Chapter 27: Headquarters

The fire-elven guard pushed a section of the left wall and a dark tunnel was revealed.

"This way sir." In a shaky voice, the guard gestured for Zaos to proceed into the newly opened path.

"After you," Zaos responded with his arms crossed.

The guard timidly nodded. He retrieved a torch from the wall of the narrow hallway they were in and took it into the tunnel.

Zaos followed him into the narrow tunnel, they walked in silence for a few seconds before Zaos spoke.

"What's the name of your boss?" Zaos asked in a neutral tone as he followed behind the guard.

"No one knows, the boss is a very private person." The guard responded softly.

"Then what do you know?" Zaos questioned.

"Um, everyone in the Red Lotus Brotherhood knows that the boss is extremely powerful. He once fought two other faction leaders and won!" The guard answered, his gaze burning with enthusiasm. But, when he remembered his situation, he quickly shrunk back.

[Hmm? He might be a tough opponent… ]

"What race is your leader?" Zaos asked.

"The leader is an earth elf." The guard responded as he continued down the tunnel.

[Heh. I retract my earlier statement, this battle will be easier than I thought… ]

Zaos' phantom elemental weave ignored all defenses. It could directly phase through them, so an earth elf who focused on defense was meat on the chopping board.

[Although, I'm not sure how effective my attack will be if he uses an elemental weave to defend… ]

The hierarchy among the elven ranks was almost absolute due to the interactions between their elemental Weaves.

An elves' elemental weave would automatically have half of its power reduced against a high-elf's elemental weave and against an arch-elf's elemental weave; their attacks were ineffective.

This rule was only flexible when there was conflict between elements. A fire elf's elemental weave will only be 30% less powerful against a high-elf with water affinity.

[Come to think of it, I haven't faced an element that my void element conflicts with. My elemental weaves against high elves so far had only lost some power… ]

The topic slightly perplexed Zaos. He continued contemplating it until the guard's voice brought him out of his daze.

"We have arrived," The guard said as he pointed at the opening leading to the surface.

"The headquarters is just outside," He said.

"Alright… then you are no longer useful," Zaos muttered. Before the guard could register Zaos' statement, a dagger pierced into the side of his head.

[Let's go meet the red lotus gang leader… ]

Zaos activated his invisibility elemental weave and cautiously made his way out of the tunnel.

Outside the tunnel was a large manor hidden away by trees and vegetation. The reddish, two-story manor was made exclusively out of bricks. On the overhung upper floor was a pitched roof with a symbol of a red lotus inscribed on it.

[I guess that's their hideout… ]

Zaos navigated through the trees and approached the building.

On the way, he noticed a few elves in leather armor patrolling the area vigilantly. Of course, none of these elves noticed Zaos sneak past them and arrive at the manor.

After phasing through the front door, Zaos found himself in a brightly lit, spacious room.

At the center of the room was a large wooden table that had ten-plus chairs surrounding it.

Sat on those chairs were a total of three individuals, they sat relatively close to each other as they discussed.

"Those bast*rds from the Venom Order, are becoming more unruly!" An elf with dark hair spoke as he slammed his hand onto the table.

"Heh. They must have forgotten how the boss beat their leader and the Thieves Guild's leader last time." A bulky elf with brown hair interjected.

[Dispute between the gangs?]

Zaos listened for a bit and after getting a general idea of the situation, he left to the upper floor.

[Just a minor squabble between the lackeys…]

According to those individuals, the disagreement was over some territory owned by the Red Lotus gang that the Venom Order encroached on.

[The leader should be around up here, right?] Zaos scanned the hallway. He noticed the right side of the hallway had fewer doors than the left, and the doors on the right were more luxurious.

Zaos took a guess and made his way to the right side of the hallway. He placed his ear on each of the doors and listened to the sounds coming from within.

The first three doors were silent, but from the last door, Zaos could perceive the sound of a heartbeat.

He phased the door and found himself in a luxurious bedroom. Sat on the bed was a large individual with tanned skin and brown hair. His upper body was exposed and on his back, a red lotus was boldly tattooed onto it.

[He should be the boss…] Zaos crept up behind the large elf who was casually sitting on the bed.

He utilized his elemental weave to negate his killing intent before raising his dagger to attack the individual.

Swiftly activating his phantom elemental weave, Zaos struck at his opponent's head. Yet, immediately after the blade struck his opponent, the latter struck back at Zaos' with a massive punch.

[F*ck!] Zaos was startled and he immediately guarded against the strike.

*Bam!*

Zaos slammed into the wall on the opposite side of the room.

"Wh–" Before the bulky elf could make a sound, the dagger in his head left its phantom state, lounging itself into his brain and killing him instantly.

[How the hell did he sense me?] Zaos picked himself up. The bones in his arms and chest hand fractured but he was alive. His vampiric healing was already slowly fixing his injuries.

[I hid my killing intent but I was still found out by him. If he had been a few seconds faster in his response, I would probably be dead now.]

Zaos shivered a little when he gazed at his defeated foe's body.

[If I hadn't caught him by surprise, there is no way I would have killed him.]

Zaos shook his head, he searched around the room and after confirming the identity of the one he killed, Zaos couldn't help but smile.

[Now the red lotus gang belongs to me!]