Chapter 982 - Flying Armored Elephants Perform Tricks?
"Will I see Big Brother soon?" a little girl with long red-hair tied up in a ponytail asked.
As she walked in a carefree manner, several ducks walked behind her like a small train. At the very end, a white goose had a resigned look on its face as he ensured that none of the ducklings strayed from the little girl.
"Perhaps," a lady wearing the dress of a priestess replied as she walked beside her. "Your brother is busy as a bee. We'll be lucky if we manage to bump into him along the way.
Not far from them, two men who were a little over six feet tall, followed in silence.
"Grandpa is also here, right? I miss him, too," the little girl said as she continued to walk, holding her little staff in her hand. "Why did everyone leave Lont? Don't they like it there anymore?"
"Of course they liked Lont. It is the place that they have protected for many years. Also, you're supposed to call William, Uncle, and not Big Brother."
"He doesn't want to be called Uncle," the little girl smiled when she remembered how hard William tried to tell her that she should just refer to him as Big Brother, instead of Uncle.
However, the smile disappeared after some time, as she asked her Master more questions.
"Then why did they leave?" the little girl asked. "They left me alone. It felt so lonely without them."
The little girl pouted as she continued to trek the mountain alongside her Master. Back then, she was very happy because her Grandpa and Big Brother spoiled her rotten. Now that they were gone, she missed them terribly.
"Because… Fate has started to move," the priestess replied. "All the powers in the world are now congregating in the Central Continent. This is also why we are here."
"Fate?"
"You don't have to worry about this, Eve. This is an adult matter. For now, let's just focus on visiting the thirteen temples. After that, we can go and find your Big Brother and Grandpa."
"Un!" Eve nodded as she gazed at the beautiful scenery in front of her.
Ariadne had taken her to the Central Continent to finish a pilgrimage that would make Eve one of the official priestesses of the God of Shepherds within the world of Hestia.
—--
After William successfully tamed Gluteus and Maximus, their journey became a lot faster. The Half-Elf's entourage traveled in the air as they headed to the Northern end of the Demon Continent.
Fortunately, Athrun was quite knowledgeable and charted a course that would allow them to reach their destination as soon as possible. Even so, according to the handsome merchant, their journey traveling time should be around a month at best.
Athrun's guess coincided with Optimus' calculations. Both of them stated that it would indeed take them a month to reach their destination if they followed the merchant's route.
Although a month wasn't long, it wasn't too short either. The Demonic Continent was three times bigger than the Southern Continent, and traversing its lands was very perilous. William's group would have to use the teleportation gates of connecting cities to increase the pace of their travels.
The plan was sound, and didn't have any loopholes in it. Unfortunately, even the best of plans could be thrown into disarray by unexpected variables that were out of their control.
"Sorry, but you can't enter the city," the captain of the guard stated as he glared at William's group who had lined up to enter their territory.
"Eh? Why?" William asked. "We have travel permits here that were issued by His Excellency, Joash, himself. What's the problem?"
The guard snorted and pointed at the two Flying Armored Elephants who made everyone in the vicinity back away completely.
"Don't you know that it is illegal to use those elephants as mounts?" the guard captain asked. "The fact that I am even talking to you is giving His Highness, Joash, the respect he deserves. Let me make it clear to you. Not only will you not gain passage to this city, but you won't stand a chance getting into the other cities as well.
"Those elephants are walking disasters. What will you do if their herd suddenly appears in this Domain and tramples our city to the ground?! You should just return them to the wild and save yourself the trouble of being barred entry to every city you come across!"
William frowned as he turned his head to gaze at the two elephants. He shot them the "both of you are no-good troublemakers" glare, which made the two beasts have the strong urge to step on him.
They still felt that it was unfair that they were forced to become mounts when they were simply taking a detour to where they were to meet up with their herd. They thought they would be safe, because they were part of the Flying Armored Elephants race and no one in their right mind would look for trouble with them. Only idiots, and people who courted death, would dare to capture them as mounts.
Unfortunately, they came across someone who didn't only court death, he even intended to capture their entire herd when they appeared to save them!
What was Madlad?
This was Madlad!
"You don't have to worry about this," William replied as he turned around to look at the guard. "Both of them are harmless. They can even perform tricks."
"Tricks? Flying Armored Elephants perform tricks?"
"Of course! Gluteus come here."
Gluteus' body shuddered when he saw William's devilish smile. He felt that he was about to be butchered, and had no choice but to be obedient and even thank the butcher for butchering him.
Maximus looked at him with eyes filled with pity. Both of them now belonged to William's herd, and their fate would depend upon their new Master's mood.
Gluteus stopped walking when it was only three meters away from William. The elephant who was once proud of his lineage looked at his Master with fearful eyes as he waited for his orders.
"Gluteus, use Giga Stomp and smash this gate to pieces!" William ordered. "If the guards stop you, or even attempt to do something to stop you, I order you to call your herd right away and tell them that the mayor of this city tried to make you his mount!"
The guard captain as well as the other guards who heard William's orders, all gasped in shock as they looked at the black-haired teenager who had the "since you want to die so badly, let's just all die together" smirk on his face.
They had never seen someone use this kind of tactic in order to brute force his way to gain entry to the city. However, everyone present, including the people that were waiting to enter the city, all felt a chill run down their spine.
If William were to really make his threat a reality then having the gates smashed would be the least of their worries.
No sane person in the Demonic Continent would take the threat of a herd of Flying Armored Elephants lightly.
In the end, William passed through the gates of the City of Ajento with a smug expression on his face. He was flanked on his left and right side by the guards, who escorted them towards the teleportation gate that would take them away from the city.
After an internal struggle, the Guard Captain knew that antagonizing William wasn't worth it. This was why he ordered his men to ensure that the black-haired teenager and his entourage left his city as soon as possible, so that the two walking hot potatoes would no longer be a threat to his, and the entire city's, mental health.