Fate's Choice: Livestream at the Start Summoning Billions of Ravens

The golden pillar of light in the sky gradually faded away.

However, the live streams that were forcibly switched around the world did not have their feeds cut off.

CNN, BBC, Reuters, Xinhua News Agency... the same image was frozen on the screens of all major media outlets around the world.

It was a vast, flat, smooth, glass-like land.

It lies quietly in the heart of the crowded city of New Delhi, like an ugly and deadly scar.

In the studios of major media outlets around the world, top presenters and commentators were collectively speechless.

silence.

A suffocating global silence that lasted for tens of seconds.

Hundreds of millions of people stared at the empty, desolate landscape on the screen, their minds blank.

The silence was broken when a bold red message appeared on the Discord server of the "Holy Grail War Folk Research Association".

[@All members Ruler Jeanne has taken Berserker Arjuna away; the incident is now essentially closed.]

A user with the ID "Logic Above All" immediately typed out a long paragraph.

"I don't understand! Why 'remove' instead of 'execute'? You all saw it, that thing wiped out an entire city block in seconds, that's at least tens of thousands of lives! As the adjudicator, facing such a world-destroying threat that has crossed the line of the rules, wouldn't the most reasonable choice for Joan of Arc be to completely purify it on the spot?"

His statement immediately garnered widespread support.

"Agreed! This is absolutely not the time for mercy! Arjuna's mental state is extremely unstable; his so-called 'good side' could be suppressed at any moment. Joan of Arc taking him away is like taking away a nuclear bomb that could explode at any time! This is irresponsible to the whole world!"

"Typical womanly compassion. She was fooled by Arjuna's performance of kneeling and begging for death. What credibility does the confession of a madman who can slaughter tens of thousands without hesitation have? What if it's just a ruse to escape punishment? Ruler privileges are for maintaining the rules, not for showing off a saintly heart!"

This group quickly formed the "execution faction".

They are calm and ruthless, operating entirely from a risk management and utilitarian perspective, believing that any potential threat should be eliminated immediately.

But another voice soon emerged.

A user with the ID "Heroic Praise" countered.

"What do you cold-blooded robots know? Didn't you see Arjuna's pained expression at the end? Didn't you hear him begging Joan of Arc to kill him? His 'evil' wasn't intentional; it was a curse from the conflict within his own spiritual origins! A hero falling into this curse, his last remaining goodness leading him to kneel and beg for death—that in itself is a tragedy! What Joan of Arc saw was a truth on a spiritual level that we cannot see!"

"That's right! The Ruler's duty is to 'judge,' not 'slaughter'! If she really acted without asking questions, as you say, then what's the difference between her and Arjuna? It's precisely because she chose the more difficult path—imprisonment and observation—that she proved her fairness and compassion as the Ruler. This is the demeanor a 'saint' should have!"

"Support! Killing a truly repentant soul is a sin in itself. Joan of Arc upheld her principles and preserved the last vestige of humanity in this war. I will always trust the saint's judgment!"

The "imprisonment faction" quickly rallied.

They tend to be more idealistic and romantic, believing in the arc of heroism and the possibility of redemption.

The two factions engaged in a heated debate on the server.

"Risk! When you talk about human nature, can you consider the risks first? If Arjuna loses control next time, who will be responsible for the next 'Delhi'? You?"

"Rules! Can you please respect the rules before discussing risks? Does the Ruler's authority state that he can arbitrarily execute Servants? Don't you understand procedural justice? If even the adjudicator abuses his power, the order of the Holy Grail War will completely collapse!"

"Don't be ridiculous. Talking about procedural justice to a mobile natural disaster? Wait until it 'purifies' your city before you try to talk to it about procedures!"

"Cowardly talk, abandoning principles out of fear, will prevent humanity from ever progressing. I firmly believe that Joan of Arc's choice is the path to a better future."

The server's chat channel was refreshing at a rate of dozens of messages per second.

Just as these scholars were arguing heatedly over a philosophical question, the first videos from New Delhi survivors began appearing on the global internet.

The screen shook violently, interspersed with terrified screams and children's cries.

The crowds blocked the roads, cars were abandoned, and people surged forward like refugees fleeing the apocalypse, trampling on each other.

A young mother, holding her child, knelt by the roadside and desperately cried out in Hindi to the camera, her voice trembling with sobs.

In another video, a man stands by the window of a high-rise building and films the entire process of the slum turning into particles of light, repeatedly saying, "Gone... all gone..."

These images, filled with primal fear and despair, instantly pierced the nerves of netizens around the world.

