Urgency

Illyasviel turned around in surprise and saw several figures standing behind her, whose presence she hadn't noticed before.

Among them were a middle-aged man in a trench coat with a rough face, a gentle-looking white-haired beautiful woman, identical twin maids with calm expressions, and a young man with short reddish-brown hair.

They silently watched her, their eyes filled with warmth.

"Dad, Mom, everyone..."

Tears as large as beans flowed from Illyasviel's eyes.

She reached out with trembling hands, wanting to touch the people before her, but feared it was all just a beautiful illusion. As a result, she could only stand still, hesitating, unable to move forward.

"We've always been here for you, Illya..." The white-haired woman opened her arms, her face adorned with a gentle smile. "Dad, Mom, and everyone..."

Seeing that familiar face and voice, Illyasviel couldn't hold back anymore. She ran forward, crying uncontrollably, and threw herself into the white-haired woman's embrace.

"Mom! Mom! I'm so scared! I don't want to stay alone in the cold castle anymore! I don't want to walk barefoot in the snow anymore! I don't want to bear any more family responsibilities! It hurt so much! I'm so scared! I really, really miss you all—!"

"My Illya, my poor child..."

Tears rolled down the white-haired woman's cheeks as she gently held her daughter, smiling sadly.

"Mom promises, Mom will never leave you again, never, never leave you again..."

The white-haired woman held Illyasviel's hand and walked away step by step, with the others following behind them.

The middle-aged man with a rough face lingered for a while, gazing at Heracles, then nodded slightly.

"Thank you..."

After saying that, the middle-aged man turned and caught up, joining his family.

The white-haired woman and the middle-aged man, each holding one of their daughter's hands, gradually disappeared with satisfied smiles, vanishing into the dazzling light.

Heracles stood still like a statue, silently watching their backs, letting the approaching light swallow his body.

===

On the vast expanse of land resembling a scene from Mars, Jeanne, holding her holy flag, stood before a black velvet surface like a broad curtain.

The curtain shimmered with countless twinkling lights, resembling the boundless expanse of the universe's starry sky.

"How am I supposed to deal with this?" Jeanne sighed, her eyebrows furrowed tightly, a palpable sense of urgency evident on her pretty face.

She could keenly feel the immensely powerful magical energy emanating from this 'curtain'. It was undoubtedly the Noble Phantasm of that Beast. Yet, no matter what method she came up with, she couldn't interfere with this Noble Phantasm.

She had no idea what was happening inside nor did she know the current situation of Archer of Black and Rider of Black. Although both were very powerful Servants, their enemy was a Beast.

Could they really defeat the Beast by relying solely on themselves?

If something were to happen to the two of them, she alone wouldn't stand a chance against that Beast.

Therefore, no matter what, at least until the Counter Force reacted, Archer of Black and Rider of Black absolutely couldn't afford to have any problems!

With that in mind, Jeanne's eyes gradually revealed a determined expression.

She decided to use her most powerful Noble Phantasm, La Pucelle, to blast open this Noble Phantasm!

Even if she were to disappear after unleashing this Noble Phantasm, it would be worth it if she could provide some assistance to Archer of Black and Rider of Black!

At least, it was better than just standing here helplessly.

Having finished pondering the solution for the current situation, Jeanne no longer hesitated. She planted her holy flag into the ground beside her, drew a silver sword from her waist, cut her palm with it, and then devoutly knelt down, clasping her hands together, closing her eyes, assuming a posture of prayer.

"What is she doing?"

Caules, who was observing the battlefield from afar, pointed at Jeanne with his finger, a look of bewilderment on his face.

It wasn't surprising that he would show such an expression. It was simply because the magical energy permeating from Jeanne at this moment was too massive, even surpassing the scale of Karna's earlier Noble Phantasm, Brahmastra Kundala, to the extent that even he, who was so far away, could clearly sense it.

"That goes without saying. Just look at the way she looks; it's obvious she's using her Noble Phantasm." Gordes glanced disdainfully at Caules, then his expression shifted to one of contemplation. "Judging by the scale, the power of this Noble Phantasm is probably extraordinary."

"Why didn't she use this Noble Phantasm earlier then?" Sieg asked curiously.

"That, uhh..." Gordes scratched his head awkwardly. "Probably because she was too far away earlier or something..."

"Some Noble Phantasms require Servants to pay a significant price to use them..." Darnic chimed in as he looked at the residual crimson marks on his hand, his face showing a complex expression. "Unless it's a matter of life and death, they won't easily resort to using them."

"It looks like Ruler is getting ready to give it her all..." Kairi remarked with a sigh of resignation. "It's a pity we can only stay here and can't help at all, can't even get close."

"We've done everything we can do ourselves." Fiore, sitting in the wheelchair, clasped her hands together, intertwining her fingers. "What we need to do next is trust them."

Hearing that, Kairi nodded, but suddenly, he felt something and turned to look eastward.

There, the deep darkness of night was gradually receding, and on the distant horizon, a hint of pale light was silently rising.

Dawn had arrived.

"My destiny now runs its course."

"My life's dream has reached its conclusion."

"I devote the only thing left to protect His way."

As Jeanne's chant neared its end, the magical energy fluctuations emanating from her body became even more intense, and one could even see fiery red flames dancing around her, exuding an indescribable sense of holiness and tragedy.

"O Lord, I entrust this Life to you—"

*Swish—*

Just as the chant was about to be completed, Jeanne heard a sudden piercing sound in her ears, as if something was rapidly approaching her.

She immediately stopped chanting, her eyes snapping open.

*DING!*

Grabbing her holy flag, Jeanne waved it to deflect the weapon flying toward her. Her gaze followed the trajectory and saw that it was a sword with a long and thin blade resembling a rapier.

With the knowledge she had gained from modern times about the Holy Church, she could immediately recognize it as a style of weapon used by the Holy Church to exorcise, known as the Black Key.

Jeanne turned her head toward the direction from which the Black Key had come.

There, a figure, walking in the gradually rising sun, slowly appeared within her sight.