They moved quietly through the mansion's corridors once again, following the same pattern that had led them to the grotesque cockroach-headed statue.
But suddenly
Ritsuka stopped.
"What happened?" Gudako whispered.
Ritsuka tilted his head, focused. "I hear something… someone's crying."
Jeanne and Gudako followed closely behind as Ritsuka led them toward a door at the end of the hallway. Slowly, cautiously, they opened it.
The scene inside stole their breath.
Dozens of corrupted Servants were bound in chains. Twisted by dark energy, but not yet fully transformed. Their eyes had lost hope, their bodies trembling with pain. And yet…
"P-Please… kill us…" one of them whispered.
"Before we become monsters…" another added, their voice broken.
Ritsuka's heart sank. He had faced Servants in battle. He had seen death. But never like this. Never begging. Never helpless.
Gudako, usually so strong, looked away, teeth clenched.
Jeanne stepped forward, her grip on her flag tightening. Her expression hardened.
"I will do it," she said. "I may not have my Saint Graph experience or skills, but I have fought in war. I've ended suffering when it was necessary."
She glanced at them with a soft, sad smile.
"You two… you're still young. This burden shouldn't fall on you. Let me carry it."
Without waiting for a reply, Jeanne moved to the first chained Servant. They whispered their thanks through tears.
Jeanne prayed under her breath, each swing of her weapon followed by a solemn, merciful silence. One after another… she granted them peace.
Gudako couldn't look. She gripped Ritsuka's hand tightly.
Ritsuka's thoughts churned.
This is… hard. What if this happens again? What if there's no one like Jeanne next time?
"I have to change," he murmured to himself. "Adapt."
He forced himself to watch. To remember. To learn.
Then—
"Ritsuka," Gudako whispered, pointing. "That one. She's… different."
In the far corner, a Servant clutched her side. Unlike the others, corruption hadn't fully consumed her. Her body trembled, but her form remained mostly intact.
"She's not fully corrupted!" Ritsuka rushed to her side.
"She might still be savable," he said.
"Let me try," Gudako replied, activating her Mystic Code. "Da Vinci and Olga prepared this in case of spiritual corruption."
She held her hand out, releasing a beam of gentle, purifying white light.
"Heal… and cleanse!"
The corruption writhed, resisting—but then it dissipated.
The woman collapsed forward, breathing hard. Long white hair fell across her face. In her arms, she held a worn doll tightly—one with teal eyes and porcelain skin.
"She's okay…" Ritsuka sighed with relief.
Jeanne returned, eyes slightly teary from what she had done—but softened when she saw the survivor.
The Servant looked up. Her pale blue eyes met Ritsuka's.
"T-thank you," she whispered, grabbing his hand. "I… I was scared…"
"Just breathe slowly," Ritsuka said gently. "You're safe now."
As she recovered, Ritsuka and Gudako explained their mission, who they were, and why they had come to this place.
The Servant sat up weakly, still holding the doll.
"I… am Anastasia Romanova," she said. "Grand Duchess… of Russia."
Ritsuka and Gudako shared a glance. The Grand Duchess?
"I was lucky," she added. "The corruption almost took me… but I held onto something… something precious."
Her gaze flicked to the doll, but she said nothing more.
Jeanne offered her hand. "Can you walk?"
Anastasia nodded slowly. "Yes. And… I want to help. I hate that woman—that Jeanne. She must die."
Ritsuka frowned. "Revenge is dangerous and not good. But… I agree. She has to be stopped."
Anastasia gave no reply—only a cold, knowing look.
Then Jeanne froze. "She's close…"
Gudako asked, "Who?"
Anastasia answered grimly. "The Witch Jeanne."
Ritsuka narrowed his eyes. "She found us… or rather, she was waiting."
A pressure filled the air—a malicious energy pulsing from another room up ahead.
Gudako turned to Ritsuka. "You need to form a contract with Anastasia. I've already made contracts with other Servants while you only had one. Even Jeanne… is bound to me."
Ritsuka nodded and faced Anastasia.
"Will you accept a temporary contract? To help us protect humanity?"
She smiled faintly. "I will."
But to defeat a witch.
A surge of mana flowed from Ritsuka to her. Her body steadied, eyes glowing faintly as she became his Caster.
Gudako helped support her.
The time had come.
They walked forward—toward the source of the corruption. Toward Witch Jeanne.
