"Wuu wuu wuu..." While waiting for the Grand Judge, a distant warning sound of a conch horn echoed again.

"It's so strange, it usually doesn't sound even once in half a year. Why are so many things happening today?" The sea monster captain wondered aloud, surprising Rody. It turns out the sea monster captain's unfamiliarity with his duties, always consulting books, was due to the inhabitants' self-discipline and lack of criminal tendencies.

Rody could hardly believe that this seaside town was such a paradisiacal place. No crime in half a year – what kind of place was this? In human cities, it would be a miracle if half a month passed without crime. Rody had never even seen a human city maintain a half-day without crime.

"Attention, the Winged Tribe is invading. Everyone needs to immediately enter the underwater defense shelters," announced a sea tribe wizard emerging from the water. "The Winged Tribe is very fast and is expected to arrive in ten minutes. Everyone, please abandon your belongings. If there are losses, our Maritime Defense Union can compensate eighty percent of the damage. Life safety is crucial, please follow me into the sea for shelter."

"What? The Winged Tribe is coming?" The monsters were terrified, their colors changing.

"So scary, they're ten times more evil than humans!" Rody chuckled bitterly upon hearing a fish person's exclamation, using human evilness as a benchmark.

"Run for your lives! Forget the goods!" The fish person vendors and other monsters abandoned their possessions and fled.

"Everyone, stay calm. We, the Sea Monster Corps Team 1295, will stay behind to ensure your safety. Women and children, please move to the front... Stay calm, we have the capability to protect you!" The sea monster captain ordered his team to maintain order and protect the vendors diving into the sea.

"Brother, I can't breathe underwater, what should I do?" Mitil, watching the monsters dive into the sea, was worried since she couldn't swim.

"Don't be afraid, little sister, we will protect you!" The sea monster captain reassured her. "And you, human, we will also protect you. Even though you are a criminal, we treat everyone equally and will fully protect your life. But your trial will continue afterwards. If you don't flee, we will commend your good behavior to the Grand Judge. Human, take your sister to the maritime defense's underground shelter. Stay with the races that can't live underwater. Remember, no matter what you hear, don't come out. We will stand guard outside, just wait for the sea tribe's army to rescue."

"..." Rody never imagined a day when he'd be protected by monsters.

"Let's go, murderer," whispered the Moon Night High Priestess in Rody's ear, seemingly preferring to avoid confrontation and hide rather than fight.

Rody guessed that Moon Night High Priestess possessed at least the power of a human archmage, but she seemed to dislike fighting. Rather than confront the yet-to-arrive enemies, she preferred to hide. The world of the Seven Races was completely different from the human world, where the monsters were unlike humans in many ways, being kinder and wiser than expected. When humans thought themselves to be civilized, these 'monsters' had already established excellent nations with simple yet effective laws and order.

This trip to the land of the Seven Races was indeed an eye-opener for Rody. If human powerhouses had great strength, they would show it off for the world's applause and admiration. Human nations with a bit of power would invade weaker countries, plundering their labor fruits to satisfy their conquest desires. In contrast, the Mire Empire, based in the land of the Seven Races, was far more civilized than other countries. Despite having an empress, it was the only human country with a parliamentary voting system, preventing the absolute concentration of power in one person's hands. This showed the level of civilization in the land of the Seven Races and among these monster and fairy races, far surpassing that of humans.

"Too late now, the mudskippers on the beach!" A sharp, piercing laugh rang through the sky as a beam of light descended, with dozens of grey-winged and black-winged birdmen emerging from a teleportation portal. These winged birdmen of the Aerial Race varied in appearance, some humanoid, some bird-headed, others human-headed with bird bodies, and various other bizarre forms, but all had massive wings on their backs.

Their dramatic entrance, fluttering across the sky, surrounded all the sea creatures below. "The leader was right, these mudskippers are all so stubborn," a birdman with a sharp beak and grey-and-black feathers cackled loudly, diving towards Rody and the others, causing Mititi to scream in fear.

"Wow, vice-leader, look, elves and fairies! Finally, we have elves to enjoy!" another birdman laughed heartily. "Catch them, don't let the squid ruin our fun!" commanded a robust birdman with four black wings.

"We're not squid!" The sea monster captain unsheathed his water-dividing spike, roaring furiously. "Listen, despicable Aerial Race, we are the octopus clan's sea defense force. You shall not harass our people. Call someone out for a duel; before all of us die, you shall not lay a finger on our people!"

