The infinite sword system has been mastered, and you say this is the dragon clan?

Chapter 355 What are you babbling about? Go tell my Imaginary Number Submarine!

"Oh my! My dear sister, you're finally back!"

Prellati seemed oblivious to Jeanne d'Arc's action of burning the chain, and greeted the silver-haired girl in a rather intimate tone.

"Hmph, you evil dark wizard, don't call me that so intimately, I hate you."

The girl who walked in looked quite displeased. She turned her gaze and then saw Jeanne d'Arc Alter, whose flames of hatred were burning brighter and brighter. "Ah, so this is the saint of this era that you found? I had heard of her when she was alive. Hehehe, I hate you too. I hate all of you."

Huh!? Perhaps it was because like repels like, but when Jeanne d'Arc Alter heard Black Cake's almost world-weary tone, she couldn't help but get annoyed.

'This woman is acting strangely; does she want to be turned into a kebab and then burned to ashes?'

The ominous black and red flames intensified, and the chains on his body were almost completely melted and slowly dripped down.

But perhaps because she had only recently become an Avenger, this twisted and volatile mindset, which she had never shown before, startled Jeanne Alter. It seemed she wasn't quite used to the Avenger class yet…

She suppressed her emotions and remained silent, on the verge of exploding.

Upon closer examination, the girl's words about "hating everyone" seemed to carry a hint of something amiss, as if she were masking something with her outward expression of disdain. After a moment of silence, she asked:
"Before you transformed into Avenger, your personality was completely opposite to what it is now, right? So you shouldn't have had this side of yourself?"

"Heh, as expected of the saintess who remains naive even after the reversal—you're wrong! Utterly wrong!" A mocking smile appeared on the girl's lips.

“I have always had this image—oh, I should say, this is the true face I have gained after experiencing a complete life! I don’t know how to describe it, Saintly Maiden, even when you suffered cruel betrayal and being burned at the stake, you never complained or lamented, while I am just a Queen of France, neither a hero nor a saint. How could I not be angry and sad when my head was cut off!”

Marie Antoinette revealed her identity.

As a follower, she was clearly from several hundred years later, the wife of King Louis XVI of France, and the former Archduchess of Austria.

Her most famous anecdote and statement is that when a minister told Marie Antoinette that the French people didn't even have bread to eat, Marie said, "Then why don't they eat cake?"... This is similar to the statement by Sima Zhong of the Jin Dynasty, "Why don't they eat meat porridge?"

Of course, this is not actually a quote from Queen Marie Antoinette, but a little story made up by Rousseau himself. However, this does not prevent later generations from using this as a reason to vent their emotions on Marie Antoinette, the queen who loved to enjoy luxury (although she was indeed somewhat extravagant during her lifetime, she alone was far from being the main cause of the country's financial deficit and debt).

Her fate is also well-known; like Louis XVI, she died during the French Revolution. Before this, Marie Antoinette had fiercely resisted the revolutionary tide, repeatedly attempting to change the situation, but ultimately could not withstand the overwhelming force. In 1793, she was sent to the execution ground and beheaded by the executioner Sanson.

"Hmph, that's why I can't forgive them. I hate this country and its people beyond measure. Although this era is different from the one I lived in, don't expect me to take the initiative to help anyone."

After Black Mary finished speaking, she pursed her lips again, "But compared to all that, that Frankish King who talks about salvation but is actually cruel and ruthless, is what I find even more disgusting and repulsive..."

“Yes, yes! The noble Frankish and Lorraine ruler, the founder of the Charlemagne Empire,” Plelat laughed heartily, oblivious to everyone else, “and also claimed to be the second most loving person in the world, with no one in the world who loved humanity more or was more willing to carry out salvation! ... In comparison, I am just a loveless villain who blasphemes the Church.”

(The first love is the holy love of Jehovah/Agape of the Lord)

"But isn't this great! Hehe, we have a common enemy now, and the Avengers are formed just like that!"

The black magician clapped his hands with self-satisfaction, leaving one unable to understand what his joy and sense of humor were.

