Chapter 250: Balance
In the Border Region, the forts were separated into Small and Large Barracks. There were a total of 99 Small Barracks and 9 Large Barracks. All Small Barracks were headed by Three Star Grand Knights while all Large Barracks were headed by Knights of the Round Table in shifts.
With this sort of setup, it was obvious that every Large Barrack had 11 Small Barracks under their charge. However, what Lancelot could have never expected was for six of his Small Barracks to suddenly come out and ask for help like this.
Lancelot frowned.
He had thought that the Demons retreated a bit too easily. Though Leonel was putting a lot of pressure on them, it was also obvious that Leonel had been reaching the end of his rope. On top of that, they allowed one of the Demon Lords to die too easily… Unless!
Lancelot's heart trembled.
Others might not know why the Demon Lords were insistent on keeping their numbers at 66, but Lancelot was very much aware. Lionus had explained it to Leonel perfunctorily, but how could such a thing not have a deep, underlying reason for it?
The truth was that just like paladins of Pope Margrave, much of the strength of the Demon Lords were gained directly from Modred. The balance of this shared power was perfect when there were 66 of them. However, when there was an additional Demon Lord, that balance would be lost.
This wasn't as simple as there not being enough Darkness Internal Strength. Modred's power was beyond imagining. If The Pope could have hundreds of Paladins, it obviously wasn't a problem for Modred to have hundreds of Demon Lords. The issue lied in the properties of Dark Internal Strength. Or rather, in the propertied of Modred's Dark Internal Strength.
This kind of Internal Strength was exceptionally volatile and difficult to control. In addition, it had a negative influence on one's Ethereal Glabella, and by extension, one's Soul Force. As a result, whenever there was an imbalance in Demon Lords, their strength took a dive as a collective.
That was right. Demon Lord Gorgo was about 10% weaker than his peak form when he was fighting Leonel for this very reason.
One might ask then, why would Lancelot allow Leonel to kill Gorgo, then? Wouldn't it benefit Camelot if this imbalance continued? Well the answer to that was obvious.
What use would there be if Camelot went out of their way to not kill Demon Lords just to keep this imbalance? It might have been possible to capture and imprison Gorgo today, but would it always be so simple? Demon Lords weren't stupid… And, things also weren't so straightforward either.
For one, Mordred could dispell the powers of a Demon Lord whenever she so wished. Even if Gorgo was captured, if the Demon Army came to be at a disadvantage, Modred could easily snatch Gorgo's strength from a distance.
Secondly, even if Camelot went out of their way to capture and not kill Demon Lords… these were Demons they were talking about! Why wouldn't they just kill amongst themselves until their numbers were balanced once again?
Before, Lionus had silently thought that this all out attack and this chaos was exactly what Modred wanted, and he was likely correct. Even if Modred protected the newly appointed Demon Lord, if the Demon Lords were so eager for balance, couldn't they just kill one another?
Yet, instead of simply picking a new target, the Demons chose to launch an all out offensive against Camelot.
If Lancelot's thoughts were correct, then it was very likely that his Large Barracks weren't the only ones to receive so many SOS calls at once. It may be that the entire Border Region was lit with flames of war!
When his trail of thoughts reached this point, Lancelot sucked in a cold breath. Was Modred really prepared to act again after so many years?
'Last time she acted…'
A hint of pain flashed by through Lancelot's gaze. It wasn't a pain of the flesh, but rather one of the heart. It seemed that whatever memories he was thinking of deeply scarred him.
Leonel didn't know about any of this insider information. He only watched silently as Lancelot's expression changed several times. He thought himself to be good at reading human emotion, but whatever Lancelot was thinking of was way beyond his means to comprehend.
After a while, Lancelot took in a deep breath.
"Aleck, Peirce, Bran, Amaud, Jeffroy, Hammond — You'll lead your troops to support the Small Barracks."
Leonel's eyes couldn't help but flicker toward Peirce. He was the very same man who had two exceptionally long swords strapped to the sides of his horse. Leonel had paid a small bit of attention toward him during the battle. His skill could only be described as frightening.
Originally, Leonel had thought him to be one of the Knights of the Round Table as well. But, by his name, it was obvious that he wasn't.
'Who is he, exactly?'
Leonel had no idea.
Lancelot continued to give out orders.
"… You scouts will second messages back to the remaining Small Barracks. Have them all retreat back here. I have a feeling that things won't end so simply.
"Also, someone call our Beast Mage here, have him send out several hawks to the other Large Barracks. Inform them of my decision."
A Beast Mage, from Leonel's readings, was a mage without affinity. They were essentially a Mental Mage, just like Elys, except they focused on mental manipulation magic that worked on low intelligence creatures.
There strength wasn't very great, so they were often restricted to roles much like the order Lancelot just gave out.
"… As for the rest of you, rest and prepare for battle. The two remaining enemies we face are Demon Lord Dagon and Coyote. Dagon is famous for his night raids, this isn't the time to let our guards down."
A heavy expression colored Lancelot's features.
Demon Lord Dagon was the skeleton demon with prisoner steel balls strapped to his wrists and ankles. While Gorgo had been ranked in the low 20's, he had broken into the top 20.
However, Demon Lord Coyote was even more mysterious. While Lancelot had some information about Dagon's tendencies, he knew next to nothing about Coyote, the zombie Demon Lord. Whether it was his strength or personality, they were all just mere guesses.
Lancelot had a feeling that the reason they retreated so easily was to divert his attention to the Small Barracks. Now that half of their forces had to leave, their situation during the next battle could be imagined.
Leonel calmly watched this from start to finish, his mind as placid as a calm lake.