"Eh?"
Seeing Fang Li suddenly abandon his firearm and grip his dagger, Stiyl froze in place.
"......"
Kanzaki, however, shifted her stance, tightening her hold on the still-sheathed longsword at her side. Her serious expression reflected the shift she alone could sense.
Because at the exact moment Fang Li's hand closed around the dagger, his presence changed entirely.
Originally, Kanzaki had only felt the aura of an ordinary person from him.
But now… all she could feel was coldness.
Like a blade drawn fresh from its scabbard, razor-sharp, chilling, laced faintly with a murderous intent that pricked at the skin.
This abrupt transformation left Stiyl utterly dumbfounded.
Yet Kanzaki felt no confusion. To her, it was as though Fang Li's hidden essence had finally surfaced, his true nature revealed. And suddenly… it all made sense.
She understood.
"You're no ordinary person."
Those words carried both the instinctive judgment of a Saint and the precision of one of London's top ten magicians.
Fang Li's reply was blunt. "Does that really matter?"
With practiced ease, he twirled the dagger in his hand, his voice calm, steady, and merciless.
"What matters is that I'm about to take something important from you."
The declaration was as sharp as the blade he held, provocative, unyielding, designed to stir hostility. That was Fang Li's nature. The very reason many despised him… and the few who didn't barely tolerated him.
Stiyl counted among the former.
Kanzaki, though, did not. She simply fell silent, the weight of her resolve plain, before giving a small nod of acknowledgment.
"You're right. No matter who you are, if you intend to steal something precious from us, that alone is reason enough for us to cross blades."
Her grip tightened. Her gaze sharpened. The moment held only one certainty, Kanzaki was ready.
"I wasn't planning to reveal my magical name at first…" Kanzaki's voice rang firm as steel, her expression resolute. "…but clearly, you're not someone I can take lightly."
She straightened, her hand tightening on the sword at her side. "In that case, I'll declare it here, my resolve, my oath."
The Saint known as Kanzaki Kaori proclaimed:
"Salvare000, 'Be the salvation of those who cannot be saved!'"
With those words, the over two-meter-long nodachi, still sealed within its sheath, rose before her. A crushing spiritual pressure surged into the air, like heaven itself had focused all weight on this singular point.
"Heh…" Fang Li smirked, unfazed.
From within his eyes, a flash of icy blue brilliance flickered, then vanished as swiftly as it appeared. The atmosphere twisted, as though reality itself strained to contain the clash about to erupt. Their blades had yet to meet, but the battle was already beginning, until it was shattered by a desperate cry.
"Stop!" The voice ripped through the tension, halting all movement.
Hurried footsteps followed. From the rooftop doorway emerged a girl garbed in a pure white monastic habit, the protective cloth of legends, the Walking Church.
Index had arrived.
The moment she stepped into the moonlit rooftop, Kanzaki and Stiyl's killing intent withered, flickering and vanishing like mist.
Even Fang Li's expression darkened.
(…No surprise. With all this magical pressure, Index would've noticed instantly.)
While Fang Li thought this, Index ran forward, arms spread wide. She placed herself squarely between him and the two magicians.
Her small frame trembled, but her stance was unyielding.
As if she intended to shield him.
"......"
Fang Li remained silent.
"......"
Neither Kanzaki nor Stiyl spoke.
But then, shattering that silence, Index cried out with all her heart, "Don't you dare hurt him!"
Her emotions resounded across the rooftop, clear and unwavering.
Fang Li caught it instantly, the hesitation. For a fleeting moment, both Kanzaki and Stiyl's eyes shook with unmistakable turmoil.
And of course they did. The very person they had risked everything to protect now stood before them, hostile and opposing them.
No one could bear that. Kanzaki and Stiyl's fighting spirit had completely vanished.
But these two had reached this point in life precisely because of their resolve. They had already decided they'd become Index's enemies if it meant protecting her. Surely, they would regain their composure soon.
Unfortunately, Fang Li wasn't going to give them that chance.
"This is getting hard to watch…" Muttering this, Fang Li crouched down slightly and gently turned Index's body to face him.
"Wa--" Index instinctively struggled.
But Fang Li spoke first.
"Do you trust me?"
The question froze her for just a second. Then, without the slightest hesitation, Index nodded.
"Of course I trust you."
Her unwavering words made Fang Li smile faintly as he closed his eyes.
Fang Li's academic ability wasn't exactly outstanding. But as Komoe had said, while his grades weren't exceptional, they were far from poor. With that level of knowledge, even if he hadn't gotten intel from the original story, Fang Li knew one thing very well: so-called "memory" could not possibly cause someone's brain to burst.
At least, Fang Li had never heard of such a thing.
Even those with perfect memory ability were no exception.
It was simple math.
According to Kanzaki and Stiyl's information, with 85% of Index's brain capacity occupied by magical data, the remaining 15% could only hold a year's worth of memories.
But if that were true, wouldn't that mean even without stuffing her brain with the 103,000 grimoires' knowledge, Index would only live six or seven years?
That was completely impossible. The human brain could store the equivalent of 140 years of information.
After all, memory wasn't stored in just one place. There were areas responsible for language and knowledge.
Areas responsible for motor skills and actions. Areas responsible for recollection and experiences. This was exactly why people who suffered memory loss didn't necessarily lose all their common sense or knowledge. If all memories were erased indiscriminately, a person would regress to a newborn.
So, the claim that someone could damage their brain from "having too good a memory" would make any expert in medicine laugh out loud.
Then why did Kanzaki and Stiyl believe Index's memories could only last a year before killing her?
The answer was simple.
It was a lie spread by the Anglican Church.
The magical knowledge in Index's head was enough to birth a Magic God.
No one would want such a treasure to escape their grasp.
In other words, to prevent Index from betraying them, the Anglican Church fabricated an absurd lie and kept her memories reset every year to ensure she remained under their control.
For that purpose, they planted a trap in Index's body.
A magical trap.
Fang Li's task was simple.
And that was…
"To kill this trap…"
When Fang Li opened his eyes, his ice-blue Mystic Eyes gleamed within them.
"Fang Li…?" Index froze at the sight.
"Th-Those are…!" Kanzaki and Stiyl's pupils shrank sharply.
But the next second, all reaction vanished.
Puchi!
The dagger pierced flesh.
In one sudden motion, Fang Li's blade sank into Index's throat.
(End Of This Chapter)
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