Chapter 444: Change
Leonel took a deep breath.
At the moment, they were about twenty or so kilometers from Camelot's main city. But, between here and there, there were two Baronies and several smaller settlements. Who knew how many of them were affected by this earthen tsunami?
'Though it benefits them to bring a city along, they definitely faced complications themselves.'
There were many benefits to wiping out all the land around them like this, the main of which was the fact this fallen city didn't have to worry about attacks in the immediate future while also wiping out any potential nearby settlements Camelot might have had.
But, this method was a double-edged sword. While White City now couldn't be easily attacked, they also couldn't easily launch any attacks either. Marching an army through this mess would be a nightmare.
It made Leonel feel like this was a purposeful choice.
Leonel felt that there was an over 98% chance that their current attackers were the City Lords of Terrain. The information he had access to put him in a unique position where he likely knew more about their current enemies than anyone of The Empire or the Slayer Legion did.
This perspective allowed him to understand that this wasn't a quick invasion plan.
If Leonel put himself in the shoes of those City Lords, their goal wasn't just to conquer Earth, it was to make Earth their new home.
The reason for this could be summarized in a single sentence: Earth had more potential than Terrain.
As for why they waited until now, that was even more straight forward. There was no coincidence they waited for the exact instant Earth evolved into the Fourth Dimension.
And, unfortunately, due to Camelot's appearance, this happened long before Earth had fully settled itself. Leonel's actions had inadvertently placed Earth in a bad position.
Leonel felt somewhat complicated.
On the one hand, he felt that Earth was no longer truly a home to him anymore. But, on the other… He felt a twisting pain in his chest watching it being invaded this way.
Leonel descended from the skies, riding his jet-black surfboard back into the dense cloud of kicked up dirt and soil.
"Bear with it for a bit." Leonel spoke softly to Aina. "I want to see if I can find any of the others."
Aina wanted to say something like 'You can let me go now', but sensing Leonel's downcast mood, she remained silent, resting her ear against his chest.
Leonel touched down to the ground, his brows furrowing.
'This will be difficult, but it's still worth a try.'
"[Repulse]."
A sphere of wind twirled around Leonel and suddenly expanded violently. In the blink of an eye, it cleared the heavy atmosphere.
[Repulse] was a Three Star Mage Art usually used as an area control sphere to push enemies away. So, it was quite effective in its task.
Leonel took a deep breath in the cleared air, closing his eyes and planting his two feet firmly in what ground he could find. In fact, he sunk in ankle deep into the rolling dirt and rocks.
"[Seismic Wave]."
A strong surge of Spirit Pressure shot out from Leonel. If one looked closely, it was possible to see small ripples in the loose earth beneath his feet.
There were many sensory specific spells within Camelot's magic system. They not only existed within the auxiliary types, but they also existed within the Elemental types as well. Wind Elemental and Earth Elemental spells especially had many of them for obvious reasons.
[Seismic Wave] was a Three Star Magus Art used for scouting with the Earth Element. It worked almost like echo location, except with sensing changes in the earth rather than with sound.
Several small waves were sent out that were practically imperceptible to the eye. On solid ground, there would be no visual cues at all. But, in loose ground like this, it showed up similar to the way a pond would ripple after experiencing a thrown stone.
Everything within several kilometers was suddenly fed back to Leonel.
There were very few limitations to [Seismic Wave]. It took very little energy to send a wave out, the only real limitation was how sharp the senses of the person sending them out was.
It was said that certain animals could sense the coming of an earthquake days in advance. Such small changes could be detected by mere beasts of the Third Dimension… So what about Leonel?
Even after reaching out ten kilometers, Leonel still didn't feel like he had reached his limit. He had even crossed the barrier of the city in the distance. But, he shook his head and focused again.
Instead of distance, he focused on depth.
This required stronger waves and a bit more Earth Elemental Force, but it was still within Leonel's ability even though his previous uses of [Float] had almost burnt him out. Simply put, thanks to his Three Star Constitution, Leonel's recovery of Soul Force was unmatched.
Leonel's breath suddenly hitched and his heart grew heavy.
He had found his first dead body.
His heart clenched, his hold on Aina involuntarily becoming tighter.
He found another. Then another.
Many of them were crushed beneath the weight of the heavy earth. Some unlucky ones were struck by heavy flying stones and trees, causing damage they couldn't live through. Some others were pierced through by errant sharp branches.
Leonel continued to search, going deeper and deeper. But, somewhere deep inside, he realized that the deeper he went, the less likely he was to find someone he could save.
'There! There!'
Leonel almost cried out.
Leonel found one beating heart, then another. His breathing grew quicker. This was good, some had survived. This was definitely good. As long as he helped them climb back out, their lives should be saved.
Unfortunately, Leonel was a bit too naïve.
One of the most important aspects of war was the element of surprise. Keeping one's enemies on their toes, catching them unawares, and gaining victories for the smallest price in exchange… These were the staples of good generals.
Since Terrain's City Lords had planned this matter for so long, how could they be unable to predict what would happen to the landscape around them? And how could they allow that landscape to force them to give up their advantage?
The sharp call of several beasts shook Leonel out of his focused state.
His head tilted up into the skies, peering through the dense cloud of dirt only to barely make out a sight that made his heart tremble.
Birds. Hundreds of them. Each one with a wingspan of no less than five meters while some of the largest were over twenty meters in width.
On their backs, each had two warriors. One was outfitted with a polearm weapon while the other manned a massive cross bow machine strapped to the backs of these massive birds of prey.
White City was already attacking and their first wave would be an aerial assault.