In the royal district of the capital, a man dressed in a black tuxedo suit stood in an open lot. He had black hair, golden slit eyes, a handsome face with a beauty mark under his right eye, and an elegant smile on his face. This was Raven, one of the guardians of the Dragna clan. He took a key out of his pocket and thrust his hand in front of him. He twisted his hand and a click reached his ears. The space in front of him distorted and an old door with strange carvings on it appeared. He pushed the door open and a bright light engulfed him. The light faded and seven figures stood before him with over 300 warriors behind them.

“Oh? I expected you guys to grow stronger but this is far beyond what I expected.”

A grin crept on his face.

“To think all 6 beasts that entered broke through the Divine Realm and evolved into Divine Beasts.”

“Do you think the don will be happy with their results?”

The woman in front spoke with her hand on her hip. Raven nodded.

“Miko will be elated.”

A smile appeared on the woman’s face.

“Then, let’s go pay our boss a visit.”

“That won’t be necessary.”

A purple light flashed and Miko appeared with purple static dancing around him. Raven’s eyes widened at his appearance.

(That purple static….)

Miko’s image overlapped with a man he was very familiar with.

(Augustus?)

He shook his head and only Miko stood there. The purple static disappeared and Miko stretched his body with a groan. He straightened himself and looked at the figures in front of him.

“Oh? Looks like you’ve all grown.”

The figures behind the woman kneeled in front of Miko.

“Don, your loyal soldiers have returned! Please give your orders!”

Miko nodded with approval.

“For now, go to the Hall of Rebirth. I’ll catch with you after I talk with Raven.”

“As you wish!”

The figures disappeared leaving the woman, Layla Song, behind. Miko’s eyes scanned Layla from head to toe. Her brown her had grown out to her feet. Her skin looked a bit rougher compared to the last time he saw her. Her clothes were fitting of a beggar, and she had cuts and scratches on her body. Even so…

“You’ve gotten even more beautiful, Layla.”

Layla’s face lit up.

“You don’t need to lie. I know I look like crap.”

“No.”

Miko walked up to her while shaking his head.

“I wasn’t lying.”

He placed his hands on her shoulder and smiled at her.

“You’re always beautiful in my eyes. Seeing you this beaten up from trying to evolve just adds to your beauty.”

Layla laughed and Miko did the same.

“I missed you, partner.”

“I missed you too.”

Miko pulled her closer and hugged her.

“Layla….You need a shower.”

Miko felt a blow to the stomach. Layla forced herself out of his arms and stormed off. Miko laughed watching her fly away. He soon stopped laughing and turned to face Raven.

“It’s been a while, Miko.”

“Pretty much a year or so.”

Raven nodded.

“To think that your first visit to the capital is to welcome them back.”

“I have my reasons. I’ve only just arrived but I’m sure that people are aware that I’m here. So, I’m going to leave before they get any ideas.”

“Wait. What did you use to get here?”

“I had one of my citizens fly me near the city and then ran the rest of the way.”

“How far?”

“Around 20 miles or so.”

“How long did it take you?”

Miko narrowed his eyes.

“What’s with the sudden interrogation?”

“It’s nothing. I was just curious about the purple static that was surrounding you.”

(I see…)

Miko shrugged.

“It’s a movement skill that I created. It’s nothing to worry about. More importantly, I have a request.”

He paused.

“Now that I think about it, I’ve alone asked for you favors and haven’t given you anything in return. Is there anything that you want?”

“Only for you to bring prosperity to the empire.”

“Such a textbook answer. Well, I plan to do that anyway.”

“That’s good to hear. So what’s your request?”

Miko locked eyes with him with a serious expression.

“I want you to arrange for me to meet all five Guardian Beasts and their proxies.”

“That’s not a problem, but if word gets out that you Tiamat’s Proxy is meeting with the Five Guardian Beasts in this tense time, people will start to question your intentions.”

“They’re free to think what they want. As long as I meet with all of you I don’t care.”

“When do you want to meet?”

“The next time I come to the capital.”

“And when will that be?”

“That depends….Am I surrounded by fools or wise men?”

After his talk with Raven, Miko returned to the Hall of Rebirth in Nebulous City. He headed to his office and opened the door with a smile.

“Welcome back, Don!”

He was greeted by energetic voices. He saw six people standing in front of him. They were all dressed in business attire and had well-groomed appearances. Miko walked up to the man in front with a smile. With his muscular build, brown skin, and orange mane he towered over Miko and looked down on him.

“Yo, Oden. I see that all of you were able to evolve to Divine Beasts as I ordered. Good work.”

“It wasn’t easy. That place was literally hell. I’m surprised that I’m alive, even more, shocked that we didn’t lose a single soldier.”

“That’s great news.”

Miko looked at the others behind him.

“You’ve all gotten human forms, huh? Let me see if I can guess who’s who.”

He looked at the woman at the front dressed in a tael suit with a white undershirt and tael. Her green hair and eyes complemented what she wore.

