„Do you have to disrespect the city, Lord?!” said a guy with full body armor made out of iron, but his face wasn’t covered and you could see a ferocious light in it.

His face had a scar across it from fighting humans rather than monsters, as the scar was too smooth.

„So what if I disrespect the city, Lord? He sold the city to you parasites! You guys would have taken the cannons and reinforced your base and left us to rot here!” retorted a senior soldier, and from the looks of it, there was no captain among them.

„What do you know? We bought those magic cannons from the city Lord of course, we can do what we want with them,” said the leader of the city Lord’s thugs.

„You don’t know how many people would have died to finally have this peace that we have today, and you guys just recently came here you don’t know anything about how much we fought for this place!”

It could be seen that the soldiers were getting angry, and a fight would erupt at any moment.

„Those were old times, and that was in the past, and now? Look, no more beasts are coming to the city than the occasional monsters, but even they are no match for us,” said the thug Mocinkly, as he wanted the soldiers to start a fight against them so they could leverage it against those in higher power—a moral kidnapping.

The most effective method to blackmail someone into doing something you want. The soldiers were fuming with anger and could hardly hold back from hitting those thugs' smug faces, but they knew they could not afford to do it otherwise, the higher-ups would be in an even worse position.

Soldiers attacking the city Lord’s guards would be what would be told by the other side and would fully deny any provocative action.

Why would they do this? They want the people who come into the realm to think they are the good guys and gather more supporters for themselves.

With no support from the commoners, the old city guard would be in a bad position.

„You…” The soldier could not control his anger as he pointed his finger at the guy.

„Did your mother never tell you not to point your finger at other people, as it is rude to do so?” said the thug with a wide grin on his face.

Seeing this, the soldier wanted to go up and beat him up, but the other soldiers held him down.

Another soldier came forward.

„Scram already we have reason to investigate this place as it is smuggling magma crystals illegally.” As the soldier said so, he pointed with his finger to the building behind the thugs. It was like a normal home nothing fancy about it or anything that made it stand out.

„I told you before, this place belongs to the city Lord, and you have no right to search it.” He was stalling for time, hoping his colleagues could evacuate everything from the building.

Soon, a bird chirping could be heard. „Ah well, we have to show some face to our colleagues who have protected the city for so long, don’t we, boys? Let them in and search this empty place.” As he said this, he laughed at them and left with his thugs.

As soon as the thugs left, the soldiers could only lower their heads as they entered the place. Soon, they emerged with nothing on them, their heads lowered in defeat. The higher-ups had paid an extremely high price to get this information so they could gain leverage over the new city Lord, but they had failed.

Their guard numbers were constantly decreasing, and hardly any recruits were joining them. Even when they did, they were spies full of bad intentions. The organizations blackmailed anyone they could from the old guards, as many had to leave their positions because their families on Earth might encounter unexpected accidents that could take their lives. Each day, they had fewer soldiers on their side, while the opposing faction had more and more men. The city people first supported the old faction, but with the new faction’s hardline actions, many people began to fear them. Kidnapping, beating, and blackmailing became the norm in this city.

When troubling times come, people can unite in the greatest despair, but once the dark times pass, those with darkness in their hearts arise. These people cannot face monsters, but they prey on other humans. They know how to maximize their profits from other humans. Hunting monsters themselves? Why would they do something so stupid when other people can do this job for them? All they have to do is take away this prey and threaten them a little bit.

This is not the old world anymore. Here, the strong have all the rights, and the alliances are all controlled by these corrupt people who sided with the Were tribes in the rebellion against them.

Soon, the soldiers returned to their headquarters, and their commander had an ugly expression on his face. Someone from the inside had informed their enemies and sold out their informant from the new faction. Now they had one less card. They never guessed there was a traitor among their men.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

It was not a low-ranking member, but a high-ranking one. Suspicion engulfed the headquarters as no one could trust anyone anymore. Who knew who the spy among them was? They had wanted a city where people could unite together and everyone could live happily, following the old city Lord's example. But they just realized that without the city Lord, they couldn’t accomplish it at all.

Is happiness so hard to achieve? Why do people want to take away others’ happiness? Did they commit a grave sin in their previous life to let this happen to them?

As for our protagonist, he was eating his fill at the inn, having left the drunken guy behind long ago.

Why didn’t I interfere when such an injustice occurred? I am more clear about this than anyone. If I had interfered on the side of the soldiers, the city Lord’s thugs would have thought I was part of the old power and would have made my life harder in the city. They would have dragged the soldiers and their higher-ups into trouble. This is not a fairy tale world. Your actions will have consequences. It might have made their situation even harder, and for one person, they would not implicate all of their people.

