CHAPTER 74: CHAPTER74-WHAT KIND OF TRASH THINKS THEY CAN ENTER FOR FREE?

"This... this is..."

Bais’s cracked lips trembled.

He had once seen the forest citadels of the elves from afar, and glimpsed the towering stone fortresses of the orcs.

But no city—no matter how grand—had ever struck him so deeply, so directly, to the core of his soul.

"Human brother, welcome home!"

Reize’s warm voice rang out.

"I... am I dreaming? Is this truly a human stronghold?"

"This isn’t a dream. You’re home."

"Home...?"

Bais repeated the word as if afraid it might vanish the moment he spoke it. Tears streamed down his weathered face.

He had never imagined that, in a universe where humans were treated like vermin, he would ever hear those words.

"Yes—home!"

A guard supported him, guiding him toward the radiant, rune-lit city gates.

"This is Dalton—our city, built by humans!"

"It’s the sanctuary established for us by President Leo! From this day forward, no alien race will ever again trample the dignity of mankind!"

Bais stepped across the threshold in a daze, overwhelmed.

Off to the side, Koller—the four-eyed clan envoy—stared, speechless, before snapping, furious:

"Why doesn’t he have to pay the entrance fee?!"

Reize didn’t even bother to look at him.

"He’s one of my kin. And you? What are you?" He sneered.

"You think you deserve to be compared to my people?"

"You... you—!"

For the first time in his life, Koller tasted the bitterness of discrimination. Rage burned in his chest, but he swallowed it down. He’d already paid the entry fee—he might as well see what kind of monsters hid behind these walls.

...

The light inside Dalton nearly blinded him.

Bais was completely overcome by awe.

The first thing that hit him was the mana—thick, abundant, almost tangible.

It poured through the air, soaking into his pores, nourishing his weary body.

Just breathing a single breath made his old wounds ache as they began to knit.

Before him stretched wide, immaculate streets.

The architecture was diverse yet harmonious—towering mage spires beside steam-powered workshops, glowing sigils running through pipes and gears.

In the skies above, tiny flying golems and knights riding gentle magical beasts moved in orderly formation.

Shops lined the roads, filled with the aroma of baked bread, herbs, and enchanted oils—an intoxicating mixture of prosperity and peace.

But what truly stunned him was this—

Almost everyone walking those streets... were human.

They wore clean, well-fitted clothes.

Their faces were calm, confident, even proud—a kind of quiet dignity he had never seen on a human face before.

People noticed him being helped in by the guards.

Their gazes were curious and kind—not mocking, not suspicious.

"It’s a new brother!"

"Poor guy, he must’ve suffered a lot out there..."

"Quick—call the medics!"

"I’ve just bought fresh bread—give him some!"

Soon, hands brought him food and clean water, others draped him in warm clothes.

A group of white-robed medics hurried over, their staffs glowing faintly with healing light.

Bais held the still-warm bread in shaking hands, looking at all those concerned faces.

He broke.

He sank to the ground and sobbed like a child who had wandered lost through endless nights, finally finding home.

In his tears were all the years of humiliation and fear, the grief for fallen friends, the exhaustion of barely surviving—

but above all, there was joy.

Relief.

And the rekindling of something long thought dead—hope.

"Humans... humans will rise again!"

"Our people... we’re saved!"

High above, from the floating fortress of Aerial City, Elizabeth, Aragis, and others watched in silence.

Their expressions barely moved, but in their eyes burned a fierce light.

Their gaze turned toward the horizon beyond the walls—

their resolve to protect Dalton’s peace and hope was unshakable.

...

Meanwhile, Koller, the four-eyed envoy who had also entered, stood frozen in disbelief.

He was equally stunned by the brilliance and energy saturating the city.

"This... this is like stepping into another world..."

But soon he noticed something else—

The gazes of the human residents.

Curious. Measuring. Some even faintly mocking.

"What are you staring at, you filthy humans?!"

He lost control, unleashing his god-rank aura in anger, trying to cow the crowd—

—and instantly triggered Dalton’s city defense system.

A squad of guards in shining armor materialized with terrifying speed.

Their commander, at Divine Oracle peak, stepped forward, voice cold as steel.

"Disturbing public order. Arrest him."

"Wait—no, listen, I can explain—!"

"You can explain to them later."

"You damned humans! This is illegal detent—"

He didn’t finish.

The captain struck him once.

Koller went limp, collapsing like a rag doll.

"Take him away."

Without another word, the guards dragged him off—

the first foreigner in Dalton Town’s history to be detained for disorderly conduct.

...

As the day went on, more and more outsiders—humans and aliens alike—entered Dalton.

Humans were greeted with open arms.

Aliens were treated as curiosities, observed rather than welcomed.

Some races, like elves, dwarves, and treants, received warmer treatment—

Dalton already housed members of those kind, and they had shown no malice toward humankind.

But others were not so lucky.

One dark elf warlord, bold enough to proclaim "the human race deserves extinction" and try to force entry through the gates, was personally cut into eight pieces by Reize—and fed to the dogs.

...

The surge of visitors in Dalton’s outer city drew attention from everywhere.

Many residents came to the observation decks and sky bridges near the inner wall, curious to glimpse these visitors from across Sakend.

Watching the strange crowds below, Aubi turned to his grandfather Otto, once a general of the Crossbridge Empire and now a proud Dalton citizen.

"Grandfather, why did the President allow so many outsiders into the outer city? I can’t tell if these races mean us well."

Otto stroked his neatly trimmed beard.

"Aubi, as President said in his address—our people are weak in this world. Countless human kin still struggle in fire and chains."

"As the only human nation in Sakend, every move Dalton makes carries meaning."

His sharp gaze swept over the sea of alien faces below—some shocked, some greedy, some defiant.

"By letting them in, the President is showing them what Dalton truly is—our strength, our unity, our power."

"He wants them to understand, deep in their hearts—mankind is not to be trifled with."

Otto’s expression grew solemn.

"I’ll go further, Aubi. I suspect this open-gate policy is just the beginning."

"If any fool dares provoke Dalton—or if the President decides it’s time to make a statement for our scattered kin—then he will act himself."

"And when he does, the whole Sakend Universe will learn what it means..."

"...to face a power that cannot be shaken."