The demon fortress covering the Red Light District disappeared and Miko landed on the ground without making a sound.

“Miko.”

He looked and saw his comrades running towards him.

“I heard Bloom’s declaration.”

Luka said.

“That crazy woman actually dropped a meteor on us.”

“Yeah. It’ was a great way to let everyone know that she’s back.”

Miko laughed.

“Don, your orders.”

Edward and Bella kneeled in front of him and asked.

“Hmm…First, free Chrome.”

“What?”

“As you wish.”

Contrary to everyone else’s shock, Edward and Bella hurriedly went to carry out Miko’s orders.

“Why would you free Chrome now? She knows what you’re planning.”

Kristen asked. He wasn’t flustered but seemed curious.

“She knowing what I’m aiming for isn’t a problem. She won’t tell anyone.”

“Why?”

“Because it wouldn’t make a difference. Knowing my plans won’t boost my enemies’ motivation if anything it would cause them to worry. The thought of what would happen if they lose could end up making them desperate and desperation clouds judgment. Once she goes back and sees the state her comrades are in, she’ll realize that saying anything wouldn’t be smart.”

“….Thinking several steps ahead as always, huh?”

“It’s something that you’ll need to learn to do if you want to survive in this war.”

Miko started walking away.

“Question, what do you think caused this war to happen?”

“You fucked shit up like usual.”

Ace said.

“I can’t deny that, but that’s not what I meant. This war would’ve happened regardless of me messing around. Why’s that? Ego!”

Ishma and Regis appeared at his side.

“There are too many strong egos gathered in this country. It’s the same reason why the war for supremacy started in the first place. Too many people with strong egos gathered together and it led to them clashing. Why did they clash? What was the thing that they believed belonged to them?”

“The throne.”

Hina answered.

“That’s right. They all saw themselves as someone worthy of sitting on the throne. In other words, they call saw themselves as kings and what happens when there are multiple kings but one throne to sit on? The answer is war.”

Ishma and Regis took their sword forms in his hands.

“It’s the same thing happening now. There’s only one throne and too many kings. In other words, we’re witnessing a War of Kings one similar to the great wars of the past.”

Miko clenched his swords tightly with a grin on his face.

“Don’t you think it would be a waste not to use this chance to prepare for the real thing. The real hell that’s ahead.”

A savage aura started seeping out of his body.

“If I can’t become the king of this puny stage then there’s nothing I can do when I reach the grand stage.”

He leaped into the air and lifted his arms overhead.

“Listen up, you fools! There is only one king here and that’s me!”

His swords started glowing and ferocious roars could be heard coming from them.

“Satan Hybrid Style: Demon King’s Declaration!”

He swung his swords down and two slash cut through the earth before dividing into two and going four separate directions. The slashes grow larger and more powerful as they traveled. They charged towards Romix, Sawyer, Elon, and Newgate City. Bloom who was in the capital saw a slash heading towards her and formed her sword in her hand. She swung it down and fired a slash of her own.

*Boom!*

The slashes clashed and caused a huge explosion. Her eyes widened when her sword was cut while she was holding it.

“….I see. You’ve definitely gotten stronger, Miko.”

Back at the Red Light District, Miko turned to his comrades who were shocked by his actions and smiled.

“I returned the greeting.”

“Dammit!”

Gear cursed while inside Elon.

“First, it was Bloom dropping meteorites and now it’s Miko send long-distance slashes! Those bastards!”

“Don’t you think we should answer in kind?”

Didier asked.

“Oh, we’re going to answer in kind alright.”

Gear operated his smartwatch and a holographic window appeared in front of him. The words “voice broadcast” was on it.

“Attention, comrades. This is Tommy Akabe speaking.”

His voice resounded in the three great cities.

“In wake of recent attacks made by our enemies I’ve made a decision.”

He took a deep breath and then shouted.

“It’s all-out war! All soldiers prepare for battle! Today is the beginning of the end!”

“Ohhh!”

Loud cheers came from the soldiers stationed in the cities.

“All our war huh? I like it.”

Sami laughed.

(This is unlike Gear’s normally cautious behavior…..He must be really confident that we’ll win.)

