Chapter: 17

"Kill her!"

'What happened?'

"Die!"

'How did it start?'

"Damnable witch!"

'Ah, yes. It was Divine Revelation from God.'

"Burn her alive!"

'Lord… have mercy upon these poor souls.'

It was crowded. Rows upon rows of people stood on both sides.

The sky was clear, but one could see a cluster of darkness encroaching from the distance; slowly but surely, it was crawling its way to them.

Soon it will rain; cold and lonely.

"Anyone… someone… Does anyone have a cross? Can someone lend me a cross?"

Her voice was soft and polite. It held no malice and hatred, pure and innocent.

She shouted to the people around her; her hands cuffed as she was pulled by a chain attached to them.

A small girl parted the crowd, with a cross in her hand, she ran to the woman and gave it to her.

"Thank you, really, thank you." She placed it above her chest, her eyes closed as if praying to grace.

She looked beautiful.

Pure and innocent.

Her skin tone was light with no blemish on it. It was as if dust was afraid to taint her, the world was.

All she wore was torn shirt that hid everything that should have been hidden, and she was pulled.

She was once a saint.

She was a saint to these people.

She saved them.

She fought for them.

She protected them.

All with the guidance of God.

But now these people wanted to burn her. She was branded as a witch. She should be killed.

Yet, no anger was displayed on her face. There was no sadness either, only pure devotion to her Lord.

'Please have mercy on them.' She prayed. 'They have been deceived. O Lord, please guide them.'

No one answered her.

The Lord who guided her, the Lord who always answered her, the same Lord was quiet today.

Yet, she wasn't angered. She prayed and prayed more for her people. She couldn't hate them. She couldn't be angered by them.

After all, she was a saint. It didn't matter if they believed her or not. Because as long as she knew, that was enough.

[But will you be satisfied?]

A voice called to her as she was tied over a stake.

[Your people abandoned you. Your lord abandoned you. Will you accept it?]

It sounded smooth and alluring, like that of an enchantress. The more one heard it, the more relaxed one felt.

Like the call of mother, one could never being oneself to hate it

[Tell me… and I shall burn them. Ask me, and I shall slay them. Wish me, and I shall fulfil it. Go and say it, my dear saint, what is it that you wish for?]

It was not her Lord.

It was not God.

He was kind. He was passionate. He was merciful.

It can never be one of them.

Then… What was it?

"Devil…"

A single world left her small lips, an eternal silence descended everywhere.

She couldn't hear the shouts of people.

She couldn't hear the people pilling more and more wood.

She couldn't feel the pain of being burnt.

A hand caressed her cheek, a face appeared over her shoulder; silver-black hair, lustrous and soft. A smile over his face and his azure pupil stared at her with joy.

[Devil?] He muttered, his lips curled up. [Very well, my dear saint, I shall be the devil that you seek!]

Six beautiful wings unfolded behind his back as if they could engulf the whole world. They were so black that it looked like they were sucking the very light around them.

Feathers black as they could fall from the sky.

As she stared at them with wide eyes, he said.

[It's a pact, my dear saint. For as long as I live, I shall be a devil for you. In return, you shall belong to me.]

She couldn't fight back. She couldn't do anything as those two fangs protruding out of his lips sunk deeper into her skin, into her neck.

The pain vanished as fast as it came, only leaving an ethereal pleasure.

That was the start of a pact between the devil and a saint.

With a jerk, she opened her eyes.

Right hand over her neck, she breathed loudly. It was as if she had just seen a nightmare.

Feeling her neck and no damage to it whatsoever, she sighed.

"A dream huh…"

The wind blew past her, her hair flying wildly in the air. The scenery went past her as she stared absentmindedly at it.

Suddenly, her eyes widened slightly as she stood up, at the back of the truck, and leaned at the side of it to peek at the driver's seat from the window.

A middle-aged driver sat there.

"It is dangerous ahead. Please turn back from here." Her voice was soft and almost magically soothing to hear.

"I can't just leave a lady deep in the night now." The driver shook his head. It was almost 3 in the morning and they were on a highway somewhere in Rome. He couldn't bring himself to leave her alone.

"Please, I beg of you." Her eyes shone, a clear indication of the use of magic.

Leaving the truck with her luggage, she stared calmly at the driver as he vanished on the road. Turning around, she gripped the handle of her bag and started to walk on the road all alone.

Suddenly, something bright appeared. Like a small sun, it cut through the air in a straight line towards her before hitting—dust rose, and from within it came her.

Fully clad in armour with a huge flag in her hand, she skidded through the road and stopped some distance away.

"Son of the Sun God, Karna."

Her pure amethyst-coloured eyes stared at the young man sitting over the road sign. His long-white unkempt hair danced softly within the wind. He held a spear in his hands as he looked down at the blond saint.

