To become a king and a magician

I don't think we need to worry about that.

Natsukawa Torato interrupted Mashu and looked at Jeanne.

[Jeanne d'Arc, are you able to use your Noble Phantasm now?]

Jeanne d'Arc's Noble Phantasm, "My Lord is Here," would be effective if used when Hinako Akuta self-destructs, eliminating any concerns about its negative effects.

Jeanne d'Arc nodded slightly when asked this question: "Yes, there is no problem with using the Noble Phantasm. Although I was summoned in a state shortly after my execution, and can only be considered a new Servant, there is no major problem with the connection with the original body. Even if the privileges and basic stats of the Ruler class are weakened, there is still no problem with using the Noble Phantasm."

"That's fine then. Senior Akuta, go all out and self-destruct this time. Until Jeanne's banner collapses, it's your time to unleash your full firepower."

"Wow~~~ You said it yourself."

It was rare to hear from Natsukawa Torato that she could act recklessly without considering the consequences. Akuta Hinako's usually expressionless face showed a hint of excitement and anticipation. She wasn't a person who enjoyed fighting, but after suppressing her emotions for so long, she occasionally wanted to let loose.

So, we've gathered enough information about the Witch Jeanne and the Singularities, right? With this level of understanding, you won't be killed on your first encounter with her due to a lack of knowledge.

“Well, but…” Mash still frowned with some concern, “I feel that our combat strength might be a bit lacking… The enemy has seven Servants, plus Joan of Arc, Gilles de Rais, Fafnir, and a large number of dragons. If we were to fight them, our combat strength would be overwhelmingly insufficient.”

“The swarm of wyverns is actually negligible,” Hinako Akuta said. “In the end, those two-legged wyverns are just cannon fodder. No matter how many they summon, I can blow them all up. In reality, we only need to deal with seven Servants, the two leaders, and Fafnir.”

In reality, it's just nine Servants and one Mystic. Even so, Mash is right; there is indeed a gap in combat power. Unless Hinako Akuta self-destructs from beginning to end and they manage to kill all of the opponents with sheer firepower, they don't have much of an advantage in a one-on-one situation.

How about we stop here for now?

Aozaki Aoko suddenly said this.

"After all this talking, I imagine you're all a bit thirsty, right? Plus, you've been running all this way. Even if Mashu and Akuta aren't tired, I'm sure Fujimaru is. I think we can go rest for a bit before continuing this discussion—"

"Boom boom boom boom boom boom ——————!!"

Before Aozaki Aoko could finish speaking, a deafening roar suddenly interrupted her, followed by a series of screams and cries of agony outside!

Without any hesitation, Aozaki Aoko was the first to rush out of the room, and the instant she stepped out—

"Roar!!"

A dragon's roar, like a storm, resounded across the entire sky. The midday sun, which should have been quite bright, was now almost completely blocked, with no light able to shine through. A huge swarm of dragons had somehow occupied the entire area above Vokulir, completely shrouding it in shadow!

The buildings were relentlessly torn apart and smashed by the dragon's claws, and the dragon's breath scorched the ground, dragging every part of the fortress into a sea of ​​fire.

Just minutes ago, the residents who were walking in twos and threes on the streets were now reduced to charred corpses lying on the streets, except for those who had already fled into their houses. On the city wall not far away, the soldiers who remained there were constantly bombarding the dragons in the sky with cannons, but against such a dark and dense swarm of dragons, the counterattack of a few cannons had little effect.

It was like throwing a stone into the ocean; it only caused some ripples and had no other effect. Instead, the dragons that were hit by the cannon fire swooped down on the city wall after being attacked, smashing holes in it with almost suicidal attacks, destroying the soldiers and gun emplacements on it as well!

This place has been attacked.

And it was already too late; it was impossible to minimize the losses.

Those who witnessed this scene all deeply understood this point.

Just then, a loud voice suddenly came from above their heads.

"It was truly a delightful sight to behold."

Holding the dragon banner, Jeanne d'Arc Alter appeared atop a building directly in front of them.

"A burning city, a bunch of ignorant people burned to ashes... Very good, it's really enjoyable. It's so satisfying to get rid of all the eyesores in one go, don't you think?"

"The mage, there is another me."

