35

After the teleportation, Ainz took a few steps forward a little thoughtfully.

The plan seemed perfect to him.

First of all, he had to send his Servants and the army to attack the Witch, watching their battles from afar, studying their opponents and analyzing their abilities. Unknown Servants, possible hidden monsters of the Witch and, of course, Fafnir.

Ainz was not stupid - leaving the two Servants to fight with the arriving dragon, he first established observation with the help of several of his spells, in order to finally get information about his opponents.

And he was shocked to learn that the dragon summoned by the Witch was Fafnir. The Fafnir.

In Yggdrasil, there were several types of opponents that you can fight - ordinary mobs, players,and bosses - all of them differed in their abilities and powers, up to the point that some players, such as World Champions, could defeat three or even four level one hundred players in a battle, and some bosses were so weak that they could lose in a battle with even to some of the mobs in the game. However, in any case, there were three categories of opponents game-wise. And lastly there are World Enemies.

Throughout the game, there were only thirty-four named World Enemies. The final boss of the game, the World Eater, the final opponents of the three additions to the main game - the Twelve Seraphim of Sephiroth, the Seven Lords of Mortal Sins, the Five Rainbow Buddhas, a special opponent added to the five-year game - the Lord of the Seventh Heavens. And the Eight Great Dragons.

The World Eater was the final boss of the game and the most powerful of all possible opponents in the game, and in order to add additional significance to him in the eyes of the players, even in order to get to a fight with him, the players were forced to go through eight of his strongest subordinates, the Eight Great Dragons, each of which in itself was a World Enemy, requiring twenty to thirty players of the hundredth level even to attempt a battle, not to mention a victory. Each of these dragons was an incredibly powerful opponent with a large number of special abilities, various advanced tactics and many unpleasant surprises that awaited anyone daring to oppose them in battle. Eight different dragons, each of them was unique and extremely difficult to defeat, each of them had its own significant place in the lore and required a huge amount of quests in order to be able to fight them, so each of them was remembered by all the Yggdrasil players.

One of these dragons was the Dragon of the Primeval Force, the Golden Dragon - Fafnir.

To say that Ainz was shocked at the first sighting would be an understatement - his suppression of emotions had to be activated three times at the moment when he found out that his opponent was the Fafnir himself.

Of course, Fafnir was not the strongest of all the dragons, and he was extremely inferior to the World Eater - the creature that Ainz had once killed in battle - but he remained a World Enemy - in other words, a battle with less than twenty trained players of the highest level, with the right equipment and full knowledge of the fight was suicide.

Therefore, Ainz's plan formed quickly enough. If he cannot defeat Fafnir, then he simply will not fight him.

Ainz had to use the Servants as a distraction to get Fafnir out of its lair - and with the help of the army he could track down other possible opponents that the Witch had saved for the last battle - something stronger than wyverns and skeletons. At the same time, Serenity had to use her Presence Concealment in order to avoid the battle with Fafnir and arrive at the Witch's castle, so that Ainz could directly teleport to the Master who had summoned the dragon and destroy her before Fafnir got to him. When Ainz made the plan, it seemed perfect to him.

After Ainz along with Jeanne and Gilles separated from the army, the magician began to watch how his Servants entered the battle with the enemy, waiting for Fafnir to appear. The Servants should have acted like this: taking their opponents on opposite sides, they should have given Ainz the opportunity both to observe Fafnir's battle and to distract it for a longer time.

Of course, the army would really perish in a battle between the Servants simply from random attacks, but this was only the official version. In fact, Ainz needed the Servants to disperse throughout the territory, after which, when Fafnir appeared, the dragon should begin to hunt the Servants; their separation would increase the time it would take it to hunt the remaining Servants. Ainz knew that even he would hardly survive if several of Fafnir's blows lands in his current body, so he suspected that most of the Servants would die from only one dragon attack - therefore, the distribution of the Servants over the area seemed to him the most logical, since in this case it would force Fafnir to move around the area, taking away most of his time, not because of the battle with the Servants, but because of the time he needed to get from one target to another. During this Ainz planned with the help of Serenity, without being distracted by the battle, to go straight to the Witch and destroy her before Fafnir could get to him. And so, the plan has been implemented, and...

