Chapter 51: Cu Chulainn Dies Again!

Shinji had summoned only two Servants for Fate/Zero.

The reason was simple: Shinji wasn't sure if he could accurately summon Hundred-Faced Hassan.

According to the system of the Fuyuki Holy Grail War, without cheating, summoning Assassin as a Class would select one of the Hassans. Which Hassan would be summoned depended purely on luck.

But from the perspective of producing the Fate/Zero film, summoning Hundred-Faced Hassan had no meaning. Instead of spending time and effort trying to summon a Heroic Spirit, it was better to have existing individuals play the role of Hundred-Faced Hassan.

After all, Hundred-Faced Hassan, unlike Medea's Rule Breaker, didn't have a special Noble Phantasm. As long as a physically fit actor put on a black bodysuit and wore a skull mask, everything would be fine.

Thus, this scene of Cu Chulainn dressed as Hassan in the middle of the set came to be.

From Shinji's perspective as a film producer, having Cu Chulainn and Rider take on the roles of Hassan was a smart move.

In terms of physical skills and combat abilities, Cu Chulainn and Rider were definitely top-tier. Playing the role of Hassan wouldn't be a problem.

Secondly, Cu Chulainn and Rider had previous experience in FSN, so they wouldn't require additional training and could start immediately.

Even the brief scene where Cu Chulainn's face would be visible could be used as a promotional Easter egg for the movie. Since the audience already knew the movie was fiction, having these cameo appearances would make it more enjoyable for them.

Everyone was happy about it, except for Cu Chulainn himself.

"Tch, Master, you're just taking advantage of me."

Cu Chulainn muttered as he adjusted the neck of his black bodysuit, looking displeased.

"You talk about having me play a role, but this is basically just using me as cheap labor."

Medusa pushed up her glasses and sneered, "After all this time, you still don't know him? If he can do two jobs for the price of one, he'll absolutely never pay one and a half."

Cu Chulainn sighed in resignation. "I get it, I'll play the role. So, Master, nice to meet you again."

Cu Chulainn's "Master" here wasn't directed at Shinji but at Kirei.

To showcase the difference between Fate/Zero and Fate/Stay Night, Kireihad intentionally cut his long hair and adopted a short hairdo. This did make him appear younger, but his nature as a gourmand had not changed at all.

Standing on a fake hill, Kotomine Kirei completely ignored Cu Chulainn's greeting, maintaining a calm expression as he looked ahead.

"...Both of them are like this."

Cu Chulainn felt that he was inherently incompatible with both his Master and Kirei, and not only in the real world, where he was constantly being swindled by Shinji, but also in the movie, where Kirei constantly sold him out.

And it was always to Gilgamesh.

"What have I done to deserve this?" Cu Chulainn could only see a dark future ahead of him.

Outside the set, after confirming that all departments were ready and checking that the camera tracks were functioning correctly, Shinji nodded to the script supervisor.

"Fate/Zero, Scene 7, Act 1..."

The script supervisor placed the scene card in front of the camera lens and shouted loudly, "Action!"

In the set before the camera, Cu Chulainn had already put on the white skull mask, entering a spiritual form. When he heard the signal to begin, he immediately appeared behind Kiritsugu.

"Master."

Cu Chulainn deliberately lowered his voice, making it rough to emphasize the distinction between the characters.

"The final Servant has been summoned, and the Holy Grail War has officially begun."

Looking down at the garden of the Tohsaka mansion constructed by the props department, Kiritsugu, with an emotionless voice, issued his command.

"Now, I need you to head to the Tohsaka mansion immediately."

"Do you mean...?"

"With your skills, even facing the Tohsaka family's fortress-like bounded field should be a piece of cake."

"Is it really okay to do this?" Cu Chulainn asked with a somewhat teasing tone. "You have an alliance with the Tohsaka family, after all."

Kirei's tone remained flat. "You don't need to worry about that. Even in a confrontation with Archer, there's no need to be afraid."

Kirei's eyes remained calm. "I'm leaving it to you. Quickly eliminate Tokiomi Tohsaka."

It had to be said that Kirei's emotionless voice had a unique charm to it, and listening to it for too long could easily become addictive.

In comparison, Cu Chulainn's performance was only average. He hadn't fully embraced the role of Hassan and instead gave off the feeling of being the Assassin class Cu Chulainn.

Watching the scenes captured on the monitor, Shinji shook his head slightly. "He talked about wanting to be the protagonist, but he's still far from it."

