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Ronan drew closer to the gentlemen gathered under the walkway's shelter, causing the men to retreat a few steps before composing themselves. John adjusted his tuxedo jacket as he puffed out his chest and took a step in Ronan's direction before speaking.
"I don't know how you did things back on the mainland, but you cannot wantonly kill people as you please here on the Poseidon. If you force us, there will be repercussions." John addressed Ronan haughtily.
"Oh, I'm sorry. How impolite of me, Chloe come here," Ronan apologized sarcastically as he turned around to beckon Chloe over to them. Chloe didn't hesitate as he rushed to his side before looking at her feet as she waited submissively. Ronan brushed the hair from her face to reveal her gorgeous appearance, now marked with bruises.
"I noticed that you found Chloe so beautiful that you couldn't even tear your eyes from her after we arrived on board, all those weeks ago," Ronan told John.
Chloe quickly looked up with a wide-eyed look of terror as she was about to explain herself and make up an excuse. Ronan cut her off by placing a large, dirty finger over her lips.
"Shh, the men are talking."
"How about I give her to you? Then we can resolve this matter peacefully. What do you think?" Ronan continued.
"Ahem, on behalf of the cruise ship Poseidon, I acce..." John began to gaze at Chloe lustfully. Suddenly Ronan lunged in John's direction, ramming the sword into his stomach up to the hilt with an expression of barely concealed rage.
"Deal’s off the table, she belongs to me. I don't share my toys!" Ronan spat out with a sneer.
Ronan twisted the sword in John's gut before ripping it sideways, simultaneously kicking him off the blade. As John lay on the deck, drowning in his blood, he gazed at Ronan in terror. When John attempted to beg for his life, all that came out from his mouth was blood in a fit of coughing as the life faded from his eyes. He reached down to grip John's hair and began to see through his neck using the bloody sword with a stomach-churning grizzly sound. Thankfully it couldn't be heard even over the gale-force winds.
Ronan reached under the skin to claim the glowing-blue grade one crystal from the base of his skull before tossing the head overboard, looking at his bloody hands in disgust. Ronan approached Stuart, who pushed himself hard into the railing behind him, leaning precariously over it when he couldn't retreat any further. Ronan wiped the blood from his hands onto Stuart's pristine, white shirt.
"I'm sure that this matter is resolved now, yes?" Ronan patted Stuart's cheek as he silently nodded in agreement, leaving behind a bloody handprint on his face. Ronan made one final wipe on Stuart's ruined shirt before he stepped back. Stuart collapsed to the deck, his back was pressed against the railing. He stared listlessly at the headless corpse of his former business rival as he began to reek of urine and feces.
***
Craig hurriedly approached Ronan to make an offering as he knelt on the ground at his feet, raising his cupped hands to Ronan while bowing his head in submission. Within Craig's hands was a collection of origin crystals, taken from the deck that hadn't washed overboard with the rain or the river of blood, some belonged to the sea of corpses. Ronan ignored most of the crystals, he took only the glowing-blue grade one crystal Theodore had retrieved from the ocean. Ronan held the blue-pulsing crystal up to his eye to inspect it.
The glowing-blue origin crystal appeared identical to John's bloodied one already held in Ronan's other hand. Each crystal pulsed with a faint light that appeared randomly on the crystal's hexagon shape. The difference between the two almost identical crystals was that each contained a unique symbol inside them, representing their respective abilities.
Ronan stabbed the sword into the torso of a nearby cruise ship passenger's broken corpse to use as a holster. Stuart's eyes remained fixed to the vertical blade as he contemplated lunging for it before turning pale from terror at the mere thought of opposing Ronan. Everybody else watched Ronan's actions with trepidation as he took both of the glowing-blue crystals in each of his hands, closing his eyes with a look of ecstasy. He absorbed the lifeforce contained in the hopes of inheriting their abilities.
Lifeforce flowed up through Ronan's arms from the crystals in his hands to mix with his own lifeforce. The lifeforce originating from his right hand changed from blue into white as it blended with Ronan's yellow-lifeforce.
The lifeforce belonging to the crystal in his left hand remained blue as it travelled up his arm until it was absorbed into Ronan's crystal at the base of his skull. The lifeforce disappeared in a bright flare of yellow light as it awakened an ability. Ronan began to laugh uproariously.
"This is going to hurt." Ronan promised as he placed his hand on the railing beside him, still currently entangling Noah.
Noah's [Battle Instinct] ability activated to reveal a new unknown symbol floating above Ronan's head. It represented his newly acquired ability. Yellow-lifeforce moved beneath Ronan's skin as it gathered to flow into his hand, gripping the metal rail. Ronan formed a vicious grin on his face as he watched Noah's glowing-purple eyes widen. He realized that it would be impossible for him to avoid Ronan's new ability.
Time seemed to slow as Noah looked into Ronan's hate-filled eyes through the pouring rain. Noah could see the reflection of himself utterly helpless as he had a premonition that he was likely going to die here. Entangled with no means to flee or even resist whatever was about to happen to him. As Ronan's intense, yellow-glowing lifeforce grew brighter at his hands, electricity began to take form. Arcs were jumping from his hand into the metal railing. The electricity raced towards the struggling Noah, who was now flailing futilely to break free in panic.
"Ahhhhhhh!" A scream echoed out, drowning out the noise of the ocean squall. But it didn't belong to Noah. The scream came from the gentleman Stuart sitting against the railing, watching Ronan's claimed sword standing out of the unfortunate cruise ship passenger's back.
"Huh?" Ronan said. The scream had taken Ronan by surprise, drawing his attention away from the situation at hand. Ronan was distracted by Stuart's cry as it left his tailor-made jacket in smouldering ruins. Stuart collapsed unconscious to the deck. The corpse with the System-crafted sword jutting from its back abruptly twitched.
