"Remember to keep up a set distance between you and your master." Naruto lectured Mashu while he casually kicked a skeletal warrior into a tree and smashing it apart. "Gaps in your defenses will open up whenever you move. You must make sure that you can shift gears and easily clog them should the need arise."

"Hai!" Mashu nodded in understanding as she swung and bashed her shield against the flood of skeletal warriors that were swarming out of the nearby forests. They tried to slip past her, but her massive shield immediately halted them in their tracks. They tried piling up on her, but her shield still held firm as she blasted them back.

Naruto still kept a close eye on her though, making it a point to remind her whenever she was getting too far from the rest of them. She wasn't experienced enough to perform extreme one on one combat against a large group. She was only a shielder after all.

Though admittedly, she was doing far better than expected. Her form was good, and she was starting to learn when to pull back to a more advantageous position. With a little bit more training, he hazard to guess that she would be good enough to become an unbreakable defense that could stop anything.

And as for that shield...

He didn't say anything, possibly because he wasn't sure of it himself, but he had a gut feeling about what that Noble Phantasm was. A shield bearing that crest and design was almost unrecognizable to those who had seen it before. And if it was the object he was thinking about...

Then it was a weapon of defense on the level of the gods. An object that doesn't repel the attack through just the use of its physical defense, but with the power of the user's will. Through such a concept, it even surpasses that of the Yata Mirror which is said to reflect all things that make up the basis of nature.

"To think the girl would have merged with such a heroic spirit..." He mused quietly to himself as he crushed another skeletal warrior's head in. "Ah... what am I thinking. I have a job to do." He gave the last few remaining skeletal warriors a disappointed look. "Man... This isn't nearly enough work to waste my chakra on. A servant would have been more appropriate."

He sighed. "Well, whatever. This is what happens when you send sheep to fight a lion." He reached into the folds of his coat and drew several sharp kunai that were fitted between his fingers. With another small movement, they flew at the speed of a high calibre bullet and piercing the remaining skeletons who tried to run away.

"There we go." Naruto nodded in satisfaction before turning to Mashu, who was leaning against her shield slightly out of breath. "You alright, Mashu?"

The girl gave him a slightly tired smile. "Yes, Naruto-Sempai. I'm just a little bit winded."

"We're going to have to work on your endurance later." Naruto noted as he moved over to the skeletal remains and carefully grabbed the kunai that he had thrown around.

"That was pretty awesome." Fujimaru said as he approached them, having come out from behind his cover. He gave Mashu a spare bottle water from his pack that he had took with him from the cafeteria, watching his kouhai drink it down with a thankful smile. "Though Naruto is right. Your endurance needs a little bit of work."

"Understood, Sempai. I shall work on that in our training sessions." Mashu nodded in agreement as she put the cap back on the bottle. "Some basic cardio should do nicely. Maybe sempai should train with me."

Fujimaru laughed. "Yeah, maybe I should. Don't want to lag behind everyone else."

"Indeed, Master. I shall make you some weights for your legs when we get back to Chaldea. They work wonders for getting faster." Naruto promised, a familiar bowl-haired man coming to mind.

As they sat down to rest, one of the soldiers had ran out of the castle with an amazed look as he stared at the scene around him. The bones and leftover remains clearly told him all that he needed to know.

"Wow... You guys are good. It usually took almost all of our weapons to hold off a single wave." He muttered in awe. "You guys aren't ordinary folk, are you?"

"We're foreigners." Fujimaru said, speaking up for the group. "None of us were lying about that. Though we have to ask, what is going on right now? Skeletal warriors are part of witchcraft right, isn't that something you guys don't condone?"

"Indeed. Black magic is something nobody should be able to use. Those that do though, usually become a menace to our society." The man explained as he looked around nervously. "We know who the perpetrator is, though. She has been plaguing this land for several months since the end of the war."

"She?" Mashu echoed.

The man nodded. "The girl who used to be our hero. She was the one who rallied us together against the British, giving us hope until she was captured and executed. Now though, she has returned from the dead as a spirit of vengeance that's lashing out at everyone. French, British, and countless others. Nobody is able to escape her wrath." He bit his lip. "Her name is Jeanne d'Arc, the Dragon Witch. Our former hero, is the villain behind these crimes."