Ritsuka took a deep breath, reaching into his storage space. With a focused thought, he pulled out his Ridol—an unassuming tool at first glance. But as his energy surged through it, the object shimmered and transformed. In his hand now was a sleek weapon resembling a staff or rod, glowing with ethereal energy.
Gudako's eyes widened. "Ritsuka… what is that…?"
She almost said more but caught herself. This wasn't the time.
Anastasia clutched her doll tighter, still weak and leaning on Gudako. Jeanne, sensing the shift, rebalanced her stance and gripped her staff tightly in both hands.
Thud.
Ritsuka pushed the door open and stepped in first, without hesitation. The rest followed.
The room was cloaked in shadows, faintly illuminated by trembling candlelight. But instead of providing warmth, the flickering glow only deepened the sense of dread—casting long, distorted shadows across the walls.
It looked like a reception room once used for diplomacy and business. An ornate desk sat in one corner, accompanied by a high-backed chair. A round wooden table with plush seating took up the center, clearly intended for private conversations or elite gatherings. The walls were decorated with gaudy tapestries and paintings, most now darkened with dust and age.
To their right, another door led deeper into the private chambers—but there was no need to check it.
Because she was already there.
Seated like a queen surveying her dominion, the woman on the ornate chair wore a dark, armored dress—the twisted mirror of Jeanne d'Arc's holy attire. Her golden eyes glowed faintly with malice, her lips curled into a cruel smile.
She had Jeanne's face.
But her expression? That of a predator.
The air went cold.
"She's the—"
Swing!
Before Jeanne could finish her warning, Ritsuka had already moved.
His Ridol flashed with blue light, cutting through the air in a wide arc. The wind from the swing alone blew out two candles.
CLANG!
A Lancer-class weapon came hurtling toward them from the shadows—aimed to kill. But Ritsuka intercepted it in time, deflecting the force with a violent crash of sparks.
The weapon spun away, clattering to the floor before vanishing into black mist.
"Not bad," the Witch Jeanne said, her voice dripping with venom and delight.
Ritsuka landed beside Gudako, eyes sharp and unblinking.
Gudako thought 'Was it Light saber?'
Everyone stared, tension like a taut wire. The real Jeanne narrowed her eyes, stepping forward slowly.
Witch Jeanne stood now, gaze sweeping across them.
"I was wondering when you'd stop scurrying like rats…" she hissed. "And instead, you show up with toys. You dare destroy my playthings... and *bring this trash—*Anastasia—here?"
An aura erupted around her, blood-red and suffocating.
"You'll pay for it."
In an instant, the killing intent washed over them like a wave.
Jeanne braced herself, remaining steady.
But Gudako staggered back, grimacing, her knees nearly buckling.
Anastasia cried out, clutching her head. She dropped to one knee, nearly losing consciousness.
Gudako's hands were trembling.
Fear gripped her heart like a vice—this wasn't a simple singularity, and this wasn't a normal enemy. One mistake, one misstep, and it was all over. They'd lose Anastasia. They'd lose everything.
But even amidst the panic... her eyes fell on Ritsuka's back.
He stood tall.
Resolute. Unshaken.
The sight grounded her. Inspired her. She clenched her fists, breathed in deep, and supported Anastasia with both arms, steadying the Caster as best she could.
She raised her eyes, meeting the burning gaze of Witch Jeanne.
"LOOK AT THE LITTLE MICE SCRAMBLING AROUND!" the Witch sneered with mock delight, locking onto Gudako now. Her voice echoed like broken bells through the chamber.
"I WONDER, WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO COME UP WITH IN THOSE TINY LITTLE BRAINS OF YOURS? HAHAHA!"
The mockery cut deep—but Gudako didn't flinch.
Then Jeanne stepped forward, her staff quivering in her grasp—not from fear, but from the effort of holding back emotion.
"Are you... really me?" she asked, voice quiet, yet cutting. "I don't understand why you would destroy France… I can't even imagine it!"
The words struck like a bell.
For a brief moment, silence.
Then—laughter, sharp and cruel.
Witch Jeanne's expression twisted.
"I'm shocked!" she howled. "I DIDN'T THINK YOU WERE THIS SLOW!"
Her eyes burned brighter now, like embers fanned by hatred.
"THIS COUNTRY betrayed me! THEY SPAT ON ME! They burned me like I was filth! That's why I'm destroying it!" she screamed. Her voice thundered with righteous fury twisted into madness.
