The earth trembled beneath the final roars of the dragons. But now, three figures shone with an unstoppable light amidst the chaos.
Mash, with her shield renewed by determination.
Nero, wrapped in imperial glory, her sword dancing with fire.
And Jeanne d'Arc, a symbol of hope, her standard waving like the sun after the storm.
"For France, for humanity!" Jeanne shouted, her pure voice resonating in every corner.
The dragons began to fall. One after another. As if the sky itself were judging them.
"Magnificent! With this, I will prove that the flame of Rome never extinguishes!" Nero exclaimed, piercing a beast's chest with a triumphant smile.
"Senpai, the right flank is clear!" Mash shouted.
Leonel, from his observation point, lowered his gaze in relief.
"Well done, everyone. Stay alert... but I think we've done it."
A final roar, and the last dragon collapsed with a dull thud.
The threat had disappeared.
[Village Center - Minutes Later]
The villagers began to emerge from their hiding places. The elderly, children, wounded adults. Some wept with relief. Others simply collapsed from exhaustion. When they saw Jeanne, many fell silent.
She smiled softly, lowering her standard.
"Do not fear. I have come to protect you."
But whispers soon began. Suspicion. Fear. Hatred.
"That... that's her!"
"The Dragon Witch!"
"No, no! She is Jeanne d'Arc, the savior!"
"Lies! We saw her days ago! She razed another village! Her eyes were the same!"
Jeanne stood still, confused.
"Dragon... Witch?"
Leonel descended from his position, quickly approaching. Mash instinctively placed herself in front of Jeanne, in a defensive stance.
"Wait! She saved our lives. She is not who you think."
"What do you mean she's not?!" shouted a woman. "She has the same face! The same voice! That cursed witch brought the fire and the dragons! We saw her with our own eyes!"
The atmosphere tensed. Some picked up sticks. Others, stones.
Jeanne lowered her gaze, her face serene, but inside, a whirlwind of doubts.
"If... if there is another with my appearance causing this... then I must face her."
"Jeanne!" Mash protested, but the Ruler raised her hand calmly.
Leonel stepped forward, his voice clear and firm.
"Listen to me, all of you! The woman you have before you is not a witch. Her name is Jeanne d'Arc, the true one. The one who saved lives today. No matter who you saw before, she is not your enemy."
An uncomfortable silence fell.
Some villagers lowered their gaze. Others simply walked away.
[Moments Later - On the Village Outskirts]
Jeanne stepped away from the group a little, observing the ash-tinged dawn. Leonel approached her.
"Are you alright?"
She didn't respond at first.
"I have been hated before. Accused before. Burned before. But... this... knowing there is a version of me destroying innocents..." She clenched her fists. "I cannot ignore it."
"Then we will face her," Leonel said, determined. "Together. You are not alone, Jeanne."
Mash and Nero joined them.
"Hmph!! Whoever that impostor is, she will know the wrath of an authentic empress!"
"I will watch your back, Jeanne-san," Mash added with a kind smile.
The Ruler looked at them, with a mix of gratitude and renewed strength.
"Thank you... all of you."
[Nearby Forest - Outskirts of the Village, Shortly After Dawn]
The smoke of battle slowly dissipated, leaving only the echo of a bitter victory. The group had distanced themselves from the village, seeking privacy after the tense reaction from the villagers. Sitting in a clearing lit by the faint sunlight, Jeanne, still with her standard leaning against her side, observed her saviors attentively.
"I think it's time we introduce ourselves formally," Leonel said seriously, inclining his head slightly. "I am Leonel, and this is Mash Kyrielight. We are... travelers. And our mission is to protect humanity."
Mash also bowed, with a polite smile.
"It's an honor, Miss Jeanne. I've read about you... and your unshakable faith."
Jeanne watched them with a neutral expression for a few seconds, then lowered her head slightly in respect.
"Jeanne d'Arc. Servant of the Ruler class. I was summoned by the will of the Holy Grail to mediate in this land... but I do not remember answering any specific call. Everything is... confusing."
"And yet, here I am," she said with serenity, though there was doubt in her voice. "Now tell me... why? Why have you come? This is not your war."
Leonel crossed his arms, thoughtful for a moment.
"We cannot give you all the details. But what I can tell you is this: if we do not intervene, humanity will be eradicated. Every city, every nation, every child... everything will vanish as if it never existed."
