Fate/Max Level Returner Chapter 70 70: [MAX] 70: Cup?

Jeanne Alter rode atop Fafnir, staring down at the city below like a predator that had finally spotted its prey. A savage grin spread across her face as excitent surged through her veins at the thought of what she was about to unleash.

She pictured Fafnir descending upon the city and the faces its people would make—unease, terror, panic, despair, and utter chaos. Just imagining it filled her with dark delight. She would make all of France taste her burning rage.

The only question was whether any fools would dare resist her. That would at least keep the slaughter from getting too monotonous.

With that thought, she urged Fafnir into a steep dive. In re monts, they reached their destination.

Boom!

A thunderous crash echoed as Fafnir landed heavily atop the city's strongest fortress. Jeanne Alter stood proudly on the dragon's head, gazing down imperiously over the entire city.

Deciding the entrance wasn't dramatic enough, she gave Fafnir a light kick with her heel. The great dragon understood at once and unleashed a deafening roar that drew every eye in the city.

ROOOAAAAR!!!

Jeanne Alter could feel the gaze of the entire population now locked onto her. She waited eagerly for the reactions she craved—fear, panic, confusion…

But the citizens, still riding high from Adam's earlier speech, responded in a completely unexpected way.

"Jeanne!" (excited)

"Jeanne!" (fanatical)

"Jeanne!" (reverent)

Jeanne Alter: "???"

She froze. This was nothing like she had imagined.

This couldn't be right.

She was the Dragon Witch—the terror of France. Weren't children supposed to stop crying in the night at the re ntion of her na?

Why were these people looking at her with such adoration?

What she didn't realize was that Adam's powerful speech had completely ignited the citizens' trust and devotion toward Jeanne. Their fervor rivaled even half of Gilles de Rais's own obsession. Many of them had desperately wanted to follow the Saint, but they hadn't been able to find her.

Then they saw the figure standing atop Fafnir. In their excitent and the mob ntality, they overlooked the differences in her black attire and hair color. When soone shouted "Jeanne is over there!", the rest followed blindly, screaming her na in a frenzy.

Just as Jeanne Alter stood there utterly bewildered by the situation…

A loud, amplified voice rang out.

"Alright, everyone! Calm down and look over here."

The crowd turned toward the voice and saw Adam and his group—the people they recognized.

Adam waved casually at the citizens and gently pushed the real Jeanne forward so everyone could see her clearly.

"This is the real Jeanne right here."

Then he pointed up toward the black figure standing on Fafnir's head.

"So who do you think that is?"

...

...

...

A terrifying silence fell over the square.

The residents were still stunned, trying to process what they had just heard.

Seeing them frozen in place, Adam called out helpfully:

"You can start screaming and running away now."

The crowd imdiately erupted into panicked screams and scattered in every direction.

In an instant, only Jeanne Alter and Adam's group remained.

The mont Jeanne Alter laid eyes on them, she recognized them as enemies. A mad, destructive smile curled back onto her lips.

"I don't know what you did to those worms earlier, but it was your handiwork, wasn't it?"

However, when her gaze landed on Adam, her smile faltered. For so reason, looking at him gave her a strange feeling… a sense of belonging? No—that was ridiculous. What was she even thinking?

Jeanne Alter shook her head violently, forcing the confusing thoughts away. Instead, she focused on the other Jeanne standing beside Adam—the one who also drew her intense attention.

In her eyes, this Jeanne's Saint Graph was pathetically weak. Jeanne Alter sneered with open contempt.

"Hey, hey, hey… what am I even looking at?"

"Soone please pour a bucket of cold water on my head. This is awful. I think I'm losing my mind."

"I'm going to die laughing at how ridiculous this scene is."

"Isn't this just the leftover scraps of ?"

"You're so insignificant now that you can't even stir up any pity in ."

"Ahh, really… a country that has to rely on a pathetic little girl like this is even more worthless than that rat of a king."

Her barrage of mocking insults didn't shake Jeanne at all. After learning the full truth about Jeanne Alter's origins, Jeanne simply looked at her with genuine pity.

But that look of pity was exactly what broke Jeanne Alter.

"Hey!"

"What's with that pitying look in your eyes?!"

"Say sothing! Don't you have any reaction seeing —your so-called dark side?!"

Jeanne let out a soft sigh and shook her head, firmly denying the claim.

"…No. I'm not your leftover scraps."

"More importantly, I'm not you at all, Dragon Witch."

Jeanne Alter clearly refused to believe her. She raised an eyebrow as if she'd heard sothing utterly absurd.

"Hah? Did they castrate your Saint Graph and your brain while they were at it?"

"Aren't I 'you'?"

Jeanne opened her mouth to respond but stopped herself. She wasn't sure how to prove they weren't the sa person without solid evidence. Jeanne Alter likely wouldn't accept it anyway.

At that mont, Adam stepped in front of Jeanne and turned to her.

"Let handle this."

Jeanne hesitated briefly, but seeing the serious look in Adam's eyes, she nodded in trust.

Adam turned to face Jeanne Alter, who was also staring directly at him.

"I've been wanting to ask—who exactly are you supposed to be?"

Instead of answering her question, Adam cut straight to the truth.

"Jeanne Alter, you're actually just a cup."

Jeanne Alter froze completely. A long silence stretched out.

"...Huh?"

