Chapter 509: Give Mercy to This Soul

Joan of Arc had no weapons, and Artoria had no sword. This was originally a world of illusions. Even if they fought fiercely, it would be impossible to decide the winner, and the arrows shot would be ineffective.

The arrows reflected Atalanta's will, which was a simple will of revenge, "If you kill these children, I will kill you."

It was not that she was bewitched by Little Jack, nor was she coerced to stand on the opposite side. Heroes have scars that they never allow others to touch. For Atalanta, the chic female hunter, her only weakness is the children. Once a child reaches out to her for help, Atalanta will respond to them across any justice and evil.

Although they are beings that can never be redeemed, Atalanta will probably try every possible way to save them. No matter how desperate she has experienced, she is still unwilling to give up.

——This is not without reason, because the reason why Atalanta responded to the call and came to the world is to help all the babies in the world and create a world where all of them can be loved and happy.

As we all know, when Atalanta was just born, she was abandoned by her father in the mountains because he said, "I don't want a girl." The moon goddess Artemis, who witnessed this scene, felt pity for her and sent a female bear to raise her until she grew up, creating the most famous and beautiful female hunter in Greek mythology.

...To this day, Atalanta still has a memory.

She still remembers the scene when she was abandoned very clearly.

She desperately waved her hands and feet to find her parents - but she couldn't find her mother, and her father abandoned her.

She still remembers that she longed for help and longed for someone to hold her hand.

In the end, her wish was not fulfilled. She just kept crying and reaching out her hands for help, falling, falling, falling in the terrifying ocean -

The psychological shadow of being abandoned was never healed throughout her life.

Even after she grew up to be a beautiful girl and became a world-famous hunter, she still remained lonely. She had friends and companions who embarked on many adventures on the Argo. But in her entire life, she had not found anyone worthy of her love, nor did she have the intention to find one.

Even though she finally reunited with her father, her father was only happy that she could be used as marriage material. In the end, her father never loved his daughter from the beginning to the end.

——I just longed for love.

I just wanted to feel the unrequited love that did not come from lust, fame, and power.

If my life has become like this and I can't get anything, then at least leave this tenderness to my future children.

For this goal, Atalanta would not hesitate to sacrifice herself.

The moment she was swallowed by the fog of little Jack, Atalanta saw hell.

Foggy London, Whitechapel - for certain people, it is undoubtedly a hell. It is already difficult to survive, let alone live a dignified life.

In a world where even a nine-year-old girl has to sell her body to survive, what dignity is there? The stench from leather factories and meat processing plants always permeates the air, and rats and cockroaches swagger around the streets.

There are no strong people at all. Everyone there is a miserable weakling, a pathetic victim, and a cruel perpetrator.

Yes, this is hell. Children, there are children, there are many children, their eyes are like dead, they have long understood that there is no love in this world.

"I will save you! I will save you! I used to fall into hell like you, but I was saved! That joy, that happiness, I hope you can also experience it!"

It was this sad wish for redemption that made Atalanta stand in front of Joan of Arc and Altria.

Facing Atalanta, who was in a state of paranoia, Joan of Arc gave up praying and stood up and said:

"You should understand that these children are only alive to increase their companions. The return of their souls is salvation."

[Rest, never forget the song, never forget the prayer, never forget me]

"Shut up! What kind of salvation is this!" Atalanta almost cried and shot arrows at the two saint girls. Joan of Arc turned her head to avoid it. Artoria grabbed the feather arrow and her eyes became sharp. But Atalanta ignored her. Joan of Arc, who stretched out her hand to destroy the children, was her priority target of hatred.

"Saint, why are you waving the flag on the battlefield instead of drawing the sword! It's to avoid killing people, right? To keep your hands from being stained with blood-"

"--Is that what you think, Archer of the red side?"

Facing Atalanta, who was so pitiful, Joan of Arc responded with a cold voice and pointed out the fatal mistake she mentioned.

"Because I didn't use a sword, my hands weren't covered in blood? How is that possible?"

