I'm Not A Master, I'm A Director
Chapter 392: Amakusa — Have I Lost to Humanity?
The flames burning around Jeanne were beautiful—an embodiment of her very life.
The maiden had bestowed her own beauty upon those flames.
Unfortunately, Amakusa had no leisure to admire such a sight. On the contrary, he was deeply troubled.
Those flames were clearly bad news. He could neither run nor dodge.
The moment he moved aside, the Greater Grail behind him would be swallowed up.
This, no doubt, had been Jeanne's intention from the very beginning—to destroy the Greater Grail itself.
And so, Amakusa could only stand his ground, unmoving, just as Astolfo had blocked him moments before.
Judging purely from raw parameters, Amakusa Shirou Tokisada had no means of defending against Jeanne's flames.
That fire was a crystallized concept weapon capable of annihilating all that was holy, demonic, or human alike. With only [Right Arm: Evil Eater] and [Left Hand - Xanadu Matrix], Amakusa stood no chance of resisting it.
Though he bore the irregular class of Ruler, in terms of pure combat strength, Amakusa was by no means a top-tier Servant.
Against Jeanne in her current state—fully powered, all stats pushed to their limits—Amakusa had absolutely no chance.
—If he were alone, that is.
"Come forth, Chalice of Heaven! Begin the infusion of power!"
Amakusa raised both arms, using them to draw upon the magical energy of the Greater Grail.
Bathed head to toe in overflowing mana, his muscles visibly swelled, making him look almost like a Super Saiyan.
"O saint who saves nations! Don't underestimate sixty years of obsession! I am Amakusa Shirou Tokisada!"
Injecting such an immense amount of mana at once pushed his magic circuits to the brink of runaway collapse.
That was why—at the very moment of losing control—he had to issue the command!
"Twin Arm - Big Crunch."
If one had to describe it in a single word, it would be black hole.
Rather than releasing the energy in an explosion, Amakusa compressed it violently, consuming the enormous mana through extreme convergence.
It was as though the instant of cosmic creation and universal collapse were being simulated simultaneously.
A dark celestial body appeared in the void, capable of drawing in and crushing everything, erasing the saint's flames entirely.
Brilliant fire and a black vortex collided, the roar of two overwhelming forces clashing echoing through space itself.
From Amakusa's perspective, this attack—empowered by the Greater Grail—should at least have brought them to a stalemate, even if it failed to secure victory.
Sadly, that assumption was far too optimistic.
"W—What—?!"
The shock in Amakusa's voice came straight from his heart.
Because the flames that had been swallowed by darkness surged forth once more, their offensive power increasing instead of diminishing.
The saint's unyielding fire refused to bow to the dark—and had already reached the Greater Grail.
"Damn it!! Do you have to gnaw away at my hope no matter what————?!"
The instant the flames struck the Greater Grail, Amakusa's face twisted violently.
Sixty years of time. Two thousand years of sin.
As those memories flooded back, Amakusa let out a furious roar.
"I won't lose, Saint Jeanne! Do you think the petty resolve of a little girl like you can overcome my obsession?! This is the hope of all humanity! Endure it, Chalice of Heaven!!"
When two forces collide, many people end up turning a test of strength into a voice-controlled game.
Just like Pokémon players, when trying to catch a rare Pokémon, even though they know it makes no difference, they still shout at the top of their lungs, as if volume alone might improve their odds.
Amakusa had clearly entered that same state, desperately trying to reinforce the Greater Grail's defenses with nothing but his shouting.
The world roared. The air screamed.
Space itself churned and twisted, as though it might collapse at any moment.
Squinting against the violent wind, Sisigou felt a profound sense of awe at the overwhelming spectacle before him.
This was neither hell nor heaven—It was the very instant when the Almighty proclaimed, "Let there be light."
Light, fire, and darkness danced chaotically.
Flames devoured light, while darkness resisted the flames.
The Holy Grail, meant to grant happiness to all, began to distort.
The all-consuming fire continued to swell.
And then—silence.
The crimson inferno and the black vortex vanished together, dispersing like mist.
"Haah… haah… ah…!!"
Amakusa buckled and fell to one knee.
With a Servant's precise control over his own body, he could clearly sense the damage—part of his brain had been destroyed, and his right arm was completely gone.
