Only 11 days have passed since the Conqueror King launched this war of conquest against Britannia. In just 11 days, the Conqueror King, leading an army of merely 50,000, has successively broken through King Uther's grand army at Patara in Persia, then conquered Exeter, Plymouth, and the city of Saul, and finally Bestoke, north of the capital. At this point, she only needs to break through the Golden Iron Curtain and the capital's own sixth defensive ring to completely surround its western and northern sides.
Suya truly couldn't understand why, even at this critical juncture, the people within the capital—whether it was Gawain, Merlin, Lucan, or others he had seen or heard of, like the Duke of Cornwall, the Archbishop of Canterbury, and so on—still had time for sword-pulling ceremonies and king-selection rituals. They were leisurely, showing no sense of urgency even with the enemy at their doorstep.
Yes, the capital itself was guarded by the Holy Lance, Rhongomyniad, said to be a divine weapon. To conquer the capital, one first had to deal with this Holy Lance. And it was precisely this spear that gave the Britons an inexplicable and powerful confidence. It was as if their current setbacks were merely temporary; as long as the true King of the Entire Realm was chosen, and the powerful knights scattered throughout Britannia were gathered, all problems would seemingly be solved, at most losing only Cornwall.
However, Suya didn't think so at all. The Conqueror King was historically renowned precisely because of her army, powerful enough to conquer any formidable fortress. History records that when Alexander the Great launched his eastern campaigns, he deployed a massive force of 1.8 million people: 500,000 troops, 100,000 civil officials, 1.2 million logistics personnel, and tens of millions of citizens to support this army.
Suya wasn't sure how many troops Alexia, as a Great King's counterpart in this clearly more fantastical world without obvious food crises, possessed. But at the very least, it shouldn't be less than historically. After all, in Britannia, where knights served as mercenaries, even a tiny country could now field 100,000 troops, 50,000 defenders, and 200,000 logistics personnel under King Uther. It shouldn't be difficult for the Conqueror King's army size to be ten times that.
And now, only 50,000 led by the Conqueror King were attacking Britannia!
Merely 50,000 people had fought their way through two sturdy walls built with Britannia's full national might, and the third wall, the Golden Iron Curtain, seemed on the verge of falling. From the Britons' perspective, this was a result of trickery, magic, and accidental gains from petty schemes and cleverness.
But to Suya, it seemed like the damn Conqueror King hadn't even begun to get serious, and the capital, Wincheston, already looked precarious! How could they possibly save Britannia with these insects in the capital who knew nothing of true power?!
At this critical juncture, forget about king selection. Morgan Le Fay, who had ascended to the throne just minutes ago, had already become untrustworthy, leaving behind a Sword in the Stone that just stood there, forlornly whistling in the wind, unsure if it could even be pulled out.
Suya just wanted to quickly make some money, gather some people, and squeeze every last drop of value from this city before—quickly getting out of here with his people! And the fastest way to make money in the early stages was, without a doubt, a casino.
At this moment,
"—Rumble!"
"Lunge, quickly, Dragon Slayer's Lunge, strike its jaw! Other knights, prepare for jump attacks to sever its nape!"
Passing through the Knight's Street, which was a ruined mess with several large craters, and heading north, with Bread Street, Purple Orchid Street, and Mead Street to its outer sides, amidst the backdrop of various knight orders attacking and subduing giant beasts, Suya held Merlin's hand with one hand and Gawain's with the other. They moved swiftly, passing through one fiercely contested street after another, advancing towards the second ring of the capital. Occasionally, a giant beast would fall, only to be casually tossed aside by Gawain with one hand.
And along the way, Suya was listening to Gawain explain the origin of the [Mana Circulation] she had mastered—
"It was several months ago, one night, I was on my way to a casino in the second ring of the capital to collect debts due to overtime work, and I unexpectedly stumbled upon a fairy named 'Baghest'."
"According to that poor little fairy, Avalon, the fairy realm that coexists with Britannia, was somehow destroyed, forcing a large number of fairies to leave their homeland and seek a living in Britannia."