"I will pull up the bad seed known as humanity by its roots! I will remake France into a country of nothing but silent corpses! No more betrayal, no more pain, no more lies!"
She took a step forward, darkness flaring around her form.
"If you can't understand that," she growled, voice low, venomous, "then you definitely aren't me. That remnant of an imperfect spirit origin you're clinging to… it's proof that you've lost the fire! You're nothing."
Jeanne gasped. Her breath caught in her throat.
The hatred, the despair—was this truly born from her?
Ritsuka narrowed his eyes.
His mind raced.
[Host, the target is physically stronger than you.]
[Her attack power is 30% greater than Dark Saber Artoria.]
The cold voice of Sakura echoed within him.
"I know…" Ritsuka thought grimly. "I felt it when I blocked her attack earlier. She's more than a corrupted spirit. That thing—she's fury made manifest."
He subtly adjusted his grip on the Ridol, steadying his stance.
"Kyaaaaahhhh!"
A horrifying scream tore through the room—a scream that didn't echo, didn't vibrate the air, but stabbed directly into the mind. It was inhuman, full of resentment, rage, and suffering.
Gudako, Anastasia, and Jeanne clutched their heads, trying to block the sound with their hands—but it was useless. The voice wasn't heard through ears. It invaded the soul.
And yet…
Jeanne refused to close her eyes. Even as her expression contorted from the pressure, she glared forward with unwavering faith.
Thud!
Suddenly, with no warning, a man appeared from nowhere.
He landed between them and the source of the sound, catching something midair—a cursed, pulsing object glowing with dark light.
Jeanne's eyes widened.
"Huh?"
The man who now stood in front of them…
"Gilles de Rais…?"
A twisted grin split across his pale face. His eyes were bloodshot and vacant.
"My saint… kukukukukuhahaha!"
He cackled, the sound far worse than the earlier scream. It was the laughter of a man who had broken long ago—and never came back.
"That is…!" Ritsuka narrowed his eyes at the book in Gilles' hand, immediately recognizing the unnatural aura.
Jeanne's breath caught in her throat.
"The book… that cursed thing… I've seen it before…"
Gilles smiled sweetly, as if speaking to a beloved child.
"Its official name is the Offering Ritual's Key, saint Jeanne."
He gently closed the book with a soft snap. But Ritsuka could sense it.
Behind that pleasant tone was madness, obsession… and a hunger for something profane.
Witch Jeanne chuckled darkly as she welcomed her ally.
The twisted knight Gilles now stood beside her like a loyal servant of a false god.
But Ritsuka wasn't going to wait.
With a sharp motion, he channeled energy into Ridol, expanding it into a long rod—the weapon pulsed with force.
Swing!
He launched forward, aiming directly at the book in Gilles' hand.
Caught off guard, both Witch Jeanne and Gilles failed to react in time. The rod struck true.
Gilles hissed in pain, stumbling back.
The cursed book flared violently—but it didn't explode. Instead, it hissed like a wounded beast.
Some of its pages were torn, fluttering through the air like black snow.
"You suddenly pop out with creepy laughter, and the girls were screaming behind me," Ritsuka said bluntly. He rested the Ridol over his shoulder, casual but alert. "So I acted on instinct. My bad."
He held up the ripped pages with his free hand.
"But don't worry, I made sure to grab the important parts."
A smirk touched his lips.
Gilles looked down at the book, noticing the damage for the first time. His face twisted from glee to fury.
"You DARE touch the ritual key…?! Those pages… DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT YOU'VE INTERRUPTED?!"
"…It seems like this little rat hasn't realized the situation he's in yet," Witch Jeanne sneered, her voice venomous.
"Probably a hundred times better than you think," Ritsuka replied coolly, his eyes calm and unwavering.
"How dare you, moron!?" Gilles roared, veins bulging with rage as he clutched the damaged ritual key.
"Who are you calling moron, you moron?" Gudako snapped back with equal heat, stepping forward without hesitation.
"Silence, woman!" Gilles barked, his gaze wild. "You don't understand anything! My God—who hears my every prayer—granted me this sacred divine book! How dare you insects damage it?! I'll make you suffer, sacrifices to the glory of my Go—!"
"—You've got a lot of nerve, For someone whose intelligence is similar to that of a cockroach like the god you serve, you shouldn't talk for too long." Ritsuka cut in sharply, his tone mockingly thoughtful. "Honestly, I'm doing you a favor by pointing that out. If you talk any longer, you might short-circuit what little intelligence you have and choke on your own words."
