In a dark alleyway on the streets of Cronoa, a man was standing amidst a stack of dead bodies.
His eyes, blinded with rage as he seeth the sword that was strapped on his waist.
He then threw away the newspaper that he was holding which depicts the image of Rada Khan and a crossed picture of Ace.
As the paper sways gently in the sky, the man vanished into thin air with a single thing raging on his mind...
'Stupid brother, I will avenge you'
"Achoo!"
Ace and Vorus were currently on Dragonheart and on their way to find a healer that could heal Reginald.
"Achoo!"
Ace was rubbing his hands together as he ended up folding his arms.
He was now wearing a white scarf on his neck with his usual attire.
"Captain, are you sure you're alright"
Vorus addressed his new captain as he continued sweeping off the snow that gathered on the Ark.
"Y-yy-yeah, i-i am f-f-f-fffine Achoo!"
Ace was not fine, he had caught a cold the other day and it seems to be getting worse.
They have been traveling for days now, luckily the Dragonheart's auto-pilot functions were still working so there was no need for anyone to pilot the Ark.
"Seems to me like your cold's only getting worse haha, don't worry we're only a few miles away from our destination"
The large man picked him up.
He could feel the body temperature of his captain rising by the second as he made way to a room and put him off to bed.
"Now you stay inside where it's warm and I'll get you when we get there".
"T-t-thanks V..."
"... Achoo!"
Rinnnngggg! Rinnnnnggggg!
"Hello".
Vorus who made his way to the deck after tucking in the sick Ace received a call on his phone from an unknown number.
"It's time for you to pay up."
After a series of dialogs with this unknown person.
"Fine... But I'll have to talk to the cap-"
Poof!
"Ouch!". A man winced in pain as he grabbed his behind.
Vorus having witnessed this incident was clenching his fist and cursing at a woman for teleporting the man in front of him to their Ark right now.
'That witch. I told her to wait first'.
"Sir Vorus, thank you for having me"
The man bowing in front of Vorus was none other than Conroy.
A while back, Vorus sought the aid of Serena in locating Ace.
She used the power of her relic - The Eye of Isis.
Isis was the Egyptian goddess of the moon who had strong magical powers.
One of these abilities that the relic possessed was the power of teleportation.
Among the 7 District commanders, Serena was the most adverse in using seismic sense.
She was able to sense everyone and everything within the range of Regrah entirely.
With her skills and relic ability, Vorus was easily able to locate Ace.
But she didn't do it for free.
Vorus made a deal with Serena, that if she helps him he would do whatever she asks of him.
And thus leading to the conversation he had with her on the phone.
"What! you want us to let Conroy join our clan?"
He could picture Serena with a devious smile on her face as she finished.
In his perceptive, there was nothing "Serene" about this "Witch".
Of all the district commanders, he knew Serena the longest, and thus he couldn't shake off the feeling that she was planning something.
However, Serena just wanted to get rid of Conroy whom she finds a nuisance now especially after he cowardly retreated from a fight against Ace.
'Who knows, that coward might just get straightened up if he's in their company'.
Was her take on this.
Vorus doesn't mind if Conroy tags along as long as he won't be a menace.
But this was a Unanimous decision and he wasn't the type of person that would go against his words.
"A deal's a deal's".
He says to himself.
"Alright Conroy you can tag along for now but whether you get to join the clan or not depends on the captain and Reginald's thoughts. I can't decide on their behalf".
He had to keep his side of the bargain.
But he also couldn't make a decision that involves the clan by himself. Especially now that Ace had caught the flu and Reginald was out of action.
He figured he would ask them to consider when they're all up and about.
But in the meantime...
"Say, what relic do you use again?"
"Ah, it's the Bow of Apollo relic, a weapon-type relic just like yours"
There were three main types of relics.
Implant-type relics such as Ace's Heart of Malacoda and Serena's Eye of Isis.
Accessory-type which, by the name are wearable relics such as Reginald's Hat of Lupin.
