The appearance of the mark of the Moon around Zayne's neck meant many things at once, but one was many times more important than the rest. Everyone realized that Zayne was now one of them, and all along he had been some sort of candidate for the role of a Moon.
The monsters watching Zayne got sly smirks. They with excited expressions, looked at his shining moon sign with unknown thoughts.
To the monsters, the followers of Chaos and Moons were not too different. One thing that was important to them was that both of them could fight against Fate Knights and Crusaders under certain circumstances.
Moreover, the monsters didn't mind fighting anyone, they just needed worthy opponents and the right conditions.
So, the only ones who were at a loss because of this situation were Marcus, Sara, and Fosca. They were supposed to save Zayne, a Fate Knight contender, but in the end, their plan completely fell apart.
Even if Zayne wanted to, he wouldn't be able to become a Fate Knight since Moon Shattered Order was an enemy to Oder, their mission was to destroy all Moons. Now, there was only one option for Zayne, to follow his path and his vision of justice.
Everyone had their own justice, but not many took it as seriously as Zayne, and not everyone went through injustice.
Clort, Gron, Knight, and Lizards were shocked as well. Although they were in the distant lands of the Dark Lands, but everyone knew about the Shattered Moon Order. Their strength, ideology, and destructive power were well-known throughout the world.
"You... You're one of the Moons..." Clort muttered in a disbelief.
Gron gulped, as he got goosebumps.
Zayne touched his neck and with a deep gaze muttered, "Yeah, looks like I've made my choice now. Well, let's not pay too much attention to it, okay?"
"What...? What do you mean?" Clort was puzzled.
Zayne sighed, "Look. If you want, you can still leave and I won't chase you. However, I realize you won't do that. Also, I can't let ten people die to save one life, so... Let's cut to the chase."
"You'll fight on our side...?" Gron asked with hope in his voice.
Maybe Zayne hadn't gone through the Awakened Process yet, but Gron could clearly feel that Zayne's aura had appeared. This meant that Zayne was already very close to reaching Arisen Grade.
"Yes. Don't get me wrong, I'm doing this because of my beliefs and not out of pity for you, or anything. After all, we only met a few minutes ago." Zayne calmly said.
"Sure. I understand that. Either way, I'm grateful to you, our people's lives depend on it." Gron nodded, as his ring shone brightly, and a massive spear with a thick tip appeared in his hand.
Zayne looked at Clort intently, seeing his anger and rage. Zayne accepted this and prepared to fight, as a long black sword appeared in his hand.
"Bastard... You could have helped me... All I wanted was just to save my Lady... I didn't want to kill anyone..." Clort muttered in a deadly voice, clutching his staff tightly, "I just wanted to take the fruit core, I wasn't going to kill anyone... but now... You've ruined everything!"
Powerful purple streams of energy came out from Clort's body as he was ready to attack at any moment.
However, as he was about to make his first attack, his eyes went wide as Zayne was already in front of him.
Zayne's fist came down on Clort's face, throwing him back several meters. Clort was a mage, but his physical stats were at a very high level, so he was extremely surprised that Zayne appeared to be so fast and strong.
"It won't happen again!" Clort pointed his staff at Zayne, launching multiple projectiles.
At the same moment, Zayne's blue eyes shone brightly as they had at the end of the battle with Valira. His senses became sharper, and his reactions quicker.
Whoooooooooooooooooosh.
In a few swings, he deflected each of the projectiles, sending them into the air where they exploded, with waves of purple flame.
Several Lizards covered themselves with their arms, fearing the fire would reach them, but it did not, and all remained unharmed, even the thatched tops of the huts unharmed.
Zayne paused, looking intently at the knights.
"You may fight at his side, or you may not take part at all. If you attack me, the wrath of all the Lizards will fall upon you, however, you can let your leader handle everything." Zayne said calmly before rushing forward.
Along with him attacked Gron before gesturing to his subordinates.
With a few attacks, Zayne and Gron were able to push Clort back outside of the village, closer to the forest, so that none of their attacks would harm the villagers.
Moreover, this way, they got rid of the risk that something could harm the cauldron. Zayne had the core of the fruit, but if the cauldron collapsed, the Lizards wouldn't be able to brew potions for everyone in need.
Clort tried to counterattack, but Zayne and Gron acted surprisingly coherently. It was mostly to Zayne's credit as somehow he perfectly complemented Gron's every move.
'Damn... This guy is unbelievable! How does he do that?" Gron inwardly exclaimed with his eyes wide open.
Whoooooosh.
Gron abruptly thrust his spear forward and the tip quickly reached Clort's chest.
Clort's face contorted as he quickly released an energy projectile that exploded with purple flames. This way Clort was able to avoid Gron's attack, but it was as if Zayne had known this would happen.
"I thought you were stronger, but it looks like I was wrong." Zayne whispered, walking through the streams of flames with his sword in front of him.
In a heartbeat, his sword, turned into a dark flash, raining down on Clort.
Clort's eyes went wide as his fingertips shone brightly. Clort opened his palm, creating a protective barrier in front of him.
Crackle.
The barrier was able to stop Zayne's sword, but it was covered in cracks.
"I'm weak...? You were, but you tricked me! What are you really doing here!!!" Clort exclaimed, banging his staff on the ground.
Energy currents flowed away from him, causing Gron to fall backwards, but Zayne was able to stand on his feet and keep his balance. To do so, he adopted a special stance, shifting his center of gravity.
'What...? Even among Second Rank Fate Knights, only a few can do that!" Clort was shocked by what he saw.
Then, as the energy waves weakened, scarlet wings opened behind Zayne's and he roared forward at a tremendous speed.
In the next breath, Zayne was already in front of Clort, as the dark sword and long staff collided.
Clort tried to stop, but Zayne's momentum was too powerful, so all he could do was endure while he and Zayne pushed forward.
Clort's feet left two deep streaks on the ground, but even with that effort they only stopped after ten meters, perhaps more.
At the same time in the village, the Lizards surrounded the Knights on all sides. They looked around, trying to find an opportunity to help their leader, but the Lizards had created a perfect defense.
"Don't move." One of the Lizards said menacingly while pointing his spear at the Knights, "This young man is right. Let our leaders deal with this. We have no reason to die. All we want is to simply save our people, nothing more."
The Knight Commander frowned, but he didn't bother to reply anything. Each knight clutched their sword tightly in case the Lizards attacked, but they wouldn't do so themselves as it would be suicide.
"Wow, that mage is definitely stronger than him, but Zayne manages to suppress him." Karin said surprised, "When I fought him, he was much weaker and not as confident."
"You fought him?" Edvin glanced at her.
"Yeah... I just wanted to see what he was capable of, but it went too far that I had to get serious for a moment. Agh... it got me in a lot of trouble." Karin shook her head with a tired face.
Edvin nodded, "He's developing fast, and when he got the moon sign, things accelerated. He only has a little bit left to go through the Awakened Process, he may not even need Chaos's help for that."
Toruf frowned, "Amazing. He's practically learned to use his power the way he did at will, or at least it happened partially. He has a beast form as well as a skill form... He's using the latter now..."
Toruf as well as the others were surprised at how powerful and fast Zayne's attacks were. This was not something an ordinary Terror Grade person could achieve.
Whoosh.
Zayne swung his sword, leaving a wide cut on Clort's chest, and before Clort could realize anything Zayne attacked again. He saw every movement of his opponent and realized that Clort had no way to react.
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