The group's eyes widened upon that announcement. There could have been a multitude of candidates who would be the officiator of the problem, but someone like that? That never even came to mind.

"Jeanne d'Arc?" Fujimaru gasped. "The Maid of Orleans?"

"She's a hero! One of the most famous! That just doesn't sound right!" Mashu exclaimed, equally shocked.

"Anything can happen it seems." Naruto muttered as he pondered on such information. "Are you sure that you're not mistaken? It could be someone operating under her name."

"We all recognized her. Not a single one of us who served with her could ever forget her visage." The soldier replied with a resolute nod. "Her appearance was slightly different than what I remembered, though. Her skin was much paler and she was wearing black clothing against her usual purple attire. Even her flag is completely black like the night. We were all ready to give her our greetings when she suddenly-"

The man started shivering, obviously way too terrified to even speak about such a thing. "E-excuse me for a second."

"Take your time." Naruto said with a wave of his hand. The man nodded in appreciation and hobbled off, rejoining his comrades within the confines of the small fortress and leaving the trio alone once again.

"Black like the night..." Mashu murmured as she exchanged glances with Fujimaru. "Like the King Arthur of singularity F."

"It could be a possibility. The possibility of her being a pure villain just doesn't seem very right."

"You'd be surprised, Fujimaru." Naruto said with a slightly sad smile. "Lots of people who were evil usually had become evil due to something in their past. It doesn't take much to tip a person over the edge, and heroes are the most susceptible to those kinds of treatment. As the soldier said, she seems to be striking at whatever human she can get her hands on like a child taking out her frustrations on toys. Anger to end human life without a care like that requires quite a lot of emotion. The only reason she could harness so much anger is most likely due to a certain event in her life. An event that was unjust and unfair."

"Her burning at the stake." Mashu realized, her eyes widening. "The unjust execution she was handed when the British captured her on the account of being a witch. If there was anything that could incite her to do something like this, it would be that!"

"But... would she really do that? I mean, she's supposed to be a holy maiden right?" He paused. "Do you think she was summoned as a servant for that sole purpose?"

"We cannot say for sure. We shall keep that idea in mind, but keep our imagination open." Naruto said as he glanced at Mashu's watch curiously. "By the way, is the doctor there? He's been quite for some time."

Mashu sighed. "He's probably on a lunch break right now. If there is food involved, he'll usually be away from his post for a break." She pouted. "Unlike sempai, he doesn't work as hard."

Fujimaru gave an embarrassed laugh as he rubbed his neck. "Ah... Well, I wouldn't say that I'm the one whose working hard."

"Well, it may seem like that now. The longer you keep doing this, you'll have to adapt." Naruto said with a smile. "Though it's fine to come up with the plans. Just leave the work to us and try not to get killed."

"I'll try to keep that in mind." Fujimaru said, sitting down on a nearby rock. "So what do you guys think we should do now? We don't know our way around the countryside, and I doubt the soldiers will help us any further without risking leaving their posts."

"We can ask the doctor when he gets back from his break. In the meantime, our best course of action should be to-"

Suddenly, multiple roars came from the forests where the skeletons had once come from. Judging by the sound of the wind being buffeted though, it was most definitely not skeleton warriors and not something humanoid.

Naruto uttered a curse and quickly stood up. "Shit... I can't believe this. Has the singularity really been twisted so much out of history for a species like them to be here?"

"More enemies, Naruto-sempai?" Mashu asked, standing up with a frown as she readied her shield once again.

"So it seems." He grumbled, pulling out several kunai as he faced the direction the roars had come from. "And I need you to be on the top of your game, Mashu. If I'm correct, these new fry won't be like the last. Not by a long shot."

Mashu fidgeted slightly, her nervousness kicking in. She had fought skeletons and wraiths before in singularity F, but this sound didn't carry such an otherworldly presence. In fact, it was much more majestic and animalistic, though it couldn't really be linked with any animal she had ever heard before.

The soldiers in the fort were once again scrambling around in a panic as the quickly redrew their swords and spears for combat, though it would have been a shameful sight for anyone who called themselves knights. Their armor was dusty and torn from use and their weapons have lost their shine due to rust. They all looked like they were going to break down at any moment.

