[FDJ]Chapter 117: The Cruel Heart (Patreon)

Upon examining the remains of the Assassin on the ground, Suzuki discovered a hidden second Noble Phantasm or perhaps a one-time skill. The head that fell to the ground wasn't cursing or attempting a counterattack with a scream. Before being struck by the chariot, Assassin Jane Grey realized she couldn't dodge and used this ability.

In an instant, all the blood and remains on the ground gathered together, and Assassin Jane Grey struggled to emerge. Her body now appeared ghostly and translucent, her blood-stained mouth trembling as she painfully questioned Eleanor.

"Your Majesty, Queen who founded the Plantagenet dynasty of England, aren't you on the same side as your son? Why? Why attack me? I am your son's Servant!"

After hearing the difficult question from the opponent, Eleanor couldn't help but cover her mouth and laugh. Although she didn't have the convenient Master privileges like Suzuki, she could guess that the opponent had a battle continuation-like ability just by the result she saw, without needing to use the Queen's Crown ability to pry into the opponent's information. She was satisfied with the opponent's near-death state on the ground. She hadn't even declared herself queen, yet a mere evil spirit dared to repeatedly appear before her under the title of the Queen of England.

"Same side? Who said that? My Master is not Richard but this young man behind me. You and I are enemies. If I want to kill you, I kill you! Do I need a reason? If you must have one, here it is: you intruded into the valley, attempting to assassinate our ally, and we retaliated in self-defense. Is that reason enough?"

Eleanor found the other side laughable. Perhaps the last time she merely assisted Don Quixote from a distance, symbolically chasing twice, making the other think she wasn't strong. After being killed by the Noble Phantasm, she still wanted an explanation.

Eleanor predicted the maximum power of the opponent's desperate counterattack, which wasn't enough to warrant her caution. She didn't regard the opponent seriously. An evil spirit is nothing more.

Suzuki saw Eleanor's cruel side and her uninterested attitude, using dance steps and taunts to extract enjoyment from it. Witnessing what happens to those who lose her interest, Eleanor wouldn't sympathize or pity. Perhaps she only had love in her heart.

"Enough, Rider. Let her go." Suzuki tried to stop the distorted battle with a shout but didn't dare to take a step closer to either of them. He was afraid of both, especially the forcibly reconstituted Assassin Jane Grey. No normal person would think it safe to approach a half-human, half-evil spirit formed from chunks of flesh. It was already courteous not to immediately order her eradication. Conversely, his own Servant Eleanor only had a slight suspicion of rebellion, with a low probability.

After all, one was a human-like orthodox Servant, and the other was an evil spirit harboring malice towards the living, a natural enemy of humans.

Suzuki called out to stop out of respect for each Servant. In Chaldea's teachings, all summoned beings were referred to as Servants, described as avatars of heroes from mythology and history in the Throne of Heroes, without detailing special cases like evil spirits or demons.

"No, Master. Kindness is reserved for humans. She is an evil entity fused with malice. Don't be fooled by her pitiable appearance now. For her, killing is as normal as eating. Just having magical power isn't enough for her; she must continually kill humans to amplify the curse and malice within her. Her existence for even a day means a batch of people will be killed to replenish her."

Eleanor, finding a suitable reason, didn't care about the minor issue of the opponent's daily massacre to satisfy their killing desire. Compared to her son Richard, it was insignificant. But since Suzuki attempted to stop, she used these correct reasons to warn him, preventing discord between Master and Servant.

Upon hearing Eleanor's warning, Suzuki immediately realized he had overlooked the opponent's identity as an evil spirit. In his necromancy classes, the professor emphasized that evil spirits are extremely dangerous, to be eradicated if possible, and if not, to let the Servants handle it, without caring about the tragic experiences of evil spirits. The living are far more important than the dead. Yet he felt it would be better to let Assassin go; it seemed the reconstituted Assassin wouldn't survive long.

At the moment when the two sides were at a standstill, Aphaf, clad in heavy armor, came running from behind. Her steps were uncoordinated, and she stumbled noticeably when she stopped, swaying before regaining her balance. "Thank you for your assistance. Holy attribute attacks are particularly effective against Assassins. Perhaps only these kinds of attacks can kill ghost-like Assassins."

Through the thick helmet, Aphaf's tender voice took on a hoarse and muffled tone. Ignoring the unsolved bloodstains on the ground, she directly approached the struggling Assassin.

"Don't come closer! Don't come closer! I don't want to die!!" Assassin Jane Grey dragged her half-body, screaming piercingly, but now her screams lacked much of the fear and penetrative power that could once kill humans. Facing the approaching human, she had no choice but to beg for mercy.