Fafnir is dead.

The Dragon managed to fight with two Servants, even three, should he count Mashu - and killed one. After which he died.

Of course, Ainz watched Siegfried's Noble Phantasm, its strength - it was definitely a very strong special ability, with additional damage against dragons, so Ainz believed that it could kill even a level eighty dragon with one strike - maybe even a level ninety.

But World Enemies were above levels. No ability could one shot them.

Ainz knew a few stupidly powerful attacks, spells, skills that could kill even the most powerful of the bosses, such as the Lords of the Worlds, with one blow - he himself possessed several similar abilities and many more items, disposable and not, collected in the game and received thanks to in-game gacha - however, there were no such abilities, even World-Class Items, capable of killing a World Enemy. Hurt? Impose restrictions? Neutralize their power? Yes, he had plenty of such and each player would have hoarded a dozen of such things. But there were no things that could kill Fafnir with one blow.

Balmung was a well-known blade in the game, and its use by Siegfried as a Phantasm was very impressive - but this would not be enough even to force the Golden Dragon to go into the second phase of the battle - and Fafnir had five of them.

Therefore, Ainz at the moment when Serenity nevertheless reached the Witch, was slightly... Perplexed?

Yes, that was the right word. It was not shock, denial, and not anger. It was the most sincere of perplexity.

"This is so... strange..." was all that Ainz could think, looking at the corpse of his Servant. Strangely, he was so prepared for the last battle and so afraid of Fafnir - and in the end, after he created a special plan in order to avoid a battle with Fafnir… Fafnir was killed by a distracting maneuver. It was somehow... unfair, even.

Ainz continued to stand still and look at Serenity, whose body was already beginning to turn into pure mana.

Not that he became so attached to the Servants - how much time did they spend together? Three weeks. Three weeks is not enough to call someone a friend - just an acquaintance or colleague. Therefore, he did not experience any remorse, sending them into a trap for certain death. However, when he found out that the trap was not generally required, he felt... It was not a shame but rather regret - especially for the fact that he was wasting the lives of his subordinates, his collection, so… Ineffectively.

"Ainz?" Jeanne's voice distracted him. "We have to go."

Ainz just nodded at this and looked forward. Indeed, such thoughts should be left for a later time.

In the end, the magician moved forward - and two Servants followed him. Nevertheless, even if Fafnir turned out to be... not at all what he expected - he still had to get rid of the Witch.

The castle turned out to be quite a big one, so it took some time before the three could finally see the final doors.

"Throne room," Jeanne said clearly, forcing Ainz to look at the door again. Of course, it was a big door, so it could even be called impressive, but it didn't at all resemble the throne room in his Nazarick or even those that he saw in the game, so for some reason the magician only once again remembered the plan drawn up against Fafnir.

"Another Servant is approaching us," this time, as soon as they got a little closer, Gilles said this with all clarity. Ainz, a little thoughtful, only nodded.

"I will stop him," Jeanne instantly stepped forward, but was stopped by Gilles.

"Not worth it, Jeanne," he smiled, "I will do it. You have a meeting with the Witch ahead of you, and I... I think I know what kind of Servant this is."

"Gilles, but!.." only the girl tried to object, but Saber shook his head.

"Don't bicker with me," he answered with a sigh, "Believe me... It is me who must meet this Servant."

Jeanne, having waited a few seconds, only nodded and smiled, - "Good luck, Gilles."

"Of course, Jeanne," he smiled, "If you wish me luck, then I cannot lose."

"Yeah, good luck," Ainz answered as if his mind was absent. If you think so, then all this time he was so afraid of the Servants... No, of course, he knows that the Servants are the strongest of all existing opponents... That is, they should be like this, right?

