Jeanne's attitude had changed in a subtle way.
No, the overall atmosphere was similar to before, but the way she treated me felt a bit more serious.
The lewdness from before was largely gone.
I didn't know why, but this was better for me. Although, for some reason, she was now insisting on acting like my big sister.
"Big sister? In terms of age, aren't you older, Kuriyama-san?"
"That's true."
Jeanne d'Arc died when she was about nineteen, so I was older.
"Then should I call you 'big brother' Sho?"
"Just call me by my name. I prefer that."
"I don't know why~ but I get the feeling I'm going to lose you to someone else, Sho. You're my man, aren't you?"
"Ah, yeah."
It was hard to even respond to her jokes. The expression 'lose you' particularly bothered me. I felt like I'd become too sensitive about having things taken away.
[You already have that girl who calls you Senpai, and you're cheating on her~? Senpai.]
"Cheating, what a violent word."
BB took this opportunity to tease me. By the way, since both Ritsuka and I were called 'Senpai', it was getting confusing.
We continued to travel while bantering like this.
Time passed after Jeanne joined us, and as it gradually grew dark, evening fell.
Now we had to find a forest to set up camp.
"Hmm? Ma-ster. Over there, fire."
While we were searching for a forest, Asterios spotted a small light in the distance.
Fire? Not a light, but a real fire.
"Let's go, quickly!"
We moved swiftly toward the source of the fire. Fire, it was fire.
It was burning. A whole village was burning, and countless living dead (zombies) were attacking people.
I hurriedly told everyone to save the people, and I also headed to the scene.
But then, I saw them. Servants.
One was Martha, far in the distance.
The other was right in front of me.
"She's here."
I told Ritsuka to stay by Mash's side and went forward alone.
I didn't think it would be dangerous. Even if it did become dangerous, I felt I had to face her one-on-one.
"Huh? What are you?"
The woman who had been killing people turned to see me and gave a wicked smile.
"Ah, so it's you? The one they call Chaldea's Master, Kuriyama Sho."
Atalante.
It's burning. This small village is burning.
No, could it be called small? It was large enough for at least several hundred people to live in. A village of that size was on fire.
"Why are you doing this?"
I didn't know about Atalante, but seeing Martha, I could tell. They weren't on the Dragon Witch's side, but on that bastard Ryuji's side.
"Hmph? It's nothing much. Just a bit of entertainment. Procuring women and troops for our master."
They kill the old and the men and take their corpses. They capture the women and children alive.
The dead are useless, so they are turned into living dead, while those taken alive will become servants.
The male children... was that Atalante's personal taste?
But they weren't taking all the children. I could see people being sacrificed during the village's destruction.
The 300 Spartan soldiers summoned by Leonidas were running around, putting out the fires, fighting enemies, and rescuing survivors.
How many people had died because of this? How many had suffered?
"Did you really... have to do this?"
"Hmph? What are you talking about?"
"I'm asking what you were thinking, doing something like this. Did he order you to?"
"No, it was our own will. They were just annoying. The ones who resisted when we tried to take the women and children were a nuisance, that's all. And besides, it's a good way to increase our forces, isn't it?"
Something, something inside me felt like it was snapping. I think I was finally understanding what it meant to feel your blood boil.
"What, do you actually feel sorry for them? Pathetic! You're just as pathetic a male as I've heard. That's why you're being weeded out by nature. This world is survival of the fittest! That is the law of nature. Those with great power can do whatever they want! That is the truth and the unchanging rule of the world!"
"Ah, I see."
It snapped.
Something decisive inside me broke.
"Enough chit-chat. I was told to bring you back alive, but not in one piece. Don't worry, I'll leave you your legs!"
She charged. Kicking off the ground, Atalante rushed toward me.
Parvati, who was closest, reacted, but I held up my left hand in a signal for her not to come.
I couldn't use telepathy yet, so this was the best I could do.
Atalante. The swiftest huntress of Greece. Her speed was said to be comparable to that of Achilles.
But, to me right now.
WHOOSH~!
"What?"
She seemed incredibly slow. It was like watching a normal person run.
I dodged the hand she swung at me, and my right hand clenched into a fist, veins popping with the force I put into it.
What could a normal person do by throwing a punch?
Anyone watching would surely think that. A normal person's fist against a corrupted Greek hero? A cotton ball would hurt more.
But the law of this world is...
