Chapter 270: Earthen Road (1/2)

Days after Leonel's escape, Camelot finished its preparations.

Unfortunately, due to the demons taking the initiative, Camelot had lost its footing around the Merlin Trial grounds. Without a choice, their only method of gaining entry was to fight to reclaim the land they had once lost.

However, this matter wasn't so simple at all. Since Camelot knew what it had to do, how could Modred's army not also be aware? Long before Camelot began their march, waves of Demons had already begun to assault the Red and Yellow Rings of Camelot. Not only were there large numbers of humanoid demons, but the number of beast demons far outstripped even them, placing Camelot on the precipice of disaster.

In such a situation, the elites of Camelot were hardpressed to address everything. At this point, King Arthur no longer had the luxury to continue thinking about Leonel. Even without Leonel, it seemed that their Kingdom might be on the brink of collapse.

The truth was that Modred didn't have the ability to take down Camelot so easily. But, the root of the problem was that Camelot's elites all wanted to enter the Trial Gates. And, even beyond that, from a certain angle, they had to.

If the Demon Elites entered, but Camelot could not, the disparity in their strengths would grow exponentially. Like this, Camelot's advantage of quality over quantity would disappear and their days would be numbered.

However, it was impossible for all elites of Camelot to enter. If they did, who then would defend the common people? If they sacrificed the common man, so what if they came back more powerful? Would they even have a Kingdom to return to by then?

The Trials could take upwards of several years to complete. In such a situation, how could they possibly leave Camelot undefended for so long?

So… Some had to stay behind… but, the question was who?

The internal strife of Camelot only grew worse as a result. The battle for quotas reached a fever and those who were forced to stay behind no doubt had resentment buried deep within their hearts.

However, the troubled times had not come to an end. Even after those who would stay and go were decided, those who would go didn't have an easy path waiting for them.

Not only had the demons invaded the lands of  Camelot, forcing a portion to stay back and defend. But, there were also waves of demons obstructing their path forward.

With the best teleportation formations of Camelot only being able to take on ten people at once, at most, the only option was to march on foot. However, this left them vulnerable to bloody battle after bloody battle… By the time Camelot returned to the Border Region and approached the entrance, their numbers had been significantly waned and those who survived weren't in the greatest of condition…

**

The worries of Camelot had nothing to do with Leonel. As a lone traveler, and with his overwhelming Internal Sight, Leonel hardly found trouble making his way back to the Border Region.

Leonel chose to continue on foot rather than setting up a teleportation array. The accuracy of long range teleportation arrays was lacking unless two were connected over a distance. Obviously, Leonel didn't have the luxury of doing so or else what would be the point of using one at all?

There were short ranged Mage Arts among those that Leonel knew. However, not only did they consume a large amount of Spirit Pressure, even for a person like Leonel, but they also took a long time to cast. It took a normal Magus upwards of half a minute to cast one such Art. As for Leonel, it would take at least ten seconds.

Such Arts were best used by skilled mages who could dual cast — meaning preparing one Art while casting others to stall the enemy. Leonel had yet to need to do such a thing, especially since even with his Spirit Pressure, he could at most use such Arts about ten times in a single battle.