"Ah." Mash froze as she realized just how silly her question actually had been.
Olga also fell silent for a few seconds.
{"...Wait."} Olga murmured. {"Now that he said it like that..."}
Arthur crossed his arms.
"Obviously, I'm not going to summon too many." he continued calmly. "Two are already more than enough."
"Even with Independent Action EX, I still need to manage my magical energy consumption."
Then he showed a small smile.
"Besides... you all know the two I intend to summon."
That immediately sparked everyone's curiosity.
"We know them?" Mash asked.
"Who?" Ritsuka immediately asked while leaning forward.
Arthur merely smiled before pointing toward the center of the room.
"Move back a little."
Everyone obeyed immediately.
Even Merlin stepped back a few paces while observing the scene with extreme interest.
In the next instant, golden ripples emerged behind Arthur.
From within them, Arthur pulled out a beautiful bow, and right after that, he drew a white banner from the ripple.
Ritsuka's eyes widened instantly.
"...Wait."
She recognized that symbol immediately.
"That banner belongs to Jeanne d'Arc!"
But before she could ask anything else, Arthur began the chant.
"Fill. Fill. Fill. Fill. Fill."
"Repeat it five times."
"And destroy each filling."
"—Establish."
"Let silver and steel be the essence."
"Let stone and the archduke of contracts be the foundation."
"Let my great master Schweinorg be the ancestor."
A summoning circle slowly appeared beneath his feet.
"Let a wall against the wind rise and collapse."
"Let the four cardinal gates close."
"Let the three-forked road leading to the Crown rotate unto the Kingdom."
"—I declare."
"Your body shall be under my command."
"My fate shall be within your sword."
"Answer the call of the Holy Grail."
"If you accept this will and this reason, then answer my summon."
"I swear."
"I shall become all the good in the world."
"I shall defeat all the evil in the world."
"O you, enshrouded in the seven heavens by the three great words of power—"
"Come forth from the circle of restraint."
"Guardian of balance."
A burst of white light completely engulfed the room the moment he finished the chant.
And then, gradually, the light began to fade, revealing two female silhouettes standing at the center of the circle.
Arthur's eyes immediately widened slightly when he saw the first one.
"...Hm?"
She possessed remarkably pale skin, yellow eyes, short light-blonde hair with a rebellious strand sticking out, and a dark color palette for her armor, banner, and cloak, in addition to a breathtaking beauty that barely seemed real despite her notably aggressive appearance.
"Jalter?" Arthur muttered in bewilderment. "How did I summon her...?"
Then he turned his gaze toward the second woman.
She wore beautiful green clothing covered in vibrant emerald tones, her cold and piercing eyes carrying a beast-like glint. Her hair was long and disheveled, completely lacking the silky elegance one would expect from noble birth. Like someone who could be called a beautiful beast in human form, her appearance suited her perfectly.
Her charming features were those things on her head resembling animal ears, and the thing at her lower back that looked like a tail.
She calmly observed the surroundings for a few seconds.
Then she looked directly at Arthur.
"...You are my Master?" she asked.
Arthur showed a small smile.
"It's been a long time, Atalanta."
"...Hm?" she murmured in slight confusion. She had never seen him before, so how did he know her well enough to say "it's been a long time"?
Beside her, Jeanne finally spoke up.
"...I am the Avenger-class Servant, Jeanne d'Arc."
Atalanta spoke right afterward:
"I am Atalanta, Archer-class."
Ritsuka and Mash were completely stunned that he had actually succeeded — and by who he had summoned.
{"...He really summoned two Servants..."}
Even Olga seemed speechless on the other side of the line.
Arthur then cleared his throat lightly.
"...Before anything else."
He extended his hand.
"Could the two of you give me your hands for a moment?"
Jeanne blinked while raising an eyebrow suspiciously.
Despite their confusion, both obeyed.
"...Why?" Ritsuka asked.
Arthur simply answered:
"...You'll understand soon enough."
In the next instant, a small semi-transparent white sphere slowly appeared above his hand.
