Chapter 66 - The Guardian Knights
"Anyway, cannot completely remove the suspicion that this guy might be an incarnation of the God of Light..."
After listening to Cysper's explanation about his own origins again, I muttered to myself. Although I believed he did not lie to us, this inexplicable way of "descending" was really bizarre, inevitably making me link it to all sorts of deities and spirits.
"So, can you fully trust me now? I have no ill intentions. It's rare for me to finally come out to the world, so of course I don't want to go back. Moreover, since this is related to you all, I naturally have to tag along! Besides, with my protection, this rescue mission will definitely be a breeze, right?"
Cysper finished speaking and snapped his fingers in the air. Suddenly, two figures dropped down from a nearby tree - they were the Pope's guards.
"Unless there's any mishap, you all must have noticed them. These two are my special guards. They have strength above the sixth rank, only slightly weaker than me. Dealing with a mere phoenix is child's play!"
"Fifth seat of the Star Glory Knight Guardian Squad - Ron Morse!"
The two were both males, one old and one young. The young man who spoke was the source of the light element I had been sensing. He wore a church casual outfit, but the outer robe was draped over his shoulders instead of being worn properly. He had a blade of grass between his lips and his fringe was slicked back - he looked quite dashing. However, his nonchalant demeanor made it hard to tell he was a mage just from his appearance.
"Be more serious! These two are Angel Ladies!"
Cysper frowned and reprimanded him.
"Uh...please forgive me, Ladies."
Although Ron seemed a bit reluctant, he still spat out the grass blade and properly reintroduced himself.
"Your subordinate sure has quite the personality..."
Cyra teased, finding it rare to see a church member act this way towards angels. But the so-called personality didn't just refer to his demeanor, but also his emerald green hair color.
"Just for that hair color, I'll forgive you naturally!"
"Really? So Angel Lady like this color too!"
To everyone's surprise, Ron's eyes lit up upon hearing this, as if he had received validation.
"I just dyed it recently. The original golden color was too common, so I changed to a special color. But it seems the Pope doesn't quite like it."
He finished with a glance at Cysper.
"No...haha, didn't expect you to be so knowledgeable too!"
Cyra laughed even harder, dramatically patting Cysper's shoulder like good buddies, leaving the two guards gaping at their intimate interaction with an angel - probably a first.
"First seat of the Star Glory Knight Guardian Squad - Mike Boyle!"
The other guard looked much older, but was only in his middle ages compared to young Ron. I didn't sense any light elements from him, so I wasn't sure if he specialized in other magic or martial arts. But being the first seat, his strength must not be weaker than Ron's.
"Alright, now you two go do this for me: search the surrounding forests for some prey, or if you can't find any, go buy some from the nearby towns and villages. We need to bring something back as proof."
After their introductions, the Pope nodded and instructed them.
"Yes, Your Holiness!"
The two responded and vanished from our sight, just like when they first appeared.
"Not bad! Your subordinates really move like ninjas!"
Cyra praised their suddenly appearing and disappearing techniques. But I was rather unfazed, since with my current strength I could barely do the same. It's just a matter of stealth skills - if not mastered properly, it's easy to make a blunder.
"Ninjas? That term sounds familiar...does it mean being good at enduring? Well, come to think of it, it does seem to fit their situation. After all, I've made them hide and endure around me for almost a day..."
Cysper's eyes lit up as he stared in the direction they left, as if pondering something. It seemed he took the term quite seriously.
"Too bad the Star Glory Knight Squad already exists. Looks like I'll have to establish a new organization."
"A ninja organization under the church?" I didn't know how to react to his "brilliant idea". Fortunately he didn't rename them on the spot, or I might have fainted.
While waiting for the two guardian knights, Cyra took the opportunity to show me the results of her and the Pope's research - body swap control.
Previously, their swaps happened unexpectedly. The only pattern they could discern was that it must occur at night after both fell asleep. But after their repeated experiments, they could now actively enter the swapped state to some degree. This was really significant progress!
"Actually, it doesn't have to be nighttime, nor do we need to be asleep. As long as we both lose consciousness, the swap can potentially happen, though not with 100% success rate..."
Cysper finished speaking and, without preamble, chopped at the back of Cyra's head, startling me.
"No choice, since angels are immune to hypnosis magic, I had to use this method."
Cyra's body swayed and finally collapsed to the ground unconscious, as Cysper explained apologetically.
"Heh, you didn't have to be so blunt, right? Couldn't you have used hypnotic drugs instead?"
I felt a twitch at the corner of my mouth, wondering if this was how they conducted their experiments - by knocking each other out?
"Ah?"
I didn't know if he heard me, but Cysper suddenly shuddered all over, shaking his head, before speaking again with a slight change in tone.
"Damn! Didn't expect him to be so straightforward this time!"
It was clearly Cyra speaking now, just in Cysper's body as she responded to my question.
"We did use hypnotic drugs in our previous experiments, and also a light element isolation device. But if only one person was asleep, the success rate was extremely low. So we usually took them together and waited for the swap."
"...But he didn't get knocked out just now, and the swap still happened?"
I froze for a few seconds before realizing why Cysper didn't use the drugs - the effects were too slow in this outdoor situation. As for the light element isolator, that was even more impossible.
"Cases of just one side losing consciousness do occur, but with much lower success rates concentrated on Cyra's side..."
The "Cyra" on the ground also woke up, having not been out for very long. But when standing back up, someone else had taken over inside. Cysper rubbed the back of his head with clenched teeth as he explained.
"That really hurt! Looks like I went overboard..."
"Serves you right for pulling that stunt without warning! Now you have to bear the consequences!"
Seeing his state, Cyra mocked him gleefully. This scene gave me a disorienting feeling - I couldn't quite tell who was who for a moment.
"How long does this swapped state last? How do you switch back?"
Recalling their appearance the night before last, I rubbed my temples as well, though not the back of my head.
On the surface, this swap seemed to enhance our combat strength since the light element expert Cysper in Cyra's body could likely unleash more power. But on the flip side, Cyra was completely crippled - besides some light magic, she couldn't do much else, let alone her half-baked swordsmanship! Currently possessing the Pope's body might give her slightly better physical attributes, but otherwise she was about as capable as when her wings were concealed. One could say she lost all fighting ability, so it might even be better not to swap at all!
"We haven't completely figured out how to switch back, but it usually automatically reverts in a few hours, so no need to worry too much!"
The "Cysper" who was actually Cyra replied nonchalantly, leaving me speechless again. A few hours...did that mean we had to "hunt" outside for that long? If it dragged on, Brennan and the others would definitely get anxious.
"Your Holiness, we found a wild deer nearby. That should be enough, right?"
At that moment, the two guardian knights returned carrying their "prey". A deer's portion would be enough for us for several days. But my mind wasn't on the food - Cysper and Cyra were still swapped, and one misstep could expose their unconventional behavior and arouse suspicion.
Surely even Cysper himself wouldn't want to reveal this body-swapping secret to his subordinates? I wondered how they would handle this situation.
"Hmm, just leave it here and you're dismissed. We'll take it from here!"
Unexpectedly, the "Pope" nodded calmly, giving the dead deer dropped by Ron an "authoritative" glance before casually instructing them.
For a split second I thought they had swapped back. But I immediately realized it was Cyra deliberately acting as the Pope! It seemed they had put in quite some practice for situations like this.