I'm Not A Master, I'm A Director
Chapter 378: Jeanne — Take Down the Fake Priest! Reclaim the Greater Holy Grail!
In the night sky, a castle steeped in intense Gothic style drifted slowly through the heavens, displaying its majesty and grandeur to the world below.
"So this is the flying castle from the trailer… It's simply…"
Robert Iger, CEO of Disney, found himself at a loss for words as he stared at the scene before him.
Castles were nothing new to Disney. Forests, cities, oceans—Disney's fairy-tale castles existed everywhere.
After all, even the company's logo was a castle. That alone showed just how obsessed Disney was with them.
And yet, when Robert Iger compared Disney's castles to the one now floating across the silver screen, the difference was like Mike Tyson versus a child.
Facing this massive structure suspended in the sky, almost blotting out the heavens themselves, he could only utter a single sentence:
"Magnificent!!!"
This wasn't just his reaction.
The entire theater had fallen silent, utterly overwhelmed by the skyborne courtyard filling the IMAX screen.
"How on earth did Shinji Matou create something like this?!" Iger's mind was flooded with questions.
Disney were veterans when it came to depicting castles. In his experience, filming a castle and conveying a sense of scale and grandeur wasn't particularly difficult.
But achieving this level of realism and sheer impact? In all his long years in the industry, he had never seen anything like it.
Earlier, during the premiere, the audience had already witnessed the film crew arriving via that flying castle outside.
Everyone had been shocked, of course—but it was still within the realm of expectation.
After all, a real, airborne structure of that size was already impressive enough.
What no one had anticipated was that the castle in the movie would be even more outrageous.
Back when people watched the trailer on small screens, it felt impressive but manageable.
Now, seeing it in full 3D on an IMAX screen—It was indescribable.
Compared to regular viewers who could only shout "That's incredible!", industry professionals were far more curious about how these visuals had been achieved.
If it had been filmed using the massive physical prop outside, how could it appear this overwhelmingly grand?
And if it relied on CGI, no one believed modern effects could deliver this level of power and presence.
"It's like a real city floating in the sky… Did Shinji Matou actually build a full-scale aerial fortress?"
Iger shook his head after the thought crossed his mind.
If something that massive had truly been used during filming, Shinji would have already advertised it to the world. That was just his personality.
Forced perspective? Clever compositing?
Yet even with his trained eye, Iger couldn't quite see through the trick.
"All I can say is—he's a genius."
The CEO gave up trying to figure it out, his thoughts instead turning into longing.
"If Disney had someone like Shinji Matou, would we ever need to worry about live-action films again?"
◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆
Compared to those unfamiliar with the behind-the-scenes details of Fate/Apocrypha, Jeanne—one of the film's heroines and someone who had personally filmed that scene—was no less stunned.
Because the castle on the big screen was even more magnificent than the model she had seen during filming.
Bathed in moonlight, silvery-white radiance infused it with an air of mystery. Paired with the colossal flying fortress in the sky, it sent shivers rippling through Jeanne's entire body.
And then there was the main cannon.
The moment it fired, it made one thing crystal clear to everyone watching:
This castle wasn't just for show.
It was a genuine, fully armed mobile fortress.
For most moviegoers, the instant the castle gathered energy and unleashed a beam of light toward the ground—
That overwhelming, cathartic feeling of "It fired!" was so satisfying that even someone like Jeanne couldn't help but feel a wave of exhilaration surge through her, the kind that made you want to scream at the top of your lungs.
Of course, Jeanne wasn't the only one who felt that way—but among Servants, there really weren't many who would develop such a desire.
As for why the saint herself was so fascinated by the aerial fortress's main cannon…
Well, that had something to do with Jeanne's immobile white Noble Phantasm—
Ahem.
"If only I could attack like that too…"
Jeanne leaned close to Shinji's ear and whispered softly,
"Master, can't you find a way to change my Saint Graph? If I could fire a cool beam like that…"
Yes.
Saint Jeanne was genuinely tempted.
Shinji didn't mock his saint. Instead, he looked at her with a strange expression—one that carried just a hint of anticipation.
"Hm? So you're planning to wear a swimsuit then?" he said seriously.
"In that case, I'd recommend a tight competitive swimsuit. It shows off your figure better than a bikini."
"Master, why are you always thinking about that?!"
Jeanne huffed and smacked the back of Shinji's hand.
"I'm being serious!"
Shinji awkwardly rubbed his nose.
"So am I."
Was this really his fault?
When it came to Jeanne firing a beam, what Type-Moon fan wouldn't think of her swimsuit version—the legendary 'Whale Jeanne'?
Unfortunately, Jeanne—whose hand was still being held by her Master—had no such thoughts.
From her perspective, Shinji had already crossed the line just by holding hands, and now he was shamelessly trying to push further by asking her to model outfits for him.
She genuinely couldn't understand how he could say something like that with a straight face.
