In the middle of the night.
The First Elder was full of worries.
It's already been two days since the infiltration and rescue operation started, yet there's still no news at all.
At this point, Du Mingfeng sent a request for a secret meeting.
Could it be that there's news from the Heroes? The First Elder did not hesitate, changed clothes, put on the hood, and went over to the meeting place.
"Well? Has her ladyship been rescued?"
Du Mingfeng sneered coldly on the inside.
There's no way that she could possibly be rescued.
In fact, the useless young city lord may very well already be dead.
"The Demon King's territory is well guarded, so it won't be easy for the Heroes to infiltrate. Right now, there's still no news at all from Darkness Valley, so please be patient!"
"What? There's still no news? Then why did you ask to meet me in secret?"
"I have something that I need to report!"
The First Elder grumbled unhappily, "Can't this wait until after her ladyship returns? Right now, the highest priority of Giantree City is rescuing her ladyship!"
At this current point, he didn't care about anything beyond the rescue of the city lord.
"No, this matter that just happened is too important!"
Du Mingfeng appealed with all the sincerity and impatience he could, "It pertains to the fate of all elves in Chaos Forest!"
The First Elder paused for a moment, "What is it? Tell me!"
"This matter must be kept secret. No one else must know!" Du Mingfeng moved close while lowering his voice, "The matter is that, First Elder, you... Are dead!"
When he heard those last few words, the First Elder reacted with alarm.
He got a bad premonition.
However, before he could do anything in response, suddenly, a pitch black short sword stabbed out, instantly piercing his heart.
"You..."
The First Elder never expected that a former Guardian Elf would sneak attack him!
The First Elder can't be blamed for reacting too slowly though. Although he does indeed have the power of a level 3, he is a mage in the end. If he was sneak attacked by a level 3 pseudo Lord warrior from such a close range, then his chances of defending or dodging in time were close to zero.
Besides which, elves are a naturally kindly race.
Although they might be very cautious when it comes to other races, it's extremely rare for any fighting or killing among their own race, so most of the time, they overly trust those of their own race.
The First Elder was down.
Although his heart was pierced, with his great power supporting him, he was still able to avoid dying instantly.
Since it was a secret meeting, he didn't bring any of his subordinates or guards.
At this moment, there's no one around who could help him.
Du Mingfeng smiled, "Don't waste your energy. Since I dared to kill you, of course I made preparations. Haven't you noticed by now that you can't use any magic anymore?"
The First Elder's skin was turning black while bleeding from his mouth and nose. It's the effect of a certain powerful curse and poison, quickly eating through his HP.
He shouted out in shock, "You've betrayed Giantree City!"
"Betrayed? No! Giantree City will decline sooner or later under your useless bunch. Only I have the ability to lead Giantree City and the elven race to glory."
"I didn't betray Giantree City. No, I'm purging you calcified fossils for the sake of Giantree City. This is saving Giantree City!"
"First Elder, can you comprehend my burdens?"
"As for your death? That's a necessary sacrifice!"
"All truly great enterprises require sacrifices!"
"You should be honored!"
The First Elder roared out angrily, "Dream on! You'll never be able to lead Giantree City, nor will you ever lead the elven race. Only the Elf King has that capability!"
"Elf King?"
"That trash?"
"What's a weak and useless thing like her going to do?!"
Du Mingfeng stomped down on the First Elder with a foot, "You still don't understand even now. Ever since the descent of Heroes and Demon Kings, the previous age has already passed, never to return. We are the lords of this new age, the creators of the new order!"
"What is an Elf King supposed to be worth? You blind old bastard, go ahead and rot away along with your rotting beliefs!"
After saying that, Du Mingfeng swung his sword again and beheaded the First Elder.
Then he wiped away the blood on the blade, returned the short sword to the sheath on his waist, and spoke, "Come out!"
Zheng Xiao came out.
He was overjoyed, "Giantree's most respected First Elder is dead and that useless city lord is definitely dead too. There's no one in Giantree City capable of preventing you from becoming the city lord anymore!'
"Have you taken care of the other matters?"
"Of course!"
Du Mingfeng looked back at the First Elder's corpse, "Hmph, I didn't actually want to kill this old bastard and that piece of trash so soon, but plans never survive in the face of change, so there's no choice but to start early."
Before this, he had spent a month preparing and setting things up.
Those preparations included building the Ironblooded Heroes Guild, recruiting Heroes from everywhere in the vicinity, winning over a portion of the elves of Giantree City as well as the bigger tribal chiefs nearby.
All those things were, in the end, for a single goal.
The seizure of Giantree City.