Gilles just nodded, after which he turned and rushed away from the two.

"Well, this is it, Ainz," Jeanne smiled, touching the door. "Behind these doors lies the end of this war and these battles... Thank you for making this possible."

"Yeah, sure," Ainz answered, still lost in thought. After all, it still could not be so simple? Somewhere, after all, some kind of dirty trick was clearly hiding behind all of this...

Jeanne only smiled, and then pushed the door, opening the entrance to the throne room.

The throne room was deserted - torches did not burn on the walls and the candles were not lit at the chandelier. There were no flags on the relief columns and the absence of people made the room seem more like of an abandoned building. However, there was no webs on the walls and there was not even a layer of dust on the floor, as it happens with old, unused buildings, which made the throne room even more creepy. There were only three things throughout the room.

The first thing was the carpet. A red velvet carpet laid from the entrance to the throne that stood on a pedestal in the distance. The second thing was the throne itself - a cold, massive throne stood on a pedestal in the distance, towering as a crude mass of pure stone. There were no decorations on the throne itself — no carved curls, no ornaments, no emblems — the throne was just bare, cold, a stone block in the distance.

And the third, last thing in the throne room was the Dragon Witch herself.

Sitting on the throne, she was slacking a little on it, propping her chin in her hand, that was armored in a black plate glove. Her blade lay next to her, already drawn- black steel, not reflecting light, lay next to the girl on the second armrest.

"It took you a long time to get to me," the Witch said boredly, after which she looked at Jeanne, "But still, finally, you're here again. What is it like to be in Orleans again - now not to help the people, but to plunder the city that you defended?"

"This city was destroyed by you a long time ago," Jeanne took a step towards the Witch, glaring at her, "Even if I wanted to plunder it, there is nothing here."

"Oh," said the Witch, lifting her arm up from the armrest, "So, are you already thinking about plundering the cities of France, moreover, your beloved Orleans? Oh, it turns out, I didn't know much about you, o Holy One."

"I would say that you know nothing about me," Jeanne took a step toward the Witch.

"What a stupid thing!" The Witch grinned instantly, slowly rising from her throne, grabbing her blade, "Jeanne, we are one! I am you! Has your stupidity really reached the point that you are not able to recognize your reflection in the mirror?"

"We are not one," Jeanne finally said, taking another step to the throne, "You and I... I know, maybe we are alike. Maybe we have the same face and habits, the same stories and the same powers... But you are not me."

"Really?" The Witch stopped, after which she looked at Jeanne with amusement in her eyes, "Is it true, Jeanne? Or do you think that a Saint like you would be better than me? That you are so bright, pure and kind that human rumors does not concern you? Oh, Jeanne, then I have bad news for you!"

The Witch began to approach slowly, without even raising a blade for the battle - "Jeanne, we are one. Your pain became my pain - but when you humbled myself, I gave retribution. Your life became my life - but when you became weaker - I gained strength. Your memory became my memory - but when you were mistaken, I learned from your mistakes. Oh yes, Jeanne, we are not the same thing - I'm that perfect self who has outgrown you and became the real Jeanne d'Arc."

"And what have you become?" Jeanne, not sensing a threat from the approaching Witch, moved towards her, not raising her banner, which now hung lifelessly, almost touching the floor, - "A monster."

"The Saint," the Witch smiled, "The Saint that the people deserve. For betrayal, stupidity, cowardice... For my burning."

"So you became so because of your death?" - slowly, the two girls came close to each other, "If just one act of the people could immolate your soul so much, then it means that you have never been a Saint."

Finally, the two Servants came closer, standing opposite each other. One height, one face, one name. However, it seemed as if they were a crooked mirror reflection of each other. Black plate - white armor. Spear - sword. Long braid - short bob cut. Blue eyes - golden ones.

Two Jeanne stood opposite each other, looking at each other, as if trying to make out something from themselves in reflection.

