Fate's Choice: Livestream at the Start Summoning Billions of Ravens

Joan of Arc transformed into billions of golden light particles, which swirled and danced in the air before slowly and silently dissipating into the morning air.

The sacred and grand choir singing also disappeared completely as the light particles vanished.

The sky returned to its original azure blue, and the sunlight shone down again, as if the sacred golden light that had enveloped the Vatican had never appeared.

An absolute, suffocating silence fell over St. Peter's Basilica, both inside and out.

"A miracle...it's a miracle!"

An elderly woman's voice broke the silence, trembling with sobs and filled with uncontrollable emotion.

The next second, a thunderous roar of prayers and cheers erupted from every corner of the square.

"By the Holy Mary, I saw it! I saw angels with my own eyes!"

"Ruler! Joan of Arc! The Lord has not abandoned us!"

"Today is a day of miracles! It must be a day of miracles!"

...

Countless people knelt on the ground, frantically bowing, praying, and cheering towards the empty sky.

After the initial shock, many others erupted in ecstatic joy, as if they had survived a catastrophe. They embraced each other, tears streaming down their faces, and chanted the names of "Joan of Arc" and "Ruler" over and over again.

Inside the church, a similar fervor of faith had also taken hold.

The elderly pope, supported by two cardinals, stood up unsteadily.

He bent down and picked up the golden scepter that had fallen onto the cold marble floor.

The scepter was heavy, but at this moment, his hands were still trembling violently, and he could barely hold it.

Half an hour later.

The Vatican issued an emergency decree to the world through all official channels.

The instructions were extremely brief, yet contained a profound and earth-shattering weight.

First, effective immediately, the Vatican suspends all publicly accessible Masses.

Second, summon all serving cardinals worldwide to return to the Vatican within seven days for an emergency religious conference of the highest level.

The only publicly stated topic of the meeting was: the final interpretation of "Jeanne d'Arc, the Divine Revelation and Judge".

.....

On the other hand, global public opinion was completely ignited.

The mainstream media in the Western world almost simultaneously defined this event as a "Vatican miracle".

CNN's homepage headline, in strikingly large font, read: "MIRACLE IN VATICAN: ANGEL OR JUDGEMENT?"

The BBC, on the other hand, changed its front page to a high-resolution snapshot—St. Peter's Basilica bathed in golden light, with the caption: "A New Era Begins."

On social media, previous conspiracy theories about "China's secret weapons" and "Tokyo CG effects" were instantly wiped out.

Instead, the Western world was swept by an overwhelming fervor and devotion.

Countless believers regard the video of Joan of Arc's coming as gospel, analyzing frame by frame the sacred patterns on her armor and the emblems on her banner, and claiming with certainty that this is a harbinger of the Last Judgment prophesied in the Bible.

Three terms that had previously circulated within the ACG community due to the "Holy Grail War" setting were pushed to the top of global online search rankings, tying for first place.

Saber.

Berserker.

Ruler.

At this time, for most people in the Western world, the "white-robed swordsman" in Shanghai and the "cannibalistic demon" in Tokyo, although they brought great shock, were ultimately separated by a cultural and geographical barrier.

But the Vatican is different.

This is the center of Catholicism and one of the spiritual symbols of Western civilization.

When a "miracle" truly descends upon this place, and when the image of "Joan of Arc" appears on the screens of hundreds of millions of people worldwide, the impact is devastating and subversive.

Countless believers regarded this as a second "divine revelation," and they flocked to churches around the world seeking answers from priests.

However, in this cognitive storm that has swept the globe, an extremely strange phenomenon has emerged.

While Western netizens are still debating whether "that was really an angel" and "what exactly is the Holy Grail War," the online discourse in the East Asian cultural sphere, led by China, presents a completely different picture.

"Holy crap! Ruler class! And it's Jeanne d'Arc! This is an incredible move!"

"I knew it! Saber and Berserker have both appeared, how could there be no overseer? Now that the Arbiter has arrived, this Holy Grail War is officially certified."

"Calm down, buddy upstairs. This isn't exactly the game setting we expected. Look at Joan of Arc's entrance—the class, the special effects—it's way better than in the game!"

"What I'm more interested in is, what are Ruler's class skills? They'll definitely have [Revelation] and [True Name Detection], right? I wonder if they have [Divine Judgment]?"

