Imperial Capital, Dragna Empire.

“……..”

Miko sat on his throne with his elbow on the arm rest, and his face resting on his fists. There was no specific emotion on his face as he stared into space.

After a while of silence he spoke.

“Prepare, prepare the iron helm of war,

Bring forth the lots, cast in the spacious orb;

Th' Angel of Fate turns them with mighty hands,

And casts them out upon the darken'd earth!

Prepare, prepare!

Prepare your hearts for Death's cold hand! prepare

Your souls for flight, your bodies for the earth;

Prepare your arms for glorious victory;

Prepare your eyes to meet a holy God!

Prepare, prepare!

Whose fatal scroll is that? Methinks 'tis mine!

Why sinks my heart, why faltereth my tongue?

Had I three lives, I'd die in such a cause,

And rise, with ghosts, over the well-fought field.

Prepare, prepare!

The arrows of Almighty God are drawn!

Angels of Death stand in the louring heavens!

Thousands of souls must seek the realms of light,

And walk together on the clouds of heaven!

Prepare, prepare!

Soldiers, prepare! Our cause is Heaven's cause;

Soldiers, prepare! Be worthy of our cause:

Prepare to meet our fathers in the sky:

Prepare, O troops, that are to fall to-day!

Prepare, prepare!

Alfred shall smile, and make his harp rejoice;

The Norman William, and the learned Clerk,

And Lion Heart, and black-brow'd Edward, with

His loyal queen, shall rise, and welcome us!

Prepare, prepare!”

He smiled after reciting an old poem by William Blake.

“Prepare, huh? This poem fits perfectly with the situation.”

He stood and walked away from the turn.

“War is in the air, and everyone is nervous as they should be. The war that’s about to come is only but one out of many. Countless more will follow.”

He left the throne room and entered the hall.

“This war is only but an eye opener to the rest of the world. Snapping them out of their false sense of peace. Reminding them what true war is.”

He left the hall and reached outside of the palace.

“Some may say that the world has never been at peace, that wars has never stopped. To those people I laugh and spit in their faces.”

He released his wings and took off into the air.

“What you’ve all been fighting cannot be called a war. Those are just skirmishes, childish scuffles.”

He quickly approached an altar in the sky and landed on it. There he saw Tia, the five branch leaders, the guardian beasts, and his team.

“True war is nothing like what you’re all used to. True war is far more than what you can imagine.”

Miko walked to the edge of the altar, and behind him his image and voice was being projected.

From the moment he recited the poem to this current moment, every word and action he had taken had been broadcast across the entire Empire.

“The War that I’m talking about is a war where true gods are slain, Devils are crucified, beasts are hunted, and heroes are thorn apart. That is what true war is like. The land dyed red with blood, the earth split into pieces, the oceans dried up, and the sky filled with cracks.”

Miko smiled.

“Can you all imagine it? Such chaos and horror right in front of your eyes? Get use to that thought because it will soon become a reality.”

Even though he was countless miles in the sky, Miko could sense the unrest of his people even so he continued.

“The reason why you ask? It’s simple, there’s no one at the top of the world to keep the order. No one to hold the reins. I know what you’re all thinking, but that’s been the case for several millennia now, which is true, but there’s a major difference now than in the past.”

He pointed at himself with his thumb.

“There’s people emerging who wants to be the one who gets to hold the reins, and are willing to do anything to get it. And guess what? Our numbers are increasing by the day.”

There was a mad light in eyes when he spoke.

“Listen, you peace lovers. The era where you all sit back and worry about minor everyday problems is over. I now declare this as the Era Of Endless Wars!”

Miko shouted.

“All of you will finally get off your asses and fight to decide your ranks in the world. Will you end up at the bottom with the lowest of the low, or will you fight your way to the top and ensure your survival with your own hands? It’s either fight and win, or whine and die! There’s no third choice!”

Every citizen of the empire started to tense up as they listened to Miko’s speech.

“Let me make this clear to all of you.”

