Jeanne gazed silently at the continent to the right of the ship.
"Do you want to go back and take a look?"
At that moment, Ryou's voice came from behind.
Jeanne didn't turn around. Her expression was complex, filled with longing and desire, but also tinged with hesitation.
That land was once her homeland, the place she had fought for, but also the land that ultimately betrayed her.
Jeanne had no regrets about her life, but in her heart, France still held a special place.
Ryou walked up beside her and placed his hand on her shoulder.
Jeanne couldn't help but offer a bitter smile.
"I'm sorry, Ryou. With a great battle ahead, I'm getting distracted by these trivial matters."
Unexpectedly, he raised his hand and gave her a light flick on the forehead.
"Ryou!?"
Jeanne immediately covered her head, looking at him in surprise.
"Fool. What's the big deal? You're too serious. You need to remember that although you're a Heroic Spirit, you're still human. It's only natural to have feelings for this land. How could I possibly blame you for that?"
Ryou's tone carried a hint of affection.
He then turned his gaze toward France.
"After we defeat that woman, let's go visit France. I'm quite interested in the land that raised Jeanne d'Arc."
"Alright..."
Jeanne opened her mouth, but in the end, only a single word came out.
Crunch!
Standing nearby, Ais bit into a freshly baked cookie, breaking it apart.
"Too sweet."
She muttered softly, though it was unclear whether she was talking about the cookie or something else.
The Yamato passed through the English Channel and then sailed up the Thames toward the heart of London.
As Ryou observed the scenery along the Thames, his eyes narrowed slightly.
The McRucky Engine was invented in the United Kingdom.
As a result, England's industrialization progressed at an unprecedented pace.
In his view, the banks of the Thames were lined with various factories.
Tall smokestacks pierced the sky like swords, and the factory buildings stretched endlessly along the river.
However, he had already seen the high-tech wonders of modern industrial empires, so the scene along the Thames seemed almost trivial.
What truly shocked him was the complete absence of people.
Not a single living soul, not even a Kabane, could be seen.
There were only lifelike statues made of iron, silently standing in every corner.
Something was very wrong!
Ryou's eyes remained fixed on the iron statues.
They were far too realistic.
Not only were there men, women, the elderly, and children, but their clothes indicated their professions—workers, mailmen, clerks, and even prostitutes. The folds in their clothing and the expressions on their faces were all vividly detailed.
The statues were so lifelike that they seemed like living people who had been instantly turned to iron by some kind of magic.
Ryou was startled by the bizarre thought that suddenly popped into his mind.
The idea took root and began to grow.
If that were truly the case, then the culprit behind all this was terrifying indeed.
Judging by the expressions on the statues' faces, it was clear they had been turned to iron so quickly that they didn't even have time to react.
Moreover, from the river's mouth to here—covering a large part of London—the scene was the same.
For something to affect such a wide area, at least an A-rank Noble Phantasm would be required!
A heavy shadow fell over his heart.
If the enemy possessed such power, their mission might be doomed to failure.
As the Yamato continued upstream, the river began to narrow.
When they reached the area near Greenwich Park, the ship came to a stop.
"Admiral, if we proceed any further, my main body might run aground. Should I switch to shipgirl mode?"
Yamato immediately asked him for instructions.
Ryou didn't answer right away. Instead, he swiped his fingers across the electronic map.
After undergoing modernization, the Yamato was equipped with a more precise positioning system.
With the global map loaded into the system and Yamato's exceptional calculation abilities, they could pinpoint their exact location with precision.
This was one of the advantages of having a shipgirl. The onboard equipment could perform at 200% efficiency, and with further upgrades, the difference in technology became even more apparent, elevating the ship's overall capabilities.
Complete control, combined with calculation power comparable to a quantum computer, was the true strength of a shipgirl.
Not to mention, shipgirls could switch between their full ship form and the smaller, more agile shipgirl mode.
Suddenly, Ryou's fingers stopped, pointing to a specific area on the map.