Jeanne opened her eyes, surprised, but did not interrupt.
"We do not come from this era," Leonel continued. "But our duty is to preserve it. We are traveling through singularities that alter history. Places where something, or someone, corrupts the natural flow of time... and fate."
Mash nodded, taking the word.
"In each singularity, something changes. Something destroys what should have been. Our job is to correct those distortions and restore the true course of history."
Jeanne remained silent. The wind played with her hair and the ribbons of her armor. Finally, she asked:
"And this... this singularity is related to me? To that Dragon Witch?"
Leonel nodded slowly.
"We don't know for certain... but it's likely. Her presence alters this place. The dragons... the villagers' fears... everything is connected. We need to get to the bottom of this. And for that, we need your help."
Jeanne gripped the standard tightly, her eyes fixed on the horizon.
"If a distorted version of me is causing all this... I cannot allow it."
"To protect the innocent. To guide the lost. That has always been my mission." She turned towards them. "If you are here to fight for humanity, then... our paths are united."
Mash smiled softly.
"Thank you, Miss Jeanne."
Leonel, with a more relaxed expression, offered her his hand.
"So, will you help us restore this era?"
Jeanne looked at his hand for a second... then shook it firmly.
"For France. For humanity. We will fight together."
[Unknown Location - Black Fortress, Throne Room]
The air was thick, laden with hatred and dark magic. The black throne, carved in the shape of petrified flames, dominated the hall where the echo of footsteps resonated like sharp blades. Around it, living gargoyles watched in silence, and the ceiling was covered by a gloom that hid the eternally stormy skies.
Upon the throne, Jeanne d'Arc Alter -the Dragon Witch- listened without expression to the report of one of her soldiers, a hooded figure with a trembling voice.
"Milady... the dragons sent to destroy the village of Rivère... have failed. They were intercepted. There was unexpected resistance."
The figure swallowed, fearing the response.
Jeanne Alter's golden eyes slowly opened, shining with a dangerous mix of contained rage and cold curiosity.
"Resistance? Did the peasants rise up with torches and pitchforks?"
"No, milady... they were Servants. Identified by their strength and high Prana usage. Among them... we believe we detected a spiritual signature similar to yours."
The silence became oppressive.
"...A signature like mine?" she asked, her voice dragging each word like a whisper of fire. "Are you saying she is here?"
The hooded figure only nodded.
A nervous tic appeared in Jeanne Alter's eyebrow, barely perceptible. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before rising with majesty, her black standard materializing beside her, wrapped in dark flames.
"First, they rob me of my life. Then, they mold me into a doll of faith. And now... they send that pious shadow to stop me." Her voice turned bitter, and the candelabras in the hall suddenly went dark.
"Let them try."
"What shall we do, my lady?" asked the soldier, trembling before her presence.
Jeanne Alter descended the throne steps with firm steps, while the darkness seemed to recede before her silent fury.
"My vengeance is near," she murmured. "The politicians who signed my sentence... are gathered in the citadel of Montdouce. When their blood boils in the fire they so loved, then I can attend to these intruders."
She turned sharply towards the soldier.
"But let it be clear: I will stop them. Personally."
"When I look them in the eye, I will show them what it truly means to be betrayed by the world."
The soldier bowed deeply.
"Yes, Dragon Witch."
Jeanne Alter turned on her heel and walked toward the castle balcony. From there, she contemplated the ash-covered skies, while the wings of black dragons crossed the heavens like omens of ruin.
"Soon... judgment will burn upon the earth. And nothing but ashes will remain."
[Rural Road - Path Towards the City of Montfort]
The cart advanced slowly along the dirt path, flanked by green hills that contrasted with the grayish sky that seemed to never clear since the group arrived in this distorted era. The atmosphere was tense, but not because of the weather. Each team member remained silent until Mash broke the calm.
"Master, I no longer detect hostile presences in the vicinity. We can lower our guard... for now."
Leonel nodded while observing the horizon.
"Thank you, Mash. Stay alert anyway. We still don't know how often she sends her troops."
In the front seat, Jeanne, dressed in her silver armor with her standard still rolled on her back, seemed lost in thought. She had been quiet since they left the village.
From the holographic communicator on his wrist, Romani Archaman and Leonardo Da Vinci observed the scene from Chaldea.
