"What...?" Jeanne murmured, completely lost.
She looked at her own hands in bewilderment.
"I..." She placed a hand over her chest. "What happened? Why am I still alive? And why didn't La Pucelle..."
"You're quite a foolish saint. Did you know that?" a male voice suddenly sounded.
Both Jeannes turned their heads simultaneously toward the source of the voice, and the next instant Arthur appeared beside Jeanne Alter and draped an arm over her shoulders.
Jeanne Alter's face froze while a vein bulged on her forehead.
Arthur, completely oblivious to the mortal danger beside him, turned toward Jeanne with a calm smile.
"It's quite simple, my dear Jeanne d'Arc. I used Heaven's Feel at the exact moment both of you were consumed by the flames of your Noble Phantasm."
Jeanne's eyes widened.
"Before either of you disappeared, I recovered your souls and materialized them." He pointed at Jeanne Alter. "And since she was the objective of our mission, I took the opportunity to bring her back as well."
"You... brought someone back from the dead?" Jeanne murmured in disbelief.
"In a way, yes," Arthur replied.
Before Jeanne could ask anything else, the temperature around them began rising rapidly.
Arthur noticed immediately. "Oh..."
Then he heard a voice filled with pure murderous fury.
"Remove it."
Arthur slowly turned his head and saw Jeanne Alter smiling at him.
"Take your filthy hand off my shoulder."
Arthur merely laughed. "I don't want to."
The vein on her forehead pulsed. "Remove it. Now."
"I said I won't." He smiled at her while lightly squeezing her shoulder. "You belong to me now."
The killing intent that exploded at that moment made even some of the Servants present tense up.
"BASTARD!!"
Jeanne Alter roared as her black sword appeared in her hand and she unleashed a strike overflowing with homicidal rage.
CLANG!
A sword emerged from a golden ripple and blocked her attack.
"You have quite the temper, you know that?" Arthur said while nodding to himself.
"I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!"
"But you were just captured by me," Arthur replied in confusion.
He was very clearly provoking the dark Jeanne.
"I DON'T CARE!"
"I could tell," he answered.
The black sword erupted into flames as Jeanne Alter attacked again.
Unfortunately, every one of her strikes was effortlessly repelled by various weapons fired from the Gate of Babylon. Arthur did not even move from his spot.
"You should relax a little." He sighed to himself.
"GO TO HELL!" Jeanne Alter roared.
"I don't feel like it."
Jeanne Alter was so furious that the idea of using her Noble Phantasm never even crossed her mind.
All she wanted at that moment was to tear this despicable man apart.
Not even her counterpart had managed to make her this angry.
Arthur sighed. "Well, let's end this."
TAP.
He lightly struck the back of her neck. Jeanne Alter's eyes rolled back as strength left her body and she collapsed forward.
Arthur caught her before she hit the ground.
"You knocked her out completely with one hit?" Mash said, becoming the first to break the silence.
"Yes."
Mash looked at the unconscious Jeanne Alter, then at Arthur, then back at the witch. "That was terrifying, Senpai."
"Thank you, Mash," Arthur replied while walking toward the group with Jeanne Alter in his arms.
"That wasn't supposed to be a compliment," Mash complained.
"I know."
Ritsuka finally released the breath she had been holding.
"Ahh..."
The girl placed a hand on her chest, the relief evident on her face. "It's finally over."
---
The plan had been a success.
The enemy Servants had been defeated, and Jeanne Alter had been captured.
However, the problems resulting from that victory were equally obvious.
By combining his spatial manipulation abilities with Tamamo-no-Mae's abilities, Arthur managed to create an improvised prison capable of preventing any escape attempts without much difficulty.
Unfortunately, physically containing Jeanne Alter was far easier than making her cooperate.
The girl had remained visibly irritated ever since her capture.
She kept swinging her banner repeatedly while constantly spreading flames around herself in an obviously futile attempt to break through the barrier keeping her imprisoned.
Naturally, none of those attempts produced any results.
The field remained completely intact.
Even so, Jeanne Alter refused to give up.
As if that weren't enough, her attitude wasn't helping either.
The Dragon Witch maintained a permanently hostile expression, as though she were only seconds away from trying to set fire to anyone who dared approach her. She shot hostile glances at everyone around her, and every time someone tried to start a conversation, her response was invariably accompanied by an expression that made her opinion crystal clear.
"Get lost."
Even when she didn't say the words out loud, her face made sure to convey them for her.
It was difficult to tell whether Jeanne Alter was more irritated by being defeated, by being captured, or by the fact that she was still alive.
Perhaps it was a combination of all three.
---
At that moment, Arthur was finishing the report on the latest mission for Olga through the communicator.
["You never cease to surprise me..."] Olga grumbled resignedly through the device.
Sitting at her desk in CHALDEA's command room, she massaged her temples while staring at the reports she had just received. Honestly, she had never imagined that this man would simply decide to capture the main enemy of the Singularity for who-knows-what reason.
["Just answer one thing for me."] Olga narrowed her eyes. ["You didn't decide to capture her just because she's beautiful, did you?"]
Several people present immediately turned their attention toward Arthur.
"A fair question," Ishtar agreed.
"Actually, I'd also like to hear the answer," Artoria commented.
Arthur didn't seem embarrassed in the slightest.
"I won't deny that it influenced my decision a little."
"That's what I thought..." Artoria sighed.
"Ahem! But that wasn't the reason." Arthur coughed to change the subject.
"Instead of wasting time searching, I want to lure out the guy who actually caused all of this."
["That makes more sense."] Olga sighed.
["It's still a strange reason."] Rin commented through the communicator.
