章 45: Chapter 45: Alliances
Zaos grabbed his weapons and left the room. He went through the door labeled "bathroom" in the hallway and freshened up.
Once finished, Zaos made his way to the grand hall on the lower floor.
The hall was packed with elves by the time Zaos arrived. Among these numerous elves, there was not a single one that wasn't injured, some even had missing limbs.
[It will take a while for them to be able to effectively fight against a large force,] Zaos gazed around the hall from the spiral stairs. Compared to the elves gathered, he was totally fine due to his incredible healing factor.
After stepping onto the marble floor of the hall, Zaos addressed the large group of elves.
"From today, the Red Lotus gang and the Thieves Guild will be no more. We will go by the name Crimson Rogue's Legion," Zaos' announcement stunned the elves. Some of them were in support of the change, while others weren't. However, none of them dared to express their opinions. They simply waited for Zaos to finish his speech.
"Darfin! Goren! Step forward!" Zaos commanded.
"Yes, boss!" "Understood, leader!"
Both elves quickly complied.
"Our new organization will be split into two divisions. Darfin will lead the Crimson division. It will consist of all the former members of the Red Lotus gang." Zaos said in a serious tone.
"Y–yes, boss!" Darfin hurriedly bowed to Zaos. The latter nodded and turned to Goren.
"Goren, you will lead the Rogue division. All the members of the Thieves Guild that surrendered will be under you." Zaos instructed.
"Understand, leader!" Goren expressed his gratitude with a bow. Both he and Darfin had wide grins on their faces because of Zaos' announcement.
Zaos nodded and thought, [This way both forces won't be forced to work together immediately and can slowly integrate. Also, this saves me the trouble of actually leading them,]
Unlike his previous world, Zaos had no aspirations to form an organization to rule over. His reason for taking over these gangs was to amass enough funds to live comfortably.
Now that his goal was completed, he planned to stabilize the situation around the gangs before beginning his training.
[Personal strength is more important in this world after all…] Zaos ended his train of thought and spoke to the elves present.
"The situation in both divisions will remain the same, the only change will be that you are no longer allowed to attack each other. I will not tolerate infighting in the legion, understood?" Zaos' voice dripped with undisputable authority.
"Understood, leader!" The elves quickly responded. Even though many of those present had deep grudges from the previous battle, none of them refuted Zaos openly. It was a mystery if they dared take action secretly though.
Right at this moment, an earth elf guard walked into the hall. He stopped at the entrance and asked in a loud voice.
"Leader, the Venom Panther is here to see you!" The guard straightened his back as he spoke in a respectful tone.
"Ok, let him in," Zaos waved the guard away.
"Understood, Leader!" The guard quickly dashed out of the hall.
"That's all for today, you're dismissed," Zaos said to the elves.
The elves bowed and took their leaves.
A few minutes later, a figure walked into the grand hall. The figure donned a light-looking metal armor with a few vials and bottles strapped to it.
"Welcome, Venom Panther," Zaos greeted the dark-haired, blue-eyed figure.
"Thank you, Abyssal Scourge," The Venom Panther responded with a light smile.
"Hmm? Who's that?" Zaos asked. His brows raised.
"That's the title you were given by the other underground forces," The Venom Panther explained as he stopped before Zaos.
[I already have a nickname?] Zaos was slightly surprised by this outcome.
[I guess defeating two leaders of the underworld in such a short period made me popular…] Zaos shook his head.
"Do you accept my proposal, Venom Panther?" Zaos shifted his attention back to the guest in front of him.
"The other underground forces are allying," Venom Panther spoke after a moment of silence.
"... Why?" Zaos narrowed his eyes.
"They think you are too dangerous. They want to ally together to attack you," Venom Panther explained slowly.
"What?!" Zaos exclaimed in shock. He hadn't anticipated this sudden turn of events.
[Are they that frightened by me?] A hint of worry surfaced in Zaos' mind. He had no problems fighting a single high elf at a time, although the battle might be dangerous, he was confident that he would triumph against them. Yet, against a group of high elves, he wasn't as confident.
"Yes, even your new title came from them…" Venom Panther continued.
Zaos snapped out of his thoughts and eyed Venom Panther suspiciously.
"Why are you telling me this?" He asked. The other party's behavior since his arrival confused Zaos.
"Of course, it's because we are allies. We have to discuss countermeasures to this problem." Venom Panther gave a small smile.
"You accept?" Zaos was stunned once more. He didn't expect the former to accept his request even under the current situation.
"Indeed, I had an agreement with you after all. And besides, the alliance against you isn't as powerful as you think. So far only a few forces have agreed to join, the others are either too scared or are currently indecisive." The Venom Panther smiled as he said.
"How do you know so much about this alliance?" Zaos asked. He crossed his arms as he stared hard at the dark elf before him.
"They tried recruiting me but I didn't give them a clear answer." The Venom Panther threw his arms in the air as he answered.
"I see," Zaos nodded. He placed a hand under his chin and began pondering.
[If what he is saying is true then I need to take care of this alliance before it becomes a problem… ] Zaos sighed.
[What a pain,] He shifted his attention to his guest.
"Do you know which forces have agreed to the alliance?" Zaos asked.
"I don't. I only know the leader and an approximate number of forces that have agreed," The Vendor Panther shook his head.
"Who is the leader then?" Zaos pressed.
"It's the leader of the Obsidian Rings." Venom Panther spoke.
"Her?" Zaos asked in surprise. The Obsidian Rings was an underground force that had no specialty unlike the former Red Lotus gang and the Thieves Guild. They were a guild of hooligans who did anything as long as they could earn from it.
They were usually a quiet organization that barely got involved in matters concerning the bigger organizations in the mercenary city.
"Yes. Allegedly, She and the Bandit King were in a relationship… " The Venom Panther explained.
"I see." Zaos nodded in understanding. Love usually prompts people to make stupid decisions… he thought.
"What do you plan to do?" Venom Panther asked.
"Of course, I need to make an example out of her. We can't have everyone coming up with such stupid ideas can we?" Zaos gave a bloodthirsty smile.
The Venom Panther shivered at Zaos' gaze before quickly composing himself.
"When do you plan to move?" He asked, slightly averting Zaos' gaze.
"Now!" Zaos walked out of the hall.
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