Crack—
The Saint Graph within his body began to fracture, mottled cracks spreading through it.
Lin Qi fell silent, halting his use of Siegfried's power.
Now wasn't the time to drain Siegfried's strength completely—because...
He turned toward a corner untouched by his Noble Phantasm's blast. There, a black figure sat curled up, hugging her knees.
"Go ahead and laugh. In your eyes, I'm just a fake anyway, right? Just some ridiculous fool, aren't I?"
Hearing Lin Qi's footsteps approach, Jeanne d'Arc (Alter) didn't look up—her voice was cold and sharp.
At some point, a gaping wound had opened through her chest, piercing clean through to her back. Tiny golden motes of light were drifting outward from it.
Lin Qi planted the flag, the one marked with the iris emblem, into the ground beside her. Without a word, he sat down next to Jeanne Alter, Balmung resting against the earth in his right hand.
Together, they gazed silently toward the setting sun in the west.
Jeanne Alter shifted two steps away from him.
And so they remained for several long seconds.
Why isn't this bastard saying anything?!
She couldn't hold it in any longer.
"Hey, can you at least say something!?"
At the very least, you could ask me why I ended up like this!
Only then did Lin Qi seem to return from his thoughts.
He turned his gaze from the horizon.
"I'm not really in the mood to laugh right now. Even if it were to mock someone else."
Hearing that lifeless, almost hollow tone, Jeanne Alter let out a snort.
Seriously? I'm about to die and I still sound more alive than you do!
"So what then? You plan to finish it now—to personally kill the version of your precious little village girl that I happen to be?"
"Even if I don't lift a hand, you'll vanish soon enough. I just came because… I heard someone crying."
Lin Qi shook his head. Jeanne Alter was a Heroic Spirit fabricated by the Holy Grail itself; now that the Grail had been taken, it was only a matter of time before she disappeared.
"W–Who's crying!? Don't slander me!"
Flustered, Jeanne Alter snapped her head up to glare at him.
"Weren't you?"
Lin Qi's eyes rested on the corner of hers—where not only was there a faint redness, but a few lingering tears she hadn't wiped away.
He pointed to his own eye corner, gesturing for her to notice.
Jeanne Alter froze, then hastily wiped her tears, fumbling in embarrassment.
"So you really did come to laugh at me…"
To make a fool of herself in front of someone else even as she was about to fade—Jeanne Alter felt her short existence couldn't be any bleaker. She buried her head even deeper.
Another stretch of silence passed—ten seconds, maybe more.
This time, it was Lin Qi who spoke first.
"Jeanne told me. You're not her."
At his words, Jeanne Alter's eyes dimmed, her tone turning icier.
"Yeah, yeah, that's right—so what? I'm just something someone made up. A pathetic imitation who swore she'd never be betrayed again, only to be betrayed by the very person she trusted most. A complete idiot. That's me."
"She also told me that even if you aren't her, you're still a new being. She asked me—if I had the strength—to go easy on you."
"…Huh?"
Jeanne Alter blinked, unsure if she'd misheard.
"Are you sure that came from that little peasant girl?"
"Mm."
Lin Qi still remembered it clearly—Jeanne had said it on their way to see Saint George, worried he'd fall asleep on the road.
"…How dull."
After a pause, Jeanne Alter turned her head sharply to the side.
"Avenger… but who's ever born needing to take revenge?"
Lin Qi didn't react to her movement. After rolling the word "Avenger" over in his mind several times, he spoke.
"You were indeed created from someone's selfish desire, a vengeful fantasy molded in Jeanne's image. But that doesn't mean you have no self."
"You cry. You feel lonely. You look forward to tomorrow. You… wish for others to care about you. Without a doubt, you're already a new life that truly exists in this world."
"What joy is there in vengeance alone? Your life shouldn't revolve solely around it. You should at least try experiencing things beyond revenge. Once you've done that—you can decide who you want to be."
His voice was calm—like a gentle breeze passing over an open plain.
But to Jeanne Alter, hearing those words made her nose sting. Tears welled up once more.
Fragments of her short-lived past flickered through her mind.
From the very moment she was born, her existence had been branded with vengeance. At first, she hadn't found anything wrong with it. But as she burned her enemies one by one, excitement gave way to emptiness.
