Chapter 96 Celebration

Crackle. Crackle. Crackle.

A luxurious carriage was heading for Red Feather City. There were only two people inside the carriage, a young man with blue eyes and a knight with long hair.

"Cyrus, what's with the others, and can you explain what's even going on?" Zayne asked, looking out the window that overlooked the city.

"Sure. I don't have all the information myself, since no one was prepared for it. As you know, your group set out to prevent the Orcs. However, Apostle showed up, though you know that without me." Cyrus said calmly, "Unfortunately, the Oracles can't track Apostles, even though they contain a tremendous amount of Chaos energy."

Zayne's eyes went wide, "So that's what their power is... Now I understand..." Zayne muttered.

Cyrus nodded, "About the other team members, they're safe and sound. A lot more knights came to Orcs Dungeon, my men and I decided to wait for you to come back, and we weren't wrong. I'm glad you're alive."

"Agh... That's good." Zayne sighed in relief, "Roland's wound was terrible, I was worried something bad might happen to him."

"Commander Roland is very strong, I'm glad he got Fate's Sight, it helped a lot in your battle." Cyrus smiled.

"Hmm? Have you been watching us?" Zayne tilted his head in confusion.

Cyrus shook his head, "No, Elin and Rea, your archer and mage, they told us everything when we got there. As for me, Mrs. Lucia ordered me here as soon as it was clear. I got the squad ready as fast as I could, but unfortunately, it was all over by then."

Zayne looked away, "Cyrus, when was the last time Apostles were seen in this region?"

Cyrus's face grew serious, "A few years ago, one of the Apostles tried to attack Red Feather City, but then we were lucky enough to have Mr. Solomon. With his help, we were able to fend off the attack, and the Apostle retreated."

"Mr. Solomon?" Zayne gave him a questioning look.

"Right, you probably don't know about that. Mr. Solomon is one of the professors at the nearby Mage Academy. Also, it's Rea's father." Cyrus waved his hand slightly.

"I see... I wonder why Apostle decided to attack now? Well, it's a good thing it ended this way." Zayne muttered with a deep look.

Cyrus wanted to say something, but seeing the sadness in Zayne's gaze, he decided to stop. Cyrus had been through many dangerous battles too, so he roughly understood how Zayne felt.

[Wild Metamorphosis

Unbeknownst to you, for a brief period you became something between a man and a beast, this left a mark on your mind.

Now, when your HP drops below 30%, all your stats will increase by a third. You, like the beast, become the most dangerous in a desperate situation].

Zayne nodded slightly after reading the first Title and moved on to the next.

[The One Who Surpassed Himself: The effectiveness of future training to increase your stats is increased by 15%. For the One Who Surpassed Himself, there can be no other serious obstacles.]

'Hmm... Training is good, without it, I probably lost. When Roland entered the fight, I practically passed out because of Enar's powerful punch... I need to think about it.' Zayne inwardly muttered.

[The First Who Defeated the Apostle (Special)

You faced an enemy who was many times stronger than you but still managed to win and save thousands of people from disaster. Rarely does anyone survive the encounter with the Apostle, however, in your case, it was you who remained alive, and it gave you a priceless experience.

During the next battles against Apostles, your attack power will be increased by 10%, and your resistance to Chaos energy will be increased by 15%.

Oracles around the world will show you their sincere respect, and many organizations are interested in you, but not only those on the light side. The world is neither black nor white, don't forget that].

'What an unusual Title... To be honest, I was expecting to get an experience bonus like last time, but this looks interesting too... Though it's only a bonus against Apostles, I'd be glad if I had this Title before the battle with Enar.' Zayne pondered, tapping his finger slowly.

[Echo of the Beast (Passive)

Unlike humans, beasts have little need for training, they prefer experience, especially bloody ones during combat. They fight instinctively, it's as natural for them as breathing, now you have similar abilities].

"Fuck..." Zayne whispered with wide eyes as a chill ran down his back, and a shiver covered his entire body. The morning situation flashed before him, and he instantly felt bad.

"Is something wrong?" Cyrus asked in worry.

"No... Everything's fine... At least I hope so..." Zayne muttered, wiping the cold sweat from his forehead.

He already had enough information to understand everything, but could something like this be taken so easily?

Zayne didn't look at his latest award, he didn't want to do it in front of Cyrus, so they drove in silence all the way to Red Feather City.

"Agh... What's going on here?" Zayne stared puzzled at the entrance to the city, where dozens of carriages, if not hundreds, were headed as if today was some very important event that everyone was supposed to arrive for.

Besides the carriages, there were also ordinary people with smiles on their faces as they made their way toward the city. The guards were struggling to check everyone who wanted to enter the city, they were working as hard as they could.

"Oh, it must be strange for you, but today is a significant day or rather a holiday!" Cyrus said confidently as he spread his arms out to the sides.

Zayne raised an eyebrow.

Cyrus smirked, "Mr. Zayne, all these people are headed to Red Feather City to celebrate your victory and to thank you for saving them from Apostle, the subordinate of the Chaos!"

Zayne's eyes went wide as he looked at the hundreds of citizens in disbelief. He didn't expect so many people to be so fast and active.

"Damn... news travels pretty fast... I didn't know it was such a big deal." Zayne whispered in a daze.

"Hah, sure. Everyone has come into contact with Chaos in one way or another in their lives. Many people have suffered from it, some have lost loved ones or their future... so... please don't underestimate our joy as much as your feat." Cyrus said seriously as his gaze grew sharp.

Zayne gulped, for a short time he could not fully grasp the seriousness of the situation since there was nothing like it in his world. Whether Zayne wanted it or not, he still saw Chaos as a powerful entity that needed to experience the strength of the players.

'Damn, I need to stop thinking of it that way... Chaos is a real disaster that could invade people's lives at any moment...' Zayne inwardly muttered looking at the happy faces, and unknowingly a slight smile appeared on him.

'Well, I'm glad I could give them that emotion. I fought because I wanted to win, but giving hope to hundreds of people isn't a bad goal either, is it?'