But Jeanne quickly lost the chance to complain about Shinji's swimsuit fetish, because something big was happening on the screen.
After reclaiming Amakusa and the Greater Holy Grail, the empress seated upon the throne of the aerial fortress issued her command with overwhelming authority.
The Hanging Gardens turned their guns toward the collapsing castle below, launching an all-out assault meant to annihilate Jeanne and the others.
Although the main cannon couldn't be fired consecutively, the aerial fortress still possessed its defensive armaments—
Tiamtum Uumuu: the Eleven Black Coffins.
With these eleven floating weapons of immense firepower, carrying out a carpet-bombing annihilation of the Yggdmillennia castle was entirely possible.
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
The scale of the aerial bombardment was staggering, its momentum overwhelming, relentlessly chasing Jeanne's group as they fled through the crumbling castle.
It was true that Jeanne's Noble Phantasm, "Luminosité Eternelle", possessed incredible defensive power—but even a Noble Phantasm had its limits.
And once activated, Jeanne couldn't move.
Standing still to deploy it would be the stupidest possible choice. Who knew how long that fortress could keep firing?
If defense wasn't an option, then the only choice left was to run.
Otherwise, being buried alive under an entire castle would be… problematic.
This parkour-like escape sequence through the collapsing castle might not have been as flashy as the earlier Servant battles, but the tension it carried was in no way inferior.
Even the audience outside the screen could feel it—
That pure, unrestrained violence, destruction for destruction's sake, was terrifying in its rawness.
Especially when Mordred dodged a collapsing wall, sharply changed direction at high speed, and charged straight toward the camera—the crumbling wall followed, rushing straight at the screen.
In that instant, it felt as if everyone in the theater had been dragged into the collapsing castle.
The outstanding 3D effects, combined with the violent shaking of flying debris, made many people genuinely feel as though rubble was smashing into their skin.
Then, the main cannon's cooldown finished.
And a second, decisive beam of light fired downward.
The entire audience jumped.
Not metaphorically—some people actually leapt out of their seats. Fujita and Shibamatsu were among them.
Even Li Ri'ang, whose nerves had been tempered by years of Showa-era Ultraman, clenched his fists tightly when he saw the beam slam into the ground and erase everything in its path.
After that single shot, many viewers found themselves gasping for air.
For a moment, they had felt a mild sense of suffocation.
The world-ending beam had created a terrifying illusion, as if they themselves would be completely melted away by that light.
With 3D technology combined with an IMAX screen, just how spectacular could the visual feast become?
Many people in the theater felt as though they had just brushed against the edge of that answer.
Fortunately, after firing the second beam, the empress on the big screen chose to rein herself in, sparing Jeanne and the others.
Compared to wasting mana here, activating the Greater Holy Grail as soon as possible was far more important to Amakusa.
From a purely logical and results-oriented standpoint, the empress's decision was honestly… pretty questionable.
She had the protagonists on the ropes, yet instead of pressing the advantage and wiping them out completely, she gave them time to recover before resuming the fight.
Wasn't that just asking for trouble?
But there was nothing to be done.
Sometimes, in movies, emotional buildup mattered more than airtight logic.
Because once you start overanalyzing plot logic, it often shatters the audience's immersion and ruins the viewing experience.
Take the final snap in Avengers: Endgame, for example.
If the deleted scene—where Tony talks with his daughter—had been included, it would've dragged the pacing down instead of improving it.
Rather than that, it was far better to present Tony's death directly and let the audience release all their emotions in one overwhelming wave.
This scene followed the same principle.
Shinji could have arranged for Jeanne and the others to immediately break out of the castle ruins and charge straight into the Hanging Gardens, kicking off the final battle.
But at that moment, the audience simply wasn't emotionally ready for the climax yet. Starting the decisive fight too early would only make the pacing feel chaotic.
Why do so many films place emotional scenes before the final battle?
Even if the male and female leads aren't sharing a romantic moment, the team leader usually gives a speech, right?
It's all to stir the audience's emotions—to get them into a heightened, excited state before the ultimate showdown.
In fact, after enduring two massive, high-intensity sequences—the vampire war and the collapsing castle—the audience genuinely needed a breather.
Especially the male viewers who had been holding it in since halfway through the fight scenes.
They desperately needed this calmer moment to… take care of business.
As for the girls…
Well, girls don't have the same endurance.
If they feel the need, they just go.
"Haaa—"
Jeanne, who had been sitting rigidly upright the whole time, finally relaxed. She leaned back into the soft theater seat and let out a long sigh.
"Master, now I understand why you love using real explosions and physical destruction so much. That sense of realism is something computer CG can never truly replicate."
"Of course," Shinji replied smugly.
"Explosions and destruction are an art."
Shinji raised his chin proudly, confidence written all over his face.
Other things he could compromise on—but this field? Absolutely not.
He, Shinji Matou, was a professional.