Even an ordinary person like me can become a fighter straight out of the Baki-verse, but only against women.
CRAAACK!!!!!
The punch landed squarely. Her nasal bone shattered and her teeth broke. Her front teeth and molars broke and flew out, and her head twisted to a degree it shouldn't, followed by the sickening crunch of breaking bones.
Atalante was sent flying 100 meters, tumbling across the ground.
"Hmph."
Who would have expected it? That a mere regular Master would finish off a Servant in a single blow. Martha, who was commanding the living dead, was stunned, and everyone except Leonidas, Ritsuka, and Mash was shocked.
Well, Leonidas had at least seen me beat down Medusa. He probably figured I had something up my sleeve.
"Chen Gong."
"Ah, yes."
I called to Chen Gong, who was nearby.
"Looks like the self-destruct weapon is ready."
"What? But Master, my Noble Phantasm doesn't work on dead bodies. Hmm?"
She wasn't dead. Even a Servant should die if their neck is broken and twisted like that. But Atalante was staggering to her feet.
It was regeneration.
Under the influence of the pelt of the Calydonian Boar, a demonic beast sent by Artemis, she had undergone a demonic transformation, becoming a monster.
Her neck could be broken, her heart torn out, her skull shattered, and she still wouldn't die. Through her transformation, she could move as if her body had no bones, flesh, or nerves. And with it came regenerative abilities.
"Keh, khahahaha. Not bad. Ahh, for a mere human, you're not bad at all. To think you'd send me flying like that. But! It's impossible for you to kill me!"
Staggering to her feet, Atalante boasted of her near-immortal body as she shouted at me.
"You seem quite angry, don't you? That's because you're one of the weak! Your sympathy and anger for the weak is truly pathetic. I was careless before, but not anymore!"
Atalante charged at me again.
In her words and actions, I saw an overlap with him.
'It's because you're a failure as a man, Ritsuka. Just how pathetic are you that women only follow me? The world calls you a loser, you know? It's the law of nature, isn't it? Weak men are bound to be weeded out. A superior man like me is the one fit to be a Master, don't you think? You should be grateful I'm letting you live. What are you doing? Not bowing your head?'
It really, really overlaps.
"Now, this is the end!"
I again dodged the claws Atalante swung at me and threw a punch into her abdomen.
THWACK!!!
"Guah!?"
I punch. I swing and swing and swing again.
"Gah! It's... it's no use! The likes of you... can't kill m—!"
CRUNCH!!!
I was frustrated.
Why couldn't I help that one person? I was pathetic for not being able to stop trash like him, and I hated myself for not being able to even throw a single punch.
I knew it was wrong, but I couldn't step up. I had tolerated injustice for my own safety. He was the one in the wrong, yet I couldn't help Ritsuka.
"Gack! St-stop!"
BAM!
I was so frustrated and angry. I had cried watching Ritsuka, turned into a woman, being raped by him every day and played with like a toy.
I wished I had power. I wished I had courage.
The power to fight back against this absurd world and situation. The courage to stand up against injustice instead of enduring it.
SMACK! CRUNCH! BAM!
I always felt sorry for Ritsuka, and I felt guilty. Because I was an adult who could do nothing for him. I just felt guilty for being a powerless adult who couldn't protect him.
"Master! That's... enough now."
"..."
Jeanne grabbed my arm, stopping me. I glanced down to see a battered and trembling Atalante.
"I... I was wrong... Please... just spare me...."
This pathetic wreck is a hero.
Did I just unilaterally beat up someone so weak and pathetic? I'm such an idiot.
But why?
"I feel... so much better."
If I had this power back then, would things have been different?
The more I thought about it, the more I beat Atalante to a bloody pulp.
It just made me want to kill that bastard as soon as possible.
"Are you disappointed? In a Master like this."
I had just beaten down someone far weaker than myself. What would a saint like her think, seeing this?
"You were being angry on their behalf, weren't you?"
"..."
"You were angry for the sake of the victims, and for someone you hold dear. Seeing that, how could I possibly be disappointed in you?"
The Saint, Jeanne d'Arc, gave me a gentle smile and hugged me.
Her warmth, her benevolent smile, put me at ease.
Ah, can I never escape the mistakes of my past? Even if Ritsuka doesn't resent me, I resent the me of those days.
No, I should stop these gloomy thoughts.
I'll just watch the dirty fireworks Chen Gong is about to set off and calm my heart.