"It seems our plan to lure the enemy into dividing their forces has failed."
Jeanne sighed, looking at the Wyverns blotting out the sky above the city of Orleans. She knew the enemy must have concentrated all their monsters here, with absolutely no intention of attacking proactively.
"It might be because the loss of seven Servants at once made them alert. After all, that implies we have combat power equivalent to at least seven Servants, so it's only natural for them to be wary."
Suzuki Makoto's expression remained unchanged. After all, he had seen a top-tier turtle like Muzan Kibutsuji; this level of fear of death was hardly worth mentioning to him.
"With this density of monsters, infiltration is impossible. We can only wait for the army led by Gilles to arrive and siege the city."
"That takes too much time. I remember Siegfried-san's Noble Phantasm is a wide-range attack. If he fires one off, it should be able to clear out these Wyverns, right?"
Suzuki Makoto looked at Siegfried.
"It is indeed possible, but if I do that, I won't be able to accumulate enough magical energy to release my Noble Phantasm a second time against Fafnir in the short term."
"I can use a Command Spell to fully replenish Siegfried-san's magical energy!"
Ritsuka Fujimaru immediately raised her hand, a happy smile appearing on her face at finally being able to help.
"Then there's no problem. Do it."
Turning an assassination into an assault... well, having encountered it enough times, one gets used to it anyway.
After discovering this squad of Heroic Spirits, the monsters reacted immediately. The moment the Wyverns swooped down en masse, the Dragon Slayer's Noble Phantasm instantly swept across the entire sky.
"Enter the city!"
Marie Antoinette urged her crystal horse to smash through the city walls, and the group immediately charged into the city. A massive black dragon also rose into the air; Jeanne, clad in black armor, was riding it, her face filled with murderous intent.
"Ritsuka, you command all the Servants to intercept the Witch and Fafnir. I'm going inside to find that Caster."
"Eh? Me?!"
Suzuki Makoto patted the bewildered Ritsuka Fujimaru.
"This is something a savior must go through."
"Suzuki-shishou—"
Before the words died away, the man had already vanished from sight.
"Aaaaaah—why does even Mr. Suzuki say the same things as Romani Archaman!"
Thrown into the deep end, Ritsuka Fujimaru looked at the Heroic Spirits around her waiting for orders, and with a frantic look on her face, began her first clumsy attempt at command.
On the other side, having entered the core area of the magic circle, Suzuki Makoto had already found the Gilles de Rais who bore only a faint resemblance to his other self.
"Nameless human hero, why, why do you fight for a country like this? Depraved nobles! A spurned king! They could watch helplessly as the saintly hero was so cruelly executed by the English—what right do they have to keep living!"
The fallen Warlock stared resentfully at Suzuki Makoto.
"I completely agree with what you said."
Contrary to his expectations, Suzuki Makoto nodded in strong agreement.
"Nobles, kings... I wouldn't care if you burned them all together—but dragging innocent people into it proves you have inherited absolutely none of Jeanne d'Arc's will!"
"Nonsense! The Saint is my light, and the light of France! The only light! How could I possibly forget any of her teachings!"
Bluebeard's eyes were bulging out as if they were about to fall. Clearly, the damage Suzuki Makoto's sword inflicted on his plans was not even a ten-thousandth of the damage his words inflicted on his heart.
"Jeanne d'Arc wanted to fight the English so the people of France would no longer suffer, not for the French nobles, and certainly not for the French King. It was like that from the very beginning."
Suzuki Makoto rarely maintained such an interest in conversation.
"But speaking of proof—"
He smiled and raised his right hand.
"Look, this is the proof of being Jeanne d'Arc's Master."
"You—you bastard!!!!!!!!"
Bluebeard exploded with rage in a literal sense; he turned into a mass of tentacles and instantly attacked Suzuki Makoto.
The man swung his sword leisurely, turning all tentacles into charcoal, a sneer appearing at the corner of his mouth.
The reason he was willing to chat and waste time here with this thing he knew was a decoy was that he knew the opponent was already hiding in a constructed alternate dimension, and he needed an anchor to find him.
