After the women left William noticed the red crow insignia on his leader's left eye. Terrible shivers ran down his spine as he looked at the bird, it had more life to it than anything he has ever seen before. The brute had noticed this reddish shine before, on the 'biter'.

"... What's with your left eye?" he finally dared to ask, his hands shaking in anticipation of an answer.

" observation haki, one of the many secretive powers this world has to offer…" Matthew said. He was training his haki by observing the shrine, scanning everything from the smallest pile of dirt to the biggest stones and pebbles. Many details were shown in great complexity before his eyes. Both hands ran on the smooth surface of the walls, peering into what other miracles the great seer has left behind. His radar finally caught up on something... a peculiar fruit hidden beneath the temple, with weird patterns decorating the skin and stem... but he paid it no mind...

"... In a night, before the ungodly acolyte stays true to his vows, he must stand a vigil in the many-faced's vault. no lantern is permitted to him, no torch, no lamp, no tapers… only a candle of pure, black obsidian. He… No, 'they' must spend the nights in darkness, unless they can light that candle. Some will try, the foolish and the stubborn, but they will all fail. They have been blessed with cursed candles. While Touching the holders who were said to be as sharp as razor, their hands got bloody and bruised. Together they await dusk and dawn, brooding their failure and asking for fairness. The wise ones will simply turn to prayer and sleep for the pain to pass. But every year, the number of those who shall carry these accursed candles, appears to be increasing, much to everyone's displeasure… " Matthew spoke vaguely, his voice ever so wrathful and cold.

"... And what is the use of a candle that doesn't emit any light? who will hold it?" William asked, his expression spoke of his interest at the situation. His leader was slowly descending into madness it seems, and he loved every single moment of it.

" the rapers, the murderers, the thieves, the abusers… It is a lesson, one they must learn before they don their duties as the many-faced god's servants. Chains will be cast. On and forth they will pay. Their souls will no longer be tarnished… even the beast will remember the darkness of his vigil, no matter what he did, he couldn't burn that impious candle… for even with his power and faith, some things are just not possible… " he ended his speech with his left eye shown in the shadows of the shrine. he ran his hands smoothly through the silver-like stone, examining the carvings. Whoever did them, was a fine stoneweaver.

"So even your faith and power are not enough to return the favor of your god, you are planning on killing all of them right?" William's eyes finally had some glemors of wisdom to them.

"... That is right, I can't see them make anyone else suffer anymore. The world is begging to be cleansed of such filth. And someone will have to do the deed sooner than later. " Matthew muttered, his rage gradually subduing, replaced by firm determination.

"Jihahaha. You are a crazy one leader. Not only are you gonna reap their lives, you will also make them suffer won't you?" a smile made its way on the half giant's hidden face. A brilliant person he truly was.

"... will you follow me?"

" Jihahaha, once again you are asking a fisherman how to raise the tip of his rod and pull the lure. Nothing escapes my blades' clutches, no marines, no pirates…" the brute said after a while.

"... I'll take that for a yes. I take it that you also bear an unending hate for the so called 'gods' of this world don't you?" Matthew made his way towards one of the frog statues. The stone outlines were almost sallow, mostly from their age. He noticed some lines of text written in this world's language.

'... Come to think of it, how can I understand these people?' it might have something to do with the manuel the system gave him, 'as expected, whoever designed those panels knew no humbleness...'

"... My tribe, they were despised for generations, their traditions and beliefs mocked across the west sea, with the sailors and pirates speaking of them with ill intent in their short-sighted minds. They were one day chosen to be slaves for the celestial dragon. it seems their reputation earned them some unwarranted fame from all around. It took no time for them to get wiped out once they showed their unyielding pride… " spoke the brute passionately, his swords resting gently in the sheathes. He was cleaning himself from the dirty blood and filth that got on him.

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"... I wanted to change their unavoidable fate. I desperately tried, with no good fruits borne whatsoever..." his tone didn't betray his sadness and raging emotions.

"it seems we share a mutual goal don't we? "

"I guess we do, Jihahahaha… "

{-Mission: bearers of an ill omen

-Details: the beasts want their paths to be dyed red in blood, the blood of the sullied and the tarnished ones, those forsaken by the many-faced god. Any mass murderer, raper, thief will be put to the sword of justice.

