Although Jeanne could still faintly see her surroundings with the help of the moonlight, this eerie situation, where even the chirping of insects was absent, was clearly not right no matter how she thought about it.
"Old grandpa! Please stop the car and turn back! There's danger ahead."
Without any hesitation, Jeanne shouted to the old man who was driving through the small window.
"How can I do that, little girl..."
Hearing her words, the old man wanted to turn back and ask what had happened, but after looking up, he was caught off guard by the sight of the girl's purple, glowing eyes in the rearview mirror. His expression immediately became dazed, and finally, the pickup truck slowly stopped on the side of the road, letting her and Souya out.
"There's a Servant's aura nearby... It seems to be hostile towards me?"
Watching the shadow of the pickup truck gradually disappear from her field of vision, while feeling a slight sense of relief, Jeanne's clothes also changed from her school uniform to a spiritual garment covered in armor. Holding her war banner, the holy girl warily sized up her surroundings, on high alert.
Although she didn't understand why a Servant would be hostile towards a Ruler like her who wouldn't interfere in the Holy Grail War, and with her referee's privilege, she actually couldn't sense which Servant was ambushing here, she had, after all, been a general who had led troops in battle in her life, and was considered powerful among Servants. So, in the face of this inexplicable hostility, she still assumed a fighting stance.
"Master of Caster of Red, since you didn't bring your Servant with you this time because you were looking for me, then for both emotional and rational reasons, I should protect you this time. Now, please come a little closer to me..."
As if she had remembered something, Jeanne suddenly turned her head to look at him, but when she saw that the youth who had been standing behind her was now slowly disappearing into the darkness, a strange smile on his face, she was suddenly stunned. The words of protection that she was about to say also died in her throat.
"You..."
"I'm sorry, Miss Jeanne. Although I personally don't want to hurt you, but considering the orders from above, I have to at least put on a show. So I'll have to trouble you to bear with it for a while. Also," looking at her expression, which had become a little indignant after she had finally reacted, he couldn't help but smile at her. "My name is Souya Kotomine. I am the one who witnesses. I look forward to your answer."
As his voice fell, his figure gradually disappeared into the darkness, leaving only her, surrounded by endless blackness, and the holy girl's somewhat gritting-her-teeth voice.
"Souya Kotomine... I'll remember you!"
The next moment, countless darknesses turned into substantial shadows and instantly enveloped her.
"Then now, I just need to wait for the arrival of the Black Faction's Servant."
His figure slowly appeared on the side of the road. He looked at the her who was trapped in the shadow cage and said with a light laugh. Beside him was Queen Morgan, still in a black formal dress and wearing a black veil.
"Speaking of which, it's all thanks to Lady Morgan's magic. Even a Ruler with privileges couldn't sense the casting of the magic."
"Hmph!"
Faced with his flattery, she just snorted coldly, then turned her head away and didn't look at him. Clearly, although his movements had been fast enough, the scene of him taking off his clothes just now had still been seen by her.
Sigh, my wife is jealous.
Seeing her like this, he couldn't help but smile helplessly. But he also knew that words were useless in this situation, so he didn't say anything more, but took the initiative to hold her hand, and then their ten fingers intertwined. For lovers, actions are often more effective than words.
Feeling the warmth from her palm, her face finally softened, and the hand that he was holding couldn't help but tighten a little.
"Her appearance..."
Staring at the face of Jeanne in the cage, which was extremely similar to her own, but in terms of temperament and the feeling she gave off, was more like that of the little sister who had snatched her man, her eyes were a little complicated.
Don't ask, it's all Takeuchi's doing.
Knowing that she was looking at her face and was thinking of Artoria, the figure of that same golden-haired girl subconsciously appeared in his mind. Through his deep communication with her, he also more or less knew some of the things that had happened in Britain after he had disappeared.
The twin kings, Rome, the Round Table, the kingdom, and the choice of the two sisters.
Morgan's choice was to wait for his summons through a doppelganger left in the Throne of Heroes, while her own body, after a long search, had fallen into a deep sleep in the Inner Sea of the Planet. And Artoria's choice was, as he had once told her, to become a person, and then to die as a person and become a Heroic Spirit, both looking forward to reuniting with him in the Throne of Heroes, and also longing for the possibility of continuing their story in the future.
Although the main bodies of the two were different, they basically both relied on the Throne of Heroes, this thing that recorded bonds and fulfilled dreams. And this time, he and she had completed their reunion. Then how long until the reunion with Artoria?
Thinking of this, although his heart was full of emotion, he did not show it, but just gently patted the back of her hand and said, "In the long river of history, there will always be people with similar appearances but completely different experiences and origins, just as flowers are similar but will not be the same."
"Then, Lamorak, if you meet someone in the future whose appearance and aura are very similar to mine, will you mistake her for me?"
As if she had thought of something, she suddenly looked at him and asked. Her gaze was burning, and she looked deeply into his eyes, as if she wanted to carve his answer into her heart.
"Of course not."
To this, he just smiled lightly, then reached out and pulled her into his arms. "There is a sea of flowers, and a sky of stars, but there is only one bright moon. For me, Lady Morgan, you are that unique, beloved moon."
"Heh, you're the only one who would say that about me, Lamorak."
Hearing his words, although she didn't say it out loud, the smile that bloomed at the corner of the queen's mouth had already explained everything. In the moonlight, the atmosphere between the two gradually became ambiguous. But just then, a panting, but extremely loud, voice that could clearly be heard to be oppressed by fat, suddenly sounded out, breaking this ambiguity.
"Phew... phew... so tired. Damn it, I was wondering why I was waiting there for so long and the Ruler hadn't come. It turns out she was trapped here by the Red side's guys. Hey! That kid over there! Are you and the woman next to you the Master and Servant of the Red side? Do you know what you're doing! How dare you attack the Ruler! Do you really not take our Yggdmillennia clan seriously! Hey! Kid, I'm talking to you! I'm talking to you!"
"..."
The atmosphere that was about to lead to a kiss was so interrupted by this guy who had suddenly appeared. Feeling the anger that was almost instantly ignited in her heart, she couldn't help but take a deep breath, and her eyes instantly became incomparably cold.
And even him, to have been interrupted at this crucial step, was in a terrible mood. And when he cast his gaze towards the figure that had suddenly appeared not far away, he was surprised to find that it was one of the Black side's Masters, Gordes, and the gray-haired man beside him, who was carrying a greatsword on his back and wearing broken armor, was the protagonist of the epic, the Nibelungenlied, and also the husband of the Red side's Berserker, Kriemhild, the dragonslaying hero, Siegfried.
At this time, because he had not received his response and felt that he had been slighted, Gordes was in a rage, muttering that he would teach this ignorant kid a good lesson. But just then, Siegfried beside him, as if he had sensed something, frowned and looked at him and her opposite, and upon seeing the latter's extremely cold expression and already raised right hand, his heart suddenly stopped.
"Master! Be careful!"
Subconsciously, he pulled the still-cursing Gordes and flashed to the side. And in the place where they had originally stood, countless dark shadow spikes suddenly shot out.
....
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