Jeanne Alter snorted when she heard Arthur's words. However, the moment her eyes fell upon Jeanne d'Arc, standing among the members of the opposing group, her expression changed.
For several seconds, she simply stared at the saint.
Then a look of absolute disgust appeared on her face.
"Ugh."
"What is this...? Who would have thought... Who would have thought something like this could happen?" she said before bursting into laughter. "Can someone throw some water on me, please? This is awful. Truly awful. I think I'm going to go insane from laughing so hard."
"Just look at her. That pathetic girl. What is she? A coward? A rat? A worm?" she mocked, pointing at Jeanne.
"Whatever she is, it doesn't matter. All of those creatures are too insignificant to inspire even the slightest pity."
She continued her mockery with a crooked smile.
"Ah, France... truly. A country capable only of clinging to something like that. Comparing them to rats would be an insult to rats."
She let out a melodramatic sigh as she turned to look for someone beside her.
"Hey, Gilles, don't you think—"
The sentence died before it could be completed.
An instant later, her crooked smile returned.
"Oh, right. We didn't bring Gilles."
Jeanne finally broke the silence.
"You... who are you?" she asked, still perplexed by the woman standing before her.
"I could ask you exactly the same thing."
Jeanne Alter spread her arms as the black flames surrounding her intensified.
"But as the leader, I suppose I should answer first. I am Jeanne d'Arc. The saint devoted to France."
Her gaze darkened.
"I am also your other version."
She spoke as her smile widened.
"What?"
Jeanne looked confused by the answer.
"That's absurd. You're no saint. Just as I'm not one either."
She shook her head.
Setting aside any discussion of identity, Jeanne stepped forward.
"But that doesn't matter. More importantly, why did you attack this city?" she asked.
"Why? As the same Jeanne d'Arc, I thought you would understand immediately. Or did you become stupid after switching sides?" Jeanne Alter raised an eyebrow.
"The reason I attacked this city? What a foolish question."
She mocked her.
She answered without the slightest hesitation.
"I'm destroying France. It's simple. After all, I'm a Servant."
"Politically? Economically? Socially? Those things take far too long. Isn't it much simpler to crush everything by force?"
She finished while spreading her arms and looking toward the sky with a smile.
"What nonsense!" Jeanne immediately replied.
Jeanne Alter stared at her.
"Nonsense? We're the fools, Jeanne d'Arc. Why did we try to save this country? Why did we try to bring salvation to these people? Even knowing they were the ones who despised us. Who abandoned us. Who betrayed us. Who threw us into the flames."
She spoke with a look of disgust.
"This is..."
Jeanne opened her mouth to respond.
"No."
Jeanne Alter interrupted her before she could continue.
"I will not be deceived again. I will not be betrayed again."
She tightened her grip on her sword.
"I can no longer hear the Lord's voice. And if I cannot hear Him, then that means only one thing. This country no longer possesses His blessing."
She spoke while looking toward the sky once more.
"Therefore, I will destroy it. I will tear out every rotten seed by the root. As long as humanity exists, my hatred will continue to exist."
A fanatical smile appeared on her face again.
"I will turn this France into a land of the dead. That is how I will save this country. By the hands of the new Jeanne d'Arc. Reborn from death."
The madness in her eyes seemed to grow stronger with every word.
"But I suppose you could never understand. Always pretending to be a saint. Always pretending not to see hatred. Always pretending not to see humanity's true nature. A perfect maiden incapable of growing beyond her own illusion."
Her eyes turned toward Jeanne.
Jeanne remained silent for several moments.
"I..."
["What kind of nonsense is that supposed to be?"] Olga interrupted through the communicator. ["Don't try to use grand words without understanding what you're talking about. You're a Servant, not a human being. If we're discussing this from a technical perspective, we'd be talking about changes in a Heroic Spirit, not 'human growth.'"]
Jeanne Alter slowly turned her head.
"It seems there's a very noisy fly around here."
Her gaze fixed on the communicator.
"Should I just kill her for annoying me?"
At that very instant, sparks erupted across the communicator's screen.
["Wait, what?!"] Romani's voice echoed in panic. ["The console is on fire!"]
Several crackling noises disrupted the transmission.
["Can this Servant incinerate people just by looking at them?!"]