"…"
"Don't glare like that. I'm being kind here. I mean, if your 'god' and his most loyal fool are both crawling around on the same intellectual level as a squashed bug, then maybe the first step toward salvation is self-awareness."
"Pfft—!"
From behind him, a muffled laugh slipped out.
Gudako, barely holding back her amusement, leaned into Anastasia, who looked away with a smirk of her own. Both had been glaring at Witch Jeanne a moment ago—but now Ritsuka's brutal roasting had clearly lightened the tension.
Witch Jeanne's expression twitched. Gilles gritted his teeth so hard it sounded like bones grinding.
"…You'll regret that," Gilles growled lowly. "You want to die so badly? Fine. But death will be too merciful. For damaging the Key, I'll make you suffer until your soul weeps for forgiveness for my god!"
He lifted the half-destroyed book, its pages still flickering with cursed energy.
Dark mana began to leak from Witch Jeanne, twisting through the air and enclosing the area like a suffocating fog. Gilles stepped back with reverence and bowed his head slightly to her.
"Kill them, my saint," he whispered with twisted devotion. "But please, Saint Jeanne, leave her alive."
His finger pointed straight at the real Jeanne.
"I want her to watch. I want her to see my vengeance against this filthy world play out before her eyes."
Witch Jeanne's lips curled into a grin.
"I like that. Watching her hope break piece by piece—I can't wait!"
Ritsuka thought 'Why does he calls Witch Jeanne as my saint but real Jeanne as Saint? Was there a deeper meaning behind it?'
Jeanne raised her staff. But opposite her, Ritsuka remained calm, unflinching.
"Whenever I see guys like you in stories," he said while casually adjusting his stance, "I always wonder one thing."
His eyes flicked toward Gilles.
"Why do you always assume everything will go your way?"
He deliberately stomped on the torn pages scattered on the ground. The sound echoed like a drumbeat in the dark.
"You can't even use your powers properly now that the book's wrecked, right?"
Shock flickered in Witch Jeanne's eyes. Gilles' face twitched.
"…Tch!"
Ritsuka tilted his head. "What's wrong? You said your god blesses you. So why not call him now and repair the book?"
"…"
Gilles stayed silent, his teeth grinding again.
"I thought so." Ritsuka's smile was razor sharp. "You're just a mouthpiece with no connection. No god. No power. Just empty words."
Fury surged from Gilles like a firestorm. "SILENCE, MORON!!" he screamed, fully losing composure.
Then, with a triumphant gleam in his eyes, he barked, "You think you've won? The preparation is already complete! Eight statues of my god are already placed throughout the city. The Offering Ritual is underway!"
Ritsuka's eyes narrowed slightly.
'Eight statues…'
That one sentence gave him exactly what he needed: the key intel to their entire plan.
Inwardly, he smirked.
'So… that's your setup. Thanks for the confession.'
Jeanne's body trembled with fury. For a moment, it seemed like she might strike Gilles with her staff. Unlike her, Ritsuka remained calm, his eyes sharp and calculating.
"But the artifact—the 'key' you mentioned—is broken," Ritsuka said coolly. "It's impossible to complete the ritual now. Stop bluffing."
He glanced at Gudako, who immediately understood the cue.
"The key doesn't matter for the ritual—" Gilles started.
"Oh really?" Gudako cut in, sarcastic. "That's great then. We'll just leave, and you can complete your little ritual. Be sure to finish it, alright?"
"Tch… It's only temporary. It can be restored soon," Gilles muttered, losing ground in the conversation like a cornered child.
"You're still bluffing even now?" Ritsuka's voice sharpened. "Even that short amount of time is enough for us to do something."
Witch Jeanne narrowed her eyes. "…What are you planning?"
Ritsuka gave a small smirk. "What do you think I'll do once we're out of here? I'm going to search the city. I'll find all those statues of your cockroach god—eight of them, right?—and I'm going to smash every single one." Gudako and Anastasia are shocked because Ritsuka revealed their plans which can be guessed easily to destroy the statues but still, Ritsuka doesn't need to reveal. What he is planning?
Gilles opened his mouth to argue, but Ritsuka didn't give him a chance.
"Of course, I know destroying the statues alone won't stop the ritual. Their corrupted energy has already seeped into the groundwater. But don't assume I don't know how the ritual magic works. I've studied the seals."
