Fixed the second chapter, I don't know how the file got corrupted
Hidden from view on a large tree branch nearby, the fallen saint frowned deeply as her golden irises loomed over the human settlement, her nose scrunched up as if someone had dropped rotten flesh at her feet. Actually, the sickly aroma of death did permeate the air, but that was a stench she was intimately used to. A smell she actively craved.
'What's the big idea? The whole Tomb gets shaken up, and when Master finally decides to pay his due visit, he ends up dropping this irritating job on me.' She clenched her fist, the vein popping on her forehead threatening to burst. A dirty, decrepit little village full of sheep, carrying about their insignificant lives; it was a sight she has seen countless times, the image making her sick to her core each time. Hypocrites who were content to stand by and watch as innocents were wrongfully persecuted, as long as they were allowed to continue rummaging around in their own filth. 'And I am supposed to save them?!'
She briefly entertained the idea of joining the attackers instead, taking great pleasure in seeing the infuriated expression of her Master. Or what she imagined his infuriated expression would look like. She wasn't very good at deciphering how he felt, his face barely changed at all. Alas, she was still his Servant; she would dutifully do her job.
"But I'll be dammed if I'm not going to chew his ear off when I get back" she mumbled to herself before jumping off, effortlessly soaring through the air at great speeds and descending in the middle of the village, a small crater forming in the grimy dirt where she landed.
Even though the villagers were currently busy desperately running for their lives, they were still stunned by the sight of the beautiful woman suddenly falling out of the sky. The dark amour, a complete perversion of what was once most holy, stood in great contrast to her complexion, bringing out her fair, ashen-like hair, and her pale, unblemished skin. Neither the crimson dragon on her cape nor the disgusted expression on her face took away from her beauty, a fact felt by the bystanders even as they were overcome with fear at her passing. She was an ethereal sight, calmingly walking through the sea of blood and corpses without ever as much as a pause. The more religious people of the Holy Kingdom would have called her an angel of destruction, descending from the heavens to bring punishment upon the wicked.
As she slowly made her way towards the invaders, Jeanne Alter would not deny the small amount of satisfaction she felt as people stared at her. Fear and admiration blended so smoothly together you wouldn't be able to tell them apart, that was exactly how those ants should act in her presence. She barely took notice of the mutilated bodies scattered about, only giving the barest of glances at those clad in amour. Thanks to them, the newcomers hadn't killed any more villages yet, but that was it. They threw away their lives just to merely prolong the suffering, the cattle would still end up slaughtered in the end. That thought was nearly enough to make her giggle, but the remainder of her task sullied her mood once more. She slightly picked up the pace, and in an instant, she found herself face to face with the attackers.
There couldn't be more than fifty of them, all clad in black and grey tones. The knights in the front wore suits of armour not unlike her own, to the point it wouldn't have been strange for them to be fighting alongside her, while the other men in the back were dressed in robes, with a white shawl sporting a circular pattern covering their faces. They probably were magic casters, but the amount of magical energy they emitted was so minuscule Jeanne was having a hard time telling for sure. Of course, she had been noticed as well, but none of them had made any move to engage her so far, safe for the knights. From the corner of her eye, she could tell their hands were stealthily resting on the handles of their swords, in the way a child thought he could get away with swiping candy from the cupboard unnoticed. Honestly, it was kind of cute that they thought it would make a difference.
The man that appeared to be in charge of the unit approached her, clearly not sharing the same caution that his subordinates did. His close-shaved blond hair stood in great contrast with his attire, making him easily stand out from the sea of dark colours surrounding him. He reminded her of the army commanders from back in her time: the arrogant expression who thought he could take on the world, only to be squashed under the foot of war, his name forever washed away by the blood of the battlefield. Most of the men, even the ones who she thought side by side with, had been like that. All safe for one.
'No, that doesn't sound right.' She shook her head trying to get away from that thought. The memories were there, but they disconnected, far away from her. As if she was watching them through opaque glass. As if they weren't truly hers, to begin with...
"Ahem!" the annoyed voice of the man in front of her brought her back to the present. The leader of the squadron clearly didn't look too pleased to be so plainly ignored. It couldn't be helped though, she had honestly forgotten his existence.
"Who are you? I don't remember asking for any other Scripture to be dispatched. This is my mission, and I'll not allow anybody to intrude upon it and hog away the glory. Now, where is Gazeff Stronoff?"