He took a deep breath.

“I INTEND TO FIGHT AND WIN!”

His voice shook the capital.

“Dying a dog’s death is not the way I wish to end my life! I will fight and fight until I can’t fight anymore, even then I will drag my broken body to battle and fight again!”

As they listened to Miko declaring his will to fight, the citizens felt a change in their hearts. They too wanted to win, they too wanted to reach the top. If a 14 year old could boldly declare his intentions and they couldn’t, were they even worthy enough to call themselves people?

“Even when my body breaks, my soul will keep on fighting until I’ve reached the top!”

Miko spread his arms.

“So my people I ask you this? What will you do? Will you fight or will you obediently stretch out your necks and let someone chop off your head?!”

“No!”

Some people in the capital started to respond as their body was being filled with fighting spirit.

“Recall the lives you’ve all been living under my rule, do you think you can enjoy such leisure for the rest of your life without fighting for it first? What I’ve given to you all is nothing but a taste of what you could all receive if you fight along side me. If you don’t, only thing you’ll experience is the life of a bottom-feeder.”

He frowned.

“Are my people bottom feeders?”

“No!”

This time the entire capital answered Miko’s question. It was as if their was disease infecting all of them. They all were filled with fight spirit.

It wasn’t only the capital. All the countries that made up the empire were affected by Miko’s speech. They’ve experience what it felt like to be losers and were only spared because of Miko’s benevolence. He gave them a life that was far better than that which they’ve lived under their old masters. He showed them a glimpse of what it was like to be on the winning side, and they didn’t intend to go back after experiencing it.

They wish to rise and continue rising until they reached the top.

“My people, allow me to ask you this.”

Miko smiled.

“Will you fighting your way to the top with me and stand above all?”

“YEAH!”

The entire empire responded.

“I see.”

Miko drew Ishma and Regis from his waist.

“Then allow me to answer your spirit by leading the way myself!”

He pointed Ishma in one direction.

“I will slay the enemy in the north!”

He pointed Regis in another direction.

“I will cut down the enemy in the south!”

He pointed Ishma again.

“I will destroy the enemy in the east.”

He pointed Regis.

“I will annihilate the enemy in the west.”

He cross both swords above his head.

“I promise before all that I will decimate everything in our path and bring you all to the top!”

“OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHH!”

The entire empire roared after Miko’s declaration. Anyone could feel their fighting spirit.

He brought his swords and showed a savage.

“My people, it is time for war.”

The next couple days every person in the empire, whether young or old, woman or man, child or old, everyone began to prepare for war.

Of course, most of them won’t be fighting, but there were a lot of other things that they could do.

After Miko’s speech, everyone started working hard to help their empire in their own way.

“Prepare, prepare the iron helm of war,

Bring forth the lots, cast in the spacious orb;

Th' Angel of Fate turns them with mighty hands,

And casts them out upon the darken'd earth!

Prepare, prepare!”

Everyone also began reciting the poem Miko recited during his address to the empire.

Well, they were singing it rather than reciting.

“Prepare your hearts for Death's cold hand! prepare

Your souls for flight, your bodies for the earth;

Prepare your arms for glorious victory;

Prepare your eyes to meet a holy God!

Prepare, prepare!”

Whether they were crafting weapons.

“Whose fatal scroll is that? Methinks 'tis mine!

Why sinks my heart, why faltereth my tongue?

Had I three lives, I'd die in such a cause,

And rise, with ghosts, over the well-fought field.

Prepare, prepare!”

Whether they were soldiers keeping themselves sharp.

“The arrows of Almighty God are drawn!

Angels of Death stand in the louring heavens!

Thousands of souls must seek the realms of light,

And walk together on the clouds of heaven!

Prepare, prepare!”

Scholars trying to devise strategies and predict the war.

“Soldiers, prepare! Our cause is Heaven's cause;

Soldiers, prepare! Be worthy of our cause:

Prepare to meet our fathers in the sky:”

Or even regular civilians, everyone was in a fighting mood as they sang their war song.

