Director Edward

Chapter 28: First Time Wrapping Up!

"Today is the final shoot, so let's all bring our A-game!" With Durin's command after everyone gathered, the scheduled last scene of the battle against the Headless Horseman in "Konosuba God Blessing This Wonderful World!" was about to begin. Prior to this, Durin had already arranged with Winry and the upper echelons of the Adventurer's Guild, as well as bribed the guards, ensuring that only ordinary adventurers remained unaware, all in order to facilitate a smooth filming process.

Moreover, the simplicity with which the Adventurer's Guild agreed was due to Durin's early manipulation, presenting himself as Baron Edward along with his status as a grand mage, which effectively hoodwinked the guild management into viewing everything as a routine magical experiment.

Opportunities to establish good relations with a grand mage were not to be missed by anyone.

In addition, Wiz unsurprisingly arrived on set with a large number of summoned undead. Initially startling the other staffers unaware of her undead nature, once they learned it was all for the sake of filming, everything proceeded smoothly.

With all preparations complete and reviewed by Durin, the final scene of the theatrical version—the showdown with the Headless Horseman—officially commenced.

...

The design of this final scene was complex, and were it not for Durin's extensive preparations and the use of suggestion magic on most of the mentally weaker adventurers, filming under such circumstances would have been wildly optimistic.

However, thanks to Durin's preparations, although the process was a bit rough, the plot progressed smoothly.

During this time, while fulfilling his duties as a cinematographer, Durin also discreetly aided Aya in releasing her Holy Light spells, assisted Wiz in guiding the undead to behave, and coordinated with Helena to cast Explosion Magic...

It could be said that while serving as the director, Durin also took complete responsibility for all special effects work. For instance, the ground beneath the Headless Horseman's feet was a fifth-order Holy Light array Durin had spent the entire night setting up. Once activated, even the strongest undead would at least lose a layer of skin.

The reason for his arrangement was undoubtedly for the sake of the performance effect. Otherwise, Durin would truly be worried about Beldia's awkward acting. To maintain the high standard of the final plot, he spared no effort.

Of course, even a fifth-order Holy Light array was not fatal to top-tier undead like the Headless Horseman, who surpassed sixth-order strength. At most, it prevented him from basking in sunlight for a few days.

During the scene, Beldia, the Headless Horseman, showcased his swordsmanship at Durin's request. Durin and the crew knew beforehand that Beldia was once the empire's top knight, but it wasn't until they witnessed his prowess firsthand that they realized just how terrifying his skills were.

Despite being surrounded by several adventurers, with a casual swing of his massive sword, he knocked out everyone encircling him. Upon closer observation, one could notice that none of the adventurers near him sustained any injuries. In other words, they were merely knocked out by the pressure and intimidation generated by his sword swings.

This level of swordsmanship had long surpassed the fifth-order. If Beldia were to regain recognition as a knight by the empire with his current strength, he would likely be elevated to the sixth order directly.

Durin was also surprised by the actress playing Darkness, whose swordsmanship seemed to exceed his expectations. Because she had to stay true to the character, Durin instructed her not to hit her opponents. Yet, her ability to refrain from hitting her opponents at such close range suggested considerable skill. It was akin to deliberately answering multiple-choice math questions incorrectly on an exam—unless you knew most of the answers, you wouldn't even be able to guess a few correctly.

Considering this, the swordsmanship of the girl whose name Durin hadn't even asked for was at least third-order, surpassing the standards of most adventurers in the South.

Similarly, the Headless Horseman had also noticed this. Therefore, he became more aggressive in his attacks. After all, this was a performance, and if he held back too much, there would be no dramatic effect. However, undoubtedly, the magnificent swordsmanship displayed by Beldia, reaching superhuman levels, did not truly harm the actress playing Darkness. It simply made her appear somewhat disheveled.

Meanwhile, after the intense battle between Darkness and the Headless Horseman added considerable performance effects to the production, the plot continued. Kazuma successfully discovered that the Headless Horseman's weakness was water and enlisted all adventurers capable of using water magic to help. However, due to the scarcity of mages in the South, they couldn't find anyone capable of casting water magic.

At last, Aqua, who finally realized she was a Water Goddess, unleashed a divine-level Water Creation spell directly.

Of course, this spell was also sponsored by Durin. Frankly speaking, continuously casting grand magic nearly drained him dry. When this fifth-tier Deluge spell came crashing down, he felt like his eyes were seeing stars, and he could barely stand.

However, the effect of this fully exerted grand magic was undeniable. The flood-level water magic directly swept away the Headless Horseman, Darkness, and the other adventurers. Even the main protagonist group standing further away didn't escape its effects. Of course, this was all part of the prearranged plot.

...

"This is for those who were killed protecting me! I don't intend to strike you multiple times! Please, take this with me!!"

With a decisive swing, Darkness, with her unreliable but powerful strike, shattered the Headless Horseman's black armor, leaving a massive wound on his chest.

Now without the Demon King's protection from his armor, the Headless Horseman naturally couldn't resist Aqua's judgment against the undead. As Durin's large-scale Holy Light array on the ground began to shine, the weakened Headless Horseman extended one hand towards a shattered piece of his armor, thoroughly drenched in water.

"Scared-TurnUndead!!"

"W-Wait...! Aaahhh—!"

Watching Beldia struggle on the ground, genuinely roasted by the Holy Light, Durin continued filming without hesitation, his smile carrying an apologetic tone.

Although Beldia, an undead surpassing the sixth tier, barely survived a fifth-tier Holy Light spell, Durin still had him activate another teleportation spell, which had been prepared in advance, simultaneously with the Holy Light eruption to ensure the smooth progression of the plot.

"It worked?!"

"Oh my! The Headless Horseman was actually eliminated?!"

"So awesome!!!"

As they belatedly broke free from the suggestion magic and realized what had happened, the "extras" erupted into cheers. With Aqua successfully resurrecting the adventurers who were killed by the Headless Horseman, this shoot came to an end.

Although there was a small scene about receiving rewards and ending up owing 40 million due to damaging the town, it could easily be resolved with a discussion with the Adventurer's Guild.

"So, congratulations on the perfect completion of the world's first movie! Thank you all for your hard work. I hereby announce the wrap of the first live-action theater edition of 'Konosuba: God Blessing This Wonderful World!'"

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