"How interesting, he did teach you things. Tehe~"
The voice was soft, girlish — but it froze them in place. Threads of silver light wove themselves across the church gates like spider silk, snapping shut with a metallic ring.
They turned.
Standing atop the road, framed by the moonlight, was a young girl: pale skin, long white hair that shimmered like snow, and crimson eyes sharp as rubies. Her scarf and boots were a deep purple, her skirt and blouse lighter shades of violet, all neat and doll-like.
[Insert image of Illya]
Rin's face drained of color. She staggered back a step. "T–That's… the Einzbern heir."
Ritsuka blinked. "Wait, her? She's just a—"
Jeanne moved in front of him, grip tightening on her banner. "Let me guess… this little girl is also a participant in this war?"
Gilgamesh shimmered into partial form, red eyes narrowing. His silence was answer enough.
Rin nodded grimly. "Yes. And if I'm correct… her family always summons Berserker."
The air seemed to drop ten degrees.
But Illya's crimson gaze ignored Rin completely. Her lips curled into a smile aimed directly at Ritsuka.
"Nice to meet you… big brother."
Ritsuka froze. "Big… brother?"
Illya pouted, puffing her cheeks. "Aww, he didn't even tell you about me? How mean. Very well, I'll show you myself. Tehe~"
Her smile snapped into something sharper. "Rider!"
The ground cracked. Chains hissed forward, blades flashing, faster than Ritsuka's eyes could track. A heel smashed into his ribs, and the cold edge of steel kissed his throat—
CLANG!
Jeanne's banner slammed between them like a fortress wall. Sparks sprayed as her sword rang free in the same motion, her slash forcing the attacker back.
"Master!"
Ritsuka coughed, clutching his side where pain flared white-hot. "I'm fine—ghhh—damn it, that hurt…"
Their foe landed in a crouch, chains curling back like vipers. A tall woman with flowing violet hair, blindfold hiding her eyes, clad in black — a dress cut daringly with exposed thighs and a crimson crest burning on her brow.
[Insert Medusa's FGO 3rd Ascension design]
Rider straightened, returning to Illya's side with predatory grace.
Ritsuka's gaze hardened even as his chest throbbed. "So this is… Rider?" His lips curved despite the pain. "She's… beautiful. Though I could've done without the kick."
Medusa blinked as she fixed her glasses — the faintest blush crept across her pale skin. And because of the strange bond tethering her to Illya, the girl flushed crimson as well.
"E–Eh! Don't just say that!" Illya squeaked, stamping her foot.
Rin, however, was staring at Rider like her brain had blue-screened. She pointed wildly. "R–Rider?! That's Rider?! But the Einzbern always summon Saber! Or Berserker at worst!"
Illya clicked her tongue, folding her arms. "Tch. I tried to summon her as Berserker. But someone else stole that role before me. So Rider answered instead."
She smirked again, eyes glowing like blood under moonlight. "Not that it matters. Rider's more than enough… especially against a fake big brother and his saintly babysitter."
Jeanne stepped forward, her banner planted firmly between Ritsuka and Illya. Her voice carried a calm weight, but her eyes were sharp.
"Saint babysitter… You know who I am."
Illya's smile widened into a fox-like grin. "Yup~. Let's just say… a little bird told me."
She lifted her hand, and a crystalline bird of light fluttered down, landing gracefully on her palm. Its wings glimmered like shards of ice before fading into sparks.
Behind her, Rider adjusted her glasses with two fingers, the motion deliberate, poised. Through the sheen of the lenses, her pink eyes locked onto Jeanne's amethyst-blue — an unspoken challenge sparking between them.
Jeanne exhaled softly, her grip tightening around her flag. "I suppose it was only a matter of time. My identity is no mystery to anyone who knows their history."