Assassin's miserable state further satisfied Eleanor's sense of amusement. Instead of helping Aphaf, she enjoyed watching the farce unfold—the ugly ghost being purified by the human in holy armor. Such tales were not uncommon among knights.

Suzuki covered his ears, and his misplaced pity faded. His Servant was right; the struggling figure on the ground wasn't a heroic spirit from myth or history, but a twisted entity fused with an evil spirit, a monster that existed by mistake. Purification was the best outcome for everyone, including Assassin Jane Grey herself.

"Kill her," Suzuki said unconsciously. Even though it wasn't in Arabic, the meaning was clear to the other three present. Everyone there was either a Servant or a Master, so language barriers were greatly reduced. Such simple words carried no other meaning.

Eleanor's smile widened, and the struggling Assassin Jane Grey stopped her movements. She faced Suzuki with the fiercest look she could muster and shouted a curse in near despair.

"Is it wrong for me to want to live?! Why do you take away my right to live? In your eyes, every second I exist is a mistake, but I am a hundred times nobler than those commoners! Why don't you kill those more insignificant ants to satisfy your desire to display power? Why! Curse (Mary), curse (you), curse—all of you! The Lord will proclaim your mistakes and redeem the wronged souls like mine! Hell awaits you—"

Assassin's curse was abruptly cut off as Aphaf, in full armor, grabbed her head and emitted holy light from her hands, gradually disintegrating the cursing Assassin.

It wasn't that Aphaf's magic was strong enough to kill a Servant, but the dying Assassin couldn't withstand the erosion of holy power, and her spiritual foundation collapsed at that moment. Despite her strong will to live, she couldn't resist the damage to her spiritual foundation.

In an instant, all visible curses collapsed and dissipated in front of Aphaf, far exceeding what the three could see with their eyes but ultimately resulting in darkness being shattered by light in just a few more seconds.

"That's unfortunate. I can tell you clearly that the Lord is not on your side now. Or rather, a worthless being like you is hard to distinguish from ants. If you are fortunate enough to be redeemed, don't naively think that the Lord acknowledged your deeds. It's merely the Lord's mercy towards mankind," Eleanor declared the truth to the disintegrating spiritual core. The absurd curse lost all its power under the influence of her "Queen's Crown." A healthy Assassin might have been able to affect them with a curse, but the curse from a dying Assassin was as fragile as a bubble.

In the end, only an area of lingering invisible curses was left, which could render several square meters of land barren for hundreds of years. But compared to human history, it was still a fleeting scene.

"Is the Assassin destroyed?" Suzuki asked, lowering his hands from his ears after the last bit of black residue disappeared in the white light. The vile curse could no longer reach his ears. He didn't understand the Christian faith, nor the fine distinctions between Protestant and Catholic factions. He simply thought that Eleanor's final proclamation was more hurtful to the concerned party than a dagger to the throat, declaring the meaninglessness of existence and belief, perhaps containing a despair that could completely kill even an evil spirit.

"Of course. A mere evil spirit, I alone am enough to handle it. Not to mention with the help of a knight girl wielding countermeasure magic," Eleanor's previously cold and cruel demeanor flipped like a page in a book. With a hint of teasing, she stepped forward to support the unsteady Aphaf.

"Remove your armor. After all, a Servant's Noble Phantasm is a great burden on a human body."

At Eleanor's reminder, Aphaf attempted several magic spells, and before Suzuki could discern which one worked, the armor covering Aphaf's entire body dissipated into pure mana and returned to her body. She was once again in her veiled robe, suggesting that one of the spells she used involved a change of clothing. At Aphaf's level, and with her unique Mystic Eyes of Storing, she could manipulate various forms of magecraft as easily as using her own hands—far beyond what Suzuki could comprehend.

"Thank you for your help. We've defeated one of the enemy's Servants." Her weak tone carried a hint of excitement. Aphaf was in poor condition; without her armor, she could barely stand, her Mystic Eyes struggling to stay open, as if she had just finished a long cross-country run.

"Relax, little girl. Your performance is commendable. But there might be more enemy Servants already in the valley, so now is not the time to lie back and rest." Eleanor then used her ability, not minding the overuse of her power, and directly enhanced Aphaf's physical strength, indirectly helping her ignore her weakness.

If she applied these abilities to the right Servants, she could greatly enhance the combat capabilities of allied Servants. It was just that she had previously chosen not to use them, and even if she did, she wouldn't use them in the most appropriate situations. Suzuki had witnessed firsthand the use of his Servant's abilities and the true power of her Noble Phantasm and thus did not question Rider Eleanor. Having dealt with their ally Aphaf's enemy, Suzuki was concerned that Saladin might also encounter similar attacks.

