Siegfried looked at Suzuki Makoto strangely. It was the first time he had ever heard such a statement from a human—one that could only be described as brazen boasting. Although neither he nor the hostile Servants could exert their full power due to the chaotic summoning, a Servant was still not an existence a human could contend with.
But remembering how Suzuki Makoto had handled four of them with ease, he became a little less certain.
"Are you sure you can do it?"
"The strongest among them is that old man with the spear. If it's him, he is indeed a bit tricky. In a one-on-one situation, I have some confidence in a quick kill, but with an assistant, the fight could easily be dragged out. However—as for the other three, as long as they aren't grouped together, I'm confident I can kill them with maximum speed."
Suzuki Makoto wasn't bluffing. This was his judgment after ruling out the possibility that they would go easy on him. If those two were willing to hold back, then he could even take out all three Servants in one go.
These Servants were indeed strong, but their weaknesses were also a bit too obvious. All their lines of death were concentrated around that mana crystal, and their combat tendencies felt somewhat strange to Suzuki Makoto. It might be the influence of the madness Siegfried mentioned; these Servants were more inclined to attack than defend, even resorting to a style that traded injuries.
"If that's the case, then I think we should go back and find the Servant named Jeanne d'Arc. Judging by the saint's blessing you received, she should indeed be like me, summoned to fight against that evil presence. Furthermore, she should possess the ability to command an army. We might be able to use her ability to create a suitable tactical opportunity for you."
Suzuki Makoto nodded. From what he had seen on their journey, Miss Jeanne d'Arc was indeed trustworthy. If she could obtain enough mana through a contract, then the three of them working together had a very good chance of trapping and killing the five Servants.
The man and the Servant immediately headed for Domrémy. Meanwhile, the five Servants who had returned to Orleans were now standing before the dark Jeanne d'Arc.
"Are you joking? You encountered a human on par with a Servant while hunting Siegfried? And he even bought enough time for the other one to unleash a Noble Phantasm?"
The mad maiden's face was filled with suspicion.
"Your Holiness, the Holy Maiden, perhaps he is the one sent to oppose us—the Master sent by that organization called Chaldea. As a savior of the world, perhaps he should indeed possess such abilities."
The strange man holding the book of human skin offered his respectful advice.
"Gilles, what should we do then? I feel like our forces are still insufficient."
"Let them go out and search for the enemy for now. You can summon a few more Servants, and I will continue to build more monster nests here to produce more sea demons and wyverns."
"Let's do that!"
"You've returned so soon?"
Jeanne d'Arc was a bit curious. She looked at the man beside Suzuki Makoto, but with her current abilities, she could only confirm that he was a Servant; she couldn't even discern his True Name.
"I ran into Mr. Siegfried here while he was being hunted by enemy Servants. After saving him, we both agreed that to fight this overwhelming evil power, we need to gather all the strength we can. You seem to be in much better shape than before."
"Yes, the corpses of the wyverns I killed condensed into a lot of mana materials, and I managed to absorb some mana from them. Before, I could only fight them in a battle of attrition, so most of their own mana was depleted, leaving too little to produce these materials."
Jeanne d'Arc's aura was indeed much stronger, and her sacred presence had grown thicker.
However, this didn't affect Suzuki Makoto's decision. He was the type of person who, once he made a judgment, wouldn't hesitate.
"I want to form a contract with you now, to become your Master."
"That's wonderful!"
The girl showed a genuine smile. She took out some of the materials she hadn't finished absorbing and constructed a ritual circle.
Then, she knelt on one knee in the center of the circle, holding her flag-spear horizontally before her.
"Please input your mana into the ritual circle."
"Uh... how do I output mana?"
The scene fell silent for a moment.
"Eh? It's just like when you normally strengthen your body and speed, or when you attacked those wyverns last time."
"Huh? Does that require outputting mana?"
Suzuki Makoto looked completely bewildered.
Siegfried's and Jeanne d'Arc's eyes widened simultaneously. Jeanne didn't even bother with the ritual circle and jumped right out, her gaze sweeping back and forth over Suzuki Makoto's sword and body.
"There really are no mana circuits... What kind of physical body is this..."
"If that's the case, then let's use blood. Dripping a drop of blood into the circle is equivalent to inputting mana."
Siegfried, having bathed in dragon's blood, clearly had more authority on the matter.
Suzuki Makoto nodded. After Jeanne returned to the center of the circle, it began to operate. The girl's lips parted slightly as she softly spoke her oath.
A crimson pattern began to appear on the man's right hand. Suzuki Makoto studied the design of three swords that seemed to hang in mid-air.
This must be the so-called Command Spell.
The ritual ended, and Suzuki Makoto could clearly feel a connection to the girl before him. He could finally perceive the so-called mana.
"So this is mana output. I thought it would be something more amazing."
Slightly disappointed, he began to supply mana to Jeanne d'Arc, and the girl instantly froze in place.
"W-Wait!"
"Eh?"
Suzuki Makoto was taken aback. Looking up, he suddenly noticed that the girl's mana crystal was already on the verge of shattering under the impact of his violent mana, and he hurriedly controlled the transfer.
Jeanne d'Arc stood in place for a full half-hour before she managed to sort out the power. She let out a long breath and looked at Suzuki Makoto, her eyes filled with bewilderment.
"Why is your mana... so sharp?"
"Ah, my apologies. This thing you call mana, my master called it 'Heart-Mind.' The traditional training of our lineage is to nurture the sword with the Heart-Mind. The final goal is to be able to hide one's spirit within the sword."
Suzuki Makoto said apologetically. He had subconsciously treated the girl as his sword, so for a moment, he forgot she was a Servant with her own independent personality and, as was his habit, directly poured in his power at maximum, violent output.
As a result, he nearly shattered Jeanne d'Arc's still-fragile Spirit Origin.
After all... a sword can't cry out in pain, right?
Jeanne d'Arc patted her chest with lingering fear, just in time to see the Command Spell pattern on the back of the man's hand.
"The 'Sword of Damocles'? Just what kind of exaggerated existence are you? A Grand Servant living in the present age?"
_____
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