Princess Aila was relieved to see that her brothers and sisters were safe and sound. However, she was also sad about the series of events that had transpired in their own kingdom. Prince Alaric had gone to the conference room where William, Matthew, Leah, Ian, Jekyll, and Celine were waiting for him.
They wanted him to give them a detailed account on how powerful the Elven forces were.
Prince Alaric was shocked when he saw that Jekyll and Celine were unaffected by the Continental Spell. He wanted to ask them how they were able to resist the curse, but he knew that now was not the time for that.
In order to gain their trust, he must first show that he was worthy of it. Prince Alaric had been tutored at an early age on how to govern the Zelan Dynasty. He was taught the art of negotiation and intimidation.
Naturally, he didn't plan to use the second option because he was not on his home turf. He was a guest, and a guest should act according to his role, and not antagonize the host. Prince Alaric didn't want his brothers and sisters to suffer, so he was willing to take a step back and lower his standing in order to form a partnership with William and the two adults who were with him.
Vladimir didn't participate in the meeting because he had no interest in it. His only mission was to protect Lont and that was it. Whatever happened outside of its borders, was none of his business.
Even if the entire Hellan Kingdom were to turn to ashes, Vladimir would not even bat an eye. For him, the fall of Kingdoms, Empires, and Dynasties was part of a natural cycle. He couldn't be bothered to care about the lives of the short-lived Humans who held no importance in his heart.
"I didn't get to see them personally," Prince Alric started, "but according to the Minotaurs, that rushed to the palace, the Elves were all above the Platinum Rank. No one in the Zelan Dynasty is their match because the survivors are only teenagers and children.
"Although we have promising geniuses in our ranks, most of them are only at the initial stages of the Gold Rank. The Elven Prodigies outclass us in both rank and battle proficiency."
Prince Alaric sighed as he rubbed his forehead with his hand.
"I am embarrassed to say that I wasn't able to bring them with me in our escape. The Elven invasion was too sudden and most of them had flying mounts that flew directly towards the capital. If not for Sovereign Minos' timely help, we would have been captured long ago."
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(A/N: This is a little recap of the Power Rankings in this novel. The Metal Ranks are for the Humans, and the Class Ranks are for the Beasts.)
Copper = Beginners / Amateurs
Bronze = Class E
Silver = Class D
Gold = Class C
Platinum = Class B
Mithril = Class A
Adamantium = Centennial Beast
Black = Millennial Beast
Saint = Myriad Beast
As for Magic Ranks, they are ranked by circles.
First Circle, Second Circle, Third Circle up to the Tenth Circle. I added an Auxiliary Chapter for the rankings, so check it out in order to have a recap about the ranking systems of this novel.
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William raised an eyebrow as he glanced at his Master, Celine. His beautiful Master had told him long ago that the Elven Prodigies were stronger than Humans. He just didn't know how strong they were because he hadn't faced any of them in battle.
William's current power level was at the middle stages of the Platinum Rank. However, if he unleashed all of his abilities, his battle prowess could easily reach the late stages of the Mithril Rank.
Celine returned her Disciple's gaze coolly because she understood William's line of thought.
"Don't worry, with your current level of strength, even normal Elven Geniuses aren't your match, Celine stated. "The ones you should worry about are the Captains and Commanders of this Elven Expedition. If I'm not mistaken, they have already reached the Adamantium Rank."
Matthew's, Leah's, Ian's, and Prince Alaric's expressions turned grim when they heard Celine's declaration.
Currently, Matthew's and Leah's battle prowess were at the initial stages of the Platinum Rank. The same could be said for Prince Alaric who was proficient in both Martial Arts and Magic Combat.
"What are your plans now, Prince Alaric?" William inquired.
The Crown Prince of the Zelan Dynasty raised his head to look at Wiliam. "There's no way I can reclaim my Dynasty with the current forces in my possession. The thirty Lamassus that accompanied us in our escape are the current fighting force we, of the Royal Family, have.
"If possible, I'd like to stay here in Lont while I think about our next course of action. I apologize because I haven't thought about anything else aside from reaching this place."
Prince Alaric looked at William with a serious gaze. "Will you allow us to stay?"
All the people in the room glanced at William. Although Matthew, and Leah were older than him, William was the Knight Commander of a Knight Order. His rank was higher than them because, during war time, Knight Commanders had the rank of a General.
"Of course you can stay," William replied with a smile. "However, it will not be for free."
William knew that letting Prince Alaric stay was the right thing to do. However, he also understood that if he allowed him to stay for free, the Crown Prince would think that he had underlying motives for his hospitality.
It was better to establish some conditions to their cooperation so that both sides would be able to rest easy.
"I want Ten of the Lamassus under your command to work for me," William stated. "Right now, I am lacking in manpower. Just like what happened to your Dynasty, the Hellan Kingdom is under siege by an Organization called Deus. I need all the fighting forces that I can get."
Prince Alaric nodded his head. He was already expecting this outcome, so he had prepared himself to compromise and transfer up to twenty Lamassus to help William's cause. Fortunately, William only asked for ten, which made the Prince breathe a little easier.
"William, later, spare me some time," Jekyll said with a mischievous smile. "I want to show you something."
William eyed the Dentist of Lont suspiciously because Jekyll had always given him the creeps.
The red-headed boy felt goosebumps when he saw the mischievous smile plastered on the Dentist's face. He felt as if he was going to have a transaction with a scammer, and he had no choice but to allow himself to be scammed without any form of resistance.
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"How did your meeting with Sir William go?" Princess Aila asked as soon as her Big Brother, Prince Alaric, appeared in the house that William had designated to be the temporary residence of the Royal Family from the Zelan Dynasty during their stay in Lont.
It was a house that was built for VIP guests who decided to visit Lont. This house had two stories and was only a hundred meters away from the Ainsworth Residence.
"It went well," Alaric replied as he sat on the comfortable couch in their living room. "They are good people."
Princess Aila nodded in agreement. Ever since she had arrived in Lont, the Ainsworth family had treated her kindly. Her Master, the Life Archon, Owen, had taught her a lot of things. Even his young wife had treated Princess Aila like a family member and would often invite her to have lunch and dinner with them.
"Big Brother, do you think we will be able to reclaim our Dynasty?" Princess Aila asked with a sad expression on her face.
Prince Alaric looked up at the ceiling and didn't give an answer. He and Princess Aila both knew that recovering their Dynasty from the hands of the Elves was merely a pipe dream. Right now, the only thing that they could do was hope that a miracle would happen.
Prince Alaric knew that the only way to have a chance of winning was to wait for the Minotaur Race to regain their strength. Then and only then would they have a chance to challenge the Elves.
The only question was…
When would King Minos and his subjects recover their strength?
This was a question that Prince Alaric couldn't answer. Perhaps, even King Minos himself didn't know the answer to this question.
However, one thing was clear. These were dark and difficult times.
A time where hope was fleeting, and salvation was nowhere to be found.