[Nightmare]
Unknown Universal Calendar.
Earth, year 1431.
Location: France.
Charles VII
News had reached him late by the time he'd heard of Jeanne's capture.
It was disheartening, really, hearing the accusations from the church.
Were the news to have gotten to him earlier, he'd have done something about it; pulling some strings here and there would have no doubt helped.
'What a mess.'
He himself knew that he needed the support of the Saintess. After all, it was thanks to her he was currently here.
The church couldn't have done it alone; that, he was sure of.
He'd sent his people across the country to investigate, and even as he was here now, he was doing everything in his power to vindicate the saintess.
However, it was useless.
No matter what threat he used, the church wouldn't open their gates, nor would they grant his request for an audience, which annoyed him to no end.
Could England be behind this?
He thought so but soon dismissed it with the shake of his head.
That couldn't be right. But it couldn't exactly be dismissed either.
England have every reason to continue the war, and at the same time, continuing like this would only lead to worse.
And since Jeanne's capture, things have been tense between the two countries.
Should so much as a pin drop during this tension, things may spiral out of control.
This is bad.
However, what came next was worse than he'd imagined.
"My king! This is bad news! It's—! It's on fire!"
"HUH?"
Yes. Currently, the town which was close to the prison tower was up in flames.
And this was the place where Jeanne would have been burnt on a stake and Ren on a guillotine, was in flames.
And true to the report.
After escaping the prison, Ren had silently exited the Tower Prison. Well, if killing all the guards is a silent action, if anything.
Yet, despite this, Ren hadn't released any prisoners.
As for Jeanne, on the other hand, he had set up a way for the Saintess to escape, and that would be if she's willing to do so.
After all, she looked raring to stop him.
However, this was the one thing he wouldn't back down against.
Church? Helpless people? What a load of bullshits. Those damn cultists were anything but what Jeanne had made them to be.
The women and children were all cut from the same cloth.
Made him wonder how they got past the saintess's ability.
Descending down the tower prison, which was located a little bit of a distance from the town.
However, it was currently no problem.
Walking towards the town, which was separated by a forest, is Ren, bloodied, with a chain wrapped around his right arm and on his left arm, clenching a longsword.
"Haah."
At first, Ren had paused, taking in the fresh air of the night.
"What a beautiful night."
Ren had said before, striding purposefully towards the town in view.
Ren had said before, striding purposefully towards the town in view.
By the time he'd arrived at the front of the town. The guards were the first to take notice.
They had been on night guard duty when they patrolled some sections of the town.
Since things were still tense, both France and England couldn't be lax with security.
It was just in case one side was planning an ambush.
One had particularly yawned before pointing his torch towards where Ren was approaching.
"Haah."
They yawned as the light slowly illuminated someone slowly coming into view.
Average build of a young person, extremely pale skin, crimson eyes, and a dim expression on their face.
"You, who are you—!?"
As the guard had said that, his eyes slowly peered towards the chain and longsword he held in both arms.
Not to mention his blood-smeared clothes and weapons.
"You!?"
The man had screamed; however, unfortunately for him, as he said that, Ren had lunged towards him.
As for the guard, however, the torch had dropped to the ground as he attempted to unsheathe his weapon—but the never did.
An extreme numb feeling.
Then, silence.
The world spun.
The stars above twisted, and the torch in his hand flickered as if caught in slow motion.
He saw the ground, the dirt, the blood-stained cobblestones—
And then, he saw his own body.
He attempted to speak, but nothing came out; his eyes were clouding at a very fast pace.
But the last thing he had seen Ren do was grab the torch that had fallen on the ground along with the extremely mysterious voice of his.
"I'll make good use of it."
Naturally, as this happened. Ren had found the nearest wooden-like building structure and had dumped the torch into it with no particular expression on his face.
And if one were to describe it, it would be extreme indifference, without a change of expression.
"What's going on? I heard some loud noise coming from here."
A voice had said that while walking towards where Ren and the guard's lifeless body lay.
It took him some moments to understand what he was seeing; however, by the time he'd react, it was too late.
SHIIIN!
A longsword had cut the air, making its way into the skull of the city guard.
It was Ren who had thrown the weapon with all his might.
"Rest well."
Saying that, Ren had also picked up the torch from the city guard, repeating the same process, lighting another wooden structure.
At first, there was peace for some more passing moments after that had been done, albeit with a little burning smell coming from who knows where.
But then—
BOOM!
A sudden BOOM shook the ground.
The blast sent embers swirling through the sky, painting it in shades of blood-red and orange.
Screams tore through the streets. Flames consumed wooden structures in seconds, spreading like wildfire.
A woman ran, clutching a child in her arms, her hair catching fire as she stumbled.
Guards scrambled to douse the flames, only to be cut down where they stood.
They had met their death in the mysterious assailants hands as he silently blended with his surroundings.
However, weird enough, Ren didn't pursue the civilians despite this.
Perhaps he didn't consider them as a threat.
However, it wasn't a stretch to say he had now accomplished his goal. Within no time, the entire town had gone up in flames.
"Next up…"
Ren muttered as he looked at the grand-like architecture in the distance.
Meanwhile.
Back at the Tower Prison.
A certain saintess was cursing her luck as she stretched her hands past the barred prison of hers.
She stretched her hands towards the longsword that was just a finger away from her.
It just had to come down to this, didn't it?
Yet, it was difficult because she was chain-bound.
Regardless of that, she kept trying, in all earnestness, stretching her arms towards the longsword.
"Ngh. Just let me reach!"
Already being in a difficult position was troubling enough; she barely had the convenience to do so.
"Ugh! Dammit!"
But then, having remembered how far Ren was willing to go, she calmed down, slowly inhaling and exhaling, adjusting her body.
She knelt in front of the barred cell; the longsword alongside the keys was just a distance away.
Then, with force, she slammed her whole body against the cell, without a care for her nose, as she hit it with a DANG!
The keys were hung over the blade of the longsword purposefully by the male.
She knew this, and she understood what he was trying to tell her.
Yet, she didn't want him to do so.
She might have the slightest clue of what he'd gone past; however, she just didn't want him to go through with it.
Part of it was her responsibility as a saintess, and yet, for some unknown reason, another part of her was also drawn to the male.
Someone who she couldn't read quite well.
Someone who rejects her beliefs, but yet it didn't feel like he quite did.
Someone who keeps contradicting himself.
Someone like him. She was extremely curious about it.
Even now, he had given her a means of escape by putting the keys in a way that it would be easy for her to reach.
And she had done so.
"Ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch! That hurts!"
She let out a sound unbefitting for a saintess, but never mind that.
Taking the keys, she quickly located the ones for her restraint and soon unlocked the chains binding her.
"Although I don't want to do this, if I don't, then things would be far worse."
Having said that, she brandished the longsword she now held, raising it up.
Then in a downward slash motion, she had cleaved the iron bars.
Naturally, it was unreasonable to do so.
After all, the keys were already in her hands, and it was just a matter of inserting the keys into the keyhole; however, the Saintess had seen it as a hassle.
"This way is faster."
So she claimed, as she stepped out.