Though it seems like they would be killed before something like that could happen.

Breaking through the top of the trees were some sort of flying animal with a green reptilian body that was flakey with numerous scales. On their backs were large wings with a span larger than that of any bird, buffeting the winds whenever they flapped.

"Dragons! The dragons are coming!" The soldiers screamed as they scrambled around for any small cover that would help serve as some kind of protection.

Naruto grunted. "Seems like I was right. That's a dragon."

Fujimaru paled. "A dragon?! Like, the ones from King Arthur and such?!"

"That shouldn't be possible... Dragons shouldn't have existed anywhere in fifteenth century France!" Mashu exclaimed nervously as the small dragon turned its eyes on her. She could have sworn that she saw its pink tongue flicker in anticipation, having selected her as one of its targets.

"Technically it's a Wyvern, a subspecies of dragon. It's not as powerful or as big as their cousins, but it's still a certainly dangerous phantasmal creature." Naruto corrected as more Wyverns began to rise out of the forest. "Seems like they were attracted here thanks to the large amounts of wounded soldiers. Kind of like how sharks are attracted to the scent of blood."

"So you're saying that if we don't stop them, pretty much everyone will end up as dragon food." Fujimaru summarized with an appalled look.

"Pretty much, yeah. Phantasmal Creatures aren't exactly all that smart but they also posses the same sense of self-preservation that any living thing has. Their train of thought usually goes from eating to making babies, ensuring the survival of their race. Thus, I highly doubt that any soldier who gets caught within their talons will survive."

"So then we have to stop them." Mashu muttered, though she seemed a little bit hesitant. "But their numbers are growing... Do you think we can actually hold so many off?"

"Well, we have to try don't we?" Naruto replied with an amused smile. "These creatures are still small fry compared to a servant, but they're still smarter than those skeletons we faced earlier. They'll adapt if we don't take them out fast enough."

"So then how are we supposed to do this?" Mashu asked as the dragons began flying towards them, clearly not interested in stopping.

"They're animals. Naturally enough, they'll go after the biggest threat to their species on instinct." Naruto said as he stepped forward. "The best way to insure everyones survival is to simply charge into the hoard and get their attention. They'll ignore the others to take care of the bigger threats." He paused. "Though it wouldn't hurt to have an extra defensive servant on our side. Though I doubt that we have any of those lying arou-"

Suddenly, screams resonated from within the fortresses' walls. Turning around in surprise, the group blinked in stunned shock as the soldiers apparently abandoned their posts, running away from the fortress and into the forests in clear panic.

"The Witch!"

"She's here!"

"Have mercy, God!"

They certainly ran faster than what should have been humanly possible. Humans of the old age were supposedly much more powerful than regular humans, but even the regular soldiers ran as fast as a car when it came down to it. Though, they had to wonder if it only applied to these kinds of circumstances.

"W-wait a minute!" Fujimaru gaped as he watched them go. "Did they just leave us behind?!"

"Figures." Naruto sighed in exasperation, seemingly more annoyed than angry. "At least we don't have to worry about protecting them anymore."

"Um... Did they say something about a witch?" Mashu hesitantly asked having heard their pleas for mercy as they ran. "You don't think that the dragon witch is here, right?"

Naruto grunted. "Well, unless you're counting that blonde girl over there as a witch."

"Eh?"

Fujimaru and Mashu turned towards where Naruto was pointing and saw a young french woman walking out of the gates of the fortress with a slightly awkward look on her face. She was clad in silver armor along with a purple cape that was draped over her back with a white cross imprinted boldly for all to see. In her right hand was a gold and white flag that billowed in the wind, bearing numerous golden designs that shone with a serene light.

She was certainly beautiful, but even that word could be said as a dishonor to her beauty. It was something else, more akin to an otherworldly being that scarcely felt human. She didn't have the kind of beauty that made people's hearts flutter when near, but one that could barely called real. A pureness no human could ever achieve no matter how many makeup or beauty products one uses.

She bit her lips, obviously troubled by the sight of the dragons flying around. Turning towards them, she pointed her finger towards them in acknowledgement.

