That thing finally found my memories of battle, even though fighting occupied the majority of my lifetimes. There certainly was plenty of trauma to choose from.

  I was thrown back to my first battle, where I was still awkward in my new body and bewildered by all that was around me. We were galloping toward the line of men in armor, bristling with spears. My own armor was heavy and awkward, threatening to yank me off the saddle of my horse. My instincts screamed at me to run, to ride the other way.

  But I was leading the charge, and the men were following in my wake. [Virtuous] and the voice forced me forward. D'Aulon reached out to steady me. And though panicked fear coursed through my veins, my body worked on its own, swinging down my sword upon the heads of my enemies.

  I was brought back to the time when a cycle was cut short. The crossbow bolt ricocheted off of my armor and went straight up under my helmet, piercing the soft part below my chin. Pain blossomed and then everything went dark.

  Then it was over.

  No prolonged agony of the fire burning through skin and flesh. Just a quick severing of my consciousness. I preferred those instant deaths in battle, though there were drawn out ones as well.

  Another memory, of me being wounded and left for dead, bleeding out in the battlefield amongst the corpses. The pain spasmed through me. The air choked on smoke, blood and rust. Groans of the dying surrounded me while I whimpered for home—either of them would do.

  But death in all its forms I’d experienced in all my lifetimes. I had even been tortured to death when my captors in one cycle decided they’d force a confession out of me. Little did they know how much more pain came from the flames scintillating the nerves.

  I had gotten to know them, and had become numbed to them.

  Come on! You can do better than that!

  I knew I shouldn’t taunt the virus, but what was I to do?

  I’m sick of being its rag doll.

  Rolling hills surrounded the grassy field that I stood upon. The sight was a familiar one. It was on those hills that my Beau Duc and all my other noble Allies sat atop their horses, watching the tide of enemies sweep over me and my men.

  The ground thundered and banners appeared over the hilltops, followed by lines of troops, the sun glaring hard over their burnished plate. Their boots stomped the short grass in unison. A formation of pikemen appeared, their spearheads a bristling wall. Beside them, longbowmen planted their stakes and stabbed arrows into the dirt.

  Groups of knights streamed down the hills, leading them were the English generals of The Hundred Years War. At their head rode the Star of England, Henry V, with his distinct bowl-cut and blinding white armor—an apparition from the past to haunt the French.

  De la Pole was there, along with John Talbot in his prime, his dark brown hair gleaming as he led his own square of infantry.

  John of Lancaster advanced, his brother too. Groups of goblin redcaps wielding scythes marched alongside giant snake-headed chimeras, with lion bodies and tendrils of flames flickering from their maws.

  The entire host was here.

  Another army crested the hills behind me. Knights bearing the coat of arms of the French nobility appeared, the three golden lilies over solid blue, the blue cross, the bend sinister. No hints of recognition flashed in the eyes of the generals who I’d fought so often alongside.

  My Beau Duc and The Bastard looked at me as only the enemy, nothing more.

  There was nothing to betray here.

  Mythical beasts accompanied their host as well. Groups of Tarasques, a different kind of chimera with a lion's head, six bear's legs, and a turtle shell, rumbled over the ground. Up above, wyverns with red rubies embedded in their forehead darkened the sky with outstretched wings.

  This time, it was just me, standing alone in the middle of the field as the two armies converged on me.

  Lances were leveled, bows drawn, swords raised. The chimeras drew their breath, readying flames. Giant wolves howled as they charged toward me.

  I drew my sword, the dark grey steel of the [Demon Soulfire Blade] flashed malevolently against the sun.

  Its red eye turned to me.

  “We have drawn that thing here to the Elysium of your Soul. Here the pain will be amplified, but so will your power. Here you’re at your zenith.”

  The Elysium of my Soul is the site of my betrayal? Is this some kind of sick joke?!

  A dry chuckle escaped my lips.

  But of course it is. A sadistic god indeed.

  The sword spoke in my voice, cold and detached. “Do not worry, here we fight only the foe within. They will not be harmed.”

  I drew in a deep breath. The cool air chilled my insides. My aegis glowed. The wind that sang past lifted my shroud, sending it aflutter.

  This was nothing more than a continuation of my final battle as Joan, when all my fidèles and the whole world had turned against me.

  “Then I shall not hold back.”

  I leveled my sword at the oncoming tide and surged forward.

  It’s not in my nature to wait. I do what I always do.

  Attack! Relentlessly Attack!

