Ten minutes later.
The battle within the city slowly began to subside.
Under the overwhelming pressure of naval gunfire, the Bloody Countess Camilla was the first to fall. Her body was torn apart by torpedoes and heavy artillery fire from the ship girls.
In the air, Fafnir was already unrecognizable. His body was riddled with holes, and his wings shredded by the intense bombardment from Richelieu's rigging weapons. He could no longer maintain altitude.
Boom.
Another shot struck his spine. The black dragon roared and nose-dived, crashing into the ground with a thunderous impact.
Reuel piloted the Strike Freedom Gundam, landing squarely on the creature's head, then fired a high-powered energy rifle directly into its skull.
"I guess… this time I didn't need Siegfried, huh?"
Casually, he pulled out a special syringe and extracted blood from the still-warm dragon. After that, he skinned the creature and collected its scales into a dimensional container.
Legend had it that bathing in dragon blood could grant near-immortality. But this blood had already been tainted by the power of the Holy Grail, so...
"Better to take it home for research…"
"Archmagos Brawalius Cawl and the researchers from the Mobius Foundation will be thrilled. A new specimen for the lab."
His eyes drifted toward another part of the dragon's body.
"Will the meat vanish later? In a novel I read in my past life, dragon meat was supposedly delicious when cooked. If it disappears... well, that'd be my loss."
He let out a slow sigh.
"Too bad I still don't know where Black Joan is…"
"..."
Reuel's gaze shifted to a battle in the distance—specifically, to Dafeng and Formidable.
The one they were pummeling into the dirt was The Impaler. He could barely protect himself from the relentless assault of carrier-based aircraft. His body staggered, then was mercilessly dragged by Dafeng and thrown right at Reuel's feet.
"Commander~" Dafeng said sweetly, "I was wondering… do you still need one alive for interrogation?"
"So Dafeng held back~"
Formidable stood beside her, not quite understanding why Dafeng looked so pleased just from having ridden the Gundam with the commander.
"….."
"….."
Meanwhile, the heroic spirit Archduke Vlad slowly rose from the ground. He glanced at the shattered body of Fafnir and the ashes of Camilla with a blank expression. His face showed something between confusion… and resignation.
"Who exactly are you?" he asked Reuel.
But once he realized he had been defeated, Lord Impaler became much calmer.
For a heroic spirit, death merely meant returning to the Throne of Heroes. He would simply wait until he was summoned again in the future. Perhaps… by someone like Reuel?
"I'm from another world. I came to fix the bugs in this singularity," Reuel replied calmly. "Do you know where Jeanne d'Arc Alter is? Or the other servants she summoned?"
Vlad nodded faintly.
"The Dragon Witch is in Orléans Castle. But she'll soon know what happened here. Hopefully… fortune favors you."
He looked at Reuel one last time.
"If I face you as an enemy again someday, I'll impale you on a stake."
The Impaler snorted softly, twice.
"Hah?! Still got the nerve to be cocky?!"
Boom.
Dafeng tried to kick him hard, but her kick missed. Archduke Vlad's body had already begun to fade, slowly vanishing as if being swallowed by quicksand.
"....."
"If you can't fight back, then just run away, huh?!"
Dafeng shouted angrily, glaring at the spot where The Impaler had vanished.
"He's disappeared from this world and returned to the Throne of Heroes," Reuel replied calmly. "If you really want to fight him again… we could retrieve some relics from Romania and try summoning him. But this time, it'll probably be the regular version of the Grand Duke—not the crazed, curse-ridden one we just fought."
He turned to Dafeng and smiled, trying to soothe the yandere fire blazing in her eyes.
As commonly known, Heroic Spirits were the souls of legendary figures who had already died. Most of them only responded to summons during a Holy Grail War—and even then, only temporarily. They weren't truly loyal to anyone—friend or foe was merely a matter of contract.
"Besides, he got beat to a pulp this time," Reuel added. "I doubt he'd want to show his face to you again. Your compatibility level is probably… extremely low."
Mash slowly shook her head, a look of disbelief on her face.
Defeating a Servant and casually talking about summoning him again—only Reuel could think like that.
---
After the battle.
The entire team began assessing the situation. Fortunately, there were no casualties.
Gudako and Mash had been monitoring the battle from the start, and now they could finally breathe easy. As a result of the intense fight, Reuel gained a few trophies: a canister filled with dragon blood and several intact Fafnir scales.
Killing a dragon and two Servants at once certainly lightened the burden of the upcoming battle—facing Jeanne d'Arc (Alter).
Strike Freedom had suffered minor damage. Some scratches on the outer armor, a bit of chipped paint, but overall, the mecha was still combat-ready.
---
"So..." Reuel said as he climbed down from the cockpit, "Shall we move on?"
