Jeanne's Appearance

"Isaiah, it's Isaiah... Where am I? Why are you here, Isaiah?"

Tosca looked around and asked weakly.

"This is the countryside. Lady Moonlit saved us, Tosca. We've already left that devil's place."

Helping the girl up, Isaiah hurriedly explained.

At that moment, Moonlit put away her chainsaw and treated the girl before her.

Artifact "Inherent Defensive Barrier," recyclable for 2,050 Crystals.

"As expected, it's worth a fortune! I've made a huge profit again."

On a beach by the sea, Miss Moonlit walked barefoot across the sand with her snow-white, jade-like feet, happily playing with the Artifact she had just acquired.

This Inherent Defensive Barrier naturally came from the girl named Tosca.

Though it was not as good as Isaiah's Demon Sword Creation, it was still a top-tier Artifact worth 2,000 Crystals! It simply did not seem all that useful to Moonlit. She had no shortage of ways to preserve her life.

With the Sacred Gear Sephiroths Cup, Miss Moonlit possessed a certain degree of immortality, and her regenerative ability was terrifyingly powerful.

After thinking it over, the girl chose to recycle it.

Aside from exceptionally rare Artifacts, all other Artifacts had to be exchanged for Crystals so that Moonlit Oath: For Love with Heart could reach SS-rank, or even SSS-rank, as soon as possible.

After saving Tosca, the girl had not overlooked the Artifact within her body. In return, however, she had given her the power of immortality.

She had made Tosca her retainer...

As long as Moonlit did not die, Tosca would not die either.

Besides that, she would not be lacking Stigmata or weapons. Miss Moonlit had never been stingy about such things. Leaving them behind would only mean storing them in her inventory, where they would be useless.

After saving Tosca and trading for the Artifact, Miss Moonlit had not let the two follow her. It was simply inconvenient on many occasions.

Thus, before long, the three parted ways. Miss Moonlit was alone once more. Things were much the same with Gasper and Valerie; for the past half year, they had only kept in touch through their phones.

However, the girl had mentioned that she would need to make a trip to the Island Nation in a few years.

She had also reminded Isaiah that if he wanted to avenge the victims of the Holy Sword Project, he could head to the Island Nation after some time.

The one who had led the Holy Sword Project would definitely appear in Koma Village in the Island Nation then.

Koma Village could be considered the most central location in this world. The story unfolded there, and the major factions would all be watching it.

Therefore, before she had enough strength to protect herself, Miss Moonlit had never planned to go there.

But now, her level was about to reach its cap, and she had obtained quite a few powerful Artifacts. She could begin planning a trip to Koma Village and make some arrangements.

That place was dangerous and would easily expose her to the eyes of the major factions, but it also held many opportunities. In particular, there were an enormous number of Artifacts that Miss Moonlit needed.

System notification: Recycling successful. Obtained 2,050 Crystals.

After recycling this fairly good defensive Artifact, Moonlit took a quiet stroll along the shore by herself.

It was already late at night, and everyone else had gone to sleep. How could they be like Moonlit, sleeping during the day and coming out to play at night?

Still, this was nice. She could enjoy the beauty of the night by herself.

Looking at the shells exposed in the water beneath the moonlight, Moonlit picked them up one by one, then selected the prettiest few to keep.

It was not until well past midnight that the girl lay down on the beach to rest.

But before long, a flash of inspiration suddenly struck her, and she quickly sat up.

"Perhaps I can try it."

She was only one step away from the Balance Breaker of Demon Sword Creation, yet she had never succeeded. With Moonlit's aptitude, she should have been able to enter Balance Breaker the moment she obtained the Artifact.

It seemed that she had been developing Demon Sword Creation in the wrong direction all along.

As long as she found the right direction, there would be no problem.

"Sword Birth!"

As the Artifact's voice rang out, a Demon Sword instantly materialized in the girl's hand.

Holding the Demon Sword, Miss Moonlit closed her eyes and began constructing the thoughts and spirit that belonged to her. Her thoughts and spirit became sustenance, absorbed by the Artifact.

Then, an incomparably powerful surge of demonic power erupted from Moonlit's body, even forcing back the seawater around her.

With Moonlit at the center, one Demon Sword after another appeared out of thin air and stood around her.

However...

"Still not enough. It's nowhere near the level of Balance Breaker."

This was not Balance Breaker!

Balance Breaker, Balance Breaker... What was a Balance Breaker? It was an ominous forbidden art, a forbidden external method, the ultimate realm of an Artifact.

Only when an Artifact Wielder who could fully wield an Artifact at will underwent a profound shift in spirit due to some event could they reach this realm.

Joy, sorrow, delight, grief, fear, and every other emotion born from drastic change would become driving force, allowing the Artifact to be brought to its utmost limit.

Yet Moonlit had clearly done all that. Why was it that even with ten thousand years of longing as fuel, she still felt like something was missing?

Jeanne's Appearance

"What exactly am I lacking?"

Moonlit closed her eyes and pondered within her mind.

She lacked none of the conditions needed to activate an Artifact's Balance Breaker. Whether it was strength, longing, or emotion, she could instantly push the Artifact to its limit.

Compatibility?

Could it be that she was naturally unsuited to this Artifact? How could that be?

There was no such thing as being suited or unsuited.

"Perhaps... I know how to activate Balance Breaker now, even if it's only a subspecies Balance Breaker."

