Grand Foreigner (Chapters 1- 200)

Chapter 59

"This is bad..." - Jeanne dodged yet another blow - "We are in a severe disadvantage..."

Altera attacked again and again.

It seemed that from the very beginning of the battle she was not troubled by Jeanne's resistance, just continuing to attack time after time, like a machine or a tool performing the same movements with mechanical precision. Punch, punch, punch - parry - and the next series of punches.

Altera struck again and again, rushing forward while paying no heed to Jeanne's defense or possible counter, not that one would be coming soon.

Jeanne could not even counterattack. It took all her concentration to simply dodge Altera's flurry of attacks, her life hangs on a tightrope.

Jeanne wanted to take a look at how the other Servants were faring with their opponent, but the inattention caused the next blow to hit her abruptly in the stomach and threw her back forcing her to abandon any ideas that would in any way distract her from the oncoming assault.

"Teleportation..." - another thought passed through Jeanne's head, but this to was brutally interrupted by the next blow.

Somewhere near Jeanne a loud sound barely resembling a human growl resounded, after which Mashu flew by after being thrown away by Spartacus' blows.

Teleporting away from this battle was a one-time trump card and if Jeanne wanted all of them to survive, then she had to keep it until the last decisive moment.

Jeanne could have used it right now to retreat, but with Altera's incessant attacks she could not communicate to her allies of the retreat. If Jeanne teleported and Medusa and Mashu failed or were slow to follow her, then they would be doomed to death. It was bad enough fighting Altera one-on-one, being outnumbered would be a death sentence

Jeanne slashed forward causing Altera to step back, after which she tried to say at least a word...

A moment later, a blow from Altera's hand — not even from her blade — made her grimace. Only thanks to her instincts, once driven into her memory by Gilles, she was able to dodge, escaping from a blow that could doom her.

"Preserve your breath," Altera said calmly, without stopping her flurry of blows, each blow paced like that of a robot, unceasing "Every moment of your distraction can cost you your life."

Jeanne understood this very clearly.

"There is no way to defeat her!" - Jeanne retorted to herself while dodging the next attack, then again barely dodging the next one - "It's not even funny!"

Altera simply continued her flurry as usual.

Jeanne needed a second of reprieve, to teleport, to fly, to use her Noble Phantasm, to explain her plan to her allies...

Altera's strikes followed through methodically, knocking out any thought of doing anything but continuing the doomed defense.

From every attack that she barely blocked Jeanne's hands went numb for a second - although Altera's strikes were done as if with no effort, her attacks carried strength beyond the limits of what is bearable for Jeanne.

Jeanne dodged and blocked the blows every time by a fraction of a millimeter. Her breath was ragged, and with each dogged defense, Altera's blade moved closer and closer to her body.

Somewhere nearby a cacophony of noises reverberated, Spartacus' howls striking blow after blow toward a shield, the cry of Mashu activating her Noble Phantasm, the laughter of Jing Ke, the grinding of teeth of Medusa who faced another enemy relying on speed and agility. All this merged into a single background noise, hardly distinguishable by Jeanne who is preoccupied fighting Altera.