"N-No way."
Jeanne Alter couldn't believe the scene unfolding before her eyes.
Who was Carmilla?
She was the Blood Countess who had murdered countless maidens and bathed in their blood.
An expert in killing, yet she was being helplessly beaten by a mere mortal man.
And who was Chevalier d'Eon?
A knight renowned as the greatest swordmaster in Europe of their time.
Despite being a recent figure, they were a natural powerhouse of a knight, boasting an incredible A-rank Strength parameter. A model of chivalry who had carried out numerous infiltration missions, their gender unknown, and devoted their loyalty to the French royal family.
And yet, that same d'Eon was now rolling on the ground, having wet themselves in defeat at the hands of a mere bald man.
It was impossible. Logically, something like this just didn't make any sense.
"What in the world is going on."
Jeanne Alter couldn't accept this reality.
She gritted her teeth and sent in the wyverns.
The wyverns opened their maws wide, aiming for Ryuuji and breathing fireballs. But they were blocked by a defensive Mystic Code created by Da Vinci.
Da Vinci's right gauntlet enlarged and sent a wyvern flying. Marie Antoinette's jewels followed, flying through the air and causing explosions.
The wyverns were not enough to win. It was only natural that they were weaker than Servants. Unfortunately, in her arrogance, Jeanne Alter had brought only about ten of them, thinking it would be sufficient.
Her eyes widened as she stared directly at Ryuuji.
A witch's curse. It wasn't on the same level as the one used on Siegfried, but it was powerful enough to burn a normal person's internal organs to a crisp.
However, though the curse had clearly reached him, there was no change whatsoever.
"Curse nullification? But… he's not even a saint, so how?"
Was it curse resistance? Or was it nullification? Even Siegfried had suffered immense pain from her curse. Why wasn't it working?
"I don't know what you did, but it doesn't seem to work on me, does it?"
By his standards, female Servants were now perceived as being beneath him. He felt an inexplicable pressure from male Servants like Leonidas, but not from the women.
It was baseless confidence, but he was clearly in a position of superiority.
"Tch, don't be ridiculous!!!"
Enraged by his impudent attitude, Jeanne Alter unleashed her flames. A pillar of fire erupted to incinerate him, and Jeanne Alter smiled triumphantly.
But the flames flickered as a wind blew. And from within the fire, he emerged, completely unharmed.
"Hmm, what was that?"
"What?"
Even Ryuuji felt that this was dangerous. But contrary to his expectations, he was unharmed. Was some unknown force at work that even the Servants couldn't comprehend?
Of course, Ryuuji's Servants, their brains pickled with lust, simply thought it was because he was amazing.
For Jeanne Alter, it was incomprehensible. It didn't work at all.
It was as if something was protecting him. Was this a law of the world? Was this twisted world granting him its blessing?
Ryuuji soon became confident.
He walked toward Jeanne Alter with a vicious smile, and frightened by his appearance, she took a step back.
"D-Don't come any closer!!!"
She threw flames and summoned black lances, launching them at him. But whether he could see all their trajectories, or if he was just that fast, he dodged every single one.
She then swung her flame-wreathed sword. The blade struck his neck precisely. It was a direct hit, swung with all her might.
But there wasn't even a scratch. It was as if he couldn't be killed. As if the very concept of her being able to harm him didn't exist.
Her hand gripping the sword trembled, and her pupils quaked at this impossible reality.
Ryuuji grinned and threw a punch.
WHAM!
"Kuh!"
It should have been just the punch of a mortal man. But as if hit by a truck, Jeanne Alter was sent flying with tremendous impact. Her circlet shattered, and her clothes tore as she rolled across the ground.
Jeanne Alter collapsed, battered and bruised.
"D-Don't be… ridiculous…."
She struggled to raise her hand, creating flames to attack, but it was useless against him.
"Your feistiness is cute. You pass. I'll make you my left-hand woman."
Was it because her personality seemed enjoyable to tame? Or because she was such an outstanding beauty? He walked toward her with a vicious smile and reached out his hand.
At that, Jeanne Alter felt a surge of fear and squeezed her eyes shut.
In that instant, the wind howled.
SLASH!!!
The wind raged, and something was swung swiftly through it.