47. Please, self-destructing infantryman, senior Akuta!

For Jeanne Alter, Vaucouleur was a rather distressing place, not only because it was a place she had been unable to conquer, but also because it contained Aozaki Aoko and Jeanne Alter.

The former was the wicked sorcerer who had defeated her and intimidated her with bluffing tactics. The latter was another version of herself that she absolutely did not want to see, nor did she want to continue existing.

She truly wished she could eliminate this place from existence for even a moment longer, and now, that goal had been achieved.

Looking down at the fortress engulfed in flames, Jeanne Alter couldn't help but feel ashamed of her previous stupidity. It was just a fortress; even with a troublesome mage like her, the fortress itself wasn't some impregnable stronghold. She could have simply let a large number of dragons crush it!

Why didn't she think of that before?

"Did you see that? Magician?"

As if mocking Aozaki Aoko below, Jeanne Alter's face displayed an exaggerated, maniacal laugh.

"This is the fortress you've been protecting all this time. These fools see you as their guardian and believe you can protect them forever. They trust you just as they trusted me in the past, you magician."

"But look at what you've protected!"

The dragon banner swept across the inferno below.

"The city defenses were so weak, the defenses so flimsy... This place was easily flattened with just a little effort, yet it wasted so much of my time. This is what you protected, mage—no, this time you failed to protect it at all~~~"

"Come on, let me see your despair, your inability to protect anything, and your helpless watch as everything is burned to ashes!"

Jeanne Alter's words, which sounded like a speech yet also like a performance, gradually made Aozaki Aoko's fists harden.

They were just discussing how to deal with her when she suddenly launched a surprise attack. That wouldn't be so bad; Aozaki Aoko wasn't the type to get angry just because she was ambushed. But to actually dare to be so arrogantly sarcastic...

"Zheng—!"

Several circular magic seals suddenly unfolded on Aozaki Aoko's arm, like sparks bursting forth. Blue magic power erupted in an instant. Aozaki Aoko, who was on the ground a second ago, suddenly leaped above Jeanne Alter in the next instant, and her right arm, shining with intense magic light, punched down at the spot where she was!

"Boom—!"

The magic cannon that shot out blasted straight through the building.

Arrested lightly on the roof of another building, Jeanne Alter looked at Aoko Aozaki, who had landed not far in front of her: "Are you angry, mage?"

"No, I'm just a little annoyed by your low provocation. I'm actually a very vengeful person, and I think it's necessary to settle accounts with you properly for what you just said—a real settlement!"

"Is that so? Very well. If you're angry about my actions, then I'm actually a little disappointed in you... But you seem to have misunderstood something. I never said I wanted to duel with you. You have a lot of people to deal with."

As Jeanne Alter spoke, she tapped the floor with the flag in her hand, and several dragons immediately flew down from the dragon flock in the sky. Seven figures jumped off the backs of the dragons one after another.

"It's nice to see you again, magician."

Atalanta, who landed next to Jeanne Alter and held a longbow, looked at Aozaki Aoko.

"This time my arrow won't miss. Be prepared to have your head pierced by my arrow."

"If you said that to Tora, I think he'd be ecstatic." Aozaki Aoko took a deep breath. "So, you're the only one coming at me this time? I really underestimated you. You think one Servant can stop me?"

"That's definitely not the case."

A cold female voice came from the other side. Immediately afterwards, feeling a strong gust of wind rushing towards her from behind, Aozaki Aoko immediately turned around and threw a punch without hesitation!

A fist collided with a massive metal object in mid-air, and the violent magical impact instantly swept across the entire rooftop.

Taking a few steps back to a distance where she could react quickly enough, Aozaki Aoko shook her slightly numb hand and looked in the direction of the attack: "To actually use something like that to hit someone, what a twisted sense of humor."

To Aozaki Aoko, that enormous metal object looked like a coffin, or perhaps a cage imprisoning something. It was even shaped like a girl praying. Only someone with a completely distorted sense of aesthetics would find such a thing pleasing to the eye.

The person carrying this enormous coffin by chains was a woman who exuded a strong smell of blood. Her skin was deathly pale, and she wore a strange red dress covered with a lot of metal decorations, as if she were entangled in thorns. Her mere presence made Aozaki Aoko feel disgusted.

"What a grand entrance, Assassin," Jeanne Alter said with a smile to the newly appeared woman. "Well, I still have to deal with my other self. You can leave this to me, right, Archer, Assassin?"

