A four meter tall Lamassu soared through the sky, while pulling a flying carriage. Thirty more Lamassus flanked the flying carriage, serving as their escorts.
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< Lamassu >
-- Protector of the Divine
-- Human-Headed Winged Bull
-- Threat Level: A (Low)
-- Can be added to the herd
-- Success Rate: 5%
-- Lamassus are often called the Protectors of the Divine because they were fierce and loyal guardians of the Bull God that had walked the land thousands of years ago.
-- They have the body of a bull, the facial features of a man, and the wings of an eagle.
-- In the Zelan Dynasty, most houses--that have a certain kind of influence and power--have a pair of carved Lamassus beside the entrance of their gate. They believed that as long as the Lamassus stood guard to protect their house, their safety was assured.
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Inside the flying carriage, the Crown Prince of the Zelan Dynasty, Alaric Sol Zelan, watched over his brothers and sisters, who were currently asleep. When the Elves invaded the outskirts of their Dynasty, the minotaur race immediately reported it to their Sovereign.
Minos, the Myriad Great Bull of the Zelan Dynasty, knew that it would be impossible to stop the advance of the Elves at this point in time. Just like the Ant Colony of the Anaesha Dynasty, the Bovine Beast Protectors of the Zelan Dynasty were also weakened by the Continental Spell.
In order to preserve the lineage of the Royal Family, he ordered a platoon of Lamassus to immediately gather the surviving members of the Royal Family and take them to a place where the Elves couldn't reach them.
He then ordered all of the remaining Bovine races to gather at the Palace of Knossos where he resided. It was located in a Labyrinth that was ten miles away from the Capital of the Zelan Dynasty. This Labrinth was protected by powerful runic formations that even the Elves wouldn't be able to break through in such a short period of time.
This was Minos' last resort to protect the Royal Family and his own subjects from getting captured and enslaved by the Elven Race.
Minos left Prince Alaric a special artifact that would allow the Prince to summon Minos' two sons, Icarus and Daedalus. Both of them were Millennial Beasts, but their powers were currently halved due to the effect of the Continental Spell.
Even so, the Great Guardian of the Zelan Dynasty told Prince Alaric that he could summon them during critical moments to aid him when he and the lives of his brothers and sisters were in danger.
After escaping the capital, Prince Alaric ordered the Lamassus to head West. His goal was to reach Lont where his distant cousins resided. Right now, there were very few places in the continent where they could run and hide.
The reason he could pinpoint the location of Lont was due to the bracelet that he had given his Half-Sister, Princess Aila, before parting ways in the Kyrintor Mountains. Prince Alaric was wearing the same bracelet on his wrist, and it allowed him to pinpoint the location of his sister by using the ability that was imbued in their bracelets.
Finally, after more than a week of traveling, the town of Lont was seen in the distance. At the same time, one of the Lamassu flying beside the carriage roared. It had detected another flying carriage being pulled by a Gryphon and escorted by a Wyvern.
Since their numbers were greater, the Lamassu guarding the carriage wasn't the least bit worried of the two magical beasts that were also headed in the direction that they were going.
Alaric had already told them that they were forbidden from fighting against anyone because he was currently in a different kingdom.
"Who goes there?" the lead Lamassu asked. "State your name and affiliation!"
Since the Lamassu had the head of a man, it was capable of speaking the Human language.
William who just returned from the North frowned when he saw the mighty force that was currently hovering a hundred meters away from them.
Lionheart and the Wyvern screeched in defiance, but the Lamassu didn't pay them any attention. They were very intelligent creatures and knew that the two magical beasts weren't the ones that they needed to talk to.
"My name is William Von Ainsworth," William replied with pride. "All of you are currently within the airspace of our territory. State your name and the reason why you are headed to my hometown."
Although they were currently outnumbered, William recognized the flying beasts that were all looking at his carriage with serious expressions. This was also why he ordered Dave to intercept the flying platoon that was headed towards Lont.
He wanted to know if his hunch was correct.
"Well met, Cousin," Prince Alaric replied. The Lamassu pulling his flying carriage moved forward. "Is my sister, Princess Aila, doing well?"
William nodded and even smiled when he saw the devilish looking Prince of the Zelan Dynasty. Seeing his mighty entourage, he had a feeling that he already knew the reason for their arrival.
"Did you perhaps come here to visit her?" William inquired.
Prince Alaric shook his head firmly. "Actually, we came here to ask you and your family to shelter us for the time being."
"Um? Shelter? What do you mean?"
"It's a long story. Can we resume our talk once we have arrived at your residence? We've been traveling for many days and we are very exhausted."
Naturally, William knew that the Elves had invaded the Zelan Dynasty. However, he pretended to be unaware of this fact. First off, he hadn't known Crown Prince Alaric long enough to trust him completely.
Secondly, he wanted to know the Crown Prince's next course of action now that he had left his Dynasty behind. William had experienced what desperation could do to people. The red-headed boy wanted to know if Prince Alaric was one of those people who had succumbed to that kind of pressure.
William glanced at the Prince who had bags under his eyes and nodded. "Let's go to Lont. I'll lead the way."
Prince Alaric sighed in relief. "Thank you. I will return this favor in the future."
"I'll take your word for it." William grinned as he made a gesture for Dave to depart.
Lionheart screeched and flew in the direction of Lont. Conrad didn't lag far behind and flew alongside the flying carriage.
The Wyverns and the Ourobro were alerted when they sensed the arrival of beasts that they hadn't seen before. If not for the fact that the one leading them towards the town was William, they would have immediately attacked them.
Jekyll, who also sensed the arrival of a sizable force, was waiting on top of the town's wall as he gazed at them from afar.
He was quite familiar with the Bovine Race because he had stored them inside his stomach before he left the Fortress that was facing off against the Zelan Dynasty. He didn't eat them because James had told him in passing that William had an uncanny ability to tame Beasts that belonged to the Herd.
Although Jekyll was unsure if Minotaurs, and the other Bovine Beasts could be considered part of the Herd, he still took them in to allow William to tame them at a later date. It was supposed to be a surprise that he would give him after they finished investigating the Undying Lands, but something unexpected had happened, which delayed Jekyll's surprise for the red-headed boy.
"Well, I guess this is fine as well," Jekyll muttered as he looked at the two flying carriages that were slowly descending from the sky. "Perhaps our visitors will be able to give us news of the things that are happening outside the borders of the Hellan Kingdom."