No one perceived it until it was too late.
In that moment, Ryuuji's right arm was flying through the air.
"Ah... Gyaaaaaaaah!!!"
It had been cleanly severed above the elbow. Blood poured from his right arm, and everyone stared at the sight in horror.
Da Vinci and Marie Antoinette quickly moved to protect him, but a knight now stood in front of Jeanne Alter.
"Berserker…?"
Berserker Lancelot
The Knight of the Round Table from France, and the strongest of their number.
He was the knight who betrayed his loyalty and duty for love, eloping with his king's queen.
While Britain criticized his actions, in his homeland of France, he was revered as the noblest and greatest of knights, an exemplar of chivalry, a nigh-perfect knight.
In France, Lancelot was an object of faith and worship.
A great knight who was in no way inferior even when compared to Roland, one of Charlemagne's Twelve Paladins.
The laws of this world? For the ancient knight of cuckoldry, they actually worked in his favor.
Of course, he and Ryuuji were nothing alike.
While Ryuuji enjoyed such acts, Lancelot was a knight who regretted the sins of his past and sought to atone for them. He was a knight who wished to be punished.
That heart of his, driven by his knightly code, moved to protect a helpless woman.
He raised his sword to save the witch whose face bore an uncanny resemblance to the king he had served.
"Arrrrthurrrrrrr…."
"Master. For now, fall back—"
To unilaterally assault a helpless woman. What cowardly evil was this.
"Arrrthurrrrrr!!!!!"
SLASH!!!
His sword cut through the wind. In a single flash, Marie Antoinette's body was split diagonally.
"Kuhuk..."
With a final scream as she coughed up blood, Marie Antoinette was butchered, collapsing in vain.
"Look out—!"
The knight charged at incredible speed, his sword cutting down Da Vinci. She quickly raised her shield to block, but her left arm was severed along with the shield.
"Q-Quickly, stop him!!!"
At this rate, they would die. With that judgment, Da Vinci threw a flashbang and summoned the Living Dead.
Lancelot faltered for a moment from the special flashbang that even created a shockwave. A horde of zombies then swarmed him.
But who was he? The Knight of the Lake, who had slain enemies on the battlefield with nothing but a tree branch.
He swiftly cut down the zombies.
The problem, however, was their sheer number. Da Vinci activated a teleportation device she had developed, escaping with Ryuuji and the two Servants they had defeated.
Marie Antoinette, already cut in two, met her end and faded into particles of magical energy.
"Arrrr…."
All that remained were minions. Having lost the enemy commander, there was no need to waste any more time.
Despite being a Berserker without reason, he moved with optimal judgment. He lifted the injured Jeanne Alter in a princess carry and quickly departed from Lyon.
"...Th-Thank you, Berserker."
Jeanne Alter quietly expressed her gratitude, and he ran across the lands of France without a word.
"It seems… everyone is gone."
And from beneath the wreckage in Lyon, Kiyohime cautiously emerged and looked around.
There were no more threats in Lyon. At worst, there were some Living Dead, which Kiyohime could simply burn.
"Miss Elizabeth, please come out quickly."
"I'm coming!"
Báthory emerged from the wreckage, carrying Siegfried on her back.
Since Lyon had become a battlefield, and waiting there could lead to another similar situation, they decided to move.
They chose to move in the opposite direction from where Jeanne Alter and Berserker had disappeared, and also away from the direction Ryuuji's group had come from.
"That bald man… What in the world is he."
A mere mortal who had overwhelmed female Servants, including Jeanne Alter. And yet, he had lost his arm so easily to Lancelot. She pondered what could possibly be going on, but finding no answer, she decided to focus on moving for now.
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Hello everyone!
I've finished the website and a working prototype is now available. As is typical for a prototype, the design itself is a bit rough and I'm actively working on it. There's a like function for chapters, you can leave comments, and I even made something similar to a forum. But perhaps a great bonus is that now I can upload the authors' art directly into the chapter!
After this, the publication of chapters will slow down, but I will be uploading 4 chapters a day there to catch up with the author.
In the Patreon post, I left a gift link for 10 one-month subscriptions as well as a review: https://[email protected]/UltraMagnus_T