Miko found himself standing in front of 5 slots.

Two of the slots had giant gates; one jet black and the other azure.

The other three slots were empty. No, the foundation of a third gate was there if you looked close enough.

Miko slowly walked up to the black gate. Just as he was about to touch it, a hand appeared out of nowhere and pushed him.

He stepped back and looked at the gate again.

There he saw someone sitting in front of it with his arm resting on their knee.

It was Augustus.

“Why are you getting in my way Augustus?”

Miko asked with an irritated tone.

“Augustus? Sorry, but I’m not Augustus. I’m known as the gate keeper.”

They replied as they stood up.

“I’m a persona created to prevent the power behind these gates from rampaging about.”

“I don’t care what you are, I’m going to open that gate.”

“Are you sure you want to do that?”

Asked the persona.

“You should know that after you open this gate there’s no turning back. You’ll be consume by your own darkness. Even after the gates are closed again, you’ll still suffer from its side effects. You’ll become unstable and even more dangerous than before.”

“I know the consequences. Just step aside, I’ll deal with everything else as it comes.”

The persona shrugged.

“If you insist then I won’t stop you.”

The persona stepped aside and made way for Miko.

Miko didn’t hesitate and pushed open the gate.

*Howl!*

The moment he did he was devoured by a sea of darkness.

Within the darkness, howls of several evil beings could be heard and there was an intense chilling sensation taking him over.

Miko could feel his mind, body and soul being tainted by the darkness.

His darkest desires started to run amok as he felt like he was being dragged into the deepest pits of hell.

Even so, Miko smiled and accepted everything.

He became one with the darkness and became the darkness itself.

Back in the real world, Miko stood in place with a dull look in his eyes.

“What happened to him?”

Said Alec as he observed Miko.

Miko silently stretched his palm out and small ball formed in the center of it.

This ball was made of the purest form of darkness.

When Alec saw this ball his body shook.

“Is that….?”

Miko silently placed the ball into his mouth and swallowed it.

*Pulse!*

Miko’s entire body pulsated before starting undergoing changes.

Inside his body the darkness spread and attached itself to every cell in his body and started to contaminate them.

Outside, dark haze started seeping out of his mouth like fog.

His skin started to darken as well as his hair.

His blue eyes turned the darkest black, and pure darkness started to seep from every pore in his body.

And then-

A sudden chill spread across the entire city like a tidal wave.

“?!”

Everyone who felt it immediately started to tremble. Even Jin and Kaido came to a halt and felt deep fear in their hearts.

Alec stared at Miko with an excited expression.

“T-This Deus Malum! There’s no doubt about it!”

He shouted while trembling.

“The most terrifying aura that could only by described as pure dread, that’s what Deus Malum is, huh? You were right. This truly is terrifying, Sandora.”

Alec clinched his fist in excitement.

“I’ve finally found him. I’ve found you, Augustus Dragna!”

“A-Alec of the Blood Flame?”

Mari nervously called out to him, since this was the first time she’s seen him react like this.

Alec suddenly looked at her with cold eyes.

“Doll Princess, I’ve changed my mind.”

A violent purple aura with a hue of red formed around him.

“If something happens to him during this war, I’ll make it my life duty to destroy MYTH and the New Era.”

His words were filled with so much bloodlust that it made Mari feel like she was being stared at by a prehistoric monster.

Alec looked away from her and glued his eyes on Miko.

‘Now then my dear progenitor, show just how powerful this ultimate technique is.’

He thought.

Miko silently stared at Jin and Kaido who were floating in the air.

He took a step forward and mass amount of darkness started spreading around him.

“A god and a beast, huh?”

He said with a dreaded voice which sent chills down everyone who heard it.

“Then a devil is needed to make a completely set, don’t you think?”

The darkness focused around his back and form black crow like wings made of darkness.

“Let me be that devil!”

Darkness rose from behind him and charged towards the two.

Kaido covered his body in gold and red aura, and launched a counterattack.

Jin did the same with his powers.

*BOOOM!*

“?!”

The result was both of them had to quickly back away because they didn’t want to get caught by the residue of the darkness.

Their instincts told them that they mustn’t come in contact with it so careless.

Miko slowly floated in the sky and reached the same level as the two of them.

“You two are the first to experience this technique in this world.”

He stretched his hand out and darkness started swirling around it.

“A word of advice.”

A chilling smile appeared on his face.

“Fight with everything on the line or you’ll die.”

The moment he said that his hand turned into a demonic black claw, and he flew towards them.

He swung the claw and loud ripping sounds echoed out, followed by a terrifying howl.

