Chapter Twenty-Six: Fate in the Palm of Your Hand

"If you had surrendered sooner, you wouldn't have ended up in this state. Farewell, little thief."

The witch drew her dagger, watching Chen Xuan fall to the ground, before turning toward Joan of Arc.

"Your Excellency, the Emissary!" Joan cried out in alarm.

"He is no emissary; he isn't even a believer in the Lord," the witch said, shaking her head with feigned regret. "I suggest you cease your resistance... If you do, when I am later branded a wicked witch, you can be exonerated and live on in history as a hero of France. If you insist on resisting, you are merely confirming your own treason..."

Suddenly, she saw Joan’s expression change.

It shifted from surprise, grief, and hesitation to something profoundly pious.

...It was as if she were staring directly at the Lord she served.

Could it be?

The witch spun around violently. A flash of a sword swept past; even though she leaped back in a desperate rush, she was still a beat too slow.

The sword of energy sliced into her midsection, cutting through her abdomen like a hot knife through butter.

Blood sprayed instantly.

Her face turned deathly pale, and her eyes widened in disbelief as she looked behind her.

Chen Xuan had risen again!

"How... is this possible?"

She had clearly pierced his heart!

What kind of ability did he possess? Was he immortal!?

To Chen Xuan, however, the scene had unfolded differently. Just as the red-haired witch teleported behind him, a voice echoed in his mind, consisting of only three simple words: "It is done."

Then he saw her draw her dagger and strike at the empty air. It was as if another version of Chen Xuan had stood there, and he himself had been the mere phantom. This phenomenon occurred not only with his enemy but also with Joan. Seeing her transformation from shock to fanaticism, Chen Xuan could easily imagine how his own "resurrection" must have appeared to her.

"What kind of sorcery is this?"

"The Array of Eight Gates. Those who fall into it and cannot escape have their life, death, joy, and sorrow manipulated by a single thought," Liu Shuyue’s voice came again, as if she had anticipated his question. "It is a form of talismanic arts. Though troublesome to cast, once the array is formed, one stands in an invincible position. Her life is yours."

Looking at the witch kneeling on the ground, Chen Xuan raised his three swords of energy and aimed them at her once more.

That strike had clearly damaged her internal organs. Now, let alone dodging, even moving significantly could cause her wound to widen or her intestines to slide out.

It had to come to this in the end.

Chen Xuan took a deep breath, preparing to thrust his swords.

Suddenly, the red-haired witch gritted her teeth and slammed a hand onto the ground. In the next instant, she vanished into thin air, replaced by a metal barrel the size of a tree stump, which kept emitting a rhythmic ticking sound.

This was... a bomb!?

Of course. Since she could swap positions with specific objects, all she had to do was prepare one in advance to have an escape route at all times.

But using a bomb as an escape route was ruthless. If that barrel was filled with high explosives, the blast would be enough to bring the entire dungeon crashing down!

"Joan, Liu Shuyue, run!" he warned sharply.

At that moment, an invisible hand grabbed him.

"Gate of Rest, open!" Liu Shuyue shouted. Suddenly, a surging wave of water erupted from within the cell!

"We are leaving."

Chen Xuan had no idea what was happening or where the water came from, but in such a critical moment, he could only trust her. He grabbed Joan, who was rushing toward them, with his other hand and allowed himself to be dragged into the water by Liu Shuyue. Amidst the turbulent current, he vaguely saw a pitch-black hole appear in the stone wall of the cell, with the water gushing out from within.

Passing through the hole, the light suddenly dimmed. Then, he felt himself rising rapidly. After a dozen seconds, he broke the surface and breathed in fresh air once more!

"Cough, cough... where is this?" Chen Xuan looked around. The dungeon and the castle were gone; all that surrounded them was a rippling lake under a canopy of brilliant stars.

Suddenly, a muffled thud came from far away, like a bolt of thunder on a dry day.

He followed the sound and saw many flickers of fire in the distance.

"Could that explosion have come from the palace?"

"More or less," Liu Shuyue said, manifesting her form. Unlike Chen Xuan, her hair was perfectly neat, and there wasn't a single drop of water on her, evidently thanks to some water-repelling technique. "This art can be used for offense or defense, for advancing or retreating. Since you said you wanted to run, I opened the Gate of Rest. It seems it sent us to a lake near the dungeon."

To cover miles in the blink of an eye...

It seemed the art of talismans was a versatile and superior mastery.

"I didn't expect that person to be able to escape the Array of Eight Gates while her mind was being seized. The arts from beyond the Abyss Sea are truly not to be underestimated," Liu Shuyue glanced at the bewildered Joan. "At least we rescued the guest safely; the trip was not in vain."

"Crazy Thursday," he muttered...

