"Oh, it's an eyeball! What a perfect match for you, my friend!"
Prelati gazed at the massive 'Eye of Cthulhu' in the sky, her voice a mix of surprise and a wicked smile.
"But just a projection is a bit of a pity, Caster."
"Alas, it can't be helped. With only one Servant's Spirit Saint Graph, summoning something like this is already the limit. Normally, it would be a sea monster or something at most, right?"
"Well, it doesn't matter. As long as we continue the sacrifices—with this Holy Grail War's magical foundation, the Spirit Origins of fourteen Servants, the leyline power of all of Fuyuki, and these rare supreme divinities... hehehe~ I'm sure we can summon something quite interesting, quite extraordinary, right? Subarashii!" Stroking her cheek, Prelati was completely intoxicated at this moment, her chaotic eyes filled with anticipation and satisfaction.
"Now, feast heartily, enjoy that magical energy, that intelligence, and use it as an offering. If it's the current you, my friend, you should already be able to sweep away most of the Servants in this Holy Grail War!"
"That's not allowed, you know," a sharp female voice rang out from the side while Prelati was enjoying this 'beautiful view.'
The familiar voice made her pause for a moment. She abruptly turned towards the source of the sound, and what met her eyes was none other than the being she had been 'dreaming' of—clad in armor, holding a battle flag.
"O-o-oh! Jeanne!"
At this moment, upon seeing Jeanne, Prelati became completely ecstatic.
"It's you! Subarashii! You actually came... Well, I should have thought of it. A Holy Grail War of this magnitude, an anomaly of this level, a Ruler would definitely appear. How could I not have thought you would come... Ahhh! What a blunder."
"I also didn't expect you to be a participant in this Holy Grail War."
"I thought the chaos of the Holy Grail War was because the participants weren't following the rules, but after seeing you, many things don't need explaining."
"Although your appearance has changed, and even your gender, this disgusting feeling... it's definitely you! François!"
Jeanne stared sharply at Prelati, a hint of coldness in her eyes.
"My, my... I've been recognized. That makes me quite happy, Jeanne."
"I'm not happy to see you at all..."
Miss Golden Jeanne was completely blunt. Facing this old nemesis, there was not a trace of the saintly warmth, only hostile animosity.
However, there seemed to be more pressing matters at hand than this person.
"I'll settle the score with you later, but before that..."
She looked up at the giant eyeball in the sky, a hint of sadness, helplessness, and dissatisfaction on her face.
"Honestly... to end up like this, Gilles."
"Haha, he can't hear you. My friend has already been sacrificed. Right now, that eyeball probably only has a primitive, chaotic reason. If you get close, even you will be sucked dry~"
"How touching. Friends who fought side by side in life, a saint so cherished and driven mad for, is now killed once again by her own hand, sucked into a 'mummy'... Ahhh... Sorry, I got a little too carried away, my skirt got a bit wet."
Jeanne ignored the raving Prelati. She knew this person's nature—the more attention she paid, the more excited she would get. Besides, she was more concerned with the Eye of Cthulhu (Gilles's Eye) in the sky than dealing with Prelati right now.
With her insight, she could tell that if she let it be, not only would the Holy Grail War be terminated, but the entire Fuyuki City, and perhaps even the entire Far East, would not be spared. But to deal with it... as Prelati said.
Even as a Ruler, she couldn't defeat something like this. Her EX-rank Magic Resistance was meaningless against the Eye of Cthulhu. Although it was just a downgraded projection, its inherent magic absorption property was a rule that directly acted on the underlying logic, transcending magic itself.
Magical bombardments couldn't handle this thing. Only pure heat attacks could effectively deal with this extension of an external enemy. Just like when fighting the white giant, most people in the world were almost helpless, only able to rely on the heat attack released by the Holy Sword forged by fairies to destroy it.
But it didn't matter. Miss Golden Jeanne wasn't too worried. After all, when in doubt, she could ask for help from the almighty [Revelation].
"My Lord, please tell me what I should do."
Although she was undoubtedly a country girl in terms of knowledge, because of her innate ability of 'Revelation,' she could hear the Lord's guidance, which was why she was able to lead the French resistance army to the correct path countless times in her life.
However... very rarely, this time, Miss Golden Jeanne heard nothing.
She started to panic.
"...No response. What's going on?... Has Revelation failed?"
The next moment, a childish girlish voice sounded in her ear.
"Of course."
"This Holy Grail War has been sealed off. The only ones who can intervene are the participants. As for those who exist outside the world, even that pigeon or a certain monk can't interfere."
"...Who are you?!"
"A Master participating in the Holy Grail War. You don't need to worry about me. I'm just here to help."
"After all, because of the seal, your Revelation ability is useless. Considering your own wisdom... hmm, let's just say this is to compensate you a little. I'll temporarily take the place of that pigeon and provide you with a solution to your predicament."
"..." Jeanne was half-believing, half-doubting.
"Whether you're willing to accept it is your business, but that big eye won't wait."
"...Alright then."
"How do I deal with that thing?"
"Normally, that thing is very difficult to destroy. As long as there is magical energy and those little eyeballs, it can recover in an instant. But since it's just a projection, as long as you shake the Spirit Origin that constitutes it and break its lens, you can put it in a weakened, disconnected state. All you have to do is shake that eyeball and break its ultimate form. Someone will prepare a high-power heat attack to deal with the whole eyeball."
"As for how to do it, I think you already have the answer in your heart."
".....I understand."
