"Bro, am I dreaming? Are there... three Jeannes?"
"Doesn't look like a dream. Why are there three identical people?"
When Jeanne and Mo Wang's group arrived, the soldiers and civilians were thrown into chaos. It was no wonder they were so shocked to see three identical people on the battlefield.
The Monkey King story only had two monkeys, and it threw the entire celestial court into disarray. Now there were three.
Was the one in the strange clothes with slightly darker but equally gentle features the real Jeanne? Or was it the one holding the banner who looked exactly like the Jeanne they remembered? Or was it the twisted-looking one standing on the dragon's head?
They didn't know. Even their Marshal, who considered himself the world's foremost Jeanne expert, was completely baffled.
"To think I would see three Jeannes before I die... I have no regrets," the Marshal said, a blissful expression on his face, tears welling up in his eyes.
"Thwack!"
Mo Wang slapped him twice across the face. "Snap out of it! You're a Servant now, you're not going to die that easily! And how in the world did you mistake that one for Jeanne?" he yelled at the Marshal, who looked like he was about to ascend to heaven.
He's not even old yet, and his eyesight is already this bad? What's with this weird habit of seeing Jeanne in everyone? Is it acting up already?
"Ahaha, um, Mr. Mo Wang, please put Gilles down. I think he needs to rest," Jeanne said, not knowing what to make of the situation.
Gilles's face had already swollen up like a pig's head from the slaps. To be honest, knowing that her good friend had been secretly in love with her and had even gone insane after her death was a little awkward.
And knowing that in the future, he would go around calling anyone who looked like her by her name... for a moment, she really wanted to slap him too.
She couldn't understand what kind of strange magecraft he had studied to end up with such a bizarre condition.
"ARTHUR!!!"
Before Mo Wang could say anything else, a man in pitch-black armor let out a deafening roar and charged straight at Shirou-Morgan.
"Holy crap, how did I forget about this guy?" Mo Wang fell silent, looking at the dark Lancelot.
He had just dealt with a guy who saw Jeanne in everyone, and now another one with a similar condition had shown up. Was this some kind of mental institution convention?
Looking at Lancelot, who had already reached Shirou-Morgan, Mo Wang thought, Bro, I think your condition is even more serious than the Marshal's. At least he should have been yelling "Morgan." Though, to be fair, the two faces weren't that different.
"Who are you, old man?" Shirou-Morgan asked, completely bewildered. She had been busy healing the wounded when this guy had suddenly charged at her, screaming "Arthur."
The French soldiers had been calling her Jeanne, which was one thing. But now someone was calling her Arthur? Was her face really that generic?
But even though she was confused, she didn't hesitate to use her magecraft.
Lancelot was a whirlwind of rage, his eyes red, his voice a low growl of "Arthur! Arthur! Arthur!" The name was both his creed and his curse.
Shirou-Morgan was forced back, her magic attacks unable to hit him. He was impossibly fast, seemingly able to predict her every move.
And even more frighteningly, he could turn anything he picked up—a broken spear, a shattered shield, even a rock—into a deadly weapon.
"This guy... what kind of monster is he?!" Shirou-Morgan gritted her teeth, sweat beading on her forehead.
Though her talent for magecraft was top-tier, she had never faced an opponent like Lancelot. It felt like he already knew all her spells. No matter what she did, he found an opening and closed the distance.
"Arthur! Arthur!" Lancelot's roar grew closer, the makeshift weapon in his hand now glowing with the power of a Noble Phantasm. The sheer killing intent forced Shirou-Morgan to retreat.
But then, a shield appeared in front of her, blocking Lancelot's attack.
"Miss Shirou, are you alright?" Mash had arrived just in time.
"I'm fine. I just wasn't used to his attack style," Shirou-Morgan said, catching her breath, her expression now serious.
When Lancelot saw Mash and her shield, he froze. He stopped moving, stopped swinging his sword, and even stopped yelling "Arthur." He just stood there, muttering "Aba, aba, aba."
"Um, what's wrong with him?" Mash asked, having braced herself for an attack. She hadn't expected the berserker Lancelot to just stand there, looking pained, as if he had just seen something completely unacceptable.
Well, he had just seen his son turned into a daughter, standing next to Morgan. The mental shock was so great that it had even suppressed his Mad Enhancement.
...
Meanwhile, on the dragon's head, Jalter was watching the white-clad Jeanne, her mind racing.
"—I never... I never thought this would happen," she muttered, her expression twisted.
The moment the real Jeanne had appeared, the French soldiers had completely cast her aside. It made sense. Compared to the real Jeanne, she had silver hair, golden eyes, and black clothes.
Her skin was paler, and her banner was black. Other than her face, nothing about her matched the image of Jeanne they remembered. Now that the real one was here, who would believe she was the genuine article?
"Hey, can someone pour a bucket of cold water on my head? This is just awful—"
Splash!
The moment the words left her mouth, a bucket of cold water appeared out of nowhere and drenched her. In an instant, she went from a majestic maiden to a drowned rat.
"..."
An awkward silence fell over the battlefield as everyone stared at her dripping hair.
"Well, you asked for it," Mo Wang, the culprit, said calmly.
"Fafnir!" Jalter shrieked, and the dragon beneath her let out a terrifying roar. The sheer force of its draconic aura made the ordinary soldiers tremble in fear.
