"Ruler! Allow me the honor of severing that man's head myself! I swear, I'll repay him for every bit of humiliation I endured!" Berserker Lancer roared, eyes filled with fury, fixed firmly on Laurent.
"No need to rush," Jeanne Alter said leisurely. "They'll all die here eventually anyway. Isn't it best to savor the joy at the very end?" She smiled indulgently at Jeanne. "Why do you want to save this country? Save the people who abandoned you? Even knowing they betrayed and scorned you?"
"Oh, that's right," Jeanne Alter continued mockingly. "In the end, wasn't it that very king who executed you who also 'saved' you?"
Her voice shifted, hard to read—was it anger or something else? "To abandon the person most precious to you in order to save these damned traitors—is this your choice? You had someone who cherished you, someone who could've stayed by your side forever. Yet this is what you chose for him? All for that ridiculous dream of saving France?"
"I won't be deceived again, nor will I allow myself to be betrayed again!" Her voice grew bitter. "Besides, I can no longer hear the Lord's voice. That means even He's lost hope in this country!"
Laurent felt an urge to say: Actually, I've already killed off your Lord.
Somehow, he felt that he and Jeanne Alter would get along quite well—at least on this point. But as someone who deeply loved Jeanne, he certainly wouldn't say such hurtful things to her.
Maybe that was precisely the difference between him and Jeanne Alter.
"So, I will destroy this country. I'll carry out Heaven's lamentation and root out all evil entirely!"
Hearing this, Laurent suddenly shivered.
I'm literally the root of all evil, though!
"This is who I am—the Jeanne who met death and was reborn anew, finally grown. This is my way of 'saving' France!"
Her mocking smile returned. "But I suppose you wouldn't understand, would you? You who always maintain that fake, patient face. Pretending not to see hatred or joy—you, the pure Holy Maiden who hasn't grown at all in terms of humanity, could never understand!"
Jeanne: "…"
But Laurent looked puzzled instead. "You're talking about purity like you aren't pure yourself. Besides, I thought Servants don't grow in humanity after being summoned? Isn't it only our Spirit Origins—"
Before he could finish, Laurent felt a burning glare aimed at him.
"You really are an annoying fly. Whether back then or now—careful or I'll kill you right here." Jeanne Alter's voice was filled with open disgust, treating him exactly like some insect crawling at her feet.
Laurent's heart took ten thousand points of damage instantly. He dramatically clutched at his chest, feigning agony. "Sorry, wife—I think I've lost my ability to fight…"
"Eh? L-Laurent? The fight hasn't even started yet!" Jeanne panicked slightly, seeing him crouch to the side, gloomily drawing circles on the ground.
"She called me a fly… I'm just a bug, I'm so sorry…"
Even he felt self-conscious when receiving such disgusted looks from someone who had Jeanne's face!
Jeanne wanted to comfort Laurent, but quickly realized who was responsible for all this, and turned sharply to Jeanne Alter.
"Are you really me? Impossible—there's no way I'd ever say such things about Laurent!"
Jeanne Alter sighed exaggeratedly. "You really are hopeless. Fine, I'll put on a simple, easy-to-understand show for you. Seeing you now, I've realized my entirety as a Heroic Spirit. You aren't Ruler, nor are you Jeanne—you're just trash I threw away. In the end, nothing more than a ghost doomed to repeat past mistakes."
Her eyes turned cold. "Berserker Lancer, do as you wish. Berserker Assassin, get rid of that village girl. Kill them all."
Berserker Lancer smirked in satisfaction. "Good. That man's blood belongs to me."
Berserker Assassin grinned wickedly. "Then the rest are mine. Whether blood, guts, or flesh…"
"What about souls?"
"I have no interest in that."
"Then souls belong to me."
After this brief exchange, both turned toward Laurent and his group.
In an instant, Berserker Lancer vanished from his position. Laurent immediately stood, pulling Jeanne protectively behind him and stretched out his right hand without hesitation to intercept the attack.
Berserker Lancer's spear pierced straight through Laurent's hand and shoulder effortlessly—but rather than triumph, the Lancer immediately retreated, eyes filled with suspicion.
"Strange…my spear clearly pierced you and dealt real damage. Yet not even a drop of blood flows from your wounds!"
Laurent casually shook his right hand, the blood instantly recombining into an intact arm. His crimson eyes stared at Berserker Lancer with interest.
"You're pretty strange yourself. Your body—"
Berserker Lancer scowled openly. "To perceive even that… I must reevaluate my judgment of you."
"Mash, Fujimaru, take care of yourselves," Laurent said, ignoring him as he moved protectively to Jeanne's side. "I won't be able to protect the two of you later."
Of course, that was a blatant lie.
Within Berserker Lancer, Laurent sensed tremendous violence. If I devoured him, I'd probably gain a massive amount of energy… Yet Laurent held back that impulse.
He didn't fully understand the current situation. Acting rashly was unwise—especially with Jeanne Alter present. No matter what, Laurent had to confirm her true identity first.
After all—it concerned whether his wife had split into two different people!
Jeanne Alter's eyes remained on Laurent. "Controlling blood, huh? How disgusting."
Crack.
That was the sound of Laurent's heart breaking. He suddenly lost all motivation.
"Though, I'm really curious," Jeanne Alter continued thoughtfully. "You executed this village girl yourself, didn't you? Yet now you're willing to stand by her side? Don't you feel sickened?"
She confidently stretched out her hand toward him. "How about it? Join me. I think our goals are quite aligned. After everything's settled, I'll even let you decide how to deal with that woman. Including these pitiful French—you can torture them however you like."
Laurent exhaled softly. "Well, that does sound tempting, but—I refuse!"
"And why's that?" Jeanne Alter looked genuinely puzzled, unsure what exactly was going through his head.
Facing everyone's eyes, Laurent's lips curled up smugly as he declared proudly, "If you agree to become my wife, I'll gladly go with you."
Mash: "Laurent-san, you're the worst!"
---
T/N: KRONIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
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