-Objective: clear west blue of its Poisonous underworld, pirates and 'gray' marines... And make them fear your name.

-Rewards: a bounty will be distributed to all crew members throught-out the quest.

- +20 to strength and agility upon completion.

- enlightenment in haki.

- new active skills will be given upon completion}

—--

'... I never expected the marine ships to be this plain' the young Angella was patrolling the damaged vessel, a mission given to her by her master.

Right now, she was at the captain's cabinet, searching for anything that could be useful, a round object entered her sight, a wide globe of special glass with a twitching needle in the center, suspended by a very thin wire. The mysterious object was held on a fancy bracelet that didn't seem to belong in this ship.

"... A log pose if I'm not wrong" according to her master, it was a device necessary for sailing the grand line since most islands there had unique minerals that produce varied magnetic fields, basically rendering any normal compass useless.

'... How did they get a hold on this, it shouldn't be this commun to own a log pose' certainly a bunch of marines would only need a simple compass to navigate through west blue. One wouldn't want to waste this much money if they aren't planning to reach the grand line, unless…

"... A stolen device perhaps" now she thinks of it the captain of this ship had some awfully bizarre items, from fancy hats to luxurious black suits. She even found some weird tools which she assumed were for torture purposes, and mostly fancy alcohol bottles kept under close watch on the shelves… They were things that normal marines shouldn't possess.

" perhaps the whole damn fucking ship is stolen" her master always told her not to curse. 'a swordswoman needs to always show elegance and pride. Cursing is often frowned upon. Well if you are not a barbaric pirate that is...' but her hate often took a hold of her emotions. At this instant, the little snow beauty was biting her lips as she skimmed through some of the documents she found. Her skin uncomfortably tickling as she remembered her father's death.

"... Damned pirates" contracts of slavery and human trafficking were found, signed by one of the underworld tycoons... The leader of the brave family.

'... An underworld mafia family' they looked to be preparing for a massive shipping of slaves, seemingly this island's villagers. The albino girl clenched her hands remembering what happened to her own village.

'that should explain the fire we saw before, master and the half giant should be back shortly after dealing with the issues' she brought another stack of documents and continued reading through its content. Most of the transactions that happened were between two parties, the supposedly innocent marines and one of the family members who went under the name of Moriban Brave.

'Something does not seem right with these guys…' they spent so much effort trying to hide their tracks in desperation and hurry, otherwise why would such important files be kept in a half damaged ship in an island found in nowhere. There was someone they feared a lot in their circles.

"... Marewyne, like the spiteful 'vengeful' rodent he proclaims to be, is still to this day causing us headaches... Men are said to be fleeing at the sight of his troupes. As soon as Marewyne rode at them, they melted away like snow in a desert... We have to get the Don's help at times like this, only he could handle the symptoms of this poisenous rat..."

"huh?" she was confused as she one of Moriban's notebooks.

'Marewyn the magician' they called him. Even the most recognizable face in the mafia world, Capone Bege the 'don' feared him it seemed.

'Who the hell is this guy' most of these criminals kept their mouths shut and hands tied whenever this guy's name was mentioned. Even some of the contracts didn't hold any value. Thus she assumed they transitioned to verbal promises instead of written papers.

'beware of the magician's sly eyes. Shall you feel like you are tracked, immediately go into hiding. His black magic won't cover all of West blue' she read one of the secret messages the Brave leader sent Moriban. Their motto was 'fear nothing, face everything with a brave heart'. But the sigil did little but briefly calm their minds when they resumed their shady dealings, while worrying about this unexpected third party. The magician's influence was truly doing wonders.

"Another underworld figure that we shouldn't take for granted" the young Angella sighted. She knew their journey towards the capital city of West blue won't be that easy. 'the beasts' had ambitions or at least she and the half-giant did. She wasn't totally sure about her master.

Taking the documents with her, she disembarked onshore waiting for her master. She unsheated her Saber and kept practicing until sunset settled on the horizon.

She felt like she was getting closer... Closer than ever to hearing the voice of her sword... Finally she can make her own breakthough... But that will have to wait untill another day.