"Whoa, is this a real Fate dragon? I bet it tastes delicious," Mo Wang said, drooling. Look at those meaty wings and those tough muscles. It's got to be a few grades above a normal wyvern.
"Awooo?!"
Fafnir, who had just been roaring, suddenly felt a chill run down its spine. It looked at Mo Wang's hungry eyes and shuddered.
"Hey! Fafnir, what's wrong? Calm down!" Jalter said, feeling the dragon tremble beneath her.
Fafnir didn't know how to answer. It was a dragon, for god's sake! Why did it feel like prey in front of this human? It had fought plenty of legendary heroes in its life.
Even Siegfried, the one who had ultimately killed it, hadn't made it feel this uneasy.
"That guy... who is he?" Jalter wondered, her intuition telling her that Fafnir's fear was related to the man.
But even with her Ruler authority, she couldn't read his true name. That meant he wasn't a Servant; he was a human.
"A human?! Are you kidding me?" she thought, incredulous. A human had scared the mighty Fafnir? Was this some kind of new joke?
"Fafnir! Kill him!" she commanded.
The dragon unleashed a torrent of fire, hot enough to melt steel, at Mo Wang.
"Heh, hahaha! How do you like that, you bastard!" Jalter cackled as Mo Wang was engulfed in flames.
But her laughter died in her throat less than ten seconds later.
"Is that all? Fire hot enough to melt steel?" Mo Wang emerged from the flames, completely unscathed, not even a speck of dust on his clothes.
"What the hell? Fafnir, were you holding back?!" was Jalter's first thought.
"Awooo~" Fafnir whined pitifully. Lady, since when can a dragon hold back its breath attack? You saw it! My fire covered three whole streets, and he didn't even get his clothes dirty! How is that my fault? That guy's a monster!
"Damn it, where did this monster come from?" Jalter thought, noticing that Mo Wang wasn't even paying attention to her and Fafnir anymore. He had taken out his phone and was chatting.
[A Certain Savior of Human Order]: Bros, look what I found! [Image.jpg]
[A Certain Video Store Owner]: What is it? Whoa, so white... I mean, so big!
[A Certain Train's Trash King]: Yo, look who it is. Isn't that Chaldea's most gullible idiot?
[A Certain King of Kivotos]: Hmm, she's definitely got more flavor than the white one.
[A Certain Savior of Human Order]: I wasn't telling you to look at the woman! I was telling you to look at the dragon!
[A Certain Mankind's Strongest Martial Arts Genius]: Oh, you should have said so. I thought you were showing us a new girl. [Nose-picking.jpg]
[A Certain Strongest Demon Lord]: So? What's so great about a dragon? Dragons aren't as good as women.
[A Certain Savior of Human Order]: You perverts! Is that all you think about? A cool dragon like that, don't you want one?!
[A Certain Ark's Succubus]: Nope. Looks like too much trouble. And have you forgotten who we are? Can we really keep a pet like that?
[A Certain Hyperion's King of Slacking]: Yeah, we kill everything we try to raise. Cats, dogs, goldfish, bonsai trees... has anything ever survived a year in our care?
[A Certain Teyvat Blondie]: Instead of thinking about raising a dragon, you should be thinking about how to eat it. I recommend barbecue.
[A Certain Savior of Human Order]: I don't care, I don't care! I want a cool dragon that can fly and obey my every command! [Throws tantrum.jpg]
[A Certain Soul Player Aspiring to be the King of Games]: What's wrong with him? He seems a little off.
[A Certain Little Red Cap Destined to be a Chick Magnet]: Oh, he's just having a dragon phase. It's normal. Happens to us every year.
[A Certain Soul Player Aspiring to be the King of Games]: So what do we do? Just let him throw a tantrum?
[A Certain Little Red Cap Destined to be a Chick Magnet]: He wants a dragon, right? Just give him a few.
[A Certain Little Red Cap Destined to be a Chick Magnet] has uploaded [Blue-Eyes White Dragon] x3.
[A Certain Hyperion's King of Slacking]: Holy crap! That's the 87 million yen one!
[A Certain Teyvat Blondie]: The soul of Kaiba! Dude, how did you get your hands on those?
Mo Wang's eyes gleamed as he looked at the three shimmering Blue-Eyes White Dragon cards on his phone.
[A Certain Soul Player Aspiring to be the King of Games]: Holy crap, where did you get those?! Did you rob Kaiba?
[A Certain Little Red Cap Destined to be a Chick Magnet]: Nah, I got them from Paradox. He showed up a while ago, ranting about changing history and saving the world, and challenged me, Yugi, Jaden, and Yusei all at once. We beat him down, and I took his deck while he was unconscious.
[A Certain Hyperion's King of Slacking]: What a legend. Went from a 1v3 to a 1v4.
[A Certain Teyvat Blondie]: Let's all pour one out for Paradox.
[A Certain Little Red Cap Destined to be a Chick Magnet]: Besides, giving him Blue-Eyes is better than giving him Stardust Dragon, right? I was afraid the group members would eat that one because it's too cheap.
[A Certain Hyperion's King of Slacking]: How dare you! The group members would never do that! If we were going to eat a dragon, we'd eat Red Dragon Archfiend first!
"Muhehehehe!"
A terrifying grin spread across Mo Wang's face as he admired his three new Blue-Eyes White Dragon cards.
"What's with him now?" Jalter and Fafnir both shivered. They had a feeling that something terrible was about to happen.
Wait a minute, who's the real villain here?!