On the battlefield where Chevalier d'Éon and Shadow Servant Sanson faced off against Marie and Mozart.
Chevalier d'Éon watched Marie's body with genuine concern. Even while serving in Jeanne Alter's camp, her knightly spirit refused to allow any harm to come to the Queen of France.
After carefully scanning Marie from head to toe, d'Éon breathed a sigh of relief. Her body was completely unharmed.
"Thank goodness, Queen Marie. It seems you haven't been injured."
It looked like neither Sanson nor Berserker Lancelot from earlier had managed to hurt her.
If the Queen of France had been wounded by someone from their side, the guilt in d'Éon's heart would have surged uncontrollably. She would never be able to forgive herself for becoming an accomplice in France's destruction.
If Berserker Lancelot hadn't already been eliminated, he would probably have been utterly speechless hearing d'Éon's thoughts. After all, Adam was on their side. Lancelot had faced Adam's overwhelming strength directly—he would have known better than anyone.
Asking Lancelot to break through four Arthurian knights just to attack Queen Marie? That would be giving the mad knight far too much credit.
When Marie heard d'Éon's concerned words, she turned around, looking at the knight with puzzled eyes. She was curious why an enemy would care about her safety.
Then, recognizing the familiar face, the name slipped from her lips.
"You're… d'Éon?"
The moment she identified the old acquaintance, Marie's face lit up with delight.
"I never expected to see you here! So you were summoned by Jeanne Alter's side as well."
"But were you just worrying about me? Thank you~"
"As expected of a true knight. Even though your body stands with Jeanne Alter, I'm sure your heart still belongs to France."
Hearing Marie's words, d'Éon's pupils trembled with emotion. Finally, she had found someone she could confide in.
She poured out everything she had kept bottled up while serving under Jeanne Alter, speaking openly to the very person who should have been her enemy.
"It's exactly as you say, Queen Marie."
"Destroying France alongside my Master was never what I wanted."
"But I was summoned by her, and I am bound to obey her orders. I had no choice but to take part in France's ruin."
"Still, what's done is done. Regardless of the reason, I became an accomplice in my homeland's destruction."
"If possible, I wish for you—as the Queen of France—to pass judgment on the sins I have committed since my summoning."
"Please! Let me be defeated here!"
As she spoke, d'Éon raised her rapier and charged toward Marie in a single stride, seeking to fight her in earnest.
"Wait!" Marie cried out, reaching out desperately to stop her.
Surprisingly, the enemy knight actually halted the moment Queen Marie shouted.
She looked at Marie like a child who had done something wrong, flustered and uncertain.
"Wh-what is it?"
Marie stared at d'Éon with extreme seriousness, as if the next question was of utmost importance.
"Before we fight, d'Éon, there's one last thing I want to ask you."
Seeing how grave Marie's expression had become, d'Éon tensed up, brows furrowed. She swallowed nervously.
What could the queen possibly want to ask? Information about Jeanne Alter? Details on the Servants under her command? Or perhaps Marie felt her sins were too heavy and she wasn't even worthy of crossing blades?
The more d'Éon thought about it, the more anxious she became. She was starting to fear Marie would denounce her as a traitor who had betrayed her nation.
In d'Éon's own mind, that was exactly what she had become.
But Marie's next words completely extinguished that tension.
"D'Éon, I've wanted to ask you this ever since I saw you."
"Are you a boy or a girl?"
Chevalier d'Éon: "..."
The knight fell completely silent. All her previous anxiety vanished in an instant.
She actually began pondering the question seriously, unconsciously lowering her gaze to look at her own body, lost in deep thought.
After a long moment of contemplation, d'Éon still refused to answer. Instead, she raised her rapier once more and repeated the same plea.
"Grant me the judgment I deserve, Queen Marie."
Without waiting for a reply, she engaged Marie in combat.
The two clashed fiercely, yet Marie's mouth never stopped moving. She kept looking for openings to pester d'Éon about her true gender.
"Aww, you're not going to answer?"
"Come on, tell me~ I've always wanted to know!"
d'Éon remained silent, swinging her rapier relentlessly.
What she didn't realize was that Marie's relentless teasing had actually eased the crushing guilt and self-loathing in her heart. Her attention had been successfully diverted.
Mozart, having overheard the entire exchange between d'Éon and Marie, also turned his gaze toward the knight. Although he had never met d'Éon personally, he had heard the rumors.
Realizing that yet another French Servant had been summoned to Jeanne Alter's side, Mozart couldn't help but comment dryly.
"Why are so many of the Servants summoned by Jeanne Alter French?"
"Isn't she afraid they'll all turn on her?"
In Mozart's memory, the French Servants on Jeanne Alter's team included: Berserker Lancelot, Chevalier d'Éon, Sanson, and Jeanne Alter herself could arguably count as one.
From what he'd seen, their side only had about eight Servants total—half of them were French.
While Mozart pondered this, d'Éon continued her duel with Marie.
The knight's rapier and Marie's crystalline horse kept clashing back and forth, neither able to gain the upper hand.
It was truly curious.
Marie was by no means a combat-oriented Servant; her fighting ability was rather average.
In contrast, d'Éon was an exceptional knight and swordsman—skilled enough to defeat Gawain even on a battlefield without sunlight.
For such a powerful knight to be unable to quickly overpower an average fighter like Marie was quite surprising.
One couldn't help but wonder what Jeanne Alter would think if she knew the real reason.
