"We shall soon arrive at La Charité."
Once we had emerged from the forest, Jeanne spoke thus to us.
"If we cannot gather tidings concerning Orleans there, then we must press closer still. Yet if it may be helped, I would see this matter settled before that becomes necessary."
"I agree. There are few follies greater than charging headlong into the enemy's domain when we know not the measure of their strength."
"I agree as well."
Romani's voice rose once more from the communicator fastened to Ritsuka's arm. At the sound, I turned my gaze toward the device.
Ritsuka seemed to have had the same thought, for she looked down at it and said, "Oh, Doctor. You're back?"
"Mm. I have suffered at da Vinci's hands often enough that perhaps I have built up a resistance. Hahaha."
"...That is hardly something to boast of, chicken."
"W-what? Chicken...?"
"Why not? You are a chicken, Romani."
"...Quiet, da Vinci! ...Hm?"
Romani had been exchanging idle banter with da Vinci even as he worked, but then he noticed something and his eyes widened.
"Ah, wait. A Servant has been detected in the direction you are heading. The location is... La Charité."
"Of all places, our very destination."
"Hm? But it is moving away... ah, ahhh? Damn it! I lost the signal! It is too fast!"
"That is not our only concern. Look there."
I raised a hand and pointed toward the sky above the place to which we were bound. At my words, Fujimaru, Mash, and Jeanne all followed the line of my finger.
"...! Smoke!?"
"The city is burning!"
"Then... it is under assault. In that case, the Servant must be a hostile one. And if it has already withdrawn, then that means..."
Its purpose had been fulfilled. At that conclusion, Jeanne's face hardened.
"...We must make haste!"
"Right! Let's go as fast as we can!"
"In that spirit, forgive me, Master!"
"...Hm? ...! Eek!?"
I swept Ritsuka up in my arms, one beneath her back and the other beneath her knees. At my sudden action, her eyes flew wide.
Yet the moment she realized in what manner she was being carried, her face turned red as a rose. She began to struggle in my arms, seeking to break free.
"E-E-Elius! Wh-what is the meaning of this!?"
"Do not move, Master. It is dangerous. And if we are to hurry, this cannot be helped. At present, you are but an ordinary human."
"B-but this is a princess carry!"
"Ah. So that is what embarrasses you. Endure it, Master. For now, we have no choice but to prize efficiency above all else."
"Hehe. Still, Elius is right this time. Mash is a Demi-Servant, so she can keep pace, but for Miss Ritsuka, an ordinary girl, it would be impossible. So just enjoy it~"
"I know that, but still! Ugh...!!"
Faced with my perfectly sound explanation, and da Vinci's words besides, Ritsuka at last ceased her struggling. Yet the shame that overtook her was more than she could bear, and so she buried her face in my chest to hide her reddened cheeks.
I set off for La Charité without changing my hold. Well. Surely that had settled the matter neatly enough.
There was, however, Jeanne, narrowing her eyes as she watched us with an expression that plainly said she understood the necessity of it, yet did not care for it in the least.
As we hastened toward La Charité, I found myself, for some reason, breaking into a cold sweat beneath the gaze of the black Jeanne.
...This truly has been settled without issue, has it not?
*
We ran to La Charité with all possible speed, only to behold a city so devastated that no word suited it better than ruin.
Mash stared at the burning wreckage with trembling eyes, then asked Romani, "Doctor. Are there any life-signs nearby...?"
"...No. Regrettably, I cannot detect a single living response within that city."
"That cannot be..."
Rustle.
"Wait, what was that sound...!?"
"No. Do not."
I caught Jeanne by the arm before she could run toward the source of the noise.
"Elius? What do you mean by—"
"...Look."
I pointed toward the place from which the sound had come. There, amid the heaps of rubble, something was rising to its feet.
At a glance, one might have mistaken it for a survivor. But when Jeanne beheld its condition, she spoke in a voice filled with disbelief.
"Ah... this cannot... be...!"
"...One already dead. A living dead."
"Elius is right! And there are many of them! Small hostile readings are appearing all throughout the city and converging on that point!"
