Chapter 40: Final Preparations

The living room fell silent after Zoas' declaration. The elves present took a minute to register Zaos' words before mutters began to ring out in the living room.

An elf who was still unconvinced with Zaos' leadership skills stepped out and confronted him. 

"Um, Boss, why should we attack the Thieves Guild? They are an organization as large as ours after all…" The large earth elf questioned Zaos. He wasn't present when the former leader was assassinated as he was sent on a mission during the time. When he laid eyes on Zaos' small figure, his doubts about Zaos increased.

Zoas gazed at the extremely muscular earth elf in silence. His thoughts unknown.

"What's your name?" Zaos asked after a few minutes of silence.

"I'm Darfin, leader," Darfin responded causally. During the former leader's rule, Darfin was favored by the leader and the vice-leader for his immense strength. He was one of the strongest elf-rank individuals in the mercenary city and had a high chance of evolving to the high-elf rank.

Zaos nodded before speaking, "Darfin is there a reason why we can't attack the Thieves Guild?" Zaos questioned instead of answering.

Darfin was stunned for a second before he managed to respond.

"No… but–" Darfin was cut off mid-sentence.

"Alright then. If there is no reason we can't attack them, you shouldn't have a problem with us attacking them right? Or, are you scared?" Zaos questioned with a light smirk on his face.

Veins popped on Darfin's forehead and his eyes narrowed dangerously.

"Of course not! Why will I, Darfin, be frightened by the trash from the Thieves Guild?!" Darfin bellowed furiously. He was a proud individual, his strength made him place himself above the masses so when his ego was hurt, he immediately flared up.

"Good. Since you have no more objections, step back in line." Zaos' light smile faded as he released his killing intent on the crowd of elves present.

Many of them immediately dropped to the ground gasping for breath, and only a select few like Darfin managed to barely hold their ground in the face of the massive wave of killing intent.

Darfin's expression was one of terror as he knelt on one knee. It took him a while to compose himself before barely managing to respond to Zaos.

"Yes… leader," He said slowly as he retreated.

"Good," Zaos retrieved his killing intent, freeing the group of elves present from their torment.

"As I was saying, we will be attacking the Thieves Guild tomorrow. Until then, none of you are allowed to leave the premises. This includes those who live outside the areas in our control…

"Outsiders are also not allowed entry into the areas under our control for now. So the market will shut down until after the battle of tomorrow." Zaos instructed.

This time the elves didn't murmur or complain, they simply nodded stiffly.

[This should stop any information about our plans from leaking to the enemy for a bit,] Zaos knew the Red Lotus gang had some moles present. If not, news about the death of the former leader would not be so easily obtained by the other gangs.

Taking care of all the spies would probably be impossible, but Zaos had no intention of getting rid of them for now.

"You're all dismissed," He instructed before leaving the living room.

The elves slowly dispersed too, they had to make every second of the day count in preparation for the battle tomorrow.

Zaos made his way to his bedroom, he wanted to train a bit before going to bed. As he walked through the hallway leading to the bedroom, he couldn't help but ponder.

[I'll have to use the battle between the members of the gang as a distraction to get an upper hand against the leader of the Thieves Guild…

[He is weaker than Marvid, probably around the same strength as the vice leader, yet, I can't be careless. He is a high-elf after all, and as an assassin, my arsenal isn't suited for open confrontations.] Zaos arrived at the bedroom and entered inside.

[His race will also be an important factor, it will determine how hard the fight might be…] He went to the bedside table in the room and retrieved some documents from it.

After reading through the documents, Zaos placed them down and sat on the bed.

[He is a wind elf… I haven't fought a wind elf before,] Zaos drummed his fingers on the bed.

[I guess I will have to find out how powerful he is tomorrow… ] Zaos stood up, changed into some loose clothes, and stored his weapons.

He then summoned two daggers made of void mana and began his usual training session.

He twisted and turned his body in awkward manners while swinging the void daggers in his hands. His movements were stiff, but it held a sense of elegance that entrapped whoever chose to observe.

He continued his training for a few hours before stopping. He took off his sweat-drenched clothes and headed to the bathroom to take a quick bath.

Since he hadn't informed the maids of his desire to have a bath, there was no hot water prepared for his use.

Zaos took a quick cold bath before returning to his bedroom. He changed into a simple cotton robe before collapsing on his bed.

***

Zaos awoke the next morning feeling rejuvenated.

[It's finally today,] He got out of bed, took a hot bath, and returned to his bedroom.

He put on his leather assassin outfit, retrieved his weapons, and placed them in different parts of his outfit before heading downstairs.

Immediately he got downstairs, Zaos was greeted by the sight of the green-haired maid standing beside the stairs.

"Good morning, my lord. Would you like me to get you something to eat?" She said with a slight smile on her enchanting face.

Zaos nodded and responded, "While you are at it, inform the boys to be prepared. We will be heading out immediately after," he instructed as he made his way to the dining room.

"Yes, my lord," The wind elf maid bowed before taking her leave.

As Zaos sat in the dining room, he pondered on the events of the day.

[I should have Darfin lead the charge against the enemy… he is pretty strong, he should be able to gather enough attention and buy me some time to strike at the Thieves Guild's leader… ] Zaos drummed his fingers on the wooden dining table.

[I will also have to minimize the damage done to the Thieves Guild, after all, I plan to annex them. I can't destroy them completely…] Zaos gave a small smile.

A few minutes later, the wind elf maid arrived with his breakfast. Zaos wasted no time and quickly devoured the meal. When he was done, he assembled the members of the Red Lotus gang in the living room.

"Come boys, let us show the other underground organizations the strength of the Red Lotus gang!"