Mash glanced toward the now-quiet town.
"It's getting crowded here, Commander. How about we take a horse carriage? It's not that far."
"Dafeng has no objections!" the shipgirl chimed cheerfully, clinging to Reuel's arm. "As long as Commander sits close to me, I'll go anywhere~"
"Sensei," Saber cut in, "could you explain the Gundam's navigational system in more detail? I've never seen such a configuration before…"
Everyone reacted differently.
But there was one person who hadn't taken her eyes off the Strike Freedom Gundam this entire time.
Ritsuka Fujimaru, aka Gudako.
From the very start of the battle, her eyes had been fixed on that mecha. The heroic maneuvers it performed—swinging a beam saber, dueling a massive dragon in midair, unleashing high-energy blasts at close range—it all looked like something straight out of a dream... or at least, the dream of a hardcore otaku.
Too cool. Too powerful.
The shipgirls were incredible, yes—but… they weren't human.
Gudako realized that Gundam, as amazing as it was, was still being piloted by just one person. One human being.
As the others began to move out, Reuel noticed Ritsuka's conflicted gaze. He approached and patted her on the shoulder.
"What's on your mind? Come on, get in. We've got to go."
Ritsuka bit her lip for a moment, then spoke hesitantly, her face turning red.
"Um… Reuel… do you… have a spare Gundam? I mean, could I… maybe pilot one too…?"
"…Hah?"
Reuel looked genuinely surprised. He hadn't expected that kind of request coming from… well, a girl like Gudako.
"Well, actually there are a few empty units... Unicorn, Barbatos, Exia… But they're all stored back in Terra Aeterna."
"Could I… buy one?"
Reuel let out a short sigh and gave a bitter smile.
"Gundams… are ridiculously expensive to build…"
Gudako went quiet. Her eyes dropped to the ground, her expression now resembling someone seriously considering selling a kidney.
When I first arrived at Chaldea, it felt completely unrealistic to expect I could ever afford a Gundam just by relying on my wages from my current employer.
But suddenly, a crazy idea popped into my head.
"You're the supreme commander, the leader of that world, right?"
"Then just give me one Gundam unit, and I'll work for you starting today. How's that? Will the pay be based on the number of worlds visited and the difficulty of the missions?"
"Oh—my work here in Chaldea is only part-time. Is working for you also considered part-time?"
"Ha?!"
Mash and Dr. Romani Archaman's jaws dropped in disbelief.
Gudako's integrity collapsed in an instant. For the sake of a single Gundam unit, she was willing to literally sell herself—and without the slightest hint of guilt.
"Deal accepted!"
Reuel agreed on the spot, not even thinking twice.
"When we get back, sign a cooperation agreement with me… eh, not a purchase contract, but a formal partnership. Then find Akashi and pick up your Gundam from the hangar!"
With that, Assault Liberty launched once again, carrying the team toward Orléans.
Under the command of the Dragon Witch, all of France had fallen into chaos and the fires of war.
Unlike the white Jeanne d'Arc, who longed for peace and salvation for her homeland, Jeanne d'Arc Alter had only one ambition: to burn France to the ground—the country that had betrayed her.
Twisted monsters and distorted beings, the result of Holy Grail corruption, roamed the streets, battling the scattered remnants of the French army.
From the skies, flocks of dragons roared and dove, incinerating cities and mercilessly slaughtering civilians.
Driven by a strong sense of justice, Artoria could not stand idly by. She personally intervened to eliminate the most immediate threats along the way.
To the civilians, the presence of the King of Knights of England was nothing short of divine salvation. They offered endless thanks for the unexpected aid.
However, every time they saw the Strike Freedom trembling and falling from the sky under enemy attack, they were filled with a mix of awe and dread—as if watching a god that could bleed.
---
Hundreds of kilometers away — Castle Orléans, stronghold of Jeanne d'Arc Alter.
The stench of blood and death soaked every corner of the city.
In the castle's grand hall, a girl stood silently. Her long silver hair framed a cold, emotionless face; her golden eyes glinted with pure hatred. She wore dark armor that radiated a menacing aura.
She looked strikingly similar to Artoria Pendragon, yet no one would mistake her for anyone else.
She was Jeanne d'Arc (Alter).
"…Fafnir and two Heroic Spirits have been defeated?" she muttered, brows furrowed sharply.
It didn't make sense.
Two of the seven mad Heroic Spirits she had summoned—along with the legendary dragon Fafnir—had been wiped out. Just like that.
They hadn't even managed to send a final transmission.
Then came another report from the guards, further darkening the atmosphere:
"Someone claims to have seen the King of Knights…"
"What?! England has landed in France?!"
"She's approaching Orléans riding a giant mecha?!"
"British mechanized forces are invading France from the sky?!"