"Long live sea defense!" All sea monster troops bravely took their position at the forefront, brandishing their weapons, ready to protect their people. Fishmen and lizardmen fled into the water in fear, while many other monsters were driven back to the beach by the Aerial Race's birdmen using bows and spears.

Holding Mititi, Rody watched the unfolding battle with great interest. Moon Night High Priestess seemed to want to say something, but after sneaking a glance at Rody, she held back, quietly standing beside him, helping to soothe Mititi. The birdmen in the sky were not many, just over thirty, but still outnumbered the sea monster team by more than three times. Each of them was adept at flying, giving them a clear advantage.

"…A duel between the strong? What, did I hear that right?" The four-winged birdman vice-leader laughed exaggeratedly. "Squid dare to call themselves strong?"

"Kill these squids and make them into skewers!" the birdmen laughed heartily.

"Vice leader, please allow me to fight!" The sharp-beaked birdman, who had earlier frightened Mititi, chuckled and said, "Just a few squids, I can kill them all! Vice leader, after you've enjoyed the elf, let me have a second go, how about that?"

"The Aerial Race is full of lustful thoughts!" Moon Night High Priestess spat in disgust, then clung to Rody's arm and coquettishly said, "You see others bullying me and don’t get angry. I'm so disappointed." Rody was stunned to hear this. These few Aerial Race members were at most at the level of Earth Warriors. With Moon Night High Priestess's abilities, she could probably shoot them all down from the sky with one spell. Why didn’t she erupt in anger?

"Wait a bit!" Rody took out a plate of honey chicken wings and started eating deliciously, saying, "Anyway, they are about to die. Let them jump around for a bit more! I can't act too early; otherwise, it won't be fun…"

"Human, wow, what do I see? There's a human here!" The sharp-beaked birdman shouted in surprise.

"I'm not your father, don't get too excited to see me!" Rody replied nonchalantly.

"Ha ha ha, birdmen are all hybrids, they don’t have fathers!" The sea monsters burst into laughter at this, especially the sea monster captain, who laughed extravagantly with his eight arms raised high. "Hybrid birdmen, listen, if you don’t dare to come forward for a duel, then you are cowards! If you want a duel of the strong, then come up and fight me one-on-one!"

"You are looking for death!" The sharp-beaked birdman, feeling greatly insulted, screeched and dived down.

"I am a well-trained warrior!" The sea monster captain roared, catching the sharp-beaked birdman’s sword with four arms, grabbing the birdman’s legs with two arms, and stabbing him in the abdomen with the water-dividing spike. The birdman screamed and was thrown onto the sand by the sea monster captain. The captain’s four arms were cut off by the sword, leaving one barely intact, dripping greenish blood, yet his face was full of pride.

At that moment, he had injured his opponent severely while losing only three arms. The sea monster captain approached the sharp-beaked birdman, shouting, "You are now my prisoner. If your companions want to redeem you, then they must withdraw. Otherwise, all our sea monster defense forces will give you a heavy blow! Our reinforcements are coming soon; you must leave, or we will defend our territory at the cost of our lives!"

"Well said!" The monsters applauded.

"Brilliantly done, captain! You are our idol!" A sea monster troop exclaimed excitedly.

"We won't invade your skies, but you can't invade our sacred sea…" The sea monster captain grabbed the pain-writhing sharp-beaked birdman, shouting at the birdman vice leader in the sky, "If you promise to leave immediately, I will release your companion!"

"Bang!"

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

The birdman vice leader didn’t respond but made a surprising gesture to Rody—a hand gesture of firing a gun. Gunshots rang out at the same time.

The sea monster captain roared and staggered back a few steps, then another muffled gunshot sounded, and he fell heavily onto the sand. Rody saw that the sharp-beaked birdman had a pistol-like weapon in his hand, smoking at the muzzle.

"Foolish squid, do you understand what a squid is? It's because you're stupid! You're foolish!" The sharp-beaked birdman gulped down a healing potion, enduring the pain with a cold laugh, "I haven’t been defeated by you, self-righteous squid. You don’t want to kill me, but that doesn’t mean I feel the same way about you! How does it feel, squid captain? Fire elemental crystal bullets combined with electric shocks, must be especially painful, right? This is the Aerial Race’s latest weapon developed this year, specifically to deal with you mudskippers and squids! Not just me, even an Aerial Race child could easily kill you with it. Heh heh heh, foolish squid, die!"