Whether judging by her nickname or her equipment, she seemed to be someone from his own era. But how could such a person exist in the world he knew?

"Indeed," Chen Xuan said, suppressing his doubts. "Let's head back to the shop; Gilles de Rais is still waiting there."

...

"Lady Joan... thank goodness you are safe!" Seeing the girl return safely, the general, who had been pacing anxiously at the shop entrance, rushed over with a face full of joy. "That wretched, wicked witch didn't torture you, did she?"

Joan shook her head. "I heard from the Emissary; it was you who ran about trying to save me. Thank you."

"You are the commander of the army, the Saint who saved our motherland; all I did was my duty!" Gilles de Rais waved his hand dismissively. "The soldiers on the front lines are waiting for your return. As long as you declare your innocence, they will surely stand firmly by your side!"

"I..."

"Are you worried about the wicked witch? Even with her demonic methods, she cannot control every unit on the front line at once. If we all rise up and urge His Majesty, he will surely change his mind—"

"No!" Joan interrupted firmly. "How is that any different from rebellion? The front-line troops are meant to deal with the English; I have no right to use them for my own ends!"

"That witch... will likely not appear again," Chen Xuan said suddenly. "Although she escaped, that injury is effectively the same as being dead."

Whether she would truly die was hard to say, but if she really came from the same world as him and her goal was to have Joan die as recorded in history, then her mission had been a complete failure. The fabricated identity of the "witch" had become meaningless.

However, he couldn't quite understand it. He had worried about the disturbance to history and had checked the records thoroughly. The results proved that Joan's fate had not deviated; she was still defeated and captured near Compiègne. This meant the Saint of this world was not the same as the one he knew. Why, then, was someone so obsessed with her death?

Moreover, "Crazy Thursday" seemed to have a deeper understanding of his abilities than he did.

Who exactly was she?

"Even if one witch falls, another may appear," Chen Xuan continued. "They are the claws of hell; as long as their goal remains unfulfilled, they will keep emerging."

Joan looked worried. "That is what I fear as well..."

"I have a proposal. It might be useful."

"Please, go ahead."

He patted the Saint's shoulder lightly. "How about you retire?"

"Re... tire?"

"How can you!?" Gilles de Rais immediately objected. "Lady Joan is the banner of the army, the beacon for the soldiers! We cannot lose her!"

"Is that better than her being dead?" Chen Xuan countered.

"Uh..." Gilles de Rais was suddenly speechless.

"If she is no longer the commander, can she not still be a spiritual pillar, guiding you to keep fighting? Her living well is what matters most," Chen Xuan analyzed. "The witch's goal is to eliminate Joan, and there are nobles in the court who despise her. Rather than letting her remain a target for all sides, it is better for her to retire and protect herself. The dungeon was likely blown to pieces and flooded; any normal mind would assume Joan is dead. Let us use this to our advantage and deceive the devil's pursuit."

"Besides, retiring doesn't mean ignoring the world. If the British army returns, she can always come back." Chen Xuan looked at Joan. "But this is just a suggestion. The choice of what to do is ultimately yours."

Joan considered this for a long time before her furrowed brow finally smoothed. "This is indeed the most appropriate course of action. The nation will not lose strength due to internal strife, and the outcome of me being murdered by a witch will satisfy all parties."

"My Lady..." Gilles de Rais looked pained, but compared to losing the Saint entirely, this was a good result. "I understand. Your will is my mission. I will see to the arrangements for your retirement."

"I leave it to you, General."

Finally, Joan took Chen Xuan aside. After a moment of hesitation, she whispered, "Your Excellency, may I ask a question to the Almighty Lord?"

"You want to ask if what the witch said was true?"

Joan's eyes widened. "You... you knew?"

It was written so clearly on her face; it would be strange not to guess. Chen Xuan nodded slightly. "The Lord has given me revelation."

The girl involuntarily clasped her hands over her chest.

"She said if I continue to live... the motherland will fall into decline, the army will be gripped by panic, and the fractured resistance will lose to the English invaders. My mission ended after the recapture of Orléans and Reims, and the people need a martyred Saint to unite their hearts..."

Her voice grew smaller and smaller until she fell silent.

Although she had been able to suppress her doubts with anger toward the witch while in the cell, that didn't mean she could completely cast those words aside. Joan of Arc had always been a sincere and passionate person who took every question to heart.

"The answer is unimportant."

She was stunned. "Un... unimportant?"

"Yes. So-called prophecies are merely guesses about the future," Chen Xuan said with a smile. "What the future ultimately becomes depends entirely on those living in the present. It has infinite possibilities, far beyond what any single prophecy can summarize. In other words, as long as you have the will to achieve it..."

He opened his hands toward the girl.

"Then your destiny lies within your own grasp."