Mozart watched the fight between d'Éon and Marie and was about to raise his conductor's baton to support his queen when—
A black shadow suddenly streaked across the sky.
It transformed mid-flight into a crescent-shaped blue slash aimed directly at the back of Marie's neck.
Focused on her duel with d'Éon, Marie didn't notice the incoming attack.
Just as the blade was about to sever her head, Mozart swung his baton. A pink magical bullet burst from its tip and shot forward.
The magical projectile intercepted the blue slash less than three centimeters from Marie's neck.
With a loud bang, Mozart's shot sent the crescent slash flying.
The moment it was struck, the blue slash reverted to its original form—the black shadow.
The shadow spun through the air before crashing awkwardly to the ground, clutching its head. It had clearly taken heavy damage from Mozart's magical bullet.
Mozart had hit the shadow directly in the head.
Marie saw the black figure fly past overhead and felt the chill that had brushed her neck. She immediately understood what had nearly happened and patted her chest in relief.
The next instant, however, she acted as if nothing had occurred at all. Far from looking like someone who had just escaped death, she cheerfully waved at Mozart with a bright smile.
"Phew, that scared me! Thanks, Amadeus~"
She immediately returned to facing d'Éon.
What was absurd was that Marie herself seemed completely unbothered by the assassination attempt.
But Chevalier d'Éon, who had witnessed the near-miss, was badly shaken. The shock still hadn't faded; she remained visibly rattled by how close Marie had come to being killed.
The black shadow struggled unsteadily to its feet, gripping its greatsword. Its eyes remained locked on Marie with unrelenting hostility, clearly unwilling to accept the failed assassination and ready to try again.
Just as the shadow prepared to move—
Several pink magical bullets flew toward it.
The shadow dodged frantically, barely avoiding the barrage. It whipped its head around and saw Mozart pointing his conductor's baton straight at him.
Mozart quickly repositioned himself between Marie and the shadow, taking on the assailant himself so Marie could focus entirely on d'Éon.
Faced with the obstacle, the shadow let out a low, inhuman growl like a mindless beast and charged straight at Mozart.
As the two clashed, Mozart grew increasingly uneasy. Something felt wrong about the shadow before him.
The figure was emitting a disturbing aura. Its skin and even its clothes had turned pitch black—not merely dark in color, but so utterly black that its facial features were impossible to make out even in broad daylight.
Mozart could only discern its rough silhouette, yet he couldn't shake the feeling that this shadow seemed strangely familiar.
"Am I imagining things? Why does this shadow look so familiar?"
"Have I seen it somewhere before?"
While Mozart tried to figure out the shadow's true identity, a sudden sharp pain struck his head.
His mind began to spiral into chaos for no apparent reason.
...
Not far from where the four were battling, several figures appeared.
It was Adam, accompanied by a group of Servants.
Eliza the Nine-Tattooed Dragon was not among them—Adam had already sent her back to Chaldea.
Before sending her back, Carmilla had suddenly stepped forward under everyone's gaze and whispered something into Adam's ear.
Although the other Servants couldn't hear what she said, her flushed cheeks and meaningful expression made it easy for some to guess.
Especially Ciel. She could clearly sense Carmilla's vampiric impulse.
The scene felt all too familiar to her—she had seen the exact same look on Arcueid (Crimson Moon).
Ciel's expression instantly turned sharp, as if she were about to activate her vampire hunter instincts and bring Carmilla to justice.
However, the scene she expected—Carmilla sinking her fangs into Adam's neck—never happened.
After Adam said something to her, Carmilla's face filled with surprise. He raised his Command Spells and, with a few words, one of the seals on his hand vanished.
"That's your punishment, Carmilla."
"Ehhh~~~"
Using the power of a Command Spell, Adam had apparently ordered Carmilla to do something.
Although Carmilla had wanted to have a deeper "conversation" with him, Adam was still irritated from earlier. He firmly rejected her.
Because of the dangerous ideas Carmilla had voiced during the Elisabeth gathering—ideas that had caused some of the Elisabeths to worry about things that would never happen—Adam had used a Command Spell to forbid Carmilla from drinking his blood for the time being.
Under Carmilla's stunned gaze, Adam sent Eliza the Nine-Tattooed Dragon, Carmilla, and the rest of the Elisabeths back to Chaldea.
He then led the others to the battlefield where Chevalier d'Éon and Shadow Sanson were fighting Marie and Mozart.
Adam observed the four combatants below.
The battlefield had already split into two separate engagements: Chevalier d'Éon versus Marie, and Shadow Sanson versus Mozart.
After glancing between Marie's side and Mozart's side, Adam spent half a second deciding who to help first. He chose Marie without hesitation.
Looking at Marie's opponent—Chevalier d'Éon—Adam understood the knight's motivation.
Knowing d'Éon, she had likely chosen Marie as her opponent because of the overwhelming guilt she felt for becoming an accomplice in France's destruction. As a knight, she could not simply ignore her own actions, so she sought out the Queen of France herself to defeat her and atone for her sins.
Since d'Éon wished to face Queen Marie, Adam already knew which Servants he would use against her.
He opened his Servant roster, spent a moment selecting two, and deployed them.
Two familiar figures appeared beside Adam.
Marie Antoinette (Caster)—also known as Swimsuit Marie!
And Marie Antoinette [Alter]—the inverted version of Marie—made her appearance once again.
***
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