"Firearm? Gunpowder gun? Or a magical weapon?" Rody suddenly pondered, realizing that if they had such a weapon, future battles would be even harder.

"Captain…" The sea monster troops all cried out in alarm.

The sharp-beaked birdman pointed the gun at the sea monster captain's bald head and, with a vicious smile, pulled the trigger. A gunshot sounded, and blood splattered from the captain's forehead. Mititi, terrified, clung to Rody, trembling continuously.

All the monsters were stunned, unable to believe that such a small object could bring down the massive body of the sea monster captain.

Moon Night High Priestess also frowned. She felt that although the weapon wasn’t very powerful, its convenience in firing made it faster than the elves' bows and arrows at close range. Since every Aerial Race member could wield it, it was indeed troublesome. She sneakily glanced at Rody, knowing that the bad guy had some mischief in mind, as indicated by the gleam in his eyes.

"I'm fine!" The sea monster captain struggled up from the blood pool, standing unsteadily, waving his remaining five arms and declaring, "Just a scratch!"

"Humph, take another Fire Crystal Stone bullet!" The sharp-beaked birdman aimed at the captain's bald head again and fired.

"I told you, it's just a minor injury... Your new weapon, it's useless against me!" The sea monster captain, bloodied but defiant, roared: "Do you dare to duel me? You despicable birdman, come! I've had enough of you. Now, let me send you guys to meet the Sea God! The merciful Sea God will bury you all in his bosom broader than the sea!"

"Wow, vice leader, how is this guy still fine?" The sharp-beaked birdman panicked, firing several shots, but the sea monster captain kept advancing.

"The power of the Fire Crystal glove is too weak, but if we use the Magic Crystal Cannon, its power is too great..." The birdman vice leader waved his hand and ordered: "Test over, everyone attack, kill all the sea monsters! Keep the elves and fairies, kill everything else! Loot everything valuable, don't talk about kindness with these mudskippers and squids, that's their most foolish trait!"

"No, I don't think so." Rody, savoring his chicken wings, shook his head: "Kindness might not always be good, but it's definitely not bad!"

...

"Someone, chop this chirping human for me, keep his head to feed my dog, and use it as its food bowl later!" The birdman vice leader, clearly disliking Rody, immediately ordered his subordinates to eliminate Rody as soon as he interjected.

"I'm so scared, what should I do?" Rody pretended to be frightened, turning his face towards Moon Night High Priestess.

"Hey, put down the chicken wings in your hand first, don't stretch your oily hand towards me! Don't touch me!" Moon Night High Priestess wanted to punch him for being so despicable, but eventually refrained and took Mititi from his arms.

"Lowly human, you just insulted me, hmm, even killing you a hundred times wouldn't quench my rage!" The sharp-beaked birdman raised his gun towards Rody.

"I offer you my deepest sympathies, but I also have some doubts about your abilities," Rody said with a smile: "Many have been insulted by me, and many want to kill me, but so far, no one has succeeded."

"Bang!" The sharp-beaked birdman answered Rody with a gunshot.

As the smoke from the gun barrel cleared, the sharp-beaked birdman smugly blew away the smoke. However, unlike the sea monster captain, Rody did not fall. He continued to leisurely eat his honey chicken wings, seemingly oblivious to the gunshot. The sharp-beaked birdman was completely baffled, unable to comprehend how Rody remained unharmed despite being shot with a red crystal bullet.

"Looking for this?" Suddenly, a hand appeared behind the sharp-beaked birdman, holding the deformed red crystal bullet in its palm.

"Ah?" Everyone gasped in surprise and looked over.

Behind the sharp-beaked birdman stood a formidable demon general, clad in dark golden armor and a terrifying demon mask. His aura was almost tangible, swirling with golden crescents, clearly a being as powerful as a human Sword Emperor.

How could a Sword Emperor level demon general be here, seemingly aiding humans? Weren't demons the mortal enemies of humans?

"My most respected master, how should I deal with this birdman?" The powerful demon general suddenly knelt, reverently kneeling before a human, asking in a devout voice, "To appease your anger, may I break its wings, twist its neck? Would that be acceptable?"

