What kind of nonsense is this, that you'd be chosen by the gods and favored by all the gods?

When Helena approached Lyle again, he had already naturally integrated into the group of card players.

Lyle had never seen this kind of card before, but that didn't stop him from talking about it so logically that he left everyone around him completely bewildered.

Helena walked forward with a heavy heart and quietly tugged at Lyle's arm.

"Hmm? What's wrong?"

Lyle glanced at Helena, first checking if there was anything wrong with her, and then noticing the changes in her.

"Where did you get this outfit? You look so much prettier now."

Upon hearing this, Helena's lips curved into a bright smile.

"Ah! Isn't this Lyle Procent?"

Just then, a greeting came from above, and Lyle turned to look at the person who had come.

That was Doug Monroe, dressed in a suit.

After a moment's thought, Lyle put on a friendly smile.

"Oh, Mr. Doug? Did you enjoy the celebration?"

"Enjoyed? It was alright. Although the traditional martial arts elements were gone, the new things were just as interesting."

Doug appeared quite composed and spoke in a proper and respectful manner, neither offensive nor presumptuous.

"But this really annoyed Jade; he prefers the traditional way."

"Oh?"

Seeing that Lyle seemed willing to listen, Doug patiently began to explain.

"Although you saw us arguing, I must state that Monroe, Wyatt, Bentley, Lou... we are all people who came here from ancient times. Although we may have disagreements from time to time, we are all family and there will be no real major conflicts."

"understand."

"but..."

Doug suddenly paused for a moment, his expression turning serious.

"I heard...you saved Adele Lou's life?"

"Hmm?" Lyle was a little surprised that the other party would ask this question. "Yes, that's true."

Doug was surprised that the other party admitted it so readily, and all the suggestive words he had prepared were swallowed back down.

"Uh... I heard you two had some intimate contact?"

Lyle frowned.

Who said that?

"That's not true. It's probably just someone talking nonsense."

"Really?" Doug let out a sigh of relief. "That's good. Outsider, Adri has quite a few suitors, and they wouldn't want their sweetheart to be teased..."

Lyle sensed something strange and couldn't help but smile.

Including you, right...?

"Yes, I was just doing my job; we didn't have any close relationship."

"But that Jade really impressed me."

Seeing this, Doug consciously avoided the awkward topic and nodded.

"That's right, he's more of a militant type..."

"But that guy is a bit old-fashioned. Oh... what's he doing?"

Doug and Lyle both heard the commotion coming from the other side at the same time. Upon closer inspection, they realized that the familiar Jed was already fighting with someone.

"Damn him! Damn him!"

The crowd cheered, and no one stepped forward to stop it; according to the city's rules, this was considered a fair duel.

"well..."

Doug was about to step forward to stop him when a wine glass flew over at that moment.

Just as it was about to hit Doug on the head, Lyle reached out and easily blocked it.

"Phew...you're quick, Lyle."

"You flatter me. It's just that I'm taking precautions."

Lyle's intuition was very accurate; it was beyond his ability to anticipate his reactions.

"Oh! They're here! Watch out!"

As Doug was speaking, he saw a gap suddenly appear in the crowd, and Jed grabbed another person and threw him over.

"Go home and nurse, you idiot!"

The man collapsed weakly beside Lyle, spat out a mouthful of saliva, and passed out.

However, Jade, who was drunk, could no longer distinguish friend from foe and charged straight toward Lyle!

Sigh... here we go again.

Lyle shrugged and reached out to grab Jade's shoulder.

Jed's mindless, brute force was instantly brought under control by Lyle. He was indeed very strong, but he was drunk and completely out of control.

Lyle grabbed his arm, but instead of throwing a punch, he lifted him up and rammed his elbow into his stomach several times!

"vomit--"

Jade, who had been hit in the abdomen, vomited all over the ground and became a little more sober. Lyle then helped him stand up again.

He swayed and almost fell over, but Doug helped him up again.

The onlookers witnessed this scene but did not stop it; instead, they seemed to be enjoying a good show.

"Awesome! Bro! Well done!"

This move drew cheers and applause from the surrounding crowd, and Jade also sobered up considerably. Doug, with a dark expression on his face, whispered in his ear:

"You actually got taken down by a stranger, you rookie."

"Go to hell... If you're so good, you do it... damn it..."

He walked up to Lyle, clutching his stomach, his expression pained, but he still had the strength to struggle and speak:

"Ugh... why are all sorts of random people blocking my way tonight, even strangers from out of town daring to stand in front of me... it's so damn annoying!"

"...But that move was swift and beautiful...not bad!!"

"vomit!!!"

Douglas pulled Jed to the other side, so as not to spoil the celebration.

"Hahaha..."

A cheerful, clear laugh rang out, and Lyle turned around to see that it was Adrily Lou.

She removed her leather armor and, unusually, put on a dance dress, but still wore a red hood, just like her sister.

This must have some important significance.

Elsa skipped over to her from the side.

"Have you thought things through for your election?"

Adele smiled gently at Lyle's question.

"Of course, although there were some arguments at the beginning, they still decided to use an election."

"However..." she hesitated for a moment, but finally decided to say it, "The awkward thing is that they believe tradition also needs to be respected, so the five people chosen will eventually have to fight it out."

"Otherwise, it would be too much trouble to have twenty or so people dueling. There's no time to replan the venue now."

"It's still the compromise after all," Lyle sighed with emotion.

But now, he looked at Adley's dance dress and was somewhat puzzled.

"Now that you've changed into your dance dress, why don't you join them and dance?"

At this point, Adley looked away awkwardly, reaching up to touch her neck, unsure of how to begin.

However, Elsa didn't try to hide it; she shouted loudly:

"How silly! If my sister wants to dance, you'd better prepare a sword for her... Oh dear!"

Adrie, her face flushed, punched Elsa hard on the head and apologized helplessly.

"Sorry, she's always so outspoken... but today's celebration is really great, I think we'll have a very happy time here."

"That is indeed the case."

It's rare to have time to rest.

After nodding with a smile, Lyle suddenly felt a chill run down his spine and couldn't help but turn to look at the other side of the celebration.

What happened?

The once lively celebration seemed to have a hint of discord, as unsettling screams gradually emerged from the loud singing.

"Let's go take a look!"

The screams originated from the city square in front of the church. Suddenly, the onlookers dispersed, screaming desperately as they fled.

"Monster! Monster! Ah—"