Uryu Ryunosuke tilted his head to the side, watching Caster's state—humble to the point of being in the dust yet radiating madness—with an innocent yet cruel smirk on his face. "Grandpa, it seems you have a lot on your mind~ These two uninvited guests are really annoying. Should I 'deal' with them both so you and your Saint can catch up in peace?" He licked his lips, playing with a small knife stained with dark red smudges.
Caster—Gilles de Rais—slowly and strugglingly stood up from the ground. He remained slightly hunched, maintaining a respectful posture toward Jeanne d'Arc, but the flames deep within his cloudy eyes had not been extinguished; instead, they burned even more twistedly because of Jeanne d'Arc's rebuke and Kanjuro's presence.
"Your accusations... are correct, Jeanne d'Arc." His voice was hoarse, carrying an urgency to reclaim something. "I admit, my methods... were perhaps too extreme. But! Please believe me, it was precisely because I witnessed the tragedy of you being betrayed and burned, because of this extreme anger and despair at the world's injustice, that I finally chose this path!"
He stumbled forward a step, his withered palm reaching toward Jeanne d'Arc, his eyes filled with pleading and paranoid obsession:
"I am willing to repent now! Sincerely repent! As long as you can forgive me, as long as you are willing to accept me again, I can change anything! Jeanne d'Arc! I am still your most loyal knight!"
However, when his gaze met Jeanne d'Arc's cold, emotionless eyes and her posture of silently standing by Kanjuro's side, that pleading was instantly replaced by a blazing jealousy and rage.
"Or... has your heart already belonged to someone else?!" He suddenly raised his hand and pointed at Kanjuro, his voice shrill and filled with the pain of betrayal. "Why?! Why would you rather choose to be a subordinate of this kind of person, rather follow by his side, than accept my devotion and pursuit?!"
He stared fixedly at Kanjuro. Although he could feel a Black Magic aura from the other that was deeper and more primordial than his own, this same-source aura did not make him feel close; instead, it made him even more consumed by jealousy.
"Don't you feel it?! He and I... we are essentially the same kind of person! We are both beings who have Caster ourselves into darkness and departed from the light! Why can you tolerate him but be so harsh on me?! It's not fair! Jeanne d'Arc!!"
Jeanne d'Arc listened to his words that blurred right and wrong and excused himself, only sighing deeply with endless fatigue, instinctively turning her gaze away from his twisted face. This silent action was more lethal than any words.
And Kanjuro, at just the right moment, let out that voice carrying playfulness and malicious guidance. His wicked eyes shifted between Jeanne d'Arc and Caster, asking in that feigned 'gentle' tone:
"Oh? Jeanne d'Arc, why have you stopped speaking?" He chuckled softly, as if discussing something interesting. "You can't have 'double standards.' Think about it carefully: the things I've done—manipulating hearts, instigating conflicts, standing by while people die—which of them isn't 'worse' than what Caster is doing now? In terms of 'contribution' to the world, the pain and chaos I've caused are likely only more, not less."
These words were like a poisonous sting, precisely piercing a corner that Jeanne d'Arc had been trying to avoid.
Jeanne d'Arc suddenly turned her head back, a clear anger burning in her ice-blue eyes for the first time. That anger was not directed at Caster, but straight at Kanjuro. Her voice rose slightly with agitation, carrying a resolute hatred:
"No!! At least... you wouldn't kill children!"
She almost screamed these words, with a determination to defend her final bottom line.
"When humans are untainted by worldly malice, children... are the purest and most innocent species in this world! They symbolize the future and possibility!" Her gaze swept across Rin, who was shivering in the corner with her mouth gagged, a faint trace of pity flickering in her eyes before she shot a colder look at Caster. "However, he!!! Not only does he take pleasure in torturing and killing children, but he also views them as 'alchemical materials' to be cut and combined at will! This is the ultimate desecration of life! It is a most despicable crime that can never be forgiven!"
