I'm Not A Master, I'm A Director
Chapter 407: Type-Moon's "Tearing Apart the Enemy by Hand"
With her slender feet striking the ground, the girl under the moonlight charged toward her enemy at breakneck speed.
Facing the charging Shiki, the corpse instinctively thrust out both wrists to counterattack.
But the outcome had been decided the moment Ryougi Shiki revealed her eyes.
Like tearing a piece of paper, Shiki sliced through the enemy's body with a single hand.
Her hand became a blade as she executed a kesa-giri slash, piercing straight through the corpse's right shoulder and exiting at the left waist!
The corpse collapsed to the ground, its strings of control severed.
In the original novels, Shiki's finger bones had been shattered by the corpse's body when she tore it apart.
However, Shinji had chosen not to use this detail. This was Shiki's first battle, and to preserve her graceful image, she had to win without a shadow of a doubt!
Of course, the fact that Shiki's hand would be injured also showed that the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception were not as invincible as people imagined.
Though the operation was supposed to be like "cutting along the dotted line," someone inexperienced could easily stray from the dotted line (the Death Line) during the cut.
This is why Shiki prefer using daggers. The metal blade offers sufficient strength, while the dagger's agility allows them to navigate the Death Line's sharp turns with ease during their "handiwork."
Of course, in Shinji's opinion, firearms would be far more convenient than such close-combat weapons.
What? You say handguns can't hit vital spots?
No problem. A submachine gun can simply overwhelm the enemy with sheer firepower.
Charging in for a head-on confrontation is the height of foolishness. Shouting "My lord, times have changed!" from seven paces away is the path of societal progress.
As far as Shinji is concerned, the only reason Nasu chose cold weapons over firearms is because swords and daggers look cooler.
It's that inevitable chuunibyou trait found in Japanese works, or perhaps their stubborn attachment to cold weapons.
Still, Shinji doesn't see anything wrong with it. Movies are fictional stories; they don't need to be realistic.
Using swords and daggers makes the protagonist look cooler and makes the audience more willing to buy tickets. What's not to like?
Crack!
The dead man, lying on the ground with his body sliced open, refused to yield. Even with his left wrist hanging by a few threads, he tenaciously clung to Shiki's ankle.
In terms of sheer stubbornness, this nameless corpse was undoubtedly one of the most tenacious figures in the entire Type-Moon universe.
But he wasn't a cute girl, and had no value to anyone in being remembered.
Even Shiki, transformed into a murderous demon, couldn't afford to be sentimental.
With a forceful stomp, she crushed the wrist that was gripping her ankle without hesitation.
"Dead meat, get out of my sight."
Shiki sneered, mocking the corpse's futile efforts.
Only she knew the true pleasure she derived from "killing."
For only in these moments did she feel the vivid reality of being alive.
"Shiki!"
Perhaps finding Shiki's hand-to-hand combat too slow, Touko tossed her a dagger.
Unlike the utterly unremarkable knife from the original story, this dagger, modified by Shinji, immediately captured the audience's attention.
Especially the moment the Tai Chi symbol on the hilt lit up and the blade shimmered with silver light, the audience's hearts raced as if they were people in a parallel world witnessing a lightsaber for the first time.
"So cool!"
Many viewers shouted, utterly captivated by the unique weapon on the screen.
Though Shinji Matou's films had featured their share of dazzling weapons, the most iconic being Excalibur from the Fate series, Ryougi Shiki's blade felt entirely different from those Heroic Spirits' Noble Phantasms. It was more restrained, yet cooler, and most importantly, more realistic.
The most striking difference between this meticulously designed dagger and the Noble Phantasms in Shinji's previous films was the absence of any mythical legends or deeds attributed to it.
Being an original creation, it lacked the mystique of legendary artifacts, but gained a sense of authenticity in return.
This elusive, almost paradoxical feeling was hard to put into words, yet anyone familiar with the Type-Moon world could sense it.
Normally, audiences would be more drawn to mysterious Noble Phantasms, after all, they represented the crystallization of human civilization.
Shinji's movies, however, featured far too many Noble Phantasms.
So many, in fact, that the audience had long since grown accustomed to them.
Instead, this dagger produced by modern magecraft felt refreshingly new.
It was like those wealthy people who ate luxurious feasts every day—when they occasionally had a bowl of simple porridge, it suddenly felt novel and delicious.
"I want to buy that as merchandise!"
Aoko excitedly swung her legs back and forth, practically bouncing in her seat.
"I think you should wait first," Alice advised calmly. "The movie has only just started. Who knows how the story will develop later? What if even cooler weapons appear afterward?"
