Meanwhile, Wang Xiaoming used this time to create a full 11 artifacts for himself. Combined with the God-Slaying Tool he made with Fenrir, Wang Xiaoming now had 12 artifacts in his hands. Forming a Round Table Knights was definitely not a problem!
But unfortunately, there's basically no one in the Round Table Knights right now. The only one is Asia, the healer. Although she joined the Knights, she hasn't actually taken any action. Every day she's happily waiting in the church, looking forward to things, then she'll clean the church and take a walk in the park outside the church, things like that.
But Wang Xiaoming isn't worried. Just because there's no one now doesn't mean there won't be anyone later.
Moreover, during this time that Wang Xiaoming was forging artifacts, Meili was frantically setting up invisible cameras all over Kuoh Town.
Meili is, after all, a bio-android AI. With Wang Xiaoming's knowledge, as long as she has a workbench, she can easily manufacture the standard invisible cameras that Wang Xiaoming gave her. She used illusions to deceive the police chief, making the police think that people were donating money to install more security cameras in Kuoh Town. Under the guise of installing security cameras, Meili mixed in the invisible cameras, spreading them throughout every corner of Kuoh Town.
In fact, while Meili was laying out the invisible cameras on the ground, Wang Xiaoming was also setting up his own surveillance network. Wang Xiaoming's surveillance network was very simple. He learned from a certain man who liked to hang upside down and set up a suspended loop line to monitor the entire Kuoh Town.
Suspended loop lines are so convenient. They're super small and hidden in the air, and they're also a product of technology. Even if the devils see them, they won't know what's going on. There's just one thing: because they're always floating in the air, they're easily affected by the anti-air indiscriminate attacks that frequently occur in this world. Once they're affected, they're easily damaged. After all, they're so small, Wang Xiaoming can't possibly equip them with protective armor, right?
But it doesn't matter. Wang Xiaoming built an automatic production machine on the roof of the church to continuously produce suspended loop lines and then spread them into the atmosphere to replenish the daily consumption caused by various reasons.
After all, they might be eaten by birds, they might crash into things, they might be blown away to other places.
The reason why suspended loop lines are so convenient in Academy City is mainly because there are tall walls there. Academy City can directly shelter from the wind inside. Kuoh Town is completely open-air, and there are various unknown indiscriminate attacks, so consumption definitely needs to be replenished.
With Wang Xiaoming and Meili mutually setting up surveillance networks in the air and on the ground, the entire Kuoh Town has been secretly laid with a dragnet. No disturbance will escape Wang Xiaoming's eyes.
Just like that, Wang Xiaoming has been monitoring the entire Kuoh Town. And the devils, because of Issei Hyodo's identity as the Red Dragon Emperor, have begun to make arrangements in Kuoh Town, especially Sirzechs. After learning of Issei Hyodo's identity as the Red Dragon Emperor, he felt that he had guessed the reason why Wang Xiaoming came to Kuoh Town. A Red Dragon Emperor who is destined to become a Maou-class as long as he develops is in Kuoh Town, Kuoh Town is bound to become the center of the storm.
His previous anxiety was because he didn't know what exactly was going to happen. Now he feels that he knows what's going on, so he's not worried anymore.
And so, Kuoh Town entered a temporary state of peace. The black-clothed men who wanted to kidnap the Red Dragon Emperor did not appear again.
This situation lasted until two female knights from the church came to Kuoh Town, and then changes occurred.
582. I'm Just a Passing Ordinary Knight
Xenovia Quarta and Irina Shidou.
One is a demon-exorcising knight belonging to the Roman Catholic Church, and the other is a demon-exorcising knight belonging to the Anglican Church of England.
From a general perspective, both of them are demon-exorcising knights belonging to the church forces, but within the church, they are different. Within Christianity, the Roman Catholic Church considers itself the most orthodox, but outside of Catholicism, there are two other major factions: the Anglican Church in England and the Eastern Orthodox Church in Eastern Europe. These all belong to Christianity, but their doctrines are different.
Within the church, the Roman Catholic Church even calls the other denominations heretics!
This is something that makes them even more angry than heretics, so internal friction has always existed.
It's also thanks to the devils and fallen angels; otherwise, they don't know what kind of infighting would be happening internally.
Xenovia, as a demon-exorcising knight, is also a holy sword knight, and Irina Shidou is also a holy sword knight. They each have a holy sword in their hands: one is the Holy Sword of Destruction, which is powerful, simple, and crude, and the other is the Holy Sword of Mimicry, which can change its form. Both were forged from fragments of King Arthur's Sword of Promised Victory.
The two of them, from inherently incompatible internal factions, unexpectedly became acquainted with each other while investigating the disappearance of the three holy swords of the church, and even became good friends, because within the complex church, both of their personalities are relatively simple, so they became good friends in battle.
They investigated the clues to the missing holy swords,一路查一路来到了驹王镇. (They investigated the clues to the missing holy swords,一路查一路来到了驹王镇.)
And the moment they entered Kuoh Town, Wang Xiaoming knew about it. The moment the suspended loop line confirmed their arrival, Wang Xiaoming understood that his plan could begin.