Her chest heaved slightly; it was clear these words had touched a core principle deep within her.
Faced with Jeanne d'Arc's sudden and intense reaction, Kanjuro fell silent for a rare moment. Light flickered in his deep eyes as if he were seriously considering the question. Then, he spoke slowly, his tone unsettlingly calm:
"Then... what if I were to do that?" he asked softly, his gaze locked onto Jeanne d'Arc's face as if conducting a cruel psychological experiment. "If I also began capturing, torturing, and killing children, using their lives and pain to perform Black Magic and complete my 'art'... what would you do then? Would that 'fundamental difference' you spoke of still exist?"
Jeanne d'Arc was startled at first, but then a cold, sarcastic smile of realization appeared on her face.
"You doing that?" she repeated, the anger in her voice gradually replaced by a deep exhaustion and detachment. "If you truly did that, I could not resist. Because of the contract, I would still be your Servant. However..."
She paused, meeting Kanjuro's searching gaze clearly, and said word for word:
"He is different. Gilles de Rais was once my best friend, my most trusted comrade-in-arms. My rebuke of him stems from the expectations I once held for him, from the beliefs and glory we once shared! His fall is a heartless trampling of everything in our past!"
"But you, Kanjuro," Jeanne d'Arc's tone became incredibly calm, yet beneath that calm lay a bottomless, cold divide, "to me... from the beginning, you have only been a master I was forced to submit to. Between us, there has never been such a thing as 'trust' or 'friendship.' Even if I have... briefly and curiously scrutinized your behavior of mass murder and playing with human nature, it was only because..."
Her voice dropped, carrying a cold indifference that saw through everything:
"...I was curious just how sinister and hollow the 'human heart' inside that human skin of yours could be. Nothing more."
These words were like a clear, insurmountable chasm drawn between the two.
She viewed Caster's fall as a 'betrayal,' while viewing Kanjuro's evil as an unrelated 'phenomenon' worth observing.
Listening to Jeanne d'Arc's evaluation of Kanjuro, a twisted sense of pleasure flashed in Caster's eyes, as if he had finally found some 'common ground.'
Under Jeanne d'Arc's merciless analysis, the 'gentle' smile on Kanjuro's face stiffened slightly. For the first time, an extremely subtle... ripple, which even he didn't notice, flickered in his deep eyes.
Kanjuro's fingers gently brushed across Jeanne d'Arc's cold cheek, the movement carrying a near-sacrilegious intimacy. Caster's breathing suddenly quickened, his murky eyeballs nearly bulging out of their sockets. Jealousy and anger burned through his internal organs like poisonous flames, but he didn't dare move—because Jeanne d'Arc didn't resist. She simply stood there silently, letting Kanjuro's fingertips slide over her skin.
Jeanne d'Arc's eyes met Kanjuro's. In the depths of those icy blue orbs, it was as if boundless darkness was reflected, and the two of them fell together into a twisted atmosphere that outsiders could not understand. Kanjuro slowly lowered his head and captured Jeanne d'Arc's bloodless lips.
Jeanne d'Arc's body trembled slightly, but she still didn't push him away. She closed her eyes tightly, not out of indulgence, but because she was sensing and probing. She wanted to know what was hidden deep inside this man who embraced and kissed her, this existence who was sometimes cruel like a demon and sometimes gentle like an illusion. Why could he commit countless sins while simultaneously making pure children like Sakura and Rin instinctively depend on him? Why did that disguised gentleness possess such a contradictory and addictive magic?
When the kiss ended, Kanjuro released her, that inscrutable faint smile still hanging on the corner of his mouth.
Jeanne d'Arc raised her hand expressionlessly and wiped her lips hard with the back of her hand, as if trying to wipe away something impure. She asked coldly, "What exactly do you want?"
