Chapter 9

[Nightmare]

Unknown Universal Calendar.

Earth, year 1431.

Location: France.

"Haah… haah."

Ren finally turned his gaze towards the door, seeing the Saintess.

Her clothes were half gone, sweat dripping down her body, with additional burnt scars over her body.

"So you did help them?"

With a wry expression, Ren said that as he then turned towards her.

But Jeanne, seeing what he had done, with the bodies laid to waste on the ground, made her stomach churn at the sight of the bodies on the ground.

"You… you actually."

It was now…

She gripped her sword, and in a blur of motion, she had appeared in front of him.

As she did, he saw her darkened expression, which bordered on disappointment that then bordered fury, as she swung her blade at him.

The moment she did, the world itself seemed to hold its breath.

A single swing—

That was all, yet, it was as if that mere swing of her sword could cleave the world.

It was in no way an ordinary sword slash, this was far from it.

Now he could see why France and England hadn't avoided war through diplomacy alone.

It was because she existed.

His instincts screamed at him to dodge.

As her blade whizzed past, so did an unknown gust of air.

Then—the entire cathedral, from the height of her slash upwards, was leveled away in an instant.

"You're kidding—"

Surprise. No. It was shock that was written across his face.

No. It's possible.

Like his immortality, like his ability to cross worlds, it made sense that other humans bore abilities beyond reason.

But Jeanne's? It was unfair.

How is he supposed to fight this!?

"But why! Why!? With all this power, why!?"

Why did she fail her mission?

She was supposed to stop the war. So why had she let herself be captured and burned?

Even now, she fought for those who would one day execute her.

It annoyed him to no end.

The smile that had once been plastered on his face was now a deep frown.

"Hehe. Salvation doesn't work that way, silly."

"Kuh."

It rubbed him the wrong way to no end; thus, he could only grip the longsword he held in annoyance.

He could not defeat her in a one-on-one battle.

Though they were both Limit Breakers, there was a huge distance between the two.

She's too much of a gorilla for that.

"Hey! You're thinking rude things about me."

Tch. Yes. She can read minds to a certain extent. He almost forgot.

But if she could, then that means she's caught on.

"But you know you can't beat me, right?"

Just like he thought.

Her longsword that had been pointed at him was suddenly lowered by her.

The Aristella, seeing this, nodded.

"Yeah."

"The reason why you left the keys there on purpose was because of this, isn't it?"

Jeanne asked again, but this time, there was no reply from him.

In the end, he really is a contradiction.

"I've fulfilled my revenge against them. I'm more than satisfied now."

"Selfish bastard."

She had muttered.

"Don't you have any remorse for those you have killed?"

"..."

She demanded, but yet, no answer; however, his indifferent expression had said it all.

[∞]

But for Ren, on the other hand, his eyes were focused on something else.

Her mortality.

She had no end to it. It was extremely weird, different from the rest whose death he could forcibly alter by his actions alone.

Is this what was meant by being a Holy Child?

Additionally, from what he could see, the path to her death had been closed off completely.

This means even if they sentence her to death by flames, she wouldn't die.

"What a farce this entire dream has been."

Ren said that he had a grin on his face before swinging his sword at Jeanne, who let her guard down.

"Eh?"

She muttered but was still able to react in time by blocking his strike path with the flat side of the longsword.

Then, adjusting her footing, she swung a wide arc with full force, flinging him across the cathedral.

He crashed into the altar with a deafening bam!

"Nngh."

A certain feeling of numbness coursed through his body as he groggily stood up.

However, even despite his attack, the saintess had no intent of finishing him off.

"Ren… stop it… I—I don't want to hurt you."

She had said, but he only rolled his eyes, a scowl forming on his face.

Then, wiping the dust smeared on his face, he then asked.

"No, let me ask you this. Why are you obsessed with me?"

"Eh? Ahh. That—"

She was originally taken aback hearing that, but after some seconds of fidgeting, she soon stopped.

Now, with a serious expression.

She clenched her sword tight.

"To save you from yourself. You must have felt it, haven't you? Emptiness. Even after all this… Ren, you… you're no longer yourself."

What would she know?

What would she know about him?

However…

"Perhaps, as you've said. This is by Divine Will."

Hearing that had completely caught her off guard, her grip loosening against her sword.

And in that moment, Ren had dashed towards her again.

She was about more than ten meters apart, but he had covered that distance in less than a blink of an eye.

The chain was first, swinging it to curl against her hand.

"I lost focus!"

She had exclaimed, and as if realising it was too late, she let go of the longsword, but now clenched against the chains wrapping her hands against it.

He had been baited.

"No way."

Ren was dragged, and by swinging the chain, she flung Ren, slamming him against the ground with a heavy thud.

"Koff—"

A trail of blood escaped Ren's lips, who had been slammed heavily against the ground.

'Ugh. I feel sick.'

He knew he shouldn't have fought her, that she was stronger, but still.

"Give up, Ren."

She stood over him, straddling him, her longsword's edge resting against his neck.

"Finally decided to go through with it?"

"..."

Jeanne didn't reply.

She couldn't.

Despite all the strength she had, she couldn't save a single lonely person.

"Ren—"

"I don't belong here. Not this world."

Ren interrupted.

At that moment, the world around them faded. It was just the two of them.

Jeanne, hearing what he'd said made her fingers tremble. She opened her mouth to speak but hesitated.

She couldn't say anything. Nor could she offer anything.

Even the salvation she promised him. She could not fulfil it.

"So… that's it, huh?"

Her expression darkened. Frustration clouded her face as she gripped his clothes.

What was on her face was nothing but frustration.

"Unlike me, there are people who deserve your help more than me."

Even though he'd said that, she didn't.

She didn't want to.

Yet. With a sigh on her face, after coming to terms with that tough decision, she nodded.

"Fine. I'll end it."

She said as she bent her face, her face extremely close to him, like that, she stayed there for a moment, making the male completely go wide-eyed.

"Wait for me. I'll come find you over there soon."

And so, for the first time, Ren had once again felt an emotion he hadn't felt in a long time.

He opened his mouth in an attempt to speak, but as he did, he felt his connection cut.

It was the same as those nightmares he experienced over and over again.

His consciousness drowned in pitch black, with the last thing he'd seen and heard of her.

"Just wait. It won't be long. I'll save you."

Jeanne had said that with a determined expression as his consciousness was fully swallowed by the pitch black.

«Confirmed»

«Completion of the [First Nightmare] has been acknowledged»

«Target Aristella Ren shall be rewarded»

«It has been detected that part of the target has been missing»

«Restoration in progress…..»