Weapon-type relics. These relics hold the most destructive power amongst the three.
"I see"
Vorus said as he got up and gestured for Conroy to follow him so he could show him to his new room.
As this went on, unbeknownst to Vorus and company who couldn't use seismic sense, an invisible mini-ark was following them.
"It seems Seth has gotten sick, brother".
A masked figure dressed in a ninja's attire retracted the telescope that he was holding as he looked up to the other masked ninja.
"This is the best time to strike, they won't know what hit'em hihi"
He gleefully added as he tried as much as possible to suppress his killer aura.
"We stick to the plan, Father does not want any hindrance to his capture, they have an ally who can Teleport"
The larger ninja spoke, arms folded as he was trying to get through to his ally.
"Taking the big guy and Seth is one thing, but what if they escape using the other one's ability?"
Not knowing that Conroy was not the one with the teleporting powers they sort to stay hidden and keep tailing them for the meanwhile.
"Argh! You're no fun!"
He sighed.
"Alright brother, we'll wait till they reach their destination. Then we strike".
He finished as his murderous aura manifested into a vague image of an eight-headed serpent.
"Just a little longer and then we can play like old times, Seth".
"There!"An arrow was shot at a bird only for the bird to dodge."Shoot! Over there!""Argh! I can't concentrate if you keep yelling at my ear, Sir Vorus!"Conroy who was hopelessly trying to shoot a strange bird exclaims as he readied another arrow.They were currently on foot and a few meters away from their destination when suddenly they were attacked by a giant rainbow-colored bird with long talons."Sun purge!"Conroy shot another arrow only for the monstrous bird to swiftly dodge it.Vorus couldn't help but dodge incoming attacks from the bird as he was carrying a sick Ace on his back.With a mighty caw, the rainbow-colored bird started to flap its wings really fast generating a strong wind current that manages to push the adventurers back."Vorus, put me down.""But Captain, it's too dan-""Trust me."Ace who had barely regained consciousness got down from the big man's back and approached the bird."Look, the birds calming down."Conroy said as he put away his bow.Ace then ra
"What is it that my tea time couldn't wait, this better be good, Mel!"In the meeting chambers of one of the four Generals of Cronoa, General Mel had called upon the two other Generals for a meeting.General Mel was a tall and boisterous woman known for her ruthlessness and savagery in the entire Region.General Axel, the short muscular man who complained earlier had his feet placed on top of the meeting desk as he kept whining about being summoned to the meeting as he places his two broad swords on the desk."Now now, Axy. I'm sure Mely has a good reason for summoning us, let's hear her out."The one who spoke this time was General Gantala, the youngest of all the four Generals famous for his cunning tactics in war and recon."It's Axel! Pff whatever, carry on, Mel!""Thank you for coming on such short notice, I will cut straight to the point."She places a map on the desk and spreads it open as he continues."My spies have spotted the ark of our culprit around this area here."Axel
"You sure your brother's in there?"Ace and Rohan were currently staking an abandoned mansion in a darkling forest not far from Lily town.Rohan had spent an entire day unconscious, after he woke up, Ace narrated how his battle with Rada Khan went and how a mysterious person with a scythe came to the scene and picked him up."If they're using a scythe, it's definitely that witch." That was what Rohan said as he clenched his fists and slammed them on the desk."Luckily their hideout is not far from here and I know where it is.""Good, I'll help you find your brother, and then you will join my clan."Ace said cheerfully with sparkles in his eyes.He wanted Rohan to join Aegis because he was astonished by the swordsman's skills from earlier.'Had I not taken power from Malacoda, I would've lost.'That was the case.Similar to how he gave up a year of his life to defeat Rada Khan when he exhausted his powers, Ace made a deal again but this time around he wagered 3 months.It was one of th
