The colossal beast charged forward, each punch descending like a meteor plummeting to earth. His scales, harder than steel, and strength capable of shaking rivers, were his weapons of choice. With roaring laughter, he swung relentlessly, the violent gusts from his fists exploding outward.
In stark contrast, Jeanne Alter appeared incredibly small—standing before her foe, she wasn't even as large as one of his fingers.
Yet within this petite frame surged the might of ten mountains, the power of a hundred rivers, the strength of a thousand dragons. With every breath, raw, savage energy churned through her.
Her fists struck with unparalleled ferocity, each blow capable of twisting storms themselves.
When the two clashed, thunder exploded in the skies, sending wave upon wave of shock rippling outward, forming destructive rings of force. Clouds shattered by the collateral of their battle drifted apart, and even the atmosphere itself was forced away, creating a vacuum surrounding the epicenter of their duel.
Jeanne wasn't wearing her armor conjured from magical particles this time; instead, she fought clad in a trench coat, a hoodie, and pants. Without her menacing gauntlets, Jeanne's pristine, fair fists collided head-on against the creature's massive, scale-covered hands, shaking the heavens with each earth-rending impact.
Once more, their fists met, erupting in a dull roar. The surging force exploded outward, blasting Jeanne's clothes back violently in the ensuing gust.
From the shattered air erupted splashes of blazing blue blood.
"RRRAAAAAAAARRRGHHHH——!!"
The beast's roar became a sonic wave filled with suppressed pain. Its mountainous fist now bore broken scales, blood seeping from the cracks, fingers bent slightly inward, deformed by the immense power it had endured.
Jeanne's hands, meanwhile, remained pristine—fairer than most, without even a speck of dust, let alone injury.
Clearly, despite the absurd disparity in size, Jeanne had achieved overwhelming dominance in this intense clash.
Yet, the beast's face was filled with pure exhilaration.
"It hurts so damn good! How thrilling! You're so tiny, yet able to fight me on this level! This is too much fun—!"
Despite his enormous body, the beast possessed agility completely at odds with his size. The struggle and the wounds inflicted only served to heighten his excitement. With a sudden flap of his enormous wings, he shot upward, whipping his colossal tail toward Jeanne with a deafening snap.
Before the shadow of his tail could reach her, Jeanne tensed slightly, stomping firmly on empty air. Her speed erupted explosively, dodging the strike as she dashed straight toward her enemy.
At that exact moment, Jeanne saw the beast's mouth suddenly gape wide.
Blazing heat surged within that enormous maw, spilling forth crimson light.
In an instant, a torrent of scorching flames burst forth from its mouth, flames intense enough to melt steel and the very earth itself, turning the darkening night sky a furious crimson.
Jeanne's figure vanished, swallowed whole by the inferno.
But rather than relaxing, the beast intensified the flames, continuously spitting forth surging waves of fire. Layer upon layer of flame overlapped, driving the temperature around them to terrifying heights.
After a long moment, the sea of flames suddenly ruptured as a shadow flashed out like lightning. Jeanne surged forward, passing through the exploding fire. By the time the beast registered her approach, she was already before him.
The dragon's pupils—filled with ferocity and savagery—contracted sharply.
"Your flames are even weaker than your fists!"
With a ruthless grin, Jeanne raised her fist. Within that delicate-looking hand lay the crushing force to topple mountains, unleashing a pressure so immense that the very heavens seemed to tremble.
"If you want to hurt me… at the very least, you'll need this much!"
As soon as the words fell, Jeanne's fist slammed down like a meteor, crashing fiercely upon the beast's head.
THOOOM!
A heavy boom reverberated as terrifying power surged outward, racing toward the horizon.
Crack!
Accompanied by a sharp fracture, the dragon's horn split under the devastating impact, cracking dangerously close to shattering.
Jeanne Alter's original strength attribute had been Rank A, somewhat inferior to the mighty Heracles' Rank A+, yet still placing her among the physically strongest Servants. Empowered further by five Holy Grails as a mana source, all her attributes—save luck—had seen dramatic improvement. Now, bearing the divinity of the Last King, if one were to create her attribute profile, every single attribute aside from Luck would be at an unprecedented EX rank.
Just like the Pseudo-Last King Saber Alter had been back in the world of Campione!
The beast's roar once again shattered the air, shaking the atmosphere itself.
His mountainous hand surged forward, attempting to seize Jeanne. Effortlessly evading it, she flashed forward once again, appearing directly before the beast and unleashing another devastating blow cloaked in howling winds.
"ORA!"
A straightforward, brutally powerful fist slammed into the right side of the colossal beast's face, grotesquely deforming its features.
"ORA!"
Another punch followed, complementary to the first, violently impacting the beast's left cheek.
"ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA—!!"
Jeanne's fists blazed with platinum-white divinity as she pummeled the beast's head like a relentless machine gun, each strike carrying enough might to slay lions, annihilate dragons, shatter mountains, and uphold the heavens themselves. With every hit, turbulent gusts erupted fiercely outward.
The beast's scales were incredibly resilient—so strong that blades forged from steel couldn't leave even a scratch—but under Jeanne's overwhelming assault, large portions began to splinter. Azure blood poured uncontrollably from its eyes, nose, mouth, and countless fissures, until finally, its dragon horn shattered with a resounding crack.
Abruptly, the beast grasped Jeanne in both massive hands, leaving only her head visible, shoulders and body tightly clenched within its grip.
"HAHAHAHA! Finally caught you! Now I'll crush you completely!"
Despite the severe injuries covering his head and hands, despite his face having been utterly battered by Jeanne's fists, the beast's expression held not the slightest fear. Instead, his fighting spirit and ferocity seemed to have intensified significantly since their initial exchange.