Illya gave a playful shrug, twirling a lock of her silver hair as if it were nothing. "Well… you're the only female historical figure who fought with a sword, your face practically screams 'French noblewoman,' and—" she pointed cheekily at the banner, "that big flashy flag? Totally gave it away."
Her smirk sharpened. "So… Jeanne d'Arc, huh? The saint who heard voices from heaven. How boring. I was hoping for someone a little more… monstrous."
Medusa blurred forward, chains whipping out like fangs. Jeanne matched her step for step, her flag sweeping across her body as the steel coils lashed toward her.
CLANG! The chains coiled tight around Jeanne's sword, sparks hissing. For a moment, it looked as though the weapon would be ripped from her hand—until Jeanne shifted, pivoting smoothly. With a surge of strength, she swung her flagpole upward, knocking Medusa back in a sudden reversal.
Mana flared. Jeanne closed the distance in a single burst, sword flashing downward in a clean, decisive arc.
Medusa twisted, her body lifting with fluid grace as her heel drove straight into Jeanne's midsection. The saint staggered, breath escaping in a sharp gasp, as the Gorgon's chains shot out again. This time they coiled around Jeanne's arm, and with a brutal pull—
SLAM! Jeanne hit the ground hard, dust erupting into the night. Medusa lunged, eyes glowing behind her glasses.
But Jeanne was already moving. Her grip tightened on the chains. With a sudden jerk, she yanked Medusa toward her. "Got you."
Her flagstaff cracked against Medusa's ribs, then the hilt of her sword struck her jaw in rapid succession. The saint spun, using Medusa's own chains as leverage, and crashed the Gorgon into the stone road with enough force to fracture it.
Chunks of pavement scattered. Ritsuka and Rin both took instinctive steps back from the shockwave, shielding their faces.
Illya's smile faltered. Her crimson eyes narrowed, thoughts whispering in her mind.
Those moves… that precision. No hesitation, no wasted motion. She's striking as though she already knows what's coming. Does she… have a skill to see the future?
Medusa rose from the crater Jeanne had smashed her into, lips curling back in irritation. Her chains rattled like a nest of serpents, each link glimmering with violet prana.
She rushed again, faster this time, the air snapping from her acceleration. Chains lashed out—left, right, overhead. Too quick for a normal fighter to react.
But Jeanne's eyes flickered, unfocused for a heartbeat. The flagstaff shifted an instant before the first strike landed, intercepting it in midair. The next chain swept low—Jeanne was already leaping over it, landing with her sword stabbing straight down at where Medusa would be.
CLANG! Medusa barely caught it with her own chain, sparks hissing as steel ground against steel.
"Impossible…" Rider hissed. She recoiled, pulling her chain back, then tried another feint—two chains aiming high, the third snapping low at Jeanne's legs.
Jeanne's blade was already there, pinning it to the ground.
Her movements weren't flawless—her shoulder was grazed as another chain cut across it—but they carried an uncanny rhythm, like someone following divine choreography.
Ritsuka stared wide-eyed. "She's… moving before the attacks even happen…"
Rin gritted her teeth. "No—she's predicting them. But that kind of accuracy—it's more than instinct…"
Medusa snarled. Her glasses glinted as the air around her shimmered—her Mystic Eyes of Petrification flaring to life.
Jeanne's vision blurred. For a fraction of a second, she saw herself faltering, chains binding her, petrification crawling up her arm. Her chest tightened.
Then another possibility overlapped—the image of her planting her banner, blinding light scattering the curse.
"…I see," Jeanne whispered. Her flagstaff slammed into the ground, radiance bursting outward in a flash that cracked Medusa's concentration. The chains faltered.
Jeanne surged forward, sword cutting a straight, brilliant line toward Rider.
Illya clenched her fist. "So it is future sight. Rider—don't rely on patterns, break them!"
Medusa snapped her chains wide, splitting them into dozens of unpredictable lashes, each striking at a different angle, no rhythm to read.
