Author Note

Hello there and welcome to another chapter of Avalon Bond.

Now on with the chapter and expect a long one, plenty of action.


Avalon Bond

Part II – Fate Grand Order

Chapter 19 – Orleans Part IV

Beta: Axel Emiya


It was already night outside by the time the group had left from the church they found Marie Antoniette in.

Considering that it would be ill-advised to march to other cities right now, the group settled for a quick camp outside the city of La Charitte, heading towards the direction of Thiers. Jeanne and Marie Antoniette discussed in length about the city's overall status and the noble Frenchwoman explained to them that Lyon is just like La Charitte, completely and utterly destroyed. That meant that Thiers would be their next destination, since it is quite close to their final destination, Orleans. In terms of the Singularity's progression, according to Romani, they had made excellent progress, having already defeated four of Jeanne Alter's servants. They still had powerful enemies to face, but the group was confident in Shirou and Arturia's powerful skills to aid them.

In no time, the team's responsible for everything non-fighting related, Shirou Emiya, unsurprisingly managed to collect enough vegetables to prepare a stew for everyone.

Mash and Jeanne were kind enough to prepare the firewood with Mash gathering the wood and Jeanne lighting it up.

All that was left was for Shirou to project a pan for him to cook the stew for everyone.

Problem, though, was that his overall display of skill only made him even more desirable for the pink-haired noble Frenchwoman as she pretty much threw herself in Shirou's position. Arturia was taking a seat next to Jeanne as she observed the entire scenery, grinding her teeth in anger at the blatant insinuation. Her anger was flaring so much that it made Jeanne uncomfortable by simply being next to the King of Knights.

"Oh mon chéri, not only you're a hero, but you display such ability in cooking…truly a man worthy of nobility…" Arturia, though, did relax somewhat when Shirou's sign in dismay became loud enough to truly show his discomfort.

"Ah Marie…would you be so kind to distribute these plates and spoons for everyone. The stew is about ready to be served."

Marie, though, merely nodded with a smile as she felt the sudden weight in her hands as Shirou projected the plates and utensils.

Soon, everyone had at least two servings with Arturia and Jeanne having thirds, which made both look at each other and smile in content as Arturia allowed herself to forget about Marie Antoniette's incessant pestering of her fiancée. It sure helped that Shirou had taken the seat by Ritsuka and engaged in a friendly conversation with their master and even Romani, through their intercom. Afterward, as she observed Jeanne talking to Marie and Mash about France in Marie Antoniette's time, Arturia had simply smiled in peace as she observed Shirou talking with Ritsuka and laughing together.

Coming from the same country, same culture and same time period, Shirou and Ritsuka found themselves with many subjects they could relate to.

"Say Shirou, when you fought with Arturia at your grail war, did you go to school…you were my age back then, right?"

Shirou nodded as he leaned back and looked at the black sky.

"Sure did, you met my school when we were in Fuyuki Singularity. Before meeting Arturia, going to school, attending the archery club and doing some side hustles was all I ever did. I did have some knowledge of mage craft, but it only grew when I was turned into a master." Ritsuka ate the last of his stew as he then placed the plate on the ground, while reminiscing on his own time in his home country.

"So, you joined the Archery club…" Shirou nodded with a smile.

"Yeah, though I ended up quitting, because of an injury to the shoulder. Though, I never went back, because, well, it just wasn't challenging me to me anymore."

"Well, considering the skill you displayed with the bow and arrow just now, I had thought that you inherited it from Muramasa as well. Even if he was a swordsman, the bow and arrow were common practice in Togugawa era." Romani was present in the conversation through the intercom as his image displayed next to Ritsuka. Shirou, for his part, found himself remembering his first days in Archery club when Taiga, blessed her heart, convinced him to join.

"The skills I inherited from Muramasa were all sword-related. Actually, come to think about it, archery always came easy to me, Romani. To this day, I don't know where it came from. Ever since the beginning, I had only missed the target once and back then, I practically knew it would miss even before I released the arrow." Surprisingly enough, the subject of his skill in archery was never brought it up throughout the war. He remembered how Archer would hit a target from miles away and that he had also managed that same skill later on, but he never stopped to wonder why he was so good in it, even before the war started. Perhaps, it was something he inherited from his biological parents. It would be the only explanation. If it were magic-related, then for sure, Rin would grind him on the subject until they figured it out.

"Well, I did join the fighting club in my school, but I didn't stick around much." Shirou stopped wondering about his archery ability as he turned to Ritsuka.