"Your breath could use some mouthwash." Jeanne Alter couldn't help but suppress a giggle. It was like looking at a 10-year-old proudly flaunting a toy knife and demanding to be respected. He could tell the man's face was getting a more violent shape of purple, so she decided to clear out the air.
"Listen up squirt! I don't have any idea about who you' looking for or what circus you and your troop came out of, and frankly, I don't care. I'm just here to kill all of you, so can we please stop wasting time with your pointless squabbling and get to it?"
"Now listen up here you wench-" The man didn't realize his arm had been cut until it squandered unto the ground, flapping uselessly. He stumbled backwards, desperate to get away as he was assaulted by unbearable pain. It was then that he truly had a look at the pair of golden eyes staring down at him, in the way one would look at a piece of gum stuck to his shoes. They were the eyes of a feral beast, giving away the madness and cruelty hidden behind her mocking smile. He felt like just her stare was enough to burn him alive.
The guards that rushed in to protect their leader suffered a similar fate, albeit not as kind. Their heads and limbs flew off before they had even time to make two steps, hacked away with the same casualness one has when mowing the lawn. A black pole arm was suddenly resting in her hand, the symbol sewn into the flag attached to it appearing to come alive as it fluttered behind her. The image was the same as the one on the cape she dawned: a malformed reptile, with the wings of a bat and sharp razors for teeth. A dragon.
"What are you saying around for? S-summon the angels!" the leader turned to bark, the anger in his voice doing a poor voice at concealing the slight tremble of his remaining arm.
The magic casters might have been bewildered by the sudden turn of events, but they were all still veteran fighters, the elite of the elite. They worked perfectly in sync with one another, magic energy swirling up around them just as Jeanne Alter finished the last of the knights. Once the spell was completed, the sky was filled with numerous mechanical-like constructs. They were completely different from the form their name was commonly associated with, only the strangely shaped wings and the halo around their head indicating their identity.
"How is that, witch?!" the man's eyes appeared to pop out of his orbits as a deranged smile appeared on his face. "This is the power of the ones who carry on the will of the Gods, those who will purge the world from those disgusting creatures who dare to stand at the same level with us" He pointed at her, hand no longer shaking. "You can't fool me, you aren't human either, are you? We will destroy all of you, sinners, and humanity will reign supreme once more!"
Jeanne was no longer listening to his mad-like ramblings. As she took in the sudden army encircling her, there wasn't any trace left of her previous disinterested, casual-like demeanour. Magical energy was gathering around her at a rate so fast, even the non-prana-sensitive people around her found themselves breaking into a cold sweat. With barely restrained wrath, she turned to look at the leader once more.
"Is that so?" Her voice felt like a sword stuck to their throats. "You said you are acting in God's name? My, what faithful little sheep! Well then, let Him pass judgement upon you, for only He could know his own. If you survive, that means your cause is undoubtedly just. And if not, that would make you sinners who went around slaughtering people and tarnishing His name, am I right?" And then the world ignited.
All that Ningun Grid Luin, the leader of the Sunlight Scripture, could feel was the heat. It charred his skin, melting away any and all thoughts until all that remained was pain. He opened his mouth to scream, yet the words were hungrily devoured by the black-red flames. The fire was hatred itself, desperately trying to consume anything and everything around it. It burned mercilessly, without rhyme or reason. But just as the man reached his limit, as if it was an animal pulled by the leash, it slithered away and extinguished itself, leaving behind nothing but ash and corpses. His head, covered in burns, turned around desperately, but there was nothing alive left. Nothing except for her.
She knelt in front of him, an amused expression on her face. "Still kicking, huh? You must have prayed extra hard this morning. Couldn't same the same for the rest of them, though" Her voice, filled with mocking sympathy, made him momentarily forget about the pain. All he wanted was to use his remaining arm and strangle her. Instead, he took out something inside his pocket. A paper scroll, somehow still perfectly intact.
"DIE!" he roared, throwing the scroll up in the air. When it reached the highest point, it exploded into a bright light, giving form to another one of the summons. This one however was larger than the rest, dawning multiple sets of feathery wings and a golden sceptre in his hands. Its appearance was much more refined, a step closer to the angelic ideal. The Dominion Authority; Jalter recognised the mid-tier angel from YGGDRASIL, but this one had an additional set of wings sprouting from its back.
"I didn't know the Lord was fond of party tricks" she teased, before jumping into the air, the flag raised in order to cleanly cut it in two. To her surprise, that didn't happen. She bit back a growl as the angel blocked the attack with its sceptre, even managing to push her back and send her crashing through a nearby house.