This time Jeanne stumbled. A chain wrapped around her ankle and yanked her off her feet—
—but her sword still swung on the way down, nicking Medusa's cheek as though her body refused to let her miss.
The chains rattled violently as Jeanne swept her sword down, forcing them into the earth with sheer strength. Dust kicked up from the impact, cracks splitting across the stone road.
For a moment, Rider was pinned. Jeanne raised her blade for a finishing strike—
—but then Medusa straightened, shoulders rolling back as if surrendering. Her lips curved into the faintest smirk, mirroring Illya's grin behind her.
"Why are you…?" Jeanne whispered. Her instincts screamed, but this wasn't something her Revelation could quite predict—
WHOOOSH!
The sound of wings cutting through the air.
CRASH!
A massive impact slammed into Jeanne's side, sending her tumbling through the street like a ragdoll. Stone shattered, walls buckled, the Saint's armor scraping as she skidded to Ritsuka's feet.
"Jeanne!" Ritsuka dropped beside her, pulling her up, heart racing. "Damn it, are you okay!?"
Jeanne coughed, shaking off debris, one hand pressing her ribs. "I'll live…" Her eyes narrowed, gaze turning upward. "But that…"
The dust cleared.
There stood Rider—no, perched astride a magnificent beast. A white horse, wings spread wide, its body glowing faintly with divine aura. Each beat of its wings cracked the air like thunder.
"Pegasus…!" Rin whispered, eyes wide with dread. "They already unleashed a Noble Phantasm!?"
Illya sat on the mount behind Medusa, her pale hair blowing like silver threads in the wind. Her crimson eyes sparkled with mischief as she leaned forward, hugging Rider's waist like a little sister clinging to her guardian.
"Tehe~," Illya chimed, voice sing-song, yet carrying cruel finality. "We got everything we came for."
Medusa didn't speak, but the silent nod between them, the synchronization of their breath and poise—it was more than a contract. It was kinship.
Illya tilted her head, calling down to Ritsuka with that same sweet, taunting smile.
"Big Brother… I'll see you next time."
With a thunderclap of wings, Pegasus launched skyward, tearing through the night like a comet. In an instant, Rider and Illya vanished into the heavens, leaving only the echo of feathers and the sting of humiliation in their wake.
Ritsuka grit his teeth, fists clenched. "Big Brother…? What the hell does she mean by that…?"
Rin's voice cracked as she jabbed her finger upward, eyes glued to the divine mount cutting across the night sky.
"T-that's Pegasus… or, well, a Pegasus. No way that's just a normal mount!" Her gaze snapped back to Rider, frustration bubbling. "But which servant is she supposed to be!?"
Ritsuka, still supporting Jeanne as she caught her breath, shot Rin a flat look. "C'mon, Rin… who do you think she is?"
The magus' brain stuttered, gears grinding with all the myths and names flying through her head. She blurted the first half-baked theory that came to her tongue:
"Maybe… Perseus's! As a girl!"
Jeanne blinked. Even through the dirt on her face, she looked baffled. "…Perseus was male, was he not?"
Gilgamesh materialized fully with a scoff, his golden eyes burning with amusement. "Hmph. Stupid girl. That is no Perseus. Do you think the mongrel who slayed the beast would ever ride it?" He sneered, lips curling. "No, that woman reeks of a different myth. One far more… serpentine."
Rin froze, realization creeping across her face like frostbite. "…Wait. You don't mean—"
Jeanne's eyes widened. "Medusa…"
The name dropped like a blade.
Ritsuka stiffened, looking back at where Illya had disappeared. His hand unconsciously went to his ribs where her servant had struck him. "So that's what we're up against, huh… Pegasus, the chains, that speed… no wonder Jeanne was pushed back."
Rin grit her teeth, clutching her pendant tight. "Dammit. If the Einzberns really got her this time… this war just got ten times more dangerous."
To be continued
Hope people like this ch and give me power stones and enjoy