Iron Fist

"Run away!"

Soldiers who were attacked by wyverns are protected by a flag, and a voice is sent out.

"Oh, you are...!"

"This is my place! Please run away! Quickly!"

She fiercely admonishes the soldiers, just like she did when she was alive.

Waving the flag, she shouts while holding back the wyverns.

"Don't run away! She is a witch, a witch of dragons!"

Heartless accusations fly.

"Finish her! Avenge our homeland!"

"Kuh!"

Jeanne protects herself from incoming arrows. She groans under the attacks of her former comrades.

"...To be criticized so harshly by the very being you protecting, the white saint."

Jeanne evades the claws swung at her from a pool of blood.

Emerging from the pool is a vampire. Carmilla appears with scorn.

"Wyverns, attack."

The wyverns head towards the soldiers.

Jeanne won't let them. She protects France, she saves France.

――Under the prayers of the Fist Saint, Jeanne declares now:

"—You wicked dragon who trampled upon my homeland! Listen to my voice!"

She proudly raises the flag and hurls her words at the dragon.

"I am Jeanne! Jeanne d'Arc! I have taken up the flag to save France!"

――She declares, the saint who cut through her doubts, shouts:

"The Lord's will is here, the unwavering wishes are here! There is an unyielding oath that won't be pierced by your claws or fangs!!"

She dispatches the incoming wyverns one after another. She pierces, swings, and scatters them with her kicks.

"I, who was granted the name 'Fortress' by the King of Heroes, will not falter easily from such torment—!!!"

She switches the flag to her other hand and unsheathes the sword on her left hip, cutting the wyverns.

"...Why is Jeanne fighting dragons?"

"How should I know? It'd be best if they all perish together."

The soldiers speak with spiteful words. Jeanne receives confusion and hatred from them from behind.

"The witch who burned down our homeland should just die!"

"Raaaahhh!!!"

Holding her sword, she attacks Carmilla.

"Even if you scream at the top of your lungs, your situation won't change. White saint."

Carmilla blocks with her iron staff and mocks Jeanne.

"They're able to watch with ease because you scattered the wyverns."

"...!"

"You're struggling so much, flailing around—it's quite amusing."

She's pushed back. Overwhelmed.

"Because now, you are seen as an enemy to the France you should be saving! ...Hehe, won't you tell me how you feel right now? Do you want to kill them? Or do you want to die?"

Jeanne kneels. The pressure only intensifies—

"Is it not that you want to stab that flag like a spear? Not the wyverns, but them—!"

"—It's nothing new to me not being understood!"

Swiftly, she thrusts her sword into Carmilla's foot.

"Guh—!"

Not missing the opening, she kicks and reverses her position.

"They'll be fine. As long as they have the resolve to hate and despise someone, they'll be able to keep on living. Their hearts are not dead yet."

"—You're the one being hated, you know?"

"Of course! But—just because I am hated doesn't mean I have a reason to hate them."

She clenches her fist behind the flag.

"I will save France—! They too, are the ones I wish to save! If their hatred towards me gives them the strength to live, then I gladly offer up this body!"

"—Are you sane, Jeanne?"

Even in Carmilla's muttered words, confusion can be sensed.

'I won't run away anymore.'

'I won't hesitate anymore.'

'I won't waver before lives that can be saved.'

'——I am Jeanne d'Arc.'

She stands up with prayers in her heart, a single human being—!!

(That's right, Saint Martha—!!)

"Yes—both the white and the black are all mad together—! Wyverns!"

Even more wyverns are added. This is bad, she's short on hands...!

――At that moment...

"Cover her! Shoot down the wyverns!!"

Cannons are fired, roaring explosions.

"What—!?"

"They are—!"

"Whether she's Jeanne or not doesn't matter! If she's with 'that traveler,' it's more than enough reason for us to help her!"

—They are the soldiers from the fortress where they first met!

"Keep shooting, keep shooting them! Repay the favor of being saved! Don't slack off!"

"Leave it to us! Miss with the flag!!"

"Yes!"

The reinforcements still haven't stopped coming.

"Artillery unit! Fire!!"

The well-coordinated soldiers' artillery strikes, disciplined attacks piercing the wyverns from another direction!

This voice is—!!

"Gilles...!!"

"Don't stop your hands! Don't let a single girl stand in the line of fire! Use every bullet you have! Fire!!"

Several series of explosions resounded, and Wyverns were thrown by the blasts, causing their numbers to decrease.

"Now's the time!!"

She thrusts the flag into the ground.

Saint Martha, your prayers—!

She tightens her fist and lowers her posture deeply.

"—Raaahhh!!!"

"Ch—"

She swings her fist—just like the former saint—!

"Raaahh!!!"

Before her eyes stands an Iron Maiden—she swings without hesitation!

Explosions, and then the sound of it shattering—the Iron Maiden struck by her fist is crushed to pieces.

—You're quite the tough one.

It felt like she heard Martha's voice.

"What foolish strength... Indeed, you are a Ruler!"

"Country girl—!!"

An extraordinary projectile comes flying from afar, cutting through the battlefield.

A shining ship, Gilgamesh's Vimana! Carrying everyone, it flies low to the ground—

To welcome Jeanne—!!

"King of Heroes!!"

"We're withdrawing—!!"

A helping hand was seen in front of her, along with the arrival of King of Heroes and others.

"—Grrr!!"

Seeing the helping hand, Jeanne extended her hand and took it.

"You've become quite involved in a mess! You're failing as someone who boards a ship, but I won't mind since it's you!"

"B-Being treated as not a woman is quite disheartening! Treating people like cargo!"

"What you're hanging from your chest, how would you call it if not cargo?"

"Eh, King of Heroes, you—!!"

The king's jests know no bounds. But now—!

"Hahaha, we've picked up the luggage now! The harvest is good, let's head back! Vimana! Ascend!!"

――Indeed, the hands of the vessel, Gilgamesh, and Jeanne are firmly intertwined.

They rapidly accelerate, shooting upwards. Leaving everything behind in an instant, the Vimana vanishes into the sky...

...

"...To go this far. Destroying the Iron Maiden... isn't that a bit too barbaric?"

With a flick, Carmilla disappears.

"Be careful on your way――you travelers――!!"

"Thank you for helping me out――!!"

"Marshal..."

"I don't understand. Is she really Jeanne... Is she the one who defeated Charles VII... or is she a malicious imposter?"

"Listen to their story too. They who steer the golden ship and fight, find out who they are."

——The remnants of the golden ether lingered, leaving a trail far into the sky...

***

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