"My family has always been into sports…well, not anymore…"

Shirou saw the downed look on their master's features and remembered that because of Lev's actions, humanity in this dimension was destroyed.

"Master, we shall correct these singularities and you will see your family again, you have my solemn vow that we will make it happen together."

Ritsuka looked up in surprise and turned to Shirou as he smiled at him

"…you can count on us as well, Master." Arturia concurred, as she approached together with Mash.

"Yes, thank you, everyone." Ritsuka had enough on his shoulders, but he could see that he was not alone.

Eventually, the group decided to call in the night while the servants decided on a rotational schedule to keep watch in case Jeanne Alter attempted to attack them.


===Next day===

Next day, Marie Antoniette was actually helpful in providing horses for them to travel towards Thiers.

Of course, the pink-haired servant invited Shirou to ride alongside her but frowned once Shirou opted to climb on top of the horse his fiancée was on. As such, Jeanne ended up being Marie's companion while Mash and Ritsuka picked up the other one. The Demi-servant was unknowingly a knight servant and found herself strangely attuned to the act of riding a horse. With that, Arturia's horse galloped up front with Mash and Marie's following up close behind. Silently thrilled to be having this opportunity, one Arturia Pendragon couldn't help but blush upon feeling Shirou confidently holding his own through her waist. For a moment there, the king of Knights was simply basking at the feeling of her lover's hands, closer to a region where he would reach on certain exciting activities.

It felt like they were back in time…her time.

Certainly, this would be a magnificent scene from her own era with Shirou as her knight as they rode together throughout the exhilarating gardens of Camelot. Shirou certainly picked up on his fiancée's behavior and leaned in close to her ears and neck, whispering what he would like to be doing right now, making Arturia tremble, while at the same time, attempting to keep it together.

"S…Shirou, stop it…not right now!" Her weak voice though was enough incentive for her man to make one more move to solidify his intentions.

"Oh, don't worry Arturia, I merely wished to show you what awaits us after we return to Chaldea…"

To make matters worse for her, Shirou even passed his lips briefly through her neck, earning a shiver from the King of Knights. Her mission was temporarily forgotten as tempting images of their shared experience played freely in her head. So much so, that when Arturia attempted to get back at her fiancée for his bold but yet not unwelcome stunt, she found herself lighter, as though they were flying on top of their shared horse.

"I'll get you back for this, Shirou, that's a promise". The redhead simply nodded with a smile at the relaxed tone in Arturia's.

His goal was complete.

Aside from actually looking forward to more time alone together, Shirou wanted to at least show Arturia that no matter what Marie Antoniette attempted, or any woman - female heroic spirit or not - for that manner down the road, she was, is and always will be his everything. His actions and conversation was as subtle as possible to the other four, but certainly not for Chaldea who was listening to the whole thing. Olga looked scandalized by the redhead's flirtations, while Romani tried his best to clear his throat and focus on something else while Da Vinci displayed a humorous smile on her face at the interaction. Jennifer and her crew of female technicians, though, remembered their conversation with the King of Knights and practically giggled at the delicious gossip.

No doubt, they would grind Arturia about it afterward when they came back.


===Thiers===

As soon as the three horses galloped inside the city of Thiers, the servants plus the master jumped from the horses as they inspected the city or rather the desolated city.

Thiers had a more german-like architecture with tall house-buildings and wooden rooftops. Still, the city was desolate of population, though it didn't look as destroyed as La Charitte. The presence of high concentration of prana in the air was evident as the servants looked around for Jeanne Alter's army. Mash and Ritsuka were busy with Romani as they scanned the city for any possible information that Chaldea could provide for the field team. Jeanne, Arturia, Marie and Shirou simply observed, though all four servants were wary that the opposition could appear any minute now. Just like it happened in La Charitte, as soon as they arrived, they were assaulted by servants. Being close to Orleans, it wouldn't be a surprise for other servants to appear.

"Dr. Romani…"

"Right…I can see plenty of life forms in here, though it appears that news arrived about what happened to the other cities and the population was taken to a couple of shelters."

Mash turned off the hologram as she and Ritsuka looked around once more.

Arturia was close to Shirou as her zealous eyes wandered throughout the rather beautiful buildings and narrow venues. Still, she could feel that something was amiss in this city. The weather was clear today, the town appeared peaceful enough, despite neither of them finding any citizen thus far. However, her intuition was flaring. This feeling was familiar. Being perhaps the only servant who is a veteran of Grail Wars, Arturia knew the feeling of being near a berserker class servant.

