Purple hair. White gown. Mutilated body. Dreamy, drunken expression on her burnt face…
They had been fooled, everyone realized, horrified.
It wasn't Dark Sakura that they had been trying to kill all this time.
It was their Sakura… Sakura, whose heart was pure and who had become an embodiment of All Good itself… Sakura, whom they had left behind at Einzbern Castle.
"… No…" Shirou stuttered, the twin swords falling to the ground and vanishing. "… Sakura…"
Next to him, Rin had her hand on her mouth, as horrified as Shirou, seeing her sister's state.
However, more than the Masters, it was Rider who was suffering the most, her knees striking the ground with a thud.
For so long, she had been trying to kill not The Shadow, but her own Master. Because of the dress, the tangible Bounded Field of All Evil, Rider had failed to sense the girl within, despite the bond between her and her Master.
Now, as she looked at Sakura, something shattered within Rider, as if her own Mystic Eyes had petrified her.
And then, something did shatter — shards of space itself raining down.
"MASTER!" Medea's cry rang like a scream through a bugle. "HE's HERE! Ru…"
Caster couldn't finish her words. Nor did anyone need to hear the rest of what she was saying to know who had just arrived.
Golden chains rained down in hundreds, tearing Medea's massive Bounded Field apart.
Then, together, they homed in on Sakura, leaving massive booms in their wake.
Time seemed to melt away under the wrath of their speed, the Chains of Heaven surpassing all myths.
None could react.
None could register their paths.
However, just as the chains were about to obliterate Sakura's entire existence, red-black strips of cloth rippled around her, covering her within a dome.
Booooooooooooooom!!!
The sheer number and speed of Chains of Heaven tore through a part of The Shadow's defense like paper, revealing the girl within.
All the chains bounced to the sky.
Then, together, they turned around and rushed to finish the job.
"Haaaaaaaaaaa!" Shirou broke out in a run.
Rider's face gained a blank look, the needles thundering in her hands.
Archer rained a shower of arrows in the chains' paths as well, Assassin firing bullets at them.
Booms and bangs rang out as Shirou and Rider parried the chains that Archer and Assassin's attacks couldn't hold back.
Meanwhile, Saber deflected the red-black strips… that tried to take advantage of the chaos to corrupt the other Servants.
Black eyed the chaos and looked at Rin.
Sensing eyes on her, she looked at Black as well, her face gaining a pale whiteness.
No words were exchanged between them, but they both knew that things couldn't have taken a worse turn for them.
Not only could they not let the Ruler finish The Shadow, but they also needed to survive as it tried to kill them.
Whoever had cooked up this plot had truly gained an upper hand over all of them, all the while not even showing himself.
"Rin…" Black said, hesitating. "I… can't sense Berserker…"
Rin's eyes widened to the extreme. What?!
Then, the presence weighed on their shoulders, making all look up.
Enkidu, wearing a white dress, was levitating midair above Medea's half-broken Bounded Field, his long green hair flapping mightily against the gusts of wind.
It was obvious that he hadn't destroyed the Field completely so as not to let the destruction seep out into the city. But that didn't mean he would hold back.
"… You still intend to protect her?!" Enkidu asked, his voice reaching all ears. "Look at her. She's beyond saving now. It will be a mercy…"
"Shut up!" Shirou shouted. "Stay away from her!!"
Enkidu's mouth flattened into a thin line. "… Surely there are some among you who realize the gravity of the situation. I cannot let her… get away."
Then, it happened.
Someone fell from the sky, holding a flag staff in her hand.
Like a meteor, flaming and burning the sky, she landed right in front of Sakura, a golden BOOM sending Shirou, Rider, Saber, and Assassin flying into the distance.
Golden brilliance overshadowed the densest of darkness as the Holy Maiden took her stance right in front of Sakura.
The red-black strips of The Shadow launched themselves toward her, but the Holy Aura reflected them.
Jeanne d'Arc wielded her flagstaff like a lance and thrust it forward, determined to purge All Evil, even if it meant sacrificing the poor girl.
Through Enkidu, she knew how grim the situation of this world had become. Perhaps that's why the Holy Grail had let her, a 10th Servant, get summoned by a Magic Circuit-less Master, to begin with.
It was her duty now — as much as it was the Ruler-Class Servant.
As the Standard-bearer of the Holy Grail War — regardless of her status as a true Ruler-Class Servant or a pseudo one — as long as she held a single breath within her, she must stand true to her ideals.
"… Forgive me…" Jeanne d'Arc said, her voice oozing mercy.
And the tip of the lance-like flagstaff in her hand erupted with golden light.
No…
No…
Sakura… was going to die…
Nothing could save her now.
From Archer to Assassin, from Saber to Rider, and from Shirou to Black, Rin, and Medea, all could tell — this new Servant was as strong as the one looming over their heads.
Yet, they must move.
Yet, they must save the girl — who didn't deserve to die for others' sins.
The moment their hearts showed the barest hint of taking action, though, Enkidu lifted his right arm, vines-shaped Command Seals, one for each Servant present here, glowing green on his hand.
"On my authority as the Ruler of this Holy Grail War," Enkidu declared, his words booming in the Servants' hearts. "I command you to stand down."
A green halo flashed over Saber, Rider, Archer, Assassin, and Medea, petrifying them on the spot.
Only Shirou was moving toward Sakura now… hung uselessly in time.
No. There was someone else who had stepped forward as well.
"… Shirou…" Black said, bathing himself in fuming, red mists. "… I need swords…"
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