63rd Adversary: Punishment

"This place seems a little lonely."

After his talk with Miko, Samael left leaving Miko alone in the monochrome world.

"Let's livening it up a bit."

He clasped his hands together and a bright light appeared under his feet. That light spread in waves and covered the world. Soon, the scenery started to change drastically. The graves and tombstones disappeared and a world of spring appeared. It was one huge valley filled with greenery and life.

"That's better."

He nodded with a satisfied expression.

"Now then, I might be here for a while so I should make use of my solitude and think up ways to get stronger. The first step should be to create techniques I can rely on other than Ascending Satan."

Miko agreed with Samael, he shouldn't rely solely on his Irregularity. However, Miko wasn't in a rush to do so. He knew it was best to stay calm and take his time to figure out what needed to be done.

"Hmm…..I guess I'll experiment with my Proxy powers."

A huge grin appeared on his face.

"I just got an idea."

Back at the Dragna Clan meeting.

"This is an important discussion, so anyone is allowed to speak up."

Said the Secundus Branch leader, Rouge.

"I have a question."

Momo stood up.

"Go ahead."

"Are we really going to execute Miko? He's Tia's Proxy and a direct descendant of the clan."

"Tia? She allows you to call her that?"

"She insisted on it."

Rouge nodded.

"That does indeed sound like her…..To answer your question, while Miko is indeed family and our Matriarch's Proxy, he isn't above the law. He's broken lots of laws, and if the clan decides he's to be executed, he will be."

Sasha glared at Rouge but he ignored her.

"I think he should be executed. He caused our relationship with the Flamehearts to deteriorate completely."

A member spoke up.

"Are you stupid? Miko is very talented. It would be a waste to kill him off."

Another member spoke in Miko's Defense.

"Then you want a war with the Flamehearts? Logic doesn't work with them. If they're hellbent on destroying us, they will do anything to achieve that."

"We all want to avoid war, but killing our matriarch's Proxy would destroy our reputation and disgrace those before us."

"What's honor compared to survival?"

"I would rather die than have no honor!"

The discussions quickly started to get heated.

"Do you want one brat to destroy 10,000 years of history?!"

"That brat is possibly this clan's future!"

"That thing will only lead to destruction!"

"You bastard!"

Sasha and Leon sprung to their feet with angry expressions. The clan member who insulted Miko flinched.

"Calm down, everyone."

Rouge spoke up to diffuse the tension. He looked at the frightened member.

"I thought it was forbidden to refer to Miko in such a way?"

Rouge's sharp gaze made the clan member feel small in his seat.

"But still, you guys have raised some good points."

"This is stupid."

Quintus branch leader, Andreas spoke up.

"I don't really care about what he did, but Miko has the potential to be an important military asset in the future. Executing him is retarded."

"While Miko is indeed talented, there's the question of his practicability. Also, there's the Flameheart issue."

Tertitus leader, Alexus spoke up.

"But do we really owe the Flamehearts anything? They bore a great criminal like Nebulous after all."

Quartus Leader, Ecko spoke up.

"If I may?"

Krow who was silent the whole meeting spoke up.

"Uncle, do you have something to add?"

Rouge asked.

"Miko should be punished regardless of what he is."

Miko's parents frowned.

"I disagree. Nebulous was a dangerous person. Miko only did everything he could to survive."

"True, but don't you hear it?"

Krow became silent as if he wanted to give everyone some time to listen.

"The people of this country are crying. They cry out for justice for all that they've suffered. They cry out for help from us, those they entrusted their lives to."

He gave Sasha a sharp look.

"You are always willing to confront anyone to protect your son, am I right?"

"Of course. I'm his mother."

"Then what about all the mothers who lost their children to your son? They cry their hearts out every night remembering them. They too went through childbirth and did everything they could to protect their own. Yet, are you saying they don't deserve justice? What if it was Miko who had died at someone else's hands?"

"...…"

Sasha couldn't reply. Krow's words were just and going against them wouldn't be wise.

(He silenced the hotheaded Sasha just like that. As expected of Krow, he's quite the politician.)

Nova glanced at Krow and then Nero, who was still upside down in his seat.

"Another thing. For those saying that Miko would be a great military asset, I disagree."

Krow added.

"Don't get me wrong, Miko's talent and potential are undeniable. The problem is Miko is a person, not a thing."

This sentence caused eyes to widen. No one expected Krow to be the first to humanize Miko.

"It's because he's human that he'll have good and bad days. Who knows? He might snap one day and goes on a rampage. He's dangerous after all."

"You call him human, yet you say he's dangerous like he's a beast."

Leon said.

"Well, people are dangerous, even more so than beasts. I mean, take all of us here for example. I'm sure everyone here is considered dangerous to some degree to outsiders."