"You lost," Jeanne finally said, "Your Servants, your dragon, your monsters - they are all defeated."

"Oh, are they?" The Witch only smirked, "I do not need them. Their whole purpose was only to catch you - but who would know that you would come into my hands yourself. I was waiting for our inevitable battle, o Holy One."

At this moment, Ainz, finally massaging the bridge of his nose, was distracted from his thoughts and took a step forward.

A crack, as if from broken glass, instantly made everyone present turn towards the white transparent barrier, towering above the magician. A crack ran across the barrier - after which it immediately cracked and burst, instantly disappearing.

'It was an activation of the barrier against espionage,' Ainz instantly recognized this, after which he turned his gaze to the Witch. Is this really the trap that he was waiting for?!

However, the Witch stood still, looking with interest at the necromancer. Ainz's barrier was designed in such a way that when it was activated, he sent a strong enough response spell, so that if the Witch used some kind of ability she would have been swallowed by an explosion - however, instead, the Witch stood in her place. Moreover, since Ainz additionally used on himself another defense against espionage, so that even when activating the barrier the enemy could not see anything, from his parameters or skills, even if the Witch could somehow neutralize his spell - she still had to at least be surprised. However, nothing was written on her face.

"Hm, mage," the girl looked at Ainz carefully, "I must admit, I already forgot about you."

This was quite expected, given that Ainz, lost in his thoughts, had already forgotten about the battle too.

"I really wanted to get to Jeanne from the very beginning," the Witch smiled, "But you must admit that I was surprised. You know, it was you who killed my strongest Servant, Dracula."

'Wait…' - Ainz felt his mind once again flipped in his head - 'Strongest?!'

"And in the end, you looked like it wasn't even hard for you," the girl grinned, "Indeed, you are a dangerous opponent. I will enjoy victory over you."

Ainz, completely ceasing to pay attention to what was happening, locked himself in his head, pondering what was said. Maybe she meant the strongest in a figurative sense? Or maybe ironic? For example, in order to hurt him, that he escaped strong opponents or something like that?

"However, I believe that now..." The Witch didn't have time to finish, as a flame spread over her whole figure.

"Napalm," the magician distractedly used the spell. After all, everything cannot be so simple, because there is obviously some kind of trap here...

The fire instantly consumed the Witch, causing Jeanne to jump away from the soaring column of flame. Ainz just looked at it with a in his eyes. If now he can so easily end the final battle...

"Ha ha ha!" - suddenly laughter rang out from the column of fire that had not yet fallen, "So, are you trying to burn me again? Ha ha ha! What a funny joke, mage! But know that your magic is nothing to me!"

A second later, the column of fire fell, again showing the Witch. However, she was not scorched - not even touched by the flame. Even her hair was not ruffled by the rising fire.

'Phew, what good news!' Ainz finally rejoiced. So the trap that Ainz expected was still there. After Fafnir, after Dracula turned out to be the strongest of the Servants of the Witch, after the wyverns, there was still some thing that made the Servants the strongest! Yes, for sure, the Witch took all their powers from Fafnir and the Servants in order to make herself strong - for sure, this is such a common trope! Naturally, here it is!

Finally finding a trap, Ainz's paranoia calmed down, allowing him to relax. Nevertheless, he found the reason why the Servants remained the strongest and were so... Whatever word he should choose... Not optimized for battle.

"Well, come on, now fight!" The Witch finally raised her blade, pointing it at Ainz. Jeanne instantly grabbed her standard. Ainz smiled. Finally, a battle that will show him that his fears were not in vain!

Gilles moved through the corridors and rooms of the castle, approaching his goal, which he felt as a Servant. Turn, turn, another turn...

Finally, Gilles was nevertheless able to turn out of the maze, and then instantly struck. His blade cut through the air, but before it could reach Caster's body, an unexpectedly strong gust of wind turned him aside, preventing Saber from finishing what he had begun.

"You!" Caster instantly recognized his opponent, and then jumped back. Saber, however, remained standing still, "to Hell with you, Gilles de Rais!"