"Baghest came to the capital to find the princess of the fairy kingdom, hoping the princess would take her in, because she, who knew nothing but how to eat and was very simple, had almost been sold into the Red Light District multiple times in the human world. And after several months of wandering, she finally found the princess, it's just..."
Listening to such a long preamble, Suya couldn't help but glance at Merlin, whose expression was stiff beside him, and quickly interrupted, "Skip this trouble. I can probably guess the rest."
"Oh, oh, alright." Gawain nodded. "Seeing how pitiful that fairy was, I took her in and allowed her to possess my body."
"But at the same time, I also had to bear the appetite of two 'people'." Saying this, Gawain awkwardly raised her gauntleted hand and scratched her wavy golden hair. "Because I naturally eat more than a normal knight, and Baghest also has a large appetite, the meager salary from debt collection made it difficult for us both to eat our fill. For this, we had to continuously participate in occasional eating contests held in the capital, to the point where merchants no longer dared to host such events."
Suya suddenly understood and asked, "So, that's when you began to master [Mana Circulation]? What kind of process was it?"
"It's shameful to admit, but that night, Baghest and I were so hungry we couldn't sleep. We ran to the moat and drank three tons of water, but still didn't feel the hunger subside."
"My physical strength had deteriorated to its extreme, and I couldn't even perform my work the next day. I could only collapse on the riverbank, silently awaiting death, to the point where I began to hallucinate—I saw a giant piece of meat, hanging in the sky."
"Ordinary food, no matter how much, could never satisfy my hunger. And the magical beasts raised in the shallow underground of the capital were monopolized, their prices exorbitantly high. The only thing before me was that meat hanging in the sky, seemingly within reach, yet too far to touch."
"To survive, I could only desperately try to understand what it was. I lay in a deserted corner by the river for a month, staring intently at that thing, listening to the incomprehensible 'language' it transmitted. When I was hungry, I ate dirt; when I was thirsty, I drank water. Until finally, Baghest couldn't bear it anymore. To save me, she performed a [Mana Transfer] ritual with me. During this ritual, I gradually understood how to touch 'it'."
"This is how [Mana Circulation] was obtained, and it is also how I gained the concept of the Holy Sword [Revolving Sword of Victory]."
Suya nodded, frowning, and summarized, "So, in short, the process is [Seeing]—[Understanding]—[Mana Transfer]?"
"Precisely." Gawain nodded earnestly, then her face flushed slightly as she looked at Suya and Merlin, who was stiff beside him. "To master this ability, understanding the concept of exchange is important."
"Sir Suya, if you wish to master this ability, you need to perform a mana transfer ritual with someone who naturally has an affinity for mana."
"So..." At this point, Gawain hesitated, her face slightly red.
Suya looked up, puzzled. "So?"
At that moment, Gawain raised both hands, pointing to herself and the completely rigid Merlin beside Suya. "So, either with me, or with her. But I don't recommend her, because the mana transfer ritual requires maximizing the contact area between us. In that regard, I am clearly more suitable than this fairy."
"Gwah!?" Merlin's eyes widened abruptly as she demanded, "Gawain, what do you mean!?"
Gawain puffed out her ample breastplate and stated proudly, "Literally what I mean."
And then, Suya slowly raised his head, his brow slightly furrowed, his eyes turning into crimson vertical slits.
"I see, Gawain, Merlin—"
"Hm!?" Merlin bit her lip slightly, looking at Suya with alarm, thinking, You wouldn't be thinking of taking both of us, you bastard! You're too greedy!
Suya at this moment looked at his crimson vision, at the mana particles, spiritual veins, and ley lines, which seemed like insatiable hussies, flaunting themselves at him. Even at a more macroscopic level, he saw the enormous source from which waves of magical tides surged from Jerusalem in the center of the continent. Even—
When Suya understood this concept—
The entire world in his eyes suddenly opened its embrace to him.
And at that moment, a line of text suddenly appeared before his eyes:
[You have mastered: Source of Mystery (A)]
[Description: As Mystery itself, wherever you pass, you can easily stir up waves of Mystery that rewrite regional rules.]