Isabel thought. Gear looked at all of them and smiled.

“It’s finally time for us to go wild.”

Newgate City. Bloom was floating in the air staring into the distance. Her eyes silently narrowed and she spoke into her communicator.

“Jin, take care of things for a bit.”

“Where are you going?”

“Just to settle an old grudge.”

She flew off with an overwhelming force. She cut through the air like a plane with a sharp look in her eyes. She soon spotted something heading towards her which caused her to smirk.

“Long time no see, Queen!”

Natasa shouted with a voice that seemed like she was laughing.

“Long time no see, indeed.”

Bloom clenched her fist and a purple aura covered it. Natasa also clenched her fist and her arm was covered in metallic black scales.

“Let’s settle this!”

Bloom accelerated.

“Time to decide who is the king between us!”

Natasa accelerated as well. The two pulled their fists back and threw a punch.

*BOOM!*

The clash caused a thundering sound and shockwaves spread out around them and shook all the surrounding buildings. They clenched their other fists and threw another punch causing a similar result. They were forced back by the shockwaves. Bloom thrust her hand in front of her and Natasa was pulled towards her. She slammed her fist in her face and Natasa was forced into the ground. Bloom flew down and stomped her into the earth; she even used her powers to increase her weight and add additional damage.

“?!”

Bloom’s eyes widened when she looked down and saw that what she was stepping on was a hollow shell that was shaped like Natasa.

“A dummy?!”

She heard a loud sound behind her and span around. She had to bend her back to avoid being hit by something coming after her head. She saw that it was a bone-whip while it passed over her. She straightened her back and jumped over the whip that was coming at her from behind. She looked down and saw Natasa with the bone-whip coming out of her palm. She withdrew the whip and flew towards Bloom, who swung her hand and blew her away with overwhelming force. Natasa landed on the ground and immediately felt immense pressure pressing down on her.

“Gravity, gravity, gravity! Is that the only trick you know?!”

A beastly aura oozed out of her body. Scaly tentacles burst out of her back, and spikes came out of her skin.

“While you’ve been stuck in your stubborn mindset, I’ve been constantly evolving and growing!”

The spikes fired from her body and flew towards Bloom, who swung her arm and caused them to halt.

*Bam!*

The spikes exploded and countless miniature spikes rushed at her. She flew out of the way but ended up in Natasa’s path. Natasa thrust the tentacles at her with so much speed that Bloom didn’t have time to properly dodge them, so she created a barrier around her and stopped them.

“Ah!”

Natasa flew at her and shattered the barrier with a punch to Bloom’s surprise. Bloom was kicked under the chin and then on the side of the head before finally getting a punch in. Her punch, however, did nothing to Natasa who was covered in a metallic exoskeleton armor. Natasa countered with a body blow. Bloom felt pain from being hit on her scar and clenched her teeth. Her eyes shone and Natasa was forced to the ground by a powerful force. Bloom lifted her hand overhead and formed a giant ball of purple energy, that ball transformed into a sword.

“You fucking brat!”

Bloom swung down the sword and the area around Natasa flattened before being bent out of shape. The buildings twisted and snapped, and the ground started looking like waves in the ocean.

“Gravity plus the reality-bending Chaos Vita, huh?”

Natasa laughed despite blood leaking through the corner of her mouth. It was obvious that she was taking damage from just being exposed to the attack.

“You thought I didn’t have something to defend against that?!”

Her body suddenly doubled in size from the exoskeleton she was wearing becoming bulkier. It covered her entire body and darken to a pitch-black shade. Spikes grew from the limbs, she also grew a gritty tail and dragon wings. She launched into the air with a force rivaling a rocket. It was as if she was unaffected by Bloom’s attack.

“You damn monster!”

Bloom dove down and swung down her sword. Natasa threw a punch upwards and her fist clashed with Bloom’s sword.

*BOOM!*

Purple and black statics were formed from the clash. The static struck the ground like lightning bolts and further destroyed the area. Despite the space around her being distorted, Natasa continued to press on in the clash. Eventually, Bloom’s sword was forced back and bloom was left wide open.

“Clench your teeth!”