"You don't need to talk about Hell, mage," the commander of the French army sighed, after which he looked at the magician, "Gilles de Rais."

Caster just looked at Saber. "So you did recognize me in that attack."

"How can I not recognize myself?" Gilles glanced at his opponent.

Now, when they were opposite each other, both of them were finally able to make out their opponent.

Gilles de Rasi, Saber, was a thin tall man, dressed in steel armor, holding his blade on his outstretched arm. Gilles de Rais, Caster, was a hunched, emaciated looking man, whose mantle hid the painful thinness of his hands holding a book lined with skin. Human skin.

"But you did not tell them who I am," Caster grinned, and because of his bulging eyes, his smile took on an insanely manic hue.

"I wanted to deal with you personally," Gilles said this calmly, looking into the eyes of his opponent.

"Oh, I will gladly answer to you your ardent aspiration!" the mage grinned.

Jeanne and the Witch continued to fight. The Witch struck blow after blow, putting Jeanne on the defense, and then brought the blade for the final blow...

Then Jeanne instantly disappeared from the blow. A second later, the Witch turned around at the last moment in order to have time to repel the spear directed at her back.

"Attack from behind, o Holy One?!" the Witch threw a grin at Jeanne, but although she tried to turn it into a mockery, her frustration and anger leaked into her voice, making her words more like an angry exclamation than an insult.

"Damn mage!" - the girl jerked to the side, moving away from Jeanne's attack, after which she glanced at Ainz, who was hanging nearby in the air. He tried to attack her several times, using different spells - however, none of them worked against her. Her defense against magic was enormous, almost absolute - there would be only a couple of dozen people in all times of the existence of the earth who could now overcome it with magic, so Ainz's abilities were ineffective. The Witch thought that this would be enough to win.

How wrong she was!

The Witch defended another of Jeanne's blow, after which a blade pierced her back.

"Devil!" She cursed, after which, in a sharp turn, she chopped off the head of the enemy who had attacked her from behind. This one looked like some kind of skeleton, dressed in armor, and was weak, but his attack still reached the Witch.

The Witch knew that Ainz was an extremely powerful mage, a necromancer, and therefore considered herself the most dangerous opponent for him. Possessing protection from magic and locking the necromancer in the throne room, where he would not be able to do his magic by raising corpses, she planned to make him if not useless, then at least harmless. She didn't succeed.

The bloody necromancer turned out to be an irregular necromancer. To raise the undead, he did not need the corpses of living beings - he could simply create undead from his own mana.

"Summon Undead: Fourth" - once again the mage raised his hand, after which the smoke from his hand fell down, taking shape. This time, the smoke rose almost twice as high as the Servant, on the move taking the form of an unknown creature, as if made from pieces of flesh sewn together, holding two huge hooks in both hands. After a moment, the creature gave a roar, and then rushed forward to the Witch.

'His mana is bottomless' - The Witch dodged another attack from Jeanne, after which she threw her aside and turned to the advancing undead.

A second later, Jeanne's spear pierced the Witch from the back, causing her to spit blood.

This was the damned second problem. Teleportation! Each time the Witch was ready to destroy her opponent, the mage simply teleported Jeanne somewhere to the side, often behind the Witch, after which she had to evade the blow herself. As soon as the Witch herself tried to attack him - he simply teleported away from her and continued to summon monsters and teleport Jeanne again.

Often, battles are won thanks to chance, due to the superiority of the enemy by only a few percent. It was not one of those battles.

The Witch rushed forward at the moment when an unknown creature hit the ground, leaving a huge hook in the arms of the undead, and then at the moment jumped up, bringing her blade in order to cut down the monster's head.

After a second, something hit the Witch, and the Witch fell to the ground. A second later, the monster plunged its hook into her, which he held in his other hand.

The Witch instantly grabbed the creature's hand, then yanked it onto itself, causing it to fall, covering the Witch from the next attack of Jeanne, after which she cut off his head with a blow.

