340 Jack the Reaper (II)

Reika immediately knelt down and pleaded with Jeanne.

"Please, Lady Jeanne, spare us. Jack is just a child. I promise to take her away from here immediately and never participate in this war again."

"Sorry, I can't do that."

Jeanne's cold words made Reika's face stiffen slightly.

"Your eyes tell me that your words are just lies to appease me. You can't give up the Holy Grail."

"But... I..." Reika's eyes flickered slightly. She couldn't give up the Holy Grail because it was Jack's wish!

"And besides..." Jeanne raised the flag again. "Assassin of Black has already begun to deteriorate. Now she, rather than being a 'Heroic Spirit', is more like an 'Evil Spirit'."

Hearing that, Reika froze in place.

"Assassin, she—no, I should say they—have become entangled in the legend of that serial killer, known as Jack the Ripper. They've transformed into 'neither anyone nor no one'."

Jeanne, with her sharp eyes piercing, explained as she stared intensely at Reika.

"Think about it, Assassin's Master. Up until now, were the people killed by Assassin really victims of Jack the Ripper?"

As if compelled by Jeanne's words and aura, Reika instinctively took a step back. Her thoughts were in disarray, rendering her unable to articulate a complete sentence.

"Assassin didn't even know the faces or names of those they killed. They killed people simply because they wanted to pursue their mother's shadow. That's the truth behind the assassin's pursuit of slaughter..." Jeanne said, taking a deep breath. "They have now been consumed by the concept known as 'Jack the Ripper' and are beyond saving."

"No... No... It's not like that! Jack, they just want to live, to be loved by someone! Is that wrong?!"

Tears streamed down Reika's face as she roared at Jeanne, but the latter just silently stood in place, unmoved like a statue, offering no reaction.

"Aren't you a holy maiden? You must have a way to save these children, right? No matter the cost, even if it's my life, I beg you..."

Crimson stains trailed from the corners of Reika's mouth as she fell to her knees, bowing heavily to Jeanne.

"Please! Please, save Jack!"

"I can save lost children, I can purify souls with regrets through prayers, but, only Assassin is beyond my reach." Jeanne lowered her eyes slightly, gripping the holy flag tightly in her hand. "Their inflated hatred and the despair of those they've killed have thoroughly corrupted these children. Now, every one of them is unable to shake off the concept of 'Jack the Ripper'. The only way to redeem them is to completely eliminate them, to grant them complete freedom."

"How... could this be..."

Reika was completely stunned, but Jeanne's next words pierced through her defenses.

"You must have seen it by now..." Jeanne spoke softly. "The hell hidden deep within Assassin's heart."

Hearing that, Reika's eyes widened instantly, still containing traces of unreadable horror and anger.

Of course, she had seen it—the cold, dark, despairing hell, the city of sin that harbored countless inhumane bastards, the filth that birthed miseries—she had witnessed it all firsthand.

That hell was the reason she cherished the girl in her arms so much. Not only because the girl had saved her and fulfilled her wish to live, but more importantly, the girl was her new meaning in life.

"Their existence is a mistake in itself. As long as they continue to exist, that hell will forever reside in their souls, like a heavy shackle, binding them to perpetual cycles of slaughter and pain." Jeanne's voice remained calm and steady, devoid of any emotional fluctuations. "They've suffered enough. Do you really want them to continue this endless cycle, Assassin's Master?"

"No... I—"

"Mother, leave the rest to us."

As Reika faltered and tried to explain, a tender voice suddenly interrupted.

"Jack..."

Reika stared blankly as Jack slipped out of her embrace, stepping toward Jeanne.

Standing in front of Jeanne, Jack lifted her little head, her eyes fixed unwaveringly on the legendary saint before her.

"You... Even if you kill us, do you feel nothing?"

Jack's delicate words pierced Jeanne's heart like a dagger.

Jeanne clenched her teeth tightly, suppressing her inner emotions. She could have saved Assassin long ago, could have helped Assassin sooner. But she knew deep down that it was too late.

"Nevertheless... We must continue to move on..." Jeanne said, full of determination.

Watching Jeanne's determined expression and lips bleed from tight bite, Jack's face showed a hint of relief.

"Well, if that's how it is, then there's nothing we can do about it..." Jack said softly, as if understanding, like a kitten facing the end of its life, and accepted the hand of judgment without resistance.

Seeing this, Jeanne took a deep breath and began to chant.

"The grace of the Lord is infinitely deep, and His mercy never fades..."

In the sacred chant, a radiant golden light rose as Jack's body began to dissipate little by little into golden particles of light.

Countless children wearing tattered clothes appeared around her, naturally holding each other's hands, their eyes devoid of the previous dullness, replaced only by a serene smile.

"Fill the thirsty souls, satisfy the hungry souls with goodness..."

Jeanne's solemn chant swiftly eliminated their existence.

It was not a cycle of death, but as the words suggested, elimination. They would be excluded from the cycle of reincarnation, and no matter what kind of Holy Grail War ensued in the future, they would never be summoned again.

Throughout it all, Jeanne's expression remained unchanged, solemn like a mask, because if she cried, the children would know she mourned their deaths and left regrets behind. Thus, she stood in place like steel.

"No! No! My children!"

Reika rushed forward as if going mad, wanting to embrace the vanishing children, but no matter how she gathered her arms, all she received was emptiness.

"Please don't be sad, Mother..." 

The children looked at Reika, their smiles pure and gentle, like the warm breeze of early spring.

"To meet you was already the greatest luck for us..."

"Now, we're just going where we should go, so please don't mourn for us..."

"Thank you, Mother... Goodbye..."

The golden light particles gradually merged into the endless night sky.

"AAAAAHHHHH—!!!"

Reika knelt on the ground, tears streaming down her face, emitting a beast-like roar of anguish from her throat.

Jeanne silently held the holy flag in her hand, standing tall in the boundless darkness like a statue.

Assassin of Black, a nameless girl known as 'Jack the Ripper', finally found freedom.