Chapter 65 Animagi
The soldiers behind Zack gasped simultaneously when they heard the head of the griffin house being associated with the cult of the dark lord.
If Zack and Emma had been normal soldiers serving under the duke, they would have been beheaded for such a false claim.
But since they were from the royal capital, it meant that their words were more significant than all the guards combined together.
"You think anyone would believe in such a claim without any proof?" The head of the griffin family asked with a cold look as Zack smiled.
"We have enough proof for now. If any of us had stepped near that barrier, we would have been hit by lightning and killed. And since you are obstructing an official investigation, you are truly suspicious."
"A guard should know his place." The man, Alek, replied with a dangerous expression as Zack smiled.
"And a noble should act his status." He then jumped forward with the sword pointed forward and the head of the griffin house smiled.
'He thinks that flashy sword will manage to defeat a powerful barrier created by the third strongest formations master on the entire continent.' Alek already knew what was about to happen and he also knew that he was going to enjoy it to the fullest.
The burning smell of lightning filled the atmosphere again but Zack had a smile on his face. As soon as the lightning appeared, he activated one of the skills he had received at the beginning of the game.
"Swift lightning." Zack immediately moved out of the path of the lightning bolt and swung Eirias in front of him.
The sword passed through a golden glass-like thing as a shattering sound was heard. Zack then landed on the ground with a thud and looked at the head of the Griffin family with a smile on his face.
"Now that your first line of defense is gone, what is the second?"
"I am the only line of defense that this place needs." Alek raised his hand to his lips and whistled loudly.
It looked like a summoning action but instead, his body started to transform.
Zack's eyes turned grim as he realized what this meant.
[ He is an animagi, a person who can transform himself and as you can guess, he can transform himself into a griffin. ] Zack explained as he stepped back and looked at Emma.
Emma nodded as she realized what he was implying by the information. Since Alek was going to turn into a magical creature, her bow was the perfect weapon against him.
As if on queue, a screech resounded through the air as the head of the griffin family turned into a half-lion half-eagle creature.
[ Imperial Griffin ]
That was the name of the animagi Alek had turned into. No other information was available on him but Zack knew his weaknesses.
After all, he had battled the same person in his previous life too.
The only difference was that he had acted as the shield for Ash but this time, he was going to make sure that he would not only defeat the creature but also get the information that he wanted.
"Come on bird, let's play a little!" He shouted and broke into a sprint.
The guard squadron had left the moment Zack had jumped towards Alek and had gone to the duke's mansion to inform him about the duo.
If all went well, Hark would soon arrive and attack the griffin before capturing him. From there onwards, they would be able to get major information regarding the cult of the dark lord.
'This will give us guaranteed count positions.' Zack then looked back to see that the griffin was chasing him.
Emma on the other hand had her eyes closed and looked as though she was about to use a super move with her bow.
Till the time she did that and the duke arrived, Zack would have to distract the griffin alone which was by no means, going to be an easy task.
He quickly put Eirias back into his inventory before taking out Chastiefol. After making the spear go into its second form, Zack used the daggers to make sure that the bird would not get near him,
'Looks like I will have to meddle with the public.' He immediately started making his way towards the market while looking at the bird behind him.
The imperial griffin was the size of ten men combined together and had the power of at least a thousand mages.
Such a creature could kill Zack at any moment but that was if it managed to catch him.
Animagi could not kill a creature unless and until they had touched it. So not only Zack but the rest of the people in the city were safe from the clutches of the griffin.
"Sorry, coming through with a giant bird on my tow!" He shouted as he moved through the tight spaces of the market.
People were screaming like ten-year-olds left and right as they tried to dodge the griffin. Shops and tents were blown away by the creature's large wings as the guards tried to stop it.
But they too were blown away by the wind generated by the wings of the griffin. The only reason Zack managed to save himself was that the daggers were aiming for the creature's eyes.
Otherwise, he would have been caught by the creature and would have become food for the bird.
"Chastiefol!" Zack shouted as the golden spear appeared in front of him and lifted him off the ground.
Due to the power gap between Zack and Alek, the daggers were mostly tickling the griffin. And despite the daggers obstructing the vision of the griffin, he and been able to go ahead and catch up to Zack.
"Daedalus!" He shouted as a brown feathered eagle suddenly dived from the sky and picked him up.
'If you had called for me a second later, that giant birb would have eaten you whole and pooped at the people below.' The eagle said with a smug look as it shot towards the duke's mansion with the griffin in tow.
'What do you mean by birb?' Zack asked back through telepathy as the brown feathered eagle seemed to chuckle.
'A creature which cannot understand whether its a bird or a lion is called a birb. The same goes for other half birds.'
'Why do I feel as though I have heard that line before.'
'That's because most of the things used currently have already been created and used by someone else long ago.'
'True.' Zack then turned his body backward to stare at the griffin and directed Chastiefol towards the birb.
The golden spear seemed to annoy him but he managed to avoid most of Zack's attacks. The attacks that landed didn't do much.
'You sure that the duke would do something?' Daedalus asked as he too realized that if the griffin caught up to them, they would become bird poop soon.
'If by some chance, the duke fails to do something, we will have to rely on Emma.'
'That sounds risky.'
'Welcome to my everyday life.' The eagle chuckled beneath Zack as it suddenly took a sharp dive towards the noble market.
'Seems like a fun life if you ask me.'