Ainz in the distance only frustratedly lowered his hand. All that he used was a spell that inflicted physical damage. By creating a cobblestone flying at the enemy, that is. It was a spell of the third rank, Ainz did not even expect the attack to work...

'There must be some trap!' - the magician's mind shouted to him - 'This is one big trap!'

Looking at his opponent, Ainz decided that she had taken the power of her Servants and was therefore incredibly strong now. After checking her magical defense, Ainz determined that she could not ignore his spells thanks not to some specific protection from one type of magic or one element, after which he prepared for a long battle. He began to summon creatures of a level at which his mana regeneration would keep his mana from dropping even one point and was prepared to slowly study her abilities and attacks, looking at how the Witch easily counters them. He even deliberately did not use any buffs in order to preserve his mana, and subsequently use the most suitable for the battle with the Witch, but instead...

He was winning.

Ainz could not hide his misunderstanding of the situation.

"Wait a minute, this is a trap!" - the magician wanted to grab his head - "Surely, surely, in all this there is some huge trap that I cannot recognize!"

But the Witch was losing, that was a fact.

Ainz simply did not understand what had happened. At what point in time did his battle turn the wrong way?

Maybe the Witch wants to trap him? Or now is getting ready for some incredibly powerful attack? Now she will call many, thousands of powerful minions?

But this did not happen.

Ainz teleported Jeanne from the attack of the Witch, after which he glanced at the Witch. A rising aura? A black cloud emerging above her? Anything that could indicate the start of the second phase of the boss, a special ability?

There was nothing of the kind.

"Do you understand now?" Jeanne dealt another blow to the Witch. "You lost!"

"Damn you!" The Witch spat, "You are weak! You were always weak and are still weak! Only this damn magician saves you! You are nothing without your friends, without allies, without all of them!"

"But I found allies for myself!" Jeanne dealt another blow, parried by the Witch, "And who is fighting for you now?! Who wanted to fight for you?! All your Servants fought for you only because you summoned them - they fled from you, they betrayed you, none of them wanted to fight for you!"

"Shut up!" - the Witch became furious right after these words, - "Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!"

She struck blow after blow, as if trying to shut Jeanne's voice up- "None of them fought for us! No one ever fought! They all betrayed us, they burned us, they continue to hate us! They always hated us!"

At that moment, Jeanne unexpectedly took her standard aside, allowing the Witch's blade to crash into her shoulder, almost cutting her arm, "So what?"

"What?" The Witch stopped for a second, not continuing the attack.

"So what about the fact that they betrayed us?" - Jeanne only looked at the Witch, "We knew that this would kill us. We knew that this would happen. So what? Is this a reason not to do a good deed? Is this a reason to hate them?"

For a second, Jeanne and the Witch froze together. Ainz thought for a second, but in the end still did not call on the next monster, instead glancing at the two girls.

"Have you really forgotten?!" the Witch suddenly became furious, but instead of continuing the attack, she only tore the blade from the body of the Saint, "Have you really forgotten the moment of despair when you realized that they would not come for you?! Forgot how in Orleans the King abandoned you?! Have you really forgotten the fire devouring your flesh?! How did your legs burn, how did you scream in pain, how did the flame rise through your body?!"

"I remember all this," Jeanne intercepted her standard, "And that is why you are not me. I forgave them for their deeds and outgrew my death - while you could not go further. You are stuck in the past and instead of looking into the future, you are left to endlessly experience your betrayal, savor your execution and look at your mistakes. Therefore, you are weak, Dragon Witch!"

At this moment, Jeanne took a step towards the Witch, forcing her to step back.

"You and I — we never were alike!" Jeanne raised her standard, "Even though I didn't see what I became in the eyes of the soldiers and know what I really was a symbol of — but in me there is no evil of yours! There is no weakness in me! I do not have your hatred inside me - and therefore we, the Dragon Witch, have never been one! And so now we are fighting with you - and therefore you lost. Luminosite Eternelle - God is Here With Me!"