Aoko clenched her fists and declared loudly,
"Then I'll just buy both!"
Only children made choices.
As a grown adult, Aoko naturally chose everything.
But sometimes, even adults had to make choices.
"Don't even think about it. Where would you get the budget?"
With a single sentence, Alice sank the cruiser Aoko.
"Uwaaah… Alice~~"
In a sugary sweet voice, Aoko pleaded,
"Don't you want to buy it and study it? Knowing Shinji Matou's personality, he'll definitely release a magecraft version of the merchandise, right?"
Perhaps it was because they had tasted success with the Ruby Wand, or perhaps because they wanted to provide employment opportunities for graduates of the Department of Modern Magecraft. Recently, Type-Moon had frequently been releasing merchandise embedded with magecraft formulas.
Just last week, they collaborated with Bandai to release a magecraft-themed prop of Jeanne d'Arc's flagpole from Fate/Apocrypha.
When the player planted the flagpole into the ground, a white barrier of light would appear around it.
Officially, it was advertised as a special high-tech lighting effect.
Normally, Alice would always buy Type-Moon's toys.
She was extremely interested in these standardized simplified magecraft formulas, hoping to study their design concepts and incorporate them into her own magical research.
Meanwhile, Aoko always encouraged Alice to buy the merchandise.
Since she herself had no budget for toys, she could simply borrow Alice's to play with.
However, this time, Aoko had miscalculated.
Alice curled her lips in disdain.
"Why would I buy it?"
"Huh?!"
Aoko's ahoge nearly shot straight up.
Hey, best friend—that's not how the script goes!
Alice said coldly, "If this knife becomes merchandise, at most it'll contain a light-emitting spell and a visual illusion spell. Those two types of magecraft have already appeared in other toys before. Why should I waste money buying it again?"
Unlike fans who spent money out of pure devotion, Alice never bought merchandise for collection or entertainment.
She bought them to study the magecraft.
For Alice, purchasing merchandise for display was far less worthwhile than buying the deluxe collector's edition DVD.
At least that way she could see more detailed presentations of the magecraft used in the film.
Alice's somewhat unusual behavior as a fan might seem merely eccentric to others, but to Aoko, it was a devastating blow.
"Alice, you can't do this! I've bet my entire fortune and future on you, and now you're telling me you're not buying it?! Something like this… no way!!"
Aoko's expression twisted dramatically.
Unfortunately, Miss Alice Kuonji had never fallen for Aoko's cute begging tactics.
Her answer was simply complete indifference.
"Uuu…"
While making pitiful little noises, Aoko could only pray silently in her heart.
'Please let Shinji add something new when he releases the toys…'
'If that happens, Alice will probably buy it… right?'
◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆
On the giant cinema screen—
After the camera carefully (and with heavy emphasis) showcased the weapon in her hand, Ryougi Shiki thrust the dagger toward the corpse's throat.
The silver-glimmering blade precisely cut through the death line running across the corpse's neck.
The body trembled slightly, then stopped moving.
But—
"Idiot! If you're going to kill it, kill the main body!"
The sudden change occurred even faster than Touko's shout.
At the very moment Shiki stabbed the corpse, a cloud of black mist burst out from within the body.
The mist seemed almost alive.
Moving along an eerie yet precise trajectory, it shot straight into Shiki's body.
"..."
Shiki collapsed to her knees.
Moments ago, her heart had been filled with satisfaction from killing.
That moment of emotional opening gave the black mist the opportunity to invade her.
"Isn't this basically checkmate already?! How stupid!"
Touko complained as she ran forward.
She couldn't just stand there and watch a dead spirit take over the girl's body.
However, Shiki suddenly raised one hand and made a gesture with her body, signaling Touko not to come any closer.
Then she gripped the dagger with both hands and slowly pointed the tip toward her own chest.
"So she's still going to kill herself…"
Seeing this scene, quite a few audience members felt their excitement deflate.
A protagonist sacrificing themselves to drag the villain down with them—
That kind of plot had appeared in countless stories before.
"No, something's different. This time, Shiki doesn't look like she wants to die."
A few viewers who had been closely observing her noticed something important.
Shiki's eyes were no longer hollow.
The tip of the blade touched her chest.
The girl revealed a confident smile.
"Now you can't escape… As long as I kill you, it's over."
Under the gaze of those beautiful eyes, Shiki could clearly see the foreign presence writhing inside her body.
—That was the thing she needed to kill.
"I'll kill you… even if it means killing the cowardly me along with it!"
Shiki tightened her grip on the dagger.
She took a deep breath.
"I will never hand Ryougi Shiki over to something like you!"
The dagger slid straight into her chest.