Du Mingfeng wanted to take Giantree City, so the First Elder and the young city lord are the biggest unavoidable obstacles to that.
In order for him to govern this place smoothly, those two will have to die sooner or later. No exceptions.
With Du Mingfeng's abilities, he could have set up a firm foundation little by little and get everything to flow logically and naturally to this point, leaving no blame that could possibly be tracked to himself.
Yet, who could have expected that a great Demon King would come out of Darkness Valley.
The Demon King heavily damaged his Ironblooded Heroes Guild and got him fired from his position as a Guardian Elf. All his plans were ruined then!
Du Mingfeng thus had no other choice.
He could only decisively use the most aggressive method now.
"Go spread the news!"
"Tell them that the city lord has already been killed by the Demon King!"
"And that the First Elder was also assassinated by the Demon King's minions!"
"I'll declare that I'll temporarily hold the position of the city lord. Then I'll allow the eight great tribes and Berserk Beast City's army to enter the city in order to take control over the elder council and Guardian Elves!"
"..."
Over a single night, Giantree City had entered a state of emergency!
Many of Giantree City's leadership were assassinated.
A great deal of the elves who opposed it were either purged or imprisoned.
As for the mid and lower ranking elves, most of them didn't know what was going on at all.
Du Mingfeng had already declared himself the city lord, after all, so most elves just took what he said to be the truth and united under him against a common foe for the time being.
Du Mingfeng used the excuse of getting revenge for the First Elder and the city lord and invited in the tribal warriors of the eight tribes and an elite orc army.
This chain of operations was completed within a single night.
Over a thousand elves died in the chaos and purges.
Du Mingfeng used the three factions he had and finally succeeded in taking over Giantree City. Those three factions are as follows:
The first faction is the elves loyal to him.
This includes a guardian elf and two elven elders. They were the elven internal faction that he managed to win over before and now submitted of their own accord.
The second faction is the eight great tribes.
They're the eight strongest and most populous tribes nearby. They had long since been under the control of the Ironblooded Heroes, pieces that were long since prepared, just waiting to be used.
The third faction is the Berserk Beast City army.
Due to having to accelerate his plans for taking over the City, Du Mingfeng's personal forces right now are still not enough to fully control the entire city. Thus, he had to bring in outside forces.
Using the excuse of recruiting Heroes to rescue the city lord for the First Elder, Du Mingfeng took advantage of the opportunity to make contact with Berserk Beast City, negotiated the terms, and brought in this army.
He knew full well that this is a double edged sword.
Berserk Beast City is ambitious and grasping, so this is an extremely risky endeavor.
That said, Du Mingfeng had no other choice. He has to firmly control Giantree City and purge or suppress all opposition within the city. Only this way will he be able to safely sit upon the throne of the city lord.
When dawn broke the next day, Giantree City had passed through the tumult and has now appeared to have returned to peace.
Only, there seemed to be a hint of blood still lingering in the air.
Du Mingfeng had also successfully realized his ambition of sitting upon the city lord's throne. His current status is the temporary city lord chosen in an emergency selection.
"Congratulations, Guildmaster, for officially taking over Giantree City!"
Zheng Xiao and the Ironblooded Heroes were all very excited.
They had taken defeats over and over these past few days, leading to the near collapse of the Ironblooded Heroes Guild. But now, they've witnessed their guildmaster's capabilities again, and their morale finally recovered.
With Giantree City in their hands and the support of Berserk Beast City, what is there to worry about Darkness Valley?
Du Mingfeng asked, "Is there still no news from Wang Gang's group?"
Zheng Xiao shook his head, "Not yet. That said, for heroes like them, it's pretty normal to continuously wait in ambush for three to five days just to find a good opportunity."
"There's no need to worry, Guildmaster. Given their abilities, killing a hostage is a piece of cake. That elf is definitely dead for certain!"
Du Mingfeng nodded.
So long as Nancilia is assassinated in Darkness Valley, he would not only have removed the biggest threat and obstacle to him, he could even use the hatred and call of revenge to incit the elves of Giantree City and even elves from other places to fight against Darkness Valley. It would make the fight much easier then
Excitement and killing intent flashed across Du Mingfeng's eyes.
Darkness Valley had caused him a lot of problems and losses.
He's not the kind of person who would just take that lying down!
Now that he has Giantree City, the Ironblooded Heroes Guild, the eight great tribes, and the aid from Berserk Beast City, Du Mingfeng wants to see just how much longer that dragon can stay arrogant for!
He's going to get revenge right away!
Besides that, he also needs a great victory to firmly establish his authority and position.