"Berserker Vlad III and Berserker Chevalier d'Eon… So even with a Holy Grail, you can't summon an unlimited number of Servants, huh."
After a full night's rest, the group set out the next day toward Orléans—Jeanne d'Arc's hometown, now turned into Jeanne Alter's stronghold.
What greeted them was a swarm of wyverns and dragon tooth warriors, but only two Servants: Vlad III and Chevalier d'Eon, both under Berserker-class Madness Enhancement. No new Servants had been added, likely because there was a limit—even with the Holy Grail, summoning wasn't infinite. If the enemy had been able to summon dozens of Servants, the war would've been over long ago.
Having come to the world of Fate, Daniel was naturally intrigued by Holy Grail Wars and the mechanics of summoning. He had spent a lot of time discussing the topic with Da Vinci.
After so many years in Chaldea, Da Vinci had a thorough understanding of Holy Grail summoning systems. Chaldea's summoning wasn't based on a Holy Grail per se, but was a refined system adapted from Grail War summoning rituals. It no longer required an actual Grail to summon Heroic Spirits.
But Daniel, being aware of the deeper truths of the Nasuverse, knew that this "refinement" was in fact a return to the original intent of Heroic Spirit summoning: to summon Servants in response to humanity's crises. The seven deadly evils paralleled the seven Grand Classes.
If they had known each other longer, Daniel would've asked Da Vinci to help him construct a summoning catalyst—like the summoning suitcase she would eventually develop post-humanity restoration.
"Chevalier d'Eon… leave him to us."
Seeing d'Eon, Marie Antoinette and Mozart stepped forward. He had once been her knight and swore loyalty to her. Marie naturally wanted to be the one to free his soul, just like she did with Sanson before.
"We'll take this side."
Mash, Saint George, and others moved to confront Vlad III. Historically known as the Impaler and the inspiration for Count Dracula, Vlad was a fearsome figure. Yet the real man despised vampirism and would never use such powers unless forced to by Command Spells.
"The power of a dragon slayer really is something. Just his presence alone is enough to paralyze those wyverns."
Daniel had been planning to take out the wyverns himself, but Siegfried didn't give him the chance. Merely by releasing his aura as a dragon-slaying hero, Siegfried caused the wyverns to lose control and crash to the ground, trembling in fear and unable to fight.
ROAR!
From the castle came a thunderous roar—Fafnir's, full of fury and, to Daniel's ears, unmistakable terror.
Without hesitation, Siegfried charged toward the sound.
"So impatient, huh… Guess I'll take care of the dragon tooth warriors, then."
The wyverns were neutralized, but the dragon tooth warriors remained unaffected. Unlike true dragons, these undead constructs weren't susceptible to Siegfried's passive aura.
Just as Daniel was about to act, cannon fire erupted nearby, and the sound of troops charging rang out.
"Attack! Don't let them through!"
A middle-aged man clad in silver armor, wielding a longsword, led hundreds of soldiers and nearly a dozen cannons into battle.
Daniel recognized him immediately: Gilles de Rais—the present-day one. After the church and royal family were wiped out by Jeanne Alter, he held the highest official authority in France. He had stopped the army from retaliating against Jeanne Alter, desperate to prevent further bloodshed.
He also firmly believed that the Dragon Witch was not the real Jeanne d'Arc. In this timeline, Gilles was an honorable man. It was hard to imagine he would later become the infamous Bluebeard.
Jeanne had seen him before, but didn't reveal herself due to her resemblance to Jeanne Alter. He was perhaps the only one who truly believed she wasn't the Dragon Witch.
He brought his troops to support the battle. While they couldn't do anything against Servants, they could still take on wyverns and undead.
"Guess I'm not needed here anymore." Seeing the soldiers holding their own, Daniel headed toward the castle.
"Evil dragon, fall from the sky. The twilight of the world has come—strike down, Balmung!"
As Daniel entered the castle gates, he saw Siegfried unleashing his Noble Phantasm. A blue surge of energy soared skyward, cleaving the fleeing Fafnir in two. The dragon, paralyzed by fear, hadn't even fought back.
Elsewhere, Mash and Marie unleashed their Noble Phantasms to end their battles. Vlad was formidable, but Saint George was no slouch. Even as a mere 2-star Servant, he held his ground against the 5-star Vlad. As a saint, George's power specifically countered Vlad's vampiric nature.
"What a waste."
With that thought, Daniel quickly got to work collecting materials from Fafnir—especially its blood. These were invaluable. Since Da Vinci wasn't present, Daniel worked quickly and had nearly finished before Mash and the others arrived.
"This place… it's horrible."
Entering the castle, Mash and Ritsuka's faces paled at the blood-soaked halls. This wasn't a fortress—it was a torture chamber.
Jeanne Alter and Gilles' revenge hadn't ended with simple execution. For those who had persecuted Jeanne—the nobles and clergy—they ensured every death was slow and agonizing.
One bishop in particular, infamous for his role in Jeanne's trial, had been horrifically tortured by Gilles before being burned alive by Jeanne Alter.
"They were all clergy… makes sense, I suppose."
As Daniel walked past the mutilated corpses, he understood Gilles' thinking. The church had branded Jeanne a witch and burned her. Gilles hated them—and by extension, God.
