The Innkeeper

Now strictly speaking, Lex did not have anything against smoking up. After all, one really cannot live in New York without having at least half your friends and acquaintances partake in some kind of recreational substance - whether that be alcohol or something else. But the man had literally ordered a massacre, which had caused chaos across the entire city, and was actively resulting in severe harm to the city and its people, while he sat here and smoked up.

That was just wrong. But then again, what did he expect?

It had been a while, but Lex put on his Notorious Anonymity mask - the one which contained a bit of divinity and grew as it absorbed more of it. In the illusion above the city, everyone could see that the person had put on a mask, though they couldn't see him to begin with since they were seeing the scene through his eyes.

"Are you the lord of this city?" Lex asked. Even though he did not try to change it, his voice through the mask came out much deeper and more sinister than it actually was.

The city lord, who actually looked quite young, was startled by the voice, but when he looked up at the man in the sinister mask, he was not actually scared. Instead, he revealed a strange, twisted smile.

"Oh man, I can't believe it's already kicking in. I haven't even warmed up yet. Ah, I shouldn't have sent Sheela away, she would have enjoyed this."

The illusion up above the city was not limited to just vision, but it was an auditory illusion as well. That meant their voices were reverberating through the city, bringing a stop to the chaos for a brief moment. Sheela, who was the city lords personal bodyguard, city guard head and mistress, suddenly felt great alarm, and started to make her way back towards the bunker. But even if she reached it, it would not have mattered for Lex kept it shut with his spirit sense.

"Do you know the harm you're causing to the city?" Lex asked as he stepped closer to the man. Honestly, he looked like a teenager. His skin looked smooth and unblemished, as if he had never seen a moment of difficulty his whole life. Well, his cultivation was also not completely pathetic at the initial Foundation realm, which must help as well.

The city lord suddenly grimaced at the question.

"The city! This damned city! I did everything for them, and all they want is more. Bunch of ungrateful rats. I would sell them all as slaves if my stupid projection didn't get stuck!"

"What exactly have you done for them?" Lex asked, as he softly moved away the table that separated them.

"I sacrificed everything for them! I stuck around in this stupid, worthless city whereas I had an offer to go live in an elite only city! But do they feel grateful? No, they only want more things! Fewer taxes, more security, bla bla bla. Bunch of no good rats. If they would only acknowledge me, my projection rating would go up, but they just-"

Lex didn't need to hear more. Though he was hardly doing something to convince himself. But he had just recently made a rule to confirm the situation before doing anything. It wouldn't exactly be appropriate to jump the gun the first chance he got.

Back when he first got the ability to touch souls, with Impervious Hands, he imagined himself bitch slapping the soul right out of someone's body. But, to an extent, he was only kidding. He never thought he'd actually do it. But when someone just up and presented themselves on a silver platter…

"You know what, I think your connection to this city is really special. You are just not giving them enough of a chance. Why don't I help give them a chance to personally let you know just how much they appreciate you."

At that point, the illusion disappeared, and Lex turned his body into the soul state, and slapped the city lord.

It was a nice, clean slap, with good form and swift execution. But as his hand was in its soul state, it went through his body. It did not, however, go through his soul. That little thing was pulled right out of his body, along with Lex's hand, while the body fell limp.

Without the influence of drugs, which were left behind in the body, the soul immediately sobered up, and realized that something was gravely amiss. But it did not have the means to communicate.

At the Foundation realm, a soul was not even strong enough to exist without the body much less do anything else. The only reason the soul hadn't exploded was because Lex was keeping the soul covered in his soul sense, and providing it with support.

"Do you think it counts as killing a person if the soul and body are both technically alive?" Lex asked the soul.

The devilish mask, and his deeply disturbing voice were a lot more haunting to the city lord now. It was a good thing he no longer had a body, or else he would have suffered a heart attack from fear.

Outside the city, the chaos from the city guards momentarily subsided as no one was sure about the city lord's situation. If he was dead, there was no reason to be loyal to him and fight on his behalf.

All the powerful forces in the city gathered at his mansion, since there was no force willing to still fight for him, and soon they reached his bunker. When they opened it, they found it completely empty.

The city lord had completely disappeared.

No one had an answer for what happened, and a new kind of chaos spread in the city while the forces joined together to calm things down, and then decide on new leadership.

There was no clear answer. Everyone wanted to be the city lord.

Then, a few hours later, a statue suddenly appeared in the city square. It was titled 'The reward of being a selfish leader'. The statue looked just like the former city lord.

When some people came close to the bronze statue, they realized they could hear voices. Fear and panic spread through the square as they all retreated. Eventually, someone brave enough stepped forward to investigate, and listened to the wailing noises.

It turns out a devil, no, a monster had appeared suddenly and imprisoned the city lord's soul in the statue, so he could hear first hand from his citizens what a good city lord he was.

As the news spread, the fight for new leadership suddenly stopped. Now, everyone was afraid to take power without the ability to handle the responsibility. But by then, Lex had already left.