Back at the Dragna Meeting.

“Siblings?”

“Nero has siblings?”

“This is the first I’ve heard of this.”

Nero’s demand threw the meeting into disarray.

“Everyone, calm down.”

“Be quiet, all of you.”

Darwin and Markus tried to retake control of their members. The branch leaders, however, glared at Nero.

“We have aunts or uncles? This is the first I’ve heard of this.”

Even Rihan was caught off guard by what was happening. However, he had an amused smile on his face.

“Mother, did you know about this?”

Nova whispered to Kimiko, who nodded.

“I know that they exist, but I was never told where they were or what kind of condition they were in.”

She glanced over at Nero who was gritting his teeth.

(Looks like it’s a touchy topic.)

“Gamiko, you know that we can’t-”

“You can and you will.”

Nero cut Rouge off. He jumped from behind his desk and landed in front of the throne. He stood face to face with Rouge in a stand-offish manner.

“What are you doing, Gamiko?”

“I said that I won’t take No for an answer. I meant that.”

“So, what? You’re gonna force things to go your way?”

Nero turned away from him and faced everyone.

“It seems that a lot of you are confused, so let me explain the situation.”

Ignoring the fuming Rouge, Nero placed his hand over his heart.

“My father, Cladius was the firstborn child of Augustus and Tiamat. He went on to have three children of his own, I’m his second child. I have an older brother and a younger sister by the names of Falkon and Ravel.”

“Falkon and Ravel?”

“It’s the first I’ve heard those names.”

“Where have they been all this time?”

“It’s natural that most of you haven’t heard their names. They’ve been imprisoned since the start of the Proxy Era.”

Nero turned back and looked at Rouge.

“It’s been 10,000 years. Don’t you think it’s time they are freed.”

“10,000 years?”

“I can’t even imagine what’s that like.”

“I’ll probably go insane.”

The mutters were starting to irritate Rouge.

“Don’t make it sound like they were falsely imprisoned, Gamiko. The two of them committed grave sins towards the clan.”

“What grave sin?”

“They killed over a thousand clan members and over a million citizens between the two them.”

“?!”

Alexus’ words silenced the room. Everyone who was mumbling looked at each other in shock. Rouge poked Nero’s chest.

“Their crimes were so severe that we had to build the Demon’s Nest just for them.”

Nero looked at Rouge’s finger and stepped forward.

“Like I said, what sin?”

The Branch and Clan Leaders narrowed their eyes while everybody else’s widened.

“Gamiko, what do you mean by that?”

“Are you perhaps implying that they did nothing wrong?”

This time Andreas and Ecko couldn’t remain silent. Nero looked back at them and spoke with a straight face.

“I’m not implying, it’s the truth.”

“Gamiko, are you mad?!”

“What about the people who lost their lives?!”

“FUCK THEM!”

Nero’s shout caused the palace to tremble. He clenched his shaking fists.

“People? Do you think I give a fuck about them? Falkon and Ravel should’ve burnt this world to the ground that day. I regret not rampaging with them.”

Nero glared at his cousins one by one.

“Since you’re bringing up the dead, tell everyone the reason why my siblings did what they did.”

“………”

“Go on, tell them….Tell them!”

“Gamiko….”

“Sit down, woman.”

Kimiko stood up to say something but Nero’s eyes struck fear in her heart unlike anything before. Her body obeyed him before she could think.

“If You’re not gonna talk, then I will.”

Nero faced everyone.

“The reason my siblings did what they did was that they witnessed our mother get torn apart limb by limb. Her heart ripped out her chest and devoured. Her head kicked around like a toy.”

Nero’s eyes were dead as remembered the scene.

“Falkon killed her murderers in a fit of rage, but that didn’t quench his anger, even a little. He wanted to hunt down everybody that came to invade our home but the clan didn’t let him. They held him back telling him that everyone had lost someone and that he needed to stay calm and lead our people….What bullshit.”

He let out a dry laugh.

“My brother deemed those who blocked his path as enemies and slaughtered them all.”

“And that’s what got him imprisoned. No matter what, you can’t just go around killing your family.”

Nero looked at Rouge with indifference.

“And my sister? She was born with powers too powerful for her to control. She carried a lot of burdens on her shoulders at a young age. So tell me, how should she, a mere 8-year-old girl, have reacted to witnessing her mother’s gruesome demise?”

“……….”

“You would’ve lost your mind as well, right?”

He gripped his hair and started messing up his head.

“For years, my mother’s screams haunted my dreams. Just hearing someone called me the same way that she did would make me wanna vomit and cry like a baby. It’s the reason why I threw my name away and took up a new identity.”

He scanned the room seeing the trembling pupils staring at him.

“Why did you think I became the first Deicider, beating everyone else from the previous era?”