  —

  My eyelids parted, and rays of the morning sun pierced through. I sat up in my bed. The comforter fell away while the delicate fabric of my nightshirt clung to me.

  Had I been running a fever all this time?

  That probably wasn’t good for any normal human body.

  I tapped my forehead with my fingers. It wasn’t hot, though I suppose I wouldn’t be able to read my own temperature this way. It’d be relative after all.

  But it wasn’t damp, and I didn’t feel light-headed, no sensation of things burrowing in my skull.

  My eyes glanced about. The plethora of flowers on the table, the light refracting off glass, the books in the bookcase—their images were all sharp. No snow, or any static noise.

  Containment complete, indeed.

  Now, I just needed to wait for the other me to finish what she does best.

  Movement stirred off the corner of my vision. Mama was asleep by the side of the bed with her head resting upon her folded arms. She was leaning from her chair, which looked like a rather uncomfortable position to fall asleep in.

  Doesn’t she normally sleep next to me?

  My other self found comfort in that.

  I slipped my hands under her arms and attempted to pull her up. She wouldn’t budge and felt like a ton of bricks.

  That thing must’ve completely wrecked my body.

  I checked my status, and this time, it showed.

  Yup, that thing did run roughshod through me. It looked like all my stats and attributes had been cut down by quite a bit, which would explain the weakness.

  I had a new condition as well. It was obvious from the name what it was, but I focused on it just in case.

  ‘Impacted’ was an understatement. Everything seemed to have been throttled down to that percentage.

  As usual the description wasn’t helpful, but the implication seemed to be that this was a temporary thing.

  But this UI… the system… it must be software operating atop of some computational device.

  Perhaps, I could break into myself, like I did with that keypad…

  I shuddered, clenching and unclenching my hand. Memories of the electric bolt shooting through me, and the resulting conflagration gave me pause.

  Let’s practice on something less… critical first.

  “Jo… you’re…” Mama mumbled, slowly pushing herself up. Then her eyes widened in shock at the sight of me.

  I reached to support her, but she recoiled from me the moment my fingers touched her. She scooted back in her seat, her hand shielding her face from me, as if I were glaringly bright. “You’re not Josephine!”

  “This is what I am underneath, Mama.” I sank back down against my pillow, giving her space as I observed her. “You were right in calling me a little demon... And I did warn you.”

  She was rooted in place, her eyes twitching as she stared at me. Waves of shivering convulsed through her body.

  “My apologies for not being able to turn off my aura. You can leave if you want, or kill me in my weakened state if you so desire,” I teased her, though I failed to draw out any sweetness.

  “What happened to my daughter?” she hissed through gritted teeth.

  I made an exaggerated sweep of one hand over my heart. “I’m hurt. Like I said, we’re the same, so I know you as she does.”

  Well, not exactly, but close enough.

  “As for where she is… we have swapped places. There is something that she is better suited for.”

  “What are you making her do?” Mama growled at me.

  “Fight, of course. She is much more of a battle fiend than I, especially against large formations.”

  “How dare you!”

  I smiled back at her. “One of us had to fight off the infection. So, I chose my better half.”

  My eyes shifted to the entrance. “Someone is coming. You might want to stop them. Wouldn’t want others to get a bad impression of me.”

  Within the containment cell, I had carved my way into the center of the English army. Spear points, sword edges, and arrowheads came at me from all sides, but some were deflected by the writhing dark tendrils of my [Shadow Shroud] while others glanced off the gleaming plate of my [Aegis of Virtue].

  For whatever reason, I had my armaments from both worlds on. My rings, my bracelet, and armor. I even had the [Shroud of Turin] on, causing all the weak-willed to cower before me.

  My hand reached up to the sky, calling for [Heaven’s Lances], and bright spears of white light rained from the sky, impaling the horde surrounding me. With the swing of my sword, I hacked off the snake head of one Chimera. Dodging a scythe, I lopped off another head, that of a redcap, and then sliced through the legs of another. With the field clear, I [Hasted Steps] and shot over to the Star of England, cleaving him from his steed in one fell swoop.

  Back in my bedroom, Mama carried a tray of food over to me. It looked like breakfast: some eggs, a bowl of soup and fruit. Altogether unappetizing.

  “You’ll be happy to know, the battle is progressing quickly. I will be… out of your hair soon enough.” I remarked casually to her, waving aside the tray.

  “You have to eat, Jo. You haven’t been awake for close to a month.”

  “I have been busy constructing a welcome area for our guest. It took a toll on the body.”

  …and quite a few Soul Points as well.