"Y-you're serious?" Saint Jeanne asked, eyes widening.
"Yes. I've analyzed the structure. I understand the magical seals on the statues," Ritsuka said, confident and focused. "We can't delay the ritual indefinitely, but we can severely weaken it. Once their power is diminished, we strike the central statue—the one inside this residence. That will collapse the entire ritual framework."
Even Gudako was surprised. She hadn't realized Ritsuka had such a deep grasp of complex magecraft. But she believed him. She felt hope again.
In contrast, Gilles and Witch Jeanne's faces twisted in pure hatred.
"Don't be absurd!" Witch Jeanne spat. "If you could do all that, why come here instead of searching for the statues first?"
"Because we didn't even know the statues were spread throughout the city until you revealed it," Gudako answered sharply.
"Exactly. We didn't know how far along the ritual was either," Ritsuka added. "But now the situation's changed."
He pointed at Gilles' book.
"With that catalyst damaged, you can't perform the ritual right away. We might only have a day or two—but that's enough. If we find and destroy just one statue, the chain weakens. The ritual gets delayed. Then we find another. And another."
"I'll kill you before that happens!" Witch Jeanne snarled.
Without a word, Ritsuka flung a handful of Water purifying powder from his system storage into her eyes.
"Son of a—my eyes! You'll burn in my flames, bastard!!"
"Then let's see each other later," Ritsuka said.
Crash!
With a wide arc of his Ridol, he smashed a hole through the building's wall. He swiftly grabbed Anastasia around the waist and jumped. Saint Jeanne took Gudako and followed.
They landed hard, but intact. Anastasia, weakened and unconscious, lay in Ritsuka's arms. The sound of groaning caught their attention—guards, twisted by dark magic, had turned into lumbering zombies.
But they were too slow.
Dodging and weaving, the group broke through the line of undead and escaped into the shadows of the city—Ritsuka leading the charge toward the statues of a false god.
Inside the mansion...
Witch Jeanne and Gilles stood silently by the shattered window, watching the fleeing figures disappear into the streets below.
"My saint," Gilles said with a grin twisted in worshipful madness, "it seems they've walked straight into our trap. Fools, but That bastard moron destroyed our divine book my Saint."
"Yes, he will pay for it. I will make sure of it with my own hands" the witch replied coldly, her eyes gleaming in the moonlight. She recovered from Ritsuka powder attack.
Gilles chuckled darkly. "We still require a few more Servants to complete the ritual. I'm certain they'll bring exactly what we need—more sacrifices for his glory. It doesn't matter if those servants dies in their way but they must die in the city. The god that sleeps beneath us shall awaken."
They both turned away from the window, their silhouettes swallowed by the shadows behind them.
Meanwhile, in the dark alleys of the cursed city...
Ritsuka led the group through the twisting streets, holding the unconscious Anastasia tightly in his arms. Saint Jeanne ran beside him, cradling Gudako as they dodged through alleyways and rooftops.
But Ritsuka's lips curled into a quiet smile as he muttered under his breath, "No... they are the ones who've fallen into our trap."
Gudako blinked, looking up from Jeanne's arms. "Wait—what do you mean?"
Still running, eyes sharp and focused, Ritsuka replied, "They were trying to deceive us. But while they were busy talking, I set my plan in motion. That entire conversation? It was the first step. And it worked."
Jeanne glanced at him sharply. "What are you planning, Ritsuka?"
Ritsuka gave a cheeky grin, eyes glinting with determination. "Now, now, Miss Jeanne… that would be telling."
The wind howled past them as they vanished into the night, the dark city stretching endlessly before them.
Fwoosh!
To be continued...
---
Note: Well how is it? Jalter is here. Honestly this chapter is big than I thought. Anyway, This chapter is important for final battle in future so remember what conversation happened between them.
I would like to see a comment on what is the trap' Ritsuka made by using this conversation.
Jalter is not Waifu, not at this moment of the story. But she will become in future.
And the reason why I introduce Anastasia as female lead Because of her Interlude. To tell you truth, I really love Anastasia x Ritsuka and kadoc x Lostbelt Anastasia. But I never forgive what Lostbelt Anastasia did to Chaldea. If I had a chance to write lostbelts then it will be amazing to break Chaldea Anastasia in writing. I may sound evil but as a writer you will understand.