章節 42: 41st Adversary: Nebulous Always Wins In The End
After testing out his new swords, Miko and the girls went back to the capital. More specifically, they went to where Ace, Sora, and Hina were staying.
"Huh? Swords? These girls?"
When Miko arrived, he introduced Ishma and Regis to the trio.
"Oh, they're cute."
Hina said while circling them.
"Cute? Who are you calling cute?!"
Ishma was visibly offended.
"I am the bringer of destruction, hell's butcher, the mass murderer-!"
"Want a cookie?"
Hina interrupted her rant and offered her something to eat.
"I don't want your goddamn….Hm? It smells sweet."
Ishma took the cookie and ate it.
"Mhmm!"
Her face instantly lit up and her cheeks redden with delight.
"What is this thing? It's so delicious!"
"It's a snack. Do you want more?"
Ishma nodded her head vigorously.
"Here."
Hina gave her a bag of cookies she was saving. Ishma grabbed it and started to eat like a savage.
"Mhm! I can't believe they made something this delicious while I was sealed. This is just revolutionary."
"There are a lot of sweets that are more delicious than cookies, you know."
"What?!"
Ishma's eyes almost popped out of her head.
"You, I demand you to bring those things to me!"
"The names's Hina, and that's not how you ask for something from others. Be more polite."
"Me not killing you is polite enough."
"I see. Then no sweets for you."
Hina stopped paying attention to her.
"Wha?!"
Ishma started grinding her teeth and looked at Miko, who shrugged in return.
"F-Fine."
An anguished look appeared on Ishma's face.
"Bring those things to me…..Please."
"Now was that too hard?"
"I felt like I was about to cough up blood…."
Ishma grumbled.
"Alright. I'll take you to the kitchen. There I'll give you some more sweets."
"Really?!"
Hina went towards the kitchen with Ishma following behind her.
"….She tamed an ancient demon with sweets."
"So much for Hell's Butcher."
Regis burst out laughing while following them into the kitchen.
"Miko, are those two really swords? They seem so human."
Sora asked.
"I was surprised myself. But their power is top-notch. Although, their strength is dependent on my own."
"So it's like there's three of you when you use them. That's pretty powerful."
"By the way, have there been any movements from Nebulous?"
"Not that I'm aware of, but I doubt he'll back off just from you intervening."
"Really? I thought I commanded an overwhelming presence. Looks like I'm not as frightening as I thought I was."
Ace laughed.
"No offense, Miko. But I doubt Nebulous fears you. We're talking about the guy who conquered the crime world of an empire this large. He even went against the emperor's authority multiple times. You need to have balls to do stuff like that."
"Well, it works out better if he's ballsy. That way he'll make a great opponent. My first opponent on my path to reach the top. A great stepping stone."
After spending some time messing around with the trio, Miko left with the girls. Since they were his swords, Regis and Ishma were going to live with him. Like this, the long day finally came to an end.
The next morning.
The trio woke up in their apartment and was doing their own thing when suddenly they heard a lot of talking coming from outside.
"What's that?"
Ace looked at Sora and asked. Sora's ears twitched and a frown appeared on his face.
"There's a lot of people outside. A couple hundred, a couple thousand? I can't tell. It's too many for me to discern with hearing alone."
"…An enemy attack?"
"I don't know, but the chances are quite high."
At this moment, Hina went into her room and came back out with a few duffle bags. She opened them and dozens of weapons ranging from guns to blades to even weird tools were seen inside them.
"You two go check what it is, I'll be here getting ready."
While saying that, she started to equip herself with all kinds of weapons.
"I'll go check."
Sora cautiously headed towards a window. He peeped outside while shielding most of himself to prevent being sniped.
"?!"
What he saw shocked him.
"Women? Kids too…."
"What?"
Hearing that, Ace went to take a look. He saw countless women and children. There were lots of men too, but because they were expecting thugs the women and children stood out more for them.
"They have signs with our names on them."
"Could they be fans?"
Hina walked over and asked.
"How did they find us? And so many at that."
She started looking around and soon spotted someone typing on their phone. Her eyes instantly turned golden. She zoomed and looked at what the person was typing.
"Dude, the post was real. I can totally see Hinami Akume. I'm not mistaken. It's the Hinami I saw at the comic book signing."
She read out what the person texted.
"Post? Someone posted our location on the internet?"
Ace was baffled.
"How did they get this address?"
Sora opened the window and peeped out to get a better look.
"It's Sora!"
"Sora! I'm your biggest fan!"
When he did, a lot of girls started screaming his name. He showed a smile a waved back at them.
"Move. Maybe I have fans out there!"
Ace moved him out of the way and peeked out.
"Ace!"
He received cheers, but it was from mostly men and children. Seeing that, his mood immediately soured.
"Why are you so popular, when I'm more handsome than you!"
He started to choke Sora and complained.