"A pair of servants and master, correct?" She spoke, her French accent making her tone sound very foreign and serene at the same time.

"Um..." Fujimaru's mouth hung open as he stared at her, finding himself a little bit overwhelmed by her otherworldly presence. "Y-yes. I'm Ritsuka Fujimaru... The master."

"Mashu Kyrielight." Mashu introduced herself as well with a happy nod, noticing that the energy signature and graphs matched a servant. "It's nice to meet you, um..."

The girl bit her lip before gesturing with her flag towards the dragons who were closing in on their position. "I'll introduce myself later. For now, let us take care of these creatures before they do too much damage. She turned towards Naruto with a curious look. "Are you alright with assisting me?"

Naruto shrugged. "No problem, missy. You look like someone whose much more suited to fighting in a group. No offense, by the way."

The woman nodded, not at all having been offended by his words. "None taken. I must admit, I'm not much of a phenomenal frontline fighter. I'm usually the support, so forgive me if I leave you with most of the work."

"Least you're honest about it." Naruto grunted, brandishing his kunai as he stepped in front of them. "Mashu, stay behind and guard Fujimaru in case any stragglers get through. Without you, he's going to get eaten."

"Hey!" Fujimaru whined.

"Understood." Mashu nodded as she scooted closer to Fujimaru, covering him with her shield. Satisfied, Naruto turned towards the mysterious woman and gave her a nod.

"Lead. I'll follow."

"Then with your support, please follow me." The woman said as she held up her flag and charged straight into the horde of dragons, Naruto following behind at her heels.

Mashu watched them go with a small pout on her face. As much as she knew that her job was important, she really wanted to be in the fight. She needed more experience to get stronger and she had wanted to test herself against those of the phantasmal species.

Well, she couldn't do anything about it now. She was a shielder, not a saber. Her job was to be the wall that defended her master, not the soldiers who fought on the front lines.

Though she would have liked to bash more things with her shield first. Dare she say it, she actually enjoyed the small feeling of battle slightly. Though she made a point not to let the doctor know. He was too much of a hassle to deal with, especially when he got fussy.

Speaking of the doctor...

Mashu glanced at her wrist as the small device began beeping urgently. Clicking on it, the small hologram of the doctor appeared in the air as the connection was established.

"Hey guys! Sorry about that, I was getting myself some food..." He popped a small white object in his mouth and chewed on it with satisfaction. "Mmm... These Sesame Manjuu are quite good..."

"Sesame Manjuu?" Fujimaru asked curiously, peaking over Mashu's shoulder to see the small white buns that were compacted in a small bag that the doctor was holding. "Oh man... Those look good."

"I know right? Whoever made these was really good. Not the best, but certainly good." The doctor agreed as he popped another one into his mouth.

Mashu scowled at those words. "Doctor, you know those were the Sesame Manjuu that I prepared, right?"

The doctor blinked. "Eh? But it was sitting in the control room alongside the tea so I figured that it was surely-"

"It was for Me, Naruto-Sempai, and Master-Sempai. You know, the people who are actually working?" Mashu put her hands on her hips as she continued to glare at the good doctor.

"Mashu... how were you raised as such a good girl?" The doctor swallowed. "Oh man... That was good. I'm sure Fujimaru would have been quite pleased if he was eating."

Mashu's grip turned white on her shield. "Master. When we get home, please save some of this excursion's battle resources for me. There's one more person I'd like to add to my list of enemies beaten with the back of my shield."

Fujimaru sweatdropped, but he just gave his kouhai a pat on the back. "Yeah... sure. Go ahead."

"Mou... you're so mean, you two." The doctor whined with a pouty look before he suddenly noticed something. "Hey... Where's Naruto?"

"He's busy right now." Mashu said, earning a confused look from the Doctor.

"With what?"

Before Mashu could even respond, a large object flew past them and smashed into the nearby walls, causing it to crumble from the force and weight. Turning around, they saw that the object had been a dragon talon, completely severed from the body of one of the wyverns.

"Oh..."

Naruto cleanly sliced through another wyvern with his kunai, sending it spiraling out of control and crashing into a nearby tree. At this point, thirty wyvern lay dead at his feet and their numbers were only dwindling slightly. They were like annoying bees or roaches, constantly attacking in swarms and nipping at his heels.

