Golden Boy: At Last, It's My Turn to Take the Stage!

In the forest, Archer gritted his teeth and stared intently at the black figure.

Although he was still breathing and the bleeding was minimal.

Servant is not human; even if pierced through the body, as long as it doesn't hit a vital organ, there is a possibility of regeneration.

However, Archer's current injuries clearly do not fall into the category of regenerative injuries.

[It], the shadow, is the Servant's killer and natural enemy.

Regardless of the strength of the Heroic Spirit, any Servant Holy Grail Summoning will be countered by the "Shadow".

Although no such setting has been explicitly stated in HF so far, viewers can vaguely understand it based on "Soybean's" current record and performance.

Even if you can't figure it out, you can still get a clue by seeing the part of the Red A on the screen that is being hit being constantly eroded by black.

"You're kidding me... Archer! What are you doing, Archer?!"

Tohsaka Rin called out in a trembling voice as she struggled to her feet and prepared to walk toward Archer.

Archer, who was lying on the ground in a very strange position, suddenly became frightened and turned around to shout at Tohsaka Rin, "Don't come any closer, you idiot! Run! Don't stop!"

Archer's rebuke startled Tohsaka Rin, causing her to freeze in shock. She stared in disbelief at what was happening before her, unsure of what to do.

Everyone watching was shocked by the miserable state of the protagonist, Shirou Emiya, and his companions, except for Shinji himself, who grinned as if he wanted to laugh but dared not make a sound.

This scene with Red A wasn't just Shinji playing on the leader's theme; in the original Heaven's Feel game storyline, Rin and Red A's dialogue already had a bit of a leader's feel to it.

So much so that when Shinji was writing the script, his mind was filled with the song "Flower of Hope" on repeat.

Ultimately, Shinji had no choice but to follow his heart and simply reference the world-famous painting "The Death of the Commander" when writing this scene.

In terms of scene design alone, the leader's scene doesn't feel out of place here at all.

This made Shinji wonder if Okada Mari was a fan of the Moon series, and whether all that charade, making the commander die so tragically, was just a tribute to a character with a very similar appearance Red A?

"Have I solved the case?"

Shinji muttered to himself in a low voice.

"Are you thinking of how to slip away, my dear brother?"

"No, I..."

Shinji instinctively denied it, only to find that a ribbon had been wrapped around his wrist at some point, and the other end of the ribbon was being held in Sakura's hand.

"Don't even think about running away, brother~"

Sakura smiled innocently and carefree.

Shinji raised an eyebrow. "What if I need to use the restroom?"

Without hesitation, Sakura replied, "Emiya- senpai will hold your hand."

"..."

Shinji made a decision: he would rather die than go to the toilet tonight.

◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆

On the screen, the "shadow" began to move again.

As darkness continued to cover the forest, all the magic in the entire area was being absorbed by the shadows.

Without a doubt, the forest is dead.

At this moment, the "shadow" gives the audience the impression of a balloon filled with water.

Even though the balloon was already full, they kept pouring water in.

Everyone could see that the balloon would burst once it expanded beyond its limit.

Then—everyone inside rushed out at once!

"Oops!!"

Sensing something was wrong, Shirou and Red A acted simultaneously.

Without any hesitation, the two ran towards Tohsaka Rin and Illya respectively; at this point, the situation left them no room for hesitation.

"Rho----Aias!! (Seven Rings of the Heavenly Wall!)"

"Illya, lie down!"

As Red A Projection his shield, Shirou pulled Illya tightly into his arms.

The explosion occurred the instant the two completed their action.

Boom--!

The intense black light seemed intent on destroying everything, and a storm centered on the "shadow" raged wildly outwards.

The condensed and released magical energy fluctuations transformed into a visible destructive force, eroding the forest.

The scene on the screen became chaotic: Red A using the Projection, Tohsaka Rin clinging to him, Illya in Shirou Emiya's arms, and the now-mad "shadow"...

Viewers on the other side could only see the rapidly changing images within the black storm and hear a variety of chaotic sounds that were difficult to decipher.

I don't understand it, but I'm deeply moved. (JPG)

Finally, the scene faded into darkness, and the sound returned to silence.

At this point, the camera switches to Shirou Emiya's first-person perspective. Viewers can only observe the aftermath of the explosion through a dimly lit camera angle showing him lying on the ground—the forest almost completely leveled, the unconscious Tohsaka Rin, the weeping Illya, and his own lost arm.

"Ah... ah... ah..."

Shirou Emiya let out a faint scream; he seemed to be trying to get up, but with half his body gone, he was unable to do so.

The only saving grace was that the damned "shadow" disappeared after the explosion.

Whether he got tired of playing and left, or whether he had exhausted all his strength and was too weak to fight anymore, Shirou had no idea.

Viewers off-screen were also unaware, as they were currently immersed in the shock following a series of rapid plot developments.

"Based on the ending clip of the previous episode, I thought that was it after the shadowy attack! I didn't expect there to be so much more to the story! Shinji Matou is really disgusting, cutting out such a large part of it!"