Natasa slammed her fist in the center of Bloom’s face. An explosive sound erupted and Bloom’s head was blown back with a bloody face. Natasa quickly followed up with a punch to her midsection. Blood gushed out of Bloom’s mouth and the sounds of bones crushing could be heard coming from her body. She was forced out of the sky and crashed through several buildings before crashing into the earth. She laid in a crater with her body twitching and choking on her own blood.

“Hahahaha! Look at you! Some king you turn out to be!”

Natasa laughed while pointing her finger at her. Bloom looked at her sky in silence.

“Looks like this the end for you, King!”

“…Shut up.”

Bloom surprisingly lifted her upper body and glared at Natasa.

“You have no idea what I’ve been through and yet you come and try to take everything from me?”

The area suddenly started trembling, air and ground alike.

“As long as oxygen fills my lungs, I will continue to rule over this place.”

Bloom rose to her feet in an unnatural manner. It was as if someone had dragged her to her feet. She glared at Natasa with eyes filled with hate.

“You want my throne? You’ll only get it after you’ve stepped over my dead body!”

Natasa saw an image appear behind her. It was a gigantic silver bird. Its wings were clipped, it was stained in blood, and was covered in chains.

“She had a Battle Avatar?!”

Bloom leaped into the air and shouted after landing on the bird’s back.

“Silver Crow, kill my enemies and free me from their chains!”

The bird cried and then flew towards Natasa.

“Interesting! Let’s see what you got!”

Natasa dove to meet the bird’s charge. She made the spikes on her arm grow and then punched at the bird.

“Huh?”

But the fist passed through the bird as if it was a mirage. She quickly attacked Bloom but her attack also phased through her.

“Is her Avatar strengthening the reality-bending trait of her Chaos Vita?!”

Natasa went for the attack again but Bloom moved faster this time. She ordered the Silver Crow to crash into Natasa and force her towards the ground. She then leaped off the crow’s back and landed on top of Natasa.

“How can you move so freely after the damage you took?”

Natasa asked while struggling to free herself from the crow’s grasp.

“A true king must be a jack of all trades. That includes healing magic.”

Bloom placed her hand on Natasa’s armor.

“You seem quite proud of this shell of yours.”

Bloom smirked.

“Chaos Break!”

Waves started forming in Natasa’s armor like it was liquid. The armor then shattered and blood sprayed and splashed on Bloom’s face.

“Ahhhh!”

“Ah, this was an exoskeleton, wasn’t it? Then I basically just destroyed your skin.”

Bloom showed an evil grin before grabbing Natasa’s face.

“Oops.”

She then slammed Natasa head-first into the ground and buried her upper body. She pulled her out by her legs and flung her in the air.

“You said you wanted to decide which one of us was a king and which one was a peasant, right?”

Bloom flew towards her clenching her fist.

“Well, here’s your answer, Peasant!”

She slammed her fist in her face and caused it burst open before her entire body was blown away by overwhelming pressure.

*BOOOM!*

Natasa’s body cut throw the air with so much force that buildings exploded after she passed them. Her body left a trail of destruction in its wake. She eventually disappeared in the distance and could no longer be seen by Bloom.

“Hah~! I…Hah~! Win…Hah~! Brat!”

Bloom tumbled over and laid flat on the ground. She slowly lifted her trembling hand and placed it on her chest.

(I need to heal as fast as possible. This battle has just begun and is nowhere near over.)

She thought. A shadow cast over her causing her to look up and see Jin looking down at her.

“Good job.”

He signaled some soldiers to help Bloom up.

“Take a rest and let us do some work.”

Bloom was pulled away by the soldiers. When she passed her Silver Crow comrades she was shocked to see Chrome. She couldn’t say anything as she and the others immediately moved off.

(I felt a sinister presence coming from them just now….)

She thought. Meanwhile, the Silver Crow members were moving at incredible speed with serious expressions on their faces. Jin was the one that spoke.

“Your mission is simple…Kill every enemy you can find. Don’t stop until they’re all dead. Got it?”

“Yes!”

He nodded.

“Good.”

A cold look appeared in his eyes.

“Silver Crow, give them hell.”