Luminosité Eternelle vs Maria the Ripper

…If Assassin of Black had made one miscalculation.

It would be that she viewed this woman as just an ordinary Servant.  True, Maria the Ripper was an unequaled Noble Phantasm that delivered instant death in a single blow. All the conditions had been achieved as well—‘night’, ‘within the fog’, and a ‘woman’.

But even if one brought about a phenomenon that twisted cause and effect, a foundation, something to serve as the raw material for it, was still needed.

In this case, Maria the Ripper was, at its essence, a [curse]—the collected grudges of thousands of unborn children. That was the true nature of this fearsome Noble Phantasm.

Accordingly, in order to counter this Noble Phantasm, what was necessary was neither luck nor endurance, but purely an absolute resistance against curses.

And the woman she had targeted—Ruler, Jeanne d’Arc, was a saint who unmistakeably had the faith and belief of the world gathered upon her, a Servant with some of the strongest resistance against curses in this world. And what was even more fatal for Assassin of Black…
…was the holy flag she possessed.

…

Assassin of Black—activated her Noble Phantasm, Maria the Ripper: Holy Mother of Dissection.

Ruler—activated her Noble Phantasm, Luminosité Eternelle: God is Here With Me.

All of Jack the Ripper’s preparations were complete. She had prepared a situation where she could use her Noble Phantasm to maximum effect, and had perfectly made a surprise attack by using a decoy.

Therefore, Assassin was one step faster.

Ruler’s Noble Phantasm was slightly late in activating.

But, even so, that grudge did not reach Ruler.

The rushing black grudge tried to possess Ruler, and at the same time tried to split open her abdomen—but Ruler’s Noble Phantasm activated immediately before it could.

“Kuh…!!”

An intense shock ran through the holy flag. As expected, it couldn’t absorb all of the curse and the damage, and numbness ran through her entire body. Different from Berserker of Red’s attack, which was a simple torrent of energy, this was a curse-type Noble Phantasm that followed some form of rules.

It was something that could easily kill and dissolve a normal Servant.

Ruler cried out in anguish and spat out black-dyed blood. But she didn’t bend even a single knee, and somehow managed to hold her ground there.

“Wha———!?”

The one who shouted in astonishment was Assassin of Black, who had just landed on the ground. She had definitely activated her certain-death Noble Phantasm under perfect conditions. And yet it hadn’t even dealt a fatal wound.

“So you’re… a user of evil spirits, Assassin of Black.”

Ruler pinned down the struggling young girl with one hand, and after she touched her forehead, the girl fainted. Ruler then sprinkled holy water from her pocket over her and quickly exorcised the spirit within her. Her blackened arm soon returned to normal—and her atrocious appearance changed to that of a gentle young girl.

“Why… aren’t you dead?”

Assassin’s voice was somehow strange. It was rough and mixed together with odd noise, as if several people were saying the same words at the same time.

Most shocking of all was that she looked just like a very young girl. For a young girl to be a Servant was unusual enough, but for her to be the serial killer Jack the Ripper who once terrorized Greater Britain was far beyond Ruler’s expectations.

Without revealing the surprise she felt within, Ruler replied to Assassin’s question.

“Unfortunately, I possess something with a resistance against curses.”

“…That flag, huh?”

Assassin of Black nodded in understanding. That flag had absorbed Assassin of Black’s attack like a lightning rod. Her preparations hadn’t been meaningless; the evil spirit she had put into the child that she had kidnapped within the town had borne fruit, making
Ruler’s Noble Phantasm slightly delayed in its activation.

As a result, the curse had definitely adversely affected the Servant before her eyes—but she was still alive.


Volume 4, Chapter 1, Page 41-42, 46-47