"HA! You certainly talk a lot, but it looks like you can't lift a finger against the Dominion Authority." For a moment, he had forgotten all about his burns, his subordinate, even his arms. His face was gleaming with child-like joy as he took in the scenery before him. "You will be the one to be judged, for we are the emissaries of the heaven itself, the power at our finger will purify this rotten-" his voice was suddenly drowned out by the sound of something plummeting into the ground next to him. Almost as if he knew what awaited him, his eyes turned fearfully towards the point of impact.
It was almost like a biblical painting. The angel being banished from heaven, unable to withstand the weight of the sins of man. A large, jet-black spike impaled it through the chest, eternal proof that it will forever be bound unto the earth. Ningun had never been a true believer, most people in the Scriptures weren't. They merely parroted the words, interested only in the wealth and power the position will bring. But open seeing that scene, he fell to his knees and started praying from the bottom of his heart. Who he was praying to, he did not know.
"It's a bit too late for that, don't you think" a joyful voice called out from behind him. "Don't worry, I am sure you will be welcomed into Heaven. Eternal paradise and all that, you will certainly be rewarded for your righteous deeds."
The man didn't bother to turn around. Jeanne wasn't sure he even heard her. It didn't really matter to her, but it would have been nice to look at his terrified expression one last time. Not that she would actually kill him, she was told to capture at least one of them alive, but it was no fun if he wasn't screaming. Sighing, she unceremoniously knocked him out with a chop to the back of his neck.
"You saved us!"
"Thank you so much!"
"If there's something we can do for you, please...!"
Jeanne Alter was currently in the process of trying to escape the villagers that were swarming towards her like moths to a flame. Apparently, she had struck that random guy a bit too hard, and he had started bleeding out. Since she didn't know any healing spells and she couldn't let the prisoner die, although she couldn't care less if he did, she quickly popped out into one of the houses to take some bandages. What she didn't expect was the whole town waiting for her outside when she came out, dragging the hastily patched-up guy behind her. It seemed her little light show had been a bit too flashy, to the point that even the people fleeing from their lives couldn't ignore it. They now thought she was some sort of divine saviour and they surrounded her, showering her in gratitude. They didn't even seem to care that she turned almost a quarter of the village to ash!
Doing her best to keep her hand away from the sword on her belt, she forcefully pushed her way through the crowd, eyes facing the ground with as much intensity as humanly possible. If she caught sight of even one of the faces looking at her with such idiotic reverence, she feared she might lose the sliver of control she was struggling to hold on to. The townspeople didn't look discouraged at all by her less-than-friendly behaviour. On the contrary, their thanks and hospitality seemed to increase in intensity, as if trying to break through the layer of ice their saviour had surrounded herself with.
'When I get back, I'm making Master beg on his knees for forgiveness for putting me through this hell!" The thought was constantly circling around in her mind, like a soothing mantra. It wouldn't be long now. Just a couple hundred meters until the arranged meeting point with one of those mask guys, and she would be free of the dead weight holding her back. She was already picturing herself back on the Third Floor, lazing leisurely in her castle, soaking in the hot springs, maybe putting on a nice dress and heading to the bar that shady Overseer runs for some reason. She was so lost in her own fantasies that even the annoying bugs that crawled around her had faded into the background, becoming faint shapes and voices. She didn't even notice that one of the villagers had a sword in his hand, or that he was currently in the process of trying to decapitate her.
Of course, there was no way a mundane weapon wielded by a normal person could live a scratch on an existence with as much mystical weight as a Heroic Spirit; it was like Dantès trying to carve his way out of his cell with a plastic spoon. The metal struggled uselessly against the neck that might as well have been made of diamond, snapping in two under the surprisingly high pressure that its wielder exuded upon it. It was only when the shocked villagers froze in their tracks that the dark maiden noticed the apparent murder attempt. Barely turning around to look, a casual backhand utterly obliterated the man's head, sending pieces of its flesh and skull into the traumatised crowd. She didn't bother to pay any heed to the insuring panic, her attention being stolen away by the creature that crawled out of what used to be the man's ear. It was a small mass of darkness and tentacles, struggling around in agony on the ground. Something about the feeling it exuded felt incredibly familiar to her, but she couldn't put her finger on it. A voice in the back of her mind was screaming that she should know it, but the voice was muffled, distorted to the point it couldn't properly reach her.
