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C300 - Modred And Leonel

"Charge!"

Lamorak watched coldly as Leonel was completely enveloped by a swarm of spells. He was so invested in the death of Leonel that the irony was completely lost on him.

Between Lamorak and Leonel, there were still the #2 and #4 Demon Lords. Not only were they both there, but they were both still heavily injured. It could even be said that they were on their last breaths with Umred being in the far worse condition.

Umred had at most a few more minutes to live with one of his two hearts pierced through. Not only was he bleeding out, but even if that wasn't the case, a single heart wasn't enough to sustain his massive body.

By his side, Cralis wasn't in as bad of a position, but he was still originally weaker than Umred to begin with. In addition, he could only use a single arm with limited use of the other after Leonel shattered his collarbone.

To this point, Leonel hadn't done a single thing to harm Camelot. In fact, aside from killing some humans who entered this capture the flag game to target him, all of his kills to this point had been committed against demons. Not once had he actively targeted humans.

Yet, here was Lamorak, a supposed great knight of Camelot, ignoring two Demon Lords right before him for the sake of taking down Leonel.

Maybe in his mind this was still justified. Before Modred appeared, there had always been demons and humans. However, it was only after Modred organized demons and gave them strength and intelligence that they truly became dangerous.

To Lamorak, Leonel was another potential Modred. Not only that, but he was a man. As a man of this medieval era, Lamorak still subconsciously placed more emphasis on the role of a man. To him, not only would Leonel become another influence like Modred, but he would become something even more dangerous.

This went beyond just the fact Modred was a woman. Others might not be aware, but Lamorak was keenly aware that Modred was King Arthur's daughter. It was precisely due to this tightly held secret that the relationship between their King and Queen had been somewhat estranged in the past decade.

Due to this relationship, Modred always had some reservations dealing with Camelot. If not for this, maybe things would have gotten out of hand long ago.

However… did Leonel have such ties?

Not only did he not, but his future was almost ruined by Camelot if not for him taking matters into his own hands.

Such a threat… to Lamorak, was even higher than two top four Demon Lords.

By Lamorak's calculations, Leonel was likely not dead. But, he was most definitely severely injured. It was the best time to surround him now.

The knights of Camelot charged into the billowing dust, completely ignoring the two Demon Lords. With Lamorak's senses locked onto them, they didn't dare to make any rash movements against the people of Camelot, or else they knew that this small reprieve they had gained would shatter.

They all knew that the quality of elite warriors Camelot had was greater than them as Demons. This was the reason they could survive despite being so outnumbered. Even at full health, they might not be a match of Lamorak.

However, exactly what no one expected to happen occurred at that moment.

Streaks of darkness shot out from the cloud of dust. Though they were faster than most eyes could follow, they came in sets of threes as though a creature of the darkness had torn space apart with their claws.

The frontline of knights completely collapsed. Those who didn't die had their armor collapse and their bones broken. Those that were more unlucky were torn in half, their bodies erupting into a rain of blood and gore.

At that moment, Leonel shot out from the back of the crater, using it as cover to escape as quickly as he could.

The little mink no longer had the strength to cling to his neck or his hair, Leonel could only hold the little one in his arms, careful not to harm its fragile little body.

In the instant before those magic arrows landed, the little mink had taken Leonel into his shadow world. Though it was very easy for the little mink to enter that land as it pleased, making him immune to attacks. Taking someone else with him was enough to drain more than half of the little guy's stamina.

As though that wasn't enough, the little mink had to send out its most powerful attack an instant later. Little Blackstar had given Leonel all he had, Leonel couldn't ask for any more.

This was the most important reason Leonel had been hesitant to use the little guy to now. Blackstar was still an infant. Not only were his actions quite childish, but his stamina was still lacking. Leonel felt terrible even asking this much of the little guy.

Leonel ran with all he had, charging out and putting distance between him and the others.

He couldn't use his Light Elemental Force at the moment. Unfortunately, he learned another important use of his Soul Force in that moment.

The Embryo of Leonel's Light Elemental Force was within his Ethereal Glabella. In order to communicate with it, he relied on a basal amount of Soul Force. Without Soul Force, he couldn't communicate with it and thus couldn't use his Force Strengthening Deviations.

Lamorak's expression changed. Was that a final attack on his last legs?

From his vantage point, Lamorak couldn't see Leonel through the cloud of dust. To make matters worse, since he had used his senses to lock onto the two Demon Lords so that they couldn't act, he hadn't spared any Internal Sight toward Leonel.

By the time he clenched his jaw and removed a strand of his senses to look toward Leonel, he realized that… there was actually nothing in the crater!

He didn't have time to guess about how Leonel had done it. He completely abandoned his command, charging forward personally.

The difference in speed was striking. Leonel might have his normal Force, but with his coordination lacking, his speed suffered a 10% drop. In addition, without his Light Elemental Force, he didn't have access to his usual speed either, making matters even worse.

Under normal circumstances, Lamorak wasn't a match for Leonel in speed at his current peak. But now…

Lamorak shrouded his forward path with his senses, searching for Leonel. Without his Soul Force, Leonel had no ability to hide himself from detection. It took no more than a few seconds for his position to be locked onto.

Leonel continued to charge as though he didn't realize he had been found.

'I can make it. At this current speed it should take …'

Leonel furiously shook his head. Without his ability, he couldn't even finish calculations that used to be as easy as breathing for him. Leonel began to wonder if his ability had become a crutch…

Leonel grit his teeth. He didn't have the mind space to waste for errant thoughts. He had only one goal: to make it to his destination. As long as he did, he could ride out the rest of his trial.

While his other spells had dissipated, there was one that hadn't. Teleportation arrays were Magic Arts specially designed to be autonomous from their creator's Soul Force. If not for this, how could Camelot rely on them for transport?

This was Leonel's last and final contingency plan. He just had to make it.

"Boy! Accept the punishment for your crimes!"

Lamorak's roar felt as though it was just over Leonel's shoulder. Had Leonel still been able to use his Internal Sight, he would realize that Lamorak was less than 200 meters away. With their speed, such a distance could be covered in barely ten seconds, if that. Leonel couldn't afford to pause.

'I'm close, I'm close.'

Leonel shot through the corridors, reaching the hallway that acted as the final stretch to the Throne Room.

It was at that moment, just as Leonel rounded the final corner, that he felt a mighty force suddenly slam into his body.

The air was completely knocked out of him. He felt his bones quake and his inner organs tremble. With the sturdiness of his body after awakening his Metal Synergy Lineage Factor, it wasn't enough to severely injure him. But, in his current weakened state, it was enough to send him flying backward, skidding along the ground and toward the one enemy he was running with his everything from. He only barely had time to protect the fragile little mink in his arms.

Leonel couldn't use his Internal Sight. But, he vaguely saw a massive palm through his swimming vision.. And, behind the massive, larger than life palm was… a severely injured Big Buddha.

To be continued