"What do I want?" Kanjuro chuckled, his gaze seemingly able to see through her soul. "Actually, Jeanne d'Arc, you make so many excuses and speak so high-mindedly, but in the end, it's simply because... you still have a tiny bit of... 'feelings' for me that even you are unwilling to admit. Otherwise, why don't you fight to the death? Why stay by my side to 'observe'?"
"You're overthinking it," Jeanne d'Arc turned her head away and let out a cold sneer, hiding a flicker of panic at being seen through. "I told you, I just like to observe—to observe humans, especially an existence like you, to see what kind of disgusting things you can do when you completely fall. That's all. As for not resisting now... it's just because I don't feel 'repulsed' by you for the time being." She deliberately emphasized the word 'repulsed,' trying to draw a clear line.
"Is that so..." Kanjuro drew out his words meaningfully and slowly straightened up. "Then how about... we make a bet? A bet using the thing you care about most."
Just then, with a wave of Kanjuro's hand, the door to the inner basement was pushed open by an invisible force. Rin, who had been blocked by the soundproofing barrier, finally saw the scene outside. She cried out in wild joy, "Uncle Kanjuro!!! You came to save me! I knew you would come to save me!" But her joy was quickly swallowed by fear as she pointed at Caster and Ryunosuke with a sob, "They're bad people! You must kill them! Everyone... everyone was... by them..."
She didn't get to finish. With a flick of Kanjuro's finger, a soft black light entered Rin's forehead. The girl immediately slumped over and fell into a deep sleep, caught steadily in Kanjuro's arms.
Holding the unconscious Rin, Kanjuro's cold gaze swept over the trembling Uryu Ryunosuke and the complex-eyed Caster. He commanded in an unquestionable tone:
"The two of you, right now, go and bring me a few children."
"What do you want to do?!" Jeanne d'Arc reacted instantly, exclaiming with disbelief and a strong intent to stop him in her icy blue eyes.
Kanjuro turned his head to look at Jeanne d'Arc, his gaze cold and cruel, as if stating a simple fact:
"Don't worry, I just want to play a game with you, a wager." His voice was terrifyingly calm. "We'll bet on whether... the 'most innocent and pure species in the world'—children—can truly maintain that 'purity' in the face of ultimate fear and darkness, just as you say."
He paused, his lips curling into a cruel arc:
"The rules are simple. I will use some small 'methods' to test their reactions. If they can pass the 'test' and show the 'purity' and 'resilience' you spoke of, you win. I'll let them go and can even grant you a reasonable request. But if they fail, proving that the so-called 'purity' of children is nothing more than a fragile illusion..."
Kanjuro's gaze was like a cold blade sliding across Jeanne d'Arc's pale face:
"...then the children who fail must die. And you, Jeanne d'Arc, must witness it all with your own eyes and... admit your 'naivety'."
He tilted his head slightly, his tone carrying demonic temptation and coercion:
"How about it? Jeanne d'Arc, don't you believe in the radiance of human nature, even finding salvation in children? Do you dare use the 'truth' you believe in to bet on the lives of these innocents?"
The entire underground lair fell into a deathly silence. Excitement and twisted light flickered in Caster's eyes; he seemed to have found a way to understand Kanjuro's behavior. Although Ryunosuke was afraid, he felt more of a morbid anticipation for the upcoming 'new game.'
Jeanne d'Arc froze in place, her face as pale as paper. This wager of Kanjuro's had backed her into a corner—either use the lives of innocent children to verify a nebulous ideal, or admit her beliefs were fragile, potentially leading Kanjuro to target children even more unscrupulously in the future.
This was a trap full of pain and sin, no matter what she chose.
Her faith, her bottom line, and her remaining humanity were all held in Kanjuro's hands at this moment, played with at his whim.
---------------------------------
I hope you're enjoying the fanfiction so far! If the story has you hooked and you can't wait to see what happens next, you can unlock 30 chapters in advance over on my Patreon: patreon.com/TLHimejima1
Every bit of support means the world to me so if you're loving the ride, don't forget to drop a Power Stone and let me know.