"Hiduri, go back."
Unable to come up with a good solution for the time being, Ophis turned her attention to Siduri.
"Hiduri?"
It was then that Ophis noticed Siduri's attention had been diverted. She was whispering with a newly arrived messenger.
At the same time... Ophis also noticed that the two of them were occasionally glancing at her with strange looks.
The messenger seemed hesitant, and Siduri appeared confused.
"Is this information really confirmed? What will you do if something goes wrong?" Siduri asked.
"This... this is what the scouts at the front reported..." the messenger replied nervously.
"What's wrong?" Ophis asked, her tone calm but commanding.
"That... King..." Siduri began, her voice trailing off as she noticed Ophis's gaze shifting back to the battlefield, seemingly ignoring her words entirely.
───────────────────────────────
On the plain, thousands of Uruk warriors formed a shield wall, standing their ground against the relentless waves of monsters. They never took a step back.
This resilience was not just due to the strength of the Uruk soldiers, but also because of the support from Saber Altira and Archer Arjuna, which significantly alleviated the pressure on them. However, there was another, more important reason.
At the forefront, always standing firm and never retreating, was an angelic girl.
She held the flag of Uruk high, waving it in defiance of the monsters.
Miraculously, the soldiers under that flag had never been harmed by the creatures.
Perhaps inspired by the girl's determination and holiness, or driven by a sense of pride, the morale of the Uruk soldiers soared to its highest point.
At that moment, Jeanne d'Arc continued to wave the flagpole, striking down the monsters around her.
Unlike her fellow Servants, who unleashed their Noble Phantasms to clear the field, Jeanne d'Arc refrained from using such powerful abilities. She was just a simple country girl, not a great hero, so she did what she could with all her might.
All she could do was wave the flag at the frontlines.
But something felt wrong.
'God' was warning her!
Something powerful was approaching!
Jeanne d'Arc looked up in the direction her revelation pointed.
Behind the horde of monsters, she could faintly see a golden light.
"My banner────"
Without hesitation, she charged forward, unfurling her flag.
"────Protect my compatriots!"
As she spoke, a golden light began to radiate from her.
At the same moment, the golden light behind the monsters surged forward, rushing towards Jeanne d'Arc.
Now, she could see its true form.
It was a golden spear.
If it were merely a spear made of gold, Jeanne d'Arc wouldn't have cared, but she could sense the terrifying power emanating from it!
Jeanne d'Arc gritted her teeth, planting the flagpole firmly on the ground.
Rather than drawing the exquisite longsword at her waist, which seemed more decorative than functional, Jeanne d'Arc placed her faith in the flag she held on the battlefield.
This flag represented her will and glory. She had waved it on countless battlefields, leading her to victory until the end, making the flag her treasure.
Its name────
"My God is Here!" (Luminosité Eternelle)
As the words fell, a golden beam of light erupted from the flagpole.
The golden spear shot forward with incredible speed, tearing through the ranks of monsters in its path, before colliding directly with Jeanne d'Arc holy flag.
A violent explosion followed, crushing countless monsters in its wake.
Fortunately, Jeanne d'Arc had distanced herself from the Uruk army beforehand; otherwise, the damage would have been catastrophic.
"What on earth is this..."
Staring at the spear that had been blocked by her flag, Jeanne d'Arc frowned.
At that moment, the spear, as if realizing it couldn't breach her defense, lost its momentum. Then, before Jeanne d'Arc eyes, it transformed into golden light and slowly took on a human form.
Jeanne d'Arc barely had time to be surprised before a warning from her "revelation" urged her to leap back several steps. Just as she moved, countless chains sprang up from the ground, attempting to ensnare her.
Having already evaded the most dangerous position, Jeanne d'Arc easily swung her holy flag, deflecting the chains. But as they recoiled in mid-air, they morphed into dozens of weapons, descending upon her once more.
Faced with such an onslaught, Jeanne d'Arc had no choice but to retreat while continuing to fend off the attacks with her flag.
"I see. So this is the fighting power of a 'Servant'? It's indeed stronger than those ordinary 'failures'... but as a weapon, it's just an outdated model."
"Who are you?" Jeanne d'Arc demanded, her voice firm.
The golden light surrounding the figure dissipated, revealing a 'girl' with long green hair, clad in a simple white robe. Her beauty was marred by an evil smile that stripped away any semblance of holiness she might have possessed.
"Enkidu... my lord?"
"Isn't that Lord Enkidu?" one of the Uruk warriors questioned.
"Didn't Lord Enkidu disappear?" another asked.
"She just attacked us, didn't she?" a third chimed in.
The Uruk warriors in the rear formation began to waver.
The reason was simple. The figure before them was the sage who had contributed greatly to Uruk, guiding their king and transforming him. This was Enkidu, the king's friend.
And now, this person was standing against them.
"That's not Lord Enkidu!"
Suddenly, someone shouted loudly.
"Lord Enkidu would never smile such an evil smile!"
"Yes, Lord Enkidu would never wear such an expression!"
"Who are you, and why are you pretending to be Lord Enkidu?"
This hesitation quickly turned into anger.
The Uruk warriors pounded their weapons and shields, cursing the figure before them.
If not for the strict discipline maintained by their generals, they would have charged forward and fought the enemy to the death.
"...Enkidu, huh?"
Jeanne d'Arc gripped her battle flag tightly, her eyes narrowing in seriousness.
After arriving in this era, she had learned about Enkidu.
A saint, the king's friend, who had guided him to become the wise ruler he was today.
At the same time, an exceptionally powerful warrior.
Whether this Enkidu was the real Enkidu or not, their strength was undeniable, and the fact that they stood against them... was also certain.
In that case, the only option was to fight.
"Really? You are truly 'old humans.' The facts are clearly before your eyes, yet you still refuse to believe them, letting your emotions cloud your intellect. How foolish."
However, the figure resembling Enkidu paid no attention to Jeanne d'Arc, sighing instead.
"I had hoped to shake these worthless pieces of equipment, but it seems to have had the opposite effect... But what about the one who is the pillar? With her abilities, it's impossible for her not to recognize this machine, right?"
Enkidu looked towards Uruk in the distance, seemingly locking eyes with those dark silver ones.
"It would be nice if I could make you collapse right away... but it seems it's not that easy?"
Shifting her gaze away, Enkidu glanced at the Uruk army.
"It's pointless bloodshed. They're all going to be destroyed anyway... Well, let's see how long these worthless pieces can hold out... Before that, I'll give you a small gift as a greeting."
As soon as Enkidu finished speaking, countless chains shot up from the ground again.
However, this time, their target was not Jeanne d'Arc... but the densely packed Uruk soldiers behind her!