If he were human, he would already be dead in this state. Even as a Servant, his combat ability had been severely reduced.
But none of that mattered.
To Amakusa, his own life was utterly insignificant.
Compared to it, the Holy Grail was far more important.
Sure enough, when he lifted his head, he saw that the Greater Grail was in far worse condition than he was.
Even so, it had survived.
"Hahaha! I did it… I really did it…! The Greater Grail… it's still alive…!!"
Amakusa cried out in joy.
Indeed, the Greater Grail's damage rate was probably already over eighty percent. If one had to use an analogy, it was like a car smashed to pieces and scattered all over the ground.
Yet despite that, the Grail had not lost its radiance.
That meant its most crucial core remained intact. Given enough time, it could slowly absorb mana once more and still reach the Third Magic.
Meanwhile, the flames filling the chamber had almost completely vanished. The saint was clearly at the end of her strength.
Put simply, this was Amakusa Shirou Tokisada's victory.
This outcome, fortunate beyond expectation, made the young priest—who normally carried himself with effortless composure—break down in tears of joy.
Tears of happiness streamed down his face.
Tap. Tap.
The sound of metal striking the floor snapped Amakusa back to his senses. He turned his gaze toward the saint.
Jeanne was looking at him calmly, walking toward him step by step.
Her form now seemed hazy, like a mirage, as though she might vanish at any moment.
And yet, even so, Jeanne still stood here—launching her final charge at Amakusa.
"Saint…! Even now, you still intend to stop me?!"
Amakusa raised his remaining left arm, preparing to strike at Jeanne.
He understood this very well that Jeanne, having used [La Pucelle], must be in even worse condition than he was.
At this point, she was likely clinging to the world with nothing but the last traces of her mana. If he could just land a hit—
Bang!
A sudden gunshot rang out.
It was Kairi Sisigou. Seizing the moment when Amakusa's attention was fully focused on Jeanne, he attempted a sneak attack—just like he had done earlier with Shakespeare.
However, the bullet missed.
Not because Sisigou's aim was off, but because someone shoved him aside.
It was the Empress, Semiramis.
Appearing from nowhere, she clutched her abdomen, blood pouring from it, and slammed her shoulder into Sisigou.
At this point, her condition was no better than Jeanne's. Otherwise, she would have summoned chains instead of resorting to a direct tackle.
"Tch, what a damn pest!"
Sisigou cursed loudly. He tried to shake off the Empress and re-aim at Amakusa, but she desperately blocked him.
"Ugh—!"
Seeing how relentlessly the Empress clung on, Astolfo dragged his half-ruined body into the fray.
He had no strength left either, so he simply threw himself on top of her, pinning her down with his body.
"Get off me, you filthy monkey!"
"Shut it, you vicious queen! Don't you dare stop the old man!"
Outside the screen, the audience stared in disbelief at the absurd spectacle of a trap "harassing" an ice-cold queen, unsure for a moment who they should even envy.
The scuffle between Astolfo and the Empress was just far too primitive. Forget Heroic Spirits, even someone who'd spent a week in a gym would find it painful to watch.
That said, the audience seated in the theater was thoroughly enjoying themselves. Not only did they not mind this development, they actually wished it would go on longer.
"This is just as exciting as Rin Tohsaka and Arturia back in FSN~"
Fujita chuckled to himself.
Because the story of Fate/Apocrypha had been packed so densely this time around, there hadn't been a single piece of romantic fan-service up until now.
Sure, as a mainstream commercial film, it was never going to show anything as explicit as Heaven's Feel.
But with the movie already nearing its climax—not even a single kiss?
That was honestly a little strange.
Romantic love simply did not exist among these people.
Thinking about it, that was only natural. The primary protagonist of this movie was Jeanne. Given her status and fame within Christianity—and everything she had gone through—pairing her with a male lead…
"Well, it's not impossible, but Saint Jeanne really doesn't feel like someone who would fall in love…"
Fujita muttered with a sigh.
Even someone like him felt that Saint Jeanne and the concept of romance were worlds apart.
If this were a slice-of-life series, maybe it would work, but Fate/Apocrypha was a serious, plot-driven story.
In a work like this, it was probably best to let the saint remain single to the very end.
