I don't like Saints
The blonde girl, who was nearly identical to Artoria before entering her Alter form, stared at me. A silver crown or helmet was on her head and a spear with a banner rested on her hands.
"Don't take a step closer." she said, looking at me with a serious expression. "And I am not 'Artoria', I am Jeanne d'Arc, here to prevent you from reaching the root."
Jeanne d'Arc.
This was... unexpected.
A small smile formed on my face as I stared at her. "I am not planning on touching it, so don't worry." I said. "But I still need to take a step closer and see more of it."
The spear, which she had been holding as a banner until now was suddenly raised and pointed in my direction.
"I already said." she muttered, staring at me with the same serious expression. "Don't take a step forward."
Ahhh, why did she have to go and say it like that? Now I have no choice but to actually take a step forward.
Rubbing my head, I sighed and looked at her.
"Get out of the way, Jeanne." I muttered, my expression getting slightly angry. "I don't know why a heroic spirit like yourself was summoned to stop me, nor do I know why it is even possible... but I won't let you get in the way of my wishes."
I took a step forward, staring at her while my eyes began glowing. A slit opened on my forehead and... nothing changed.
"What?" I muttered.
My Mystic Eye of Death Perception wasn't working here, which means this will be unnecessarily annoying.
My two eyes began glowing red, however Jeanne easily avoided the attacks as if she could see them without trouble.
"Great..." I muttered, noticing the absurd speed at which she dodged my attacks.
Rushing forward, she launched herself at me, her spear pointed towards my heart as she planned to finish the fight now.
The most annoying part of all this however was that I didn't even know if my extra lives worked here. Death didn't exist for anything here, but I sincerely doubted that was the case for me. Besides, now was definitely not the time to experiment.
Moving to the side, I narrowly dodged her first strike, however I wasn't so lucky with the next to as they managed to cut my cheek and my arm without any trouble.
Jumping back, I gained distance between the two of us, however this proved useless as she instantly jumped forward and followed me.
"Damn it..." I muttered as her spear once again got closer to my body. "You know what? Fuck this."
"I am the spark of all desires,
life is my body and death is my soul,
I am the corruption of all idealistic people
the owner of all treasures, given to me by those who bent the knee
and so, as I pray to God...
Bless my crown and give me the right to use what is already mine...
CROWN OF GOD!"
A golden crown appeared on my forehead and I instantly pulled Excalibur Morgan from my chest, blocking her attack.
Her eyes widened at the sudden change in my appearance as well as the sword on my hand, which she knew perfectly shouldn't belong to me.
Taking advantage of the mere second for which she paused, I pulled a golden spear out of my chest as well and strikes in her direction.
"Gaé Buidhe!" I said loudly as my weapon shone.
While I was aiming directly at her heart, her reflexes proved amazing as she redirected my attack, however I did manage to land a slab on her arm.
"How do you have those?" she asked, jumping back to analyse the situation.
Making use of the break, I panted slightly and placed my golden spear back in my chest before getting into a stance with my black sword.
"Isn't it obvious?" I said with a slight smile as Excalibur Morgan began glowing with black and red light. "I gained them through the power of friendship!"
"Huh?"
"EX..." I screamed while raising my sword above my head.
Her eyes widened momentarily as she got a good idea of what was about to happen. Quickly, she began muttering something as the flag on her spear unfolded and shone golden.
"Here's the work of the Lord!
My flag, defend our brethren!
Luminosité Eternelle!"
"CALIBUR!!!!!"
The black light from my sword clashed against the golden light of her shield and reality itself separated in two different pieces, making a rather beautiful image, especially with the cosmos behind it as background.
My eyes widened slightly at the beauty that unfolded before my eyes, a smile growing on my face.
Panting slightly, I placed the sword back in my chest and the golden crown in my head vanished.
"Why are you able to use that?!" asked Jeanne seriously.
"I have to thank you, Jeanne." I said with a smile. "I was able to see something beautiful thanks to you."
"I already told you, you will not reach the root." she replied.
I stared at her with an awkward expression while rubbing my chin. "You re not very good at holding conversations, are you?" I said before shaking my head. "I just said thank you, so you should say 'you're welcome' and get out of the way."
With a sigh, I took a step forward in her direction. "I am tired of this, so let's finish it." I said.
She nodded and came forward as well, the distance between as rapidly closing because of how fast she was moving.
Without a weapon, I opened my arms widely and smiled.
"I am the spark of all desires,
life is my body and death is my soul,
I am the salvation of all empty people
the purity in all wishes that exist to grant happiness to myself
and so, as I pray to God...
Answer my call and walk through my gardens...
GARDEN OF SALVATION!"
Our surroundings changed and we found ourselves staring at each other in the middle of a beautiful garden.
"Reality marble..." she muttered as she stared at the new environment, her attention instantly caught by the countless unicorns around us.
"Go." I said, pointing in her direction. "Destroy that which dares to stand in my way."
All the unicorns instantly focused their attention on her and rushed forward.
"What?!" she muttered as the mythical beasts began to glow the closer they got to her.
"Here's the work of the Lord!
My flag, defend our brethren!
Luminosité Eternelle!"
The unicorns began arriving to her barrier and crashing against it.
In an instant, the sight of my beautiful garden was replaced by a blinding light, soon followed by the sound of the countless explosions that were occurring.
After a few seconds, everything calmed down once again and I found myself alone inside my reality marble.
"Well, time to finish this..." I muttered, deactivating my reality marble and getting ready to continue moving forward towards the root.
As soon as the surroundings changed, I found myself standing in front of a dark-skinned man with white hair.
"Oh, you've got to be kidding me." I said while docking, narrowly dodging the strike of two short blades that almost claimed my head.