A second later, Jeanne planted her standard in the ground - and a light shone as if an angelic light illuminated her. It was as if the midday sun had pierced through the arches of the castle and the palace, illuminating her face and turning the deserted and eerie throne room into a beautiful place similar to fields full of eared rye and blossoming flowers. Even Ainz suddenly felt the light illuminate him, as if he were a child again, meeting a tired but kind mother, glad to see him after a hard day.

Ainz felt his bottomless mana reserves suddenly begin to fill up at double speed and he saw how his parameters are growing.

A second later, Jeanne suddenly struck, while the Witch tried to parry - but did not have time. Until then, powerless against her, Jeanne suddenly kicked the girl back several meters, and then rushed forward.

This time Ainz did not even need to intervene in the battle - Jeanne fought the Witch on an equal footing. She struck, while the Witch continued to fend it off, but with difficulty. This time, the Witch was finally put into a corner.

Ainz, thoughtfully raised his hand to the Witch, - "Death."

It was a simple and artless spell of the eighth rank with a simple effect. It killed the target. Unlike the higher-ranking spell, "True Death," this spell could not prevent the resurrection of the target, but it killed with no less efficiency.

It was one of the most powerful spells that Ainz could use in the current body without the risk of its destruction. In the past, when the Witch's magical protection prevented Ainz from casting spells on her, the Witch might not have been afraid of this spell. However, now, at the time of Jeanne's Phantasm, his magical power has increased, due to which his strongest curse, which he could use at the moment, overcome the barrier.

The Witch stopped immediately, after which she looked at Ainz. For a second he saw in this look... Fear. Real fear.

After a second, the sword fell out of the hands of the Witch and she fell to her knees, and a second later, completely to the ground.

Ruler, Jeanne d'Arc (Alter), died.

Ainz remained in the air for another second, continuing to survey the scene from height, after which the morning sun shone slowly and Jeanne fell to the ground, dropping the banner from her hands. However, she was alive.

"Jeanne?" Ainz took a step toward the girl, but she only dismissed him sluggishly.

"I'm fine," she breathed, "It's just that using Phantasm in this state takes away... A lot of energy. Help Gilles."

Ainz just nodded, and then set off.

His paranoia continued to scream.

Saber continued to fight Caster fiercely, striking blow after blow, so that Caster only managed to force his monsters to the blows of the Servant.

"You are a monster," Saber pointed accusingly at Caster with a blade, "How could such a freak like you follow Jeanne?!"

"You are me!" Caster only laughed in response, summoning a new monster.

"Never!" - Gilles brought down his blade, and then killed the monster with one blow, "I was the hope and support of Jeanne! You betrayed all her ideals!"

"Never!" Caster answered him with his own words and burst out laughing, "I never betrayed Jeanne! I would go to Hell for Jeanne! I went to Hell for Jeanne - and returned!"

"You betrayed all her ideals," Saber attacked again and again, "Do you remember it? Prayer, daily prayer thrice. Grace, repentance, kindness. Do you remember her ideals to talk about them?!"

"The Lord does not answer prayers!" Only Caster laughed with an even crazier laugh. "And if the Lord does not answer my prayers, then I will make the Lord hear me! If he does not hear me from heaven - I will shout to him from Hell!"

"You're a disgusting monster who betrayed everything she fought for!" Saber dealt another blow, then rushed forward.

"How easy it is to judge this without having survived what I experienced!" Caster laughed only more, after which the spell he had created turned Saber's blade aside, "Do you know what despair is? What does it mean to be alone? What does it mean to lose your meaning of life? Do you know how it feels to lose Jeanne?! Hypocrite!"

Saber dealt another blow, aiming at Caster's neck, but the mage put his hand before the blow, allowing the blade to crash into his flesh.

