Chapter 287: The Incarnation of Sin, Abandoned Child of Fog City

Siegfried: "If it's not C, then it has to be B."

He couldn't imagine Sieg being killed by Jack.

[Ding! Siegfried answered incorrectly. 1 Saint Quartz deducted.]

Waver: "Then the best guess left is E."

[Ding! Congratulations to Waver for answering correctly. 3 Saint Quartz awarded.]

Atalanta: "It's me?"

[It wasn't surprising. Though she loved children, Jack's actions had crossed her bottom line.]

---

[Answer time ended. The video resumes.]

[A single arrow tore through the dense fog, striking Jack and blowing apart half of her body. Sieg, who was nearby, was thrown to the ground by the blast but he was alive.]

[Sieg: "Ugh…"]

[Jack staggered to her feet, climbing up the building in a desperate attempt to escape. Jeanne immediately pursued, intercepting her on the rooftop.]

[Weakened from her injury, Jack was no match for Jeanne. With a powerful swing of her flag, she was slammed to the ground, unable to fight any longer.]

[As the fog dissipated, the children who had been possessed by evil spirits collapsed unconscious.]

[Jack, dragging her mangled body, crawled forward on her hands and knees.]

[Jack: "Mom… Mom…"]

[In that moment, it was difficult to distinguish victim from villain.]

---

Tohsaka Rin: "This is… hard to watch."

Waver: "Yeah. It blurs the line between right and wrong."

Chihiro: "Pitiful people often do pitiful things."

Fiore: "Yeah… She certainly wasn't weak when she was butchering people."

---

[Just as Jeanne began reciting the baptismal chant to purify Jack's soul, Jack vanished into thin air.]

[Reika had used a Command Seal to save her.]

[Jeanne, sensing their presence still nearby, gave chase alongside Sieg.]

---

[Jack: "Mom… Mom… I'm sorry."]

[Reika: "Shh… it's okay. Just rest, sweetie."]

[Reika cradled the injured Jack as they made their way toward their hideout.]

[Jack: "Mom… what should I do now?"]

[Reika: "First, we need to treat your wounds. We'll figure out the rest later."]

[Jack: "Mom… can you play the piano for me again?"]

[Reika: "Of course. I'll find a way."]

[As they passed a shop window, Reika saw the reflection of a bow-wielding figure.]

[Without hesitation, she shoved Jack to the ground.]

[Jack: "Mom?"]

[Confused, Jack turned to look at Reika, just in time to see her collapse, an arrow piercing her chest.]

---

[Jack: "Mom!!"]

[Reika lay still on the ground.]

Waver: "Damn…"

[It was hard to find words for the twisted bond between Reika and Jack.]

[With trembling fingers, Reika reached out to touch Jack's cheek. Mustering her last strength, she smiled softly.]

[Reika: "I command you… with two Command Seals… 'Even if I'm gone'… 'you will live'… Jack…"]

[Her words were simple. She didn't know magic, but she believed it was a blessing, a mother's final reassurance to her frightened daughter.]

[There was no regret or resentment in her eyes, only sorrow at leaving her child alone.]

[For Reika, every day with Jack had been a gift. Jack had saved her, given her a purpose. In return, she had cherished the fleeting happiness they shared, no matter how stained with blood it was.]

[And now… that happiness was over.]

[Jack: "No… no, Mom! Please… no…"]

[Jack sobbed, clutching her lifeless body.]

[Reika's lips were frozen in an unnatural expression—a soft, contented smile.]

[Jack: "Mom! Please… don't leave me! I need you!"]

[In her mind, she could still hear Reika's voice.]

[Reika: "It's okay, Jack. Mom is still here."]

[Jack: "You can't die… You promised!"]

[Reika: "I'll always be with you. Forever."]

---

[Atalanta: (silent)]

[She shifted uncomfortably. The scene painted her as the villain here but she had no regrets.]