"ARTURRRRRRRRRR!"

Arturia barely had a second to move as she positioned Excalibur to parry Arondight.

Shirou and the others saw Arturia flying backwards because of the sudden attack as an enraged black armor knight attacked like a uncontrolled train.

"Arturia!" Shirou yelled in concern and was about to follow after her, when he heard her voice through their shared link.

'Please let me deal with this, Shirou…I…know him. Protect the others.'

Shirou stopped his footing as he observed the fighting between knights. His structural grasp abilities showing him the noble phantasm of this new servant plain as day.

'Arondight…Sir Lancelot, the Knight of the Lake, though not as a Saber servant, but a Berserker.'

Shirou remembered how much she cried with him upon describing this very fight almost twenty years ago at the Fourth Grail War. He could practically feel the emotions through their link like uncontrolled water currents and strong waves. Lancelot was by all means the one who first instigated the downfall of Arturia's kingdom. Him having an affair with Arturia's wife Guinevere and later on fighting and defeating Sir Gawain in battle. Shirou wanted nothing but stand beside her as she dealt with this foe, though not only he had other concerns at the moment, his beloved fiancée demanded him to stay out of this. The fight between knights progressed as Shirou observed that despite being overcome by madness enhancement, Lancelot's prowess as a swordsman was evident for everyone to see.

"Shirou…"

The redhead turned to Mash's voice as he then observed two other servants, one of them being the Saber that appeared first in La Charitte and the other, a female with a black bow. Her outfit was black and white and Shirou could strangely see pointed ears and a black tail behind her back. The elongated canines and maddened look closed the picture of a mad canine as the Berserker Archer servant looked about ready to skewer them all alive. Shirou, though, was focusing on the Saber servant, who despite filled with malice, was still showing a rather calm disposition. His eyes were focused on the warrior's sword, hoping to find out the identity of this French fighter.

"D'Eon, is that you…Chevalier D'Eon, the knight of the white lily?"

The beautiful and slender knight looked towards the pink-haired servant and found herself bowing despite it all.

"Ah my queen…so you were summoned to this war as well…I do apologize but this time I lend my blade to evil, but it remains as pure as ever. If you wish to defeat me, then fight me with all you have and end this nightmare."

As soon as D'Eon removed the sword from its elegant scabbard, Shirou recognized the noble phantasm and just like Arondight, it got stored within his Realty Marble. La Fleur de Lys, a beautiful sword with thin steel, followed by blue and golden handle. Shirou observed as D'Eon fell into a fencing position with one feet behind and the other facing forward while D'Eon dangled the sword in one hand. Shirou at this moment placed his feet forward to meet D'Eon as his eyes slightly turned to Berserker Archer as well as the rest of the crew from Chaldea.

"Mash, Jeanne and Marie, please deal with the Archer. Leave Saber to me." Just by observing D'Eon moving with her sword, the skill was evident.

The movement from the French knight carried enough grace and fluidity that left Shirou mesmerized.

Shirou moved as soon as D'Eon moved forward attacking Marie with agility and grace, with a frontal stab wound from her noble phantasm. Marie was no fighter and thus couldn't move away in time. The noise of sword clashing surprised the Knight of the White Lily as she looked at the redhead warrior with a longsword parrying her own stab wound strike by placing the strong steel directly in front of her sword's tip. Shirou, then, pushed her away and carried out a second strike, which was graciously diverted by D'Eon. At least, Mash and Jeanne were already by Marie's side as they faced Archer, while Shirou continued to dance with D'Eon as best as he could.


===Arturia x Lancelot===

As Arturia and Lancelot dueled together, Arturia undoubtedly went back in time to their first fight at the Fourth Grail War.

Even if this time Arturia could not see her knight's face, she could surely remember his maddened visage and his relentless strength as a Berserker. Back then, Arturia couldn't help but flinch in pain upon seeing the assumed hatred Lancelot had for her, or rather of King Arthur. As they crossed blades, back then, Arturia at first felt remorse over lifting her sword against her friend. Back then, she felt responsible for what happened to her friend Lancelot and her wife Guinevere.

As she observed the knight attacking, Arturia couldn't help but wonder.

"Are you there, my friend? Is it really you behind that mask or are you being controlled by Jeanne Alter?"

All Lancelot did, however, was scream bloody murder as he attempted to slam his holy sword against Arturia's.

Unlike back then, however, this time, Arturia had managed to grow.

