Chapter 185. Invasion of Paradise (1)
Avalon.
The island where Britain’s legendary hero, King Arthur, was said to have gone to rest.
According to legend, it was an incomparably beautiful paradise.
Naturally, no such island existed in present-day Britain.
It was simply one of many mythical examples of a paradise island.
But apparently, Avalon had never been confirmed to exist even in the Fantasy Realm.
If so...
perhaps Avalon had been an illusionary island created by Morgan le Fay from the very beginning.
Thinking about it that way, it made sense that the Constellation Armament of the A-rank Constellation ‘Lady of the Ideal Land’ was Avalon itself.
“My lord has returned!”
A booming voice rang out.
The members of Round waiting on Avalon immediately began moving busily.
Their leader, ‘Arthur,’ had returned.
“Welcome back, my lord!”
Amid the greetings of countless subordinates, Arthur strode proudly into the ‘palace.’
“You’ve worked hard.”
“Kay. What is the situation?”
A blond man approached Arthur after he sat upon the throne.
He used the codename Kay, named after Sir Kay, King Arthur’s foster brother in legend.
“The ‘replacement’ of Lancelot, Gawain, Tristan, and Percival has been completed.”
“I see.”
Almost every member of Round was contracted to a Knight of the Round Table.
Among them, the strongest Contractor was granted Maximum Manifestation of that knight’s Constellation Armament.
If that person died...
the next-ranked Contractor immediately inherited Maximum Manifestation authority.
Normally, something like that would be impossible.
Constellations didn’t simply say, You’ll be the one using Maximum Manifestation next, and transfer the privilege so neatly.
But Round’s Contractors could do it.
“We should be grateful to King Arthur for watching over us.”
“Indeed.”
The S-rank Constellation ‘King of Knights.’
Even after becoming a Constellation, he still commanded his knights.
Under his orders, the Knights of the Round Table fully cooperated with Round’s activities.
“How is Morgan?”
“No problems so far.”
Among Arthur’s subordinates in Round, there was one member who was not contracted to a Knight of the Round Table.
Codename ‘Morgan.’
She was contracted to the A-rank Constellation ‘Lady of the Ideal Land.’
Morgan did not participate in combat.
Instead, she remained deep within the palace and maintained Avalon.
Avalon could secretly travel underwater.
It was protected by barriers so outsiders couldn’t casually invade.
All of that was possible because Morgan maintained her Constellation Armament twenty-four hours a day without rest.
“Everyone, listen!”
Arthur raised his voice as he looked over the subordinates lined up before the throne.
“Because of the incompetence of Lancelot, Gawain, Tristan, and Percival, our first operation has ended in failure!”
“How could they fail?!”
“Incompetent fools!”
“They should have lost their qualifications long ago!”
The subordinates immediately condemned the seniors who had gone outside Avalon to carry out the operation.
“But that is fine!”
Arthur continued.
“Sometimes, the experience of failure is necessary!”
“Now we will begin the second operation!”
“Ooooooh!”
“This may be a small country in the Far East, but it has achieved great success in the war against Pandemonium!”
“And at the center of those achievements is a man named Kang Yujin, who has slain Demon God-class demons and killed two Vessels!”
Arthur’s voice grew louder.
“We will test our strength against them!”
“Through this battle, we will discover our weaknesses and become even stronger!”
“Ooooooh!”
“By winning this battle, we will climb to an even greater height!”
Every time Arthur shouted, his subordinates roared even louder.
They looked like fans screaming at a concert.
Or perhaps...
fanatics caught up in a religious ceremony.
“To become the sacred army that will fight in the final war, defeat the enemy with everything you have!”
“Arthur! Arthur!”
“Long live Round! Long live Avalon!”
“Massacre the monkeys of the East!”
Arthur raised a clenched fist while staring at his ecstatic followers without the slightest tremor in his eyes.
Three units departed from Avalon.
The First Unit headed toward nearby Yeouido.
Their goal was to occupy the former National Assembly building, which ‘Lancelot’ had already devastated, and turn it into a base.
“Our seniors weren’t as impressive as I thought.”
“Seriously. Maybe they got lazy with their training.”
The two men talking were the Lancelot and Gawain leading the First Unit.
They were not the same ‘first-ranked’ Lancelot and Gawain who had landed earlier and fought.
The second-ranked pair had also been defeated and killed in battle against Kang Yujin’s group.
That meant the current Lancelot and Gawain were the third-ranked candidates.
“That senior who used to be Lancelot spent all his time acting cool, but I guess there wasn’t much substance behind it.”
“The senior who held the Gawain title was the same. Always bragging and talking endlessly, but he turned out to be nothing special.”
Their ranks may have been lower...
but neither believed they were actually weaker than the first-ranked members.
That confidence was exactly why they now stood at the front, leading their subordinates.
“If you’re given Maximum Manifestation of Arondight, you should be able to wipe out Contractors from some backwater place like this.”
“Of course.”
The new Gawain grinned.
“With Maximum Manifestation of Galatine, I’m ready to kill Kang Yujin or anyone else.”
The two men raised their respective Constellation Armaments and smiled.
Among the subordinates behind them were the fourth- and fifth-ranked Lancelot and Gawain candidates.
But neither man had any intention of surrendering his position to them.
They planned to keep winning...
and retain the titles of Lancelot and Gawain all the way until the final war.
“Hm?”
“What’s that?”
The two men frowned as they stood on the road.
People were blocking their path ahead.
“They’ve put up barricades.”
“How amusing. Do they think something like that matters?”
They advanced while sneering.
Both raised their swords and ordered their subordinates to prepare for battle.
But at that exact moment...
BOOOOM!
The attack came not from the front...
but from the side.
Long-range magical bombardment.
“What?!”
“Where is that coming from?!”
As the attacks continued raining down, they desperately looked left and right.
This level of firepower should have required at least twenty magic-attack-type Contractors.
But there was no such group in sight.
“There! Inside the bushes!”
“There are some on top of that building!”
“They’re inside the public phone booth!”
“Some were hiding underground!”
Once they looked more carefully...
