Xingyue, is Xiaokai also considered Kai?

However, as Third Sun Traloc swung his weapon, he seemed to think of something and did not swing it. Instead, as if giving a command, chains appeared in the darkness and bound Mordred tightly in the blink of an eye.

This looks like a scene that often occurred in front of the Great Temple before the practice of human sacrifice was abolished.

“Great and all-powerful mercy, joyful holder of the universe, the only sun that illuminates all things, the swordsman and I are willing to withdraw from the Holy Grail War. Please forgive her rudeness; she is merely a knight who wants to follow in her father’s footsteps.”

From Lion's perspective, neither he nor Mordred had any chance of winning or escaping.

This is just a joke...

Despite what Lion's thoughts, the surrounding aura showed no signs of diminishing.

In fact, Lion Robber could sense that when he actually met this American sun god, although he was still very tough, he was still somewhat restrained, which was very different from his previous confident and arrogant demeanor when he was with him... But now, as long as he could survive, he could think about other problems later. Right now, he just needed to keep his life a little bit.

Furthermore, Lion's Claw believed that the fifth sun, which abolished the long-standing sacrifices in the Americas and represented the arrival of a new era, might be very generous.

In fact, Novia didn't really care much about Mordred's attitude. After all, from his perspective, Mordred was just a child. Although he had a bad temper, he could be disciplined a few times and that would be enough.

However, as Novia watched Traloc attempt to 'sacrifice' Mordred, she sighed and said:

"Didn't I abolish human sacrifice...?"

Upon hearing Novia's words, Traloc immediately released Mordred from his chains and swiftly approached him.

"I'm so sorry, this is my fault."

She took off her sunglasses, her eyes sharp, and said as if she were about to confess her guilt.

“I attempted to skin you without permission, and that was my fault. I have no reason to argue that my actions were justified. Please punish me.”

Well, the black-haired girl's reaction was so quick, it was as if she had planned to do it that way.

At the same moment, Joan of Arc, who had been observing from the sidelines for a while, raised her left hand and loudly proclaimed:

"In the name of the Arbiter—Joan of Arc Daruk, by Command Spell, Mordred, the swordsman of the Red Faction! Obey us!"

After much deliberation, Joan of Arc, feeling completely outmatched by Tralock, decided to use this method to lull the fifth sun god of America into a false sense of security.

Putting aside the fact that Abigail Jeanne, as the Master, felt completely unable to make a move, and even if she did, she believed that the power of the Great God would not be affected by the Master's exorcism in the slightest, as for assistance in terms of combat power... Fran, Siegfried, and Traloc, whose strength far surpassed her own, were all very difficult to deal with no matter how she thought about it.

Therefore, Jeanne felt that her only advantage was the privilege of appearing as the Punisher, which gave her the authority to use two Command Seals on each Servant.

At first, Joan of Arc was also wondering if these two Command Seals would have any effect on Novia, but she felt that although they seemed to have an effect, there was a slight difference. This was not because her rank was too high... but because the object corresponding to this class was vague, as if it did not exist. In short, it was very strange.

Therefore, Joan of Arc rejected this idea and instead took this action, which can be summarized as first getting closer to Novia, whom she considered a heretical god, and then using the Noble Phantasm Crimson Grail to deliver a fatal blow when Novia was off guard.

"With the Command Spell as her command, Mordred will surely do as Lady Jeanne says."

“By the command spell, Mordred will never interfere with your actions without authorization.”

"By the Command Spell, Mordred joins your ranks."

Perhaps inspired by Joan of Arc's actions, the man quickly used his Command Seals on his Servants to express his sincerity.

As for Mordred, who was subject to various restrictions, he bit his lip and said with his head down:

"......I see....."

This was undoubtedly a difficult thing for her to accept, but she also understood that Lion's Raid was doing it for her own good. However, she still harbored the idea of ​​challenging the Fifth Sun of America, who had the aura of the King of the Wild Hunt. After all, although Mordred knew that she couldn't beat him at all, she still wanted to experience it. This must be what they call not shedding tears until you see the coffin.

"If you want a challenge, challenge me first." As if seeing through her thoughts, Siegfried called out to her, who was also a swordsman. "After all, if you can't even beat me, you should train more. My friend's strength far surpasses mine."

"It's not impossible..."

Mordred pouted and answered somewhat dejectedly.

Her desire to challenge Novia, who seemed to be the origin of the Wild Hunt, stemmed from Siegfried's attitude, which led her to speculate that this American sun god also had another identity: a world-renowned Hunnic king from the 5th century AD, and, in addition, the former flower magician—

"Storms, or the King of the Wild Hunt, there are many in the world, but in terms of laying the foundation and establishing the concept, it's that guy, the Hunnic king who led the mystical forces to the collapse of the Western Roman Church, representing the pinnacle of humanity, haha, two shots and he's dead..."

If Mo can meet him and defeat him, maybe she can surpass Lia! I really believe in you, Melly, good luck!

In the distant past, King Arthur's sister Morgana created the homunculus Mordred and told him:

“You are qualified to inherit the throne, however, if this is discovered now, the king will surely kill you. So now is the time to wait, and we can only wait quietly.”