As she knew about the true nature of the Grail, Arturia remembered that she no longer requested to change her kingdom. She now had other dreams, she had Shirou with her as together they went through enough tribulations, both from the past, present and even the future together. No, Arturia's resolve right now was firm as she parried Lancelot's strong assaults with as much calm as possible. All she wanted right now was perhaps to see the man that helped her protect the Kingdom of Camelot.

"I do remember your hatred for me, back then." Arturia parried one strike that would behead her as she then counter-attacked, forcing Lancelot to defend.

By each attack she parried, Arturia then turned the tables on her friend and landed a hit. The cut from her sword would be healed because of his madness enhancement.

"Back then, my mind was focused on changing our kingdom, moreover, change my rule by acquring the Grail. I thought that without me back then, the kingdom would flourish. I…thought that without me, you and Guinevere could have the life you two deserved to have." Arturia then blocked another strike and then hit a powerful kick straight to his chest that sent him skidding a few meters. When she next swung her sword, the strike was enough to slice his helmet in half, showing the exact same disgruntled visage from the Forth War.

"Huh, I thought like this until the heavens allowed me the opportunity to meet my savior, the love of my life."

Ironic of situations was that Arturia pictured the time when Archer from the Fifth War said that eventually someone would come along to save her.

What's even more ironic was that that Archer was a version of her fiancée.

Sometimes, she just struggled to make sense of these time and space continuum events in her life.

Arturia Pendragon was King Arthur and then a servant in two grail wars. After the fifth war, she decided to become a familiar for Rin and then she fell in love with Shirou, a man who not only saved her from herself, but ultimately managed to sweep her off her feet and make her fall in love with him. Him, a person that was born perhaps two millennia after her and in a different country no less. Someone who was in another dimension her master as well, before he would become a counter guardian in his future and then a heroic spirit that would be summoned into the past to participate as Rin's servant in the Fifth Grail War. Now, she and Shirou were acting as servant in another dimension and travelling back in time to 14th century France.

She wasn't even counting the fact that her body was actually from another version of Arturia Pendragon.

As Lancelot once more attempted to attack her, Arturia released a sigh and even focused more prana on her sword, making it visible. When they parried swords this time, Arondight went flying and Arturia then pierced his armor with the same attack she used in the Fourth War. Precisely at this time that she could see his eyes and facial expression revert to normal.

"…My king…" Arturia smiled at the brief scene as she now could see her best friend's eyes.

"It's good to see you once more, my friend. Though, I really wanted our next encounter to be different than this."

Lancelot only smirked, despite the amount of blood that came from his mouth.

"Perhaps, we could have other chances of meeting once more, my king. Only next time as a Saber in arms to aid you in your new quest."

Arturia concurred at that and then looked in surprise when Lancelot's eyes left her and went towards Mash. When Arturia saw it, she smiled as Mash managed to stop Berserker's arrow onslaught and moved to attack.

"Ah, it seems you see it as well, don't you…your son. The spirit of Sir Galahad is with us as well. A proud and honored member of the knights of the round table."

Lancelot smiled proudly as he remembered bits and pieces of their lives together as proud knights in the service of the king.

"I'm truly glad, my king…but I also glad to see that you are different. Dare I say it's because of him?"

Arturia had followed Lancelot`s eyes towards Shirou who was now facing Chevalier D'Eon in a duel.

"Yes, Shirou was my master in one of the Grail wars and he has become my consort, my soon to be husband."

Lancelot coughed and split blood, but he couldn't contain the relieved and content smile on his face.

"Oh, how Guinevere would have loved to see this…" Arturia smiled at the memory of her.

"Yeah, I bet she would, indeed." Lancelot then kneeled on the ground close to Arondight as his body slowly turned into dust.

"Well, for now I believe it's farewell to you my king. May we meet again under better circumstances."

Arturia had simply smiled at the man as she observed his body now completely turned into dust.


===Mash, Jeanne and Marie x Atalanta===

Berserker Archer was more akin to a ravage monster that happens to fire black spike like arrows all over the place.

That being said, Mash was working overtime to protect both Jeanne and Marie Antoniette with her shield. Bombardment after bombardment of arrows came from the skies, blocking up the entire sun. Mash was receiving prana from the command seals in Ritsuka's hand, but she couldn't continue like this forever. Jeanne noticed this and turned to offensive capabilities, charging against Atalanta with extreme agility and attacking with her lance. Berserker Archer snarled at the woman and used her bow and black claws to counterattack. The onslaught continued for a while, until Jeanne was kicked hard on the face and went straight inside one of the buildings, completely destroying he construction.