"Yes, no problem. In fact, please be sure to leave it to me."

Assassin gazed at Aozaki Aoko with intense intensity: "You really are a beautiful person. Although you're not my favorite girl or virgin, just for your beauty, I want to drink all your blood. If I drink all your blood, I should become even more beautiful, right?"

"Assassin... never mind."

Atalanta, who really couldn't get along with Assassin, hesitated for a moment, then swallowed her inner thoughts and drew her bow, aiming at Aozaki Aoko.

Looking at the two Servants in front of her, Aozaki Aoko sighed heavily: "Hmph~~~ You really dare to say that. Judging from your tone, it seems you look down on mature adults like me? You prefer immature little girls to mature adults, is that it?"

"Thank goodness my husband is into all kinds of things, if he had your ideas, I'd make sure he couldn't get out of bed every day—Fujimaru! Mashu! Jeanne! Akuta!"

Upon hearing Aozaki Aoko's sudden shout, Fujimaru Ritsuka and the other three, who were entangled with the wyvern and other Servants below, immediately perked up their ears.

"Although I originally wanted to give you some time to rest, it seems we'll have to fight to the very end now, just like we agreed before—assemble!"

As soon as she finished speaking, Aozaki Aoko immediately leaped down from the roof and returned to Jeanne's side with incredible speed. Fujimaru Ritsuka and the others also quickly shook off the soldiers around them and returned to where Jeanne was.

"Joan of Arc, I beg you."

"Yes, I understand!"

Joan of Arc twirled the battle banner in her hand and held it up in front of her: "Noble Phantasm, unfold—my banner, protect my people! Descend upon this place the Lord's might! [My Lord is here (Luminosite Eternelle)]!"

At that moment, the banner of the iris suddenly released an incomparably bright and gentle radiance, and the expanding barrier of light protected Joan of Arc and everyone around her.

Except for mustard seed pods.

As if forgotten, or perhaps deliberately keeping her distance from Jeanne d'Arc, Hinako Akuta became the only one not protected by Jeanne d'Arc's Noble Phantasm.

"mustard!"

"Don't shout so loudly, I know what I'm going to do."

After giving Fujimaru Ritsuka a disapproving glare, Hinako looked around at the Servants who were approaching with puzzled expressions. She took off her glasses and revealed a somewhat ferocious grin, like a beast awakening.

A crimson vortex of magical energy began to swirl and coil around her, slowly floating into the air. Hinako Akuta let out a cold laugh, and then, amidst the ever-growing, uncontrollable storm of expanding magical energy—

"Bang------!"

A shower of crimson blood accompanied her self-destruction, falling like a torrential downpour from the sky!

48. Jeanne Alter: This rain is never going to stop, is it?!

—Are you planning to adopt a tortoise-like strategy?

When they saw Jeanne d'Arc unleash her Noble Phantasm, all the Servants, including Jeanne d'Arc Alter, thought the same thing, and at the same time, a hint of sarcasm arose in their hearts.

Do you think that hiding in one place and staying still will help? That's just a slow death.

However, what happened after that, right now, made them understand why Jeanne d'Arc and the others were hiding in the Noble Phantasm.

"Swish swish swish swish swish~~~~~"

The crimson torrential rain relentlessly washed over the entire land. Anything touched by the blood rain was instantly set ablaze, or perhaps cursed, its entire body engulfed in raging flames, then entangled and surrounded by an incredibly dense crimson mist, slowly corroding and eroding it.

Because it was just a shower, the first things to be affected were naturally the dense swarms of flying dragons in the sky.

“GAAAAAAAA!”

Painful howls echoed and rippled through the air like waves. Even the dragons, known for their physical strength and possessing extremely high physical and magical protection, were left seemingly naked under this rain of blood. They were tormented and burned to death by the blood flames and curses. One after another, the corpses of dragons fell from the sky, instantly filling most of the small fortress.

Hiding in various blind spots where they wouldn't get wet from the blood rain, Atalanta looked up at the blood rain: "I never thought that woman's suicide would cause such a phenomenon. Such a wide-ranging and powerful curse can definitely be called a Noble Phantasm."

In terms of intensity, Atalanta believed that this was no different from a curse issued by the gods. Even Servants, if they were tainted by this rain of blood, would be entangled by the curse for a short time and suffer the burning torment of blood flames.