Chapter 1-3
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VOLUME 4
Chapter 1
Ch1-3
In order to kill this unidentified female Servant, Assassin of Black had taken all possible measures. Her own Master, Rikudou Reika, had dealt with the boy who seemed to be this Servant’s Master.
But even so, this Servant hadn’t fallen into a panic, and instead was trying to find and attack Assassin. Most likely, she possessed the skill [Independent Action], or perhaps—the boy hadn’t been her Master in the first place.
Even so, there was no problem. Without hesitation or mercy, Assassin of Black activated her Noble Phantasm.
“Everywhere except here is hell. We are flame, rain, and power—”
The surrounding dimension twisted and a murder began to take place. The victim is a woman. A ‘woman’ wandering ‘within the fog’ is cut down at ‘night’.
All three of these conditions had been fulfilled. Assassin’s attack was Maria the Ripper: Holy Mother of Dissection. An absolute Noble Phantasm that kills virtually all ‘females’.
And now, this Noble Phantasm—a murder—came into existence here.
Jack the Ripper killed at least five prostitutes—perhaps.
Jack the Ripper possessed advanced medical knowledge—perhaps.
Jack the Ripper might have been a man, or might have been a woman.
Even though the events of history remained the same, the existence of Jack the Ripper himself was merely vague and uncertain.
No one knew his true identity. No one could figure out his true identity. He might have been a police detective, a private investigator, a poet, a teacher, a doctor, a devilish cutthroat, a psychic, a scientist—or even a god.
There was only one thing that was known for certain about Jack the Ripper.
Jack the Ripper kills women.
The female victim’s abdomen split open. The instant the Noble Phantasm is activated, it ends all possible situations.
This was neither an attack by a holy sword nor a series of consecutive attacks by a divine spear—it was the reproduction of a murder.
The victim dies—she is dissected, she has her organs plundered, she loses her blood and, as a result, she dies.
First, a ‘murder’ occurs, followed by ‘death’, and finally, the ‘reason’ for it is drastically late in catching up; that’s what makes it a truly instantaneous attack. Counterattacking, dodging and resisting are all meaningless.
Assassin of Black was certain of this.
She killed her. She definitely killed this Servant. At the same time, she tried to tear out the Servant’s heart.
A Servant’s prana was enormous. Even more so within their heart or brain where their spiritual core existed. Assassin of Black would devour her soul and gain even more power.
…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.
TRANSLATOR’S NOTES
(NanoDesu) A Translation of the Fate/Apocrypha Light Novel 