“Prepare, O troops, that are to fall to-day!

Prepare, prepare!

Alfred shall smile, and make his harp rejoice;

The Norman William, and the learned Clerk,

And Lion Heart, and black-brow'd Edward, with

His loyal queen, shall rise, and welcome us!

Prepare, prepare!”

The Dragna Empire was ready for war!

As for Miko who had lit the fire of war in all of them.

He was in his throne room looking at a map.

“From the look of things, the most ideal spot to have our battle is here.”

He pointed at a gigantic lake in the middle of the continent.

“This lake was made after your father used Ragnarok, right?”

Miko looked at Luka and asked.

She nodded.

Almost 14 years ago when Luka father, Zanis who was one of Demon Sovereign Zara’s Black Scripture unit fought another Black Scripture member Zach, he used the forbidden Move of the Norse Gods, Ragnarok to destroy his enemy at the cost of his life.

This suicide attack caused a massive hole to form in the center of the Silver Continent. This hole was eventually filled with water which led to a massive lake being form.

This lake was known as Lake Ragna, after the attack that was used to create it.

This lake also served as a border between the northern and eastern regions. If the two regions were to march their armies, this would most definitely be the best place to duke it out.

“Oh, sorry if I upset you in anyway by mentioning your father.”

Miko said.

“No, I’m fine.”

Luka replied.

“I see.”

Miko nodded and started to think.

“So far we know that the enemy had employed the likes of Human God, and Thunder Emperor Skylar. We recognized Skylar because he used his power to retrieve Lennox when he attacked the palace.”

He said.

“There has to be more than just them though.”

“Just those two alone are troublesome. Depending on who else they’ve brought, we could be in trouble.”

Said Raven.

“I wonder if Killo is going to show up again?”

He asked.

“No!”

Both Miko and Momo rejected that notion simultaneously.

“I-I guess you’re right. Killo isn’t one to join these kinds of stuff. Since he has an interest in Miko, he would’ve attack us head on rather than team up.”

Said Raven.

“Please stop mentioning that thing. It’s making me remember some stuff I don’t want to remember.”

Miko said.

His fight with Killo was still by far his hardest. Even with the power of a higher being and Augustus weapon, he still couldn’t win and almost died. This caused him to not want to meet Killo every again.

He shook his head as if trying to forget something unpleasant.

“Anyway, it’s no use trying to speculate. We’ll have to just prepare for a desperate battle and give everything we’ve got.”

He said.

“Alright, as we’ve previously discussed Joesph Flameheart will protect the empire with Bašmu and Sirrush. With those three along with the Imperial Guards the empire should be safe from surprise attacks. However, just to be sure Grams will also stay back with the Secundus Branch minus Rouge and those in my team. Everyone else in the clan will join the battle.”

Miko explained.

“The objective of this battle is to completely crush our opponent and take the Eastern Region. When that happens the Dragna Empire will stretch across half of the continent and meet my objective. With the empire this powerful it will be considered a Global Powerhouse and even New Era will have to think twice before attacking it.”

He said with a smile.

“You don’t intend to take the entire continent while you’re at it?”

Jin asked.

Miko shook his head.

“There’s no need to do that. After we take half the continent the other regions won’t be able to oppose us unless they do the same. However, that won’t happen because we’ll keep them on a leash and prevent any sides from doing what we did.”

If a country looks like it’s about to emulate the achievements of the Dragna Empire, the empire will interfere and crush their ambitions before they bear fruit.

Once the empire takes the Eastern Region, their influence will swallow the entire continent. At that time, nothing will escape their sight and they will be able to monitor everything as they pleased.

They could even interfere in struggles between nations and pick who they want to win. This way they’ll ensure that no one country will gain the power to threaten the empire.

So it will be like they own the entire continent without needing to physically conquer it all.

Affirming all that Miko smiled.

“Ok team. Let’s move out!”