Behind him, his new partner was faring much better than Mashu did. Though it wasn't too much of a surprise since this girl was obviously a full-fledged heroic spirit who has most likely seen more action in a week than Mashu has ever seen in her entire life.

Though who she most likely was confused him a bit. After all, it wasn't too hard for him to figure out who she was. Carrying the flag of Orleans and heeding the voice of God seemed like something only one woman could possess.

"Saint Jeanne d'Arc, right?" Naruto asked, getting a glancing look from the saint and she stabbed her flag through another Wyvern and slamming it into the ground. "The one who people of this era call the dragon witch?"

"That's not who I am..." She muttered as she ducked under another slash. "That's not the true me."

"Clearly. You wouldn't be here if that were true." Naruto noted as he sent a kunai flying through a Wyvern's chest. "So that must mean this time-period is more messed up than I thought."

"Time period?" She narrowed her eyes.

"We'll talk about it later. After we clean this mess up." He sent a kunai past her shoulder and impaled a Wyvern that had approached her from behind. "Save your strength. I can tell you're an unstable existence, and it wouldn't do for you to die on my watch. If you wanna help, why not be my cheerleader?"

"Cheerleader?" She blushed slightly. "I'm not exactly a cheerleader... I don't just sit back and let everyone else do all the work."

"Sure you didn't, but you'll do so now. You die, and any hope of fixing this place goes straight out the window."

Jeanne narrowed her eyes. "Fix this place? How do you plan to fix this place, servant?"

"By pulling out the problem by the roots. Without you, it'll be significantly harder for us to do so." He gave her a small comforting look. "I know how this must feel, but please hold back for a few more minutes while I deal with this problem."

The two of them stared at each other for a couple of seconds before Jeanne sighed in defeat, stepping backwards and planting her standard into the ground.

"I will honor your request and stay back. Please do your best as to not get hurt too badly..." Jeanne said with a small amount of worry. "Though I will pray for your safety, it won't do much if you decide to be too reckless."

"Trust me, I stopped being too reckless a long time ago." Naruto chuckled.

"Hm..." Her eyes suddenly widened. "Your left!"

"Eh?" Naruto spun around and blinked as a Wyvern smacked him aside with its talons, sending him crashing through several trees with the rest of the pack following after him.

He stared up at the sky as he laid amidst the rubble, sighing to himself as he sat up and glared at the approaching creatures with annoyance.

"How rude... Seriously, keep this up and I might not be able to contain myself anymore." He grumbled as he stood up. "I mean, it's like an all you can eat dragon buffet! And since I'm not one to waste food... I think I'll take one of everything!"

He charged forward, ready to tear all of them apart.

Yo guys, just in time for an update! From now on, I plan to at least try my hardest to get a single chapter in every week. Maybe two if I'm really feeling up to it and I have some free time on my hands.

Now then, I have a request for all of you! A special challenge that I honestly haven't really figured out all myself.

I'm talking about how strong servants are actually supposed to be.

I know, it's the kind of thing that causes massive arguments and whatnot, but I really need your opinions on this since I don't want servants to be able to do things that are supposedly out of their league. For example, people who have read about mythology know exactly how ridiculous how powerful some heroes are. For instance, Heracles was thought to be able to defeat Death in a wrestling match and rip apart mountains with ease. Karna was able to shoot a literal rain of millions of arrows and push back a chariot weighing as much as the universe. And then there is the King of Heroes Gilgamesh, who literally casually blew off gods and other immortal beings on a daily basis.

So I'd really like to know how exactly powerful Servants should exactly be. The Nasuverse is quite complicated and lots of facts get twisted around easily, so how about we compare the servants to those of other heavy hitters like Naruto, Bleach, and One Piece? It'll be fun and we'll all learn some new things here and there.

And I know this is the franchise where powerlevels hold just as much weight as in DBZ, but it helps give me something to work with.

That's my challenge to you all! Come up with a worthy argument so that this story may flourish! (Though don't go starting a war in the reviews. That's spacebattles job.)

See you in the next chapter!

-Mpmvirgo