It wasn't long before the figures of Carmilla, Lancelot and Sanson mounted on Wyverns could be seen in the distance. This time, Jeanne Alter wasn't with them.
Even from afar, the malice oozing from those Servants could be felt. To the extent that even the common soldiers noticed them. "Shit! This can't be real, reinforcements? We are barely hanging out against these beasts!" One soldier couldn't help but complain in despair.
Fortunately for the French army, however, the three Servants didn't focus on them. Instead, they each chose a target to face. Carmilla chose Jeanne, Sanson, Marie. And Lancelot obviously chose Artoria.
Getting down from her Wyvern, the Blood Countess turned to face Jeanne, putting her free hand in her mouth in pure ecstasy, she spoke. "Oh my. It seems the time to finally feast upon the virgin blood of the Saint has come."
"I will not let you harm these people." Jeanne, completely unfazed by her words, made her stance clear.
"Foolish girl, I don't have to do anything. The Wyverns are doing enough of a good job." She chuckled in amusement.
Jeanne clenched her fists and made the first move, hurriedness was clear in her eyes as she needed to help the soldiers against the Wyverns and every second counted.
While the two started battling, Sanson and Lancelot met their respective opponents. "I apologize for keeping you waiting, your majesty. Don't worry, my executioner blade shall test your neck soon. It's our fate, isn't it?" Sanson calmly smiled. He had executed her husband, and his son had executed her. If it was not destiny, then what was?
"You want her to be killed again by your wretches bloodline? Sure you weren't summoned as a Berserker? Your madness hurts my ears." Amadeus's displeasure was palpable. If there was someone who he thought he would never forgive, then that would be Henri, followed by his father Charles who sired him.
"You stay out of this, scum. Someone who thinks all humans are filthy doesn't have the right to question my sanity or my way of execution. I appreciate life, that's why in consequence I appreciate death." Sanson was also annoying. The only person whom he would feel a little positive emotion in executing was probably the musician himself.
"You are just a delusional murderer, no wonder you speak such ridiculous words." Amadeus had no mercy in his retort, something that gained Sanson's full attention.
"I suppose that some people are more eager to meet the guillotine than others. Very well, let me release you from your sins." Assassin readied his executioner sword, intending to put a swift end to Marie while taking his time in doing the same with Caster.
For his part, Lancelot released a mad howl, the slit on his helmet lit up in red light. Grabbing a french soldier nearby, he split him in two with his bare hands before picking up the sword the soldier was using. Once he got a hold of it, the steel sword turned pitch black with red markings all over it.
"ARRRTHHHUUUURRRR!" With a scream filled with hate, Lancelot shot toward Artoria at full speed.
Seeing the incoming charge, Mash put herself in the way of the mad knight. Crouching a little to get better footing she received the attack from Lancelot but as if to give a blow to her confidence as a shield, she was sent flying to the side without much resistance.
"Mash!" Fujimaru shouted worriedly and tried to go to her side but Saber moved faster and attacked Lancelot to avoid him going after the fallen girl.
She slashed at him but Lancelot parried her attack with his stolen sword. They exchanged multiple blows, sometimes fast, sometimes slow.
While cracks started forming around Lancelot's sword as it was a proper Noble Phantasm, Artoria's sword faced its own challenges. Her face looked like he was struggling with something making her sword become dull and without intent behind it.
Avoiding a horizontal slash that was 'slow' in his eyes, Lancelot proceeded to wield his sword ready to hack Saber in two. The said woman used the handle from Excalibur to block the hit.
Not being able to keep up any longer, the sword from Lancelot broke into pieces. However, completely unfazed by it, he kicked Artoria in the stomach effectively making some distance between the two.
The black knight jumped back some meters and picked up a spear that was lying around. The same thing happened and the normal wooden spear transformed to become something more powerful.
Having gained a new weapon that he could use to fight. He moved fast toward Saber's direction, who at this point had regained her footing. Clashing again, this time with different weapons, they continued to attack each other. Lancelot used the length of his spear to his favor, staying out of Artoria's weapon's reach.
Little by little, the mad knight was gaining an advantage in their battle, and wounds started appearing on Saber's body.