The androids grow faster, age faster, and die earlier than humans. By the time a normal human grows into an adult, Mordred will have already died of old age. Therefore, Mordred vows to become a being superior to humans, which requires him to run faster than humans and believes that he is superior to anyone else.

After all, he was that king's child.

Later, under Morgan's guidance, Mordred secretly watched the king's figure from the shadows.

"That is your target, the enemy you must defeat, the king you must kill."

Mordred thought it was impossible, because the king was too perfect; his judgment, swordsmanship, tactics—everything about him was too perfect.

Therefore, Mordred rejected Morgan's request in her heart and decided to become the King's knight.

Mordred, now an adult, eventually receives a helmet, which Morgan warns her never to remove in public.

Mordred then became a knight without any trouble. Although she was the last knight, she was still very happy because she had the qualifications to be a Knight of the Round Table.

For Mordred, it was the most dazzling and happiest time of her life... But the day of its end soon arrived. Morgan, unable to wait any longer, revealed Mordred's true identity to her. Mordred was not just King Arthur's enemy; it was unclear how she was obtained, but this artificial life form was King Arthur's legitimate son, and also a clone.

Mordred was overjoyed. The Knight King she had longed for was such a close person. She was of royal blood, which meant that Mordred was the only one qualified to 'inherit' Artoria.

“Really… I’m so glad to have a child like you. Anyway, Mordred, thank you for all these years.”

After Mordred excitedly told the King everything, this was the first time Mordred had seen her so gentle. Having gained recognition, the child made up her mind to protect her father's merits, achievements, and victories.

"Great, great! The scene of the mother and daughter reuniting is so touching. I almost cried, Mary."

"...Teacher, please be more composed."

"No, little Lia, I'm really going to cry!"

The Flower Magician, who emerged smiling from the shadows, clapped his hands in celebration like a villain. It wasn't until later that Mordred casually learned that the day she went to tell Artoria the truth was also the day that the king who chose the Holy Lance would truly become either a 'human' or a 'god'.

Under the influence of the words of a certain transparent flower magician, before fully transforming into the "Holy Lance Goddess," she made a choice: not as the "King" of gods, but as the "Storm King" of humanity; not as the Holy Lance Goddess, but as Artoria Pendragon.

In short, with the help of a flower magician who had slightly intervened in some of Britain's affairs, everything was still quite good.

However, as a price, not long after, Merry was forcibly imprisoned in a tower located in the lake by the Lake Fairy of Avalon, and became cellmates with Fou, who had run away without permission because of Black Princess's slumber. After that, while she was in the tower, she heard the call of Bradamante, one of Charlemagne's twelve warriors, the White Feather Knight... A very good gift, which made the emotionless Flower Magician feel a long-lost sense of daze.

In short, Mordred's courage to challenge the American sun god, who she perceived as the Hunnic king, in the Holy Grail War was all due to the encouragement of the Flower Magician.

Back in the present, after Mordred's little incident, Tralock speaks to Novia again:

"I must be punished."

To put it simply, Joan of Arc saw not a trace of humiliation or anger in the Third Sun's eyes; on the contrary, there seemed to be a hint of joy in his usual indifferent gaze...

She instinctively shook her head, thinking that this was merely Lord Tralock doing his duty, and how could he possibly expect to be punished?

The girl, hailed as a saint, seemed to have forgotten that she had similar thoughts during the Hundred Years' War. However, Joan of Arc was now preoccupied with whether her actions had lowered the guard of her 'enemy,' so she quickly focused all her attention on Novia's 'inner thoughts.'

In fact, Joan of Arc had been paying close attention to this 'inner voice' that was very helpful to her these past few days. However, to her, Novia's inner voice didn't seem very strong, and even if it did, it was quite simple, like when they were buying things on the streets of Tulipas earlier—

"It's so strange to be called 'Grandpa' by Fran."

"Would Traloc like this? Maybe eating more ice cream can help keep me cold..."

"Abby likes sweets, and so does Attila. People like her love sweet things."

"Siegfried has become like this... but it seems like a good thing, since Klinschild is easy to deal with as long as he hits the direct point."

"Gold became much more cheerful after talking to Siegfried more..."

Almost everyone had something on Novia's mind, as for Joan of Arc—

"Joan of Arc, it seems like she's possessed someone. I wonder what happened to the person she possessed..."

The fact that the fifth sun of America knew about her initial decision undoubtedly puzzled Joan of Arc once again.

She can guarantee that she hasn't told anyone about this. At the very beginning of this Holy Grail War, before she even appeared, she had planned to use possession as her method, but for some reason, she failed to possess anyone and could only appear as a Servant.

...Could it be that he actually had his eye on me from the very beginning? He even anticipated the countermeasures for the Holy Grail War... Is this some kind of ability like clairvoyance?

This reminded Joan of what she had thought before, and now she heard Novia's thoughts once more—

"Tralock did it on purpose, didn't he?"

“Lord Tralock!” Joan of Arc stood in front of Novia with a solemn expression and said righteously, “I know your sense of responsibility for your duties, but we still have a common enemy to deal with right now, so there is no need for any punishment. Even if there is to be punishment, it should be after everything is over.”

