Chapter 227
Jack was trapped tightly in the crimson-gold skeletal hand.
The enormous pressure squeezing her from every direction made her bones and muscles scream in protest.
"You... what exactly are you?"
Jack coughed up a mouthful of blood and forced the words out with difficulty.
"That’s a pretty rude thing to ask."
Kiriya stepped out from within Susanoo’s skeletal frame and walked over to her, casually patting her cheek.
"What an unadorable little brat."
Without Jack noticing a thing, he planted a Flying Thunder God mark directly onto her body.
Jack struggled to raise her head and look at him.
Kiriya’s voice remained gentle, yet she could sense absolutely no warmth behind it.
There was only a bone-deep chill.
For perhaps the first time, even the legendary murderer felt a trace of fear.
"Jack? What happened? Are you all right?"
At that moment, Reika Rikudou’s anxious voice echoed through Jack’s mind.
The concern in her Master’s tone immediately lifted Jack’s spirits.
"Mommy... it hurts."
Her voice became tearful.
"Jack hurts everywhere... and we can’t move."
"W-What should I do?"
Reika immediately panicked.
Before becoming a Master, she had only been the mistress of a wealthy man.
She knew nothing about magecraft and had never dealt with anything remotely like this.
For a moment, she was completely at a loss.
Then she remembered something.
"Right... this!"
She looked down at the crimson Command Spells on the back of her hand and made up her mind.
"By my Command Spell—Jack, return to my side!"
She raised her arm.
Buzz!
The Command Spell blazed with red light.
Blue-white particles immediately gathered beside her and condensed into Jack’s small figure.
Thud!
Jack could not even remain standing.
She fell face-first onto the floor with a weak cry of pain.
"Jack!"
Reika rushed over and pulled her into her arms.
"Are you okay? Don’t scare Mom like this!"
Unfortunately, that affectionate embrace only made Jack’s expression twist further in pain.
Kiriya’s Susanoo had only squeezed her casually, yet several bones in her arms and ribs had already fractured, while her internal organs had suffered serious damage.
Reika’s enthusiastic hug merely aggravated everything.
"My bones... are broken..."
Sweat appeared across Reika’s forehead.
Her heart pounded as her thoughts went blank.
Still, someone capable of getting along so well with Jack naturally had a certain adaptability of her own.
She quickly realized what mattered most.
"There’s still some food at home."
"I’ll bring it to you right away. Just eat plenty and you’ll recover."
Reika hurried to the refrigerator and began carrying out plate after plate of "food."
"Thank you, Mom!"
Jack immediately smiled sweetly.
With Reika feeding her, she happily began devouring everything placed before her.
A loving mother caring for an affectionate daughter should have been a heartwarming sight.
Anyone else who witnessed this particular scene, however, would probably have vomited on the spot.
Because what Jack was eating was not food by any ordinary definition.
They were fresh human hearts.
...
"Heh. She got away."
Kiriya looked at the now-empty skeletal hand and shook his head as though mildly disappointed.
"Kiriya, now really isn’t the time to joke."
Jeanne gave him a helpless look.
"You still have a way to find her, don’t you?"
She had seen everything clearly.
Kiriya had possessed countless opportunities to kill Jack moments earlier, yet deliberately refrained from doing so.
Obviously, he had another plan.
Jeanne did not ask about the crimson-gold skeleton either.
That clearly involved the core of Kiriya’s abilities, and she knew better than to pry into another person’s secrets.
"Yeah."
Kiriya nodded.
"Just eliminating the Servant isn’t enough."
"I’m planning to send her Master along with her."
"Her Master..."
Jeanne nodded thoughtfully.
During a Holy Grail War, a Master and Servant effectively formed a single participating unit.
Assassin of Black had repeatedly violated the rules, slaughtered civilians, and recklessly exposed Mystery to the outside world.
Her Master therefore shared responsibility.
If the violations proved severe enough, Jeanne had every right as Ruler to eliminate the Master as well.