Jeanne Alter completely ignored the commotion and returned her attention to Jeanne.
"Are you really... me?"
Jeanne Alter let out a dry laugh.
"I made everything perfectly clear and you still have doubts? Are you really that stupid?"
She pointed at Jeanne with a serious expression.
"That fury. That hatred. That cruel sense of justice. It's not that you're incapable of understanding them. You simply never wanted to try."
Then her eyes narrowed.
"But I understood one thing when I saw you."
Her voice became colder.
"You are not Jeanne d'Arc."
Jeanne remained motionless as Jeanne Alter continued.
"You're not even a legitimate version of her."
The tip of her finger pointed directly at the saint's chest.
"You're nothing more than a remnant. A discarded fragment. A ghost trying to reproduce a story that already ended."
Jeanne's eyes widened, but Jeanne Alter had already lost interest in her.
Her gaze shifted to the Servants standing behind her.
"Berserk Lancer."
Vlad III stepped forward.
"Berserk Assassin."
Carmilla smiled.
"Take care of that country girl. You must already be tired of insignificant prey."
Jeanne Alter spread her arms.
"Rejoice. They're strong. Among all the Servants I summoned, their thirst for blood is the greatest. So go, kill, and satisfy your bloodlust."
Vlad spun his spear once before fixing his gaze upon Chaldea's group.
"Very well. Then I shall have their blood."
"How impatient."
Carmilla smiled as she watched Jeanne like a predator observing prey.
"I would prefer to savor her flesh, her blood, and her entrails first."
"So greedy. And her soul? Who gets the soul?" Vlad asked.
Carmilla let out a soft laugh.
"A soul has no value. Do you think honor or reputation make someone beautiful?"
Vlad smiled.
"In that case, I shall take it. It's curious. Only after becoming a bloodthirsty creature was I able to understand its beauty."
"Indeed."
Carmilla ran her tongue across her lips.
"And that is precisely why I cannot restrain myself. I cannot tolerate anything more beautiful than myself."
Her smile became twisted as she stared at Jeanne.
"Even better... the blood of those more beautiful than me only makes my own beauty greater. I'll squeeze out every drop. Until absolutely nothing remains."
Suddenly, the sound of applause rang out, immediately drawing everyone's attention.
"Very good, children. Now that this pointless conversation is over, let's deal with this once and for all."
Arthur spoke with a smile as he noticed everyone's attention turning toward him.
"I assume you'd like to deal with your counterpart personally, Jeanne."
Arthur turned his eyes toward the blonde.
"Yes."
She answered without hesitation.
Arthur nodded.
"Then that dark Jeanne is yours."
His gaze moved to the rest of the group.
"Artoria, Vlad III is yours."
"Understood."
Artoria replied as Rhongomyniad materialized in her hand.
Ritsuka's gaze quickly swept across the group before stopping on the small white-haired girl holding her hand.
Jack remained still as she watched Carmilla on the opposite side of the battlefield.
Her yellow-green eyes analyzed the Berserker Servant with the same naturalness as someone choosing which flower to pick.
"Jack, can you handle Carmilla?"
The girl immediately turned her attention to Ritsuka.
"We can do that, Mommy."
She answered with an adorable smile.
"She seems like a nasty woman."
"A wicked woman who bathed in the living blood of more than six hundred women to preserve her beauty."
Arthur replied with visible disgust.
"Yes. She is unpleasant."
Jack tilted her head slightly.
"So we can hurt her?"
"As long as you don't let her hurt you first."
Arthur answered while gently patting her hair.
A small smile appeared on the Assassin's face.
"Understood."
Arthur observed her for a moment before smiling.
"Even so, it would be better not to leave her alone."
Ritsuka nodded at his words.
Then she turned toward the green-haired Archer standing beside her.
"Atalanta, support Jack."
She requested.
"With pleasure."
Atalanta immediately replied.
Jack looked up at the huntress.
"We're going to work together?"
she asked.
"Yes."
Atalanta answered calmly.
"So don't stray too far from me."
Jack seemed to think for a moment before agreeing.
"Alright. We'll try."
Although her words, spoken in an adorable manner, were obedient, the way her eyes gleamed made it clear that her attention was already completely focused on Carmilla.
(End of Chapter)