"Control Bureau. The reeducation of Amon and Forneus is complete. Extraneous functions have been severed, and observation and insight operations have resumed."
"Good. This is your failure, Flauros."
"…Mine?"
"Don't play dumb, you blind fool! A Singularity corrected, a single girl unharmed, and failing to eliminate mere Servants—this is the result! Shall we rename you 'Blind-Eyed Flauros'? How's that?!"
"…My deepest apologies. I'll make it right next time."
"Fulfill your duty. Our work's completion is still far off. If irregularities pile up, deal with them."
"Understood…"
"I'm counting on you, 'Blind-Eyed' Flauros? Ha, haha, gahahahaha!!"
Splendor.
"Hello, my leftover scraps. What's with that getup? Dressing up to the nines, are we?"
Mocking black. A flag of dragons, defying the divine.
"This form is my final one, reached through the Hero King's guidance and prayer. —And I am not you, nor are you me."
Pure white. A flag exalting the divine, bearing radiant glory.
On the plains of Orléans, two Jeannes stand opposed—
"What are you babbling about? You're me, Jeanne, aren't you?"
"No words will reach you now. What you need isn't words—it's steel-like prayer."
Smack! Her fist slams into her palm.
"First, I'll pound my prayer into your face, then we'll talk—!!"
Her presence, like a fortress of steel, unyielding and untainted, radiates the pure majesty of a holy maiden.
"Silence! Behold my flag, my fury!"
The black witch roars, spewing flames of wrath.
"My fury burned my homeland, my hatred cloaked it! My anger became fangs, my sorrow claws, my despair a dragon that engulfed France!!"
She raises her ghastly flag high.
"Applaud! Applaud our hatred!! It will devour France, then turn on itself! My hatred will consume the farthest reaches, the distant future—!"
The Dragon Witch, Jeanne d'Arc, spits hellfire.
"That is the true Hundred Years' War—the Evil Dragon Hundred Years' War!!"
Fafnir roars in response, a cry of vengeful resentment.
Yet a radiant white lily's glow meets it head-on.
"No, Jeanne d'Arc, Dragon Witch. Your desired world, your war, this fleeting dream—it will soon end."
"—Marie Antoinette."
"Because she's here. The saint who bore a flag to save others, who fought for them, who loved the defiant humans who struggled and crawled through injustice. The heroes rallied under her flag. And the woman loved by France, whom that Jeanne adores."
"Marie…!"
Marie winks at Jeanne, staring down the evil incarnation.
"Hmph, your cozy little friendship charade? Pathetic. Utterly pathetic! So foolish! It'll vanish the moment it's gone!"
"—How sad, Dragon Witch. The more you speak, the further you stray from Jeanne. If you were truly Jeanne d'Arc, you'd never forget that cherished conviction—"
"Shut up!! I sacrificed every wyvern to cut off that gaudy golden fool! No one's left to shield you! Burn this time—!!"
"No, I won't burn. —You're mistaken. The saint isn't the only one who rose for France."
"What—"
Suddenly, a barrage slams into Fafnir, every bullet and shell pounding relentlessly.
"That's—!"
"All forces! Fire, fire, keep firing! This is the moment to protect France!!"
Leading the charge, clad in pure white armor, Marshal Gilles de Rais roars.
"Shed your lives here if you must! Do not waver, do not falter, do not fear! —We have the saint—and the queen!!"
Cheers erupt, shouts of defiance rise. The army protecting France bellows.
"There's nothing to fear! A dragon cloaking France is nothing to dread! —All forces, ready!!"
Another volley of pride and resolve rains down—!!
"Look forward! Fear nothing! Rally under the holy flag and roar—Fire!!"
The spirited cannonade pins Fafnir down—!
"Can you see, Jeanne? Your struggle was never in vain! Your way of life moved them all—!"
"Yes—yes…!"
Jeanne's eyes glisten with tears.
"I chose this life. I bore a flag to save someone, fought to save someone. Even if the end wasn't beautiful, it was enough for me."
"—Don't mock me!! You abandoned me! Betrayed me!! Sold me out!!"
"I wanted to protect France—so it could reach a distant future—"
Another Jeanne d'Arc's words, a martyrdom for faith.
Her life was never a mistake—!
"Fafnir! Kill them! Burn them to ash!!"
Fafnir, heeding its mission, unleashes a blaze upon the French army.
—But.
"No, sorry, but—your opponent isn't them."
A lone figure strides between the army and Fafnir, standing tall, blocking the flames with their body alone—
"That's…"
An unscathed form. An indomitable spirit.
—The unmatched dragon-slayer of all time.
"This is the third time—or perhaps the count no longer matters. As long as we both live, we're fated to fight."
—The Nibelung hero stands here—!
"Fafnir! Hear me!! I, Siegfried, am here!!"
He brandishes Balmung high, pointing its tip forward!
"I'll cast you into twilight! I swear it on my justice, my life, my conviction—!!"
"Sieg…fried…!"
"Return to the earth, evil dragon! In the tapestry of human life, your existence is unneeded—!!"
"Fafnir! Fall back! Saber! Lancer! Assassin!"
Three Servants appear, shielding Fafnir.
"—Greetings, Queen. What a twist of fate, meeting like this."
"—Truly, Chevalier d'Eon? Your face has grown rather fearsome…"
"—Death is no shame. Defeat is. No matter how wretched, I'll sing of invincibility with this pathetic body. It's all I have left."
"Berserk Lancer…!"
"Uuu… aaah… Marie, Marie…!"
"Ugh, that creep's here too? Marie, did you slap him with a restraining order or something?"
Amadeus asks with a wry smile, while Marie tilts her head curiously.
"? I just said what I thought and felt."
"Oh, got it. That's bad enough! You're a femme fatale, alright!"
"—Everyone, leave this to me."
"Fou?! (Queen?!)"
"No, I'm not trying to be a sacrifice—I just want to show them! My own radiance, to everyone! Three Servants have gathered, so I want to answer in kind!"
"That's reckless! Even for you, that's—!"
"Nah, let her do it. You know her name, right?"
"Marie!"
"Yes! I'm Marie! Marie Antoinette!"
She shines like a star, like a flower—!
"The most selfish queen in all of France—!!"
"Things are heating up! I got a spare PC! Technically, ordered it from the Servant Universe's Amazoness delivery, but still! Uruk products aren't bad, but they're too one-off… whatever! Time to start watching!"
"Fou! Dyukushi! (Beast jamming, incoming!)"
"Signal interference—!! Damn you, Caspar League!!!"
------------------------------
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