"So you really can see it. I recognize you as the Ruler-Class Servant." Walking on the now-destroyed road, Karna said with an antiseptic tone.

"I am the judge of the Great Holy Grail War, Jeanne D'Arc. Do you comprehend the meaning of attacking me?"

"Stating the obvious is the hallmark of the fool." With eyes narrowed, he stated. "I am here. That alone should make my intentions clear."

The blond saint frowned, an expression of confusion showed on her face.

"What would you gain by stopping me?"

"I do not know." There was no hesitation in his tone. He raised his lance horizontally and it burst into flame. "My Master ordered me to. Thus, as per contract, I act."

"Lancer…"

Jeanne's face scrunched in tension. She lowered herself and readied her posture for a fight.

"It is time, Ruler. I do not intend to consider your position nor hold back." The flame around him became more active as he continued. "I shall end this in one strike, no more."

"—!?"

"Get him, Saber!" A shout of a man interrupted both the Servants, as Karna raised his spear to deflect the incoming sword slash from another Servant.

Sparks flew at the contact of their weapons.

His sword stopped, Saber somersaulted in the air and landed in front of Jeanne and released an energy slash towards Karna, who simply placed his spear in front of him, stopping it in its tracks.

The flame around him extinguished, and the road sign behind him was cut cleanly and fell. Waving his spear, he looked towards Saber and asked.

"Are you the Saber of Black?"

The attacker, now known as the Saber of Black, nodded.

"Humph." Karna scoffed. "In which case, you too must be after the Ruler."

"..." Saber of Black remained silent.

"That was a close call, Ruler." A fat man with sweat ran to the confused Jeanne. "We came here for you."

Lowering her flag and raising her posture to be more relaxed, Jeanne looked towards the fat man.

"Saber of Black and his Master."

"Indeed." After taking some laboured breaths, the fat man placed his right hand over his chest, behind which was a crimson crest, and introduced himself. "I am Gordes Musik Yggdmillennia. Now then!"

He looked towards Karna with anger and pointed his finger towards him.

"Lancer of Red! We witnessed you trying to murder Ruler. Attempting to kill the hero who is to oversee the Holy Grail War is an outrageous violation of the rules."

Karna's expression said 'he couldn't give enough fucks about it'. Without any change in tone, he stated.

"Undeniable. Of course, now that a member of Black Faction has shown himself, that shall take priority."

"Silence!" Gordes shouted, a smirk forming over his face as he gave Jeanne a side glance. "Between my Saber and her, Ruler, you don't stand a chance!"

In his mind, once he interrupted the assassination of the Ruler, she should help him in taking care of the Lancer of Red. But he seemed to forget the very simple rule—Rulers are impartial unless it is related to the rules of the Greater Holy Grail War!

Hence—

"Wrong." Jeanne looked towards him and replied. "If you are going to fight here, I will not be involved. Don't worry. I shall not interfere."

"Excuse me?"

"Lancer of Red's attempt on my life and his fight with Saber of Black are two separate issues. As a Ruler, my duty is to oversee the fight."

Her ruthless response made Gordes nervous.

"You hope to fight me two-on-one? Not that I mind." Pointing his spear towards Saber and Gordes, Karna stated with arrogance fit for his stature.

Seeing tables completely turned and nothing going the way he imagined, Gordes gritted his teeth.

"Saber, kill him! Crush Lancer of Black—Guh!?" He couldn't finish his sentence. A sword, a standard katana, coming out from his back and leaving his front stopped him from doing so.

"How boring." A playful voice resounded, pulling everyone's attention towards it. "I don't see any value worth trading within you. There is no need for you to live."

"Master!" Saber of Black shouted. His legs bent slightly, he launched him towards his Master and snatched him away from the attacker.

"Oh my." There was no change in his expression, but holding the same smile, he stated. "I would recommend you to retreat. Your Master… He won't live for long otherwise."

Staring at his Master, Saber of Black gritted his teeth before vanishing into the dark.

"You…!?" Jeanne's eyes widened, and her hand unconsciously reached towards her neck as she took a step back; her perception shook, and she found herself hitting someone else.

But before she could jump away, two hands dropped around her body as the voice that seemed to be engraved within her very being resounded once more beside her ear.

Nothing had changed since that time. It was the same voice, smooth and soothing to hear; filled with allure impossible to be ignored.

"We met again…" His hand reached for her cheek. It felt cold to touch. "My dear saint."

…

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AN: Yes, it is going to be a Fate arc first then STB and then.Final Bleach arc.

As for why I posted so late is because my grandmother is in ICU. So I spend most of my time in the hospital and don't get much time to upload a chapter.