Chapter 96- The aftermaths.
[CONTRIBUTION RECOGNIZED — CAELUM]
[CAELUM — The Wall’s Blade]
[For holding the line as Ironhaven’s wall shook beneath the Devil’s assault.]
[For standing firm when the defensive line began to collapse.]
[For striking the Devil beneath the shadow and drawing its blood.]
[For preventing the Devil from breaking through the city’s defenses.]
[Contribution Rating: 31.0]
[Title Recognition: THE WALL’S BLADE]
[REWARD — +250 Gold Coins]
[REWARD — +40 STR]
[REWARD — +35 DEX]
[REWARD — +15 VIT]
[SPECIAL REWARD — IRONCLAD COMMISSION]
[Ironhaven shall bear the full cost of forging one weapon of CAELUM’s choice.]
[UNIQUE TITLE AWARDED — BLADE OF THE WALL]
[As long as Ironhaven stands, the name of its defender shall be remembered.]
....
[CONTRIBUTION RECOGNIZED — SAINTESS VENARA]
[SAINTESS VENARA — The Light That Walked]
[For holding the unstable seam of the Gate open with her own holy light.]
[For maintaining the connection long enough for the defenders of Ironhaven to strike at its source.]
[For continuing to channel her power while the Gate threatened to overwhelm everything around it.]
[For becoming the light that stood between Ironhaven and the forces beyond the Gate.]
[Contribution Rating: 20.6]
[Title Recognition: THE LIGHT THAT WALKED]
[REWARD — +300 Gold Coins]
[REWARD — +30 VIT]
[REWARD — +25 INT]
[REWARD — +35 Holy Attribute]
[SPECIAL REWARD — CHURCH’S THANKS]
[The Cathedral recognizes SAINTESS VENARA’s contribution.]
[Reward Granted: One Sacred Relic of the Cathedral.]
[Reward Granted: Permanent Mark of Favor within the Faith.]
.....
[CONTRIBUTION RECOGNIZED — SWORD MASTER]
[SWORD MASTER— The Phase Within]
[For phasing through attacks that ordinary steel could not withstand.]
[For entering the space beyond the reach of physical weapons.]
[For striking at the shadow of the Gate and cutting what ordinary weapons could not touch.]
[For severing the Gate’s shadow when the boundary between worlds began to collapse.]
[Contribution Rating: 15.4]
[Title Recognition: THE PHASE WITHIN]
[REWARD — +250 Gold Coins]
[REWARD — +40 STR]
[REWARD — +35 AGI]
[REWARD — +15 VIT]
[SPECIAL REWARD — SOUL-EDGE CAPACITY]
[Maximum Soul Capacity increased by +50.]
[ADDITIONAL REWARD — HOUSE-FORGE]
[A fully established forge within Ironhaven’s artisan quarter has been granted to MASTER ROOK.]
.....
[CONTRIBUTION RECOGNIZED — REGISTRAR IDRIS]
[REGISTRAR IDRIS — Keeper of the Square]
[For holding the defensive line under his command as the sky above Ironhaven began to burn.]
[For refusing to abandon the Gate-Square when the city was on the verge of collapse.]
[For gathering those who remained and protecting the heart of Ironhaven while the battle raged around them.]
[For holding the square until the Devil’s threat was brought to an end.]
[Contribution Rating: 6.7]
[Title Recognition: KEEPER OF THE SQUARE]
[REWARD — +200 Gold Coins]
[REWARD — +30 VIT]
[REWARD — +20 STR]
[SPECIAL RECOGNITION — BANNER OF IRONHAVEN]
[The banner of Ironhaven shall henceforth be flown in the name of CITY LORD IDRIS.]
[SPECIAL BLESSING — GATE-SQUARE]
[The Gate-Square has received a permanent defensive blessing.]
[Effect: Increased defensive capability within the Gate-Square.]
...
The top five contributors’ rewards had been announced.
Then—
[WORLD EVENT — IRONHAVEN DEFENSE]
[STATUS: COMPLETED]
[OUTCOME: VICTORY]
[PRIMARY THREAT: ELIMINATED]
[ABYSSAL GATE: SEALED]
[IRONHAVEN: SURVIVES]
....
[Ding]
[New Quest issued worldwide by the Church.]
[Hunt down the Devil worshiper.]
[Earn contribution points for eliminating Devil worshippers, then exchange those points through the Church vault. Blessings, equipment, and even classes are available in trade.]
.....
Leo read through the notification. Somewhere beneath his skin, he could feel the Holy attribute settling in — a new current of power, close enough to Qi to be mistaken for it, but not quite.
It felt different from mana. Different from Qi too. Something else entirely.
And the announcement had only been the opening act. The panel refreshed, and more notifications came pouring in.
[Ding~]
[You have successfully completed the quest: Defense of Ironhaven]
[You have been rewarded with 15,000 EXP]
[Gold: 300]
[Reputation: Ironhaven +2,000]
[Reputation: The Church +800]
[Unique Crafting Material: Founding Steward Ingot — one ingot, forged when the first wall went up. One of a kind.]
