Chapter 213: War Is Imminent, the Battle Is About to Begin

Chapter 213: Chapter 213: War Is Imminent, the Battle Is About to Begin

Dale, a male of the Fire Phoenix Clan, did not press the issue further after hearing his Family Master’s decision. However, he was now burdened with the worry of transporting their prey the following day.

Sure enough. To avoid Ophelia and Zerev hijacking the prey, he purposely woke up early, heading to the ranch to collect the animals before dawn. But to his surprise, just as he led the thirty head of prey out of the ranch gates, he was met with a dense, dark crowd of people standing not far away.

Dale’s face darkened. He hadn’t expected Zerev to go this far. "Zerev, don’t push it too far."

Although Dale had brought quite a few clansmen today, Zerev had brought even more—nearly a hundred people. If he clashed head-on with them, he would undoubtedly suffer heavy losses.

Before he could figure out what to do, Zerev spoke up. "Dale, if you drop the prey and leave with your people right now, I won’t touch the animals in the ranch. But if you insist on fighting me, I can’t guarantee what will happen."

Zerev did want to compete with the Fire Phoenix Clan, but he also wanted to minimize casualties, so he left some leeway. This mercy, however, only extended to the ordinary clansmen. Since the Fire Phoenix Family Master dared to kidnap his son, Zerev was determined to make him pay the price.

"Fine, I’ll take my people and leave right now." Dale wasn’t stupid. Knowing he couldn’t win, he naturally wouldn’t fight a losing battle.

"You’d better hurry up and convince the Fire Phoenix Family Master to come out and negotiate. Otherwise, I can’t guarantee there will be any prey left in this ranch if you take too long," Zerev warned.

Dale’s expression was grim. "Understood."

Back at the estate, the Fire Phoenix Family Master’s face turned beet red with anger upon hearing Dale’s report.

"Does that damn Zerev really think I’m helpless against him?" he roared. "Leave me."

The Fire Phoenix Family Master sat alone in his room for a while longer before heading to the estate’s small plaza. There, a middle-aged male was leading two others in testing the power of their new weapons. An arrow, tipped with an iron head, thumped solidly into a wooden board.

"It’s a success!"

Seeing the arrow embedded deep in the wood, a brilliant smile broke out on the Fire Phoenix Family Master’s face.

"Family Master." The middle-aged male bowed respectfully.

Though the man, named Lafei, didn’t show it on his face, he was equally thrilled on the inside. He had finally managed to craft a weapon that would become world-renowned. Never again would he be looked down upon by the other males.

"Lafei, I need you to produce two hundred bows and several hundred arrows in three days. Can you do it?"

"As long as I have enough manpower, Family Master, it can be done." Lafei knew this was his big chance, and he was determined to seize it.

"Good. Once this is done, you will become the fourth elder of the Fire Phoenix Clan."

He was originally just an ordinary male with some woodworking skills. Now, simply because he had crafted these bows and arrows, he was being promoted to an elder. How could he not be ecstatic?

"Thank you, Family Master!"

"I will assign fifty clansmen to help you craft the weapons."

"Yes, Family Master. I promise to complete the task," Lafei said, patting his chest confidently.

That very afternoon, fifty males reported to Lafei. He carefully explained to them how to manufacture the bows and the fletched arrows.

The males worked diligently at first, but as the hours wore on, they grew fatigued. Their workmanship became lazy and shoddy. Lafei saw this and grew deeply anxious. His chances of becoming an elder hinged entirely on this endeavor; he refused to let their negligence ruin his opportunity.

"How are you doing this? This bowstring isn’t tied tightly at all. Do it again!

"The body of your bow is crooked, which means the arrows it shoots will be crooked too. How can we use this? Remake it!

"All of you, redo them!"

To fulfill the Fire Phoenix Family Master’s commission, Lafei strived for absolute perfection. But these males hadn’t wanted to do this manual labor in the first place, and hearing Lafei’s constant reprimands caused them to lose their tempers.

"These are just things made of wood. Are they really that powerful? I don’t buy it."

"Exactly. The Family Master is really getting senile."

"This is a task ordered by the Family Master. If you don’t do it properly, aren’t you afraid I’ll report you to him?" Knowing he couldn’t suppress these males on his own, Lafei invoked the Fire Phoenix Family Master’s name.

The males still held some reverence for the Fire Phoenix Family Master. Although they grumbled and cursed reluctantly, they didn’t stop working.

Lafei also knew he couldn’t push them too hard, lest it backfire. As a result, he lowered his inspection standards time and time again. Finally, over the course of three days, they managed to complete two hundred bows and a thousand arrows.

Looking at the small mountain of new weapons stacked before him, the Fire Phoenix Family Master was overjoyed. He let out a heavy sigh of relief. "Let’s see what right Zerev has to act so arrogant in front of me now. Dale, assemble all the clansmen in the tribe. Tomorrow, you will ride out of the city with me."

"Family Master, isn’t taking everyone a bit too much?" Dale asked, his tone laced with concern.

The Fire Phoenix Clan had a total population of just over three hundred people. Excluding the young females, there were only about two hundred males. Ophelia had brought three hundred people this time. If they took all two hundred males out, what would happen to the young females of the Fire Phoenix Clan if something went wrong?

"What are you afraid of? We have these weapons in our hands now. Besides, Ophelia brought quite a few people with her this time. How can we afford not to bring more men?"

In reality, if it came down to a battle between the two clans, he wouldn’t need to bring that many clansmen at all. His real reason for bringing the entire clan was to crush Ophelia and Zerev through sheer intimidation.

Dale wanted to continue persuading him, but the Fire Phoenix Family Master refused to listen. He was entirely focused on how he would crush Ophelia and Zerev the next day and make a name for himself among every Holy Capital Family. If he could, he even wanted to invite the other three major noble families of the Holy Capital to come and watch the battle.

Meanwhile, at Zerev’s estate, Jiuying walked into the room.

"Young Master, there’s movement from the Fire Phoenix Clan. Word is they are taking their entire clan out of the city tomorrow."

"They’re finally showing their faces." Zerev tapped his fingers on the desk and let out a long breath. "Jiuying, go invite the Panda Family Head and the Giant Ape Family Master to gather at the city gates tomorrow. Tell them I want to treat them to a good show."

"Yes, sir."

After Jiuying left, Zerev also made his way outside the city.

"Ophelia, the Fire Phoenix Family Master will launch an attack tomorrow. You should make preparations early," Zerev warned.

"Is he really planning to go all out?" Klein found it unbelievable. Given such a severe disadvantage, if it were him, he wouldn’t choose to fight a losing battle. He would wait until he had made ample preparations before launching a counterattack.

"Yes. Tomorrow, I will bring the other two Family Heads to watch the battle from the gates of the Holy Capital."

Laxus scratched his head. "Watch the battle? You Holy City people really love a good spectacle."

Hearing Laxus’s silly remark, Ophelia couldn’t help but chuckle. "Zerev is doing this as a display of power, serving as a warning to let the rest of the Holy Clan know just how formidable our Fu Clan is. This way, even if they have intentions of allying with the Fire Phoenix Family Master, they won’t dare to help him after seeing the power of our new weapons."

"Oh, so that’s how it is," Laxus said, sudden realization dawning on him.

"Ophelia, you all must be careful tomorrow. If anything goes wrong, don’t worry about anything else—just retreat into your space immediately."

Seeing the deep worry etched across Zerev’s face, Ophelia spoke up to reassure him. "Don’t worry. I know what I’m doing."