Chapter 370: Spartacus — Let's See Whose Self-Destruct Is Stronger!
"Truly… well done, Teacher…"
Just before returning to the Throne of Heroes, Achilles offered his final blessing to his mentor.
"Hmph~"
Chiron smiled faintly, then swiftly departed with Stheno.
As for the fact that he'd relied on someone else's support to defeat his own disciple, Chiron didn't mind in the slightest.
This Holy Grail War was structured as an all-out melee between the Red and Black factions. In a situation like that, refusing to let your allies provide support was nothing more than a tsundere suicide build.
Putting everything else aside—if not for Atalanta's Noble Phantasm providing cover, even Achilles wouldn't have been able to break into the Black Faction's formation so quickly.
What remained behind was only his disciple's slowly fading body—and the spear planted firmly in the ground.
There was no doubt about it: this shot, heavy with supposed meaning, existed purely to stir emotion.
It was Shinji's small consolation to a great hero of the Trojan War who never got the chance to be the protagonist.
The grand, powerful soundtrack combined with Shinji's carefully composed framing—the spear in sharp focus up close, the still-raging battle in the distance—created a uniquely striking atmosphere.
"This Holy Grail War is far more intense than the previous two."
Alice nodded lightly, sighing in admiration.
"Sir Matou really keeps improving."
She knew perfectly well that Shinji could have continued with the slow buildup and story-driven approach of FSN and FZ. That path wasn't wrong—but for the Fate series as a whole, it likely wouldn't have led to anything groundbreaking.
Between tradition and innovation, Shinji Matou had chosen the latter without hesitation, announcing this new Fate movie's uniqueness through its chaotic opening battle.
From the start until now, the film had been almost excessively flamboyant. The Servants' dazzling martial techniques and Noble Phantasms, paired with exceptionally polished 3D effects, gave off a very deliberate "yes, I'm flexing" vibe.
Yet judging by the audience's reaction, that flex had landed perfectly. No one was left too stunned to speak.
"The only question is… how the story develops after this battle."
Watching the increasingly fierce clashes on screen, a faint smile appeared at the corner of Alice's lips.
"I wonder how many will still be standing when this chaos ends?"
Alice could already see through it—Shinji had made the opening this intense to thin out the cast.
Seen this way, that five-person group sitting in the vehicle in the first teaser was almost certainly the main cast.
Aside from those in the car, Chiron and Stheno—who had been shown chasing them in the trailer—would likely survive as well. As for who else might earn that privilege… that remained to be seen.
"It's a shame Aoko didn't come to the premiere," Alice murmured.
"Otherwise, I could've made a bet with her."
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Alice wasn't the only one who noticed Shinji's deliberate culling.
After Achilles fell, plenty of viewers finally caught on as well.
Was this shaping up to be a Servant-version battle royale—no one survives?
So… so exciting!
Because the movie opened with a massive melee, the audience never had time to form emotional bonds with the Servants. No one had invested much feeling into them, so there were no cries of "That Servant died, I'm devastated—this director has no heart!"
On the contrary, people eagerly began guessing which Servant would get their bento next.
But Shinji wasn't in a hurry to show more deaths.
Though most Servants in the movie were essentially passing roles, for the sake of future FGO plans, Shinji still wanted each of them to at least show off their unique traits.
After the vanguard Achilles fell in battle, the Red Faction sent out a pitch-black musclebound bro—
Spartacus!
"Hahaha! Now is the time for rebellion! Oppressors—prepare yourselves!"
It had to be said: Spartacus' full-on VAN-style design cranked the intimidation factor to the max the moment he appeared.
Those steroid-bursting muscles practically spilled out of the screen, making people instinctively want to protect themselves.
Unfortunately, all that muscle still couldn't make Spartacus a protagonist.
After all, setting story aside, judging by appearance alone, there weren't many viewers who'd grow fond of a hero whose mere silhouette was enough to scare children into tears.
Especially after Spartacus' Noble Phantasm was activated, the sense of terror skyrocketed.
If Spartacus in his normal state still had a bit of that Hulk-when-he's-being-cute goofiness, then once he entered his "super transformation form," he could only be classified as a straight-up monster.
Seven arms. Eight legs.
And that was before even mentioning the five extra eyeballs.
Thankfully, Spartacus didn't instantly mutate into that nightmare-fuel form. Instead, his body transformed gradually as he continued to absorb attacks.
The Red Faction's intentions in sending out Spartacus were crystal clear:
If the Black Faction couldn't deal with this guy, then they'd simply get beaten down one by one.
And if they did manage to kill Spartacus?
Well—his self-destruction at the moment of death would still make them pay dearly.
After all, with his Noble Phantasm converting all damage received into energy, Spartacus' final explosion was nothing like Frankenstein's small-scale kamikaze. This one was a genuine, world-ending Tsar Bomba.
Even if the Black Faction tried to kite him around, it wouldn't help. Spartacus was constantly being bombarded by Atalanta's Noble Phantasm as he rampaged across the battlefield.
The Black Faction didn't immediately realize the Red Faction's malicious intent. But watching Spartacus rampage through the rain of light arrows, completely unfazed by the attacks—no, worse, growing stronger under such intense bombardment—the Black Servants finally realized that things had gone very, very wrong.
"This won't do. We're being dragged along by the enemy's tempo!"