Artoria, wanting to catch a breath, activated her Mana Burst. Her sword got surrounded by a dark purple halo and in an explosion of power hit Lancelot with the back of her blade, breaking his spear and sending him flying hitting soldiers and Wyverns along the way.
"I'm sorry, let me help you!" Just at that moment, Mash got up and came to Saber's side. Artoria just looked at her and nodded.
"Arrrrrrrrr—" Lancelot got up and picked another sword that was lying around after its owner was eaten alive by a group of Wyverns.
"Artoria, here!" Fujimaru activated his mystic code to heal Saber's superficial wounds which earned a nod of thanks from her.
"I can't believe how strong he is, Lancelot wasn't one of the strongest knights for nothing!" Mash couldn't help but comment with a frown.
"Yeah..." Saber simply said while gripping her sword tightly. It was better not to think too much of Sir Lancelot if she wanted to put an end to things. Thinking would become remembrance, remembrance would become sloppiness, and sloppiness would become her death.
Seeing this situation from afar Siegfried looked at Seth who kept killing any Wyvern that got closer or directly ordered them to kill themselves and asked. "Are you sure you don't want to help them? I'm sorry for keeping you here."
"Stop apologizing and no, I don't want to help them, this is their fight. Besides, Saber is enough to kill him, she just needs to put herself together and stop thinking about unnecessary stuff." The truth was if he interfered or even killed Berserker by himself, Saber would lash out at him. There was no need to get into avoidable troubles.
Siegfried fell silent for a moment before speaking once again. "That may be true, however, will she do it before it's too late?" It was a valid worry, one that he didn't know how to honestly address.
Seth closed his eyes for a moment. "Who knows? If things get dangerous I will intervene. For now, she just has to prevent Lancelot from taking her sword. Getting Mash's help will be a good aid in achieving that."
The Dragon Slayer nodded in agreement. "Certainly, the ability to make the Noble Phantasm of another Heroic Spirit your own is a dangerous thing."
Setting his gaze on the wounded man, Seth noticed they still hadn't made a contract. "We should form a Master-Servant contract. Having a wounded camel is enough, we don't need a starving one."
Siegfried felt weird by the weird analogy but otherwise agreed. "Right, sorry, with all the hectic battles we haven't had the time to do it."
Without any more preambles, they proceeded to form a contract. Now at least the white-haired man wouldn't have 'battery' problems and only had to concern about the wounds on him.
Once that was done the duo looked around to recheck the situation on the battlefield. Jeanne was fine except for the occasional mental hit by the soldiers wanting to kill her, Artoria and Mash were exchanging positions to defend and attack. Their coordination was gradually getting better, so it was a positive thing. Marie and Amadeus were the ones who had it the worst thanks to the fact that they weren't especially combat-oriented. Amadeus stayed at the back composing demonic melodies to hinder Sanson's attack while Marie mounted on her crystal horse and faced the executioner with hit-and-run tactics.
"It seems we are on the losing side," Siegfried commented seeing the overall situation which gained a nod from Seth. "Seems that way. I find it impressive that we have managed to last this long with barely any attacking power."
The battle between the Wyverns against soldiers and Servants against Servants continued for an hour without anything particularly important happening, only the dwindling of the French Army, something that pained Jeanne greatly.
"Oh? Why the long face, you should enjoy this festival of blood a little more. It's not every day you get to see the people that betrayed you being torn apart and eaten alive." Carmilla said while using her staff to send a spiking wave of blood in Jeanne's direction which she evaded by a hair's breadth.
"These are the people I fought to protect, there is no way I will feel happy seeing them die like this." The Saint responded to the Vampire, earning a chuckle from the white-haired woman. It was amusing for her to see the conflicted emotions running through her young face.
"You are a hopeless little girl, even with all they have done to you, you still defend them? They are safe now just because your little group is dealing with the Wyverns and the other two. Doesn't that give you the desire to kill those soldiers like the bugs they are?" Carmilla edged her on a bit, but Ruler simply ignored her as she knew what was her own reality.
Jeanne shook her head. "I don't blame them for thinking I'm the Dragon Witch nor do I blame them for the words they say because I can understand how they feel. No matter what they say, that will only give me the strength to continue fighting. I'm an optimist person after all." She smiled because even if those words hurt, she had people that trusted her with their lives. Fujimaru, Mash, her Master, Marie, Amadeus, and even the usually grumpy Saber.