Returning to reality, it was only an instant, but Jeanne still trusted the girl's voice. She looked up at the Eye of Cthulhu, and the next moment, took a deep breath.
"Giiiilles—!"
With an angry shout, the eyeball began to tremble violently.
This situation also made Prelati stare in a daze.
"He's already become a sacrifice, yet he can still be awakened?! This is really... I underestimated you!"
"But I won't let you get in my way!"
"Watch out for my arrow!" Prelati pulled out a bow woven from flowers from somewhere and nocked an arrow with a heart-shaped tip on the bowstring.
"Hmph, go have a century-long romance with a boar, oink in the pigsty, and then turn into soot not even worthy of pig feed! You bitch!"
"...Luminosité Éternelle!"
Jeanne raised her battle flag. The French flag embroidered with fleur-de-lis fluttered in the air at this moment, blooming with an incomparably brilliant light. And this brilliance also made the big eye in the sky tremble even more violently.
"Hmph, that tattered flag of yours can't block the arrow of the god of love!"
"Is that so? Then can your body block the holy sword forged by fairies?" Morgan's sharp, sarcastic voice sounded in her ear.
The next second, the Arondight held by the black-armored Lancelot was thrown like a javelin towards Prelati.
The small eyeballs in the sky tried to block it, but were quickly drawn away and blocked by Morgan with a larger source of magical energy.
The Arondight, creating a sonic boom, plunged fiercely into Prelati's abdomen. The next moment, a terrifying magical energy bloomed, and a teeth-grinding sound like a chainsaw spread out. The smoke cleared, and Prelati seemed to have disappeared from her spot, without a trace.
But obviously, neither Morgan nor Jeanne believed this annoying person would die so easily.
This move was more to drive her away.
The only thing that probably annoyed Morgan was that when that person left, she seemed to have taken Arondight with her!
"Onore!"
She was a little angry, but the next moment, she let it go.
A holy sword was not a rare item for Morgan. She could just use magic to prepare a similar weapon for Lancelot later. Anyway, that man could handle any kind of weapon.
"Saint of France, you have a way to deal with that big eyeball, right? I've already helped you drive away that pest. Hurry up and deal with that big eyeball!" Morgan urged, her temper not very good.
She wasn't fond of such bright and shiny people—she only helped because that big eye was really too annoying, a natural enemy of magi, and she couldn't find a way to deal with it in a short time.
Jeanne was silent, staring at the big eye in the sky that was looking back at her, and called out loudly:
"Giiiilles—!"
With a divine judgment, using two specific Command Spells, the brilliance of the holy flag shone even brighter. At the same time, she activated her unique ability as a Ruler—to solidify and guide Spirit Origins. At this moment, Bluebeard gained control of the Eye of Cthulhu and saw everything below clearly.
"O-o-oh... Jeanne! There's no mistake! That flag, that brilliance... It's the saint! My holy virgin! Oh oh oh!"
"You're finally awake."
"To get yourself into this state..."
Jeanne sensed Bluebeard's awakening and sighed. The next moment, she gathered her magical energy and raised the holy flag.
Boom—
With the terrifying physical abilities of a Servant, she charged towards the Eye of Cthulhu... no, it should be called the Eye of Gilles now.
"That's enough from you!!! Gilles!"
The wide-eyed Eye of Cthulhu, in its out-of-control state, was fiercely stabbed by Jeanne's flag. It instantly closed its eye in pain, but couldn't change the fact that its lens shattered with a cracking sound.
"Now! Illya!"
Miss Illya, who had been waiting on a tall building as arranged by [Illya], heard the voice and immediately went into action.
She swallowed, then frantically poured out her magical energy.
The cannon muzzle of the Firefly armor slowly opened...
"Set the seas ablaze!!"
BOOM—
The air became scorching hot. Pure heat burned the night sky of Fuyuki red at this moment.
And its target was the Eye of Cthulhu, separated from Jeanne.
A pure heat attack, powerful enough to destroy an army or a city in an instant, was unleashed upon it. This terrifying power was so great that its regeneration ability couldn't even activate before it was incinerated and instantly vaporized.
The air in the area centered on that core location became so hot that just being there would melt you. Rocks turned into lava, and the soil began to crystallize.
Under the protection of the holy flag, Jeanne was unharmed, but the fleur-de-lis flag in her hand turned into fragments and burned to ashes in the air, leaving only a bare flagpole. Her battle dress also showed signs of burning, but fortunately, she had used magical energy to protect herself beforehand. Although a lot of it was burned away, turning it into a battle-damaged version and even revealing some... major assets, she was generally fine.
"Did it work?"
"Yes, the Saint Graph reaction has disappeared."
"Those little eyeballs also disappeared after losing their main body."
"Also, confirmed that the enemy Caster has been eliminated."
"Illya has gotten the first kill of this Holy Grail War," [Illya] said.
"Eh?! Is that so?"
"After all, Lancelot hasn't been eliminated, and Hundred-Faced Hassan is only considered eliminated when all of them are defeated. So Illya got the first kill."
This made Miss Illya feel a bit unreal.
She originally thought that as a noob, she'd be lucky not to be eliminated at the beginning, but... she actually got the first kill?
"Remember to go to that Miss Golden Jeanne to claim your reward. Although that thing isn't really useful, just like in a game, it wouldn't be fun without a reward."
"There's a reward?"
"Originally there wasn't, but she'll give it."
"...Okay then..."
After deactivating the Dream Summons, Miss Illya approached Jeanne with some trepidation.
"Big sister"