Atalanta turned to attack Mash, but the Shielder servant has improved in her close-ranged fighting. She would defend Atalanta's onslaught with her shield and then flip using the help of the shield to deliver a counter-kick.

Marie Antoniette followed through with the attack by using her noble phantasm Guillotine Breaker. She summoned a horse made of crystal and slammed on Atalanta, but the attack was rather weak against the Berserker Archer.

Jeanne then emerged from the building's debris and attempted to attack Atalanta once more, but the Greek hunter was agile and managed to evade all of Jeanne's strikes. Normally, Jeanne would be stronger than this, but she was weakened and going for close-range against a Berserker, you would need your entire strength. Before Atalanta managed to land a powerful swing from her bow, Mash came in and blocked it, before kicking Atalanta once more. The Greek hunter skidded towards the ground and snarled in pain as Jeanne came in with her spear and pierced Atalanta's left wing. Jeanne was somersaulted to the left as Atalanta landed a fierce kick on her torso, which sent her flying. After yanking away the spear, Atalanta's body spiked in black prana.

"Ahhh, I will kill all of you…" Atalanta snarled at all of them and aimed her black bow towards the skies. "Tauropolos!"

The one arrow that reached the sky expanded into a black field of matter, completely covering the sunlight. When everyone realized the attack, thousands of gigantic black spikes came like torrential rain.

Mash saw the attack coming and immediately turned to Ritsuka.

"Master!"

"Right, Mash…here you go!"

The second command seal on Ritsuka's hand glowed and then vanished from his hand, before Mash's entire body glowed. She then transferred the excessive prana towards her shield just as Marie and Jeanne appeared behind her.

"Lord Chaldea!"

Mash's shield emitted a white energy that incased the three servants just as the black arrow spikes landed. The rest of the spikes met the resistance of a brick wall just as Atalanta landed on the ground. The Greek warrior was then surprised when Jeanne pretty much bombarded from her position, with her spear posed to strike Atalanta's heart. Because of the Atalanta's noble phantasm, she was still weak to move fast enough and Jeanne managed to pierce her core with her lance.

Atalanta's body was transformed back to golden sand and vanished.


===Shirou x D'Eon===

Chevalier D'Eon had moves that baffled that samurai servant in Shirou. It was a style of fighting that carried very little strength if nothing at all. As such, Shirou had to focus on D'Eon's foot movement as well as the way her sword danced in mid-air, before attacking him from many different angles. Another matter that he could see was the complete lack of aggression in her moves, despite her being lost in madness enhancement. As Shirou parried her sword as best he could, he found himself constantly on the defensive. Trying to anticipate her movements was getting him nowhere. Shirou had to conclude that fighting against D'Eon with a katana was the wrong move to make. He needed something more agile to turn the tides a bit.

Thus, releasing his traced demon samurai sword, Shirou then traced Kanshou and Bakuya, surprising the French knight.

"And here I thought you were only a sword fighter, stranger. You are a mage as well. A peculiar servant you are, indeed." Shirou smiled at the comment.

"Your sword style is to be commended, D'Eon. Never before have I come across such elegance and efficiency. So, I had to switch styles." D'Eon bowed in reverence.

"Your words do me great honor, indeed. Let us continue this duel."

Shirou then placed both sword with a X cross defense as D'Eon charged once more with a frontal stab wound to his heart. Despite lacking in strength, her moves were carried with enough pace that Shirou had to force his feet on the ground to amount a strong defense. However, with the Chinese twin swords on his hands, he turned the tables around, forcing D'Eon to block his attacks. This time, Shirou adapted to Archer's style of fighting as he even focused more prana through his swords. As a result, the Chinese swords had electrical current surging throughout the metal. D'Eon then flinched once Shirou was able to draw blood from her. Her grace in diverting his attacks were only due to him using one sword. Now that he had two, she was finding herself constantly on the defensive.

"A man of multiple styles of sword fighting is rare…to this day, I had faced many battles throughout Europe, never before have I faced this one."

Shirou placed Kanshou and Bakuya, one over his right shoulder and another below his waistline, both swords facing forward.

"Well, this style comes from far east…" D'Eon saw Shirou moving straight towards her with extreme agility and backed away from his attack, dodging it entirely this time. Shirou sensed the heavy usage of prana from her as D'Eon jumped to the heavens with her sword now inside the elegant scabbard. She flipped in mid-air just as Shirou saw a human sized white lily emerge behind D'Eon. This moment, his eyes were transfixed by its beauty as the flower bloomed before his very eyes. To Shirou and even to Muramasa, the dance of petals back in Japan symbolized nothing but transfixed beauty. As such, as little lilies fell around him, Shirou found himself only having eyes for the flower's beauty. D'Eon had focused her entire strength on this move, knowing that the strong warrior would fall victim to her noble phantasm.

