A Villain's Journey Begins in the Type-Moon World

"How should I know? But it's better this way! I hope they all die together! Those guys burned down my hometown, I wish they were all dead!"

The other soldier clearly didn't care about any of that; the flames of hatred had clouded his judgment.

"..." Joan of Arc could naturally sense the soldiers' conversation. Even though she was prepared, she could still feel the blow to her spirit.

"Being insulted to nothing by the very people you're supposed to protect, Your Majesty. The reason they can stand by and watch so leisurely is all thanks to you drawing away those wyverns."

Camilla naturally heard those words as well, and she laughed with a hint of sarcasm.

“...None of your business,” Joan of Arc retorted forcefully, and then killed another wyvern with a single thrust of her spear.

"Heh, you're really stubborn. If you feel your fighting strength is insufficient, why not try asking the French army for help?"

Camilla finished speaking with a smile, then, as if remembering something, continued in an apologetic tone:

"Oh, by the way, forgive my rudeness, but you are now the Dragon Witch. The cruel burning at the stake sent the saint to hell, only to be resurrected for revenge. What a beautiful, fragile, and comical script. You're clearly still struggling in your death throes—"

"This time, they truly see you as an enemy! Can you tell me, Joan of Arc, how do you feel right now? Do you want to die? Or do you want to kill them?"

As if trying to gradually break down Joan of Arc's psychological defenses, Camilla smiled and said:

"You actually really want to drive that flagpole into that soldier's chest like a stake, don't you? You want it so much that you can hardly stand it anymore, can you?"

"...Most people might feel resentful, or even despair. But unfortunately, I am an optimist! They still have the strength to hate me, their enemy, and the strength to stand up. I think that's not so bad."

Faced with Camilla's pressure, Joan of Arc merely chuckled twice, as if she were not particularly concerned, just as she had said.

“…Are you crazy?” Camilla blurted out.

"Who knows? Ever since I tried to rise up and save France, people have often said I'm crazy..." Joan of Arc said noncommittally.

"Is that so? In other words, regardless of good or evil, right or wrong, we've all gone mad...! Wyvern!"

Seeing that she couldn't break down Joan of Arc's defenses with words, Camilla stopped and instead let the wyvern continue to wear down Joan of Arc's stamina.

"Artillery—fire!"

But at that moment, a man's voice suddenly rang out. A series of deafening cannon shots erupted, and one by one, the wyverns were hit by shells and fell to the ground.

"...Huh?" Joan of Arc seemed to find the voice somewhat familiar, and she couldn't help but look in the direction of the sound. Just then, another French force joined the battle.

The artillery fire just now came from this arriving team. It seems they received a distress call from the unit here and rushed over in time.

“Gil?” At that moment, Joan of Arc recognized the man in silver armor at the very front of the unit. It was not the magician, but the young Marshal Gilles of this era.

"Take care of the dragons around us first! Fire as many cannonballs as you have!" Marshal Gil ordered.

"...Now's the time!"

Joan of Arc seized the opportunity, broke through the dragon's defenses, and began to advance directly on Camilla.

"Damn it...!"

"Clang—Bang—Clang—"

Suddenly, the two sides clashed again. Camilla felt a tremendous force strike her, making it difficult for her to hold onto her Noble Phantasm.

"Wow—as expected of the Arbiter! Despite being stripped of his power, he still possesses such strength...!"

Camilla saw that the situation was not good and was already thinking of retreating. However, when she glanced at the other battlefields, she found that she was the only one left, which frightened her.

"Damn it! How come I'm the only one left? Retreat! Retreat!"

Seeing that the others from Chaldea were also rushing towards her, Camilla didn't hesitate. She immediately jumped onto a wyvern to create distance between herself and Jeanne, and then fled like the wind.

"Stop!" Joan of Arc wanted to give chase, but the other party had already taken flight and escaped. She could only watch as the other party left.

"Miss Joan of Arc, are you alright?"

At this moment, Mashu and the others arrived late. They originally thought Jeanne was still fighting hard, but they didn't expect that as soon as they came to support her, they saw that Camilla had escaped, along with a large number of wyverns around her.

"I'm fine, but it's all over now," Joan of Arc said slowly.

“That’s good. Now that we’ve found Siegfried, let’s prepare to leave. Should we head towards Orleans or…?” Mash asked.

“Hmm… let’s head towards Orleans first,” Joan of Arc said.

Just as the group was about to leave, a voice suddenly called out to Joan of Arc:

"Joan of Arc! Please wait!"