Mash's eyes immediately widened; she recognized that sensation.
Arthur then split the sphere into two parts and immediately placed one into Jeanne's hands and the other into Atalanta's.
The moment he did—
BOOM.
An overwhelming flood of memories invaded both of their minds instantly.
"...What was that?" Mash asked.
Arthur silently observed the two Servants while calmly replying:
"...The Arthur who traveled with you left more than just his memories inside your shield, Mash."
A few seconds later, Jeanne slowly turned her gaze toward Arthur with a smile on her face.
"...I'm going to kill you." Jeanne said calmly, her smile widening further.
Arthur fell silent for a moment.
Then he deeply sighed while massaging his forehead.
"I think I messed up."
Then he lightly cleared his throat.
"...Sorry, I think I heard that wrong."
Jeanne continued staring at him with a dangerously beautiful smile on her face.
"No, you heard exactly what I said." she replied calmly.
The room's temperature seemed to rise by several degrees.
"I said I'm going to kill you."
She stood up and took a step forward.
Her smile slowly darkened.
"I'll pierce your chest with my sword, peel your skin off piece by piece very slowly, and then burn whatever remains of you."
"..."
Ritsuka slowly began backing away as cold sweat dripped down her forehead.
Mash swallowed hard when she saw the terrifying smile on Jeanne's face.
Even Merlin fell silent for a moment.
"After that..." Jeanne spoke almost in a soft whisper. "I'll savor listening to your screams of pain and agony while your flesh slowly melts within my flames."
Black fire began emerging around her.
"And just to guarantee maximum suffering..." she tilted her head slightly. "I'll regenerate you as many times as necessary."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"That became disturbingly specific. Even I got chills." Merlin quietly commented.
Arthur merely sighed deeply while massaging his forehead.
"...You're exactly the same as ever."
"Naturally." Jeanne replied coldly. "And why would I change?"
Then she slightly narrowed her eyes.
"...Or did you really think I would forget?"
Arthur already knew exactly where this was going.
"...Jeanne."
"Don't say anything." she immediately interrupted.
The black flames around her intensified violently.
"Nothing is more appropriate than a painful death for a shameless womanizer who dared to sleep with me..." she spoke slowly.
"...And then had the nerve to go around seducing other women as if that were the most natural thing in the world."
Mash slowly turned her head toward Arthur.
Ritsuka did the exact same thing.
Anna too.
Even Olga fell silent on the other side of the communicator.
"..."
Arthur looked away.
"...Senpai." Mash slowly called out.
"...Yes?"
"...Is that why she wanted to kill you so badly in Orleans?"
"...Technically—"
"Senpai."
"...Yes."
Ritsuka placed a hand over her face.
"I honestly don't even know where to begin anymore..."
Merlin was already literally crying from laughing too hard.
"Ahahahahahaha! Wonderful! Simply wonderful!"
Jeanne immediately pointed her sword at Merlin.
"Do you want to die too?"
"Sorry."
She stopped laughing instantly.
Atalanta, on the other hand, observed the entire scene with an amused little smile on her face.
"...So that's the situation." she said.
Arthur immediately turned his head toward her.
"I can explain."
"No need. I don't care about that." she replied calmly.
Then her smile widened slightly.
"You may handle your extramarital problems for however long necessary."
"..."
"..."
"..."
For an entire second, the room remained completely silent.
PFFFFFFFFT!!
Ritsuka was the first to burst out laughing.
Mash tried to hold back her laughter but failed miserably.
Even Anna turned her face away while trying to hide her laughter.
Merlin literally fell onto the floor laughing hysterically.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!"
Arthur immediately placed a hand over his face.
"...I hate all of you."
Jeanne pointed her sword at him again.
"You have no right to complain."
"...You're right."
Before the situation escalated even further, Arthur immediately grabbed Jeanne by the arm.
"Okay." he spoke quickly. "We need to have a conversation."
"Hm?" Jeanne looked at him dangerously.
"A very long and deep conversation."
