Suzuki Makoto looked at the back of his hand. He had, of course, heard the story of the Sword of Damocles, but wasn't the point of something like that to avoid using it if you could?
Oh, it seemed Command Spells were indeed like that.
The young woman had fallen completely silent. She decided to temporarily stop discussing what exactly was going on with Suzuki Makoto.
Having such a supply of magical energy was more than enough for her to continue strengthening her Spirit Origin and thus obtain more abilities.
"I need to rest for a short while. After that, I will regain all the special abilities of the Ruler class. Therefore, I'll have to trouble you during this time, Master. Mr. Siegfried, please refrain from joining any battles for now to avoid exposure. Once I complete my Saint Graph Ascension, we should be able to consider engaging them in a direct confrontation."
"No problem, leave it to me."
Siegfried also nodded in agreement.
Afterward, one of the two took charge of order and training within the city, while the other sat on the city walls, clearing out the various zombies, skeletons, and wyverns on schedule.
Perhaps because of Suzuki Makoto's overly direct fighting style, the monsters' magical cores were shattered before they even had a chance to be used.
The overflowing magical energy would then randomly condense into various magical materials.
Operating on the principle that even a mosquito is meat, Suzuki Makoto gathered up all these miscellaneous items. He picked up a pile of dragon scales and fangs, as well as a small mountain of red bones.
This made it so no one dared to come near his area, and everyone whispered that this vice-commander had a particular fondness for collecting trophies, even taking a bone from a skeleton soldier as proof.
After one night, a completely radiant Jeanne d'Arc emerged from her room. The aura she emitted even overwhelmed that of Siegfried, who was in the middle of training the swordsmen.
"Master, I have received a revelation from the Lord. Our enemies are gathered in Orleans, which has now become a den of monsters. And the one truly commanding these monsters and Servants is not the version of me who was burned at the stake and resurrected a few days ago, but my former nemesis, Gilles de Rais."
"That Marshal of France?"
The young woman nodded, stunned. She already knew everything Gilles would face later. This rising star of the French army would be tormented by her death for his entire life, eventually descending into complete madness in his quest to resurrect her.
But she quickly pulled herself together.
"Master, besides Mr. Siegfried and myself, I can confirm that other Servants have also been summoned to this land. I just can't locate them yet!"
Suzuki Makoto wasn't particularly excited. Right now, they were the scattered stragglers. And since Jeanne d'Arc said she couldn't locate them, it meant they couldn't be found for the time being.
"What about anyone besides Heroic Spirits?"
"There are still quite a few resistance strongholds scattered about, but the largest one is currently near Lyon. Their commander is... Gilles de Rais."
"The human one?"
"The human one."
Suzuki Makoto stroked his chin. If they couldn't find the Heroic Spirits, perhaps finding the regular resistance army would do just as well. After all, those Heroic Spirits likely had no direct understanding of his combat strength, not to mention that their side had a hidden Jeanne d'Arc, who was even stronger than Siegfried.
With this level of combat power, if they caught the enemy unprepared, as long as the opponent didn't send their entire army, they should be able to wipe out any attacking Heroic Spirits in a single wave.
"Can the civilians here be evacuated? With your help, the enemy is bound to greatly misjudge our strength. So the best plan is for Siegfried and me to lead the army from here to openly assist Marshal Gilles, setting a trap to lure out the enemy's Heroic Spirit forces."
Faced with this plan, the young woman thought for just a moment before nodding in agreement.
"No problem. The monsters' attack logic isn't very sophisticated. As long as we abandon the castle and move into the countryside and mountains, the wyverns won't come after us. As for the common zombies, leaving a few soldiers behind will be enough to hold them off. The supplies we've accumulated should also be enough for them to last for some time."
The plan was quickly finalized. After repelling the next wave of wyverns, the French forces here swiftly abandoned their defenses within the castle and relocated to a nearby forest area. Meanwhile, Suzuki Makoto began to command this army, marching them toward the south of France.
Strangely, all the way to the vicinity of Lyon, Suzuki Makoto's group did not encounter any attacks from Heroic Spirits. However, they proceeded according to plan and found Marshal Gilles, who was reorganizing his army there, still not having recovered from the grief of Jeanne d'Arc's death.
"Saint? Is that you, Saint!"
Surprisingly, the moment the two sides met, Gilles de Rais instantly recognized Jeanne d'Arc, who had just materialized from her spirit form, making one suspect he possessed an ability similar to True Name Discernment.
"It is I, Gilles."
With a slightly complicated expression, Jeanne d'Arc removed her cloak. The man in armor instantly broke down, wailing. He knelt before Jeanne and couldn't even utter a single word.
"I'm sorry, I— I wasn't there... I should never have left your side..."
Only after Gilles managed to regain some control over his emotions did Jeanne d'Arc begin to tell him about the current operation.
"No problem, I will absolutely obey your orders. What do you need me to do?"
"Gilles, I want you to launch a counterattack on Lyon with Mr. Suzuki Makoto and Mr. Siegfried, and attempt to retake the city."
Gilles looked at Suzuki Makoto and Siegfried. Although he didn't know why the Saint believed that adding the two of them would be enough to defeat the wyverns and various monsters entrenched in the city, since it was the Saint's command, all he had to do was believe.
Thus, the Marshal immediately began to organize his troops and prepare for the counteroffensive. While the soldiers' morale wasn't high, it was clear they trusted Gilles, so their fighting spirit was still serviceable.
"Even if the enemy in Orleans doesn't react to us joining forces, as long as we retake Lyon, they will definitely send reinforcements."
Jeanne d'Arc said with great certainty.
"That's true, but what I find strange is, why did the enemy have absolutely no reaction to a force like ours marching all the way south? Are they busy besieging some other target?"
This was what concerned Suzuki Makoto more. Logically, given their previous attitude in trying to surround and kill Siegfried, they shouldn't have just let them march south, but should have sent troops to intercept them long ago.
"I don't know. My revelation didn't provide any more intelligence. And so far, I haven't detected any Heroic Spirits being eliminated from the field."
Jeanne d'Arc was also at a loss; this was the first time she'd had an experience like this, where her ability was active but not fully functional.
Suzuki Makoto shrugged, pushing the question to the back of his mind. It's not like in a world such as this, besides myself, there would be anyone else willing to voluntarily jump in, right?
____
🔥 New chapters are up! 🔥
New Story: Stardew Valley: What Do You Mean They All Became My Servants
✅ Read 40 chapters ahead of everyone else.
✅ Get cool exclusive stuff and updates!
Let's hit these goals:
🎯 100 Powerstones = 1 extra chapter for the public!
🚀140 MEMBERS = 5 extra chapters on all stories for supporters!
👻 P - Walnutchan