The Round Table Knights could finally recruit people, and Wang Xiaoming's identity could also be completely exposed.
Wang Xiaoming, who had already left a deep impression on Xenovia, would definitely be very surprised to appear in front of her again.
Xenovia and Irina, who had come to Kuoh Town, immediately began investigating in the town. In essence, they are demon-exorcising knights who are good at fighting. Expecting them to be able to investigate anything is actually a very strange thing. This is not something they would do at all.
So their investigation is actually just wandering around the town. Besides wandering around, it's still wandering around. They were even scammed out of their expenses because they had been in the church since they were young and didn't have much contact with the outside world. After coming to Kuoh Town, they didn't even have money for living expenses, let alone money to eat.
Helpless, the two of them, in a state of unbearable hunger, began to ask passersby if there was a church. Although this is the territory of nightmares, they could only try it out in order to get something to eat. As long as they found a church, whether it was a fallen angel's church or a church of the church, they would be able to get something to eat.
If it was a fallen angel's church, they would chop those fallen angels and then snatch the fallen angels' food. If it was a regular church, it would be even simpler. They are demon-exorcising knights of the church. As long as they revealed their identity, they could eat for free without even having to fight.
After asking several passersby, they finally learned that there was a church in Kuoh Town, and there were people inside, and even a cute nun.
As soon as they heard that there was a cute nun, then this church must be a regular church!
The two immediately asked for directions and found the church, which is the church where Wang Xiaoming is.
The two came to the outside of the church, looking at the tightly closed door of the church, and quickly went up to knock on the door.
"Is anyone there? Is anyone inside!"
Xenovia knocked hard on the door, wanting the people inside to respond quickly.
"Please wait a moment, I'll be right there."
And the person inside immediately responded.
The door was quickly pulled open, and Asia's head poked out from inside the door, looking at Xenovia outside the door with a curious expression.
"May I ask who you are?"
"Are you the nun of the church?"
Xenovia did not answer, but instead asked a question.
"Yes, I am Asia, the nun here. May I ask who you are?"
Being intimidated by Xenovia's very imposing manner, Asia even used honorifics when asking again.
"I am a demon-exorcising knight sent by Rome. This is my knight's certificate."
Xenovia took out her knight's certificate and told Asia her identity.
"So you are a knight of the church."
Although she had been exiled by the church, Asia still had a good impression of the church. Praying there every day is the most direct proof.
Asia opened the door of the church and nodded to Xenovia as a greeting.
"Hello, Knight-sama. Is there anything I can help you with?"
"Um...."
Being asked so politely by Asia, Xenovia was suddenly embarrassed to speak. What was she going to say? I'm out of money, I want you to give me some money?
She couldn't bring herself to say that, so she could only choose to say it in another way.
“We came here with a mission from the Church. We have a task to perform in Kuoh Town, and we need to use this place as a base for the time being. We hope you can cooperate.”
Clearly, the Church provided funds that would allow them to stay in a hotel, but she was swindled out of it all, forcing her to use this excuse to stay temporarily in the church.
“No problem, Knight-sama, please come in.”
Asia completely opened the door, inviting Xenovia and Irina Shidou inside. Seeing Asia's welcome, the two exchanged a glance and simultaneously breathed a sigh of relief before following Asia into the church.
However, what the two of them didn't expect was that as soon as they entered the church, the church door suddenly closed automatically, and a man's voice rang in their ears.
“Welcome, two Holy Sword Knights, to Kuoh Town.”
In the originally empty church hall, a young man in blue clothes suddenly appeared.
“Who is it?”
“It's you!”
The two girls' completely different reactions proved their different inner emotions when they saw Wang Xiaoming.
“Do you know him?”
Irina looked curiously at Xenovia beside her.
“No, I don't know him, but I've seen him before. I saw him once in Rome when he and another elf broke into the backyard of the Exorcist Knights' dormitory.”
“So, he's an enemy?”
Irina drew her Holy Sword, preparing to fight.
“No, I'm not sure. He just broke into the dormitory backyard and didn't do anything dangerous.”
This made Irina a little confused. Does that mean he's not an enemy?
“Don't be nervous. I'm not your enemy, and I told you, Xenovia, we would meet again.”
“Just who are you?”
Xenovia stepped forward and asked Wang Xiaoming, who was still the same as he was in Rome last time.
“Didn't I already tell you? I'm just an ordinary knight passing by.”
583. This World Has Never Been Beautiful
An ordinary knight? Xenovia would really believe that only if she saw a ghost.
But she didn't know Wang Xiaoming's identity, nor did she understand why Wang Xiaoming would say that. She couldn't understand Wang Xiaoming's words, but she didn't need to care about Wang Xiaoming's identity now, as long as she was sure that Wang Xiaoming wasn't an enemy.
Because she really didn't want to go anywhere else. If she could rest in this church, then she would rest in this church. She really didn't want to run anymore, and she didn't have the strength to run anymore.
So, she would stay here. At least, she would eat her meal here first!
Ignoring Wang Xiaoming, Xenovia directly found Asia next to her and asked Asia to arrange food and rest for them, as if this was her own home, which stunned Wang Xiaoming.
