At this point in the HF story, the plot hasn't reached its climax, and the audience doesn't yet understand the weight of Shirou Emiya's decision to protect Sakura.
However, viewers can already tell that this version of Shirou will be vastly different from the other two iterations.
The audience, especially the magus viewers, feel a deep sense of regret over Shirou Emiya abandoning his ideals.
"A Reality Marble! A Reality Marble! Just thrown away like that?!"
Fujita cried out dramatically, pounding the sofa. "I'm telling you, women are the root of all evil! A mere woman—how could she be more important than a Reality Marble?!"
Alice glared at him. "What did you just say?"
Fujita quickly backtracked. "Nothing! I said nothing at all."
He had no choice. While the other female magi could be reasoned with, this particular powerhouse was someone he definitely couldn't win against. Better to just admit defeat.
Fortunately for him, Alice decided not to pursue the matter further. She was more interested in analyzing Shinji Matou's reasoning behind this plot development.
"Shinji Matou doesn't like doing repetitive things, so it's not surprising that he'd make Shirou take a completely different route," Alice said thoughtfully, stroking her chin. "What I'm curious about is what surprises this version of Shirou will bring us."
"I doubt there will be any surprises," Fujita grumbled, still unwilling to concede.
"In the movies, Shirou teamed up with Saber to kill Heracles and then took down Kirei Kotomine in a duel."
"In the TV series, he first fought a future version of himself and then soloed Gilgamesh."
"For a magus, he's already reached the pinnacle. What more could there be for him to fight in this version?"
Shibamatsu raised his hand and chimed in, "Not necessarily. Have you forgotten Black Saber? A corrupted version of an ally turning into an enemy—it's practically mandatory for them to have a showdown! Like Vegeta in Dragon Ball."
"Don't even get me started on Saber!" Fujita pounded the sofa harder. "Saber! She should've been the main heroine, but she got killed by a weakling enemy! Isn't Shinji worried about getting flamed by the Knights of the Round Table fandom?!"
"I think Black Saber looks pretty cool," Shibamatsu muttered under his breath, only to be immediately rebuked by Fujita.
"Cool?! That pitch-black thing—is that even Saber?! It's nothing more than a counterfeit! My Arturia would never be such a flamboyant character!"
Well, it seemed this friend was a staunch fan of the classic Arthurian King.
Alice toyed with her fingers, wondering whether she should share her online chat with Shinji.
According to Shinji, Arturia had the potential to become the world's most popular character IP with immense room for development.
Using the current Arturia as a base, they could create versions that were corrupted, wielded spears, carried staves, wore mascot costumes, donned swimsuits, rode horses, rode motorcycles, or even piloted Gundams.
This time, Saber Alter was just a test run; in the future, there would only be more and more versions of Arturia.
Alice suddenly grew curious about how Fujita would react upon seeing all these varied Arturia iterations Shinji had in mind.
Would he faint from happiness or stick to his purist principles and angrily denounce the spin-offs?
'Judging by his attitude now, it's probably the latter,' Alice thought, suppressing a smile. She realized it might be amusing to observe the various reactions of the magi around her.
<+>
By this time, the third episode of the HF series had entered its latter half.
The earlier part had been dedicated to dialogue, showing Shirou Emiya's decision and giving the audience a glimpse into his romance with Sakura Matou.
But Fate isn't an art film, and people didn't pay for DVDs to watch high schoolers' adolescent love stories. What they wanted was intense, adrenaline-pumping action scenes.
As a commercially-minded director, Shinji knew exactly what motivated fans to buy HF. So after addressing the necessary plot points, it was time for the Servants to unleash and battle.
While Shirou and Sakura were deeply immersed in their romance, and Rin was racked with guilt over the tragedies that befell Sakura, Zouken was preparing for a full-scale assault.
With True Assassin and Rider on Zouken's side, only five Servants remain. Among them, Caster, Lancer, and Saber have already been consumed by Dark Sakura, leaving just Archer and Berserker.
While the situation appears to be a 2v1v1, it's effectively 4v1v1 because Dark Sakura can summon the Servants she has consumed to fight for her.
Although Caster is completely unusable now, Lancer and Saber are still available.
Unlike the HF route in Shinji's original world, where limited production capabilities meant Sakura only summoned Caster, Saber, and later Berserker, this HF adaptation includes a notable change: Lancer is also summoned in his corrupted form to participate in the forest battle.
Shinji made this adjustment to extend the runtime of the forest battle and provide viewers with even more thrilling action. After all, compared to other production teams, action scenes on Shinji's set didn't cost significantly more than dialogue-heavy ones. Outfitting Lancer in a blackened costume wasn't expensive—certainly easier than having Takeuchi draw a few more character illustrations of him.
From a narrative perspective, summoning a corrupted Lancer wasn't difficult to justify. If he could be used as another fighter in the war, why not deploy him? Lancer, while formidable, wasn't as uniquely powerful as Gilgamesh, whose essence might overwhelm Sakura.
