Hollow/FGO Chapter 26 (Patreon)

While I sat on a large stone, I gazed upon the still-haggard form of Hinako's hologram form who likewise stared at me silently as I let her parse her thoughts. "I owe you a debt." She said finally with a resolute expression and I raised an eyebrow before tapping my legs with my hands as I gathered my thoughts about what she said, and what it would mean going forth.

"You mean for the blood, you sucked from me that would have killed likely any Servant or the people of Chaldea? Or me removing the Foreign Entity, nibbling at the A-teams souls?" I asked for clarification making her lips twitch at my blunt question.

"Mostly the first." She said flatly before taking a breath and continuing. "I don't like to owe a favor, especially life debts... So if you have a desire or wish of myself, I ask that you share it so that I may repay this debt." She finished and I sighed at how obstinate she was being.

"Alright, just do your best to recover and pull your weight in helping Chaldea restore natural Human History." I said evenly making the Blood Elemental frown.

"That's something I will already do, as of course being an agent of Chaldea... But I can tell you have no idea as to what to request, so I shall repay you in due time." Akuta said with finality and the call was cut off as the hologram collapsed into motes of blue light and with her gone, I rolled my eyes.

'Damned tsunderes...' I thought sighing as I stood up and returned to my pillowy prison of Tiamat's arms so her pouting eyes wouldn't be aimed at me all night.

-

After a brief nap, I woke up, and after getting a quick hearty breakfast made out of some wyrvren steaks and eggs we got from the lesser dragons we killed along with some general supplies that we got from the fortress from before. With Gudako and Mash fed we moved on to La Charite, the major town that would lead us to Orleans.

"Ah... That's not good." I muttered seeing the burnt-out wreck of the large town in the distance,

Jeanne obviously seeing the desolating in the distance called out hurriedly. "Come on! We have to see if there are any survivors!"

But even as I pinged with my Pesquisa and found naught a single soul, I could feel powerful souls in the distance faintly past the town making me frown as I realized they were the hostile Servants who were bound to the Dark Jeanne.

A loud beeping noise rang out, and while we ran towards the city, Roman came onto the comms saying worriedly. "Guys we are picking up on multiple Servant or powerful magical signatures leaving the town, so be careful!" He warned and although he tried to say more, in our movement the comms quickly lost their lock onto our position between the dimensions and we lost connection.

La Charite, was a burnt-out wreck simply put, the medieval stone and wooden houses were burnt down to the ground where they could be without stone supports and even then, I found some spots of stone that were actually melted. "Undead spotted Senpai!" Mash called out and I grimaced seeing skeletons walking across the grounds of the burnt-down town and then a loud grumble rang out as at Mashs' yell a couple wyverns perked up from the alleyways and I saw a corpse in one of the lesser dragons's mouths with it audibly chewing and swallowing the corpse.

"Stop it!" Jeanne roared and dashed off with the stone cracking beneath her feet as she flew towards the dragon and with a long cracking noise slammed her flag's pole on the dragon's head so hard that its head bounced off the ground.

We made swift work of the half dozen wyverns without issue with Mash taking care of the skeletons and zombies that littered the street but as we settled in the town square, Olga came onto the comms systems with her speaking hurriedly. "Ritsuka, we are registering the five powerful Servant signatures rushing back towards the town... Although Blake and Tiamat are their equal if not much stronger, you guys are outnumbered with Artoria and Jeanne's magical signature being weaker!"

I raised an eyebrow before snorting as I looked into the distance where the I could feel the corrupted admittedly powerful Servants rushing over towards us. "Let them come, we cannot run at our full speeds with how fragile Ritsuka is." I said with a small frown as Olga looked at me and then back to Ritsuka clearly in thought.

In canon with it being just Jeanne and Mash, Roman screamed that they needed to fucking flee at max speed. But with Tiamat and myself being here, it was clear that we were a lot more brave with our initial combat scenarios with the power we could bring to bear.

"I will not flee... I must ask why they would do these horrible things." Jeanne said with finality and acceptance of her possible death in her voice making me roll my eyes.

"You aren't dying here, Jeanne." I said wryly before I pointed my hand outward and sent a weak cero to meet and explode against a combination attack of what looked like blood and corrupted mana.

Steps reached our ears and from around a corner came a group of five strutting towards us with deadly intent. I took in their forms, recognizing all five of them thankfully, even if I was a little anxious about their own Noble Phantasms as none of them were weak Servants at all.

The dark Jeanne was a mirror of our own Jeanne with only slightly modified but completely dark-toned clothes and with shorter stark almost bleached hair that went along with her yellow eyes that contrasted with Jeanne's baby blue eyes.

"Oh my... Giles, please pour water over me. I think I am about to lose it Haha!" The dark Jeanne cackled looking at the clearly uncomfortable normal one. "Its so funny I may just die from laughing Haha!"

Truly her laughter was filled with anextreme madness that made me frown as I was once again reminded how this was just a twisted Jeanne instead of the Jalter we could find later on.

So while Jeanne demanded to know 'who' the dark Jeanne was and why she wanted to destroy France, I took in our opposition. Dark Jeanne obviously in the Ruler class, Vlad III in either Berserker or Lancer form, a French twink I honestly couldn't bother to remember the name of as he/she was useless, Carmilla in assassin, and I needed to fight her with her bonus damage she could do to women, and lastly Saint Marth in her rider form who could summon the dragon Tarasque.

"Why would I want to destroy France? Isnt it obviously? It betrayed me, burnt me slowly at the stake oh so painfully while the crowds called me a witch and stoned me as part of the devils retinue... And so its only fair that I in turn show France what it is like to burn alive Haha!" The dark Jeanne said twistedly making ours tighten her grip on her flag.

But it seemed the conversation was over as Jeanne looked to her servants and spoke. "You all serve to crush the brave. Now devour them Lancer, Assassin!" She ordered sending Vlad and Carmilla towards Jeanne making me think. 'Did the crazy bitch literally forget about Tiamat, Artoria, and I?'

And it seems Artoria herself was tired of being ignored as she without an order to engage send a powerful wave of destruction at Jeanne and her servants who franticly dodged with Artoria's cold voice ringing out. "Your existence disgusts me, you dreg of a lesser toad."

Both Jeanne and 'Jalter' looked at Artoria who walked towards the dark Jeanne with Excalibur Morgan crackling with corrupt lightning. And I decided to get on it as well as I said softly. "Tiamat, you protect Ritsuka, I am going to get in a fistfight with someone who beat an angel and dragon into tears." I said with a happy smile as I spatially skipped in front of Martha and her hand that wasn't holding her staff met my own fist in an explosion of mana sending the dark Jeanne, and everyone else skidding away with the force of the explosion.