Chapter 61: Who Said Tsunderes Are Out of Style?!
"I am not Jeanne d'Arc, I am myself..."
Jeanne Alter repeated Ethan's words.
She had never thought that someone like her, who had only ever harbored hatred, could be treated this way.
Perhaps… just as this young man said, she was not merely the dark side of that peasant girl.
"How much longer are you going to keep spouting nonsense? Is there something wrong with your brain? Of course, I won't believe those words, not one bit!"
Still maintaining her usual harsh tone, Jeanne Alter turned her face away from Ethan's gaze. Then, she mumbled in a low voice:
"But… if you can prove it… then maybe I wouldn't mind expecting just a little..."
Seeing Jeanne Alter's flustered expression, Ethan knew that he had succeeded.
"Then, please… grant me this chance."
Ethan extended his hand toward Jeanne Alter, who was still collapsed on the ground.
Instinctively, she wanted to swat it away, but she no longer had the strength.
She should have knocked his hand aside, but in the end… her own hand was firmly grasped.
"You…!!!"
Since the moment she was born, this was the first time anyone had held her hand like this.
…This guy was truly a bizarre existence.
As Jeanne Alter's slightly flushed face appeared on the giant screen, the livestream chat immediately exploded with question marks.
[???]
[????]
[?????]
[Did is work??? How??? Shounen aura??? Harem aura???]
[WTF? What is even happening right now???]
[I just went to get some water, and when I came back, the whole stream was drowning in sugar.]
[Wasn't the title of the stream supposed to be a grand battle today? So this is the 'grand battle' it meant?]
[Bro above, please clarify what kind of 'grand battle' this is.]
[Host, please stop flexing. My heart can't take it anymore!]
[Whoever said tsunderes were out of style was talking nonsense!]
[Wait… this actually works?! Host, teach me your harem ways!]
...
[System: 'Bruce-kun' has sent 10,000 Saint Quartz!]
[Message: Come here and ate your shit, Joker!!!]
[System: 'Not Ultimate Joker' has sent 10 Saint Quartz!]
[Message: Joker has been killed by Batman. End of story, bye bye.]
…
Ethan quickly glanced at the flood of comments on the screen.
Outdated? Cringe? Cheesy?
Who cares, as long as it works!
As long as humanity can be saved, it's all good!
Besides, those livestream viewers could only sit and talk, while he had to rack his brain to come up with a solution as quickly as possible.
Who cares about the process!
Thankfully, the situation had temporarily stabilized. Now, he just needed to proceed with the plan to reclaim the Holy Grail and restore this singularity.
"You… What the hell do you think you're doing to my Jeanne?!"
A sharp voice suddenly rang out from afar.
The figure of Gilles de Rais shot toward them at high speed.
"Mash, protect Master!"
"Understood!"
Martha immediately lunged forward, delivering a powerful punch that sent Gilles de Rais flying back.
"Gilles?!"
Jeanne Alter shot to her feet, startled, and hastily let go of Ethan's hand.
"Gilles, you came just in time. I want to know whether I was truly created by the Holy Grail, just as they claim."
"What the hell are you talking about, Jeanne?!"
Gilles de Rais commanded his sea demons to fight against Martha while shouting at Jeanne Alter:
"You are Jeanne d'Arc, the Saint who once saved France! But what did they do in return?? Have you forgotten the hatred in your heart after being betrayed by your own country? Where was God?! Why did He not come to save you?!"
"But I have no memories of my past, not even of my time as a human… This is too unnatural!"
If she had truly existed in this world before, then why did she have nothing but endless, freezing hatred within her—why was there not a single warm memory?
"Gilles, tell me the truth..."
Jeanne Alter looked at her ever-loyal companion with hope in her eyes, waiting for him to reveal the truth.
"...How disappointing."
Gilles de Rais suddenly lowered his head.
"Jeanne… you are truly disappointing!!!"
His eyes were filled with sorrow.