“Well, this is obviously Acacia. Being originally an elf, you were the most human-like to begin with. You only lost your pointy ears and became a bit more voluptuous.”

He smiled.

“The scar you had on your face gave you a dignified look but you’re prettier without it.”

“Thanks for the compliment.”

Acacia smiled back at Miko. He looked at the long figure beside her. With shoulder-length black greasy hair, slim yet tone build, it was a pale-skin man dressed in a standard black suit.

“Oh, so lizardmen look like this when they evolve? You still have your yellow reptilian eyes…Can you hide them, Barak?”

“Yes, but I wish not to. They reminded me of my origins.”

“I see. But still, you’re a pretty creepy-looking man?”

“Huh? C-Creepy?”

“Hmm….Maybe sketchy is the right word? You look like the type of guy women would be scare to meet in an empty park at night.”

“?!”

Barak fell to knees dejected while the others laughed. Miko patted his back.

“Hey, don’t mind it. You’re my bodyguard so you’ll be popular with girls despite your looks.”

“That doesn’t cheer me up even a bit.”

Miko stepped past him and approached the bulky man with a chubby face in the back wearing a vest suit.

“Damn, Kris. You’re a big dude. As I would expect from an evolved Orc.”

He hit his stomach with his fist.

“Although, I thought that you would be flabby; you’re all muscle.”

“I was fat at first, but that place made me lose weight instantly.”

“The pink hair is out of place though.”

Miko laughed and turned to the woman and man pair beside Kris.

“Arlan, Aiden, you two were quadruped beasts. This evolution is probably the strangest for the two of you. Do you think you can handle walking or two feet and wearing clothes, or do I have to arrange for someone to train you?”

“I’m not a kid, Don! I don’t need training!”

Dressed in a red jacket suit with a crooked tie, Aiden rejected Miko’s “sincere” offer. His red curly hair and bread gave him a wild look similar to Oden’s. His blood-colored red eyes had remnants of his ferocity as a manticore.

“I agree with him, Don. I appreciate it if you didn’t belittle us. We made it to Divine Beasts after all.”

“My bad, Arlan. I haven’t seen you guys in a while so I felt like teasing you a bit.”

Arlan curled her lips a bit. She was wearing a beige dress suit, had her brown hair braided into one, and wore a fashionable pair of glasses over her orange eyes.

(A winged lion with a fashion sense?)

Miko shook his head and looked towards his desk where Layla, who was dressed in a blue dress and was sitting in his chair.

“You did great to dress them all, Layla.”

“Now that they have human forms I couldn’t stop myself from playing dress-up.”

Layla laughed.

“It was a good idea to have you train with them instead of the Flameheart clan like you wanted. You were already a venomous woman, but now you could be mistaken for the mother of demons, Lilith herself.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment.”

“It was meant to be.”

Miko turned and faced Oden and the former guardians.

“Now that you’ve all become equal to gods you won’t have to fear becoming the pets of humans ever again. You’re all-powerful Divine Beasts.”

Everyone nodded while smiling.

“That being the case, I have a question.”

“We have no desire to leave Renacido.”

Oden stepped out and declared.

“We talked about it before entering the Ruined World and we all agreed that no matter how strong we become, we’ll follow you until you’re fed up with us.”

Acacia added.

“When we were afraid of the outside world and turned Jara into a prison not only for ourselves but for everyone there, the one who liberated us was you, Don. So we want to repay the favor with everything we have.”

Kris added.

“Renacido is not a place where its members are restricted, it’s a place where they’re reborn into better versions of themselves. We wish to grow alongside it and you….Although, you’re a prick sometimes.”

Barak mumbled the last sentence.

“Oh? What about you, Aiden, Arlan? You two are proud beasts by nature. Do you not wish to create your own kingdoms?”

“Only if that kingdom would serve you.”

Arlan quickly answered.

“I’ve already lost and sworn loyalty to you. If I turn my back on you after that, this power I acquired would be worthless.”

Aiden added.

“You already know my answer.”

Layla spoke up behind him. A grin crept on Miko’s face.

“I see. I’m honored to have such good subordinates?”

He shook his head.

“I’m honored to have you all as a part of my family.”

“That’s what Renacido is. We’re more than a gang or a country, we’re family.”

Miko nodded at Layla’s words.

“With this, Renacido is at full strength.”

He revealed his fangs.

“Now that you’re all back, it’s time for Renacido’s name to once again ring loud and clear.”

“I’ve heard the gist of what happened…As I thought you didn’t act because you have some kind of plan.”

Layla leaned forward behind his desk.

“Yup.”

“Say the word and we’ll destroy any enemy you desire.”

“Calm down, Aiden. There’s an order to these kinds of things.”

Miko walked over and braced on his desk.

“For the time being, let’s send peace treaties to all of the countries in the Northern Region of the Silver Continent.”

“Huh? Peace Treaties? Why?”

Miko said nothing and showed a fanged smile.