It was going to be another restless night.[FDJ]Chapter 47/117: The Cruel Heart

Desperate in Situation, Belief in Mind.

Upon examining the remains of the Assassin on the ground, Suzuki discovered a hidden second Noble Phantasm or perhaps a one-time skill. The head that fell to the ground wasn't cursing or attempting a counterattack with a scream. Before being struck by the chariot, Assassin Jane Grey realized she couldn't dodge and used this ability.

In an instant, all the blood and remains on the ground gathered together, and Assassin Jane Grey struggled to emerge. Her body now appeared ghostly and translucent, her blood-stained mouth trembling as she painfully questioned Eleanor.

"Your Majesty, Queen who founded the Plantagenet dynasty of England, aren't you on the same side as your son? Why? Why attack me? I am your son's Servant!"

After hearing the difficult question from the opponent, Eleanor couldn't help but cover her mouth and laugh. Although she didn't have the convenient Master privileges like Suzuki, she could guess that the opponent had a battle continuation-like ability just by the result she saw, without needing to use the Queen's Crown ability to pry into the opponent's information. She was satisfied with the opponent's near-death state on the ground. She hadn't even declared herself queen, yet a mere evil spirit dared to repeatedly appear before her under the title of the Queen of England.

"Same side? Who said that? My Master is not Richard but this young man behind me. You and I are enemies. If I want to kill you, I kill you! Do I need a reason? If you must have one, here it is: you intruded into the valley, attempting to assassinate our ally, and we retaliated in self-defense. Is that reason enough?"

Eleanor found the other side laughable. Perhaps the last time she merely assisted Don Quixote from a distance, symbolically chasing twice, making the other think she wasn't strong. After being killed by the Noble Phantasm, she still wanted an explanation.

Eleanor predicted the maximum power of the opponent's desperate counterattack, which wasn't enough to warrant her caution. She didn't regard the opponent seriously. An evil spirit is nothing more.

Suzuki saw Eleanor's cruel side and her uninterested attitude, using dance steps and taunts to extract enjoyment from it. Witnessing what happens to those who lose her interest, Eleanor wouldn't sympathize or pity. Perhaps she only had love in her heart.

"Enough, Rider. Let her go." Suzuki tried to stop the distorted battle with a shout but didn't dare to take a step closer to either of them. He was afraid of both, especially the forcibly reconstituted Assassin Jane Grey. No normal person would think it safe to approach a half-human, half-evil spirit formed from chunks of flesh. It was already courteous not to immediately order her eradication. Conversely, his own Servant Eleanor only had a slight suspicion of rebellion, with a low probability.

After all, one was a human-like orthodox Servant, and the other was an evil spirit harboring malice towards the living, a natural enemy of humans.

Suzuki called out to stop out of respect for each Servant. In Chaldea's teachings, all summoned beings were referred to as Servants, described as avatars of heroes from mythology and history in the Throne of Heroes, without detailing special cases like evil spirits or demons.

"No, Master. Kindness is reserved for humans. She is an evil entity fused with malice. Don't be fooled by her pitiable appearance now. For her, killing is as normal as eating. Just having magical power isn't enough for her; she must continually kill humans to amplify the curse and malice within her. Her existence for even a day means a batch of people will be killed to replenish her."

Eleanor, finding a suitable reason, didn't care about the minor issue of the opponent's daily massacre to satisfy their killing desire. Compared to her son Richard, it was insignificant. But since Suzuki attempted to stop, she used these correct reasons to warn him, preventing discord between Master and Servant.

Upon hearing Eleanor's warning, Suzuki immediately realized he had overlooked the opponent's identity as an evil spirit. In his necromancy classes, the professor emphasized that evil spirits are extremely dangerous, to be eradicated if possible, and if not, to let the Servants handle it, without caring about the tragic experiences of evil spirits. The living are far more important than the dead. Yet he felt it would be better to let Assassin go; it seemed the reconstituted Assassin wouldn't survive long.

At the moment when the two sides were at a standstill, Aphaf, clad in heavy armor, came running from behind. Her steps were uncoordinated, and she stumbled noticeably when she stopped, swaying before regaining her balance. "Thank you for your assistance. Holy attribute attacks are particularly effective against Assassins. Perhaps only these kinds of attacks can kill ghost-like Assassins."

Through the thick helmet, Aphaf's tender voice took on a hoarse and muffled tone. Ignoring the unsolved bloodstains on the ground, she directly approached the struggling Assassin.

"Don't come closer! Don't come closer! I don't want to die!!" Assassin Jane Grey dragged her half-body, screaming piercingly, but now her screams lacked much of the fear and penetrative power that could once kill humans. Facing the approaching human, she had no choice but to beg for mercy.

