Souya was helped back to Amakusa's church by Morgan.
Despite acting tough after defeating Siegfried, and maintaining composure when facing Jeanne and Morgan's concern, the truth was different. The moment the battle ended, the power of the Saint Heroic Spirit Martha detached from his body and returned to the Throne of Heroes.
This was not because Martha disdained his body and refused to stay longer.
The Iron-Fisted Saintess's consciousness actually wanted to stay a bit longer. However, "Spiritual Evocation: Holy Spirit Projection" was merely a small magecraft belonging to Souya. It neither used the Holy Grail as a medium nor had a qualified Servant system as a safeguard. Relying solely on his own power, it was impossible to anchor a Heroic Spirit's power and Noble Phantasm to a human body for an extended period to form a Pseudo-Servant.
Following the law of conservation of energy, the price of obtaining such power was that Souya's maximum mana capacity sharply decreased for several hours after use. His consciousness and spirit fell into a weakened state.
Because of these aftereffects, Souya had urgently signaled Morgan to take him away. If they did not leave, having Jeanne, Siegfried, and everyone observing the battle see him so exhausted that he had to lean on Morgan just to move would ruin his reputation.
Amakusa and Semiramis looked over at the sound of the door opening. They saw Souya being almost half-carried in by Morgan.
"Souya? Are you alright?"
Amakusa was startled and instinctively stepped forward to check on his condition.
When he looked up and saw Morgan's icy and guarded gaze, his footsteps halted.
Due to the previous misunderstanding and Semiramis revealing her abilities, Morgan had grown wary of her and Amakusa.
After that misunderstanding, Morgan cast a new series of protections on Souya, focusing particularly on poison resistance and curses.
However, the Morgan present was not her main body, so the protections she bestowed were not as powerful as her original self's. Considering that Heroic Spirits were wondrous, there was no guarantee that Semiramis, the oldest poisoner, did not possess some rule-breaking, highly toxic Noble Phantasm. Morgan guarded against them strictly.
Masters often shared a certain affinity with their Servants. As a King during Britain's peak, Morgan's intellect and grasp of political psychology were formidable.
By combining the question Lancer asked Amakusa about where their Masters had gone, and pondering why Amakusa Shirou was issuing orders to the Servants in their stead, Morgan deduced that the other Red Faction Masters had likely been controlled by the two people before her.
Having deduced this, Morgan, deeply protective of her husband, could not allow Amakusa and Semiramis near Souya.
Even if the former was Amakusa.
Amakusa read the emotions in Morgan's eyes. He offered a wry smile and stopped a short distance away from them.
"Tch!"
Semiramis snorted. Her bewitching face showed no self-awareness that this situation was caused by her.
Souya proactively broke the awkward atmosphere.
"I am fine, Amakusa. The mana consumption was just too great."
Gently patting Morgan's hand, which was gripping his arm tightly, Souya gave her a reassuring look. He leaned against the back of a church pew and sat down.
Morgan proactively stood behind him, lightly resting her fingers on Souya's shoulders.
Both Morgan and Semiramis tacitly chose to stand behind the men they favored at this moment.
Their respective gazes fell entirely upon the men in front of them, showing no regard for anyone else.
If a third party were present, they probably would not believe that the two women were the Empress who ruled Ancient Assyria and the Queen of Britain who led her country to brilliance.
The two men at the center continued their conversation.
"Mana consumption too great?"
Amakusa frowned imperceptibly.
As someone who had accompanied Souya through a long period of his growth, he concurrently fulfilled a portion of the duties of Souya's teacher. Aside from Bajiquan and cooking, which were taught by Kotomine Kirei, almost all of Souya's skills came from Amakusa.
He expressed doubt at Souya's words because he had personally inspected the Magic Circuits within Souya's body.
That quality was vast as an ocean. If he were at the Clock Tower, securing a Grand title with it would be simple.
Why would Souya say such a thing?
Amakusa asked.
"Is it because of the magecraft you used when fighting Siegfried?"
"Yes. That magecraft is called 'Spiritual Evocation: Holy Spirit Projection.' It is another miracle bestowed upon me by the Stigmata, following the 'Miracle of Healing' I awakened when I was ten."
Regarding this magecraft, Souya had no intention of hiding anything from Amakusa. He spoke of it openly.
This was not just because he trusted him, but also because even if someone knew the detailed setting of this technique, they could not counter it.
It was a miracle given by God.
"But with your Magic Circuits, it is impossible for your mana to be severely depleted by a single magecraft."
Amakusa's brow remained furrowed. He was not very interested in the origin of this magecraft; he cared about the impact it would bring to Souya.
Even though the ideal in his heart was of paramount importance, his sense of responsibility held the upper hand at this moment.
Souya gave a simple answer.
"Because what it consumes is actually not my mana, but my maximum mana capacity."
Using an MP bar as an analogy: normal skills consume MP. When too much MP is used, the character becomes weak and cannot cast skills. Souya's base MP was essentially maxed out; theoretically, he would not fall into fatigue due to MP consumption.
But this magecraft, which could be crowned a miracle, consumed the maximum limit of the MP bar itself. Converted, it was a massive consumption, so it was not strange for Souya to fall into a weakened state.
Fortunately, it was a cheat given by God, making it relatively reliable.
The consumption of maximum mana capacity was only temporary.
Resting and replenishing mana would fix it.
After hearing Souya's explanation, Amakusa's frown relaxed, only to be replaced by deep astonishment.
In layman's terms, the function this magecraft brought to Souya could be summarized easily.
Accessing the Throne of Heroes.