When the Saintess Arrives, No King Exist
Chapter 56: The Extraordinary System of the Witch and Knight

Chapter 56: Chapter 56: The Extraordinary System of the Witch and Knight

The brilliance of the sunset flickered in the evening breeze, and a vine leaf spiraled through the tower-like skylight, landing on Jilo’s forehead.

Jilo brushed the leaf away, stroking his stubbly chin, looking haggard as if he had fallen seriously ill.

Ever since he was kidnapped by the villagers of Red Mill Village from Holy Grail Mountain to Gulag Monastery, he had been imprisoned in this abandoned turret.

As if he had been forgotten by everyone.

There’s food, there’s clothing, but all day long there are few people to talk to.

Only during breakfast and dinner, when that young Pope Guard waits for him to finish eating and collects his wooden bowls and plates, can he chat for half an hour.

Life like this is truly unbearable.

Jilo could almost envision the future—mad Tree Hedge Village yokels exterminated by the Church, the Church discovering his existence, uncovering his false identity, and then sending him back to Demon Hunter Castle.

Demon Hunters have a certain degree of immunity; the trial might be by the Church, but imprisonment or execution still has to be decided by the Demon Hunter Guild.

Given his actions, the multitude of offenses could mean being a medicine slave at Eagle Castle or Snake Castle until he dies.

Whenever he thinks of this, Jilo feels so sad he almost sheds precious tears.

Just as Jilo was secretly brooding, the creak of the wooden door opening quickly caught his attention.

"Long time no see, Jilo."

When Horn appeared in Jilo’s line of sight, he could hardly believe his eyes.

But as soon as he saw the grape wine, roast chicken, and white bread in Horn’s hand, his body froze.

Especially with Danji, the burly man wielding a flame-shaped greatsword, by his side.

Jilo immediately couldn’t stand, collapsing weakly to the floor.

"Your Majesty, what...what brings you to me?"

"I remember during our previous chat, we discussed how a Witch requires hundreds of Knights, thousands of soldiers to be eradicated, right?"

"Yes."

"You know, Jeanne is a converted Saintess, logically speaking, but why do I feel she seems unable to accomplish this?"

"That’s certainly the case, Miss Jeanne is not a fully realized Witch."

Horn poured him a cup of grape wine: "Then tell me about it."

"Your Majesty, this starts with the Knights." Seeing that Horn wasn’t here to take his life, Jilo relaxed immediately.

"To talk about Knights, Sir Danji here certainly understands more than I do, but since Your Majesty asked me to speak, I’ll give it a try."

Perhaps having been suppressed for too long, once Jilo started talking, he spoke at length.

"According to the Empire’s system, although the Knight title can be inherited, the Knight rank must be achieved by the Knight’s own extraordinary abilities.

The Knight ranks, from lowest to highest, are Squire Knight, Square Banner Knight, Imperial Knight, Titled Knight, and Great Knight.

Many yokels, uh, I mean commoners, would think that the number of sections in the breathing technique and the Knight’s rank are equated, but that was in the Classical Era.

Nowadays, Knight rank is determined by military merit and the Knight tournament, with the breathing technique and the Knight’s combat power not entirely equated."

"I see, hey, Danji, which rank are you?" Horn turned to ask Danji.

Danji did not answer, simply warming his face silently, muttering "A Knight who believes in knightly spirit is the true Knight" and "Can a Knight affair be called a loss?"

Jilo judiciously shifted the topic away: "Among these three, the Imperial Knight is the pinnacle of Knights.

Many Titled Knights are often posthumously honored; few earn the title while alive.

As for Great Knight, it’s a realm only achievable by breaking through the Nine-Section Breathing Technique, the pinnacle of extraordinary martial power.

However, since the end of the Hundred Years’ War, few Knights who achieved the Nine-Section Breathing Technique wish to advance to Great Knight..."

As Jilo explained, Horn slowly unraveled the lineage of the Extraordinary Knight system.

Extraordinary power has always been at the heart of the nobility’s oppressive ruling system, naturally growing more specialized and refined with the development of civilization.

In the military aspect, which Horn was most interested in, Extraordinary Knights developed a sophisticated tactical system.

Taking Leia Kingdom as an example, Leia Kingdom’s main unit of Extraordinary Knights is called the Imperial Company.

An Imperial Company’s composition is as follows:

An Imperial Knight, a Square Banner Knight, and a Squire Knight form a lance squad, occasionally temporarily conscripting Mounted Archers, Swordsmen, Long Spearmen, and Crossbowmen.

to 9 people make up a basic tactical unit.