Fujita stood there with his arms crossed, grumbling incessantly.

"But with the main characters so badly injured, shouldn't Matou Sakura be the next main damage dealer?"

Shibata rubbed his chin and guessed.

"The main villains in the story should be Kirei Kotomine and Matou Zouken working together. Matou Sakura stands up for Shirou Emiya and her sister Tohsaka Rin, rebelling against her family and becoming the strongest support for the main characters!"

Without any game storyline to refer to, and with Shinji deliberately creating suspense during filming, he kept hinting that the "shadow" and Matou Sakura were not the same person.

So far, most viewers haven't guessed the true identity of the "Shadow." They only know that the "Shadow" and Matou Sakura are secret weapons used by Matou Zouken to cause trouble.

Some people familiar with the Magecraft's lore might guess that the "shadow" is related to the Holy Grail, but that's about it.

"Shibata's guess isn't without merit; the female lead has to play a role eventually. Given Matou-san's writing style, he rarely creates purely decorative female characters."

During this break in the story, Azu also joined everyone in speculating about the plot.

"But I always felt something was off, like there was something wrong with something."

Azu looked at her side— Aoko, whose mouth was taped shut.

Despite Aoko swearing repeatedly as she entered that she hadn't watched episode four in advance.

But just to be on the safe side, Azu sealed her mouth shut.

Azu, this time Yuzhu gave Aoko some face, only silencing her and not restricting her behavior.

However, Aoko herself did not see it that way; she felt that Azu's behavior was a sign of distrust.

[Well, she's right not to trust me. After all, I've already seen episode four~~]

Aoko rolled her eyes, muttering to herself in frustration.

To be honest, I knew perfectly well that these people's plot predictions were wrong, but I couldn't bring myself to point it out or boast about spoiling the story to everyone.

This feeling of being suffocated was really uncomfortable, and even gave Aoko the illusion that she had the same stomachache as Uncle Kurotsuchi.

Sizzle.

Just as Aoko was struggling with her decision, Azu ripped the tape off her mouth.

"Azu..."

"It's really inhumane to keep you silent all this time." Azu tossed a bag of potato chips to Aoko. "Let's leave it at that for now."

Thank you~~

Aoko was so moved that tears welled up in her eyes.

Azu turned her gaze back to the screen and muttered to herself, "Sigh, the stories that Shinji Matou directs are really hard to predict."

"Don't worry too much about it; guessing the plot is all about luck."

While munching on potato chips, Aoko chimed in, "Sometimes I get frustrated when I can't guess the plot. Ultimately, what's harder to understand than any Magecraft is Shinji Matou's thought process..."

"Aoko..."

Azu's expression changed from a smile to a gloomy one.

"You did see it beforehand, didn't you! Otherwise, why would you say we were sure we were wrong?!"

"Azu, you're actually using entrapment! How despicable!!"

"Go to hell!"

Boom!

With a deafening roar, the invincible Aozaki Aoko fell once again.

Hmm... why did I say "again"?

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Red A's condition on the screen was similar to Aoko's; his once red coat had turned gray, and he looked like a candle flickering in the wind, ready to disappear at any moment.

However, it was Rider's appearance that puzzled Shirou Emiya even more than Archer's.

But Shirou Emiya, whose consciousness was reduced to a mere sliver, didn't even have the strength to ask a question.

"--Are you serious? If you do something like that, you'll be—"

"There's no need to overthink it. If we do nothing, two people will disappear."

Listening to Rider and Archer's conversation, the two seemed to be arguing about something.

"If a transplant is performed, it can definitely help a person."

Through Shirou Emiya's perspective, the audience saw Red A quietly walk to Tohsaka Rin's side.

"In any case, this body has reached its limit. If it's going to just disappear like this, it's better to leave something behind."

As he spoke, Red A turned and glanced at Shirou Emiya.

"Normally, when a person's physical body connects with their spirit, it only leads to more serious consequences. But this kid and I are exceptions."

At this point, Red A hesitated slightly.

"I'll take care of the basics first, and once Rin wakes up, she should be able to handle things properly."

At this point, Red A) affectionately stroked Tohsaka Rin's hair.

The image on the screen gradually dimmed; Shirou Emiya's body had reached its limit.

His consciousness was about to sink into darkness.

"That's all I can do for you. Good luck, Tohsaka."

In a daze, Shirou Emiya and the audience heard Archer bid farewell to his Master in a youthful voice.

Then came the sound of a sharp blade cutting.

When the TV screen lit up again, the image had switched to Matou Sakura's terrified and shocked expression.

Seeing Shirou Emiya's arm wrapped in red cloth, Matou Sakura was completely Sparta.

[Who the hell can tell me what happened???!!!]

Although the line isn't explicitly stated, everyone who sees this imagines Matou Sakura shouting it out in the style of "The Shout."

Chapter 180 Golden Flash: It's finally my turn to make my appearance!