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

Said Momo.

“The Dixie Corp? Where I’ve heard that name before?”

Asked Miko.

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 had the ability to manipulate water, especially the sea. He was training to master this skill.

By the way, Momo was watching him from close by.

“It’s the name of the publishing company that publishes and distributes Hina’s works.”

Momo replied.

“So what does the deaths of hundreds of humans have to do with me?”

Miko asked while focusing on his task at hand.

“You do realize that if they’re destroyed, so is Hina’s series, right?”

“?!”

Miko suddenly lost control of his magic and fell on his butt, soaked by water.

“I forgot about that.”

He stood up and said.

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

He said with a sigh.

“Do you know how unreasonable you sound?”

Momo said with a frown.

“Anyway, there’s another reason why I brought it up.”

She said.

“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?”

Miko asked.

“At very least, I believe that they at least know something.”

Momo replied.

“……..”

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

“It can’t deny the possibility that they are, but what does that have to do with me?”

He asked.

“Gramps and the others are out, it’s up to us to keep things in check.”

Momo said.

“If there’s a possibility of terrorism, we must handle it.”

“And your real reason?”

Miko asked.

“I want to know if Hina lost some unpublished works in the bombings and if she has back ups if that’s the case. Also, I’ve recently become a fan of Sora. I would like to know if he lost anything either.”

Momo said.

“That is a reasonable concern…..”

Miko said with a nod.

“Okay, lets 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.

“So this is the outlaw country?”

Miko said.

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

Tia complained.

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

Miko replied.

“Hey, don’t you think the tension here is quite high?”

Momo said 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, they all just looked like 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.”

Said Miko.

He looked at those around them again and denied his own words. If it was a gang war, they wouldn’t have ignored them, who are obvious strange faces. That meant that something bigger might be happening.

“It seems like we came at a delicate time.”

Said Tia, who 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!”

He then saw everyone head in the direction the voice came from.

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

It didn’t take long for explosions to resound in the area.

“Sounds like they started fighting someone.”

Said Momo.

“I wonder who could accumulate so much hate that so many people would be after you?”

Miko looked at her when she said that.

“Yeah, I know. From the flow of events, it wouldn’t odd if it’s one of them.”

Momo said.

“I just wanted to add some suspense to the scenario.”

She said with a shrug.

“Ahhh!”

They then heard screams drown out the sounds of explosions. They immediately saw people being blown past them, while drenched in blood.

“Well, that was quick.”

Tia said while looking at a heavily bleeding person who landed in front of her.

“I wonder if they have anything worth taking?”

Miko asked while stooping down to check the pockets of a dead man.

“Miko, put that down. You don’t know where that’s been.”

Momo said.

“As usual, you people have a few screws loose.”

At that moment, Sora walked towards them dragging the corpse of two men. He threw the corpses to the side and dust off his hands.

“So one of you really were involved.”

Miko said 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.”

Sora said.

“Who are these guys?”

Miko asked.

“I can’t say.”

Sora replied.

“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.”

He said.

“What a reasonable answer.”

Miko praised.

“However, your answer only piqued my interest.”

He said.

“I didn’t take you for the nosey type.”

“I’m not, just curious.”

Miko replied with a 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 laid 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 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?”

Miko asked.

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

Sora answered.

“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?”

Miko asked. Sora nodded.

“However, he’s gotten really bad lately. The harassment went beyond what we could handle, we finally snapped. Everything you see today and the destruction of Dixie is his reaction.”

He said.

“Since the moment we’ve 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 said while avoiding the sneak attack from a few thugs. He quickly circled around them and sent them flying with sound attacks. They even 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 said. 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.’

She thought to herself.

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

Sora asked. 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 that I can let it slide for now.”

Miko said.

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

He asked.

Sora was surprised when he heard Miko’s question. It completely caught him off guard.

“Now that you all left Dixie, then that means that you’re all free agents right?”

Miko asked ignoring his shock.

“Well, I guess that’s true.”

Sora said after a while.

“That’s great. I was in need of 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 it’s goal.”

He said.

“Goal? That’s easy.”

Miko smirked.

“We aim to live freely.”

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

“If it’s just that, then I can work with that.”

He said.

“I look forward to working with you.”

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

“The pleasure is all mine.”

Miko said.

“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.

“There’s some people standing in the way of your 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 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 said, before looking at Momo.

“You sure taught him something handy.”

Momo laughed proudly in response to Tia’s praise.

“If my boss insist, then I must obey.”

Sora suddenly 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.

“Elder, I believe we finally found a way to destroy Miko.”

They said.

“Please tell, Lord Krow that Miko has made contact with Nebulous’s Men.”