"Joan of Arc is right."

Novia nodded in agreement with Joan of Arc.

“…Tsk.” Tralock put on his sunglasses and gave Joan of Arc a deep look. “I understand.”

The Third Sun always felt that the attitude of this French saint was somewhat strange.

That's right, Joan of Arc had already made up her mind. In order to lower the guard of the fifth sun of America, she was willing to do these things. Simply put, she would see what he disliked or didn't want to do, and then she would do it for him and tell him directly. Moreover, Joan of Arc felt that the fact that she could hear his 'heart's voice' was undoubtedly the biggest help.

At this moment, Joan of Arc understood that the reason the Lord allowed her to hear her innermost thoughts was precisely for this purpose!

It's truly remarkable that you were able to solve this extremely troublesome problem with minimal effort.

Then, Joan of Arc heard Novia's innermost thoughts once again:

"Joan of Arc is doing a good job, quite well, but her attitude is somewhat different now than when we first met... she's become a bit too approachable..."

For some reason, these words sounded to Joan of Arc like a major step in her process of using the Crimson Saintess to betray the American sun god, something she should be happy about. In fact, Joan of Arc was both happy and a little shy at this moment.

Although the Arbiter is called a saint, she is not an ice queen or a strong woman. She can laugh, feel sad, and be angry. She is sincere in everything she does. After all, back in Domremi Village, she was still a wild child who helped with farming with her three older siblings and played in the mud until she was covered in mud.

When she first saw the fifth sun in America, she thought he was very beautiful, which is why she joined the Hope League. In her opinion, such a person must be a good person and so strong. However, due to some very subtle reasons, Joan of Arc has completely given up on this idea.

Even now, she still sees this shyness as a hint from the sun god.

Joan of Arc remained silent and vowed once again in her heart that she would overcome this 'hint' no matter what.

Because she had already said it—

Lord, I will dedicate myself to you.

275: Jeanne d'Arc's Costume Change and Amakusa's Visit (5k)

And so, the matter involving the Red Faction and the Thousand World Tree Clan came to a close, and then another night passed.

Novia and the others also stayed in the city-state of the Yggdrasil family to rest, and Yggdrasil naturally had no objection to this.

However, for Servants, sleep is basically completely unnecessary; this is common knowledge.

But Joan of Arc would occasionally learn from Novia's inner voice that he would sleep... This inevitably puzzled Joan of Arc. Could it be that the price of not appearing in the Holy Grail War in a degraded or split form was that she had to sleep like a normal person?

Although Joan of Arc was somewhat puzzled by the reason, she felt that the quickest way was to have 'the Crimson Saint' while Novia was sleeping. Unfortunately, Traloc and Abigail were practically inseparable, so Joan of Arc could only think about this idea.

"Dress nicer? Be more direct? Just go for it?"

Looking at the information she found in the item called a cell phone, Joan of Arc couldn't help but facepalm.

Since she didn't need to sleep, and her mind was entirely focused on how to lower the guard of the heretical god, she didn't wander around. Moreover, the night was quite long, so Jeanne took out the phone provided by the Thousand Trees family and idly searched for questions like "how to make someone like you in one day"... However, Jeanne obviously felt that the results she found were very unreliable.

After exiting the strange message that popped up on her phone during a search—"I am Joan of Arc, I have been reborn, reborn before I was betrayed, in this life I will..."—Joan stared blankly at her pink phone.

The content that appeared on her phone reminded her that she should indeed change out of her armor, and everyone else should too, since doing so would easily attract unwanted attention.

...From the moment Joan of Arc appeared until now, she has always been dressed in armor, while Siegfried, Mordred, Fran, Tralock, and others have all changed into civilian clothes, and as for Novia, she can barely be considered one of them.

"...What should I wear?"

A dress? The lace hem and collar do look quite cute, but it's a little too cute, almost embarrassing.

Are Mordred wearing similar shorts and a jacket? I don't think it has that cool, commanding presence to pull it off...

Is it better to choose a shorter skirt? Or should I choose a longer one to appear more demure?

These are all so difficult! I never had to think about these things before... I guess I'll just keep searching on my phone...

Then Joan of Arc used her phone to search, "What should a girl wear when meeting someone so that the other person will be happy?"

Then the first thing that came into Joan of Arc's view was, "When dating someone, if it's the first time—"

"........A date? Oh, with someone you like—" Joan of Arc suddenly fell silent, her slightly surprised expression frozen in place. But as her face grew increasingly red, she shook her head repeatedly, cupping her cheeks in her hands. "Ah no, who would go on a date! I'm not!"

Even though Joan of Arc skipped this entry, several of the following entries were more or less about 'dating' or something similar.

This prompted the blonde girl to quickly add a sentence to the end of her search results: "It's not a date, just a normal meeting, nothing serious, I'm not kidding."

This time, the content seemed much more normal to Joan of Arc.

"Ideally, it should be impactful, like clothes that make the other person feel touched and happy that you dressed up for me, something very striking."

Looking at the thoughtful Joan of Arc, she hurriedly opened the book and continued reading. The first picture she saw made her face turn red instantly.