Chapter 226
Jack was having a terrible night.
She had originally planned to hunt a Servant for a change of pace, only to discover that this particular Servant was absurdly strong.
Jeanne overwhelmed her in close combat, and even Jack’s Noble Phantasm had failed completely.
Fine.
If she couldn’t win, she could at least run away.
Except apparently she couldn’t even do that.
Ruler had been clinging to her trail like a bloodhound all night.
Every time Jack found an appetizing victim and tried to stop for a quick meal, that infuriating blond woman would drop out of nowhere and start beating her senseless with that flagpole.
Forget eating enough to recover from her injuries—Jack had accumulated even more wounds during the pursuit.
If The Mist were not so effective at suppressing Jeanne’s Agility and perception, Jack was fairly certain she would have been finished long ago.
She had considered asking Mother to use a Command Spell and forcibly teleport her away, but dismissed the thought almost immediately.
Jack was twisted, not stupid.
Ruler clearly possessed an exceptionally powerful detection ability.
Otherwise, there was no explanation for how Jeanne kept catching up even after Jack had seemingly shaken her off.
If Jack teleported directly back to her Master under these circumstances, she might expose Rika’s location as well.
Then, if Jeanne followed—both Master and Servant could be eliminated at once!
Better to keep running at full speed, escape Ruler’s detection range, and only reunite with Mother afterward.
’Aaaah, I really want to rip that woman’s heart out.’
Jack silently fumed.
’But Jack still isn’t strong enough.’
’We need to eat more. Then we’ll become stronger.’
She swore that sooner or later, she would make Jeanne pay.
And when that time came, she would make sure the woman died as painfully as possible.
...
While Jack cursed her pursuer with increasingly colorful thoughts, Jeanne was dealing with a problem of her own.
Judging purely by Parameters and combat ability, she was stronger than Assassin of Black.
Unfortunately, that strange fog was incredibly troublesome, and Jeanne lacked a reliable way to finish Jack in a single decisive blow.
Worse, they were currently moving through a densely populated city.
She could not corner Assassin too aggressively.
If Jack became desperate and started slaughtering civilians indiscriminately, Jeanne’s pursuit would have accomplished the exact opposite of what she intended.
"If only someone could help pin her down..."
Jeanne murmured under her breath.
"Oh? I could’ve sworn I just heard someone asking for help."
A familiar voice suddenly appeared beside her.
"Need a hand?"
"What—?!"
Jeanne was so startled that her foot slipped off the edge of the rooftop.
She barely managed to correct herself in time, landing safely on the next building.
Then she turned and saw Kiriya standing casually atop a nearby house.
"Kiriya?"
Her face immediately brightened.
Then confusion followed.
"When did you get here?"
"Just now."
Kiriya grinned.
"I even got to see our esteemed saint sprinting across the rooftops. Very impressive form."
Jeanne immediately turned red.
"Seriously, this is hardly the time for jokes."
She puffed out her cheeks slightly.
"Huh?"
Kiriya looked genuinely surprised.
"Aren’t you just out for a late-night run?"
"I’m chasing Assassin of Black."
Jeanne’s expression abruptly changed.
Assassin’s presence had moved farther away again.
At this rate, Jack would escape her detection range within a few dozen seconds.
"This is bad. I need to catch up."
Jeanne immediately accelerated again.
Traveling at high speed over difficult terrain was practically second nature to a ninja, so Kiriya followed without the slightest difficulty.
"What’s the situation?"
"Troublesome."
Jeanne analyzed the problem while running.
"Assassin is extremely fast and cunning, and her Noble Phantasm makes pursuit difficult."
"I haven’t been able to create an opening for a decisive strike."
"Which direction?"
"Northeast."
"I see."
Kiriya glanced ahead.
"Then I’ll help."
Before Jeanne could ask what he meant, the ground vanished beneath her feet.
A powerful arm swept under her knees and another supported her back.
By the time she realized what had happened, she was being carried in Kiriya’s arms.
"Y-You—what are you doing?!"
Jeanne’s face instantly turned bright red, and even her voice began to stumble.
"Going faster."
Kiriya answered as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.
Then—
"Fifth Gate, the Gate of Limit—open!"