She'd once asked Gilles, "Revenge really is satisfying, isn't it, Gilles?"
Too awkward to say what she truly felt, she'd phrased it indirectly.
He'd answered firmly, "Of course, milady. You were born for vengeance!"
Jeanne Alter had believed him—pressing down the strange unease in her heart.
That's why she'd broken down when she met Jeanne and heard her denial.
Why don't I have memories from when I was alive?
She'd asked Gilles again, roundabout as always—and of course, he'd affirmed her, again.
And again, she'd believed him.
Until Gilles betrayed her. While she was focused on the battlefield, he had snatched away the core of her very existence—the Holy Grail.
Because the true Jeanne's saintly radiance on the field had made him abandon her.
What meaning does my existence have?
Was I just here to fulfill Gilles's sick delusion? Something that could be kicked aside at will?
And yet—her enemies, Jeanne and Lin Qi—had affirmed her instead.
So… do I actually have the right to choose a richer life, too?
But…
"But I'm just a phantom Servant, something the Holy Grail made up… Once I end here, that's really it for me…"
Her voice trembled with tears, her body shaking slightly.
It was fear—the fear of disappearing from this world.
"Not necessarily. The quantum record holds everything. Maybe there's even a place for you on the Throne of Heroes—assuming humanity itself isn't completely gone."
Even the Heroic Spirits that transcend time only exist because of humanity; without it, they'd be rootless.
That's what Lin Qi thought.
"…But isn't human history pretty much in the same state as me right now…?"
Jeanne Alter murmured quietly.
"Maybe it can hold on a bit longer than you."
She broke into louder sobs.
"So in the end, we both just fade away…"
"Then how about you wish me luck in pulling off a miracle—bringing humanity back?"
Lin Qi said this as he stood.
"If I can restore humanity, maybe you'll keep existing too."
"…I don't want to."
After a moment's silence, Jeanne Alter turned away in a huff.
Lin Qi hadn't really expected anything from her. He simply shook his head, returning Balmung to Siegfried's Saint Graph, then pulled the flag from the ground.
"Where are you going?"
Seeing that he was about to leave, Jeanne Alter suddenly grew anxious.
"To settle the score. The Holy Grail of this Singularity still needs to be recovered."
"Want to come along?"
Lin Qi extended his hand toward her.
Jeanne Alter said nothing—just stared at his hand, then slowly turned her gaze aside.
He'd already expected that. The offer had been more courtesy than anything.
Without lingering, he began to lower his hand—
When a cool, slender hand suddenly caught his.
Lin Qi blinked, then turned back—only to find Jeanne Alter extending her own hand, face turned stubbornly away.
A faint blush colored her pale cheek.
"I never said I wasn't coming. It's just… in this state, I won't last much longer. So take my power and make sure to give that bastard Gilles a proper beating, got it…?"
Her voice was low and muffled.
"And for the record—don't you dare say my power's weak!"
Her tone shot up several notches by the end.
Seeing this all-too-familiar Jeanne Alter, Lin Qi couldn't help but smile.
"Of course. I've had it with that guy for a while now."
"And don't worry—your existence won't just fade from this world. I'll remember you. At least until I die."
"—Then I guess having someone disappear alongside you isn't such a bad thing, huh?"
"…Mm."
Jeanne Alter answered softly, the red on her face deepening.
Golden motes scattered into the wind. Lin Qi felt his hand grow lighter—and Jeanne Alter vanished before his eyes, leaving not a trace behind.
Feeling the new surge of power within him, Lin Qi let out a faint, almost inaudible sigh.
He closed his eyes briefly. When he opened them again, determination had returned.
He turned to where Saint George had been watching quietly in the distance—and extended a fist toward him.
"Teacher George—would you run this final stretch with me?"
At the unexpected title, Saint George raised his brows slightly.
Teacher George? What an interesting way to put it.
But then—
"With pleasure."
He smiled, raising his own fist to meet Lin Qi's.
Under the setting sun, their fists met.
...
——Did Lin Qi really hear Jeanne Alter's sobs? Yes.
It was the link between their hearts that let him sense her hidden sorrow and loneliness—and that was why he'd gone to sit beside her.
After all—when one fears being abandoned, they can't help but wish for someone to stay by their side, can they?