“Dark claw!”

Kaido suddenly found himself facing several waves of darkness cutting towards him.

He gripped his glaive and swung it to rip them apart.

*BOOOM!*

He successfully ripped them apart, but without him noticing Miko had disappeared.

“Guah?!”

Kaido turned around and saw Jin with a dark blade through his stomach. This blade naturally belonged to Miko.

Jin released his power to the fullest and caused a massive explosion around him to blow Miko away.

He removed the blade and it disappeared immediately after.

Miko reappeared out of a dark fog between Kaido and Jin.

He extended his hand towards them and made a “Come on” gesture.

He was implying that they both attacked him at the same time.

“This little…!”

This enraged Jin and Kaido who both charged at him.

Jin created numerous eclipse around him and fired countless lasers towards Miko.

Miko smiled and dark countless dark vortexes appeared in front of him firing beams of darkness back at Jin.

*BOOOM!*

Lasers clashed with the darkness and caused countless explosions in the sky.

At this time, Kaido appeared behind Miko thrusting his fist that carried an overwhelming momentum.

“Dark Hand.”

A shadowy hand formed from Miko’s aura and punched back at Kaido.

*BOOOM!*

The fists clashed a cancelled out each other with a thunderous sound.

Jin then appeared before Miko thrusting a light spear.

“Black Serpent.”

A giant dark serpent appeared and block the spear before biting towards Jin.

Jin quickly formed a ball in his hand used it to destroy the serpent.

However he found himself in front of Kaido instead of Miko.

*BOOOM!*

The two collided after Kaido was thrown into Jin.

Miko then appeared between the two again and grabbed their heads and slammed them together.

Miko then thrust his palm forward and the two were sent crashing into the earth after being hit by a wave of dark power.

They quickly got to their feet and glared at Miko in the sky.

“Hey, hey. Didn’t you hear me?”

The dark aura around Miko became more frightening by the minute. It was like he had a legion of demons behind him.

“Fight me with everything you’ve got or you’ll die.”

He shot down towards the earth and darkness spread across the land like a tidal wave.

With Miko in the center, he looked a demon who escaped the deepest depths of hell.

In fact the current Miko was extremely close to a True Demon like Ishma or Lucifer.

This was the first stage of Deus malum: Dark Apostle.

Jin and Kaido looked at each other for a bit before turning their attention back to Miko.

They had to admit that the current Miko was a great threat to the both of them, but that didn’t mean he was someone they needed to work together to defeat.

He was only equal to them when they went all out in terms of power, or maybe slightly stronger.

Either way they had no intention of working together.

They both rushed towards Miko at the sametime releasing their powers at the highest level.

Miko smiled and welcome their charge with one of his own.

The three met in the center and all halt and used the momentum to throw a punch with all of their power behind it.

*BOOOM!*

The clash of their full strengths caused a massive explosion which turned the entire Night District into one giant crater.

*BOOOM!*

A dark fist appeared out of nowhere and punch Jin straight up into the sky.

Miko created a dark chain and wrapped around Kaido and swung him into the ground.

At that moment a dark light pierced through his back and nailed him to the ground.

Jin came down from the sky wielding a gigantic hammer made of light.

He swung the hammer down on Miko and Kaido.

*BOOOM!*

Cracks spread through the earth and ripped open the neighboring districts because of Jin’s hammer.

*Roar!*

*BOOOM!*

The hammer scattered after a giant golden beast arm came from under it. The hand swat Jin into one of the neighboring districts.

Kaido then grabbed Miko off the ground and slammed a golden blast in his stomach.

*BOOOM!*

Miko was blown away and sent into a different district.

He crashed through several buildings before forming web of darkness behind him to stop himself.

The moment his feet touched the ground darkness spread and covered the entire district.

“Ahhhhh?!”

Everyone in the district started to scream in terror after coming in contact with it.

Most of them were driven insane and started to harm themselves.

Some ripped out their hair.

Some gouged out their eyes.

Some started to choke themselves to death.

It was pure madness as Miko walked through the district.

“Not bad. Even with Deus Malum those two can keep up with me to this extent. I guess we really are three peas in a pod.”

A sinister smile appeared on his face completely matching with madness around him.

“It will be a shame to kill them, but even I find it hard to control myself.”

The people in the district started to be devoured by the darkness that covered them.

Crunching sounds resounded as the screams became less and less. It wasn’t long before the entire district had a eerie silence.

Only Miko’s footstep could be heard.

A devilish light shone in Miko’s eyes as he licked his lips.

“I hope I don’t accidentally kill them.”