26 Wasted Effort

"Hahaha, it seems you aren't scared, but you do have some truth in your words. We are here to recruit you." The man agreed, not at all angered by Damon's disregard for respect.

"You should feel lucky for us to be here. If you didn't have such powerful talent, it wouldn't be possible to gather all of us here. Since you're here. Why don't you select which guild you would like to join?" A dark-haired man chimed in.

Damon stopped and stared at the powerhouses who hadn't descended yet with a frown on his face. He didn't feel the need to join a guild since he was already in two: one was his father's, where he was in a low executive position ever since the incident in the C-rank dungeon, and the other was the Durham gang, which, though it wasn't officially a guild, was still considered one with its size and strength.

He felt that if he refused to decide, a war would break out against him, which he didn't want, at least not in his current condition. However, even if he decided between one, he believed a war would still break out between the guilds.

Since a war would still break out, either against him or against the other guilds, no matter what he decided. He would be placed in the line of fire with a high risk of death. If he could, he would avoid it, but he understood that it was impossible.

'Why does everything have to be troublesome? Can't everything go the way I want it to? First, I lost my high-ranking position and was framed for killing Kesean's son. Does my life always have to be this miserable, where everyone seems to be after me?'

Just when he was on the brink of refusing to join any of their guilds, even though it would bring danger to his life, he thought of something that would benefit him the most with little to no danger to his life. There would be a battle, but it wouldn't be as dangerous as all the guilds fighting at the same time.

If he were to kill them, he would no doubt have dozens of guilds trying to kill him. However, this idea couldn't lead to such an outcome. He felt that this was the perfect plan he could think of at the moment. There was no doubt that there were some flaws in his plan that he wasn't aware of, but he would have to fix them when the time came.

"Since there are so many of you, it's hard for me to choose the guild that's best, so how about we play a game to decide which guild I join?" Damon finally spoke after a long period of silence. "What do you think? Do you agree? I believe it's better than simply fighting over me."

"I don't see the point in disagreeing, nor are there any disadvantages." The young man nodded, not seeing anything that would place him at a disadvantage.

The others thought similarly; they couldn't see any disadvantages that would place them at odds that weren't favorable to them. As Damon had said, if they wanted him to join their guild, they would first need to prove that they were the best of the other guilds. They felt that it was more beneficial for them.

"Since you all seem to agree, I'll briefly explain the rules." Damon paused before continuing. "There are only three rules: The first being that each guild will compete against each other in a one guild against another like tournament. For one guild to be eliminated, one could either kill them or force them to surrender. A tie isn't possible; there must be one winner and one loser."

"And lastly, there must not be any interference between guilds unless you're the only one facing a guild and only your opponent. So this doesn't last all night; all battles will happen at the same time but in different locations across the city. The last guild standing will be the guild I join; do the rules sound fair?"

"For a man who hasn't even been in this world for long, you have thought of such a plan that can benefit all of us. If you were to join our guild, I believe it won't be long before you reach a high position in the guild." The dark-haired man praised him, having a good impression of this young man before him.

"If he was in your guild, he would be wasting his talent. He should join our guild instead; we can provide all the resources he needs for his talent to fully flourish." Another person denied, as if he had some enmity with the dark-haired man.

All guilds started to agree with Damon's terms. They were certain that their guild would be the best for Damon, while they cursed other guilds, trying to push him into favoring them. If only they knew what Damon's true thoughts were... Maybe then they wouldn't be as eager for him to join, but instead would be eager to kill him.

Damon ignored their blatant disregard for him. He simply stood there in silence, waiting for them to finally calm themselves.

After the peaceful silence finally returned, he asked, "Shall we start? I don't think any of you would desire to wait any longer. I've delayed you for too long."

After he finished, he began the preparations for the tournament that was about to happen. No matter who would come out as the victor, the city would suffer, but there wasn't much that could be done.

Even Ivan, the strongest man in the city, couldn't prevent this from happening. He was one B-rank hunter against dozens, maybe even hundreds; he didn't believe that he could even equal one of them in strength. They were taught by high-ranking members of powerful guilds, while he wasn't.

The difference between him and them was as clear as the night sky; all he could do was evacuate the citizens while trying to calm the chaos that was spreading like wildfire.

…..

One hour had elapsed since Damon had made a deal with the guilds. Inside a massive mansion, Ivan seemed to be visibly irritated and couldn't help but drink beer as though he were lamenting over something.

Despite the food being placed on the table in front of him, he hadn't taken a single bite, drinking until he couldn't drink anymore.

"I made a big mistake for so long... I didn't think this day would come. I may have created one city over which I have complete control, but I didn't even consider it ever being in such a mess as it is now." Ivan's frustrated voice echoed in the dining hall, where he sat alone.

"I never expected this day would come and the strength and influence I possess to become so useless. Even after all I've done to make it this far, I'm forced to receive this ending… My life has been so worthless."

Hours had passed since the guilds had arrived, but Ivan was still in a state of unrest. Despite all his efforts, there was an unforeseeable factor that disrupted his goal to live a life of luxury without any worry.

Even in his craziest assumptions, he didn't think someone in his city had the potential to form a stronger contract with their contracted god. He had never had such an opportunity, and he thought it would be the same for everyone in the city.

He couldn't blame the person with such a talent for the destruction to come. After all, he knew it would be unavoidable even if he had the strength to fight back. Instead, he considered it his fault for his own negligence.

If he had chosen to become stronger, even if it was only by a single rank, he wouldn't be in a situation as helpless as he was now. He would at least have a fighting chance. He could only wish to go back and change the past, but it was too late now.

"Even if you can't save this city, at least you can start over; it doesn't seem to be a problem for your goals. Isn't that good in itself? That was your biggest concern after all." Ivan's adviser entered the hall, seeing that Ivan hadn't eaten and stressing over something that was entirely pointless.

Unlike Ivan, his adviser wasn't so pessimistic. In his eyes, even though his goals were ruined, the outcome wasn't unfavorable. He might have to rebuild what he had built so far, but it wasn't as if it was an impossible feat.

"You don't understand how much effort it took for me to get here… Forget it, I feel a headache coming." Ivan sighed, taking another sip of his beer. "Have the citizens finally decided to calm down and begin their evacuation?"

Ivan decided against stressing over something he had no chance of being able to change.

"The evacuation has begun, but we have made little effort in calming them down. Many have already lost their minds and started killing each other and ransacking buildings."

"As for the Hunters Association, we have long since lost contact with them, and we believe it's been compromised. However, we do have hunters out protecting and escorting citizens that haven't lost their minds. What shall we do about those who have lost their minds?"

Ivan turned around, looking at his adviser. "Kill them if necessary, but try to keep the killing to a minimum. We don't want more chaos and bloodshed than there already is."