"Wow…" The sharp-beaked birdman, hearing this, was petrified with fear. Just as it was about to fly away, it was pinned down by the kneeling demon general.

"Marcus, ah, I forgot I renamed you to Maigu after you became a demon general. How could you do such a cruel thing? We are humans, and humans are very kind!" Rody emphasized the kindness of humans, although the monsters and birdmen looked at him in terror. Smiling, Rody said, "If you don't want it to escape, just pluck its feathers. Why kill? As your master, my heart is especially kind, have you forgotten?"

"Yes, my master, Maigu will follow your will!" The demon general pinned the sharp-beaked birdman down and began to pluck its feathers.

The sharp-beaked birdman, held by the Sword Emperor level demon general, couldn't struggle at all. It screamed in agony as its feathers were plucked, unable to end its pain through suicide, as Maigu would not allow it. The birdman tried to use its gun for suicide, but Maigu crushed the gun barrel into scrap metal.

All the birdmen were shocked to see this seemingly insignificant human have a Sword Emperor level bodyguard who was a demon general. The monsters were also worried about Rody's potential revenge.

"Noisy, can't even eat in peace! Maigu, can't you drag it further away before plucking? It's so loud!" Rody expressed dissatisfaction with his subordinate's performance, leaving all the monsters nearly fainting.

"Yes, my master." The demon general dragged the sharp-beaked birdman by the ankle, ignoring its screams and pleas, and walked away.

"What kind of person are you?" The birdman vice leader, sweating profusely, asked in astonishment.

"Nicholas, do you think it's appropriate for someone of my status to answer such a lowly birdman?" Rody casually asked the elegant butler, who appeared out of nowhere with a basin of water. He casually washed his hands and dried them with a white silk towel, behaving like a spoiled noble youth.

"Not suitable, master," Nicholas nodded slowly and said, "The one who should be talking to them is the jailer in the prison."

"Let's go, this human is definitely a madman!" The birdman deputy leader wanted to take action, but not to mention the demon general from before, even the polite butler in front of him, he was genuinely afraid. Before the demon general returned, he just wanted to leave immediately and not talk to the crazy human in front of him anymore. Using a Sword Emperor as a guard, what an extravagant and insane thing to do.

"Insulting my master will be the greatest sin in the world." Nicholas put down the water basin, his figure flashed, and when he reappeared, he was already floating in front of the birdman deputy leader. He performed an elegant noble's bow and said with a smile, "If you receive my master's forgiveness, it would be a very pleasant thing. Otherwise, I cannot ensure my goodwill towards you. Eh, it seems you did not listen carefully to what I said? Is that so? It seems I need to repeat myself! Sir, are you sure you want to do this?"

While Nicholas was bowing, the birdman deputy leader had already drawn his sword, burst forth with fighting spirit, and fiercely slashed down. But at the moment the sword was about to strike, Nicholas caught the long sword with two fingers. His body was simultaneously surrounded by a halo and a crescent moon, revealing himself to be a strong practitioner of both magic and martial arts, a mage-king and sword-emperor. This almost scared the birdman deputy leader out of his wits. With his strength, barely approaching that of a sky warrior, to confront a strong man like this was more difficult than an ant trying to move a kodo beast.

But why? Why would a strong man who is both a mage-king and sword-emperor be the butler of a young human male?

...

"Mr. Nicholas, give me this birdman to eat!" A demon general from the demon race punched down a birdman next to the birdman deputy leader. It opened its bloody mouth, revealing sharp teeth, extended its long tongue, licked its lips, and hummed in a buzzing voice, "I am very angry with this birdman because it insulted the master. I want to eat it, starting from the feet and leaving the head last, then make it into a urine shell!"

"No, this guy is my dinner tonight, do you want to fight me for it?" Another demon general also ran over, strongly protesting.

On the ground, all the birdmen were being stepped on and immobilized by the continuously appearing demon generals and dark knights. At this moment, not only the birdmen, but also the monster and sea monster squads were trembling with fear.

Mittir knew early on that Rody had such guards, and now she was not afraid but felt very relieved. She quickly ran back to Rody's side, hugged his leg, and sneakily looked at the birdman deputy leader in front of Nicholas, making super cute and mischievous faces at him.