What was pierced was Shiki's flesh, yet it did not harm her at all.
The only thing that was truly killed was the foreign entity inside her body.
Unlike the usual scenes in movies where a demon is exorcised, there was no strange black mist drifting out of her body. Nor did the audience hear any dying screams from a monster.
Just one simple stab, and everything returned to nothingness.
The silver blade was slowly pulled back out.
There wasn't a drop of blood on it.
In fact, if there had been blood, that would have been troublesome—
It would mean the girl's technique wasn't good enough and she had actually stabbed herself.
"She only killed the spirit…?"
The female magus who had witnessed the entire scene couldn't help clicking her tongue in amazement.
She had heard the reputation of the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception, but only in passing.
Even someone as knowledgeable as Touko could only claim to understand a fraction of what those eyes were truly capable of.
Of course, compared to ordinary people or half-informed amateurs, Touko's knowledge was still leagues beyond theirs.
"So… are you alright?"
Seeing Shiki kneeling on one knee, Touko stepped forward and asked.
Swish—
A flash of silver light cut through the air as Shiki suddenly slashed at Touko.
"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?"
While dodging the attack, Touko complained irritably,
"Alright, I admit it was partly my fault for letting you run into danger, but there's no need to go this far, right? At worst, I'll give you a ten percent discount on the consultation fee—"
Shiki silenced the chatty woman by raising her weapon again.
"You said it yourself that you'd teach me how to use these eyes."
"Yes…"
"Then let me see first whether you're qualified to teach me."
The moment she finished speaking, Shiki lunged forward.
"Tch. What a troublesome brat."
Touko took a deep drag from the cigarette in her mouth—an almost legendary lungful—finishing it in a single breath before flicking the burning butt toward the charging girl.
Boom!
An explosion of flames erupted in midair.
The blazing fire blocked Shiki's path, separating her from Touko.
But it was useless.
With a single swing of her dagger, Shiki killed the flames, then continued rushing forward.
The two of them began chasing each other across the hospital courtyard—one fleeing, one pursuing.
Their battle going back and forth for several rounds before finally stopping.
This scene, added by Shinji, was mostly meant to show off some special effects, not to determine a winner between Touko and Shiki.
Naturally, it ended in a draw.
After testing Touko's abilities, Shiki reluctantly acknowledged this suspicious, foul-mouthed, single older magus.
"That's enough. I look forward to working with you from now on."
Shiki slowly lowered her weapon.
"You want me to teach you? Fine. But there's a condition."
This time, it was Touko's turn to put on airs.
Who was she?
A famous puppeteer, the magus known by the forbidden name—"Scarred Red." Since when did she have to prove herself to a little girl?
"I'll teach you how to use the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception. In exchange, you'll assist me with my work."
After seeing Shiki's performance just now, Touko was convinced that Ryougi Shiki would make an excellent enforcer.
As it happened, Touko had recently lost her familiar.
What she needed right now was exactly a capable partner who could fight.
"Um… can I kill people?"
Ryougi Shiki's focus was clearly different from that of ordinary people.
"Of course."
Hearing the firm answer from the other side, Shiki visibly relaxed.
"I'll do it. Use me however you like. Anyway… I don't really have any other purpose."
After saying that, Shiki slowly collapsed onto the ground.
"Just as troublesome as I thought."
Touko gave up the idea of lighting another cigarette. She stepped forward, picked up Shiki's body, and looked down at the girl's sleeping face.
"No purpose… huh? That's not quite right, young lady."
Touko spoke leisurely.
"The empty void isn't something that stays empty forever. It needs a lot of things to fill it."
"You, a happy little princess who's been loved and cared for… I wonder what kind of future awaits you?"
With that, the magus turned toward the hospital building, carrying the temporarily "offline" girl back to her room.
After all, sleeping on the ground would definitely lead to catching a cold.
Not to mention that Shiki had only just recovered from a serious illness.
Although the hospital scene ended there, the night itself was far from over.
The camera shifted.
The setting moved to a very ordinary apartment.
Under the quiet moonlight, everything seemed peaceful and still.
The world was calm and tranquil.
And then—
BOOM!!!!
A thunderous explosion shattered the silence.
A crimson light burst from a room on the third floor of the apartment building. Inside, everything twisted violently under some invisible force.
Furniture, walls, objects—everything was warped and torn apart, instantly twisted into grotesque spirals like wrung-out cloth.
"Hehehe… hehehehehahaha!"
Amid the ruins, a girl clutched her stomach and laughed wildly.
Her laughter overflowed with joy and delight.
"One down… one left."
The girl slowly raised her head.
Her crimson eyes gleamed with a dangerous light.
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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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