As the beast began tightening his grip, Jeanne clearly felt the terrifying force pressing on her body from every direction.
Time flowed silently, and gradually, the beast sensed something was wrong.
The human he'd grasped so tightly wasn't screaming in agony at all—she was smiling calmly, completely unbothered.
"Idiot! You already lost to me in our earlier slugfest. Did you really think squeezing me to death would work?"
Jeanne's gaze turned razor-sharp. Her dense and potent divine aura surged abruptly, like a steel blade cutting straight to the heavens.
The beast's eyes widened in shock.
His grip was slowly forced open, inch by inch…this slender, petite figure was displaying strength beyond even a dragon.
No matter how desperately he squeezed, his arms and fingers shook from overexertion, yet he couldn't alter the outcome.
The instant Jeanne broke free, she shot forward like a bullet, delivering a powerful kick that compressed the air before slamming mercilessly into the beast's jaw.
BOOM!
The deep, muffled noise reverberated through the skies. Struck by her kick, the beast's head jerked violently upward as blood surged up from its throat, spraying outward.
After being pummeled relentlessly, anyone sane would have lost all will to fight.
But this beast clearly wasn't sane.
Abruptly halting its head's upward momentum, it lunged forward again, jaws agape and lined with razor-sharp dragon teeth, snapping viciously at Jeanne.
"I've had enough playing around."
The platinum-white divine aura compressed rapidly in Jeanne's hand, tempered and sharpened into a luminous blade of pure radiance. In that instant, blinding brilliance like a dying star filled the beast's vision completely.
A flash of light.
The beast's seemingly invincible body, as if made of tofu beneath a heated blade, was sliced cleanly into countless, neatly-shaped chunks. His proud scales and tough flesh offered no resistance at all.
BOOM!
A dull explosion resonated as the enormous beast burst into fragments.
Blood and chunks of flesh rained down from high above like grotesque rainfall.
The gigantic severed head plummeted through the sky, crashing into a forest near Kuoh Town with a thunderous impact, kicking up thick clouds of dust.
Fortunately, few people usually wandered into this forest, and with night fully descended, there wasn't much worry about causing panic. But if anyone had witnessed the bloody rain and scattered flesh, it would have been troublesome.
The scale of Jeanne's battle with this beast had been significant. Even though they'd fought high above, the aftershocks and aura had reached far and wide, impacting the town and land below.
Slowly descending through the air, Jeanne landed gracefully opposite the dense cloud of dust, platinum-white divine glow gradually fading from her figure.
After a brief silence, Jeanne lifted her hand toward the dust cloud before her.
Immediately, wind whipped violently through the area.
The dust dispersed swiftly, revealing chunks of flesh scattered everywhere, and within the deep crater lay the beast's enormous head.
Hands tucked casually in her pockets, Jeanne peered curiously at the massive head in the pit.
"Still alive, huh?"
The next second, a hearty, ecstatic laugh erupted from within the crater.
"HAHAHAHAHAHA! That felt amazing! Absolutely amazing! Living is truly the greatest! Slugfests are the greatest! You're genuinely the best opponent I've ever faced! Even other dragons wouldn't fight me like this! Even Beowulf, who killed me once before, couldn't give me a battle this satisfying! Coming here was absolutely worth it! HAHAHAHA!"
Jeanne raised an eyebrow slightly. The name her opponent had just shouted drew her attention.
"Beowulf?"
She recognized the name: the protagonist of Beowulf, famously known as the oldest surviving epic poem in English literature. The word "Berserker" was closely associated with him.
The Noble Phantasm projected by Archer Emiya—[Hrunting]—was based on Beowulf's weapon. Even in Chaldea, the Heroic Spirit Beowulf existed and had even appeared in the North American Singularity.
Despite owning two magic swords, he preferred fighting bare-handed.
In this world, Beowulf wasn't ordinary either. Though just a human, gods from various mythologies frequently mentioned him. The reason was simple: this world's Beowulf had achieved an extraordinary feat—slaying a Dragon-King-level Evil Dragon with human hands.
"Are you Grendel, the Tyrant Dragon of Sin?" Jeanne narrowed her eyes slightly, focusing on the beast's head within the crater.
"Oh? Recognized me, huh? Well, so what! Consider it a reward for giving me such enjoyment today! I'll let you know my name freely, HAHAHA!"
Grendel seemed utterly unconcerned about his identity being exposed. His mind was consumed entirely by strong opponents and battles. Even reduced to just a head, he laughed joyfully.
Jeanne knew the myth of Beowulf had two distinct parts. The first described Beowulf's youth, during which he, along with fifteen followers, famously defeated the giant Grendel. The second depicted his final days as king, when he fought to the death against a fire-breathing dragon that hoarded treasure.
In this world, it seemed Beowulf's two adversaries—the giant Grendel and the unnamed dragon—had merged into the being before Jeanne now: the dragon-like giant called "Grendel, Tyrant Dragon of Sin."
Interestingly, personality-wise, this Grendel closely resembled Chaldea's Beowulf, who after being summoned by Chaldea often sought strong opponents to fight bare-handed, even discarding his magical swords to Archer Emiya, delighting most in battling Heracles.
In an instant, Jeanne's mind flooded with information about Grendel and Beowulf. Simultaneously, a pressing question arose in her thoughts.
"Weren't you killed by Beowulf already?"
"OOOH! Yeah, I was! I was killed by that piece-of-shit Beowulf!" Now reduced to only a head, Grendel roared with ecstatic excitement. "But now I've resurrected—to enjoy combat and slaughter! After all, if I stayed dead, I'd never meet opponents like you again! Living is fantastic! Crushing enemies, the thrill of victory, even the pain of being pummeled—I love all of it! HAHAHA!"