Mystery Detective of the Steam World

Chapter 383 The Oriole Is Above
"Ughhhhhh!!"

Screams echoed from within the swirling black wind, and everything around them was rapidly blown away by the howling gale.

However, the next moment, a dazzling light emerged from the storm, and in the blink of an eye, the roaring storm was completely shattered like a balloon!

"boom!"

The surging air burst forth and scattered, revealing that the soldiers who had previously wielded weapons were now dismembered, their bodies torn to pieces as if sliced ​​by invisible blades. The knights fared no better; they lay scattered on the ground, their armor, impenetrable even by bullets, now riddled with wounds.

Only the leading knight stood there motionless, gripping his greatsword tightly, the blade gleaming with a dazzling white light.

"who is it!"

"Hey hey..."

In response to the knight's angry shout, a sinister figure came from outside. Then, a middle-aged man wearing a fur coat and with a full beard slowly walked in through the door. He stared at the knight with a cold smile, fiddling with a staff in his hand.

"The lackey of the false god seems to have some skill after all."

"You evil heretical wizard!"

Hearing the man's mockery, the leading knight gripped his greatsword and pointed it at him.

"Those who slander the Holy Lord will only face death!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the knight bent down and knelt. The next moment, his figure vanished as if a car had suddenly accelerated. Only the white-glowing blade drew a straight line through the air and slashed straight at the wizard in front of him.

"Hey!"

As the knight attacked, the wizard grinned. At the same time, a bizarre creature emerged from behind him. It looked like a skeleton demon king with only its upper body, wielding a huge scimitar. The latter, like a terrifying ghost, raised the scimitar and slashed down at the knight with all its might.

"clang!"

The two collided, forcing the knight to halt his charge, while the wizard took a step back. They stared at each other cautiously, seemingly contemplating their next move.

Unbeknownst to them, Li Wei had witnessed everything and was writing it down in his notebook.

"Hmm... How interesting. It seems that, just as expected, each country has its own mystical warriors."

Li Wei stared at the battlefield, observing the battle between the two sides while secretly assessing the situation.

As Levi had predicted, the mysterious resurgence wasn't limited to the Empire; other countries were clearly affected as well. Those knights were likely from Francis—or rather, from the Holy Bishops. While Levi wasn't entirely certain, it seemed they possessed some method for crafting magical equipment.

However, judging from the radiant light of the soul that appeared above, Li Wei suspected that the Holy Bishop's methods of creating magical equipment might not be so honorable.

Based on Li Wei's experience, anything involving red aura is usually related to things like sacrificing the dead...

I wonder if the holy bishops were mass-produced, or if only this many were made?
At least for now, the armor worn by these knights should come with buffs such as increased speed, strength, and defense, but that's about it; there's no overly exaggerated power.

The wizard on the other side was in the same situation; something resembling some kind of undead appeared behind him, and judging from the battle, it seemed to be controlled by the wizard. However, it hadn't yet displayed the ability to unleash the whirlwind it had earlier; perhaps that thing was like a special attack in an RPG game, requiring a full SP (skill point) to activate…

Li Wei was observing the battlefield and thinking when he felt his sleeve being gently tugged. Li Wei snapped out of his thoughts and looked at Sophia beside him, who was holding a small dog plush toy and watching him anxiously.

"Mr. Li Wei, aren't we leaving?"

"Wait a minute, there's a big fight going on outside."

Li Wei reached out and patted Sophia's head to comfort her. Anyway, she was with him; what did it matter to him what the fight outside did? He could leave after they were done. Running out now might just get him into a doubles brawl.

Li Wei was certainly not afraid of losing, but trump cards are meant to be saved for last. In fact, strictly speaking, Li Wei could just call in the Eye of the Sky right now and blow those two idiots to smithereens. But he didn't do that, for the sake of secrecy.

Judging from the current situation, war is clearly imminent; otherwise, why would everyone send people here? Especially Francis—Levi could guess—they wanted to use the capture of Sophia as a check on the Sasha Alliance. This group of knights must have come for that purpose.

And that wizard—judging from his accent, he seems to be from the Western Kingdom of Europe?
It's unlikely they were teleported from afar. They might have been a spy here for years and were only activated because of the emergency.

Li Wei stared at the battlefield before him, pondering the current situation. The initial soldiers were likely from the Sasha Alliance, or perhaps even sent by the old emperor to silence them. Next came Francis and the Western Empire of Europe; it couldn't possibly end so easily…

As Li Wei pondered the situation, the battle between the knights and wizards on the battlefield intensified. The wizard seemed to have fully charged his SP and began casting a storm spell again. Meanwhile, the knight's longsword emitted a dazzling light, shattering the wizard's vortexes one by one.

So that's how it is. The Holy Bishop's mystical focus is on exorcism. That does align with the Holy Bishop's doctrine.

Having witnessed this, Li Wei had already made up his mind about the future direction of these paladins. Indeed, as a respected orthodox religion across the continent, the holy bishops certainly didn't need to resort to such superstitious methods. Just like the witch hunts, the holy bishops only needed to prove they possessed the power to break through mystical barriers to gain the trust and recognition of the people.

Hmm... I need to report this to Her Majesty the Queen when I get back.

As for the wizard on the other side… Levi couldn’t figure out his methods, but judging from his unrestrained and shamanistic manner, he guessed it was some kind of primitive religion, like shamanism or witch doctor. Just as Levi had expected, those countries with backward steam-powered technology were now trying to overtake others through mysterious forces.