Resting her chin on her hand, Jeanne asked with a hint of wistfulness, "So, my artistic Master… when will I get a chance to be 'artistic' too?"
"When you can wear a swimsuit."
Hearing that, Jeanne smiled playfully.
"So if I wear a swimsuit, you'll help modify my Saint Graph?"
"..."
Shinji froze.
He had no idea how to explain this classic which came first, the chicken or the egg problem.
◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆
Leaving aside Jeanne's faintly restless thoughts, the movie's story continued to unfold on the big screen.
Although the Yggdmillennia castle's defensive barrier held on for a short while after Darnic's death, in the face of the invincible Hanging Gardens of Babylon—Its collapse was inevitable.
In Shinji's eyes, a landmark structure like the Yggdmillennia castle had only one real purpose in a movie—
To be destroyed.
It was just like those airborne defense force bases in Ultraman.
If they didn't crash spectacularly to the ground, then what was the point of putting them in the sky in the first place?
By the same logic, the empress's Noble Phantasm—the Hanging Gardens of Babylon—was no exception.
With that top-heavy, bottom-narrow shape that looked like MAC's spinning top, it would be an insult to its design not to have it fall eventually.
Of course, the Hanging Gardens meeting disaster was something reserved for the final battle. Talking about it now was still a bit premature.
At the very last moment before the castle collapsed, Jeanne realized there was no way to evade the bombardment and could only rely on her Noble Phantasm to take the hit head-on.
She successfully blocked the beam, but the countless cracks running through her flagstaff told her the truth.
The limit of her first Noble Phantasm was fast approaching.
Perhaps the next time would be its final stand.
Still, thanks to Jeanne's defense, Astolfo, Mordred, and Shishigou all emerged unscathed.
"So… what do we do now?"
Shishigou Kairi sat down on a slab of stone amid the ruins, tilting his head as he looked at his Servant and the saint who was leading the group.
Though his smile was as carefree as ever, the gaze hidden behind his sunglasses was deadly serious.
That man—Amakusa Shirou Tokisada—wasn't joking.
He truly intended to activate his Noble Phantasm and use the Third Magic to materialize the souls of every human being on Earth.
Immortality.
A world without war.
It sounded beautiful, but to Shishigou, such a world was unbearably dull.
"Let me say this first, I'm voting against it," Shishigou said, jerking his chin toward Mordred.
"Saber, you too, right?"
"Obviously."
Mordred slung her greatsword over her shoulder and grinned, battle lust blazing in her eyes.
"I've said it before. I can't stand that hypocritical bastard. I'm definitely going to punch him in the face."
"I don't really mind either way~" Astolfo scratched the back of his head cheerfully.
"Wherever we go, we're still fighting the Red faction, right? Same thing!"
"Then, Saint Jeanne,"
Shishigou rose to his feet and turned toward her, waiting for her answer.
"Can't be forgiven."
Jeanne clenched the cracked flagstaff tightly and lifted her gaze to the Hanging Gardens floating in the sky.
Her eyes gradually hardened with resolve.
"Amakusa Shirou Tokisada—who does he think he is? He has no right to make choices on behalf of everyone!"
She drove the flagstaff forcefully into the ground.
The fleur-de-lis on the banner fluttered violently in the wind.
Turning to the three companions who still stood beside her on the same path, Jeanne let a faint smile appear on her lips.
The stirring BGM swelled.
This was Jeanne's moment as the heroine and the emotional peak of the entire film.
The pre-battle speech.
"Masters and Servants who have gathered here because of the Holy Grail!"
"I am Jeanne d'Arc, the saint who saved France!"
"Today, humanity's future hangs by a thread, the age of mankind stands on the brink of extinction!"
"Those of us who choose to fight on alone are not weak! Because we trust not only ourselves—but each other!"
"We will take the initiative! We will challenge that impregnable fortress floating in the sky! We will confront the man who has obtained the Greater Holy Grail!"
"We will reclaim the Holy Grail!"
"This is not for our own wishes, but for a tomorrow where humanity can continue to make its own choices!"
Faced with Jeanne's impassioned call to arms, Astolfo, Mordred, and Shishigou raised their right hands in unison.
"Take down the fake priest! Reclaim the Greater Holy Grail!"
At last, the battle that would decide the fate of humanity had begun.
<+>
If you want to see more chapter of this story and don't mind paying $5 each month to read till the latest posted chapter, please go to my Patreon[1]
Current Chapter In Patreon: Chapter 404: An Opening That Goes from Seductive to Straight-Up Uncanny[2]
Link to the latest chapter: https://www.patreon.com/posts/152412556?collection=31097[3]
https://www.patreon.com/collection/31097?view=expanded[4]
[1] https://www.patreon.com/collection/31097?view=expanded
[2] https://www.patreon.com/posts/152412556?collection=31097
[3] https://www.patreon.com/posts/152412556?collection=31097
[4] https://www.patreon.com/collection/31097?view=expanded