Fortunately, Zayed had very few scenes, and Cu Chulainn's face wasn't visible, so the audience wouldn't associate the two.

More than his acting skills in dramatic scenes, Shinji was more concerned about the upcoming Leap of Faith.

In the next scene, Cu Chulainn made a graceful leap, spinning three and a half times in mid-air, and landed in a tree.

Wait, he actually landed in a tree.

Following that, Cu Chulainn sprinted through the treetops at an incredible speed, rushing towards the Tohsaka mansion's garden.

After easily jumping over the "walls" with a high jump, Cu Chulainn, still wearing his mask, revealed a contemptuous smile.

"Hmph, this is a piece of cake."

However, just as his foot touched the garden's tiled ground, preparing for the acrobatic performance—

Boom!

A massive firework burst under Cu Chulainn's feet, marking the first wave of artistic explosions on the set of Fate/Zero.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Soon, more explosions followed, instantly turning the area around Cu Chulainn into a "festive" sea of fireworks.

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"For f***'s sake! Master, are you out of your mind?"

Ten minutes later, Cu Chulainn complained to Shinji while rubbing his injured hand.

Cu Chulainn's hand was injured during the final scene, where he was stabbed by Gilgamesh. However, this was prearranged for the filming.

Cu Chulainn's complaint was about Shinji's decision to include explosions in the garden of the "Tohsaka mansion." The series of explosions hadn't been communicated in advance, and Cu Chulainn was caught off guard initially.

Fortunately, Cu Chulainn, being one of Shinji's veteran actors, quickly regained his composure. He delivered a more magnificent acrobatic performance than initially planned amidst the explosions and was then promptly "killed" by Gilgamesh in a very extras-like fashion.

Despite the successful shoot, Cu Chulainn felt the need to voice his complaints. Otherwise, he knew that Shinji would push the boundaries further in the future, coming up with more ways to torment him.

Facing Cu Chulainn's complaints, Shinji just shrugged as if it were a matter of course.

"I did it for the sake of realism."

"Combining realism with explosions definitely has something wrong with it," Cu Chulainn sighed, shaking his head. "And don't you think you've gone a bit overboard this time, Master? It's much more exaggerated than the previous film."

"That's because the two films have different styles," Shinji patted Cu Chulainn's shoulder. "You need to keep giving the audience a fresh experience, or you'll be left behind by the times."

"But it feels like you've gone a bit too far with the exaggeration."

Thinking about the various grand scenes still to come, Cu Chulainn couldn't help but feel a sense of strangeness. It seemed like the scripts for Fate/stay night and Fate/Zero were written by different people, given the stark contrast in styles.

Cu Chulainn's thoughts weren't wrong. Nasu Kinoko and Ufotable Gen had distinct writing styles. From Tsukihime to Kara no Kyoukai and then to Fate/stay night, Nasu's works revolved around hidden battles within the framework of Magecraft.

On the other hand, the Ufotable series...

They didn't bother with hiding it at all, they went all out on the explosion.

The biggest battles in Fate/stay night, whether it was the clash between Rin and Archer with their Gandr shots or the duel on Ryuudou Temple's rooftop with the Jeweled Sword Zelretch, or even Saber's one-strike, seven-kills against Caster's monster sea, either took place in remote mountains and forests or in a Magus's private domain.

The only battle that could be considered to have occurred in a bustling area was Saber's fight against Rider, and even that was on a rooftop where there wouldn't be any civilians.

When you considered it all, the entire three-route story of Fate/stay night had relatively little impact on ordinary people. The most significant events were a gas leak at school and a few mysterious murder cases.

Now, looking at Ufotable's Fate/Zero, with buildings exploding, sea monsters summoned for a public spectacle on the ocean, and aerial dogfights with Vimana, it was an entirely different style.

In Shinji's eyes, the difference in style between Nasu and Ufotable was like the contrast between the TV series and the movies of Detective Conan.

In the TV series, I sneak around and make sure not to leave a single fingerprint. In the movies, I open fire on Tokyo Tower to eliminate witnesses directly.

Certainly, when it comes to literary works, there is no superiority between the two authors' styles, just different emphases. Some people may prefer Nasu's sense of mystery, while others may enjoy Ufotable's more action-packed style.

However, in terms of film adaptations, it's evident that Ufotable's style is more popular. After all, the visual medium of film is different from literature – the more direct, lively, and action-packed it is, the more likely it is to appeal to a wider audience.

Ufotable's Fate/Zero may have been more challenging in terms of managing the scenes, but the resulting visuals were even more impressive.

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