Saint

Saints (聖人) are powerful people on the Magic Side, with less than 20 of them in the world. Their existence is also called 'Child of God', and marked with a Stigma.

Principles
The theory behind their power is based on Idol Worship, where a replica of a more powerful being/item can also gain a tiny portion of the original's strength. Humans are said to be made in the image of God, and Saints are said to be a higher replica that can bring out more strength. It is also because of that reason, that Saints in general are weak to attacks that resemble how the Son of God was killed (being stabbed, a crown of Thorns, and the crucifix). Though this weakness normally is inconsequential since most magicians don't have the power to exploit these weaknesses, and most saints are aware of this problem and take measure to prevent them being affected by the weakness.

Though it is possible for a Saint to use up too much power past the limit of the human body and destroy themselves. Demonstrated when Kanzaki fought Misha/Gabriel during the Angel Fall incident and was on the brink of over-exerting herself and death before Motoharu blasted the ritual location.

The spell 'Saint Destroyer' designed by the Amakusa Church aims to disrupt the balance of holy power and magic power inside a saint, and against a normal saint it only temporarily brings them down to levels like a normal human. In Amakusa's fight against Acqua of the Back the 'Saint Destroyer' made him self-destruct because he has too much power due to his role as one of the God's Right Seat as well.

Traits that most Saints have include superhuman physical strength, incredible speed, capable of channeling larger amount of mana compared to normal magicians, and superhuman senses. Examples of superhuman senses are demonstrated many times in the novels, when it was stated Kanzaki have vision of 8.0 and William Orville can hear a whisper from over 10m away.

Saints have rankings akin to the seven Level 5s of Academy City, which is based on their level of contribution to society.

Known Saints
There are the Saints seen or mentionned in the series thus far:
 * Kanzaki Kaori
 * William Orwell (Lost his Saint powers)
 * Silvia (Higher rank than Brunhild)
 * Brunhild Eiktobel (Lower rank than Silvia)
 * Number Ten Saint (not much is known, except that he/she has been continually flying through the sky for years)
 * Shutaura Sequenzia
 * http://toarumajutsunoindex.wikia.com/wiki/Acqua_of_the_Back

Noted Saints
This section deals with famous saints mentioned in the novels. Keep in mind many here have not been explicitly stated as having the same status/power as William Orville or Kanzaki Kaori, with the name 'Saint' might just be a title.

St. Peter
Is one of Jesus's Twelve Apostles, foundator of the Roman Catholic Church and also a saint. Peter was executed during the late 1st century A.D., and when Emperor Constantine first recognised Christianity was in the early 4th century, and the Frankish king, Papal the Short, gave up this land in the 8th century.

Peter wasn’t on good terms with the Roman Empire at that time, for he was enemies with the high magician of the empire, Simon Magus, and in the end, killed him. This eventually led to his execution.

On the day that Peter was to be executed on the Cross, he made a request to be crucified upside-down instead of the usual manner, stating that he does not deserve to die in the same way as how his teacher Jesus Christ is executed. And in the same spot where he was supposed to have been buried, the St. Peter's Basilica is constucted.

Later on, a copy of the cross used to crucify him, the Croce di (Santo) Pietro (or Cross of Saint Peter), is made, and it acquires the same power as Peter's body himself, as a vessel that gathers the different affiliates of the Roman Catholic Church.

Within the series, it is noted in various passages that Peter was the one who called upon God's power to permanently ban 'Flight magic' to all magicians. It is however, a spell that can be used in the modern era as shown during the Civil War on England and against Mjolnir by Kanzaki Kaori.