"But I can control Miko and make sure he doesn't get out of control."

Momo said.

"For now. What about when he's stronger than you? Can you say that you can control him then?"

"...….."

Momo didn't answer. She knew that if she lied here, she'll only make the situation worse.

"Let's decide Miko's execution date later. Let's focus on the Flamehearts."

(He treated Miko's execution like it was already decided, and he did it so naturally that it probably went unnoticed.)

Rouge frowned while Krow talked.

"There's a simple way to deal with the Flamehearts."

"Which is?"

"We ignore them."

"?!"

Shock spread through the room.

"Ignore them? Uncle, that's insane."

"Is it, Rouge?"

"Yes. Ignoring them would only make them furious. The chances of a war would be high then."

"Then let's just go to war with them."

"?!"

Once again Krow shocked everyone.

"They are our comrades. We've built this country together."

Alexus interjected.

"They were our comrades. They aren't anymore. I mean, recall the last few decades. Haven't there been tension between the three clans? We're more like rivals than allies. Enemies even. I don't know about you, but I prefer to eradicate my enemies before they bear their claws at me."

"...…."

Silence covered the room. Everyone started to ponder his words.

"But, hey. It's only my opinion, I'm not forcing anyone to do anything."

Krow laid back in his chair as if the meeting no longer had anything to do with him.

(That sly bastard. He said all he had to say was not to convince everyone, but just to place the idea in their heads. Half will agree with him, and half of that would be willing to carry it out. That alone is enough. As long as conflict arises, he succeeded in what he wanted to do.)

Nova praised Krow in his head. The branch leaders were silent for a while before Rouge spoke up.

"After hearing everything that was said, we've decided to do this."

He stood up and spoke loudly.

"Miko needs to be punished, so he will be imprisoned indefinitely until the matter with the Flamehearts is dealt with. Meeting adjourned!"

Everyone started exiting the room leaving Nero alone.

"From start till finish, he was no use."

Ecko laughed while glancing at him. Rouge sighed, while Alexus and Andreas didn't seem to care. In the end, only Nero and Nova were left in the room. Nova approached the platform staring at his father's seat.

"What did you think, Pops?"

Nero's body moved. He sat up with a completely sober look.

"Boring and tedious."

Nero yawned.

"The other branch leaders knew you were faking it but still left you alone."

"I can't help it. I dislike depressing topics."

Nero got to his feet and stretched his body.

"But Sasha was in a bind there. If you had spoken in Miko's defense, I'm sure her affection points towards you would've increased."

"If that's the case, why didn't you speak up?"

"Because my affection points have long been maxed out."

Nero smiled.

"It's the same for me."

He jumped down the platform and landed in front of Nova.

"But seriously though, should we just leave Krow alone? He's obviously aiming for conflict between the three clans."

"Leave him. His actions provide good entertainment."

Nero smirked.

"Also, he's not easy to deal with. One wrong move and everything comes crashing down."

"Then what about Miko? Should we leave him as he is?"

"Hmm….If Miko has indeed fused with Darius then I'm sure he's planning something big."

A huge grin appeared on Nero's face.

"Let's not get in the way of that."

Somewhere in the empire.

"I can't believe that Miko fused with Darius."

Said Layla Song. She was being led somewhere by Nebulous's former righthand, Noface aka Jason. They were currently walking in an old deserted part of the empire. It was filled with old buildings and barely had any human presence.

"Well, I wouldn't say they fused."

"Miko inherited his memories, his personality, and his emotions. What do you call that?"

"….When you put it like that, I guess you're right."

Jason looked back at her.

"Then doesn't that mean Darius lives within Miko?"

"What are you on about? Isn't that the only reason you're following him?"

Jason laughed.

(But still….I don't know how to feel about this. It's like he's dead but isn't at the same time.)

Layla frowned.

"By the way, are we there yet?"

"Just around this corner."

The two turned the corner and were standing at the beginning of a long path.

"What….the hell?"

Layla looked at the end of the path and saw a huge building.

"Is that a palace?"

"Yeah."

That's all Jason said before walking towards the palace, Layla quickly followed behind him. When they reached the palace, Layla could see that it was very old. It was covered in cobwebs, fungi, and moss.

"What is this place?"

"The old Flameheart palace. It was abandoned along with this section of the empire hundreds of years ago when the empire grew to its current size. It was forgotten in the flow of time, but being the heir to the Flameheart, Darius naturally knew of its existence."

Jason opened the huge door and walked in. Layla walked inside and was overwhelmed by what she saw.

"Darius used this place to gather up some things he could use to take revenge on Krow if he ever got the chance."

Jason smiled at her.

"What do you think? Is this enough for what Miko has planned?"

"Enough?"

Layla looked around and smiled.

"This is more than enough, Miko."