His speed exploded upward.
They broke the sound barrier almost instantly.
Ordinarily, moving at such speed through a populated city would have created disastrous shock waves.
Nearby streets and buildings could have been damaged, and the sonic boom alone might have ruptured the eardrums of ordinary people.
Kiriya had anticipated that problem beforehand.
"Wind Release: Vacuum Trail!"
Air along his path was forcibly pushed aside, creating a near-vacuum corridor ahead of him.
Not only did this drastically reduce air resistance and further increase his speed, it also suppressed most of the noise and destructive turbulence his movement would otherwise have produced.
Within only a few breaths, several kilometers disappeared behind them.
"This is... incredible."
Still being carried princess-style, Jeanne watched rooftops and streets blur beneath them.
Then a strange thought occurred to her.
"Kiriya, are you perhaps an incarnated Servant?"
She immediately shook her own head.
No.
As Ruler, there was no way another Servant could hide their true nature from her so completely.
"Don’t overthink it."
Kiriya laughed.
"I’m definitely a human."
"I’ve just had a few unusual experiences, so I’m a little stronger than average."
"A little?"
Jeanne could not stop herself from retorting.
Did he seriously think she had no idea what an average human looked like?
"Hahaha. Details."
Kiriya dismissed the matter.
"What matters is Assassin."
He looked ahead.
"And there she is."
Kiriya possessed Energy Perception himself.
The moment they entered within roughly a kilometer of Jack, he had already locked onto her position.
Then he plunged downward.
...
Jack had been carefully concealing herself while searching for some convenient prey to replenish her strength.
Then a faint whistle reached her ears.
She looked up.
And saw the blond woman who had chased her for half the night descending from the sky—
In someone else’s arms.
Jack blinked.
"My, what an interesting position."
She smiled sweetly.
"Is that some new Ruler Skill?"
Jeanne’s face turned scarlet.
She practically teleported three meters away the instant her feet touched the ground, all of her earlier solemn dignity vanishing as she suddenly resembled nothing more than an embarrassed teenage girl.
Jack’s expression darkened.
"Could you take this seriously, Ruler?"
"This is a Holy Grail War."
"Stop making it look like you’re on a date!"
Jack was genuinely offended.
She had spent half the night fleeing like a hunted animal without even getting a single decent meal.
Then she turned around and discovered the woman chasing her had apparently decided to enjoy a romantic rooftop ride.
Absolutely unacceptable.
Jack’s attention shifted toward Kiriya.
"This big brother is really handsome."
Her smile became unsettlingly cheerful.
"I bet his heart tastes delicious too. Hehe..."
She activated The Mist at full power.
Dense white fog rapidly swallowed the surrounding streets.
"Careful, Kiriya!"
Jeanne immediately warned him.
"The fog is poisonous, and it interferes with perception—"
Her voice vanished into the thick mist as visibility collapsed.
"Hehehe."
Jack’s voice came from every direction at once.
"Big Sister, bringing this helper here was your biggest mistake."
"Just watch while Jack eats him."
Kiriya’s eyes changed.
The scarlet Three-Tomoe Sharingan appeared.
Just as he expected—he could not see through the strange white fog.
’Interesting.’
"What a funny-looking eyes."
Jack’s giggle continued echoing through the mist.
"But they’re useless."
"You still can’t find us."
Hidden by the fog, Jack silently slipped behind Kiriya.
Her knife rose.
"Your heart belongs to Jack!"
The blade stabbed forward.
CLANG!
A crimson-gold ribcage suddenly materialized between them.
The knife struck the skeletal armor and stopped dead.
Jack pushed harder.
It did not move a single inch.
"What the hell is this?!"
For the first time, Jack’s expression truly changed.
She immediately tried to retreat.
Then her eyes met Kiriya’s.
The Three-Tomoe Sharingan had already transformed and the Mangekyō Sharingan stared back at her.
Jack’s body froze.
"Go on."
Kiriya’s voice was utterly calm.
"Run."
A massive skeletal hand emerged from Susanoo and closed around Jack’s small body, holding her firmly in place.
His Mangekyō eyes were cold as ice.
"Go ahead and try."