"By the way, little Mary, have you found out anything new about the guy we three hate the most—that Frankish king who's been conquering territories? After all, the young lady Joan of Arc next to us looks like a little kitten, itching with curiosity."

"The curious one is clearly you, isn't it? As for this dark-skinned saintess, heh heh."

As Black Mary spoke, she glanced at Black Jeanne not far away. Ominous crimson flames erupted from her body, her chains had completely melted, and her jet-black armor seemed to be formed from hatred.

Jeanne Alter was still seething with anger; her cheeks were puffed out, and her lips were tightly pursed down, likely because she was still suppressing a lot of emotion.

After all, she had been inexplicably transformed into this state, mocked by a dark wizard, and disliked by a queen's servant she didn't even know. These two people were supposed to be her companions. If it weren't for the unclear situation outside and the fact that she had to be careful to guard against Charlemagne's military might, she wouldn't have given up so easily.

"—Getting back to the main point, the situation is very complicated, but it can also be described very simply, so simple that it can be summed up in one word: terrible."

Black Mary crossed her arms and sighed slowly, saying, "The coalition organized by the Holy Roman Empire is the largest, reportedly numbering 30,000."

"They first clashed with Charlemagne's 'Holy Knights,' attempting to use the Cologne-Mainz corridor...that is, the middle reaches of the Rhine River, as a buffer zone to hinder the Holy Knights' offensive, but the result was a complete rout. The Holy Knights defeated them with less than three thousand cavalry."

"The one leading the troops is Roland, the famous character from 'The Song of Roland' and the leader of the Twelve Holy Knights of Charlemagne. According to intelligence, he is as invulnerable to swords and spears and has immense strength as the legend says... He is undoubtedly a Servant."

Prellati and Jeanne Alter nodded in unison, their faces showing no surprise. With Servants present, even a significant numerical disadvantage could be reversed. Jeanne Alter even immediately began to analyze the situation:
"The Shinra army should mainly consist of mixed forces from Saxony, Bavaria, and the Electors of the Rhine. If this main force was formed by Shinra lords with dispersed command and fighting independently without any oversight, the role played by Servants in that battle might not have been as significant as you imagine—heroes like Roland had considerable leeway and might not have even used their 'Noble Phantasms'."

"Oh, I almost forgot that one of us is a former French military leader who led the French army to victory against the British with a weaker force! He has far greater military expertise than I, the former queen!"

Black Mary retorted nonchalantly, "But... did you know that Charlemagne was fighting on three fronts? He also dispatched two armies to fight the 'Iberian League' and the 'Apennine League' in the Ebro Valley and the Po Plain respectively. In both directions, the emperor didn't even deploy any new Servants—no, it should be said that no Servants appeared on the battlefield at all. Guess what the result was?"

"The result..." Jeanne d'Arc Alter had a bad feeling, "Could Charlemagne still demonstrate the same numerical advantage and win a complete victory with fewer troops?"

"Hehe, that's how it is. The Iberian Allied Forces' initial formation consisted of Castilian phalanx infantry and Aragonese light cavalry, totaling 20,000 men. They were defeated by the Holy Knights' army of only 1,500 men. The Apennine Alliance included Milanese heavy cavalry, Venetian crossbowmen, and Genoese spearmen mercenaries, with a force of about 18,000 men. Charlemagne only sent less than 1,000 men and wiped them out."

"...How strange. It's one thing to have Servants, but where did his army come from? And in every battle, he achieved absolute victory with a numerical advantage of one against ten. It's as if he's been blessed by the heavens..."

Jeanne Alter's mutterings drew strange stares from the other two: In terms of being blessed by fate, the performance of a certain saint who defeated the British army with the weak seems to have something in common at first glance.
Jeanne Alter continued, "The key is the casualty ratio. What is the casualty ratio? We need to know this." Some exaggerated numerical disparities might be compensated for by tactics, strategy, soldier quality, or even troop coordination, but if the casualty ratio remains bizarre…

“I don’t know!” Black Mary said frankly. “The war was already over when I got there. All I could confirm was that the allied forces suffered heavy losses. As for the paladin army, I was worried that the Servants stationed in the camp would see through my spirit form, so I didn’t get close.”