They are more impactful than any cold, hard data.

Immediately afterwards, a comment written in Hindi began to be frequently copied on major video websites and social media platforms.

"That's our god! Why was he taken away by a Western saint!"

This comment was like a spark, instantly igniting the pent-up fear, sadness, and pent-up nationalistic sentiments of netizens in the White Elephant Kingdom.

It was quickly translated into various languages ​​and spread around the world.

Countless accounts from the White Elephant Kingdom began flooding the official social media accounts of the Vatican, CNN, BBC, and all other organizations related to the event, spamming the feeds.

"That's an incarnation of Vishnu! He came to purify sin! What do you Westerners know!"

"Joan of Arc was a kidnapper! She kidnapped our God!"

"This is the most despicable form of religious persecution! By what right does she interfere in our internal 'trials'?"

#ReturnOurGod

#JusticeForArjuna

Two bizarre hashtags, driven by organized efforts and with the participation of countless real citizens, climbed to the top of the social media trending lists in dozens of countries around the world at an incredible speed.

Netizens around the world were stunned.

A Chinese netizen posted a thought-provoking question on Weibo: "Dude, your god wiped out tens of thousands of your compatriots in front of the whole world, and instead of hating him, you want to go to another god to get him back? What kind of spirit is this?"

Below this comment, an international student from the United States replied in broken Chinese.

"You don't understand. Purification is God's trial, a necessary sacrifice. Outsiders have no right to interfere. That saint taking Arjuna away is an insult to our faith!"

This argument completely ignited global public opinion.

An unprecedented global online war of words has thus begun.

"A trial? Using tens of thousands of lives as a trial? Are your lives so worthless?"

"Now I understand why the gods descended upon you—because you have so many resources! You can purify them at will!"

"This isn't just Stockholm syndrome; this is being manipulated by a god to the point of losing your mind."

"Insult? That Arjuna punched a crater in your capital, and you didn't feel insulted. But a foreign saint took him away and kept him under guard, and you feel insulted? Aren't your trigger points a bit strange?"

Faced with ridicule from netizens around the world, the netizens of White Elephant Country showed amazing unity.

"Shut up! You unbelievers! How can mortals fathom the will of God!"

"Ah Zhou is helping us rid our society of a malignant tumor! Those slums are full of criminals and lazy people! His actions are the epitome of good!"

"Joan of Arc is the devil! She hindered God's purification; she wanted our nation to remain forever mired in filth! She was jealous that we possess the true God!"

"We demand that the Vatican immediately release our God! Otherwise, we are making an enemy of 1.3 billion people of the White Elephant Kingdom!"

The absurd logic and fervent emotions rendered this war of words utterly illogical, reduced to nothing more than pure emotional venting and mutual attacks.

……

New Delhi, the Prime Minister's Office.

The emergency cabinet meeting has lasted for three hours.

The Prime Minister sat at the head of the table, his face ashen, listening to the Defense Minister's report.

"...Preliminary statistics indicate that the number of missing persons within the 'purified zone' is estimated to be between 40,000 and 60,000."

"City traffic has been completely paralyzed, at least three million citizens are trying to flee the city, and riots and stampedes have resulted in more than five hundred deaths."

"The military has been deployed, but with millions of people fleeing, any coercive measures could have even more serious consequences."

That's enough.

The Prime Minister interrupted him in a hoarse voice.

He looked up and surveyed the faces filled with despair.

"Now is not the time to discuss the losses."

"Now, what we need to discuss is how to restore the nation's dignity."

Everyone was stunned.

The Foreign Minister cautiously began, "Prime Minister, you mean...?"

"That saint, Joan of Arc."

The Prime Minister spoke slowly and deliberately.

"She's from the Vatican."

"Under the watchful eyes of the world, in our capital, she took away our 'god'."

"This is aggression, a kidnapping, and a blatant trampling on our sovereignty."

"We must respond in the strongest possible way!" The Prime Minister slammed his fist on the table. "Immediately! Lay out the most formal and strongest diplomatic protest to the Vatican!"

.....

One hour later.

A black sedan with diplomatic license plates sped out of the White Elephant Embassy in the Vatican and headed towards St. Peter's Basilica.

In the car, the ambassador clutched a formal diplomatic note with strong wording.

Another half hour passed.

Reuters' global push notifications suddenly displayed an exclusive news flash.

The headline of this news flash made everyone who saw it wonder if they were hallucinating.

[Exclusive: The government of the White Elephant Kingdom has delivered a diplomatic note to the Vatican demanding the immediate return of its "sacred sovereign asset"—Berserker Arjuna.]