FATE: Target of Grand Master

"No! I am Joan of Arc! I can only be Joan of Arc! I must be Joan of Arc!"

Black Jeanne roared, clearly realizing her own abnormality.

After this delay, Lu Bu and Marshal Jian rushed over at the same time, surrounding Jeanne d'Arc Alter.

Although Joan of Arc, Lu Bu, and the Sword Marshal are not at their peak condition, they should still be able to hold off Jeanne Alter.

"Roar! My..."

At this moment, Jeanne Alter wanted to unleash her Noble Phantasm, but was interrupted by Lu Bu's halberd.

"With me here, you'll never unleash your Noble Phantasm again!"

"Damn it! You all deserve to be consumed by my rage!"

Jeanne Alter unleashed her flames, but they were cleaved in two by the swordsman's blade, and the spikes in her hand were knocked off by the halberd. She knew she had no chance to unleash her Noble Phantasm again, nor any chance to escape.

"Then let's die together!"

Jeanne Alter is preparing to detonate herself, using the magical power she possesses from the Holy Grail. If she explodes, she will destroy the entire city of Orleans.

"This is the only thing that absolutely won't do!"

Jeanne d'Arc lunged forward and tackled the black Jeanne d'Arc, who was about to self-destruct, to the ground.

"Lu Bu, you must kill Jeanne Alter before the other Servants can act."

Diao Yunshang used her intuition to respond to Lü Bu's command.

Pfft!

Without the slightest hesitation, Lü Bu used his halberd to bypass Joan of Arc and pierce her chest.

Blood flowed from Jeanne Alter's mouth, and the magical power within her body, which had not yet been fully activated, gradually subsided.

"Joan of Arc!"

Marshal Spell suddenly appeared and knelt down next to Jeanne Alter.

"Gil, they all say I'm not Joan of Arc. Tell me, am I really Joan of Arc?" Black Joan asked weakly.

Marshal Shu nodded vigorously.

"Yes, in my heart, you are Joan of Arc, Joan of Arc who is not bound by this world and has truly gained freedom."

"Haha, I knew it was that country girl lying to me. Great, I am Joan of Arc."

Jeanne Alter's figure vanished, transforming into a golden Holy Grail.

Marshal Shu snatched the Holy Grail before all the other Servants could, and instantly teleported thirty meters away.

"Joan of Arc, let me carry on your wish: to destroy this world, I will surely fulfill it for you."

Oops!

Marshal Shu actually wanted to continue. If he succeeded in making his wish, everyone would perish here.

Marshal Shu raised the Holy Grail high and made a wish: "Holy Grail, I want... ah!"

Suddenly, a dazzling ball of light, like a high beam, was kicked out by Xia Yan like a soccer ball, heading straight for Marshal Shu's face. It stunned Marshal Shu, successfully interrupting his wish.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Lü Bu arrived in front of Marshal Shu and cut off his hand holding the Holy Grail.

Xia Yan glanced at Diao Yunshang. This woman clearly knew the original plot, but she didn't remind Lu Bu to be careful immediately. Did she think that as long as they defeated Jeanne d'Arc Alter, it wouldn't matter if the singularity was destroyed by the Marshal?

However, Xia Yan had made ample preparations. Although his light sphere was not particularly lethal, Xia Yan discovered that it was not just an energy ball, but had a physical form, so it could be kicked like a ball.

While everyone was controlling Black Jeanne, Xia Yan quietly moved to the side and then, seizing the opportunity, interrupted Marshal Shu's wish.

To prevent any further accidents, Lü Bu used his halberd to flick the Holy Grail and toss it to his master.

The moment Diao Yunshang grasped the Holy Grail, information boxes popped up in front of the three Masters simultaneously.

Congratulations on obtaining the item: Holy Grail Fragment *1

[Item Description: This item can be given to a Servant to increase their Mana.]

Xia Yan didn't expect that the Holy Grail that Diao Yunshang obtained would also be considered a reward for him and Hu Qiu. It seems that the key to this trial is indeed cooperation.

Marshal Shu had gone mad, repeatedly chanting, "Joan of Arc, I will surely fulfill your wish."

"Could you hand him over to me?" Marshal Jian asked as he approached Lü Bu.

Lu Bu glanced at Diao Yunshang, and seeing that his master had no intention of stopping him, he voluntarily stepped aside.

Marshal Jian crouched down, looking at his future self, and said, "Even if my future is destined to become you, I will always be proud to fight alongside Joan of Arc. If one day I do something that shames Joan of Arc, then I will be corrected by others just as I corrected you."

After saying that, Marshal Jian drew his sword and gave Marshal Shu a quick death.

Thus, the objective of this trial—defeating Jeanne Alter—has been successfully achieved.

A message popped up in front of Xia Yan and the other two, instructing them to teleport to a designated location.

"Huh? Are you leaving so soon?"

Joan of Arc and Gilles tried to persuade the three to stay and celebrate the victory together, but they politely declined.

Although the singularity was no longer dangerous, all three of them were exhausted and just wanted to return to the safe house to get a good night's sleep.

So Joan of Arc and Gilles arranged a carriage to take the three of them to the city closest to the teleportation point.

After getting off the carriage, the three walked for a while and successfully arrived at the location of the teleportation array.

When the three arrived, a circular teleportation array had already appeared on the ground, and it seemed that they only needed to stand on it to leave.

"Who should go first?" Diao Yunshang asked.

"Ladies first," Xia Yan replied.

"I have no objection," Hu Qiu echoed.

"Then I won't stand on ceremony."

Diao Yunshang led Lü Bu slowly toward the teleportation portal.

"By the way, it was a pleasure to meet you all. I will cherish the time we spent eating wyvern meat together here, and I hope we will have the opportunity to meet again in the future."

"I actually hope we never meet again. Who knows if we'll be friends or enemies next time," Xia Yan replied half-jokingly.

"Yeah, if you saw Lu Bu standing in front of you, you'd probably feel half your heart sink."

Hu Qiu imagined the scene and couldn't help but shudder.

"Hehe, that makes sense. I'll take it as a compliment then. Bye-bye."

Diao Yunshang stood on the teleportation portal, waved to the two of them, and then disappeared instantly.

Only two men remained at the scene.

Xia Yan looked at Hu Qiu and asked, "Are you going next, or should I?"

Hu Qiu smiled and gestured for him to proceed.

Xia Yan didn't stand on ceremony and strode towards the teleportation portal.

"Uncle, just like Diao Yunshang said, this collaboration was very pleasant, and I hope that when we look back on it in the future, we will feel that it was a wonderful memory."

Hu Qiu scratched his head, somewhat embarrassed, and said, "Uncle, I was just lucky to have managed to latch onto the coattails of Brother Xia Yan and Miss Diao."

"Uncle, don't underestimate yourself too much. If it weren't for your Hundred-Faced Hassan sacrificing himself to control Martha in that battle, we would all be stiff corpses by now. You actually have the potential to become an excellent Master."

"Haha, Xia Yan, you really know how to flatter. I'm not that kind of person."

Seeing that Hu Qiu still seemed unconfident, Xia Yan could only sigh.

"Then I'll be going. Take care."

Xia Yan waved his hand casually and walked toward the portal indifferently.

Just as Xia Yan was about to enter the portal's range, Hu Qiu suddenly squatted down and said somewhat irritably, "Brother Xia Yan, you're really excellent, but unfortunately, we probably won't have a chance to meet again. Assassin, attack!"

A sharp blade pierced Xia Yan's heart from behind.

Xia Yan turned his head and saw Bai Mao Hassan, who should have disappeared long ago.