And another thing—why should I help them? Where were the people when I needed help? Only when you are strong will people respect you and fear you. I want to become stronger first, quietly, so that when people face injustice, I can change it. But I have to hold back, even if it puts a bad taste in my mouth. Hypocrite? Maybe, but sometimes sacrifices are necessary for a better future. Even if I hate myself for it, I cannot change the whole city situation. An elephant can be defeated by ants.

One person is against an organization with an unknown number of people in their ranks. Even worse, I don’t know who these organizations are, who their backers are, or if they have any connection to even higher people. Nowadays, you cannot climb higher on the ladder of power if you don’t have any connections. A cruel world, but you have to be even more cruel to yourself to gain more power. Trust is the greatest poison in this world.

From the slums, I learned that trusting someone is the greatest mistake you can make. You must always expect their betrayal and be prepared for it.

After finishing my meal and paying for it, I wanted to eat something else other than the system food and gather information about the city. Booking a room for myself, from what information I gathered, the monsters started retreating into the ocean and gave up on attacking the city entirely.

Knowing this, I felt a sense of unease, like in Skylit City when disaster strikes during the calmest times. As if something that doesn’t belong here is watching everything. Lying on the bed, I could only sigh. Troubling matters do not leave me alone. I should prepare to leave the city before the troubling time comes.

The city is in turmoil politically, and the old and new factions are at their wits’ end with each other. If the monsters decided to attack now, the city might not be able to hold. The new faction likely will not supply the old faction with cannons as long as they control them, and the old faction knows that the only reason they can still stand is those cannons. So they will never compromise with each other.

Thinking about this, and the monsters not attacking, it’s likely they are preparing for a big attack. Jumping up from the bed, I made my way out of the inn and left the city. I didn’t care about collecting 20 pieces of copper from the innkeeper I changed my mind.

Soon, my silhouette vanished into the field full of weeds. I didn’t go far away I found a small hill where I had a somewhat good view of the city. Waiting for the monsters to attack the city so that after the fight ended, I could collect a lot of money. I need to get stronger faster, even if I have to resort to such methods. No one will protect me for free. There will be times when I need to pay it back, and most likely with my life.

Soon, the night came, and I saw the city walls being lit up in fire.

From time to time, I checked if any monsters were moving, but no silhouettes were moving in the night. I used my spiritual energy to sense if any monsters were nearby. I had to be wary of everything as I was in the open field, but it was much better than spending time in a ticking time bomb. No one knows when the monsters will attack or when the factions will tear down all facades and cause bloodshed in the city for power.

As half of the night passed, in the distance, I saw many small dots of lights sparkling. I wouldn’t have been able to see far away if there were only one or two, but when many monsters are together in the darkness, the spiritual energy they give off collectively makes up for it.

It is happening. They slowly and quietly approach the city walls. I knew troubling times were coming, but this was a bit strange. City after city fell. This should not have happened in decades, but now, in just a week, two cities and one outpost have already fallen. It was well said that decades pass with a week of action, and weeks pass with decades of action. It was as if something wanted to destroy humans in the first realm.

Did some creator from a higher realm descend here to control the monsters into uniting and fighting against humans? I thought about the octopus, but I shook my head. It’s more likely that some organizations are working with monsters, as it happened in the past from higher realms. Here, the monsters’ intelligence is limited by the realm, but those fishmen clearly show wisdom above this, as does that rabbit. The rabbit is likely also an evolver, so he’s crossed off my list.

Looking at the city as the monsters slowly get closer and closer without sounding any alarms, I could only pray that those people could avoid this anger by hiding in secret places. I counted more than a thousand fishmen.

Soon, I heard a horn going off, followed by more and more. The city now realizes monsters are attacking, but their reaction is too slow. The monsters had already reached the walls and climbed up using kelp and vines they harvested and used as ropes. I could see some flickers of light on the walls moving, but then extinguishing—likely hit by the fishmen’s weapons.

I stopped using my spiritual energy as I felt drained and needed to meditate to recover. I watched as the city fought with the invaders. Soon, I saw the monsters climb up the city walls and take them over.

A big explosion followed as the cannons were fired, and monsters on the wall perished. The wall got damaged, but this didn’t stop the monsters for long. New vines and kelps were thrown up, allowing them to climb again.

I sighed at their foolishness. The enemy never disappeared they had merely prepared for a big attack. Instead of reinforcing the city, they fought day and night against each other.