He clenched his teeth to the point of almost cracking them.

“I wanted revenge. I wanted to kill every god, demon, beast, or hero that was involved. But I couldn’t because the cowards ran away from the war and obtained puppets to do their bidding.”

A smile crawled onto his face.

“So I killed those puppets and did everything I could to make their lives a living hell. I burnt their cities, eradicated their bloodlines, tortured everyone related to them that I could find…Women, children, crippled, or elderly, I spared no one.”

Looking into his eyes, everyone suddenly remembered Nero’s title as a Deicider that was bestowed onto him by the Gods.

“He Who Brings Destruction Upon The World”.

A heavy silence covered the room. Nero broke that silence with his next words.

“You all have witnessed or heard about my eccentric personality. Did it ever occur to you that it’s something I do to distract myself?”

Eyes once again widened.

“I was overflowing with negativity and hate, so much that if I don’t distract myself it will destroy me.”

He looked at Kimiko.

“Of course, I began to calm down once I found love with my wives and children. They were able to save me from me.”

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Just as everyone was thinking that he was about to calm down his eyelids lifted to reveal a pair of slit bloodshot eyes.

“But happiness is only a fleeting moment after all. As if I’m cursed, the women in my family always suffer without me being able to do anything.”

Bulging veins popped out in his head.

“My oldest daughter has been exiled and no one knows where she is or if she’s okay. Because I can’t leave, I haven’t seen my twin daughters for over 60 years. My youngest daughter is unconscious, lost a limb, had her face broken, and had her body filled with holes. My sister has been imprisoned for 10,000 years, and my mother was violated and mutilated before my eyes.”

He chuckled a bit before grabbing Rouge’s collar and pull him closer.

“Hey, Rouge. Tell me, what am I supposed to do?”

Nero’s trembling eyes reflected in Rouge’s.

“What can I do to protect the women I love?”

Rouge placed his hand on Nero’s arm.

“I’m sorry, Gamiko….I know how you feel, we always have…But we can’t free them. They’re far too dangerous.”

“………”

Nero’s grip on his collar weakened.

“!”

He gritted his teeth and strengthen his grip. He pulled Rouge and burst his face with a headbutt. Rouge stumbled back.

“Gamiko!”

“What have you done?!”

“Have you lost your mind?!”

The other branch leaders and everyone else flew to their feet.

“……….”

“……….”

Rouge and Nero looked at each other with blood flowing down their faces.

“I know that I’m the last person you want to hear say this, but give up on them, Gamiko. Let go of the past and don’t let it destroy you.”

“….I’m sorry, Rouge. I can’t do that.”

“You can!”

Rouge spread his arms.

“When my father betrayed the clan and joined the enemy I pointed my blade at him! I gave up on saving him! I did it not because I hated him, he was the person I loved the most! But I still stood against him! Why?! Because of Augustus’ last words to me, to all of us!”

He slammed his fist over his heart.

“He told us to protect the clan at all costs! Don’t let the Dragna name die! Make the world acknowledge that we lived, that we are currently living, that we will always live! That’s the only way to honor those who gave their lives for us to live!”

He walked up to Nero and headbutt him. The two’s foreheads were rubbing against each other as they bleed.

“Your siblings are a threat to the clan!”

“Clan this, Clan that! Fuck the clan! All I care about is family!”

“We are your family!”

“Then, fucking act like it!”

“Calm down, you two!”

Alexus forced them apart while Ecko and Andreas held onto Nero and Rouge respectively.

“Stop it, Nero! This is no time to be fighting among ourselves!”

“You fool, what are you doing making the situation worse?!”

Nero pushed Ecko off him and turned his back on her. After a pause, he looked towards the sky and closed his eyes. His breathing steadied and his body relaxed.

“………..”

He silently opened his eyes.

“In the end, it came to this.”

He slowly turned around. He and Rouge locked eyes.

“….Are you serious, Gamiko?”

Nero cracked his fingers.

“I said this earlier, didn’t I? This is a demand. I’m no longer asking.”

Tension filled the room.

“Are you insane?”

Nero smirked.

“After all these years, you people still don’t know the answer to that?”

He walked towards them.

“I can’t remember the last time I was sane.”

“I can’t either.”

Nero heard a voice behind, followed by a burning sensation at his torso. He looked down and saw an arm sticking out of his chest. Rouge and everyone else was frozen staring at the man the arm belonged. A smile crept on his Nero’s face as blood seeped through his lips.

“So you chose to intervene, Joseph?”

“That’s right.”

Joesph pulled his arm out and Nero collapsed onto the ground. Blood flowed out of him and formed a blood puddle. Joesph looked down on him coldly and spoke.

“I can’t have you repeating the same mistake that your brother did, Nero.”