"Whether the saint falls in love or not, I don't know," Shibamatsu said, pointing at the two figures still "rolling around" on the floor on the big screen.
"But I really want to know one thing, between those two, who exactly is harassing whom?"
"Hmm…"
Everyone present—including Fujita and Li Ri'ang—fell into deep thought.
What was unfolding on the screen was clearly meant to be two heavily wounded fighters, pushing themselves with sheer willpower to stop an enemy for the sake of their allies.
And yet, somehow, it had turned into a NSFW scene with an 'older sister and shota' tag.
All one could say was that gag characters had an uncanny ability to shatter immersion.
Even Shinji himself began to doubt his own decisions.
"…Should I have cut this scene during editing?"
◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆
In truth, the extremely awkward positions Astolfo and the Empress were in posed no problem from a narrative standpoint.
The battle had reached a stage where everyone in the room was in terrible condition, fighting on nothing but their final breath and sheer force of will.
Judging by their remaining combat power, even a single clone of the Hassan of the Hundred Faces could have wiped out everyone present with ease.
Unfortunately—or perhaps fortunately—this battle was taking place in the deepest chamber of the Hanging Gardens.
There were no Heroic Spirits, no humans—not even a single stray cockroach from outside.
And it was precisely because of this that, once he finally shook off the Empress, Sisigou was able to quickly raise his handgun and aim at Amakusa above.
At that moment, Amakusa had just finished chanting the final syllable of his spell. A white orb of light shot from his left hand toward Jeanne.
"Don't even think about it!"
Sisigou didn't hesitate for a second—he fired, detonating the enchanted bullet midair.
"What—?!"
Amakusa hurriedly began chanting again to release a second magical projectile, but it was already too late.
"Saint! The path is open, everything else is up to you!"
Hearing Sisigou's shout from behind her, Jeanne smiled calmly.
"Thank you, Kairi Sisigou. Fighting alongside you was truly a pleasure."
She raised the Sword of Saint Catherine in her hand and leapt high into the air toward Amakusa.
"After coming this far—!! How could I possibly lose————!!"
Amakusa abandoned the chant entirely and instead drew a Black Key, charging forward to meet her.
The saint, her flames completely spent, could only deliver this final strike.
As long as he could block it, victory would be his!
For that instant, time itself seemed to freeze.
A flash of white light—
The silver sword knocked the Black Key aside.
Then the blade twisted, plunging downward.
If Amakusa's right arm were still intact, wielding Black Keys with both hands, he could have easily caught that strike.
But there are no ifs in this world.
The silver blade pierced through the priest's body, pinning him firmly to the ground.
"Guh—"
Amakusa clenched his teeth, forcing down the mouthful of blood surging up from his organs, swallowing it rather than letting it spill.
He stared at the blonde haired beauty before him, disbelief written all over his face.
At a glance, he could tell that she was nothing more than an ordinary human.
After knocking away Amakusa's Black Key, the saint he had been fighting vanished like a bubble, dissolving into nothingness.
The one who delivered the fatal blow was the girl standing before him now—a completely ordinary high school student, incapable of using even the slightest bit of magecraft.
"Why…?"
The priest voiced his confusion.
With Jeanne gone, Laeticia should have been free to depart to wherever she wished.
Whether it was her birthplace, or the school that marked her point of origin—she could have chosen any destination she desired.
And yet, this girl chose to remain behind, delivering the final, lethal strike.
Amakusa could not understand it.
"I can't accept it."
Tears welled up in Laeticia's eyes as she spoke, her voice trembling.
"I can't accept what you did, Mr. Shirou… If I did, wouldn't my feelings for Miss Jeanne turn into nothing more than those of a stranger?! I don't want an ending like that…!"
She had inherited the saint's memories, felt the saint's life, and come to understand the lifelong obsession of the girl known as Jeanne d'Arc.
Laeticia did not want everything she had experienced to vanish like a mirage.
So she chose to stay, to take Jeanne's place and complete her final task.
"I see…"
Hearing her answer, Amakusa let out a self-mocking smile.
"So the one who sought to save humanity… was defeated by humanity itself. How ironic."
Amakusa lowered his head, calmly accepting the outcome.
"I have lost…"
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Tn: I updated the story once every 2 days, but if you want to see more chapter of this story ahead of time, please go to my Patreon.
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