Servants possess an overwhelming advantage on conventional battlefields due to their ability to become spirits, which ignores physical interference. They can use their Noble Phantasms to rout armies, become spirits to directly target the core, or harass enemies. However, they cannot be so careless when facing other Servants.

Jeanne Alter looked puzzled. "If that's the case, can't we use the corpses on the battlefield to estimate? Did you clear the battlefield before you could catch up with them?"

"No, no, it's not because of that. There's something strange about the Paladin Army—they didn't leave any corpses behind."

"Huh? Are you kidding me?" Jeanne Alter was completely bewildered.

"This is not a joke, it's the truth, the woman on the stake!"

Black Mary speaks without any restraint.

"No bodies of the Paladins were found at the scene. Incidentally, some strange rumors have spread within the Allied forces—it is said that the Paladin soldiers were extremely fanatical and fearless during the battle. They genuinely believed that Charlemagne was the chosen one, and that those who died fighting alongside him would not perish but would be taken to 'heaven'!"

“Heh heh, I don’t believe in this whole ‘ascension to heaven’ thing,” Plerati scoffed. “This emperor is clearly using baseless rumors to cover up his shameful secrets… that trick of ‘assimil’ people!” Plerati had previously encountered her old friend, the dying Gil, whose disappearance of the Lost City’s scriptures strongly suggested that the emperor had taken them. He also seemed to possess another enormous source of magic, having not only summoned the Twelve Holy Knights but also created devices capable of significantly ‘assimil’ people.

Black Mary nodded in agreement.

"Hey, what exactly is this 'assimilation' that you've been talking about since the beginning?" Jeanne Alter felt there was some kind of information gap between herself and the two of them. She remembered that when Prieratie first spoke, she also said that she was transformed into an Avenger to prevent assimilation.

"Hmph. Didn't you hear me just now? The Paladin Army's fighting spirit was abnormal. You don't really think they have a destiny, do you? It must be some kind of brainwashing technique of Charlemagne! This is 'assimilation'! As long as you develop even a slight sense of identification with that emperor, you will automatically join his side!"

Black Mary then turned to Prierati, venting her frustration, but her tone was more like a mockery of Jeanne Alter. "—So, in order to adjust this saint's class, you also accidentally damaged her brain? Why do I feel like she sometimes becomes slow-witted and not very bright? Is her head filled with pathetic mush?"

"Watch out or I'll burn you all!"

Jeanne Alter finally lost her temper, and flames suddenly surged forth with the force of a wildfire, leaping upwards so fast that Plelatti's heart pounded – her workshop was about to be burned through by the flames!

"Idiot! You suddenly unleashed such obvious magic power, do you want to be discovered by the Holy Knights?" Black Mary scolded.

"I... I'm not familiar with Spirit Origins yet. I didn't expect the output to be so powerful!" Jeanne Alter's anger was mixed with embarrassment.

Just as the three were talking, a blurry light and shadow suddenly appeared in the air. No, in just an instant, the blurry shadow crossed the boundary of dimensions and transformed from falsehood back into complete reality.

Under the astonished gazes of the three, a beautiful knight with pink hair in braids, riding a swift eagle, greeted everyone with a broad smile, "Hehehehehe—everyone, how's the food doing underground? Hmm, so your lunch is a barbecue grill?"

As the knight servant spoke, he pointed to the iron frame that had been melted by Jeanne d'Arc Alter's flames.

The opening remarks were so absurd that one might suspect this suddenly appearing knight was even more clueless than Jeanne d'Arc Alter.

However, the two people other than Jeanne Alter changed color drastically.

This is Astolfo, one of Charlemagne's Twelve Paladins! The enemy's main force of Servants has arrived!
"Behead!"

