"Alright, let's run. As fast as humanly possible, if you please."
"Listen, Master, I hate to say this, but I think you're actually going to die young if you keep this up!"
Marie, who had begun accelerating the glass carriage to its limit, spoke with a mix of genuine worry and morbid jest.
Behind the carriage, a trio fueled by white-hot rage—Gilles de Rais, Jeanne d'Arc Alter, and the dragon Fafnir—were in hot pursuit.
Initially, Marie Antoinette's mobility, true to the Rider class, was overwhelming. However, after two hours of non-stop sprinting, signs of exhaustion were beginning to show on her face.
"How is your magical energy?"
"Don't worry, the supply itself is sufficient... But at this rate, I might bottom out before we reach the rendezvous point with Ritsuka."
"That would be a problem. We need you and Mozart to be at your best once we arrive."
I leaned out of the carriage to steal a glance backward. Atop Fafnir, I could see the Berserk Servants riding along.
While Berserker Lancelot definitely hadn't been re-summoned, it seemed Gilles de Rais had called forth a new pawn in the interim. The Phantom of the Opera was now part of their ranks.
'Atalante and Martha... No, let's give up on them. Unless I had Medea's Rule Breaker, a Servant contract isn't something that can be broken by something like the Preta Path's Seal Absorption. It would be a mercy to let them fade back to the Throne as quickly as possible.'
Reaching a swift conclusion, I decided to send a small parting gift to the pursuers who were relentlessly firing breaths of fire at our tail.
"This is the pinnacle of gifts, the art of the true new world! The aesthetics of the avant-garde—Flashbang!!!"
"Burn them to ash, Fafnir!!!"
Regrettably, the flashbang I threw to disrupt their path was instantly incinerated by Fafnir's breath. Having closed the distance to within striking range, Fafnir began spitting consecutive fireballs toward the carriage's trajectory.
Marie, having dodged a massive fireball through a desperate evasive maneuver, shouted in a trembling voice.
"What's the plan now, Master?!"
"Hmm..."
...Well, for now, everything was progressing according to plan.
The original 'Plan A' was to lure the agitated Jeanne d'Arc Alter and Gilles de Rais into a forced siege. The plan involved the army of the current Gilles de Rais—the Saber version—cutting off their retreat while Siegfried hunted them down with Balmung.
However, there was one deviation from the script.
The enemy had closed the distance faster than anticipated, and our lives were hanging by a thread this very second.
"In that case, we're switching to Plan B. Romani, contact Ritsuka!"
We had already passed the safe zone required to initiate Plan B. Since Romani was likely briefing Ritsuka's group on our current status... Ritsuka, being the capable commander she is, would be doing exactly what she needs to do by now.
[Communication link established. Can you hear me?]
"Signal confirmed. Things are a bit chaotic here... How is it on Ritsuka's end, Roman?"
[She's currently en route to provide support... Dammit, my heart is going to explode at this rate. This operation is way too dangerous!]
The core requirement for this operation was that Ritsuka's Servants could not be traveling with her.
Jeanne d'Arc Alter is a Ruler-class... if Ritsuka were traveling with Servants, the Dragon Witch would have immediately sensed our counterattack preparations through her class skills.
"To be honest, no plan was as foolproof as Plan B. Besides, Ritsuka isn't so weak that she'd die from something like this... Anyway, give me a location briefing, Roman."
[Got it... Currently passing Point One. Support arrival in... 300 meters!]
"Good... very good!"
The moment the briefing came through the Chaldea comms, a voice similar to the one I'd been hearing but with a distinct, heavy 'Charisma' echoed across the battlefield.
"That's them! Those in the carriage are our allies! Heroes of France, rescue the vanguard fighting for the Human Order!"
An army. Tens of thousands, perhaps reaching twenty thousand strong.
The legion of soldiers mobilized by the living Marshal Gilles de Rais was waiting for us.
Armed with muskets, various cannons, and catapults, they were numerous, yet they seemed insufficient to face Fafnir. Both I and the Dragon Witch realized this intuitively.
"Heh... hehe. Hahahaha!!! Did you really think you could stop me with such measly forces and such a pathetic strategy? Without a single Servant, with a Rider who's drained her magical energy and a mediocre Caster—did you think you could stop Fafnir?!"
"..."
"Burn them all. Make them pay for the sin of trying to stop me, to stop the vengeance of France, with such crude toys!"
[High magical energy readings... It's a concentrated burst intended to incinerate the entire area. You have to block it!]
"How are we supposed to block that without a defensive Noble Phantasm?!"
Those kinds of attacks aren't meant to be blocked anyway.
They're meant to be thrown back.
"Ritsuka!"
"By two Command Spells, I order you—Come to me, Siegfried!!!"
Simultaneously with Ritsuka's cry, a white-haired young man appeared amidst a burst of light.
Lifting a massive greatsword, he swung it toward Fafnir before Ritsuka could even utter a command.
[Phantasmal Greatsword: Felling of the Sky Demon—Balmung!!!]
Originally, this operation would have been impossible.
Chaldea's Command Spells had weak binding force, acting more as 'support' for others. The Great Command Spells of Team A were designed to even consume the user's life.
Yes, that is how it should have been.
But after Marisbury's death, the research papers of the Makiri family I provided... Zolgen's long-sought desire was delivered to Chaldea. Under the collaboration of Da Vinci and Romani, Chaldea's Command Spell system was definitively upgraded.
For example...
Should I call it a version that combines the absolute authority of the Holy Grail War with Chaldea's magical energy support capability?
If it didn't possess that level of authority, we wouldn't have been able to force the Demon God Pillar in Elizabeth's form to commit suicide last time.
"Th-That's impossible. How... I certainly didn't detect him with my Ruler skills, so how...!"
Yes, the Ruler skills. That's why we've been taking such a tedious path.
In fact, without those skills, Jeanne d'Arc Alter might not have fallen for such a trap. No matter how many soldiers were in ambush, they were nothing to Fafnir, and if a Servant were lying in wait, she would have known through her abilities.
Carelessness, arrogance, and rage.
Those shall be the causes of your defeat.
"Now is the time! Transition to the offensive! Exterminate that Evil Dragon on this very spot!!!"
As Fafnir shrieked after taking a direct hit from Balmung, the French army, bolstered by that cry, began raining down attacks with arrows and cannons.
Gilles de Rais raised his sword to lead the soldiers, while Siegfried, after a brief moment to catch his breath, stepped forward to intercept and cleave through the Phantom of the Opera, who was lunging to slaughter the French troops.
"Master, shouldn't we help out with something?"
"Of course. First..."
I reached out my hand, locking onto the target with the wide vision of the Rinnegan.
The opponent was a cat-eared woman... currently nocking an arrow with an expression of intense reluctance, even shedding tears.
"Huntress of Greece, I can't let you use your Noble Phantasm. Bansho Ten'in!"
Even if I can't kill Fafnir yet, all the Berserk Servants must be eliminated.
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