"Is this location within the range of your main cannon?"
Yamato narrowed her eyes slightly. He could see a stream of data flash through her pupils.
Soon, Yamato reported a series of precise figures.
"12.358 kilometers. Southeast wind, wind speed 3 knots. The water is calm. I can keep the error margin of the bombardment within 1 decimeter."
"Excellent! Flatten that area!"
Ryou gave the next command with a cold smile.
This battle plan had been inspired by Ais's previous attack on the White House.
Throughout history, fighting on an enemy's home turf has always been a major disadvantage.
Especially in small-scale skirmishes, where the enemy could set numerous traps and exploit the terrain.
Since fighting on their home ground was so disadvantageous, why not destroy it and level the playing field? Then, they could finish her off!
"Wait! What about Ayame-chan!?"
Jeanne quickly spoke up to stop him.
But Ryou's expression didn't change.
"Right now, you two are the most important to me."
He then decisively ordered Yamato.
"Yamato! Bombard Buckingham Palace!"
"But, Admiral..."
Yamato hesitated, glancing at Jeanne, whose face was filled with concern.
"Follow my orders!"
Ryou's tone grew more serious.
"Yamato understands!"
Yamato bit her lip, and her main cannon immediately swiveled into position.
This was the nature of shipgirls: to them, the Admiral was everything, and they would fight anyone for him.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
A series of thunderous explosions rang out as nine 520mm high-explosive shells, glowing orange, shot forth into the distance.
Only then did he turn around, his expression softening.
Seeing Jeanne standing with her hands clasped together, head bowed in silent prayer, he spoke to comfort her.
"Jeanne, you don't need to feel guilty. I'm the one who gave the order."
"And that woman went to great lengths to take Ayame away. She'll hide her somewhere unexpected, using her as a trump card..."
Ryou tried to comfort Jeanne, though even he didn't find his words very convincing.
After all, his actions had already shown that he didn't care much about Ayame's fate.
In the enemy's eyes, Ayame's value as a hostage would have greatly diminished.
If the captor had a bad temper, they might kill her on the spot.
However, Jeanne shook her head.
"To stand by and allow an innocent life to be lost because of us without trying to stop it—that is a sin. I sincerely hope Ayame is safe. If she were to die, I would still pray for her and share the burden of that sin with you, Ryou. After all...
My hands are already stained with blood, whether it's the blood of enemies or allies."
Ryou suddenly realized that he had completely underestimated this French saint.
Of course, this was the saint who, when France was on the brink of destruction, led the Gallic soldiers to save the nation and drive out the English invaders.
Compared to her gentle appearance, her inner strength was far greater than he had imagined. She was like a diamond, formed over countless years by the craftsmanship of nature itself—beautiful and unbreakable.
As they spoke, Yamato's main cannon showed no sign of stopping.
The automatic loader quickly loaded shell after shell—each taller than a grown man—into the cannon barrel, followed by the hammer striking the shell's base.
In an instant, sparks flew, followed by a deafening roar as the shell was launched.
Before ten seconds had passed, another high-explosive shell was fired.
The modernization process, combined with the power of faith from countless parallel worlds, had brought Yamato's 520mm main cannon to a firing rate comparable to that of an automatic gun!
Barely after the first round of shells struck the target, the second volley was already on its way.
As the first high-explosive shell hit the target, a series of deafening explosions echoed through the sky. Fierce flames shot upwards, and thick smoke mixed with fire surged into the air, forming a massive mushroom cloud—no, nine mushroom clouds in a row!
The pristine palace crumbled like a child's toy block tower in an instant.
Next, a ring-shaped shockwave spread from Buckingham Palace, rippling outward.
In just a few seconds, all glass objects within a 10-kilometer radius—including windows, mirrors, and tableware—were shattered.
Buildings within one kilometer of Buckingham Palace were directly blown apart by the shockwave. Even those that withstood the first wave of shelling were covered in cracks and soon collapsed under the second and third volleys.