"Aaah... How could you doubt me, Jeanne! I sincerely prayed to the Holy Grail to bring you back to the mortal world, yet you question yourself! ...Could it be that even the power of the Holy Grail has its limits?"
"Gilles——————!?"
Hearing Gilles de Rais' words, Jeanne Alter's eyes widened in shock.
Facing Gilles de Rais, who had suddenly frozen in place, Martha seized the opportunity and quickly lunged forward.
"Chiiiii——————!!!"
The surrounding sea demons all leaped toward Martha at once.
"Ora——————!!!"
Martha's sacred gauntlets pierced through the sea demons one after another. In just a few steps, she had already closed the distance to Gilles de Rais.
"Die, you heretic!!!"
Her silver holy gauntlets tore through Gilles de Rais' cloak—but there was no sensation of hitting a body.
Instead, only something damp, cold, and deeply unsettling.
BOOM——————————!!!
Gilles de Rais' body suddenly swelled, then exploded into a mist of blood right in the center of the grand hall!
"Cough, cough!!!"
Martha quickly withdrew her hand, barely avoiding the self-destruction, but Gilles de Rais' voice still echoed in her ears.
"But it doesn't matter, Jeanne. If you cannot fulfill this mission, then I shall do it for you. Even if you choose to forgive this country, I never will!
France—this land that treated you so cruelly—I will have my revenge! I will slaughter them all!!!"
RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE…!!!
The ground suddenly trembled violently.
Something utterly malevolent seemed to be stirring beneath them.
Damn it!
A terrible feeling rose in Ethan's heart.
No way…
At this point, wasn't Gilles supposed to fight, then die obediently?
Why did it feel like he was setting the stage for something way bigger instead?!
"Everyone, get out of here now!"
Ethan immediately shouted to everyone.
"Senpai, this way!"
Mash took the lead, raising her shield as she charged toward the violently shaking corridor.
"You fools are in such a hurry to die!"
Jeanne Alter suddenly shouted.
"If you don't want to die, then follow me!"
After saying that, she moved toward a different corridor, deliberately pausing slightly to wait for Ethan.
"Thanks."
"Hmph, if you die so easily, then how will you prove your words to be true?"
With that final remark, Jeanne Alter strode forward without looking back.
Umu, that stubborn yet adorable tsundere attitude of Jalter is still there, alright.
"Everyone, follow her! This way!"
Mash and Martha exchanged glances before nodding and quickly following.
After moving some distance, the group spotted a figure lying in the corridor.
"Elizabeth?!"
Her entire body was riddled with puncture wounds, and her cursed spear had already rolled to the side.
It seemed that she had already been greatly weakened and was completely overwhelmed in her battle against Gilles.
"Martha, can you heal Elizabeth?"
After inspecting Elizabeth's wounds, Martha shook her head.
"Master… she's already…"
Her magical energy was completely drained, and Elizabeth's Saint Graph had begun to dissolve.
"...Sorry… Kiyohime… In the end, I still couldn't…"
With deep regret in her eyes, Elizabeth vanished into nothingness.
[Beep beep… Detected that this Servant, when alive, did not possess the will to protect humanity and has no confirmed 'Bond' with the Host.]
[Connection cannot be established. Special summoning not possible.]
The system notification rang beside Ethan.
"Goddamn it… I knew it…"
"Hey! How much longer are you all going to stand there?! This place is about to collapse!"
Jeanne Alter shouted impatiently from up ahead.
"Everyone, keep moving!"
The group quickly picked up speed, racing out of the castle before it completely collapsed.
As they looked back, the scene before them left them utterly stunned.
The castle was gone—replaced by an endless expanse of water.
And from within that abyss, an enormous sea demon was slowly emerging.
Standing atop the sea demon's massive form, Gilles de Rais held Prelati's Spellbook in his hands.
"Jeanne, now… let us once again raise the flag of salvation together!!!"