A Scientific Urban Detective.

Chapter 865 Knights and Saints

The Amakusa-style Cross Cult is a small sect, with no more than a hundred members at most; while their opponents are knights capable of taking on a hundred men each. It's easy to imagine that if war breaks out between the two sides, the outcome will be a foregone conclusion...

Kanzaki Kaori's other identity is the female pope of the Amakusa-style Cross Cult.

Although she herself has stated that she has left the sect and converted to Anglicanism, it is said that the current leader of the Amakusa Cross still calls himself "Acting Pope".

Why "agent"? It's because in their minds, the "real" Pope is still Kanzaki Kaori.

Similarly, Tsuchimikado Motoharu knew that Kanzaki didn't truly want to abandon her former comrades. On the contrary, she felt compelled to leave and distance herself from them because she cared about them…

Now that she knows her fellow countrymen are about to meet with misfortune, how could Kanzaki Kaori possibly remain indifferent?

"On another note, if Kanzaki really didn't intend to do anything, there was no need for her to suddenly disappear..." Tsuchimikado Motoharu stopped and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

Our destination is almost in sight; just one more step through this last layer of jungle and we'll see the coast...

A series of deep, soul-stirring roars came from the opposite side of the jungle.

It sounded like thunder exploding close to the ground, or like the commotion caused by the collision of some massive object...

"Tsk, I'm late..." Tsuchimikado Motoharu couldn't help but rub his forehead, but halfway through the movement, he changed his mind and pushed up his sunglasses, a smile appearing on his face. "No, I should say you arrived just in time. It saved me a lot of trouble."

Tsuchimikado Motoharu paused briefly, waiting to make sure there were no further sounds from the other side of the forest before continuing his run at a faster pace.

Twenty knights traveled across the ocean and halfway around the world to reach this place. They used the ocean current manipulation magic left behind by Saint Blaise—a high-speed stealth spell that allows them to circle the earth in three days—to arrive here fully armed and physically within thirty hours.

It is also worth mentioning that during this process, these twenty knights did not rely on the magic attached to their armor.

In fact, the heavy knight armor they wore only provided a simple defensive function. If you remove the defensive features, it wouldn't even qualify as a magical artifact.

In other words, each knight relied on their own magic and physical strength to cast spells and complete this amazing long-distance swim.

Tsuchimikado Motoharu knew that since the Knight Commander reformed and reorganized the Knights seven years ago, the Knights had completely transformed into an out-and-out war machine!

All the knightly orders within the UK were consolidated, and the various prefixes were removed, unifying them under the pure name "Knightly Order".

Because the knights have already reached perfection, any additional prefixes or modifiers would only become a constraint for them.

Therefore, Tsuchimikado Motoharu's earlier statement about "one against a hundred" was not an exaggeration, but rather a direct and realistic description of the Knights.

These knights were so powerful they were practically inhuman, and coupled with their arrogant and stubborn personalities, honestly, Tsuchimikado Motoharu had absolutely no desire to deal with them...

—Those tin cans won't care about all that. Once they meet, they'll probably just want to kill me, this multi-faceted spy, with a sword.
However, no matter how "inhuman" those knights may be, they are still "human" in the end.

Since they are human, they are no match for a "saint"... Pushing aside the last branch blocking his way, Tsuchimikado Motoharu saw a tall and graceful figure standing on the sea breakwater, her long hair tied in a ponytail fluttering wildly in the sea breeze.

Getting closer, Tsuchimikado Motoharu finally saw the knights lying haphazardly on the breakwater below, with a few unfortunate ones seemingly having fallen directly into the water, leaving only a few whirlpools gradually dissipating on the surface...

"...They haven't dispelled their diving spells yet, so they shouldn't drown." Kanzaki Kaori seemed to feel a little relieved, as if explaining to someone, and breathed a slight sigh of relief.

"You're clearly the culprit behind this, how can you say something like that, boss?" Tsuchimikado Motoharu complained.

“Tsuchimikado,” Kanzaki Kaori said without surprise. With her keen senses, she had already noticed Tsuchimikado Motoharu’s approach. “You’ve come to stop me?”

As she spoke, Kanzaki Kaori placed her hand on the hilt of her sword.

"Don't do that, Kanzaki-neechan." Tsuchimikado Motoharu's smile remained unchanged, and he even approached her with the same unguarded look. "You can't beat me."

Kanzaki Kaori exerted force with her right hand, seemingly ready to unleash her most prized draw slash at any moment.

“Big Sister Kanzaki, your creed is never to kill, so you absolutely can’t beat me.” Tsuchimikado shrugged. “Don’t you understand? In my current state, if I forcefully cast a spell, my body will collapse due to the backlash, and I might just die.”

Tsuchimikado Motoharu pushed up his sunglasses: "In other words, as long as I, Tsuchimikado Motoharu, step onto the battlefield, no matter what you do, I will surely die, and that will also mean your complete defeat as a magician."

Kanzaki Kaori wore a conflicted and distressed expression, and finally, as if giving up, loosened her grip on the hilt of the sword.

“Don’t be nervous, Kanzaki-san,” Tsuchimikado Motoharu continued. “My only orders were to find Kanzaki Kaori. And now, I’ve completed my mission.”

"Complete the mission?" Kanzaki Kaori asked. "Are you really not going to stop me?"

"What a joke! You expect me, a crippled former mage, to stop a saint?" Tsuchimikado Motoharu scoffed. "The Supreme Archbishop wouldn't issue such an outrageous order."

Kanzaki Kaori finally lowered her guard. She leaped to Tsuchimikado Motoharu's side and said, "Since you're not here to stop me, I'll be leaving now. You can report to the High Bishop on your own."

"Please go ahead." Tsuchimikado Motoharu did not stop them, but looked at the knights below who had already lost consciousness. "I'll clean this place up. If these guys are found by the police, it might cause a diplomatic incident."

Kanzaki Kaori nodded: "Then I'll leave it to you."

Just as Kanzaki Kaori was about to leave, Tsuchimikado Motoharu, with his back to her, spoke up: "Big sister, just consider it me being nosy, but... where are you planning to go next?"

"Academy City," Kanzaki Kaori said without hiding anything.

"I guessed so, after all, the Amakusa-style people are already there."

"You met them?" Kanzaki Kaori asked excitedly.

(End of this chapter)