcomed them with a bright smile.

*Bam!*

He swung his fist and sent a man flying back with his mask broken. He then spun around and slammed his foot in the face of another. He jumped, grabbed another's face, and headbutt him so hard the mask shattered and the man's skull cracked.

"You won't be a warm-up like this."

Miko wiped the blood from his head. He rushed forward and created dozens of fists with his aura and started raining down punches on the men in a frenzy. Mask men were being flung all over the place with Miko's assault.

"Compared to your boss, you're all weak. Where's that strong aura I felt earlier?"

*Bam!*

"Guh?!"

Miko was hit in the back by a bullet. It pierced through right through him. He turned around and saw more masked men. He even saw the ones he took out getting up.

"They're tougher than I thought and they're using anti-magic weapons."

The men rushed at him again, this time faster than before. Miko leaped back and turned his aura into spikes and made them pierce through the men. He activated his Vita and increased his physical strength.

He avoided a shot to the head and grabbed one of the men. He slammed him into another man, who was trying to attack him with a sword. He took that sword and beheaded a few of the men with quick movements. He broke a man's arm and disarmed him, before blowing his brains out with the gun. He turned the gun on the other men and fired at them.

A shootout broke out. Miko used the bodies laying around as meat shields while firing back.

*Bzzz!*

A strange sound caught Miko's attention. He turned around and saw a bright light only a few feet away from him.

"Miko, get down!"

He was pushed to the ground by Hina, who swoop down from the sky to help him. He was assaulted with tremendous heat and pressure that kept him rooted to the ground. He looked at the light again, which he recognized as a powerful laser. When the laser passed over his head, he looked at where it had hit and was shocked.

"What the hell?"

Everything behind him was burnt away without leaving a trance. Not even the corpses that were there remained anymore. The ground was scorched and he even saw a building melting like it was made of plastic. He looked at where the shot came from and saw one of the masked men holding a weirdly-shaped gun. It looked more like trisula than a gun, which made it easy for him to recognize what it was.

"MYTH's Shiva Series, Trident. The anti-proxy rifle."

"Miko, that thing is bad news. You mustn't get hit with it no matter what."

Hina was still on top of him. Miko looked at her back, it was badly burnt. He immediately felt anger and guilt.

"Ah, don't worry about this. It'll heal soon."

Hina's face was covered in cold sweat while she talked. It was obvious she was feeling pain.

"Hina, thanks…This is bad."

He looked and saw that there were several people with tridents in their hands.

"Ishma, Regis!"

He shouted and his gloves turned into two bright lights, which shot toward the men. They appeared from the lights and instantly killed a man each. The other men saw them and turned the Tridents at them.

*Bam!*

They fired and hit the two point blank.

"Don't underestimate my swords."

Ishma and Regis appeared from the blast and thrust their bladed hands through their attacker's chests.

"Hydrosphere!"

Miko popped up behind the last two and slammed two large spinning spheres of water on them. The spheres crushed and devoured them completely.

Miko looked at the Tridents laying around and picked them up with a smile.

"Trident collected."

He examined the guns with a smile.

"I'm going to have fun with these."