"Jeanne, may I ask you something?" Romani began, with a soft but direct tone. "Do you have any idea what is happening here? This Singularity... is unusually personal to you."
Jeanne turned her face towards the communicator, her expression serene but firm.
"I'm sorry... no. I was only summoned by the Grail a few days ago. I awoke in a ruined church, with no context. I only heard that the skies had darkened and that someone with my face was leading the destruction."
"Hmm... curious," murmured Da Vinci, fingers on her chin. "So you have no prior memories related to this Singularity. That rules out a direct prior summoning or a natural 'personality division.'"
Mash tilted her head slightly.
"Could it be a version corrupted by the Grail? Like what happened with other Servants in Fuyuki?"
"Very likely," Romani replied. "The magical energy here is highly contaminated. The strange thing is that it generated a 'dark Jeanne' with so much autonomy. Corrupted Servants are usually more unstable... they don't plan military campaigns or punish villages with dragons."
Leonel crossed his arms, thoughtful.
"Whatever it is, this Dragon Witch is attacking innocents and manipulating fear with your image, Jeanne. That complicates things for us."
"I know," she said with a hint of sadness in her voice. "The villagers looked at me with terror... as if I were the demon that condemned them. Though I understand it, that reaction hurts me."
There was a brief pause.
"Still, I will not hide. If someone is using my name and my face to ravage this world... then I will be the one to stop her."
Leonel gave her a brief but sincere smile.
"That sounds like you, Jeanne."
Mash nodded.
"I believe in you too. There is no doubt that you are the true Maid of Orleans."
Jeanne smiled faintly. For the first time since they departed, the weight on her shoulders seemed to lighten.
"Thank you... then let us stop her. And I will clear my name... even if I have to face myself."
[POV: Leonel]
The squeak of the wheels on stones and dirt was all that was heard as the cart descended the road toward the city of Montfort. But as soon as they crossed the threshold of the old walls, the stench hit them like a slap.
"...No," Mash murmured, stopping with eyes wide open in horror.
The houses were reduced to ashes, blackened by a fire that had turned walls into skeletons of charred wood. The ground was covered in rubble... and corpses.
Shattered bodies, charred or partially devoured, lay scattered carelessly, some still smoking. The dragons hadn't just attacked... they had played with their prey.
"Good God...!" Da Vinci exclaimed from the communicator, covering her mouth with a hand. "They left no one alive..."
Mash fell to her knees, a hand over her chest.
"This magic... it's dense... dark... like poison floating in the air..."
Jeanne walked silently a few steps toward the center of the square, the standard trembling on her back.
"This... this was done with hatred. With pure spite."
Leonel got down from the cart. The ground was slippery with blood.
"Whoever did this has no possible redemption."
At that moment, the sky roared.
[POV: Jeanne Alter]
From above, mounted on Fafnir's back, Jeanne Alter descended in a spiral with the wind at her favor. The flames still burning in Montfort seemed to dance in homage to her presence.
"So they came in the end..." she murmured with a twisted smile, her eyes shining with malevolence. "Interesting... the little group of 'saviors' everyone whispers about on the roads."
The dark grail vibrated within her chest. The energy of the Singularity shifted with an unexpected spark.
"Jeanne..." she spat her name with resentment as she spotted a very familiar figure among the ruins. "What irony, you appear just now."
[POV: Leonel]
The howl of the winds announced what soon materialized: a winged colossus descending from the sky, its body covered in scales black as incandescent coal.
"A dragon...!" Mash shouted, raising her shield.
Upon it, a figure in a dark robe, with silver hair and eyes burning like infernal fire, wielded a tattered flag. It was like looking at Jeanne... but twisted, corrupted by an emotion that the Jeanne they knew would never feel: pure hatred.
"Is that...?" Da Vinci murmured, not needing to finish the sentence.
The two Jeannes stared at each other, the tension palpable even in the air.
[POV: Jeanne Alter]
"What a disappointment, 'myself.' Do you come to preach while the world burns?" she said mockingly. "Or have you come to stop me... with that pathetic look?"
Jeanne gritted her teeth.
"I don't know what you are... or why you wear my face. But this... cannot continue."
[POV: Leonel]
Leonel took a step forward, his gaze fixed on the witch mounted on the beast.
"You are the cause of this Singularity, aren't you? Who are you?"
Jeanne Alter smiled.
