With that warm and friendly greeting, the expedition group separated themselves from their ambushers turned guides and were instead lead throughout the city by the pair of Minocent guards.

They were expecting to have to work to keep tempers tightly under control, lest they risk even the smallest chances of negotiation with the 'Beast King', whoever it happened to be. But when they stepped through the overgrown, steel gate and entered the threshold of the city a strange wave of calm overcame them.

The humans were not the only ones affected, their beasts and even their Minocent escorts seemed to have their anger quelled and replaced with an almost monastic tranquillity. All sources of anger, irritation or otherwise negative emotions seemed to just slip away.

It wasn't as if Seth was forced to be happy or that he was drugged by something in the air. More like he was constantly in a state of peaceful meditation where he simply couldn't bring himself to care about the things that angered him or be aggressive. The thoughts couldn't stick in his mind.

Honestly, while he should be worried about such an effect, an emotion he could still feel, instead Seth felt genuinely relaxed by the sensation. At least for the time being, he didn't have to worry about going in a 'blood berserker' mode again when they were trying to negotiate with the king.

Then again, there wasn't any guarantee that the effect was entirely universal and that the Alpha couldn't still act aggressive towards them, whilst they were unable to hold onto any thoughts of violence or retaliation even in self defence. That would be truly insidious... and there's the anxious worry again. Welcome back old friend, you weren't missed.

Taking in his surroundings, Seth wasn't entirely surprised by the odd appearances of this city of beasts. For one, there were definitely structures in which the beasts resided, but there was a stark difference between the almost primitive level, mud walled huts that they had created compared to the brick and steel surrounding those huts. Vestiges of the past, and what had once been.

The brick came from crumbling and half destroyed buildings that were scattered throughout the wide fields that composed the city, some of them succumbing to the ravages of time in this new world while others had glaring holes in the wall that suggested something large had broken through. Whether it was to get in or out, there was no real way of knowing but Seth highly suspected it was something eager to get out.

Alongside these dishevelled buildings were rows of steel formed into chain link fences and held together by wooden logs. Logs that would have been perfect for building houses, as would the nearby trees, but the beasts didn't seem to think that far. These fences too had holes torn into them, as well as long claw marks where they had been ripped apart in frustration or the revels of victory.

Seth had vague memories of visiting this place when he was younger, it wasn't too far from the city so his sister had probably taken them in an attempt to give them some kind of childhood, especially for the young twins.

It used to be a Wildlife park, but had no been over taken by the previous denizens. It didn't take much imagination to know what happened to the humans that worked here and took care of the animals. He might have had his anger quelled, but he still had enough awareness to notice the dried up patches of blood soaked into the ground or splattered across the remnants of the chain-link fences.

It was no different from the rest of the world in a sense. Those first few days were filled with mindless slaughter as the new order of nature established itself into the world. Still, it never got easier imagining the panic people would have been going through as the animal attractions turned into horrible beasts and went on a rampage.

Perhaps there were even some human born monsters residing here too. The Werewolf definitely came to mind, but such thoughts could be left for another time.

'That definitely wasn't here before...'

Although Seth's memory of this place was hazy, at best, he still would have remembered the building that they were being led towards. While most of the beasts were receding in mud huts, or simply enjoying life in open fields, towering before them was a fairly impressive castle.

Or at least, an imitation of one.

It seemed to be build out of scavenged bricks, loose logs as well as a strange type of spider silk and what appeared to be a naturally created concrete, as if it was a massive hive built by a wasp or a termite.

He didn't have long to examine the intricacies of this odd mixture of man and beast engineering, as they were led inside without hesitation by the pair of Minocent guards. He did notice, however, that the door to this castle was left completely open, in the sense that it was just an arch without a door, and that it was absolutely huge. Close to 20 feet tall, from a rough estimate.

God only knows what kind of towering monstrosities they had that required such a door, although he had a feeling he was going to find out the answer to that question soon enough.

"The beast kin will stay, the humans will enter."

One of the Minocent guards stopped in their tracks, holding their spear across the open arch way to stop the progress of the following mounts, even if the spear didn't reach even half way across the arch to properly block their way.

Omelette immediately huffed out curls of thick, black smoke in annoyance. Seth could tell that he wanted to growl and create a threatening display to show his disagreement, but he couldn't bring himself to do so. Still, he could feel Omelette's mind pushing hard against the unknown calming force, trying to burst it so that he could be let loose on these ignorant bull horse things.

Seth raised his hand, giving a silent signal to his companion that it would be okay. He didn't want to ruin their negotiation possibilities and really didn't want Omelette to give himself an aneurysm.

Leaving the bestial companions, and one of the bullheaded guards, behind Seth and his group moved further into the Alpha's castle, or perhaps lair felt more accurate. The web woven floor compressed under their footsteps, but stayed strong despite their weight, most of which came from their four legged escort.

After a series of twisting corridors, they were eventually led into a large chamber that held a few different beasts, such as a polar bear that was freezing the ground beneath it, a few variety of wolf beasts, a somewhat familiar looking tiger and a lion with a mane composed of golden flames.

All of whom were looking at them with suspicious eyes that exuded as much hostility as they possibly could under the calming influence.

However, just when Seth was expecting the Lion to speak, it instead stepped to the side and made way for a new beast. Walking into the chamber with slow, measured steps was a 12 foot tall, albino deer, whose pure white fur could put even the polar bear to shame.

Atop the deer's head was a natural crown formed of its antlers, over a dozen prongs from what Seth could count. These antlers alone were taller than he was, and seemed to be made out of pure, white light as if it were the halo of an angel.

The deer regarded the group with its large, almost innocent seeming black eyes before laying down at the head of the room without a care. It didn't seem to be at all worried that it was surrounded by its own predators, that should have been ripping it apart with tooth and claw.

Instead, it simply lay there comfortable as could be, as its glowing antlers shone ever so slightly brighter. The soft glow caused an odd feeling to envelop Seth's mind, as if his brain was being slowly submerged in a perfectly heated bubble bath. At the same moment, a voice resounded in all of their minds,

{Humans~ How curious. I apologise for the attitudes of my herd. They are only used to the cultists that follow the Human God, but I am glad to see that you have only looked upon my humble kingdom with curiosity. Be assured that had you been harbouring ill intentions, you would never have made it this far.

But since you have, you are safe Humans. You have my word~}

Seth narrowed his eyes slightly, reviewing the words that it had said. It knew their intentions from the start. Not just their intentions, but also how they were looking at his kingdom from the moment they stepped foot inside of it.

He must have been the source of the calming function, but to know all of that information that must mean...

{That's right little human~ I can read your minds. I can see through the eyes of all who enter my kingdom. I must say... I have never thought that a single human could be a herd alone. A single human with so many eyes. Oh your Kingdom is so beautiful~}

'Crap...'