Even with the moonlight above, Jeanne could only barely make out her surroundings. But this eerie situation, completely devoid of even the chirping of insects, was clearly wrong no matter how she thought about it.
"Grandpa! Please stop the car and turn back! There's danger ahead."
Without the slightest hesitation, Jeanne shouted to the old man driving through the small window.
"How can we do that, little miss..."
Hearing Jeanne's words, the old man wanted to turn around and ask what had happened. But as he looked up, he was caught off guard and caught a glimpse in the rearview mirror of the young girl's eyes, which were glowing with purple light. Instantly, his expression became dazed, and the pickup truck slowly pulled over to the side of the road, letting Jeanne and Souya out.
"There's the aura of Servants nearby... By the looks of it, they seem to hold hostility towards me?"
Watching the shadow of the pickup truck gradually disappear from view, Jeanne breathed a slight sigh of relief while her clothes simultaneously transformed from a school uniform into her armor-clad Spirit Dress.
Gripping her battle flag, the Holy Maiden scanned her surroundings vigilantly, fully prepared for battle.
Although she couldn't understand why any Servant would hold hostility towards her, a Ruler who wouldn't interfere in the Holy Grail War, and despite the fact that, even with her referee privileges, she surprisingly couldn't sense which Servant was lying in ambush here... Jeanne had, after all, been a commanding general in life and was considered quite powerful among Servants.
Therefore, facing this inexplicable hostility, she still assumed a combat stance.
"Master of the Red Caster. Since you didn't bring your Servant with you this time because you came looking for me, it's only right and proper that I protect you this time. Now, please come a bit closer to me..."
As if remembering something, Jeanne suddenly turned to look at Souya. But when she saw the young man, who had originally been standing behind her, slowly disappearing into the darkness with an inexplicable smile on his face, she froze.
The words of protection she was about to speak stopped abruptly in her mouth.
"You..."
"I apologize, Miss Jeanne. While I personally truly do not wish to harm you, considering I have orders from above, I have to at least put on a show. So I can only trouble you to suffer a little. Additionally..."
Seeing Jeanne's expression turn somewhat indignant as she belatedly realized what was happening, Souya smiled at her unabashedly.
"My name is Kotomine Souya. I am a witness, looking forward to your answer."
As his words fell, Souya's figure gradually vanished into the darkness, leaving only Jeanne surrounded by endless blackness, and the Holy Maiden's somewhat teeth-gritting voice.
"Kotomine Souya... I'll remember you!"
The next moment, countless shadows materialized into tangible darkness, instantly enveloping Jeanne within.
"Well then, now we just need to wait for the arrival of the Black Faction's Servant."
His figure slowly appearing by the roadside, Souya looked at Jeanne trapped in the shadow cage and spoke with a light chuckle.
Beside him was Queen Morgan, still wearing her black dress and black veil.
"Speaking of which, I really have to thank Lady Morgan's magecraft. Even Ruler with her privileges couldn't detect the spell being cast."
"Hmph!"
Facing Souya's flattery, Morgan merely snorted coldly and turned her head away, refusing to look at him.
Clearly, even though Souya's movements were fast enough, the scene of him unbuttoning his clothes just now had still been caught in Morgan's eyes.
Sigh, the wife is jealous.
Seeing Morgan like this, Souya couldn't help but smile helplessly. But he also knew that words were useless in this kind of situation, so he didn't say anything. Instead, he proactively took Morgan's hand and intertwined their fingers.
For lovers, actions are often far more effective than words.
Feeling the warmth transmitted from his palm, Morgan's complexion finally softened, and her hand held by Souya couldn't help but tighten a bit.
"Her appearance..."
Gazing at Jeanne's face in the cage—which was extremely similar to her own, yet in terms of aura and the feeling she gave off, looked more like that sister who stole her man—Morgan's eyes were somewhat complex.
Knowing that Morgan was thinking of Artoria while looking at Jeanne's face, the figure of that equally blonde young girl subconsciously surfaced in Souya's mind as well.
Through deep conversations with Morgan, Souya more or less knew some of the things that had happened in Britain after his disappearance.
The Twin Kings, Rome, the Round Table, the Kingdom, and the choices made by the two sisters.
Morgan's choice was to wait for Souya's summon through a clone left on the Throne of Heroes, while her physical body slept in the Inner Sea of the Planet after a long search.
Artoria's choice, however, was just as Souya had told her back then: to become a human, then die as a human and become a Heroic Spirit. She looked forward to reuniting with him on the Throne of Heroes, while also yearning for the possibility of continuing their story in the future.
Although the main subjects of the two were different, they basically both relied on the Throne of Heroes—a thing that recorded bonds and fulfilled dreams. And this time, he and Morgan had achieved their reunion.
Then how long will it be until my reunion with Artoria?
Thinking this, although Souya felt a lot of emotion in his heart, he didn't show it. He merely patted the back of Morgan's hand gently and said:
"In the long river of history, there will always be people who look similar but have completely different experiences and backgrounds. Just like how flowers may look alike, but are never identical."
"Then, Lamorak. If you ever meet someone in the future whose appearance and aura are very similar to mine, will you mistake her for me?"
As if thinking of something, Morgan suddenly looked at Souya and asked.
Her eyes were burning bright, staring deeply into Souya's, as if wanting to carve his answer into her heart.
"Of course not."
To this, Souya merely smiled gently, then reached out and pulled Morgan into his embrace.
"Flowers have a sea of flowers, stars have a starry sky, but there will only ever be one bright moon. To me, Lady Morgan, you are that unique, irreplaceable moon that I deeply love."
"Heh, only you would speak of me like that, Lamorak."
Hearing Souya's words, although she didn't say it out loud, the smile blooming on the Queen's lips already explained everything.
Under the moonlight, the atmosphere between the two gradually grew intimate.
But right at this moment, an out-of-breath yet extremely loud voice—clearly oppressed by fat—abruptly rang out, shattering this intimacy.
"Phew... phew... so tired. Damn it. I was wondering why Ruler hadn't arrived after I waited there for so long. It turns out she was trapped here by the Red Faction guys."
"Hey! You kid over there! Are you and that woman beside you the Master and Servant of the Red Faction? Do you know what you are doing?! How dare you attack Ruler! Do you really think our Yggdmillennia clan is nothing?!"
"Hey! Kid, I'm talking to you! I'm talking to you!"
"..."
An atmosphere where they were almost about to kiss had been interrupted just like that by this guy who popped out of nowhere. Feeling the anger instantly ignite in her heart, Morgan couldn't help but take a deep breath, her eyes turning incomparably icy in a flash.
And even for Souya, having this crucial step interrupted put him in a terrible mood. When he cast his gaze at the figure that had suddenly appeared not far away, he was stunned to discover that it was none other than one of the Black Faction Masters, Gordes. And the gray-haired man carrying a greatsword and wearing armor beside him was exactly the protagonist of the epic Nibelungenlied, and also the husband of the Red Faction's Berserker, Kriemhild: the Dragon-Slaying Hero, Siegfried.
At this moment, because he hadn't received a response from Souya and felt slighted, Gordes was flying into a rage, muttering about teaching this arrogant kid a good lesson.
But right at this moment, Siegfried beside him seemed to sense something. He frowned slightly and looked at Souya and Morgan opposite them. Upon seeing the latter's extremely icy expression and already raised right hand, his heart instantly seized.
"Master! Look out!"
Instinctively, Siegfried grabbed Gordes, who was still cursing, and dodged to the side. And exactly where they had been standing just moments before, countless pitch-black shadow spikes suddenly erupted from the ground.