Fate/ Dire Paradox (Jeanne Alter X Male Reader)

Chapter 17

So much for going for a little walk to clear my head - I think to myself as I sprint through the forest. I didn't really expect them to go this far just to get to me but that just changes everything.

Getting closer to a sudden incline, I leap down. Spinning in the middle of the air I toss a series of fireballs towards the figure that has been close to my heels. She only lifts her arms to block it as she dives into my stomach.

"Ack!" I exclaim as my back bends around one of the tree's roots, then her cold metallic fingers wrap around my neck as she lifts me into the air, crushing my windpipe.

Her grip quickly tightens as her cold eyes pierce mine, grabbing her arm and resting my other hand on her shoulder I mutter with my last breath, "Zenith..."

We both burst into flames that expand quickly then disappear, creating a sun-like explosion between the two of us. I crash straight into a tree, the fall taking the breath from my lungs.

I weakly roll over to my stomach as I try to lift myself to my knees, droplets of flame falling from the sky as an artificial sun is burning everything in the area. It is only a matter of time till it explodes one last time.

There won't be enough time for her to get to me - I lift my hand as I chant the spell, sacrificing one command seal, "Hear my voice, respond to the call!"

Not even seconds later, an arm wraps around my torso that lifts me into the air. Not bothering to look who it is because if it was anyone else I would have been dead.  

"Zenith, Expand."

I force the ball of fire to expand, I see its bright red through the trees and it quickly disappears. The ground shakes as the trees near us are swallowed by a white-hot flame that flashes and quickly disappears. 

All the trees have all but burned to a crisp, leaving a massive open area of charred ground and trees that have been turned to dust... and hopefully everything that couldn't escape it.

"They aren't dead," Jeanne says as she sets me down against the base of a nearby tree.

Before I could respond, she spins around instantly to block an attack from the assassin as she leaps towards us. Jeanne swings her arm around her body as explosions of flame erupt around her and Assassin.

Coating patches of the ground with a high rising fire waiting to cling to anything that gets close to it.

I avert my gaze as I try to find the Master, I shut my eyes as I try to find where the mana expenditure is coming from... but it is just me and Jeanne spending the mana.

Despite the pain pulsing through my body, I throw my gaze around trying to find a lead - luckily enough he shows himself just on the other end of the crater in the ground that I created. I have no mana left to spare due to Zenith.

I only have my reinforcements.

I shake my head as I dash through the battlefield to face him head-on. This way I can kill him and stop that fight before she gets too hurt - she can't rely on me for mana right now so I have to make myself more useful.

Getting closer and closer to him, I see the smirk on his face as I see familiars surrounding him, all taking the shape of swallow-tailed birds. He points to me, I recoil backwards baring my teeth. Clutching at the wound in my arm, the blood seeps through my fingers.

He repeats the action as another of his familiar travels towards me like a bullet. I step to the side, dashing forward abandoning all efforts of taking it slower and hoping that I can dodge faster than they can travel.

A sudden explosion of dust and stone appears in front of me with a deafening crash, I jump back to see Jeanne push her flagpole deeper into Assassin's doll-like body, pinning her into the ground while wearing a frenzied expression.

Assassin lifts her legs kicking Jeanne off from her whilst pulling herself out of the spear. Breaking half of her body. Despite the damage, she dashes towards Jeanne with a reckless assault. Watching the battle from just beside the crater of the crash.

A few attacks cutting into Jeanne's neck and arms from the knives between Assassin's fingers. Ducking under one of Jeanne's attacks she thrusts her arm into her stomach, piercing the flesh.

Lifting her knee she stomps on her shoulder as she thrusts her blade at the base of Assassin's throat. Pulling it out she severed her head from her shoulders, stepping aside a white light that starts to consume the remnants of Assassin.

I return my gaze back to where her Master stood only to see that he had already run.

Jeanne disappears out of thin air presumably chasing after him.

"Jeanne-"

"What?" she says as she drops the corpse of the master at my feet.

I give her a grateful smile, "Thank you," I drop my gaze to inspect the body, to see that it was a quick and clean kill, "Didn't expect to be bothered on my walk but I guess a man can't ask for privacy."

"You should know better," she says, then clutching at the wound in her stomach she groans in pain, "That was fun."

I look at my gauntlet, draining all the mana back into my system I feel it is taken the moment it enters my system. I watch the scratches and cut marks around her body heal almost instantly along with the damage on her clothes regenerating back to its full form.

I then look at the surrounding, "Hard to believe that Fuyuki City wasn't destroyed sooner."

"Zenith?"

I nod, "A last resort spell. I had hoped to use it and have you get me out of there but I didn't even have to tell you."

"Did you expect to die there?"

I shake my head, "I may have felt close to it but I know you would save my ass," I chuckle despite the lump in my chest, "I have learned my lesson not to underestimate the enemies any further."

"They aren't acting as we'd hoped," she then drops her gaze to my body, "Anything broken?"

"Other than my pride? Not much. The enhancements to my body pretty much absorbed most of the shock," I then look at the wound in my arm, "Well... except for this one. It definitely struck bone but it doesn't feel like I lost the arm yet."

I can barely feel my own arm as it was completely numb. 

She frowns at me, "You should have been more careful."

I nod, "Just... help me home, will you? I need to somehow manage to heal this..."

She then sides next to me, throwing her arm around my waist she pretty much lifts my entire weight by herself... must be fun having all that strength the moment you turn into a heroic spirit. She wore a stoic expression for the entire way.

Though we didn't really speak to each other. I expected as much but I wasn't going to force the situation.

Reaching a place where I can rest up and tend to the wound, I glance up at her with a pained expression, "Thanks again, for saving my ass."

"Don't let it happen again," her eyes drop the missing command spell on the back of my hand, "You used it for practically nothing."

I sigh, "Yeah - yeah. You don't have to lecture me."

"Just..." she shakes her head, "I didn't mean to lecture. Do you need help cleaning that wound?"

"If you have skills in cleaning up wounds or healing them that would be greatly appreciated. If not basic healing magic will do its thing through the night."

She then nods, "I'll do what I can."

Man... what a rather uncomfortable situation... then again I could have been dead.