"Stop it, idiot! Don't you realize that something's wrong here?!"
"Yeah, your popularity!"
"Stop it, Ace. Sora's right….Hm?"
That's when her phone started ringing.
"?!"
When she saw the caller ID her face paled.
"Nebulous."
She had never stored this number in her phone, yet whenever she got a call from it, the name Nebulous would always pop up without displaying the phone number itself. And she could never call it back either. Seeing this call with the sudden sea of fans outside, her heart started to race. She slowly answered the phone and put it to her ear.
"Hello, Hina."
A familiar computerized voice reached her ears.
"Nebulous, are you responsible for those people outside?"
"All I did was just to tell them where their idols were. Did you know? You guys are really famous and loved. There are a lot of people who want to meet you. I just granted them the opportunity to do so."
"What are you planning to do to them?"
"That depends on you three. Put me on speaker."
Hina put the phone on speaker so that Ace and Sora could hear.
"You three are so cold. How could you just leave the company after everything they've done for you."
"Don't call us cold, when you're the one who blew it up."
Sora glared at the phone.
"I only did that to help you three out. When I heard you left the company, I thought that you wanted to rid yourself of the entertainment industry. So I made it easier. I destroyed your roots in the industry."
The three were shocked when they heard his reasoning. They all thought that he was insane.
"It's the same reason why I brought all of your fans together."
"?!"
They all flinched when they heard that.
"Wait, Nebulous! Don't hurt them!"
Hina shouted.
"Why? You don't need them anymore, right? You left the entertainment industry right?"
"Even if we did, these are people's lives we're talking about. There's no need for them to die just so you can harass us."
Sora spoke with an angry tone.
"I assure you. I'm not harassing you. I'm just trying to help you start fresh by destroying everything you left behind."
Hina's eyes trembled in her head. Nebulous continued.
"But they must all be so happy. They get to meet the people they idolize. This must be the highest point of their lives. If that's the case, they don't need to live past today, do they?"
"You crazy bastard!"
Sora grind his teeth in anger.
"What do you want?"
Hina said after a while.
"What was that?"
"I asked what do you want in exchange for their lives?!"
She shouted.
"What do I want? Hmm, let's see."
Nebulous became quiet for a bit, before speaking again.
"There's not much that I want really. I was honestly doing this by the kindness in my heart."
"Stop messing around, you sick sadistic fuck!"
Sora roared.
"My, I wonder how Klick would react if he heard you curse like that?"
The trio immediately became furious at the mention of their benefactor's name. They all wished that the real Nebulous was standing in front of them so that they could rip him apart with their bare hands.
"Do it then."
Ace suddenly said.
"If you want to blow them up, just do it."
"Ace!"
"What are you saying?!"
The other two shouted in shock.
"Shut up! I refuse to become his plaything just because of the lives of total strangers!"
He grabbed the phone out of Hina's hands.
"Listen here, Nebulous! I'm not as kindhearted as these two! I don't give a fuck about any of those people out there! Blow them all to hell if you want! But remember this…."
He gripped the phone tightly.
"I'll send you to see them in hell as consolation!"
"…I see. So you don't care about them. Well, this is troubling."
Nebulous mumbled.
"…Then what if the one who would be blamed for their deaths was someone you know? For example, Miko?"
"?!"
"What did you say? How would Miko be blamed?"
Sora took the phone from Ace.
"Because he's the one who posted your location, or rather it will be spread around that he was the one who did. Given his reputation, I think many people will believe it."
"You son of a bitch!"
Ace was enraged.
"Oh? Looks like I've found your weakness."
Nebulous laughed with its computerized voice.
"Do you know what would happen if thousands of people were to die because of Miko? The empire would be enraged and demand his death. Their fear for him would grow even more unreasonable, and it would reach the point that everyone would see him as not only a monster but a target of their hate. What about the Saevus and Flameheart clans? Do you think they'll allow such an unpredictable and dangerous entity to exist, much less remain Tiamat's proxy?"
"...…"
The trio couldn't answer his question. They were too busy imagining countless people aiming for Miko's life.
"Miko would eventually be killed, or the emperor would be forced to exile him to appease the people. Either way, his life would become a living hell. Especially since, with the entire empire at his throat, his family can't protect him even if they wanted."
Nebulous remained quiet for a while as if he wanted the trio to imagine what Miko's life would be like.
"I honestly don't mind destroying him. He's the one who picked a fight with me after all. However, I'll spare him for the three of you."
"…..Just tell us what you want."
"I see. Then, I want you three to willingly let yourself get captured and be brought to me. There will be some men knocking at your door if you agree. Let them in and follow their instructions. Oh, if you run everyone dies, just so you know."
"…..Fine."
Hina answered.. The three of them clenched their fists and grind their teeth in frustration.
"You win, Nebulous."
"Of course. I always win in the end."
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