It was considering that you guys would be impolite when you came over, but it shouldn't be this impolite. You're too familiar.
However, Wang Xiaoming didn't stop them. Letting them live in the church was originally part of Wang Xiaoming's plan. In the original plot, they had nowhere to live, and there was no one in the church. If there were people, they were also part of the Fallen Angel group. They had no choice but to rely on Irina Shidou's and Issei's childhood sweetheart relationship and directly live in Issei's house, which directly led to Rias also moving into Issei's house, and then a group of beautiful girls all moved into Issei's house.
Now that there was a church to live in, Xenovia's first choice was definitely the church. As for Irina Shidou, Wang Xiaoming didn't care about her. She was just an ordinary Holy Sword Knight. Indeed, she would be transformed into an angel by Michael in the future and even become one of the administrators of the Heavenly Realm, but her talent was just like that.
Compared to Xenovia, who could be directly recognized by the Holy Sword Durandal and allowed to use it, she was still a bit lacking.
Therefore, Wang Xiaoming only wanted Xenovia and didn't want Irina Shidou.
Xenovia stayed in the church, and her companion, Irina Shidou, also stayed with her. However, after eating and relieving her hunger, she ran out by herself first.
Wang Xiaoming didn't need to guess to know what she ran out to do. As Issei's childhood sweetheart, Irina Shidou had liked Issei since she was a child. Now that she had finally returned to Kuoh Town, the first thing she would definitely do was to find Issei.
But Issei had now become a devil, and also the Red Dragon Emperor. She would definitely be very surprised when she saw him.
Xenovia stayed in the church and didn't go out. After eating, she simply rested for a while, and then picked up her Holy Sword of Destruction and began to wave it at the entrance of the church.
This church was too small, and there was no backyard, so she had to practice in the open space of the park at the entrance of the church. She kept waving the Holy Sword of Destruction in her hand at the air with very standard movements.
However, she stopped after only waving it a few times and turned her head to look at Wang Xiaoming beside her.
“Is there something you need?”
“Do you remember what I said to you before?”
Wang Xiaoming crossed his arms and leaned against the wall of the church.
Xenovia frowned and thought for a moment, then opened her mouth.
“The truth of the world?”
“That's right. You should have discovered something this time, right?”
Wang Xiaoming opened his mouth faintly, looking like he understood.
“You should have also discovered the real purpose of the mission the Church gave you this time, right?”
Ah? What? What are you talking about?
Xenovia was stunned, looking at Wang Xiaoming with a blank expression. What truth? What real purpose? I don't know at all!
Wang Xiaoming continued to explain, as if he didn't see Xenovia's expression.
“The internal division of the Church is serious. Some people, for their own purposes, have begun to manipulate the power of the Church. How do you think the three Holy Swords controlled by the Church were lost? They were all the result of internal spies in the Church cooperating with the Fallen Angels. They want to climb to higher positions.”
“The high-level positions in the Church have been solidified for a long time. It's difficult for the people below to climb up. They can only wait for the people above to retire. But if a war breaks out, it will be different. The people above can be quickly replaced. Even if the people above can't be replaced, they can strengthen themselves in various ways during the war.”
“In order to achieve their goals, they can use any means, even selling the Holy Swords. The three Holy Swords previously given to the Fallen Angels, as well as the two Holy Swords in your and Irina Shidou's hands now, plus the other Holy Swords in the hands of the Fallen Angels, directly make up seven Holy Swords. I think you don't need me to tell you what these seven Holy Swords can become when they are gathered together, right?”
Wang Xiaoming didn't care what Xenovia thought. In short, he just gave a spoiler, making the already stunned Xenovia even more stunned. What is this? I seem to have heard something amazing. There are internal spies in the Church? The Holy Swords were sent out by internal spies?
Moreover, the Holy Swords are in the hands of the Fallen Angels. Counting the ones in your and Irina's hands, all seven are gathered?
What is this for? Are you going to recast the Sword of Promised Victory?
“Why do you know these things?”
Xenovia, who had been instilled with faith since she was a child, put down the sword in her hand and asked Wang Xiaoming coldly.
“Just what are you?”
As a person whose faith has not been shaken, she is still in the stage of blind loyalty to the Church. In the original plot, it was because she was too blindly loyal that she directly gave up on herself and took the initiative to surrender and become a devil after learning that God was dead, which was very powerful.
And now, what Wang Xiaoming wants to do is to give her a vaccination, constantly giving it, constantly talking in her ear, letting her know that the things she was instilled with by the Church were all fake, that everything was deceiving her.
“I'm just a knight who was abandoned after discovering the truth, a lost knight. But even as a lost knight, I have my own goal, and I'm working hard for this goal, making myself work hard to achieve it, not working hard for a false goal.”
“What exactly are you trying to say! Can you please just say it clearly!”
Xenovia was very dissatisfied with Wang Xiaoming's cryptic behavior. She had had enough of Wang Xiaoming's various cryptic behaviors. The first time was fine, the second time he was a passing knight, and now he said a bunch of nonsense. Is this person ever going to be done?