Assassin's miserable state further satisfied Eleanor's sense of amusement. Instead of helping Aphaf, she enjoyed watching the farce unfold—the ugly ghost being purified by the human in holy armor. Such tales were not uncommon among knights.

Suzuki covered his ears, and his misplaced pity faded. His Servant was right; the struggling figure on the ground wasn't a heroic spirit from myth or history, but a twisted entity fused with an evil spirit, a monster that existed by mistake. Purification was the best outcome for everyone, including Assassin Jane Grey herself.

"Kill her," Suzuki said unconsciously. Even though it wasn't in Arabic, the meaning was clear to the other three present. Everyone there was either a Servant or a Master, so language barriers were greatly reduced. Such simple words carried no other meaning.

Eleanor's smile widened, and the struggling Assassin Jane Grey stopped her movements. She faced Suzuki with the fiercest look she could muster and shouted a curse in near despair.

"Is it wrong for me to want to live?! Why do you take away my right to live? In your eyes, every second I exist is a mistake, but I am a hundred times nobler than those commoners! Why don't you kill those more insignificant ants to satisfy your desire to display power? Why! Curse (Mary), curse (you), curse—all of you! The Lord will proclaim your mistakes and redeem the wronged souls like mine! Hell awaits you—"

Assassin's curse was abruptly cut off as Aphaf, in full armor, grabbed her head and emitted holy light from her hands, gradually disintegrating the cursing Assassin.

It wasn't that Aphaf's magic was strong enough to kill a Servant, but the dying Assassin couldn't withstand the erosion of holy power, and her spiritual foundation collapsed at that moment. Despite her strong will to live, she couldn't resist the damage to her spiritual foundation.

In an instant, all visible curses collapsed and dissipated in front of Aphaf, far exceeding what the three could see with their eyes but ultimately resulting in darkness being shattered by light in just a few more seconds.

"That's unfortunate. I can tell you clearly that the Lord is not on your side now. Or rather, a worthless being like you is hard to distinguish from ants. If you are fortunate enough to be redeemed, don't naively think that the Lord acknowledged your deeds. It's merely the Lord's mercy towards mankind," Eleanor declared the truth to the disintegrating spiritual core. The absurd curse lost all its power under the influence of her "Queen's Crown." A healthy Assassin might have been able to affect them with a curse, but the curse from a dying Assassin was as fragile as a bubble.

In the end, only an area of lingering invisible curses was left, which could render several square meters of land barren for hundreds of years. But compared to human history, it was still a fleeting scene.

"Is the Assassin destroyed?" Suzuki asked, lowering his hands from his ears after the last bit of black residue disappeared in the white light. The vile curse could no longer reach his ears. He didn't understand the Christian faith, nor the fine distinctions between Protestant and Catholic factions. He simply thought that Eleanor's final proclamation was more hurtful to the concerned party than a dagger to the throat, declaring the meaninglessness of existence and belief, perhaps containing a despair that could completely kill even an evil spirit.

"Of course. A mere evil spirit, I alone am enough to handle it. Not to mention with the help of a knight girl wielding countermeasure magic," Eleanor's previously cold and cruel demeanor flipped like a page in a book. With a hint of teasing, she stepped forward to support the unsteady Aphaf.

"Remove your armor. After all, a Servant's Noble Phantasm is a great burden on a human body."

At Eleanor's reminder, Aphaf attempted several magic spells, and before Suzuki could discern which one worked, the armor covering Aphaf's entire body dissipated into pure mana and returned to her body. She was once again in her veiled robe, suggesting that one of the spells she used involved a change of clothing. At Aphaf's level, and with her unique Mystic Eyes, she could manipulate various forms of magecraft as easily as using her own hands—far beyond what Suzuki could comprehend.

"Thank you for your help. We've defeated one of the enemy's Servants." Her weak tone carried a hint of excitement. Aphaf was in poor condition; without her armor, she could barely stand, her Mystic Eyes struggling to stay open, as if she had just finished a long cross-country run.

"Relax, little girl. Your performance is commendable. But there might be more enemy Servants already in the valley, so now is not the time to lie back and rest." Eleanor then used her ability, not minding the overuse of her power, and directly enhanced Aphaf's physical strength, indirectly helping her ignore her weakness.

If she applied these abilities to the right Servants, she could greatly enhance the combat capabilities of allied Servants. It was just that she had previously chosen not to use them, and even if she did, she wouldn't use them in the most appropriate situations. Suzuki had witnessed firsthand the use of his Servant's abilities and the true power of her Noble Phantasm and thus did not question Rider Eleanor. Having dealt with their ally Aphaf's enemy, Suzuki was concerned that Saladin might also encounter similar attacks.

It was going to be another restless night.