Zoran took a bite of the poisoned steak and ate it without a second thought. There was no hesitation as if he didn't even consider the possibility that it had been tampered with.
"Kukuku…," Eddie couldn't hold in his laugh, but it looked like it didn't matter. Zoran didn't notice Eddie's face gleaming with joy at the fact that he played right into a trap.
He observed Zoran's face and waited for his confident and nonchalant face to twist and alter into confusion as he lost his control over all his limbs. By now Zoran should feel his thoughts slowing down as if his brain turned to mush.
But he didn't see that.
Zoran kept chewing the meat as if it were a normal Sunday night dinner without a problem. He even seemed to enjoy it as a small smile broke out of his face.
Eddie wondered if the waiter forgot to put the Deathly Spider's Poison into Zoran's food. Was the poison itself defective? Those were the only possible reasons as to why Zoran was still active and conscious after consuming the poisoned meal.
"Where's the restroom? I have some things to settle," Zoran said as he wiped his mouth with tissue.
Eddie's face brightened up as he heard this. The poison finally took effect, he thought. Zoran didn't exhibit the symptoms of having his internal organs shut down from a hostile toxin running in his blood streams, but Eddie chalked it up to Zoran faking his well being. After all, that poison was often categorized as having the same destructive power as even the tyrannical Miasma. There was no way Zoran would be unaffected from it.
He must be feeling hell right now, thought Eddie. "It's right there," he said as he pointed to a door that led directly to the room where the assassins were hiding.
Zoran nodded and walked towards the room with unbridled confidence. He didn't look back and see Eddie's face breaking out into a smile waiting for Zoran's eventual downfall. After all, Bettor's two 3rd stage guards were also there to assist the shadows.
There was no escape for the death coming towards him.
Zoran disappeared into the room of death while Eddie sat on the table and enjoyed the prestigious evening this fine night. Revenge and copious amounts of money—these two will be his soon.
When Zoran entered the dark room, the illustrious lights from the main dining hall briefly illuminated the space which revealed it to be nothing but a space reserved for empty boxes and crates. He then closed the door and darkness overcame him. He could hear nothing but the sound of his breathing. It was silent—too silent.
A small chuckle came out of his mouth as he said, "is this the restroom."
"No, this is your grave." Out from the shadows, a man draped with black garments showed himself. Nothing could be identified from this man except his eyes, but Zoran knew him very well. It was the shadow assassin.
Three more shadows came from behind the crates. All of them were at the 2nd stage of their specialized cultivation that excelled in assassinations. Two more cultivators burst out of the boxes, each radiating much more strength than the assassins. These were the two 3rd stage guards that Bettor sent in to help.
This was an extremely disadvantageous position for Zoran. Not only was he outclassed in cultivation and numbers, he also faced them on the cover of darkness, the realm that the shadow assassins excelled in.
This is where he dies, thought the guards.
For them, they were merely backup support that did not need to act. They fully expected the assassins to finish the job in seconds if not milliseconds. They were here to further intimidate Zoran and teach him a lesson on the dangers of facing a powerful man with powerful resources.
The assassins knew that too. Their failure to capture him earlier today was already a shame that they could never outlive.
The leader of the shadows approached Zoran and stood toe to toe with him. His much taller stature made him look down on Zoran, but he did not have to be forced—either literally or metaphorically.
"Nowhere to hide now, you slimy trash," the leader said.
Zoran was only able to survive earlier because of his crafty schemes. Now, he was forced to survive with his meager cultivation and inferior strength. The fate of the weak will always be subject to the strong's desire.
The leader's eyes grew more angry as he thought about the humiliation they suffered because of Zoran's cowardly methods. They had a lot of trouble with the police officers after Zoran left, and they had to resort to a much more direct approach. After this mission, they would have to face harsh punishment for letting their identities be known in this town.
"You are trash," he said as he pointed a finger at Zoran's forehead.
Zoran looked at him and said. "Have your mentors taught you nothing? Assassins strike with the element of surprise as their greatest weapon."
The shadows were surprised with Zoran's words that rang true. This was one of the rules they were taught in their training. By revealing themselves to Zoran, they broke this cardinal rule.
The leader laughed at Zoran. "This is a handicap that bears no effect on the outcome of tonight. You will be begging for mercy either way."
Even the two 3rd stage guards laughed and jeered at Zoran. "Hey kid, don't complain. They are doing you a favor. They don't need to surprise you to kill you. We don't even need to take a step."
The leader then looked at Zoran with a look of doubt and amazement. "Don't tell me, do you think you'll win?" They all chuckled together. "You think you have a chance against us? Against me?"
Zoran looked him dead in the eyes, and said these words with a monotone as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"Yes. If you had ambushed me, you would have at least breathed one more minute."
The assassins and guards didn't even get angry at Zoran's words. It was so bold and audacious that they treated his words as nothing more than empty bravado. They think Zoran was puffing himself up to try and prevent his pants from getting wet.
The leader grabbed Zoran's head and ruffled his hair, making it more disheveled than before.
He treated Zoran as if he was a boy that had no semblance of an idea of how doomed his fate would be. He didn't even understand how a 1st stage Physique cultivator can NEVER survive against a 2nd Stage assassin, let alone four of them with two 3rd stage guards as back up.
"You think a Physique Cultivation would stand a chance against us?"
With this demeaning move, Zoran simply looked at the shadow assassin and said,
"This is a warning. Let go or even I can't stop myself from killing you with one blow."