[When Jack used children as pawns, she became a target in Atalanta's eyes.]

[Reika's death had been inevitable. By aiding Jack, she was complicit in the suffering of innocents. Atalanta had originally intended to kill them both—but Reika's self-sacrifice had delayed that outcome.]

[Despite the guilt gnawing at her, she remained resolute. Drawing her bow, she aimed once more.]

[Atalanta: "Rest now. Leave everything behind."]

---

Achilles: "That's the right call, Big Sis. I'd do the same."

Atalanta: "I know. I made my decision the moment I let that arrow fly."

Reika: "No! Why won't you let Jack go?!"

Atalanta: "Without you, she won't survive long anyway. Those Command Seals only bought her a few more minutes."

[Jack: "You'll regret this. I'll show you what true hell looks like."]

[Atalanta: "..." ]

[She hadn't taken Jack's words seriously, thinking it was just an angry outburst but soon, she realized how wrong she was.]

[An arrow pierced through her heart. Jack showed no reaction; instead, she turned her head and looked at Atalanta with an empty gaze.]

[That look made Atalanta feel a faint trace of fear.]

["Why..."]

[In the next moment, dark magic surged from Jack's mouth. Atalanta had no time to react before it swallowed her whole.]

[In that instant, Atalanta saw hell.]

[London, 1888. In this city alone, tens of thousands of prostitutes filled the streets. Even nine-year-old girls were forced to sell their bodies, stripped of all dignity.]

[With no contraceptives and primitive abortion methods, the children that should have been born were treated like garbage.]

[The bodies of those infants were discarded into the river. The resentment of those countless unborn lives accumulated over time, until it coalesced into an evil spirit, taking the form of a young girl.]

[She was the forsaken child of a fog-shrouded city. Her only purpose for existing was to seek a mother's love.]

[When that lonely girl, driven by instinct, once called a passing woman "Mom," she was met with insults and violence. Heartbroken... she killed the woman.]

[That was the birth of the killer who would one day terrify London—Jack the Ripper.]

[Victim after victim followed. Only then did a magus notice the anomaly and intervene, destroying Jack before she could fully mature.]

[And so, the abandoned child of the fog met her end. A brief, tragic existence.]

[She likely never imagined that an evil spirit, undeserving of the Throne of Heroes, would be etched into history nonetheless, immortalized by humanity's collective fear and obsession.]

The chatroom fell silent. No one had expected Jack's origins to be such a profound tragedy.

Atalanta: "How could this be..."

The revelation shook Atalanta, a woman who cherished children above all.

Tens of thousands of unborn children, discarded by their own mothers before they could even glimpse the world.

Waver and the others from Yggdmillennia were at a loss for words.

Who could have imagined that the end of the Victorian era was so dark?

Demon King: "Humanity really does deserve destruction."

The First Emperor: "Unbelievable! Children are the hope of a nation. To treat them so... You dare to call yourselves human?"

Spartacus: "Rebel! Set fire to the foundations of such a world!"

Iskandar: "Such women deserve execution."

Gilgamesh: "Hmph. How vile. How repulsive."

Kotomine Risei: "Lord, forgive their sins..."

Artoria: "Britain... my homeland... how did it come to this?"

Lancelot: "My king, do not let this trouble you. The decay of that era does not stain your reign."

Mordred: "Exactly! If we had been there, we would've purged that rot immediately."

[As the vision of Jack's past faded, Atalanta's nightmare continued.]

[Countless ghostly children surrounded her. Their lifeless eyes locked onto hers.]

[There was no joy, no sadness, no hatred, no warmth—only emptiness.]

[Atalanta instinctively tried to step back, but her body was frozen.]

["Stay with us."]

[The children grasped her limbs. Cold, tiny hands burrowed into her flesh like parasitic tendrils.]

["Ahhh!!"]

[Atalanta let out a heart-wrenching scream not from pain, but from the unbearable despair that engulfed her soul.]

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