The memories played uncontrollably in my mind. The girl standing on the pile of enemy corpses waved her arms, and the fully armed marshal drew his sword and shouted. The sound of horse hooves rang out like thunder on the battlefield. The cavalrymen swung their weapons mercilessly, cutting the enemies in front of them in half and trampling the defeated to the ground into mud, until the splattered blood completely dyed the girl's beautiful face and the flag behind her red.

"I participated in that war, I decided to join the battle, and from that moment on, my hands were already stained with blood." Joan of Arc broke free from her memories and declared without hesitation, "Please don't underestimate me. I won't hesitate to destroy them."

[With my lightness, I can unload all burdens]

After hearing this, Atalanta's expression suddenly became ferocious, and she shouted like biting:

"Then, you are not a saint at all!"

"That's right, I never think of myself as a saint."

Compared to Atalanta who was shouting loudly, Joan of Arc's voice was always calm, but the will contained in this calmness made Altria and Atalanta stare wide-eyed.

"This is the world of their memories... It's just an illusion born of the remaining thoughts. Do you want those children to suffer forever in this chaotic world, Archer? Please get out of the way!"

[Rest in my hands, anointed and branded for your sins]

A solemn chant came from the distant sky. Under the invisible and heavy oppression of Joan of Arc, Atalanta's eyes showed struggle, and her arms were shaking, but even so, the female hunter still stubbornly stood in front of the children.

"I... refuse! If I abandon these children, who will love these children! Your God?!"

This sentence, only this sentence - made Joan of Arc look away slightly.

The Almighty Lord only exists in people's hearts. Even if there is such an omniscient and omnipotent existence, it will not relieve the evils created by human hands.

There are no extremely evil people here, but only a "system", which is a shadow or abscess that humans cannot avoid in the process of creation and development. They could not blame anyone, nor could they save anyone. It was impossible to save this situation because this behavior itself was not recognized by the city.

There was only one way to get rid of it——

[Eternal Life, Given by Death]

"Who is it, who is talking in my ear, shut up, shut up!"

Joan of Arc's silence made Atalanta fall into further madness. She held her head in pain, letting the black air on her arm burn her face. At this time, she had lost her natural beauty, and all she had was a desperate struggle like a trapped beast in a cage.

[Forgiveness is now]

Footsteps and chanting sounded in no particular order. When the three people looked in the direction of the sound, an English gentleman in a coat walked out of the shadows. Under the confinement of his civilized stick, a vague outline turned into flying ash and disappeared in the golden light.

"Hmm?" After seeing the three people confronting each other, a doubtful voice sounded. The young gentleman paused slightly, as if he wanted to pretend that nothing had happened and stay away from this place of trouble, but under Altria's death gaze, he still smiled bitterly and saluted.

"Good evening, ladies. It's not a particularly good day, is it?"

Altria snorted softly, and Jeanne fell into a strange silence. Atalanta didn't look at him, but stared at the golden light ball floating in Shuoyue's hand. A suffocating feeling enveloped her.

"What did you just do?"

When Jeanne and Altria were both standing on the opposite side of her, at least Atalanta hoped that Shuoyue would firmly say the answer she wanted to hear.

As long as he was willing to lend a helping hand, Atalanta would definitely shake it back; as long as he spoke words of comfort, that warmth would definitely make her grateful for life.

So, please, please help me, don't abandon me like my father did--

In a pleading look, Shuoyue lowered his eyebrows and took out a card from his pocket. The card flashed a faint luster, and then dimmed in an instant.

With a "click", the sound seemed to come from the sky, but it threw Atalanta into the deepest netherworld.

"The time has come." The young gentleman said in the flying card dust, "Let's end it all."

"What, don't--" Realizing that something was wrong, Atalanta raised the Sky Bow, but her arm was shaking uncontrollably, and she couldn't aim the arrow at the young man no matter what. She could only bite her lips until they bled, tears streaming down her face, and watched Shuoyue close her eyes lightly, her low voice resonating with the atmosphere.

"I swear by my flesh--"Give mercy to this soul (Kyrie Eleison)."

The white-gold aura instantly broke through the atmosphere, rushing straight into the sky like a pillar of light, like a sharp iron needle piercing from the inside out, piercing the shell of the miserable world and reaching heaven.