"You were so cute when you were little... You'd bare your claws like an angry cat whenever someone spoke badly about me..." Arthur sighed. "Where did I go wrong...?"
["I have a pretty long list. Want me to read it to you?"] Rin replied.
While they talked, Jeanne remained seated beside Arthur.
Shortly before starting the report, Arthur had decided on his own that it was her turn to receive head pats.
Naturally, nobody had asked for her opinion.
Arthur's hand gently ran through the saint's golden hair.
Thanks to his supreme skill, Jeanne looked like she was practically melting.
Her face was completely relaxed, and all the tension had vanished from her shoulders.
Her half-closed eyes conveyed an almost embarrassingly obvious happiness.
"She looks like a cat," Ishtar murmured, obvious jealousy on her face.
"A very happy cat," Ritsuka agreed.
Jeanne herself blushed slightly when she noticed the stares.
But instead of pulling away, she ended up leaning a little further into Arthur's hand.
Ritsuka remained seated near Arthur, with Jack comfortably settled in her lap.
Somehow, the little Assassin could activate Ritsuka's maternal instincts whenever they were close.
Jack seemed extremely satisfied while receiving affection from two different people at the same time.
Beside them, Atalanta carefully brushed the girl's hair.
A genuine smile rested on her face as she took care of the "child."
Tamamo, meanwhile, seemed to have found an interesting topic to discuss with Mash, Artoria, Mordred, and Ishtar.
Or rather...
She was monopolizing the conversation.
"And then I said..."
"Tamamo." Ishtar interrupted while massaging her forehead.
"Yes?"
"You've told that same story four times already."
"But this time there are new details."
"It's the exact same damn story," Ishtar mocked.
Meanwhile, Richard and Siegfried were talking in another area.
"So you really fought a dragon that large?"
"Yes, it was quite troublesome," Siegfried replied.
At that moment, a new voice came through the communicator.
["Arthur."]
"Uh? Kohaku?" Arthur said in surprise. "Weren't you and Hisui busy?"
["We were."] Hisui replied in her usual serious tone. ["Kohaku dragged me here."]
["Because I wanted to see what that dark Jeanne looks like."] Kohaku explained without the slightest embarrassment. ["Besides, Caren-san and Fujino-san came back from their mission and are resting."]
["So we decided to come to the observation room."]
"An excellent decision," Arthur replied.
["I know."] Kohaku smiled cheerfully.
Olga decided to completely ignore that conversation.
"By the way." Arthur turned his attention back to the communicator. "I already have the location of the Servant necessary to fully heal Siegfried."
Everyone's attention was immediately drawn to him.
Even Siegfried himself turned his head.
"Although I don't like admitting it, Jeanne's Baptism Rites alone may not be enough under the current circumstances."
Siegfried remained silent.
But his expression clearly showed that he had already suspected as much.
"Therefore, we'll depart in search of that Servant soon."
["Understood."] Olga replied.
After a few more words, the conversation came to an end.
Arthur turned off the communicator and then stood up.
"Well, now I'm going to talk to our guest of honor," Arthur said.
"She's going to try to kill you," Ishtar warned.
"I have no doubt about that," Arthur replied.
Ignoring everyone's stares, Arthur slowly walked toward the place where Jeanne Alter was imprisoned.
As soon as he entered the bounded field, he found the Dragon Witch sitting on the ground with her arms crossed and the same hostile expression as always on her face.
"Already tired of trying to escape?"
Arthur asked while completely ignoring every danger signal and sitting down beside her.
Jeanne Alter slowly turned her head and looked Arthur up and down.
A malicious smile appeared on her lips.
"You really came here alone?"
Her smile widened.
"I honestly don't know if you're insane or just extremely arrogant," she mocked.
Arthur smiled immediately.
"My dear Jeanne, I don't need to worry about that, after all..." He began with a gentle smile on his face.
"You're weak."
His gentle smile instantly transformed into a mocking one.
The reaction was immediate.
For some reason, this man possessed a supernatural ability to irritate her.
It was almost a talent.
"I dare you to say that again..." she growled through clenched teeth.
"You. Are. Weak." He replied slowly.
"I'm going to rip your teeth out."
She growled again, but with an irritated sigh, Jeanne Alter decided to ignore his existence.
Or at least she tried.
Because her face continued displaying such obvious hostility that it was impossible to mistake her feelings.
Faced with that incredibly thorny hedgehog, Arthur simply smiled.
He knew that the more he tried to convince her directly, the more aggressive she would become.
Therefore, he chose the simplest method.
"I want you to sign a contract with me, Jeanne."
Jeanne Alter raised an eyebrow upon hearing that.
"But if you want to leave, I won't stop you."
Jeanne Alter slowly turned her head toward him.
"What kind of nonsense is that?" She looked at him as though he were a complete idiot. "Do you think I'm stupid enough to believe that?"
"I was just telling the truth." Arthur shrugged. "Your combat abilities are impressive, and you're a very beautiful woman."
He pointed directly at her.
"That's why I want you to be mine."
Jeanne Alter's face immediately twisted.
For some reason, those words managed to sound even more irritating than usual.
"If you want to leave, then leave." Arthur pointed toward the exit. "The way out is over there."
Jeanne Alter narrowed her eyes while carefully studying his face.
Unfortunately, that only irritated her even more, because she could clearly sense the sincerity behind those words.
He was genuinely serious.
For a brief moment... an absurd thought appeared in her mind.
'Just because you're telling me to leave doesn't mean I will.'
The thought appeared as quickly as it disappeared.
Immediately afterward, Jeanne Alter realized what he was doing and felt the urge to set something on fire.
Preferably Arthur.
(End of Chapter)