As such, when she fell on the ground with her hands still holding the sword inside the scabbard, her agility doubled as she approached the still dazed Shirou.

One move from her sword and it was all over and this duel would be hers.

Until she arrived inches from his position and removed the sword from the scabbard, Shirou saw only white lilies.

When his structural grasp eyes and senses laid upon the distinct sound and sight of her sword leaving the scabbard, Shirou managed to awaken from his daze long enough to at least position one of his swords to divert her sword. It all happened in less than a second as D'Eon's frontal strike grazed Shirou's shoulder instead of his heart. Still, to Fujimaru who was observing the fights as well as the people from Chaldea, it sure looked like D'Eon would skewer the redhead servant. D'Eon was completely sure of her win as well, as such she backed away in surprise as she saw the wound from her sword glowing gold before closing it immediately.

Shirou managed a pained smile nevertheless as he got up.

"That was indeed a powerful move, D'Eon. You almost got me…now allow me to show you the legend of these swords."

Shirou closed his eyes as waves of blue prana surged through his body, while he began the spell enchantment.

Spirit and technique, flawless and firm

Shirou threw both of his swords in parallel towards the enemy. D'Eon saw the swords spinning in her direction and evaded. Though her eyes were focused on them as she could see the swords' projectiles spinning closer to her.

Our strength rips the mountains

Shirou then projected a second batch of Kanshou and Bakuya and moved to fight her in close-range.

Our swords split the water

Though D'Eon managed to block, she was ill-equipped as the first batch came back and slashed her back from behind.

Our names reach the imperial villa

With the second batch of the swords, Shirou managed to land powerful slices on her torso and eyes and D'Eon flinch at the level of pain.

The two of us cannot hold the heavens together

The third and last batch of Kanshou and Bakuya was completely different than the other two, longer and with spikes protruding from the steel, moving straight at the injured D'Eon, for the final blow.

The X slash on her torso made D'Eon gasp in pain as she kneeled on the ground while Shirou turned to her, after he released his swords as Arturia arrived next to her beloved. Shirou observed a great number of dents in her armor because of Arondight as her prana was busy returning the armour into pristine conditions while Shirou's link with her fixed the rest of the wounds. As they observed D'Eon on the ground, the knight of the white lily was simply observing her own hands, which was filled with the blood of the innocent as memories of her actions in this war surged unimpeded.

"This white Lilly is tainted beyond recognition. So much blood spilled by this blade which did nothing but serve the royal family and France."

Shirou and Arturia watched as tears feel from the proud knight's eyes.

"I've done terrible things to my own people and thus I'm ashamed…" D'Eon was being controlled by Jeanne Alter sure, but she was conscious throughout all of it.

She then turned her eyes to Shirou as she showed a content smile at him. D'Eon's beauty was staggering as the tears were washed away from her eyes.

Even Arturia found herself mesmerized by D'Eon's beauty.

"I must thank you, noble knight for your actions in releasing me from this control. Sadly, though, the number of atrocities I have committed have stained my blade."

"It's been an honor dueling against you, Chevalier D'Eon."

Shirou joined his legs and arms and he bowed towards the downed servant, earning a smiling nod from the noble French knight, before her body was turned into golden sand.

As the fights progressed, now only Jeanne Alter and Caster remained for them to retrieve the Grail and correct the first singularity.

The city of Thiers were now free of enemies and the citizens were once again on the streets rallied by Marie Antoniette, who took her sweet time attending to everyone with a smile on her face. Her story of a pampered noble woman in Versailles made her realize that the people in France were suffering while she had a life of wealth. Because of this, she was busy helping everyone with food and recovery, while the rest of the field group took some time to rest and then march straight towards Orleans for their final confrontation. Ritsuka was busy attending to Mash and Jeanne's wounds together with Shirou and Arturia.


Author Note

Ok, that is about it for now. I first thought about finishing Orleans with this chapter, but it would be too long.

So, I have decided to split in two. I particularly enjoyed writing the conversation between Lancelot and Arturia. In Fate Grand Order, there are many interactions and I'm loving the thought of writing them all, both for Shirou and for Arturia. Throughout the singularities, they are many servants that are connected to Arturia's legend. And throwing Shirou into the mix is exciting, indeed.

See ya.