His later crimes, in truth, were an attempt to blaspheme divinity itself.
"Mr. Shen… why did it have to be this way?" Mash asked, her eyes heavy with sadness.
"It's simple. The church was the real executioner of Jeanne d'Arc." Daniel glanced at Jeanne before answering. "To them, only they were worthy of receiving divine revelations. But a peasant girl claimed to speak with God. It shattered their authority."
"They're monsters…" Ritsuka started to speak in anger but held her tongue upon seeing Jeanne.
"They're disgusting. I'm gonna blast them all!"
Sickened by the grotesque undead, Elizabeth raised her voice and began summoning her Noble Phantasm to annihilate the corpses.
These "living corpses" were essentially magical zombies—reanimated bodies powered by mana rather than viruses. Their combat ability wasn't high, but their broken skulls, popped eyeballs, and oozing black fluids made them unbearable to look at. Ritsuka nearly vomited.
Even though she had seen zombies before, these mutilated corpses were on another level. Mash held it together due to her Servant physiology, but it still unnerved her.
As for the other Servants, none batted an eye. They were all seasoned veterans who had seen far worse. Undead didn't scare them.
"There you are… Summoning a new Servant, huh?"
Eventually, the group reached the main underground chamber and found Gilles and Jeanne Alter. Jeanne stood on a massive summoning circle. She had just successfully summoned a new Servant.
"Ha ha ha! You're too late this time!" Jeanne Alter cackled as her newest champion appeared.
The room fell silent.
The one who stepped forth from the summoning light… was the Black Saber King they had previously encountered in the Fuyuki Singularity.
"What the hell is this? She wasn't supposed to be part of this Singularity… is this the butterfly effect?" Daniel frowned.
"Good thing Lancelot already vanished, or those two would definitely be fighting."
In the earlier battle, Jeanne Alter had summoned Berserker Lancelot. He had immediately gone berserk upon seeing Jeanne and had to be taken down by Mash and the others.
"That shield… So that's where it went. Let's see if you're worthy to wield it, girl."
The Black Saber narrowed her eyes at Mash's shield. As a twisted version of King Arthur, she immediately recognized it as Avalon's tableware—now a defensive artifact.
"Excalibur."
Without hesitation, she raised her sword. Magical energy surged around it, crackling with ominous black light.
"No!"
Gilles panicked. He hadn't expected this. A Noble Phantasm right off the bat? He shouted for her to stop, but it was too late. The black beam exploded outward, burning itself into everyone's vision.
"Deploying Noble Phantasm!" Mash shouted, stepping forward to shield everyone.
"Wait! This isn't the place for battle—Room: Slaughterhouse!"
Daniel intervened just in time. Using the power of the Operation Fruit, he instantly teleported everyone outside the castle. Even if Mash could block the blast, using such a powerful Noble Phantasm in an underground chamber would've collapsed the whole place.
BOOM!
The moment they reappeared outside, the castle was bisected by a blinding black beam. A massive crevice tore through the ground, stretching for a hundred meters.
Even without the Holy Grail, Black Saber's Master—Jeanne Alter—provided ample mana. She couldn't spam Excalibur endlessly, but using it a few times was no problem.
"Who was that?!"
The sheer force of the attack shocked the surrounding Servants. Even Siegfried felt a chill—it surpassed the power of his own Noble Phantasm.
"That's King Arthur," Daniel replied.
"The King Arthur? I didn't expect her to be…"
While all had heard tales of the legendary king, none of them had known her true identity—few Heroic Spirits did. The Throne of Heroes kept them separated, and only those with special clairvoyance could communicate between realms.
"We'll handle Arthur. You all take Jeanne Alter."
As the dust settled, the team quickly divided their targets. Mash, Ritsuka, Siegfried, Saint George, Elizabeth, and Kiyohime would fight the Black Saber. Daniel and Jeanne would confront Jeanne Alter and Gilles.
Mozart and Marie stayed back, ready to assist as needed.
"I'll separate her from the others—Room: Slaughterhouse."
Daniel once again used his Operation Fruit power to move Black Saber far from Jeanne Alter and Gilles.
Siegfried engaged first. As two high-level Saber-class warriors, their duel shook the earth. Soon, the rest joined the fight, five-on-one.
"Gilles…"
As the battle raged behind them, Jeanne stepped toward her former comrade and her corrupted doppelganger, face heavy with emotion.
"Ah, my saint… Even after what they did to you, you still protect them?"
Gilles' eyes bulged further in manic disbelief.
"This is who I am, Gilles."
"You're not me!"
Jeanne Alter screamed defiantly.
"If you really are my darkness… then do you remember our family?"
Jeanne turned from Gilles to Jeanne Alter, her voice calm.
"Family…?" Jeanne Alter faltered, suddenly confused. She had no memory of such people.
"As I thought… You aren't my shadow. Even a dark side would remember family. And I know—my darkness wouldn't hate this country. Gilles, you did this. You used the Grail to create her."
"You may not hate them—but I do! I tried to use the Grail to bring you back, but that damn God refused me! Now, even if you stand in my way, I won't stop until I've burned this nation to the ground!"
Seeing Jeanne again only made Gilles more unhinged. The grimoire in his hand began to radiate with violent magical energy.
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