It blew up the gentleman's coat and expanded at a very fast speed, passing Atalanta who was holding out her hand to keep her, and wiping out all the children behind her. Before the upcoming annihilation, the children had no reluctance at all. They just stood together hand in hand and accepted it all with empty eyes.

That empty look hurt Artoria and Jeanne, leaving an indelible wound in Atalanta's heart, and blood was dripping.

In another corner of the illusion, a woman was holding a small child. The blood that flowed out due to the backlash had dried up. In the severe pain and trance, she heard the black magician's card in her body collapse little by little, and it turned into dust and dissipated with a wail.

The remaining evil thoughts in the illusion swarmed towards the dying mother, but even so, she still held the unconscious little girl tightly in her arms, even though her consciousness was about to be cut off and her face was as pale as a ghost, but she refused to let go no matter what.

"I will never abandon you again, little Jack..."

Golden light shone, echoing the purification power in the distance. The distant utopia protected the ill-fated mother and son, saving them from the final disaster, until the dawn, and the fog of despair was dispelled by the streets of Romania.

The fog dissipated, and somewhere in the deserted place, the heroes finally saw each other's faces clearly.

"Assassin... you killed them."

Like a wounded beast, Atalanta stood up shakily and cast a desperate look at Shuoyue.

Shuoyue was stunned for a moment by the strange name, but still nodded calmly:

"Yes, it was indeed me who killed them - if you regard them as something alive."

He is an enemy, an existence that is absolutely incompatible with himself -

But why is my heart so painful? !

Atalanta stood up slowly, trying to fill his heart with murderous intent, and shouted in a trembling voice:

"Really? Are you also one of the abandoned ones? Those children just want to survive, are you also one of the ones who want to trample on them!?"

"No matter what I say, you won't accept it." The young gentleman sighed. Facing that guiltless attitude, Atalanta almost gritted his teeth.

"Those children can be saved!"

"They can't be saved. Anyway, these things are evil spirits, so no matter how much they crave warmth, the people who give them warmth will be trampled by them."

"Shut up!"

The arrow broke free from the bowstring and shot at the young man in front, but Shuoyue didn't move. He just stared at Atalanta's tearful eyes and let his shoulder be shot through.

"Shuoyue...!"

"Are you okay?"

Altolia and Jeanne reacted immediately, but Atalanta pointed her spear at them the moment they spoke, and her anger poured out with the flying arrows.

"They can be saved... they can be saved...! Even if my power is not enough, I should be able to save them with the power of the Holy Grail!"

"Holy Grail..." Jeanne slightly widened her eyes while resisting the flag.

Save all the suffering children-can such an empty and painful wish really be correctly realized by the Holy Grail?

"Holy Grail." Another voice sounded from Shuoyue's mouth. He whispered in a low voice, and finally came back to his senses from the inexplicable emotions, pulled out the arrow on his shoulder and broke it, and then stretched his arm towards the dawn in the sky.

"Come, Sul-sagana, the dawn horizon that burns the sea!"

Under the miracle of magic, the brilliant dawn became real, and the slender giant sword spread out like the wings of a demon, burning the surrounding atmosphere wantonly, and roared down.

"Ugh!" Atalanta felt the crisis and had to stop moving and retreat out of the attack range of the sword. The cool breeze of dawn slightly blew away the madness in her eyes. She looked deeply at Shuoyue and quickly withdrew from his alert range.

"I will never forgive you, Shuoyue! I will never forgive your behavior! Wait for me! I, Atalanta, will shoot you all without leaving a single one alive!"

The figure of the huntress disappeared in the darkness before dawn. Shuoyue watched for a long time, then turned around and looked at Liudao Lingxia, who was lying on the ground, dying, and Jack the Ripper sleeping in her arms.

...No, with the efforts of her mother, her child has escaped the tragic fate.

Altria knelt in front of her, inspiring Avalon's power, while Jeanne stood not far away, casting a complicated look at him.

Against the light, Shuoyue held his forehead with his hand and sighed softly:

"Sure enough, people have their limits..."