Location: Chaldea - Cafeteria
Time: 08:00 Hours (Pre-Rayshift)
The cafeteria of the Chaldea Security Organization was usually a quiet place.
Today, it was a war zone.
"MORE MEAT!" Raiden slammed an empty tray onto the table.
"MORE GEMS!" Ishtar slammed her fist on the table.
"MORE ATTENTION!" Melusine hugged Raiden's arm, burying her face in his bicep.
In the kitchen, Emiya (Archer) - who had been summoned by Ritsuka shortly after Fuyuki - was sweating.
"I am a Guardian of Humanity, not a short-order cook for a Dragon God!" Emiya yelled, flipping twenty steaks at once using Unlimited Blade Works.
Raiden ignored the complaints. He was currently eating a steak that was still on the sizzling iron plate. He ate the plate too.
"Iron deficiency," Raiden muttered.
Leonardo Da Vinci walked in, holding a tablet. She looked at Raiden with scientific fascination.
"Amazing. His stomach converts matter into mana with 100% efficiency. He is a perpetual motion machine fueled by beef."
Dr. Romani wept in the corner. "The budget... the food budget for the year is gone in three days..."
Mio, Maria, and the rest of the original harem sat at a nearby table, sipping tea prepared by Zest.
"Is it always this loud?" Yuki asked.
"You get used to it," Kurumi sharpened her axe. "Just guard your dessert."
Location: Command Room
Olga Marie stood with her arms crossed.
"Alright! The next Singularity has been identified. France, 1431. The Hundred Years' War. It's infested with Wyverns."
"Dragons," Melusine perked up. "Inferior species. I will eradicate them."
"There is a slight problem," Da Vinci noted. "Raiden's Spirit Origin mass is too heavy. If we put him in the Rayshift Coffin, it will explode."
Raiden picked his ear.
"I don't need a coffin. Just open the door."
"The door?"
Raiden walked to the reinforced glass of the Rayshift chamber.
[Void God Azathoth: Spatial Bridge]
He punched the glass.
Instead of shattering, the glass rippled, opening a black swirl directly connected to the coordinates of 1431 France.
"Ritsuka, Mash. Get in," Raiden commanded. "We're taking the shortcut."
Ritsuka: "Is... is that safe?!"
Nyx: [Safety rating: 2%. Survival probability for Master Raiden: 100%. For you: Good luck.]
Location: Singularity 1 - Orleans
Year: 1431
They stepped out of the void into a field of ash. The sky was choked with smoke.
In the distance, a village was burning.
Screams echoed.
"Wyverns!" Mash raised her shield.
A flock of twenty Wyverns dived from the clouds, breathing fire.
Kurumi and Yuki drew their weapons.
Zest deployed combat knives.
"Wait," Raiden held up a hand.
He sniffed the air.
"Burned wood. Sulfur. And... cheap lizard meat."
He looked at the lead Wyvern.
[Lust: Sovereign's Roar]
Raiden didn't shout. He just let out a low, draconic growl from the back of his throat.
Grrrrr.
The Wyverns froze in mid-air. Their instincts screamed APEX PREDATOR.
They stopped flapping. Gravity took over.
Twenty Wyverns crashed into the ground, shivering.
Raiden walked up to the biggest one.
"You're small," Raiden critiqued. "Hardly a nugget."
He grabbed the Wyvern by the neck and twisted.
Snap.
He tossed the carcass to Gigas Machina (who had emerged from his shadow).
"Carry the snacks, Butler."
"Acknowledged. Storing Biomass."
A manic laughter echoed from the sky.
"HAHAHAHA! Burn! Burn it all to ash!"
Descending from the clouds was a massive black dragon - Fafnir.
Standing on its head was a woman with pale skin, platinum blonde hair, and golden eyes filled with hatred. She held a flag adorned with the dragon crest.
Jeanne Alter (Jalter). The Dragon Witch.
"I am the vengeance of France!" Jalter screamed. "I am the flames that will consume the Lord!"
She looked down and saw Raiden standing over her Wyverns.
"Hah? Who dares touch my pets?"
Ishtar floated up on Maanna, looking offended.
"Excuse me? You're the witch? Your fashion sense is terrible! Too much black! Where are the jewels?!"
Melusine launched herself into the air, hovering eye-to-level with Jalter. Her wings of light flared.
"You call yourself a Dragon Witch?" Melusine spat. "You are commanding lizards. You are mocking the name of the Dragon Kind."
Jalter's vein popped. "Who are these annoying flies?! Fafnir! Roast them!"
Fafnir opened its maw. A torrent of Cursed Dragon Fire poured down.
