The Red Light District.

“We hope for a favorable response for all of our sakes.”

Miko had just watched Bastian’s nationwide address on a television that he was sitting in front of. He was inside a warehouse that was prepared for him by Edward and had already moved out of the capital city.

“Well, this is interesting.”

He said after turning off the television.

“What do you all think about this?”

He turned to his comrades who were behind him.

“Declaring that you’re leading a coup against the crown to the whole country…It’s a pretty arrogant move.”

Sora said.

“It’s arrogant but it’s badass at the same time.”

Ace said.

“That guy was the Commander General, right? Then he’s the face of the army. Someone like that must be fearless at all times, even if it’s on the surface.”

He smiled.

“I can tell that he has a lot of followers from the way he conducts himself.”

“This isn’t a laughing matter, Ace. He’s an enemy.”

Luka had a serious look on her face.

“Even though it was only on a screen I can tell that he’s really powerful.”

“I think so too. He has that old monster vibe to him.”

Hina agreed.

“You two are indeed right.”

Edward, who was sitting in a corner stood up and walked up to the group.

“Bastian Brant is the strongest of the Four Pillars. Whenever he makes a move it’s certain to deal a huge blow to the opposition.”

“Strongest Pillar? I thought you said that Natasa Kingsley was the strongest.”

Momo said.

“No, I said that she’s a monster and #1 in terms of latent talents.”

Edward sighed.

“I was gonna explain the Pillars earlier but whenever I brought them the Don didn’t seem to care. It’s like he doesn’t take the Pillars seriously.”

“That’s not true, Edward. I do take them seriously; it’s just that they’re not my #1 priority.”

Miko showed three fingers.

“Bloom, Kaido, and Jin; those three had all of my attention and for good reasons.”

“Miko, I don’t think it’s wise to focus only on one side alone. Especially when the ones that you ignored are making big moves.”

“You’re right, Luka. It was my mistake.”

Miko looked at Edward.

“Telling me about the Pillars, Edward. For example, rank them from strongest to weakest.”

“If you’re talking about pure strength then it would be Bastian, Isabel, Natasa, and Gear.”

“Hold up. The leader of the Pillars is the weakest?”

Tessa asked.

“If you’re talking about pure strength, yes. However, Gear has full control over this country's technological advancement and a great number of resources; so he can’t be underestimated. In fact, he’s like this country’s second ruler for years now.”

Edward looked at Miko with a serious look.

“Also, he won’t necessarily lose to Bastian in a fight.”

“So he has a lot of tricks up his sleeves. Sounds like a troublesome guy.”

Kristen said.

“I’m surprised that this Natasa is only third. Didn’t she give you a hard time, Miko?”

Ace asked.

“Rather than a hard time, we had quite a lot of fun.”

Miko started grinning as if remember a fun memory.

“Natasa is a special case. It’s hard to gauge her accurately because of how fast she grows. Besides, she’s younger than all of you here.”

“What? Even us?”

Tessa pointed at Kristen and herself.

“I think she’s only a few months younger than you guys.”

“And she’s already that strong….I want to fight her!”

An intense flame started burning in Tessa’s eyes.

“Wait, what about the one that you ranked 2nd, Isabel? What’s she like?”

Hina asked.

“….She’s…If you meet her just run.”

“Oh? Is she that dangerous?”

Edward nodded.

“Of all of the Pillars, She’s the most dangerous. She’s a practitioner of the Slaughter Moon Sword Arts.”

Miko’s eyes widen and then a small smile appeared on his face.

“I see. Now that’s really dangerous.”

“Isn’t the Slaughter Moon Sword Arts the most lethal sword art in the world?”

Momo nodded to Tessa’s question.

“Fighting someone who practices that would indeed be dangerous. Alright, we’ll heed your warning.”

Miko stood up and walked over to Edward and placed his hand on his shoulder.

“But I have another important question to ask.”

“….What’s that?”

“Don’t worry. It isn’t anything too difficult.”

Miko smirked and then spoke.

“What’s your connection to Aeon Dragna?”

“…Who?”

“Ah, I’m sorry. Maybe you know him by his moniker, Gremlin?”

Edward could feel the grip on his shoulder strengthen to the point he had trouble standing straight.

“You know, Edward; you might not know me well so it isn’t your fault.”

He released his shoulder causing Edward to look at him and surprised to see his smiling face.

“I’m not someone to kill my subordinates for every little thing.”

“…Is that so?”

Miko nodded.

“These days I rarely get angry. Do you want to know what are the things that get me angry nowadays?”

Edward didn’t answer but Miko continued regardlessly.

“People who spoils an anime for no reason. Those people are pure evil.”

He said with a disgusted face.

“What also pisses me off…”

He started smiling again.

“Are those who look down on me. You aren’t one of those people are you, Edward?”

“Of cours-”

Edward was going to immediately answer but he held his tongue when he looked into Miko’s eyes that were unusually blue. The longer he stared into them the more corroded his mind felt. It was like was he being corrupted at the core. When he finally regained his senses he was covered in cold sweat.