"Kill switch!"The familiar attack created a huge explosion that crumbled a section of the walls of the room they were in.As the dust settles, the battered red-haired man was shown getting back up panting heavily."Huff. Huff. H-how could you hit me?"He was surprised over the fact that Ace had managed to trap him even though he was moving a couple of times faster than the speed of light."I wasn't just using my relics' power, I combined it with doping,but you still managed to strike me."Doping is one of the three basic techniques in using ain.As the name suggests, the user channels their ain and has it passing through their veins resulting in massive boosts in physical abilities.It's the opposite of aura which has the user exerting their ain outwards.He was using doping together with his boots of Hermes relic to maximize the speed he can reach thus no one could keep up with his speed.His eyes lit up as he disappears again.Back in the security room..."It seems like Chase is ge
Clank!Sparks flew as the hard metallic boots clashed with the sword made from an unbreakable substance.Reginald was breathing excessively as he gazes upon his opponent who was also trying to catch his breath.They have been attacking and canceling each other's attack for ten minutes now with neither side taking any hit.Neither has taken damage but they were both exhausted.For one, both of them couldn't use aura techniques which can only be used by individuals with massive ain reserves.They focused on using doping to boost their physical abilities past the human limit thus putting a lot of strain on their bodies.What's more, the two were both overlapping their doping with the power of their relics.The boots of Hermes which grant near-lightspeed powers and the Hat of Lupin, which copies the abilities of relics which in this case, was copying the powers of the boots. Transforming into an identical pair of boots.'The effect of combining two speed buffs is amazing. Demon spawn kept
The crackling of electricity filled the room containing a large man wielding a hammer and a thin man holding an oddly shaped mace.The two objects were channeling electricity as the two fighters charged at one another.Clank! Thud! Clank!The two massive weapons collide sending sparks all over the room.These two have been fighting for nearly forty minutes now without rest."Former district commander Vorus, your talents precede you."The thin-looking man commended his opponent.This man was Falkner, wielder of the Vajra relic.In Hindu mythology, Vajra is the weapon of Indra, the god of thunder and king of the devas.The vajra is a powerful weapon having the combined features of sword, mace, and spear.It was created out of the hard thigh bones of sage Dadhichi who gave up his life willingly for a noble cause so that his spine could be used to build the weapon.Truth to the legends, the vajra now was in the form of a mace and was trading blows with the mighty weapon of another god of
Swoosh!Clank!Swoosh!Having completely shattered all the furniture and items in the room they were in, Reginald and Chase both stopped on their tracks and faced each other.The two were both battered and tired as they were breathing heavily too."Huff. Huff. Had enough?" Reginal said with a corky attitude."Hahahaha. I am just getting started." Chase disappears as he finished and starts blitzing around the room at light speed.'Tsk, I have less than five minutes to end this or my snatch steal's duration will end.'His opponent had a similar thought as he had also burned a lot of stamina and was planning on ending the fight as well.Reginald sounded confident earlier whereas in reality, he was worried that soon enough his relic' s ability will end and enter a cooldown period thus he won't be able to keep up.'Here I come.'He holds his sword with both hands and took a stance as he closes his eyes.After duking it out for so long against the speedster, Reginald had finally figured out
Reginald and Conroy had finally bested their opponents and were now standing across their unconscious teammate and his opponent."Get off him, now!"Reginald draws out his sword as Conroy takes aim, ready to fire."My my, there's no need to be so angsty."The man got up and begins to approach the duo, leaving the flattened Vorus behind."I take it you two have beaten Chase and Lexi? Sisi won't be happy about that."'Tsk, I still need about ten minutes before I can use snatch steal again.'Reginald grits his teeth while Conroy was sweating bullets as they both watch Falkner as he approaches them slowly."Why don't you both surrender? You might have beaten those two but even I can't possibly come out of that fight unscathed."The real reason Reginald and Conroy were sweating nervously right now was due to the fact that they were both exhausted and way past their limits.They have suffered a lot of injuries and taken a considerable amount of damage from their respective opponents.Conroy