The majority of the people were now already a good distance away from her, but the ones that remained looked at her with empty, glass-like eyes. If she focused her eyes, she could see similar monsters were also coiling around on the inside of their ears. 'If this day hasn't been troublesome enough already! These weaklings are nothing; the problem is that I don't know their number" She pondered over other people around her, but all she could see were terrified and pathetic expressions. She couldn't tell how many of them had been infected and were lying in wait for the perfect chance to strike. 'Dammit, what am I supposed to do now!'
"Jeanne, what is the situation in Carne Village?" As if responding to her prayers, a voice resounded inside her head.
"Oi, Master, perfect timing. I have dealt with the weaklings attacking no problem, but there is another issue. Some of the villagers seem to be infected with some sort of tentacles in their heads, it's making them try to attack me."
"Is there any way to differentiate between the infected and the regular people?" came the response a brief pause.
"None that I could see."
"Then dispose of all the villagers. We can't afford to let a potential enemy escape." Jeanne didn't think she had heard sweeter words in her life.
"Understood, Master." She dutifully responded.
A giant ball of fire formed in her hand, its size easily dwarfing the largest building in the village twice over. Once, the very same flames had been the source of her despair, now they were her dearest companions. They were her grudges and hatred-given form, the point of her Origin and her only destination. She was the fallen saint, the Dragon Witch, she who shall bring true purgatory upon humanity as penance for their betrayal. She stopped for a moment to take in their faces, their pleading looks as they desperately begged to be spared, tears running down their faces as they tried to shield away their loved ones. She denied their prayers.
Not all of them died instantly. No, that would have been too boring of a conclusion. A few stragglers had managed to miraculously evade the brunt of the attack, only escaping with minor to more serious burns. Perhaps they were the unlucky ones, for the the place that awaited them wasn't like hell; it was hell itself. As if it was a Reality Marble, the fire seemed to have consumed the world itself, changing it to his will and transforming it into an unrecognizable nightmare. Barely a plank of wood remained out of the old, already run-down houses; the roads became a cluster of debris and ash; the sky had been taken over by the oppressive smoke, drifting above like a miasma of death; the earth itself had been scored, leaving behind only lifeless, cracked pieces of dirt. And across the scenery that would have made even a demon avoid his gaze, a single woman strolled around happily, her hand clinching to her stomach.
"HAHAHAAHAHAHAHHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAAH" a horrid, disturbing wheezing sound came out of the woman's delicate lips, echoing across her surroundings like a plague. It was enough to make one's blood freeze, even in this inferno. Jeanne couldn't help herself. It was a beautiful sight. The ferocity of the flames, dancing violently to a song of despair heard by none, yet known by all. The cries of agony of the half-charred survivors, drawn out by the blistering sound of the flames, were like music to her ears. The smoke filling her lungs was as reinvigorating as the fragrance of an early spring breeze. This was how everything should be. Towns and people, reduced to mere ash by her feet as death and destruction are all that's left in her path. The terror and helplessness of those lowly peasants, their rage. Their HATRED. She would gather it all upon herself, for she was an Avenger, a being who could only exist for vengeance. Vengeance against the corrupt nobles, who threw her away after they had no longer any use for her. Vengeance against the people she had devoted her all to saving, who all berated and cursed her as she was carried to the stake. For God himself who condemned her to death when she had given her very life in His service. She would raise her banner against them all and no one would stand in her way to stop her.
'Not even the man who saved her.'
Clutching her head as she was suddenly assaulted by a terrible headache, she wobbled for a second.
"He who allowed her to stay by his side, even when she was his enem- NO! STOP IT!" Grinding her teeth so hard they might crack, she took her sword from her waist and started slaughtering the remaining survivors. Their blood splattered on her face, and their screams filled her ears, but the words keep coming, a curse she wasn't able to oppose invading all her thoughts, twisting her hatred, the very core of her being.
"He didn't look at her differently, no matter what sins she had committed" "NOOOOOO!" The pressure of her attack blew away the already crumbling house.
"Even if she had been a fake, he still reached out his hands towards her" The flames around her doubled in intensity, melting everything like molten lava.
"His kind smile, who never faltered despite all the hardships he had endured" She slammed her blade into the ground, causing a mini earthquake.
"Those blue eyes of his who always gazed towards the future, who seemed to see through her very soul. Who made her think that she wouldn't mind them looking at her" With an ear-piercing roar, Jeanne stopped the blade raised above her head dead in its tracks. The little girl in front of her stared at her, a trembling mass of fear. Her terrified blue eyes met cruel, golden ones. The two remained still, the last two living beings in a place where life had been denied.