The moment he noticed Spartacus' abnormal condition, Vlad immediately issued orders.
"Siegfried, you engage that Berserker and keep him busy. I'll deal with that Archer. Astolfo, protect our Master. As for Chiron and Stheno—you two, be careful."
The plan itself was reasonable. At the very least, Siegfried—with his overwhelmingly defensive Noble Phantasm—should have been able to restrain that sadistic, battlefield-sprinting madman.
What Vlad never expected was that the situation would deteriorate far faster than he'd imagined.
After smashing the plaza to pieces like a husky wrecking a living room, Spartacus completely ignored Siegfried's attempts to restrain him and went straight for the Yggdmillennia Masters.
"Stop—!"
Astolfo tried to block Spartacus' attack—if nothing else, he just needed to buy time until Siegfried caught up.
Unfortunately, Astolfo had overlooked one crucial detail:
By now, Spartacus had accumulated an enormous amount of magical energy through his Noble Phantasm. The gap in raw power between the two was like that between an ant and an elephant.
If Astolfo had avoided a head-on clash—using his Noble Phantasm to stall, or having the Masters mount his steed and retreat—there might've been room to talk.
But if Astolfo had the brain to execute a proper plan, he wouldn't be Astolfo.
This adorable cinnamon roll chose the worst possible option among all strategies—to charge straight in headfirst.
BAM!
With a casual sweep of his arm, Spartacus sent Astolfo flying like a swatted fly.
That said, Astolfo was oddly lucky in his misfortune. Being sent flying was embarrassing, but it also saved his life.
With Astolfo forcibly removed from the field, Siegfried was left to shoulder both tasks—protecting the Masters and fighting Spartacus.
Things only got worse from there.
When Vlad attempted to move against Atalanta, he ran into a terrifying opponent—
The Red Faction's Lancer, guest-starring courtesy of Young Li Shuwen.
To put it bluntly—he stood no chance.
If it had been a straight one-on-one between Vlad and Li Shuwen, with both sides free to use their Noble Phantasms, the outcome might've been hard to predict.
After all, Vlad enjoyed a massive home-field advantage in Romania.
But here was the problem:
With Atalanta providing long-range support, did he really think he'd get the chance to activate his Noble Phantasm?
In his dreams.
It was only thanks to Romania's absurdly high fame boost bolstering Vlad's combat power that he was even able to trade blows evenly against the Atalanta + Li Shuwen combo.
If this had been a Holy Grail War in Fuyuki City, he would've died ten times over already.
In the end, the Black Faction—led by Vlad—had no choice but to reuse an old trick: have Stheno control Li Shuwen first, then let Vlad move in for the kill.
The first half of the plan went smoothly.
And only the first half.
Stheno successfully restrained Li Shuwen, and Vlad seized the opening to pierce Atalanta's chest.
But in the very next moment, the situation flipped completely.
With her final breath, the mortally wounded Atalanta loosed an arrow that struck Siegfried squarely in the back—right in the spot untouched by dragon blood.
Meanwhile, Li Shuwen proved even more terrifying.
Despite being hit by Chiron's arrow, he forced his way through and landed a punch squarely on Vlad's body, unleashing [God Spear, No Second Strike] and shattering him almost beyond recovery.
Forced to save the critically wounded Vlad, Chiron and Stheno retreated from the battlefield.
On the other side, Siegfried—determined to protect his Master—activated his Noble Phantasm without hesitation despite his exposed weakness, attempting to annihilate Spartacus once and for all.
Faced with the Black Saber's overwhelming beam of light, Spartacus revealed a smile like that of a little girl selling nuclear warheads. Using the last of his magical energy, he ignited himself, fully intending to let the entire town "meet his grandmother."
BOOOOOOM——!!
A peaceful Romanian town was suddenly crowned by a beautiful mushroom cloud.
Spartacus' self-destruction not only left behind a bottomless crater, but also wiped out most of the Yggdmillennia Masters, Siegfried, and even Atalanta and Li Shuwen—both already gravely wounded on the Red side.
The only survivors were Astolfo, who had been swatted away earlier, and the retreating trio of Vlad, Chiron, and Stheno.
Judging by the kill count of Masters and Servants alike, Spartacus unquestionably earned MVP of the night.
That move was insanely strong.
It just cost… one Spartacus.
In truth, given Li Shuwen's abilities, those injuries were nothing serious. He could've easily avoided the explosion, gone home, and had the Empress patch him up.
But alas—he wasn't the protagonist of this movie.
So he had to suffer a bit for the plot.
Besides, it was only a guest appearance. No real harm done.
As Spartacus ended the night's battle with his self-destruction on the silver screen—parks and houses alike erased into nothingness—the audience erupted in admiration.
"Now this is a Holy Grail War!"
Li Ri'ang voiced his amazement. It was his first time seeing such a spectacular clash between elite forces on both sides.
Shibamatsu nodded in agreement.
"That was insanely satisfying—especially those back-and-forth exchanges of Noble Phantasms. This is what a war between Heroic Spirits should feel like~"
Though his blood was boiling with excitement, Shibamatsu knew one thing for certain:
He would never take part in a Holy Grail War this brutal.
Servants dying left and right. Masters dropping like flies.
There was no way he could handle something like that.
"Yeah… burying my head in research suits me way better," Shibamatsu concluded with a nod.
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