Opening her beautiful crimson eyes, Moonlit made up her mind. An Artifact possessed countless possibilities, and each person's Balance Breaker was not completely identical.

Subspecies Balance Breakers in particular had already completely strayed from the Artifact's original nature. They forcibly made the Artifact enter Balance Breaker mode through their own will.

Thinking of her guess, Moonlit controlled her emotions and began to imitate...

Raising the Demon Sword in her hand, Miss Moonlit began with her own understanding of swords, or perhaps by imitating someone else's swordsmanship—especially something she had always wanted to try.

"I am the bone of my sword, this body is made of swords

Steel is my body, and fire is my blood

I have forged over a thousand blades

Unaware of loss, nor aware of gain

Have withstood pain to create many weapons

So, as I pray, Unlimited Blade Works!"

"Balance Breaker!"

Terrifying power erupted from her body once more. Demon Sword Creation broke through the final step and successfully reached Balance Breaker.

In an instant, the scenery around Moonlit underwent a massive change. A sword-forging barrier formed across an area of ten thousand meters around her.

The girl stood atop a mountain of swords. The entire region was filled with all kinds of Demon Swords embedded in the ground, their number already exceeding a thousand!

"Unlimited Lost Works!"

This was a Balance Breaker forcibly developed from the girl's own ideas. It was not Kiba Yuto's original Balance Breaker, which took Holy-Demonic Swords as its core. It was an entirely different direction.

"Success."

Holding a Demon Sword, Moonlit looked at everything she had created, a trace of joy flashing through her eyes. She had successfully activated the Balance Breaker of Demon Sword Creation.

However, this Balance Breaker she had developed resembled Unlimited Blade Works from the Moon World, but it was not exactly the same. In the end, this Demon Sword Creation version of Unlimited Blade Works had merely been forcibly evolved by Miss Moonlit through her Artifact.

"It can only be considered a subspecies Balance Breaker."

Moonlit figured out the abilities of her Balance Breaker and discovered that this Unlimited Blade Works could not be compared to the Moon World's Unlimited Blade Works. The two were fundamentally different.

Unlimited Blade Works in the Moon World was the Reality Marble possessed by Emiya Shirou and Archer, while hers was merely the power of an Artifact.

(Reality Marble: A magecraft close to magic, a subspecies of imaginary realization. It turns the world imagined in one's heart into reality and overwrites the world, creating one's own world. Yet it is ultimately an existence that destroys the balance of the world and will eventually be corrected.)

"This will do!"

Canceling the Balance Breaker, Moonlit was already satisfied.

At the very least, she had mastered one form of Balance Breaker for Demon Sword Creation. As a result, all three Artifacts on her body had been developed to Balance Breaker or even higher.

Demon Sword Creation's Balance Breaker was completely different from the Moon World's Unlimited Blade Works. They merely looked somewhat alike, but the girl still named it Unlimited Blade Works.

They were not even from the same world, so she could name it however she liked.

Noticing a hint of light at the edge of the sea, Moonlit knew the night had passed and a new day was about to arrive.

She did not plan to stay here any longer. She disliked the daytime, so it was better to go home and sleep!

Just as Moonlit was preparing to leave the shore, she suddenly noticed an unfamiliar figure in the distance. It did not seem to be an ordinary person.

"Congratulations on successfully mastering the Balance Breaker of Demon Sword Creation!"

Noticing that Moonlit had discovered her, the figure slowly approached, clapping her hands as she offered her congratulations.

Only then did Moonlit clearly see her appearance. She looked young, not yet twenty, with long golden hair tied into twin tails and orange knightly armor.

A valiant female knight... in style.

However, the holy power radiating from her body made her seem connected to the Church.

"Human, who are you?"

Looking at the approaching woman, Moonlit guessed that she had probably been drawn here when Moonlit entered Balance Breaker earlier. Though she looked somewhat like an angel, Moonlit was certain that she was not one. She was merely human.

"Let me introduce myself. I am... Jeanne."

The golden-haired woman—no, Jeanne—politely introduced herself to Moonlit.

"Jeanne?"

Miss Moonlit froze upon hearing that, then quickly reacted. This name was no simple matter. Someone in this era actually dared to call herself Jeanne?

Saint Jeanne!

Her literal name should be Jeanne d'Arc, nicknamed the Maid of Orléans.

She was famous throughout the world, a French national hero, a Catholic saint, and an important figure in the Hundred Years' War between England and France.

But that had been so many years ago.

The girl before her actually bore the name of Saint Jeanne. It was rather unbelievable.

Could she bear the weight of that name?

"Don't overthink it. I'm not the Saint you're imagining. More accurately... I am the reincarnation of Saint Jeanne d'Arc's soul."

As if she had guessed what Moonlit was thinking, Jeanne added.

"The reincarnation of a soul? Jeanne..."

"The Order of the Fallen!"

Only after hearing that reminder did Moonlit recall something. Her beautiful eyes widened. The girl before her... should be a member of the Order of the Fallen.

The Order of the Fallen called itself the Hero Faction.

Its members were all connected to heroes from history. Some were descendants, some were reincarnations, while others had different kinds of connections.

Therefore, the members all used the names of their associated heroes, recreating the glory of their ancestors.

In their own eyes, the Hero Faction explored the limits of humanity, challenging the lofty gods and demons with human bodies.

Yet in the eyes of others and other factions, these so-called Hero Faction members were merely a group of troublemakers who caused chaos everywhere.