Thus, Zouken devised a plan: have Dark Saber and Dark Sakura handle the more powerful Berserker while True Assassin and corrupted Lancer targeted the relatively weaker Archer. This strategic allocation made sense, ensuring every card in his hand was played.
This also explained how Archer, faced with Lancer and True Assassin, would become corrupted during their fight.
In Shinji's view, True Assassin in the HF route often seemed like a protagonist blessed by the heavens, akin to the overpowered leads of certain web novels. Despite being far weaker than most other Servants, he managed to prevail through either the opponent's carelessness or his abilities conveniently countering them.
But Archer was different. Unlike traditional Servants, Archer's stats were lower on paper, but he was never the type to underestimate opponents or hold back. It made logical sense for him to be subdued only when facing both corrupted Lancer and True Assassin simultaneously.
<+>
As Zouken Matou launched an attack on the Einzbern castle, aiming to seize the Lesser Grail with his Servant enforcers, the battlefield split into three distinct skirmishes:
Dark Saber vs. Berserker: A head-on clash of titans unfolded between the two in the castle and surrounding forest.
True Assassin and corrupted Lancer vs. Archer: These two hunted down Archer, attempting to create an opening for Dark Sakura's shadow to devour him.
Shirou and Rin's rescue mission: The pair scrambled to protect Illya and escape the chaotic battlefield unscathed.
<+>
Berserker charged into battle without fear, roaring defiantly at Dark Sakura's shadow and the fully empowered Dark Saber. He exuded the aura of a hero who might have leaped straight out of Romance of the Three Kingdoms, reminiscent of Lu Bu fighting three warriors at Tiger Gate Pass.
Of course, it was equally plausible that Berserker, driven mad by his Berserker class, was no longer thinking clearly. His muscle-bound brain had only one strategy left: Charge!
Unlike Berserker, though, Dark Saber still retained her mental faculties despite her corruption. She used cunning and tactics to lure Berserker into the shadow's grasp.
As black, ribbon-like tendrils shot out from the shadow to ensnare him, Berserker roared in defiance.
But this was no ordinary opponent—Berserker was none other than Heracles, the mighty hero of Greek mythology! Even Gilgamesh's Chains of Heaven had struggled to contain him. Though the shadow had an advantage against Servants, Berserker's extraordinary nature made him a unique challenge.
Berserker bellowed in pain, but his fury only fueled his strength. Breaking free from the tendrils, he launched a relentless assault on Dark Saber.
Saber Alter, however, remained unshaken. Compared to the roaring Berserker, she was a silent and deadly fighter—one who preferred action over words.
Their battle raged fiercely, with the crimson glow of Saber Alter's corrupted Excalibur clashing against the raw power of Berserker's stone axe in a brutal exchange of blows.
<+>
"Cool!" Shibamatsu couldn't help but exclaim as he watched the scene play out on television.
Fate battles had always been known for their visual splendor, and Shinji's signature "explosions and light shows" elevated the spectacle even further.
Critics had dubbed Shinji the "Explosion Maniac" and "Light Pollution Director," and those nicknames weren't entirely unwarranted.
Even so, Shibamatsu found this battle between the blackened giant and the darkened knight thrilling and fresh.
The sheer intensity of the scene kept his adrenaline pumping from the very start of the fight.
The battle featured all the usual Shinji trademarks: explosions, flashes of light, and dazzling effects. But this time, it also carried a sense of primal savagery—raw, unfiltered brutality.
Saber Alter's oversized, blackened Excalibur unleashed consecutive blasts of light, tearing into Berserker with devastating force. Each strike left his body riddled with glowing, crimson wounds, exposing the muscles beneath his skin and giving him the appearance of a human anatomy model from a science lab.
Despite Saber Alter's immense power, Berserker didn't back down. Using his numerous lives as a buffer, he charged at her relentlessly, eventually closing the gap during a brief pause in her bombardment.
Saber Alter's continuous Noble Phantasm attacks, while devastating, weren't without cost. Maintaining such a barrage strained her Spirit Core. Other Servants might have fallen before she showed any openings, but Berserker was different. With his twelve lives, even dying repeatedly couldn't stop him from reaching her.
Forced to abandon her ranged assault, Saber Alter swung her corrupted blade for close combat. Their battle intensified, becoming a fierce, bloody melee.
Berserker, however, suffered terribly in this encounter. He met death after death in increasingly gruesome ways: burned, blasted, bled out, decapitated—the cycle continued endlessly.
In this brutal display, Berserker fully embraced his role as an indomitable force, showcasing "A Hundred Ways for Heracles to Die" for the audience.
<+>
"See? Cu Chulainn's appearances are mostly for fun. If you want true versatility in dying, you've got to hand it to Heracles," Yan Qing remarked as he watched Berserker's relentless deaths and resurrections on screen.
<+>
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