"Stop guessing, let's wait for an expert to post an analysis. Right now, there are Saber Li Bai, Berserker Shuten-dōji, Ruler Jeanne d'Arc, and five basic classes left. I wonder who will be next."

.....

Rome, Italy, inside a presidential suite.

Jiang Ming swirled the wine in his glass, the deep red liquid forming a graceful arc on the glass.

He calmly savored the fine wine in his glass, the faint sounds of sirens and cheers coming from outside the window becoming the perfect background music for the moment.

In his mind, the numbers on the system panel were jumping wildly at an unprecedented speed.

[Emotional Value Balance: 31,245,780]

Joan of Arc's arrival had an effect far exceeding Jiang Ming's expectations.

In less than an hour, the emotional value of the harvest exceeded 20 million.

Moreover, this number continues to soar at a rate of tens of thousands per second.

Indeed, the impact of Eastern cultural spheres ultimately has its geographical limitations.

This time, Jiang Ming directly shook the very foundation of faith in the Western world.

This harvest is global and disruptive.

.....

At the same time.

Huaguo, Yuzhang, Longhu Mountain.

On the edge of a cliff in the misty mountains, two people are playing chess in a quaint pavilion.

A man dressed in a white robe, with an elegant and otherworldly demeanor, was none other than Li Bai, the "Azure Lotus Sword Immortal".

The other person was an elderly man with white hair and beard, dressed in a simple blue Taoist robe.

The old man had an air of otherworldly wisdom and a gaunt face; he was none other than Zhang Ruoxu, the 65th Celestial Master of the Zhengyi School of Taoism.

On the chessboard, the black and white pieces have already fought for more than half the battle.

Just then, a young Taoist priest dressed in a blue robe, holding a tablet computer, hurried down the mountain stone steps.

He arrived outside the pavilion, not daring to go inside, but instead respectfully bowed and held the tablet computer high.

"Master, the one you told me to watch out for... has appeared again."

Zhang Ruoxu did not look up, but calmly picked up a white chess piece from the chess box and slowly rubbed it between his fingertips.

Li Bai seemed not to have heard the young Taoist's words. He raised his hand and poured a cup of tea for the old man opposite him and himself.

Seeing no response from inside the pavilion, the young Taoist priest had no choice but to bite the bullet and press play on the tablet.

The next second, the video started playing.

A sacred golden pillar of light descended from the sky, enveloping the entire St. Peter's Basilica.

A holy maiden clad in armor slowly descended, and a grand choir sang, resounding through the sky.

This grand scene, imbued with Western religious influences, stands in stark contrast to the serene and otherworldly Taoist landscape of this place.

Zhang Ruoxu finally raised his head and calmly watched the entire video.

He put the white pieces back into the chess box, took the tablet from the young Taoist priest, and pushed it in front of Li Bai.

Li Bai merely glanced at the frozen image of Joan of Arc's face on the screen before casually placing the tablet on the stone table beside him.

His full attention seemed to still be on the unfinished game of chess.

"The Arbiter has appeared. It seems this Holy Grail War is far larger than anticipated. Aren't you worried?"

Zhang Ruoxu spoke, picking up a white chess piece and hovering it above the board for a long time, seemingly contemplating the game, or perhaps something else entirely.

Li Bai picked up a black piece and placed it down without hesitation, the crisp sound of the piece echoing through the valley.

"Ruler will not participate in the competition; he will only oversee the process."

"On the chessboard, the game cannot begin until all the players have arrived."

Li Bai picked up his teacup and gently blew away the steam rising from the water.

"With the Holy Grail yet to appear and the Masters yet to be assembled, jumping out now is nothing more than doing someone else a favor."

Li Bai put down his teacup and continued speaking.

"A true hunter knows how to wait."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Ruoxu nodded slowly and said nothing more.

He looked down at his right hand, which hung above the chessboard and was marked by the passage of time.

On the back of his hand, a peculiar mark composed of three ancient sword marks is quietly imprinted there.

Zhang Ruoxu withdrew his gaze and finally gently placed the white piece in his hand in a corner of the chessboard.

A mountain breeze blows, and the pines rustle in the wind.

Inside the ancient pavilion, only the crisp sound of chess pieces falling onto the chessboard echoed softly.

...