As for Buckingham Palace?
This treasure of architecture with over two hundred years of history had been reduced to rubble in the very first wave of cannon fire. All that remained were gaping craters in the ground.
[Ding!]
At that moment, the system sent a notification.
Ryou opened it, and a series of messages flooded the screen.
[Your contracted Heroic Spirit has killed a demonic elite. The final hidden core mission completion rate has increased by 5%...]
[Current mission completion rate: 60%.]
[ You have gained XXX energy points...]
[Your contracted Heroic Spirit has killed a demonic elite...]
A stream of kill messages flooded him, leaving him quite stunned.
Without even seeing the enemy, they had already killed three demonic elites with the bombardment, raising the mission completion rate to 70%, and earning over a million energy points.
It was clear that the enemy had died in a particularly frustrating manner.
However, the fact that the mission completion only reached 70% meant that the final boss, Princess Sakura, had not perished in the bombardment.
Of course, that sly fox wouldn't die so easily.
As for the million energy points, Ryou only glanced briefly at them.
In his view, energy points were just the system's basic currency, useful for daily needs and early-stage equipment. By the mid-game, or even late-game, their value would diminish significantly.
With the system continuously unlocking new features, he realized that what truly allowed him to grow stronger quickly were Abyssal Crystals.
Seeing that the clearing operation had been successful, he ordered Yamato to cease fire.
Then, the three of them flew toward the ruins of Buckingham Palace.
As for Yamato and Shimakaze, they naturally transformed into shipgirl form and followed on the Thames River, approaching Buckingham Palace.
The nearest point of Buckingham Palace to the Thames was just over a kilometer away—well within the precision range of these shipgirls, like elite snipers.
Sakura wasn't the strongest enemy Ryou had ever faced, but she was certainly the most troublesome.
So he hadn't hesitated to concentrate his strongest forces in this world for the battle.
What do you do when the enemy is smarter than you?
You gather all your strength and hit them head-on.
Now, all he could do was give it his all and leave the rest to fate.
That was all there was to it.
When Ryou and the others arrived at the ruins of Buckingham Palace, the flames from the explosions had yet to die down.
Amid the rubble, there was a dazzling light flickering—it was the Abyssal Crystal dropped by the demonic elite they had just killed.
Unfortunately, there was only one.
It seemed that even Yamato's luck wasn't particularly great.
Speaking of luck, out of all his contracted Heroic Spirits, other than Ais, Medea Lily had the best luck, rated at A-level.
It was a shame. Why couldn't he let his contracted Heroic Spirits pull the ten-roll gacha for him?
Just then, Ryou's eyes narrowed.
A powerful presence was approaching.
The enemy was here!
Boom!
The ruins of Buckingham Palace were suddenly lifted into the air.
A massive amount of debris shot out like a shower of petals, raining down everywhere.
And then, an overwhelmingly powerful figure appeared at the center of the ruins.
Her heart radiated a noble, resplendent purple light. She wore a gold and white evening gown that blossomed like flower petals and a silver queen's crown adorned her head. However, even the crown encrusted with countless jewels couldn't outshine the woman herself.
Though she stood amidst the ruins, it was as if she were in a grand and majestic palace. The world seemed to revolve around her.
Ryous expression became serious. Sakura's aura was terrifyingly strong. In just these few short days, her power had exploded in growth.
Damn it, how did she manage that?
A huge question mark popped into his mind.
Sakura's growth speed completely defied the laws of logic.
Ryou quickly cast aside these distracting thoughts.
There was only one thing on his mind now, and it was the only thing he could think about—how to kill her!
"What rude guests. You didn't even say a word before tearing down my palace. Don't you know anything about etiquette?"
Brushing her hair lightly behind her ear, Sakura spoke with an expression of displeasure.
Ryou scoffed.
"Do you invite your enemies for afternoon tea before attacking them?"
To his surprise, Sakura responded.