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".