"Get lost kid." She finally said, turning around and disappearing into a shower of golden lights. Nemu Emmott, the last survivor of the Carne massacre, collapsed onto the ground, tears flowing down her face.
"Her beautiful face...her noble bearing...without a doubt it's you. A MIRACLE!", the man's deranged screams echoed throughout the darkroom. His out-of-orbit eyes were glued to the crystal ball, the slight purple light being the only thing illuminating his face. He had the look of a man dying of thirst In the desert that had finally arrived at an oasis. Nothing else mattered to her, not even the tears clouding his vision, only the image of the blond woman that was reflected onto the orb."TO THINK THAT YOU FINALLY RETURNED TO ME, MY DEAR JEANNE, THE HOLIEST OF VIRGINS! DO NOT WORRY, YOUR MOST LOYAL GILLES IS COMING FOR YOU!"
"I do not think it is a wise idea." The only other person in the room, a dark-haired woman dressed in white, got closer to the table. The faint light couldn't quite illuminate her features, but her beauty was still apparent. The man turned towards her, with a look of equal parts anger and confusion.
"WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE, TO KEEP ME AWAY FROM HER, THE LIGHT OF MY LIFE?! SHE WHO HAD FINALLY REALISED THE TRUTH OF GOD'S DEPRAVITY, NEEDS ME BY HER SIDE MORE THAN EVER!"
The woman stood unfazed by the Caster's outburst. "If only it was that simple, my dear companion. The two of you will be reunited soon, but it is not quite the time yet."
"WHY NOT?" His pupils were spinning out of control as if he was trying to look for the woman talking to him. "YOU HAVE NO SAY IN THIS MANNER. BECAUSE OF YOU, MY SWEET CREATIONS TRIED TO ATTACK HER!" From inside his robe's pocket, he took out an old book, a tome with the face of a blinded screaming woman on its cover. "ARE YOU READY TO PAY FOR THAT SIN?"
"That incident happened only because you can't control your modified familiars yet" The woman didn't appear to be taken aback at all by the obvious threat. "You always do manage to not be good enough to protect her, isn't that right, Marshall Gilles?"
"I-I..." his voice faltered for a second.
"You won't be able to claim her as long as He is there." With a flick of her wrist, the image changed, now displaying a masked man in a purple robe, not much dissimilar to Gille's own. "He has captured your beloved maiden in his clutches, turning her against us. Against you."
"WHAAAT?!" A burst of mana erupted in the room, enough to make a weaker man faint. "HOW DARE HE? TO DEFILE HER, WHOSE MERE EXISTENCE WAS PURER THAN PURITY ITSELF! I WILL RIP HIM APART AND DECORATE THESE WALLS WITH HIS INTESTINES!"
"I do share your outrage, I really do, but we must act carefully. Despite his cowardness, he is strong, and probably has many more Servants serving under him. One wrong move and your Jeanne will be lost forever."
"BUT WE MUST SAVE HER NOW!"
"And we will, but we must wait first. You don't want to risk her life, do you?"
Gilles inhaled deeply, his eyes losing their lustre for a moment.
"I-I...I understand. I shall hasten with the preparations then." He turned to lovingly fondle the crystal ball, now back to displaying Jeanne's image. "Do not worry, my sweet Jeanne. Your faithful friend is coming, please just wait for me." He whispered to it.
The woman left the room, letting the insane man do his own mutterings, no longer paying her any attention.
"He is getting harder and harder to control." The woman couldn't help but smile at the voice resounding inside her head.
"His Mental Pollution is simply too high, my Lord. He is constantly under the influence of mind control spells and poison, yet I still have to tread carefully. He could still break out of our influence at any time. The only thing that would help would be a World Item at this point."
"Servants are valuable resources, but I don't want to waste a trump card on them. Not yet, anyway." The voice responded.
"As you command, my Lord." It wasn't her place to question him, he whose brilliance was greater than any being might comprehend. "I shall be heading to the construction site, would you need me for anything else?"
"Inform that Dragon about these developments. He will make for a good distraction until we are ready to make our move."
"It shall be done." There wasn't anybody present, yet she still bowed respectfully, before her white figure was enveloped by shadows.
Author's note:
It's really hard to try to eat healthy when you live above an Italian restaurant.