Carmilla released a sigh like she was seeing a hopeless case. "Foolish child, are you mad perhaps? Even optimism has its limits."
"You are not the first person to ask me that. People questioned my sanity many times since the day I decided to save France." Even amidst the mental pain, she chose to give a smile to her opponent, because if she didn't smile for herself, the who would?
"Madness doesn't choose sides, it takes over good and evil equally. How iron—Um?" Carmilla started speaking before noticing a big shadow covering her. Looking up, she saw a Wyvern falling in her direction. She jumped to the side avoiding being crushed by it. Sadly for her, Jeanne took advantage of her momentary distraction and slammed her flag on Carmilla's waist.
The Vampire crushed into the ground without much resistance. While this was happening to her, Sanson and Lancelot faced similar challenges. The Dark Knight managed to cut the Wyvern in two before it even had the chance to get closer to him. Sanson, however, didn't have such luck. Covering his ears to avoid listening to Amadeus' melody of death he couldn't dodge the flying beast and was rammed by it.
"Ugh...!" Sanson got up removing the dead beast from his body while coughing some blood. Using his ability Medical Techniques A he managed to heal part of the damage he suffered. Looking ahead to the direction the Wyvern was sent flying from, he noticed the black-haired man together with the Dragon Slayer they were supposed to kill.
Just when he was going to resume the fight, an authoritative voice was heard. "Artillery. FIRE! Aim for the dragons!" Following the voice, multiple sounds of cannons resounded on the battlefield together with the pained cries from the Wyverns.
"Gilles?!" Jeanne recognized the owner of that voice and indeed, it was Gilles de Rais, the man who fought alongside her to liberate France.
"How annoying. Sanson! Lancelot! we are retreating!" Carmilla was quick to issue her command once she noticed they were at a disadvantage. It was a shame, but it seemed they would have to resolve their battle another time.
Sanson frowned a little as the execution of the Queen wasn't complete but otherwise complied with the order. Lancelot was another matter. As if he hadn't heard, he still kept fighting against Saber howling like a mad beast from time to time.
Seeing this, Sanson turned to the white-haired woman with the face mask. "What do we do, Carmilla? Lancelot isn't even listening." He asked while retreating to her side.
"Leave him be, we don't have any use for people who don't listen to orders. Lancelot! Make sure to stall the enemy until you die!" Finished with her message, she mounted her Wyvern, followed soon after by Sanson.
After the retreat of both Assassins, the only ones left were the army of Wyverns, the remaining soldiers, and the group of Chaldea versus Lancelot.
Seeing the fleeing enemies, Seth put down Siegfried in the ground before facing their direction. Letting them escape just like that didn't sit well with him. Besides, since he didn't take an active part in the confrontations, they were bound to temporarily forget about his existence, which gave him the chance to sneak attack them.
The Egyptian God grabbed his spear like a javelin by positioning his arm in a throwing motion. Once he had his aim, he threw his weapon at them without hesitation. The spear traveled like a missile, going straight without meeting any interference at his intended target: Sanson.
The white-haired young man was able to sense the danger, acting in accordance by arching his body to the side in order to avoid being pierced in the chest. However, he didn't escape unscathed.
"Aghhhh!" His scream of pain was heard even amidst the ongoing battle. While the spear wasn't able to make a hole in his chest, it still manage to sever his left arm from the shoulder down. Unless they had an exceptional healer among them, it would be impossible for the Executioner to wield his blade with his right hand anymore.
Holding the wound to stop the bleeding, he looked with fury-filled eyes in Seth's direction.
"They have a troublesome fellow, don't you agree?" Carmilla asked without care for Sanson's wound. "Shut up, Carmilla!" Even the otherwise calm him couldn't help but lash out in annoyance.
For his part, the author of his wound just looked a little upset. 'I need to get better at aiming, I feel really rusty. At least I paid back a little my debt with Marie, so that is something.'
Now what was left was defeating Lancelot and it seemed Saber was going to be the one to do it. She looked pretty annoyed by the fact that one of her knights was used as a disposable tool. Both Siegfried and Seth guessed this was enough motivation for her to put an end to her knight by her own hands.