Black Mary launched her attack without hesitation. Suddenly, a huge black blade flew out from the void above her head, accompanied by a deafening roar that could slice through the entire magic workshop.

"Hey, have you guys noticed anything strange about the dimensional fluctuations around here... Ah!" Astolfo hadn't expected the cute-looking girl to launch an attack without warning, raising her massive lance—

Ding--!
The massive black blade, reminiscent of a guillotine, failed to sever Astolfo's spear. Instead, the sharp airflow it carried ravaged the basement's facilities and structure. The aftershocks alone caused the walls to crack, and the area already burned by Jeanne d'Arc Alter was now even more precarious!
"My research, my workshop!" Prierati couldn't laugh this time. But before she could grieve, she was pulled to the ground by Black Jeanne for relocation. Black Mary continued to fight her while searching for an opportunity to escape, as it was difficult to guarantee that her opponent wouldn't attract other paladins—

"You also want to experience the strength of Astolfo, one of Charlemagne's Twelve Warriors? Then bring it on!"

Rumble!
Astolfo unleashed his superhuman strength, using his lance as a sweeping weapon and charging recklessly with the help of his eagle. The underground walls and rocks along the way were smashed and pushed aside with a thunderous roar as he charged through the underground and broke through the surface layer!

After charging through the crater and the lingering dust, Astolfo looked at the deep pit and began to gloat, "Heh heh, how about that? Now you know how powerful I am!"

You were careless!

Black Mary's voice came from behind, and a purplish-black glowing chicken wing appeared, with a black blade flying from below.

"It's useless!"

Astolfo and his eagle became ethereal again, and the black blade pierced through them.

"Roar!"

Just two seconds later, Jeanne Alter's flames shot up from the other side, but the same thing happened again, and Astolfo dodged it a second time!
'This monster…! Is that her Noble Phantasm as a Rider, a way of dodging by detaching from reality and switching to illusion? But if that's the case, how can she activate it so frequently? Doesn't she calculate mana consumption?'

Black Mary is in a bad mood.

'Should we retreat?' Even Jeanne Alter, carrying Prieratie, felt the situation was extremely difficult.

"Then how do you suggest we run? Do you think we can outrun a Rider riding a fantasy creature?"

"Whew! That was close!"

Astolfo patted his chest; his Noble Phantasm, Hippogriff, possessed the ability to "jump between dimensions."

The eagle and its rider will switch to a blurred form and disappear, essentially jumping to another dimension. This allows them to escape all forms of observation and interference in the world, and even reappear elsewhere. However, this can only be activated for a moment.

As for why this effect can be activated continuously, it is related to the "Holy Baptism" bestowed upon the paladins by Charlemagne.

"I almost didn't realize it! You guys are amazing! You're Servants I've never seen before. Oh right, Roland said something like, if we encounter Servants we've never seen before, we should take them to... uh, where was it again... I forgot! Oh well, it probably doesn't matter!"

Black Mary and Black Jeanne: "?"

Is this knight in her right mind?
"Actually, I came here because Junying sensed a dimensional shift nearby... What was that dimensional shift again? My mount, tell me what's going on?"

Astolfo, ignoring the increasingly strange looks on the Avengers' faces, lowered his head and whispered to the phantom beast he was riding. But it was doubtful whether Astolfo could really communicate normally with the beast's "ooh ooh ooh ooh" sounds.

"Oh oh oh!"

The Avengers heard Astolfo's sudden realization again—

"So you mean there's a giant ship sailing in another dimension? Hehehe, that's interesting! Wait, why do you all look so strange? Do you find it fun too?"

“No,” Black Mary pointed, “look behind you.”

"Hey?"

When Astolfo turned around, he saw a huge, futuristic-looking ship hurtling straight toward him, as if it were anchored to a target.

In an instant, the figure blurred again, leaping to another dimension to dodge—no, it was completely useless, because the opponent had actually traveled from another dimension (imaginary number).

boom!
As the imaginary submarine leaped into reality, it rammed Astolfo and Eagle with its enormous mass!

(End of this chapter)