After roughly three seconds, she finally let out a single dumbfounded sound.

Then realization hit her like a slap. Rage flared in her eyes as she glared furiously at Adam.

"A cup? What the hell is that supposed to an?! Are you mocking ?!"

Adam paid no attention to her outburst and continued calmly.

"When Gilles de Rais first arrived in this Singularity, he wished to the Holy Grail. He wanted to resurrect you—Jeanne."

"But he failed. The Grail couldn't grant his desire."

"So he chose a different path."

"He used the Grail to create a new Jeanne."

"One who would carry all of his hatred for France."

Jeanne Alter hesitated. Her mind raced as she considered the possibility.

The more she thought about it, the more…

She violently shook her head, forcing the idea out of her mind.

She laughed bitterly at herself. She had actually started seriously considering the enemy's words.

"...You're spinning quite the convincing little story."

"But it's just your side of—"

Before she could finish, a voice filled with emotion cut through the air.

"Jeanne~!"

It was the voice of a middle-aged woman calling out Jeanne's original na with deep, heartfelt feeling.

The voice was incredibly familiar to Jeanne, yet completely foreign to Jeanne Alter.

Jeanne's eyes widened as realization struck. She turned sharply toward the source.

A middle-aged woman who bore a striking resemblance to Jeanne was running toward them, stumbling slightly in her haste.

When Jeanne saw her clearly, her eyes widened in shock.

"Mother!"

The woman was none other than Jeanne's real mother—Isabelle d'Arc.

Hearing Jeanne speak the word, Jeanne Alter unconsciously repeated it under her breath.

"Mother…?"

She stared blankly at the stranger in front of her. For a mont, she seed lost in thought, as if trying desperately to recall sothing—but nothing ca to her.

Adam was also montarily stunned. In his mories of the first Singularity, Jeanne's mother had never appeared. But thinking about the tiline and location, it actually made sense.

This was only days after Jeanne's execution, so her mother would still be alive. And this was her actual hotown.

Adam had originally thought Jeanne ant France in general, but she had ant her birthplace.

Everything lined up. This really was Jeanne's mother.

"Truly unexpected… but this works out perfectly."

Adam glanced up at the still-dazed Jeanne Alter, who was staring transfixed as the real Jeanne and her mother embraced tightly.

Isabelle had reached her daughter and pulled her into a fierce hug. Jeanne returned the embrace with equal warmth.

After a long mont, Isabelle pulled back, tears glistening in her eyes. With a trembling hand, she reached out to touch Jeanne's cheek, as if to confirm she was truly real.

"My child… is it really you? Let look at you properly."

Only then did Jeanne truly notice how exhausted and haggard her mother's face had beco. She could easily imagine the days her mother had spent crying endlessly after her departure.

"Mother, I…"

...

Jeanne Alter watched the mother-daughter reunion. Sothing deep inside her stirred, yet it also felt completely disconnected from her. Her heart was in complete turmoil.

Seizing the mont while Jeanne Alter was shaken, Adam pressed the attack.

"Jeanne Alter, do you have any mories of your family?"

"What?" She was caught completely off guard.

"You claim you're Jeanne's dark side. If that's true, you should possess all of her mories, right?"

Jeanne Alter desperately searched her mind once again—this ti with full intention. She scoured every corner of her mories.

But she found nothing.

"Do you rember anything?" Adam asked again.

Jeanne Alter pressed her lips together tightly, gripping her black holy sword harder.

"I…"

She fell silent once more.

anwhile, Jeanne comforted her sobbing mother. Understanding Adam's intention, she continued gently.

"I see… that's true, isn't it~"

"No matter how clear my mories of the battlefield are, I still carry the mories of my life as a simple country girl."

"Even my dark side shouldn't be able to forget those peaceful, idyllic days in the countryside."

Jeanne looked straight into Jeanne Alter's eyes.

"Do you… rember?"

Jeanne Alter stubbornly continued searching her mind, but no matter how hard she tried, that part of her mories remained a complete blank.

"..."

The truth struck Jeanne Alter like a violent blow. For the first ti, she began to doubt her own identity.

After another long silence, sha and fury boiled over. She clenched her teeth and ordered Fafnir to attack, choosing to escape through violence.

"Even… even if that's the case, so what?!"

Jeanne Alter chose to run from the truth for now. She would drown her doubts in battle.

Right now, fighting was the only thing left for her.

"Fafnir!"

At her command, flas began gathering in the dragon's jaws.

Fafnir's fire was nothing to take lightly. This evil dragon from Norse mythology possessed incredibly high-temperature flas capable of devastating destruction.

If Adam and Mash hadn't been present, Jeanne Alter and Fafnir alone could have easily annihilated Ritsuka Fujimaru and the rest of the group.

Both Mash Kyrielight and the other Mash imdiately raised their defenses to maximum alertness.

Jeanne seed ready to help as well, but her mother held her back.

Adam, however, simply stroked his chin while observing Fafnir, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly.

Fafnir's master is Jeanne Alter, right?

He suppressed a grin and glanced between Jeanne Alter and the dragon.

It wasn't ti to claim the full prize yet… but collecting a little interest was perfectly fine.

Adam opened his Servant nu and scrolled through his collection until his eyes settled on one particular card.

[Jeanne d'Arc Alter (Berserker)]

***

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