'I almost fell for his sweet talk!!' Jeanne Alter mentally roared.
If he's telling me to leave, then wouldn't the best thing be to simply leave?
When I return to Orleans, I'll summon more Servants and kill that man...
'No.' She narrowed her eyes. 'I'll capture him alive.'
Thinking that, Jeanne Alter stood up from the ground with a satisfied smile. For the first time since being captured, she felt like she had regained some control over the situation.
Picking up her banner, she walked directly toward the exit.
However, the moment she reached the entrance, her expression froze.
The magic circle isolating that space was still functioning perfectly.
The barrier remained firm, showing no signs of weakening.
Slowly, Jeanne Alter turned her head toward Arthur, who was looking at her with an expression of complete innocence.
"..."
"..."
A vein bulged on her forehead.
"Hey."
"Yes?" Arthur replied with a smile on his face.
"Didn't you say I could leave?" she asked, her voice making it very clear how angry she was.
"Yes, I did."
"Then why is this barrier still here?"
The smile that appeared on Arthur's face immediately gave Jeanne Alter a terrible feeling.
"Because I never said I would remove the barrier," he replied, still wearing that innocent smile.
For several seconds, Jeanne Alter simply stood there.
Her brain seemed unwilling to process such a completely nonsensical answer.
Then her eyes began to twitch.
"You..." Another vein appeared on her forehead. "You were playing with me?"
"Maybe a little," Arthur replied without the slightest trace of guilt.
Jeanne Alter gripped her banner so tightly that her knuckles turned white.
She had spent the last few minutes convincing herself that she was making the right decision by leaving of her own will.
And now this man was simply admitting that he had never intended to let her leave.
"You... you damned bastard..."
Arthur merely smiled.
"As I said before, I want you to sign a contract with me." He spoke while calmly getting to his feet. "And you will sign it."
Jeanne Alter felt her patience finally reach its limit.
"I'd rather be thrown into the stake," she mocked.
"I wouldn't let that happen." Arthur sighed dramatically.
"SHUT UP!"
Arthur walked past her as if he hadn't just provoked a walking nuclear explosion.
As he passed by, he casually gave her side a light pat, as though he were greeting an old acquaintance.
Jeanne Alter froze completely at that excessively intimate action.
Her face began turning red.
Not from embarrassment, but from pure fury.
Arthur didn't even need to look back to know what was happening.
"I'm going to turn everything into ashes... into dust."
"My hatred will destroy everything."
"La Grondement Du Haine!!"
Jeanne Alter roared as she activated her Noble Phantasm without the slightest hesitation.
A torrent of flames immediately exploded throughout the area.
Unfortunately for her, Arthur was no longer there, and her attack passed through nothing but empty space.
What followed was an impressive sequence of insults.
Some were familiar.
Others had probably never been recorded in any language.
Jeanne Alter seemed determined to expand the limits of human creativity solely to express how much she hated Arthur at that moment.
---xXx---
"It seems Dark Jeanne rejected you, Master."
Tamamo commented as soon as she saw Arthur return. There was an amused gleam in her eyes and a faint smile on her lips.
Hearing his kitsune's remark, Arthur merely smiled and shook his head.
"When the right time comes, I'm sure she won't reject me," he replied calmly before shrugging. "But let's leave that subject aside for now and talk about something more important."
The response made Tamamo raise an eyebrow.
That man's confidence was sometimes simply absurd.
Arthur then turned his attention to the others gathered there.
"Although we've captured Dark Jeanne, we still need to deal with Fafnir and his legion of wyverns, as well as that psychopath called Gilles de Rais."
The atmosphere immediately became more serious.
Capturing Jeanne Alter had been a huge step forward, but no one had forgotten that the greatest threat of the Singularity was still active.
"Therefore, we need to heal the Dragon Slayer in our group," Arthur continued as his eyes turned toward Siegfried. "And I'm sure he'd like to face Fafnir once more himself."
Siegfried remained silent for a few moments as his steady gaze met Arthur's.
There was no need for words.
The hero who had defeated Fafnir in life certainly would not run from the opportunity to face him again.
Seeing the swordsman's answer, Arthur nodded in satisfaction.
"After all of this is resolved, I'll convince Dark Jeanne to sign a contract with me."
The statement caused various reactions among those present.
Yes, Arthur wanted Jeanne Alter to sign a contract with him.
However, if she truly didn't want to and continued to represent a threat to humanity, he would bring the situation to a permanent end.
It would be a considerable loss, but one he would still be willing to accept.
---xXx---
After spending some time discussing the next steps of the operation, Arthur divided the group into two teams.
The team led by him consisted of Jeanne, Marie, Mozart, Ishtar, and Artoria.
Everyone else would remain at the base.
Their role would be simple: protect the location and respond immediately if any unexpected attack occurred.
At that moment, the priority was preventing any attempt by Gilles de Rais to rescue Jeanne Alter.
Although the Servant was imprisoned, nobody believed the former French marshal would simply accept her capture without reacting.
However, before definitively departing toward their next objective, Arthur made a brief detour.
He walked to the area where he had left the Holy Grail absorbing magical energy from the ley line.
As soon as he approached, he realized that the process was finally complete.
The Grail's golden surface shone brilliantly.
A satisfied smile appeared on his face when he saw that the vessel was finally full.
After so much time, he now possessed enough energy to correct one of the greatest problems he had carried since the beginning of his journey.
Without wasting time, Arthur approached the Holy Grail and placed one hand on its surface.
Using the Grail's power as a catalyst, Arthur directed all that energy toward a single purpose.
Completely restoring himself to the exact condition he had been in before Singularity F.
For several seconds, Arthur's body was completely enveloped by a radiant torrent of light.
Once all preparations were complete, Arthur returned and said his farewells to Ritsuka, Mash, Tamamo, and the rest of the group.
The goodbyes were brief; after all, there was still far too much work to be done to waste time.
Thus, the group led by Arthur left the base and headed in a single direction.
Since arriving in that Singularity, Arthur had been constantly gathering information.
And during his investigations, he had found the one who might be able to help with Siegfried's situation.
A saint of the Catholic Church whose name had become associated with the feat of slaying a dragon.
(End of Chapter)