Since swordsmen and long spearmen are considered temporary personnel without extraordinary force, they are not counted within an Imperial battalion.

An Imperial battalion is composed of one hundred mounted squads, including 100 Imperial Knights, 100 Square Banner Knights, and 100 Squire Knights.

The entire Leia Kingdom has only 42 Imperial battalions, distributed among the royal family, the three Dukes, and Prince Kongdai of the Lion Knights.

This does not mean Leia Kingdom only has 4200 Imperial Knights.

Because once Imperial Knights are certified, they are mandatorily enlisted in the battalion.

Many knights with the capability of being Imperial Knights are unwilling to get involved in this mess, so they deliberately avoid participating in knight tournament festivals or hold back during competitions.

After digesting this information, Horn continues to inquire about witches.

"Your Highness, when I was training at Snake Castle, a scholar from the Salin Association once lectured us." Jilo recalled with a reminiscent expression, "He once told me a pattern: The development of extraordinary force always cycles between volume and qualitative change."

"Volume and qualitative change..." Horn mutters these unfamiliar terms.

"Yes, when the knight breathing technique was first invented, there was only one section, and a knight in the first section could crush ordinary knights with ease.

As a result, more knights began to delve into it and quickly developed the second-section breathing technique, the third, up to the ninth.

Upon reaching the ninth section limit, to defeat enemies on the battlefield, knights started developing extraordinary martial arts.

A knight proficient in extraordinary martial arts could defeat opponents of the same level or even those beyond their level, prompting knights to continue advancing extraordinary martial arts, making it stronger and more widespread.

When the evolution of extraordinary martial arts became difficult, knights shifted focus to invent extraordinary weapons and armor.

We are currently in the phase of accumulating extraordinary armor and extraordinary weapons.

This is why people no longer evaluate a knight’s strength by the number of sections in the breathing technique, like in the Classical Era.

Because a knight’s prowess involves not just the inherent extraordinary force but also the application of such force, the skills to wield extraordinary combat equipment, and a series of other integrated abilities.

When we discuss an Imperial Knight, we always equate them with knights of the six-section breathing technique.

But in reality, if a six-section knight from the Classical Era were to face an Imperial Knight in battle, the Imperial Knight could easily defeat them within a few rounds."

"But, what does this have to do with a witch’s combat ability?" Horn asks.

Jilo chuckles: "Your Highness, the development of all extraordinary martial power follows this pattern, and witches are no exception."

Listening to Jilo’s explanation, Horn gradually understands.

Initially, witches could effortlessly overpower mortals with their inherent power.

But as the breathing technique, holy water, blessings, and other extraordinary skills developed, the relative strength of witches began to decline.

To resist knights and demon hunters, witches also started researching extraordinary techniques and equipment.

But witches have an extremely terrifying ability: they can almost immunize against all evil artifacts and magical creatures’ effects, like the side effects of the bone whistle.

Armed with this ability, seasoned witches would appear adorned with bizarre artifacts, wearing witch armor and masks protective against holy water.

Moreover, witches could live up to 150 to 200 years; with prolonged skills honing, as long as they don’t go mad, they can develop impressive powers.

Every witch older than 100 years is more feared by the Church than the ogre expeditionary army of the Blood and Flesh Royal Court.

After all, there are traces to the ogre expeditionary army, but a flexible, agile witch is the nightmare of many in the Church’s upper echelons.

The Dark Witch Toluya Magmi, notorious as a bishop killer, singlehandedly assassinated two dukes, four Cardinals, and a Pope, yet managed to escape successfully.

It forced the Church to command "Winged Angels, mobilize!" to finally capture and execute her by burning her at the stake.

Not to mention the unrivaled existence of Pope Joan.

"To become a witch capable of turning the tide in battle, Miss Jeanne lacks training and artifacts, as well as the accumulation of time." Jilo raised a finger, "This is the first point."

"The second point is that Miss Jeanne’s extraordinary ability is indeed powerful, yet her lightning ironically cannot pierce through steel.

Since knights are clad in iron armor, this decreases Miss Jeanne’s relative strength further."

Of course, there’s one point Jilo didn’t mention, but everyone present understood: the potential for frenzy.

A frenzied witch experiences a significant explosive increase in strength.

This, however, falls outside of Horn’s considerations since a witch in a frenzy is unpredictable, and it wouldn’t do to end up harming themselves inadvertently.

Horn rubs his chin.

In this case, if Jeanne is to enhance her combat ability, it might be impossible to acquire witch armor and artifacts, but perhaps a mask protecting against holy water could be feasible.