"...How many are there, Doctor?"
At Mash's question, Romani answered in a low voice.
"...At present, twenty-seven hostile readings... no, twenty-nine... and the number is still increasing. It seems they have noticed your arrival."
Slash.
"...Total annihilation. This place has already been occupied by the dead. And now wyverns are gathering as well."
Having cut down the three living dead that rushed us, I lifted my eyes toward the wyverns descending from the heavens.
"We enter battle, Master."
"Right. Understood!"
*
Slash.
"The last wyvern has been slain. No enemies in sight. Combat is concluded."
As I felled the final wyvern with a sweep of my blade, Mash spoke those words. I flicked the blood from my sword against the ground, then cast my gaze about the area to make certain all were unharmed.
As I checked each of them in turn, I saw that Jeanne's expression had darkened. I looked toward her and spoke.
"Jeanne."
"...Ah, yes. Elius."
"Your face is troubled. Were you wounded in the fighting?"
At my question, she fell silent. She lowered her head and stared wordlessly at the earth before speaking at last in a sorrow-laden voice.
"No. It is only... I cannot help but think that the one who committed such atrocities is another 'me'... No, I am certain it is 'me.'"
"...Jeanne. That is not your fault."
I offered the words in an attempt to comfort her, but Jeanne shook her head and denied them.
"No. It is my fault. She too is 'me.' I can feel that much. What I cannot understand is..."
"How much hatred must she bear for mankind, that she could commit deeds such as these...?"
Having said that, Jeanne lowered her head once more. Seeing her thus, I scratched at my hair in some inward conflict.
Why must she have an Artoria face of all things? It weakens my resolve. I let out a sigh within my heart.
Haah... perhaps it would be acceptable to tell her at least this much.
"...Jeanne."
"..."
"There is reason in what you say. The black Jeanne d'Arc may indeed be you. But, Jeanne..."
This is a Singularity.
I spoke the truth plainly to her.
"It is a place so warped and twisted that even the course of human history itself trembles. If that is so, then even a you who should never exist may yet be brought forth. Which is to say... she may not be the true you at all."
"......!"
"So do not wear such a sorrowful face. A smile suits you far better."
With that, I turned a smile upon her. Jeanne could only stare at me in a daze.
"...Uh..."
"...Hm?"
Crackle.
Yet in the next instant she lowered her head again, and at the same time Ritsuka fixed me with a sharp glare.
...What now?
I opened my mouth to ask Ritsuka what the matter was.
"Sorry to ruin the mood, but that Servant who was moving away has changed direction! This is bad. It looks like it has detected your presence!"
"...What?"
Or rather, I would have, had Romani's urgent voice not burst from the communicator first.
Had it been some trifling matter, I might have ignored it and asked Ritsuka what troubled her. But Romani's warning was grave enough that it could not be dismissed, and so I turned my attention to him instead.
"What of the enemy's numbers?"
"Wh-what, an error!? No, not an error... the detected enemies are... five! And with them, a magical energy reaction equal to the Holy Grail... no, greater than that, is moving toward you as well! They are approaching at tremendous speed, so get out of there at once!!"
Romani's cry, near enough a scream, rang through the communicator. In answer, I spoke at once.
"All of you, retreat the way we came. Quickly!"
"Right!"
"Understood—...!!"
"Damn it. Too late already, is it?"
Even as I gave the hurried order, I felt the prana of something vast together with the enormous shadow falling over us, and I shook my head.
When I lifted my eyes to the sky, I saw there a colossal dragon, soaring with the sun itself blotted out behind its form.
In but an instant, the dragon reached La Charité and descended into the city.
Whoooosh.Flap.Boom.
Seen from so near, the dragon's size was truly monstrous. I had to tilt my head back to behold it fully.
And then my eyes met those of a Servant with all too familiar a visage, standing atop the dragon's head.
Silence passed between us.
Then she smiled.
Jeanne d'Arc Alter, meeting my gaze, adjusted the sword and banner in her grasp and bared a smile steeped in killing intent.