The fact that the Western Empire of Europe dared to release this wizard shows they had great confidence in his abilities, and that proved to be true. Although there was suspicion of a sneak attack earlier, the wizard wiped out the masked troops and most of the knights with a single powerful attack, demonstrating that the wizard's combat power was indeed formidable.

However, his soul radiance is also red, and judging from the lich-like monster behind him, one can guess that the source of his power is probably not so legitimate.

Li Wei silently took notes in his notebook while concealing his identity. This illustrates the importance of secrecy. When two sides are fighting to the death, who could imagine that someone is secretly observing and learning everything about you?

Therefore, Li Wei would only act if he could avoid it, and when he did, it would be a fatal blow. In short, he would never allow anyone to relay his information back… Hmm? Just then, Li Wei suddenly felt the floor tremble slightly. At the same time, the knight and wizard who were maneuvering seemed to notice this as well. They simultaneously stopped their standoff, gripped their weapons tightly, and warily observed their surroundings…

"boom-----!"

Suddenly, the floor beneath their feet collapsed, revealing a huge hole. The knight and the wizard, being no ordinary people, quickly dodged, trying to avoid this unexpected accident.

However, this was not an accident!
"Squeak—!"
With a scream, a monster the size of a train and resembling a pangolin emerged from the dust, letting out a shrill cry as it lunged straight at the two of them!

This thing is definitely not an ordinary monster, because it is clearly covered in artificial armor!

"What is this thing?!"

The knight and wizard were taken aback by the colossal beast before them and hastily dodged to the sides. The monster, meanwhile, slammed into the wall, causing the entire castle to shake.

At the same time, the turrets hanging on both sides of the monster's body began to fire at the target!
“Da da da da da!!”

Gunshots rang out, followed by a series of flashes that swept across the surroundings. Caught off guard, the wizard was struck in the waist and fell to the ground with a scream. The undead monster behind him vanished as a result.

The knight on the other side withstood the flying bullets, raised his longsword again, leaped up, and slashed down at the cannon in front of him—the next moment, the monster slammed him to the ground with a claw, then opened and closed its mouth, biting the knight's body tightly. With a tooth-grinding sound of metal scraping against metal, the knight in the monster's mouth became a corpse.

Holy crap, what is this thing?!
Li Wei was stunned by what he saw.

He'd encountered monsters before, but this thing was being controlled by someone! And it even had armor and turrets on it?
Moreover, when Li Wei looked at it with [Soul Vision], he was surprised to find that the soul radiance of this thing was actually white!

In other words, this thing isn't a monster, it's a living being!

Are you kidding me? How come he doesn't know that such a thing exists in this world?
Whose general is this, so brave and fierce?

Thinking of this, Li Wei held his breath and stared warily at the monster. Soon, he saw the emblem on the side of the monster's turret.

It was a black eagle with outstretched wings, wearing a crown on its head.

That's the symbol of the Kingdom of Krant!

Upon seeing this, Li Wei's heart sank. Good heavens, the Kingdom of Krant has also taken a different approach. Knowing that pure industry cannot defeat the Empire, they have resorted to chimeras.

This is extremely important intelligence!

After all, this thing can drill holes!

Now Levi has some doubts about whether Francis's defenses can actually stop Krant. This thing is as big as a train and can make holes. If it can make a hole and go through Francis's defenses, then Francis will be finished.
Of course, Francis's downfall has nothing to do with him.

I just didn't expect the Kingdom of Krant to go down the path of chimera technology. This is going to be difficult... Hmm?

Just then, Li Wei suddenly noticed that the monster turned its head and looked in his direction. Then, it lowered its head and suddenly charged forward!
Damn it, the Krant Empire is trying to kill Sophia!
Seeing this, Li Wei was also slightly startled. If the previous groups of people might have come for Sophia's capture, then Krant was clearly there to kill her!
no solution anymore!

With that thought in mind, Li Wei no longer hesitated and picked up Sophia in his arms.

"Sophia, hold on tight to me!"

"Ah, yes!"

Although she didn't know what Levi was going to do, Sophia obediently nodded, hugged Levi's neck, and then Levi led Sophia out to the balcony at the end of the third-floor corridor, and then jumped off!
"Wow!"

Immediately afterwards, the cloak behind Li Wei unfolded like wings, carrying him into the air and heading towards the forest.

At the same time, Li Wei connected the walkie-talkie.

"Calling for Sky Eye, requesting backup!"

As they were speaking, the castle wall behind Li Wei suddenly cracked open, and the monster ran out! Li Wei instinctively drew his gun, aimed at the monster, and pulled the trigger!

"boom!"

With a gunshot, a flashing flare struck the monster's head. At the same time, Lieutenant Horn's voice reached Levi's ears.

"This is the Eye of the Sky, target locked—fire!"

"-------boom!"

The shell fell from the sky and pierced through the monster's body. As Li Wei landed, a loud bang rang out, and the monster was completely blown to pieces.

"call……………"

Looking at the monster's corpse that had exploded behind him, Li Wei breathed a sigh of relief. Then he turned around and looked around to make sure there were no other "spies" nearby before giving the order.

"Eye of the Sky, prepare to land and take us back—and while you're at it, send a few people with you; we've really reaped quite a harvest this time."

(End of this chapter)