“Well?”

He flinched when he heard Miko’s voice. His heart started racing and he felt weak; and yet-

“Heh.”

And yet, he had a huge grin on his face. He stood up straight and faced Miko’s glare head-on.

“Of course, I would never look down on you, Don. However, I’ll admit that I did underestimate you; for that, I apologize.”

Edward bowed his head deeply to Miko to show submission. He then stood up straight.

“I’m indeed connected to the Gremlin. He’s the one who told me about you. However, I do not work for him or anything like that. He just told me a few things and I began looking into you myself. The decision to serve you was purely my own.”

“I see. Well, at least you admit it.”

Miko started patting his shoulder.

“So when Aeon told me that I would find what I sought in the Newgate Country, he was talking about you, huh? Interesting.”

Miko started laughing.

“Don’t get me wrong, Edward. It wouldn’t have been a problem if you said Aeon sent you from the beginning. I would welcome you with open arms even. After all, I trust my cousin with my life.”

“I see.”

“But I’m still a bit upset about you underestimating my intelligence, so I’m going to give you a punishment in the form of a chance to redeem yourself.”

“Meaning?”

“The pillars are on the move. Kaido has most likely joined them by now and Bloom should reawaken soon, so we can’t afford to slack off, can we?

(Reawaken? What does he-)

“Edward.”

Miko cut off Edward’s thoughts by pointing at him. He then spoke with a grin.

“You are to capture the red light district for me.”

“…No problem. I was waiting for you to give the order.”

“Don’t get excited yet. I said that this was your punishment, so I have to add a time limit.”

“Time limit?”

(Why do I have a bad feeling about this?)

Miko grinned and then said-

“You have until tomorrow at sunrise.”

“…….Huh?”

Edward looked at Miko with a confused look.

“W-What did you say?”

“You have until tonight to capture this district; that is your punishment. Of course, failure isn’t an option.”

“Wait, isn’t that just impossible?”

Luka asked.

“Not really. It can be done depending on how you go about it.”

“How would you go about it then?”

“I can’t really say but you’d prefer if I don’t get involved. Otherwise, there’ll be seas of blood and mountains of corpses everywhere.”

Miko said with a smile.

“…Why the urgency? I could take it in 24 hours but tonight is a stretch.”

“What do you think would happen if the Pillars or Bloom find out that we’re trying to take this place? We would be crushed from both sides. This is why we need to take this city in a flash and then fortify it into a proper fortress that can withstand attacks from all sides.”

“….What you say makes perfect sense but…”

“What, you can’t do it?”

“…….”

Edward looked like he had a severe headache. He took a deep breath and calmed himself down.

“Alright, I’ll do it.”

“Good, Good. I expect positive results.”

Edward nodded and started walking away.

“I’ll get started right away.”

“You do that.”

Edward left the room with a frown on his face.

“Weren’t you a bit too harsh? I mean he has been a great help, and you said it yourself, it isn’t a big deal that he’s linked to Aeon.”

Hina said.

“This has nothing to do with Aeon. I just want to know what he’s really capable of.”

“I see. It’s true that he’s been very careful to not reveal any of his cards since we’ve met.”

Tia said.

“He knows so much about us and we don’t know a thing about him. Don’t you think that’s unfair?”

Miko started smirking.

“But can it be done in one night?”

Sora asked.

“I believe he can do it.”

Miko looked at Luka.

“The pillars and Bloom will react in different ways but both will definitely be aggressive. I’ll be the first to admit that we won’t have control of the situation for a while. That’s why I had to prepare secret measures to even the playfield.”

A knock could be heard on the door and it was opened soon after. Miko smiled when he saw who had walked in.

“And here’s one of those secret measures now.”

“Who are you calling a secret measure?”

Robin, Luka’s #1 Apostle answered Miko with a frown. Miko ignored him and spoke to everyone in the room.

“Through Kaido and Jin both the Pillars and Bloom knows that my apostles and Luka are here. They should also have an idea of your skills from your time at the academy and the battle with Dragon Storm.”

Miko appeared behind Robin and placed his hand on his shoulder.

“But they wouldn’t expect that Luka’s Apostles were here too. After all, kaido should know that Robin and I don’t get along, so who would expect that he and the others would aid me?”

“Since you know that we don’t get along, stop being chummy.”

Robin flicked Miko off him with his shoulder.

“Mhm. But I must say that you guys are quite something. You’ve grown so much since I last saw you.”

“That was over six months ago. People grow.”

“Well said, people do grow. The current you can give me serious trouble….Well, I was out for six months and haven’t trained in almost year but that doesn’t really matter right?”

Robin looked like he wanted to strangle Miko, but didn’t. Miko laughed and patted him on the shoulder.

“Again, thanks for coming. With people as strong as you in the shadows, I can act freely.”

“…..Don’t worry about it.”

Miko nodded with a smile and then turned around.

“Now then, shall we watch the Code Breaker do his thing?”