"I say, how can you eat people?" Rody conjured a bunch of crystal grapes to eat, frowning, not because the grapes were too sour, but because he was dissatisfied with his subordinates, "Just now, Maggot plucking feathers was okay, but how can you be so barbaric to eat people? Although birdmen are not humans, eating them in broad daylight is not right."

"Understood, master, we can't eat them in broad daylight, so we'll drag them to a secluded place to eat!" The demon army immediately bowed and replied upon hearing this.

"No, you can't eat people, that's not what he meant!" The High Priestess of the Moonlit Night felt she had to speak up.

"Can't we eat them in secret?" Rody asked in surprise.

"..." Everyone burst into a cold sweat.

"Of course not, that's too cruel!" The High Priestess of the Moonlit Night didn't know if this guy was really crazy or just pretending to be dumb, but she had to stop this barbaric behavior, huffing, "These birdmen have offended you, just let your men beat them up, why be so cruel as to eat them!"

"No choice then, just beat them up," Rody commanded.

"Yes, my master, may I ask for how long?" the demon generals and dark knights asked for instructions.

"No need to beat them for too long, just one or two hours will do." As soon as Rody said this, all the monsters fell to the ground.

"I demand a duel of the strong, wait, I demand a one-on-one duel of the strong!" the birdman deputy leader called out loudly, pointing at Rody and shouting, "You are their leader, I demand a duel with you! One-on-one, no one else can interfere!"

"How did your mother give birth to someone as smart as you?" Rody exclaimed in surprise.

"No, you can't agree to his request!" The members of the sea monster squad were anxious, as this human's subordinates were very strong, either Sword Emperors or Mage Kings, but his own strength was weak. If he agreed, he would surely be defeated by the birdman deputy leader. This one-on-one duel of the strong could not be agreed to. Some of the sea monster squad members shouted loudly, "Despicable winged birdmen, why didn't you agree to our duel of the strong just now? And you are already a prisoner, as a prisoner, you have no right to make such demands!"

"Right, right, right, don't agree to it!" The monsters also felt very angry, wasn't this birdman clearly trying to bully humans?

"This birdman is too despicable!" The monster sister who was previously scared to tears by Rody also became angry.

"Human, don't be fooled, even if you don't accept the duel, it doesn't matter, because you are a cunning human..." The fishman merchant emerged from the sea, shouting loudly. Seeing everyone looking at him in shock, he quickly waved his hands, "Forget what I said, forget what I said!"

"It sees you as weak and wants to challenge you. It's not a hero, but a shameless coward. You don't need to accept such an unreasonable request. You can completely ignore its existence and exercise your rights to the fullest, because it is already a pitiful prisoner." The blood-stained captain of the sea monster squad also nodded, "I won't ask for their forgiveness, but I want to state one thing, you are still our prisoner, even though you have saved all of us, we will still monitor your actions until the high judge declares you innocent..."

"Alright, but I hope your high judge doesn't fine me, because I really don't have money to pay the fine!" Rody sighed, stroked Mittir's smooth hair, and walked towards the birdman deputy leader.

"Hey, human, although the legend says humans are not good, you have changed my mind. Humans are great, keep it up!" A voice suddenly shouted from among the monsters.

"I support you too, you must defeat that birdman!" More voices joined in, cheering for Rody.

"You are an excellent and admirable human male, I take back my previous misconceptions about humans! Salute!" The captain of the sea monster squad saluted Rody with his team members. With so many strong subordinates and still abiding by the law, could he not be from a good alignment? Seeing how he treated his sister, could he not be a good person?

"I say, human, you can also have the shell I gave to your sister, of course, paying for it is best..." The fishman merchant's voice trailed off in embarrassment.

"If you don't have money for the fine, we'll all pitch in for you!" A horse-headed monster shouted excitedly.

"Go for it!"

"Defeat that birdman!"

"Even if you get defeated, it doesn't matter, we understand you, human, you have already been brave!" The crocodile-headed monster standing next to his horse-headed monster friend shouted, "My shop has powerful healing potions, and I am also a level three water healer, I'll heal you for free, just fight well!"

"I'm so moved!" Rody bowed to everyone with a very elegant noble's bow and smiled, "I'll try my best, fight carefully, and see if I can save your healing potions."

"How long is this

guy going to pretend to be dumb?" The High Priestess of the Moonlit Night nearly broke her ribs laughing but held back, complaining in her heart.