Joan of Arc turned around and saw that the person who had come was none other than Marshal Gilles. After seeing Joan of Arc's face clearly, Marshal Gilles said with some excitement:

"You are the real Joan of Arc! Not that 'Dragon Witch,' but a true saint...! Isn't that right!"

Chapter 38 A Short Rest

"..." Joan of Arc did not respond to Marshal Gilles' words, which was unusual for her.

"...Aren't you going to answer him?" Mary couldn't help but ask.

“If I answer now, it will put Jill in a very bad position, and we don’t need to ask him for help at this stage. Most importantly… the hatred my former comrades have for me is even more unbearable.”

Joan of Arc answered truthfully.

"I see... But do they really hate you?" Mary couldn't help but look at the soldiers who seemed to be expecting something, and asked.

"Let's go." Joan of Arc did not hesitate and led everyone away quickly.

After seeing Joan of Arc and the others leave, Marshal Gilles was about to give chase when he heard a voice in his ear:

"Now is not the time for you to fully acknowledge each other. Don't forget what you promised me."

"..." Marshal Gilles stopped in his tracks. He recognized the man's voice, of course; it was the man who had suddenly told him a few days ago that a "Dragon Witch" would appear in the future.

It was precisely because of this information that Marshal Gilles was able to gather the majority of the army, ensuring the survival of the French army and minimizing casualties in the towns under his jurisdiction.

At the same time, he also learned some secrets from the man, such as why the Dragon Witch appeared and that the Holy Maiden would soon return to the world to resolve everything.

Now, everything has been verified, and what he needs to do is fulfill the deal the man made a few days ago. To do that, he must first clear the saintess's name.

"Marshal, who was that just now... and who were those people...?" At this moment, a personal guard came to Marshal Gilles' side and asked him.

“I cannot give a definitive definition yet, but you should have some doubts in your hearts, right? Let’s reinvestigate the ‘Dragon Witch’ matter.”

Marshal Gilles said slowly:

"Was it really Joan of Arc who killed King Charles? Or was it someone else? Or are there two Joans of Arc in this world? And... what about the mysterious people who escorted the people of the city that should have been slaughtered?"

"All of this is shrouded in mystery. But we must find out the truth. Only in this way can we do justice to our fallen brothers and those who died at the hands of the witch."

……

After a battle and a long journey, the setting sun finally sank slowly, and night quietly fell.

Everyone knew that this was the end of the day, no matter what. The best course of action now was to quickly find a safe place to rest and regroup, and to finalize the plans for tomorrow.

"...This seems to be an abandoned fortress. Let's spend the night here."

Mashu looked at the dilapidated fortress ahead. After Dr. Roman's search confirmed that there were no other monsters around, she felt relieved and decided to use this place as her resting place for the night.

"How are you all?" Jeanne checked on everyone's condition again. Fortunately, everyone was fine and had recovered completely thanks to the healing power of Mary's Noble Phantasm.

So the group settled into the fortress, and while preparing dinner, they continued their conversation about the previous topic.

"So that's how it is... Human history has been distorted in this way, resulting in an unprecedented catastrophe of extinction... I never imagined the world would be in such a precarious state. And this changing world we live in is a twisted anchor point that needs to be addressed, isn't it?"

Siegfried roughly understood the current situation and nodded in agreement.

"Speaking of which, wasn't Siegfried's Noble Phantasm supposed to be damaged?" At this moment, Ritsuka finally asked the question that she had been holding back.

"It was indeed destroyed. That's why I've been staying in Lyon. I want to find the person who destroyed my Noble Phantasm..."

Siegfried then gave a general account of how his Noble Phantasm was destroyed, as well as how he was saved by Wang Chong.

Of course, under Wang Chong's secret telepathic communication, Siegfried did not directly mention that Martha was the mole, so he made some changes to the story after he was rescued.

"A Servant capable of destroying a Noble Phantasm with just sound... I can't even imagine it."

Dr. Roman couldn't help but sigh, but then, as if remembering something, he quickly said:

"Wait a minute, why can you still unleash your Noble Phantasm? Has it been repaired already?"

“No, after the Noble Phantasm shattered, it turned into specks of light and disappeared. Unless I summon it again, my Noble Phantasm will not reappear. As for this one, it was a gift from Mr. Wang Chong,” Siegfried said slowly.

"I see... Eh? Mr. Wang Chong, how come you have Mr. Siegfried's Noble Phantasm?" Mashu couldn't help but ask.

"That's my secret. I can't tell you for now. But if there's a chance, I'll let you see it," Wang Chong said with a smile.

"Everyone has secrets, which is understandable... Anyway, we've gotten a bit off-topic. Everyone, given the current situation, we should start formulating a battle plan."