"I lost Jeanne the same way you did!" - Gilles pulled the blade to the side, then retreated, dodging the blow of the so called monster, "But I believed in what she was fighting for! I fought for her, knowing that she was looking at me from the heavens!"

"Faith does not help with pain," Caster grinned, leaping back, calling for a new monster, "But knowledge... Yes, knowledge can lead you to what you want. You prayed every day - and did the Lord listen to you? Did he return to you Jeanne? Do you think forbidden books are so interesting to me? No, I studied those dark knowledge in order to make the Lord answer my questions - and you know what?! It worked! My Jeanne is here again with me! Even your Jeanne is only the result of my deeds!"

Caster sent a new spell, from which Gilles only evaded to the side.

"You are just an insult to all her deeds," Saber grabbed his blade with his second hand. "You betrayed everything she fought for!"

"If the Lord and his angels send me to hell, even if Jeanne orders me to be executed, I will be happy," Caster grinned. "Because it means that I will still have my Jeanne!"

"Death," Ainz's voice came instantly, after which Caster suddenly froze for a second, and all of his monsters, whose bodies had been strewn over the floor of the corridor, almost instantly exploded with a purple slurry, splashing Saber.

"Ainz!" He turned to his ally, seeing how he was slowly approaching, looking confusedly at Caster, "You are on time!"

"Yeah," he nodded absently, looking at Caster. "the Witch is no more."

"Great news!" Gilles smiled.

"I would not be in a hurry to say that," Caster said suddenly, slowly unbending. Ainz suddenly froze, "I cannot die while my Lady is alive... And as you can understand, she is still alive."

Ainz suddenly froze and his paranoia rejoiced.

"Jeanne!" Gilles immediately rushed away, leaving Ainz with Caster.

Both mages slowly looked at each other.

"Resurrection," the necromancer sighed. Of course, resurrection.

"Not really," Gilles de Rais slowly turned to the magician. "Nothing in this world is capable of resurrection. But to prevent me from dying, while my lady is alive... The Holy Grail is quite capable of doing this."

"The Grail," Ainz slapped his cheeks. Of course, they completely forgot about the Holy Grail! Of course, this is all the damn Grail's fault!

"Thank you, mage," Gilles could finally straighten up, "I didn't hope that I could..."

"Death," just in case, Ainz casted once more, making Caster freeze for a second.

"Damn it, I can't die that easy!" Caster answered after a moment of delay, "You could have killed any of the Servants, any of them — but not me!"

"Anyone?" Ainz asked a little disbelievingly.

"Anyone," Caster confirmed, "But to Hell with it, fight me! Fight, mage!"

"Anyone at all?" Ainz paused for a second, asking a question, 'That is, all those whom I avoided and who did not fight with, I could... Any of them? With one spell?'

"Yes!" said Caster, "Now shut up and fight!"

Jeanne rose slowly, leaning on her banner, after which she sighed freely, and turned around. Now she needed to find Gilles and Ainz...

"Le Grondement de la Haine," suddenly a voice came from behind her. Jeanne did not have time to turn around to it before several copies of chains pierced her body, chaining her in place. After this, the Phantasm stopped for a second, after which Jeanne felt someone bending over to her ear - "Indeed, I'm completely different from you. But I'm still stronger."

After a second, the flames that burned Jeanne d'Arc broke out.

It was a Phantasm, inaccessible to the original Jeanne d'Arc. For her, her execution, her burning was a symbol of her sacrifice. It was a flame that signified the price the saint must pay for his holiness. But there was nothing like that for the Dragon Witch.

It was a flame of hatred. The flame by which people burned her in a distant city on far-fetched accusations when her closest allies turned their back on her, when the king of France refused to redeem her from captivity. It was a flame of betrayal. Flames, from human evil and hatred. Anger, pain and suffering, converted into a form of flame.

After a moment, the flame soared to the ceiling, devouring the body of the Servant in seconds.

A servant without a class, Jeanne d'Arc, was burned.

YGGDRASIL - DATA_NOT_FOUND