The fire engulfed Raiden's group.
Mash: "Lord Camelot!"
She tried to deploy her shield.
"Don't bother, Eggplant," Raiden stepped in front of her.
He opened his mouth.
[Gluttony: Thermal Absorption]
The massive column of cursed fire hit Raiden.
It swirled into his mouth like a tornado.
Raiden drank the fire of Fafnir.
The curse - the hatred of the dragon - tried to poison him. But Nyx filtered it instantly.
Gulp.
Raiden exhaled a puff of black smoke.
"Spicy," Raiden grinned. "Like ghost peppers mixed with gasoline."
He looked up at Jalter.
"Hey, Witch. Your lighter needs a refill."
Jalter's eyes widened. "He... he ate Fafnir's breath?!"
Melusine didn't wait.
"You attacked my lover," Melusine's eyes glowed blue. "Die."
She broke the sound barrier.
"Innocence Arondight!"
She slammed her dual blades into Fafnir's side.
BOOM.
The massive dragon roared in pain as scales were ripped off.
Melusine moved like a jet fighter, zipping around the lumbering Fafnir, slashing and stabbing.
Jalter stumbled, nearly falling off. "You little pest!"
Jalter swung her flag. "La Grondement Du Haine!"
Black stakes erupted from the ground, aiming for Melusine.
Melusine dodged them effortlessly. "Too slow. You are a fake dragon."
Jalter growled. "Fake?! I am the incarnation of hatred!"
Ishtar fired mana bolts from her boat. Pew Pew.
"Less talking, more dropping loot! Does that dragon have gold teeth?!"
Raiden watched the chaos.
[Nyx Analysis]
[Target: Jeanne Alter. Class: Avenger. Nature: Artificial Heroic Spirit created by the Grail. Motivation: Hatred, Loneliness, inferiority complex.]
"Artificial," Raiden mused. "Like Zest."
Raiden jumped.
He bypassed Melusine and Fafnir, landing directly on the dragon's head, right in front of Jalter.
Jalter flinched. She tried to stab him with her sword.
Raiden caught the blade with two fingers.
"You're angry," Raiden said calmly.
"Shut up!" Jalter shouted, her face twisting. "I'll kill you! I'll kill everyone who rejected me!"
Raiden stepped closer. The Golden Aura of Lust flared.
[Passive Skill: Charm of the Sovereign]
"You weren't rejected," Raiden whispered. "You just haven't found a Master who can handle the heat."
Jalter froze. Her grip on the sword loosened. The proximity of the Lust was making her knees weak. Her Spirit Origin - created from a wish - was inherently unstable and sought an anchor.
"W-What are you talking about?" Jalter stammered, blushing despite herself. "I don't need a Master! I have hatred!"
"Hatred burns out," Raiden leaned in, his face inches from hers. "Hunger lasts forever."
He grabbed her chin.
"Join me, Witch. I have a castle. I have maids. And I have a lot of enemies for you to burn."
Jalter's face turned beet red. Steam practically came out of her ears.
"H-Hah?! You think you can just pick me up?! I am the Dragon Wi - "
Melusine landed behind Raiden, hugging his waist possessively.
"Back off, fake. He is mine."
Ishtar floated down. "And mine! I saw him first (in this timeline)!"
Jalter looked at the Dragon Loli and the Useless Goddess clinging to this man.
She looked at Raiden, whose black eyes promised infinite power (and food).
She shoved Raiden away (weakly).
"I... I'm retreating! For strategic reasons! Don't get the wrong idea!"
Jalter stomped on Fafnir's head. "Fly, you stupid lizard!"
Fafnir groaned and flew away, retreating toward Orleans.
Raiden landed back on the ground.
Ritsuka and Mash stared at him.
"You..." Ritsuka pointed. "You just flirted with the final boss until she ran away?"
"It's called diplomacy," Raiden shrugged.
From the burning forest, a group of French soldiers emerged. Leading them was a blonde woman who looked exactly like Jalter, but with a pure, holy aura.
Jeanne d'Arc (Ruler). The real one.
"Greetings, travelers," Jeanne said gently. "I sensed a powerful evil... and then a powerful confusion."
She looked at Raiden.
She blinked.
Her [Saint] skill gave her a revelation.
"Oh my," Jeanne blushed slightly. "Why does God tell me that you are 'The Danger'?"
Raiden grinned, showing his fangs.
"Because I am, Saintess."
He looked at Mio.
"Hey, Mio. Can we keep the Saint too? She looks like she can cook."
Mio threw a rock at him. "STOP COLLECTING WOMEN!"