[Church Favor: One significant request, honored at any cathedral door.]
[Level Up: Lv.21 → Lv.22]
[Level Up: Lv.22 → Lv.23]
[Level Up: Lv.23 → Lv.24]
[Ding~]
[Special Reward: Guild Creation Token]
[A one-of-a-kind permit. Establish a guild, name it, and hold claim on territory and members’ binding contracts.]
A token materialized in Leo’s palm — a plain iron disc, cold against his skin, stamped with a shield crossed by a hammer and sword.
No one had ever created a guild the system actually recognized. Plenty of groups called themselves guilds — the Ascendant Holding among them — built on nothing more than a name and a real-world reputation. But officially, on the system’s own terms, not one guild existed yet. No building, no charter, nothing.
This could be the start of something. A way to gather allies before whatever came next. He’d need to talk to Rook — see if his team wanted in. Maybe reach out to the Space Z team too, if it came to that.
[Ding~]
[For dealing the final blow to the Devil, you have been awarded Forging Materials]
[Devil’s Horn ×2 — Legendary Forging Material]
[Devil’s Scale ×3 — Epic Forging Material]
[Ding~]
[Soul Receptacle: New Capture]
[Entity: Fragment of the Devil’s Soul — the avatar’s core, severed as the Gate dragged it back]
[Class: Semi-Legendary Entity]
Leo was still reading when his armor stirred beneath him — the spirit inside it, silent for so long, suddenly awake and restless.
He could feel it trying to reach him. Pressing at the edge of his thoughts. Insistent, almost desperate, the way a hungry child tugs at a sleeve.
It wanted the soul. He understood that much without being told.
He summoned the black-red orb into being, and the moment it appeared, the armor reacted harder — blood-red tendrils erupting from the plating, wrapping around the soul cradled in his palm, and dragging it inward.
Leo sat frozen, staring at his own hand.
He had no idea what had just happened.
[Ding~]
[Blood Chanter’s Armor has consumed the Semi-Legendary Devil’s Soul.]
[A new Devil’s Mark is being imprinted.]
[Ding~]
[New Devil’s Mark has been branded.]
[You can now access a new form of Devilization, along with a new skill, when triggering this mark.]
Leo checked his status and found it — a second tattoo sitting beside the horned skull, similar in shape but crossed through with claw marks slashing over the bone.
While he was still working through what it meant, the world outside had already caught fire with his name.
He was on television. His face was on the news.
...
The world announcement had gone out three times in a row.
In the real world—
In a windowless basement, twelve screens ran news feeds and game broadcasts side by side, all of them lit with the same golden letters against a blue sky.
David sat on the sofa, hands folded in front of his face, watching LEO STONE trend across every channel in the room for what felt like the hundredth time.
He thought back to that morning on Penn Avenue — how steady his own hands had stayed.
"Isn’t he supposed to be dead?" someone in the room asked.
David didn’t answer. He just kept watching the screens.
Upstairs, the chain of command had gone ragged. People were already asking, out loud, whether hunting this particular kid down was still worth the trouble.
.....
Across town, in the fencing salle on Penn Avenue—
"Leo Stone?" A little girl read the name off the TV and said it out loud without thinking.
The room went silent.
"Ironhaven’s Defender," the anchor announced, and the story rolled on.
Everyone training that afternoon crowded around the screen.
"Isn’t that the kid Master Rook picked up?" one of the disciples asked.
"Yeah — the one who made him wait three days and never even showed?"
"Did Master Rook go looking for him in the game?" someone else wondered aloud.
"Look at the list," Mira said, pointing. "Sword Master — that’s Master Rook. He’s on the contributor board too."
....
In the glass tower of the Space Z building, Elona Mosk watched the same announcement scroll across a screen that took up half the wall.
The room had emptied out except for her secretary, who stood frozen mid-sentence, phone still in hand.
For five long seconds, nobody moved. The golden letters dissolved into dust and drifted down toward the sea below.
Then Elona spoke, mostly to herself. "See? He didn’t even need us."
Her secretary just nodded, still not quite able to process it — that this was the same kid currently sleeping in their guest room.
....
Everyone wanted a piece of Leo now. His house had already been under siege by reporters before this. The number outside had since doubled.
A few had even shown up at the Space Z building, only to be turned away by security at the gate.
...
Meanwhile, deep in the game, inside a temple tucked into the mountains above Graystone City—
A girl stood alone, glaring at her status panel like it had personally wronged her.
"What the fuck."
[Quest Failed]
[The Devil has been slain. The Gate has been closed.]
[You have failed the quest.]
[The reward for Epic class has been dismissed.]
The world announcement rang out right as she read it, and she understood immediately why she’d failed.
"...Leo Stone?"
"I will make you pay for this."
Her scream tore through the empty temple, raw and furious, echoing off walls that had no one left to hear it.