Dr. Roman coughed lightly and then said:

"Now we have two options. The first option is to storm into Orleans' stronghold."

"The enemy has lost two Servants, but they still have seven Servants known to exist, including Vlad III, Carmilla, and Lancelot, not to mention Jeanne d'Arc, that dragon, and the unknown enemy who destroyed Siegfried's Noble Phantasm."

"As for our side, we currently only have Jeanne d'Arc, Mashu, Marie, Siegfried, Mr. Wang Chong, and Albion. That's a total of 6 combat units. We are still at a significant disadvantage in terms of numbers. If we push through in one wave, there might still be risks."

"Based on the above situation, the second option is to continue searching other places to see if there are any traces of other Servants being summoned. See if there are any other unowned Servants."

"Perhaps we can find more companions, and then we will have a better chance of defeating those hostile Servants."

After hearing everything Dr. Roman had said, everyone fell into deep thought. They were torn between heading directly to Orleans the next day and searching for other unknown Servants.

"While the second option is indeed safer, there's a concern that things might change if we wait too long. If the other side reacts and summons something that can counter Siegfried's ability to deal with the dragon, then things will be quite bad."

Mashu couldn't help but offer her suggestion.

"That's not all. More importantly, we don't know if extending the timeframe will have any irreversible effects on the singularity. After all, this is the first singularity we've explored, and all the data is still being processed and analyzed."

Dr. Roman said the same thing.

"Lady Jeanne and Mr. Siegfried... what do you think?" Mash asked.

"I prefer to resolve the issue as soon as possible. Of course, since we are fighting those enemies, we must ensure that we win! We should not ignore any option that can increase our chances of winning."

Clearly, Joan of Arc's attitude was somewhat ambiguous, and she herself could not give a clear judgment.

"I still suggest finding more companions... because I have truly experienced how terrifying that guy who attacks others with his voice is. If we go to the enemy's headquarters like this, I'm afraid our chances of winning won't be very high."

Siegfried, however, chose a more cautious approach and did not intend to launch a radical attack on the enemy's main base.

“As for Mary… I also hope to defeat our opponent as soon as possible. Although everything will return to normal after the singularity is resolved, the people in this timeline are indeed suffering.”

Mary said, "I still don't want to see them continue to suffer like this. So, resolving this as soon as possible is the best way."

Hearing the three people's completely different choices, Ritsuka felt even more unable to make a decision. She couldn't help but turn to Wang Chong, who had been watching from the sidelines, for help, hoping that he could give her some advice.

“There’s really no way…” Wang Chong shook his head slightly, then came to Ritsuka’s side and said, “Ritsuka, remember, the premise for making any choice is that you have sorted out enough information and confirmed the result you want to achieve most.”

"Therefore, based on the conditions just given by Dr. Roman, it is clear that the second option is indeed more reliable in terms of combat. However, it is full of uncertainty in terms of time span."

"So, is there a way to confirm whether there are any other Servants around in the shortest amount of time? This would avoid the uncertainty of the time span and make the final battle more secure?"

Wang Chong used a twig to draw circles on the soil, teaching Ritsuka how to become a qualified decision-maker.

Chapter 39 Split into Two Groups

"Joan of Arc, do you have a map of France today?"

While giving Ritsuka time to think, Wang Chong looked up at Jeanne and asked.

"No, but I know maps very well and can draw them from memory."

As she spoke, Joan of Arc began to draw a rough map of France on the ground, marking each of the fortresses.

"We are currently positioned somewhere between Lyon and Thierry..."

Joan of Arc, drawing on her experience fighting on French soil, circled the approximate location of everyone.

"Jeanne, next, circle all the places the Dragon Witch destroyed, the places we've been, and the places controlled by the enemy," Wang Chong said slowly.

Joan of Arc didn't say much, and quickly circled most of the area on the map as Wang Chong requested, leaving only a few cities unmarked.

The moment she finished circling it, Joan of Arc seemed to have an epiphany and said, "I see."

"Did Lady Jeanne d'Arc discover something?" Mash couldn't help but ask.

“You see, since we are looking for any other Servants who have descended, their approximate locations are unlikely to be within these areas, right?” Jeanne d'Arc said slowly.

“I see. Since we’re searching for Servants, we should start with places we haven’t been to yet. And those fortresses that have been destroyed by the enemy or are under enemy control won’t have any unclaimed Servants there. Otherwise, the enemy would definitely notice.”

Ritsuka seemed to suddenly realize something and excitedly said.

“That’s exactly right.” Wang Chong nodded and then said, “In this way, we only need to search these few locations, and naturally we don’t need to spend a lot of energy and time exploring every place in France.”

"In that case, we can eliminate one more city."