And Gilles de Rais's monstrous fury had clearly pointed out the direction for him.
A sword light flashed. Bluebeard, monitoring this place, shed tears of pain from his eyes. But what panicked him even more was that the chaotic lair he had constructed with his Noble Phantasm, Prelati's Spellbook, had actually been forcibly cut open by the opponent.
"Are you hiding well, Mr. Cultist?"
Facing countless monsters of all kinds, Suzuki Makoto's face held no excess expression, only cold murderous intent.
"—I'm here to kill you."
"Siegfried-san! Now!"
Ritsuka Fujimaru shouted.
Just a moment ago, she deliberately didn't use the Command Spell to restore Siegfried's magical energy immediately. This was to deceive the Witch, making her think Fafnir was safe so she would leave Fafnir without concern and join the battle directly.
This was banking entirely on the fact that this created fake possessed none of the knowledge a Ruler class should have and didn't know the function of a Master's Command Spells. So, Ritsuka Fujimaru seized the opportunity while the two Jeannes were in the heat of battle to have Siegfried use his Noble Phantasm again, slaying the Black Dragon Fafnir.
"Fafnir!"
The Witch Jeanne could only watch helplessly as her beloved mount turned to ash, unable to break away under Saint Jeanne d'Arc's attacks.
Burning with rage, she wanted to use her own Noble Phantasm, but only at this moment did she wake up as if from a dream—
What is my Noble Phantasm?
The black-clad girl froze.
Shouldn't I be a Heroic Spirit? Why can't I remember my Noble Phantasm? Even though I have the almost infinite magical energy of the Holy Grail, why can't I release a Noble Phantasm?
"Gilles—"
She called out in confusion, while a faint sorrow already showed in the golden-haired girl's eyes.
The Witch looked at her disappearing body, still full of bewilderment. In the center of her body, where the Spirit Origin core should have been, a Holy Grail appeared instead.
This version of herself was fake, the Jeanne that Gilles de Rais wished for. Therefore, now that the wisher had disappeared, she would naturally revert to the primordial Holy Grail.
"Damn it! Damn it! Damn it! I am real! I exist too! How could I not hate them? How is it possible that I don't hate them!"
She stared fixedly at Jeanne. Confusion, resentment, unwillingness—all expressions converged in her eyes.
"You... do you really not mind at all?! They treated you like that! The French! The English! Why can you not care at all!"
In the final moment, the Witch finally understood. Her birth was supposed to come from the Saint's resentment. If she was fake, it could only prove one thing—
Jeanne d'Arc had never hated anyone, from beginning to end.
"...Doesn't this just make me look like a joke?"
The Witch whispered softly, and her final tear fell tangibly into the Holy Grail.
Suzuki Makoto, who had already run out, reached out and snatched the Holy Grail. However, he didn't have time to examine it, looking solemnly at Ritsuka Fujimaru.
"Quickly, have Siegfried use his Noble Phantasm one more time! After that Warlock's alternate dimension collapsed, all the monsters were released. We must annihilate them before they scatter!"
The panting Siegfried immediately braced himself upon hearing this, but his expression soon turned grave.
"I can't, my Noble Phantasm's range isn't enough—there are too many! It's too many! How can there be so many?"
At this point, no one knew that after Suzuki Makoto appeared, the monster lairs in the Orleans region had been increasing. After the seven Heroic Spirits died, Gilles had been using the Holy Grail to produce them with all his might.
"Let me do it, Master. Use a Command Spell to strengthen me."
Jeanne revealed a determined expression.
"In the name of the Command Spell, I order you: destroy all monsters before us."
Suzuki Makoto used the Command Spell without hesitation. He originally intended to use them all at once, but found it only consumed one.
"Ah—is that the Saint's radiant flag! It is said to be the Lord's radiance. Under this radiance, no evil can harm the Saint's companions in the slightest! I imagine this radiance will also be very effective against these monsters!"
Marie Antoinette looked fervently at the noble Holy Maiden, her eyes revealing the look of a fan watching an idol.
"Oh Lord—I entrust this body to You!"
____
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