"..."
She still clearly looked like she wanted to brutally murder him.
But strangely enough, she didn't try to pull her arm away.
Arthur immediately started dragging her toward the stairs.
"Hey—"
"No fires in here." he immediately replied.
"I can still burn you outside."
"Let's discuss this civilly."
"I just threatened to melt your flesh."
"And I still believe in civilized dialogue between a man and a woman."
"...Idiot."
Despite the cruel tone, Jeanne still ended up following him upstairs without truly resisting.
Which only made the entire scene even more suspicious.
Ritsuka watched both of them heading upstairs, her face turning slightly red as she understood Arthur's intentions.
---xXx---
Arthur continued dragging Jeanne upstairs while she complained the entire way.
"Let go of my arm."
"No."
"I still intend to kill you."
"I know."
"Then why do you keep pulling me around like this?!"
Arthur opened the door to his room without even answering.
In the next instant, he entered the room and immediately pushed Jeanne inside.
Jeanne fell seated onto the bed with an irritated expression.
"You—"
Before she could finish, Arthur closed the door behind them.
CLACK.
The room fell silent for a few seconds.
"...What exactly do you think you're doing?" she asked while staring at him dangerously.
Arthur let out a small tired sigh.
Then he slowly began walking toward her.
"I'm solving a problem."
"...Hm?"
"You're too angry, Jeanne." he replied calmly. "And that's going to negatively affect our mission here."
"...So your brilliant solution is dragging me into your bedroom?" Jeanne asked while narrowing her eyes.
"Close enough."
"...You really are still a shameless man."
Arthur merely smiled lightly before beginning to remove his shirt.
"..."
Jeanne, who had been about to mock him again, instantly froze.
Her eyes involuntarily followed the movement.
Arthur immediately noticed her gaze on him.
"...I knew it." he casually commented.
Jeanne immediately looked away.
"What are you talking about?"
Arthur tossed the shirt aside while continuing to walk toward her.
"You like this kind of game."
"What?!"
"You may be a rather cruel and temperamental woman." he replied calmly. "But you love this little Master-and-Servant game."
Then he stopped right in front of her.
"And you become much more honest when you're angry."
Jeanne immediately tried to say something, but froze again when Arthur leaned toward her.
"...T-That doesn't mean anything."
"Of course not, my sweet Jeanne."
The overly fast response only made things worse.
"...You are an unbearable man."
"And you're still absurdly easy to tease. I love that about you."
"I'm going to burn this room down."
"Later."
"...Later?" she asked while staring into his eyes.
Arthur then gently held her face by the chin.
The movement was so natural that Jeanne simply froze for a moment.
Her eyes met his scarlet ones.
"...First, I need to calm down my lioness's anger." Arthur said in a low voice.
Jeanne felt her heart skip a beat when she saw the smile on his face.
Worst of all, she couldn't deny it — whenever he started acting dominant around her, she simply couldn't resist.
'...I think I really was tamed by this bastard.' she muttered unwillingly.
Arthur then gently tilted her face upward.
"...Do you have anything against our reunion party?" he asked while staring at her.
"..."
Jeanne opened her mouth, but closed it again shortly afterward.
Then she slightly looked away.
"...No." The answer came out distractedly.
Arthur immediately smiled upon hearing that.
Jeanne hated admitting it, but she loved it when he smiled like that.
'...I really am no longer fit to be a saint.' she thought as Arthur captured her lips.
"...Mmph—"
Arthur immediately deepened the kiss while gently pushing her onto the bed.
Her body sank into the mattress as he leaned over her.
Jeanne tried to maintain her irritated expression.
But only a few seconds later, her fingers had already unconsciously grabbed onto his clothes.
"...Master..." she softly murmured between kisses.
Arthur merely smiled against her lips while immediately placing a soundproof barrier around the room.
Jeanne had never exactly been the type of girl to keep her voice down, and the soundproofing there was simply terrible.
---
(End of Chapter)
A/N: JALTER FOREVER💘