  Though the endeavor itself was interesting. I didn’t know I had it in me.

  Mama shook her head, uncomprehending. Her movements were stiff before my aura.

  “Really, you should take a break. My other self will be back soon enough. I will eat then.” I attempted to curl my lips into a natural smile, but that only made her wince sharply.

  Using the swipe of my hand over the blade, my other self coated my sword form in [Void Blade]. The sensation of the void spilling over metal sent goosebumps through my body. The deep black edge annihilated the heavy armor of both English and French alike.

  A Tarasque charged at me and I leaped onto its back. My sword sliced through its thick shell like soft butter, cracking its body open.

  I raised a hand and more spears of light rained from the heavens, skewering the wyverns mid-flight.

  [Shadow Fists] coalesced and dropped from the air, crushing and scattering entire squares of longbowmen and crossbow. The rain of projectiles ceased.

  I crossed blades with Gilles de Rais, my comrade-in-arms for so many battles. This time my blade ate through his, and as I sped past him, he fell, cleaved into two halves.

  It was then that my Beau Duc charged at me, his lance aimed at my heart. The wisps from my shadowy robe formed sharp spikes that knocked aside his lance. I swung my greatsword sideways, hewing the legs from under his mount. He was thrown to the ground and I finished him with a stab to his chestplate.

  These were just phantoms of what they were. I knew they weren’t real.

  “What are you?” Mama finally managed to force out the question.

  I placed my chin in my hand and stared at the sun-streaked windows. “I don’t know… I have no memories from before this existence. I had thought I was just a demon sword. But the new information that’s been brought to light, is beginning to make me doubt.”

  “A demon sword?! The world ender…” Mama choked on the words.

  “Ah, that’s right. I didn’t tell you, but I couldn’t. Not until I got this.” I tapped the tiara atop my head.

  “Jo… my poor girl.” Mama raised her eyes to meet mine once more. “Would you destroy everything?”

  “If I say yes, would you still follow me? Like I said, it’s not too late to kill me,” I teased her, gently I hoped. I tried again to give a nice warm, human smile.

  She looked grimly back. “I keep my pledge. Just like you will yours.”

  I nodded and slowly placed my hands in hers. She didn’t draw back. Instead, she closed her fingers over mine. It was an interesting warm sensation.

  “It’s funny, I had thought the demon’s binding was what had held back my desire for oblivion. But even when I was freed, I didn’t act… it made me wonder.” A light that I recognized as hope flickered in her dark eyes.

  “That virus. Its nature and the way it interacted with me. It made me question the nature of my own existence. What I truly am. What this world is. And my desire. Is it what I want?” I pulled a hand back up to my chest. “Or is it a… Directive?”

  “You know what she’d desire.”

  My light laughter filled the room. “Of course, she is me. But… I cannot feel it.”

  “Then you are not her. Her heart is the center of her. It’s how I know she can’t be evil.”

  I raised my hands in submission. “You got me there…” A disturbance in my chest made me pause. “Oh… it seems our little guest is trying to change the rules of the game.”

  Down in the fields of Elysium, I stood over an endless expanse of mangled bodies.

  The ground rumbled and then a massive serpent the size of a high tower erupted out of the ground. It was shaped like the flame dragon that Long Aotian had summoned. Its long sinuous body snaked through the air, with legs ending in sharp claws lashed out of its body at fixed intervals. The scales on its body shimmered with prismatic light as it undulated up and down around me, leaving trails of fractal dust and encircling me with its long body.

  It opened its giant jaws and a beam of rainbow light flashed toward me. I dashed away as the ground exploded into a crater of writhing flames, ice shards, arcs of electricity and vine spikes.

  I shot back toward it via [Hasted Steps] but when I swung my sword at it, an invisible field knocked my deep black blade aside. Another beam of fire, ice, earth and electricity blasted a deep gouge where I just was, sending me rolling away. My [Indomitable Aura] held, but the force of the attack percussed through me.

  All my senses told me this thing was impossibly strong.

  It was then that I noticed that all the dead were rising from the ground. Heads were reattached to bodies. Split torsos reconnected. Even crushed bodies reformed. They shambled onto their feet, their bodies outlined by static.

  “What happened? Will she be alright?” Mama cried out, her voice heavy with worry.

  “It’s of no concern,” I assured her. “We will reciprocate.”

  I spoke to my other self through the demon sword. “You are now fully unleashed. You’ve been granted the powers that you’ve yet to earn.”

  Then I spoke as both flesh and steel. “Let’s see if logic can be made to know despair.”