"My name? Ah... it's the same as that hypocrite by your side. But you may call me by what they know me as now: the Dragon Witch of Vengeance. The flame that burns for all who betrayed me."
The dragon roared, and the village flames rose again.
"And you..." she said, pointing at Leonel. "You are not a mere human. I sense something special in you... like a crack in the fabric of this world. You intrigue me, boy."
Leonel drew his command seal, his heart pounding.
"I think the same of you... witch."
[POV: Jeanne Alter]
The sky was an open wound. The figure of Fafnir descended like a dark omen, wings black as guilt, blood, night. Upon its back, with tattered flag flying in the wind, Jeanne d'Arc Alter smiled with contempt.
"What a disappointment," she murmured upon seeing them. "Is this the group that intends to stop me? A girl with a shield, a bargain-bin saint, and...?"
Her eyes settled on Leonel. She scrutinized him with an air of annoyance and disdain.
"Just another human. Great. Just what I needed: hope incarnate."
[POV: Leonel]
Leonel swallowed, not looking away. He said nothing. He shouldn't say anything. But inside, he recognized her. Every word, every gesture, every crack in her blackened soul. He knew who this distorted version was. He knew why she existed. And yet, the scene before him was not a screen. It was not a playable event. It was real.
"How much hatred must she harbor to speak like that... to look at her other self and only see a lie."
"Tell me, saint," the Avenger spat. "Do you still believe in your God? Do you still trust that sky that did not descend to help you when you burned at the stake? Do you still await redemption?"
[POV: Jeanne d'Arc]
Jeanne gritted her teeth, raising her own standard.
"Yes. I still believe. I still hope. I still fight. Not for myself. For those who can still be saved."
[POV: Jeanne Alter]
The laugh she let out rumbled in the air like dark thunder.
"Deluded until the end. How pathetic. How charmingly useless."
Then she turned her standard, and instantly, roars filled the sky. Dragons. Tens. Hundreds. Wings and flames, claws and fangs. They approached like an apocalyptic swarm.
"Let's see how long you last... heroes." And with no more words, she rose again on Fafnir, disappearing among the charred clouds.
[POV: Leonel]
Hell broke loose.
Mash shouted orders, blocking as best she could with her shield. Jeanne launched prayers and blessed fire. The third Servant fought relentlessly. But it wasn't enough.
Dragons everywhere. Surrounded. Trapped.
"This is too much... there's no way to hold out..."
Leonel felt a tremor in the air. Not physical. It was like a vibration in the soul. A voice, old and distant, as if from another plane.
You are lost in thoughts... but you cannot flee from the now. Observe. Listen. Analyze. Guide.
That is what you ARE.
His vision blurred, and suddenly, his mind expanded.
He saw lines. Names. Data. Numbers floating over each enemy. A kind of spiritual "interface" formed before him, as if the world had become a board of vital information.
Fafnir Dragon - Class: Mythical Beast. Affinity: Fire. Weakness: Ice, Blessed Attacks.
Status: Aggressive. Probability of breaking frontal defense: 82%.
His eyes snapped open, shining with intense blue light.
[POV: Everyone]
A magic circle unfolded at his feet. White and blue light enveloped him. The symbol of a compass and a multi-pointed star shone on the ground.
"Persona!" he shouted, without thinking. His voice was firm. Clear.
From the light emerged a colossal figure: a being of constantly shifting geometric shapes, with a body made of crystal and codex feathers. Its face was hidden by a Mayan ceremonial mask. It was like a sage floating between time and memory.
"Tezcatlipoca!" Leonel's voice resonated in unison with the entity.
[POV: Mash]
"What... what is that?!" she exclaimed, surprised.
[POV: Leonel]
Tezcatlipoca's voice reverberated in his mind, serene.
Analysis activated. Marking weaknesses. Calculating optimal evasion routes.
Knowledge is power. Now, deliver the data... to those who fight.
"Mash, block the attack from the right flank! That dragon has an opening at the neck!"
"Jeanne, its breath is ineffective if you strike before it inhales! You have two seconds!"
"Servant, the group on the left is weak to your type of energy! Focus there!"
[POV: Group]
The rhythm of combat changed. Where there was chaos before, now there was clarity. Leonel's instructions were precise, almost premonitory. The tide began to recede.
He was not a warrior.
He was a guide.
And for the first time, Leonel felt he was exactly where he was supposed to be.