"Then let’s go."
Jeanne took a step forward.
"I can roughly sense Assassin’s current position."
Kiriya placed a hand on her shoulder before she could leave.
"No need to make this so complicated."
"I’ve got a much faster method."
"Hm?"
Jeanne paused.
Then a faint blush crept across her face.
She suddenly remembered how Kiriya had carried her earlier, along with the warmth of his body against hers.
"That... might not be very appropriate..."
She felt as though her dignity as Ruler was slipping further by the minute.
"Huh?"
Kiriya blinked.
"What are you talking about?"
Jeanne stared at him.
Then realization struck.
She had misunderstood him completely!
Her face became even redder.
"Get ready."
Kiriya sensed the Flying Thunder God mark he had planted on Jack.
"We’re going."
The next instant, the two vanished.
...
When they reappeared, the first thing they saw was Reika happily feeding Jack human hearts.
An innocent, childlike face performing something so grotesque created a disturbing contrast.
"You—"
Jack and Reika stared at them in horror.
Neither could understand how the two had suddenly appeared inside the room.
"Assassin of Black, you—"
Jeanne had barely begun speaking when Kiriya disappeared from beside her.
His sword flashed from its sheath.
Slash!
The blade swept across Jack’s neck.
Her head flew into the air.
Before the body could even fall, countless sword flashes intertwined into a dense net and tore it apart.
Kiriya finished by exhaling a fireball.
Flames engulfed the remains.
Within moments, Assassin of Black had been reduced to ashes.
That was simply how Kiriya dealt with enemies he genuinely despised.
Once he decided someone needed to die, he preferred the complete package.
No loose ends.
No second chances.
Assassin of Black—Jack the Ripper—had left the Holy Grail War.
"..."
Jeanne stared blankly at the ashes.
She seemed genuinely stunned.
"How are you so practiced at that?"
"Ahhhhh!"
Reika’s reaction was far more violent.
She stared numbly at the place where Jack had died.
Then something inside her snapped.
With a scream, she threw herself at Kiriya like a madwoman, seemingly intent on tearing the flesh from his body with her own teeth.
Thud!
Jeanne raised her battle standard and.. the end of the pole struck directly over Reika’s heart.
The beautiful woman froze.
Then her body collapsed to the floor and went still.
Kiriya looked toward Jeanne.
She met his gaze calmly.
"You can’t be expected to do everything."
"I am Ruler, after all."
Then she looked down at Reika’s body with a complicated expression.
"And for her... death may have been a form of release."
"She could not be allowed to continue creating more victims."
"Nicely done."
Kiriya immediately gave her a thumbs-up.
"Just what I’d expect from the Saint of Orleans. Very decisive."
"I-It wasn’t anything special."
Jeanne’s heart started beating faster under Kiriya’s openly appreciative gaze.
Feeling the situation becoming slightly dangerous for her composure, she hurriedly changed the subject.
"What are you planning to do next?"
"Attack the Red faction’s base directly?"
"Sleep."
Kiriya answered as though it were obvious.
"Cough! Cough, cough!"
Jeanne suddenly broke into violent coughing.
Her face filled with panic.
"Y-You—you... what are you saying?!"
"What do you mean?"
Kiriya had already stretched himself out across the sofa.
He yawned.
"We’ve been running around all day. Isn’t it normal to get some proper sleep?"
"Oh."
Jeanne visibly relaxed.
"You meant actual sleep."
She sighed.
"Seriously, don’t phrase things in ways that people can misunderstand."
Kiriya’s eyes immediately gained a teasing glint.
"And what exactly did our dear saint misunderstand?"
Jeanne cleared her throat and pretended not to hear him.
She walked over to Reika’s body and knelt beside it, beginning a quiet prayer.
She intended to purify the lingering atmosphere of bloodshed and death within the room—
And offer what comfort she could to the souls of those who had lost their lives here.