"Talking"
'Thinking'
"Master/Servant Link"
Noble Phantasm
Chapter 9: So, As I Pray...
Archer continued to race backwards, avoiding the flurry of strikes aimed at his body.
Despite what he had hoped, Berserker was evidently a fairly competent close range fighter and even in his weakened state he was marginally stronger than Archer and with no weapon to trace, he was at a loss as to the identity of the mystery Servant.
"!" Berserker released another roar of anger as Archer continued to block or avoid his punches without sustaining any real damage. When he missed an overhead punch at the Servant Archer went in to slash his exposed wrist.
Only to widen his eyes in shock as his blade virtually skidded off the skin of Berserker without so much as leaving a mark. Archer cursed and jumped away as the mad Servant made a grab at his head.
"Fire!" Miyu called out as she pointed sapphire at the Servant, the resulting blast impact the Berserker's head, stumbling him slightly but again doing very little in the way of actual damage. It did, however, shift his attention onto the little girl.
Berserker let loose another roar as he changed his target to Miyu and kicked off the group in dash straight at her, Miyu widened her eyes and jumped away as the Servant's fist impacted the area she once stood, instantly caving in a portion of the roof.
The giants eyes followed the girl as she jumped through the air, he leant down to pick up a large chunk of debris and then drew his arm back to throw it at the girl.
Berserker stumbled when a sword made of luminescent string struck him in the back of the head, the throw going absolutely nowhere near his target. He spun on his heel again, only to see Irisviel on the other end of the rooftop, her hands already outstretched and forming more constructs. The mad servant charged her, clearing the rooftop in mere moments at speeds almost no one could have reacted to.
Almost no one.
Only mere feet from Irisviel, the mad giant ground to a halt. Dumbly, it stared down at it's chest and the sword sticking through its heart. Its eyes travelled back up to see Archer staring back at him, Durandal in his hand and penetrating the Servants chest.
Berserker choked on blood before the light in his eyes went out.
Archer frowned as he pulled the sword from the slumped over Servant, that was too easy. He looked over, Illya hadn't moved since the fight began, still staring in shock at the Servant.
"Well…" Rin cleared her throat "That was ea-" she was cut off when the Servants eyes snapped open, a fist lashed out and caught Archer in his side sending his flying across the rooftop.
The Servant got back to his feet, the wound in his chest healing over as if nothing had ever happened.
Irisviel let out a startled gasp as Berserker's gaze fell upon her again, this time she was without a guard. For a few moments.
Illya, having been snapped out of her trance when Archer was punted across the roof, raced towards her mother as fast as she could.
"Ruby!" Illya cried out as she skidded to a halt between Berserker and her mother "Shield!"
"Right!" Ruby replied, a thin transparent barrier was put up between herself and Berserker, the second his fist impacted it the barrier cracked. The Servant pulled his fist back to strike the barrier again when both Rin and Luvia bombarded the servant with a dozen gems. The explosions did nothing to the Servant save pull his attention away from Illya and Irisviel.
"This isn't magic resistance!" Miyu shouted out in a panic "It's something higher tier!"
"The Mana blasts aren't even reaching him." Sapphire called out "We cannot hope to damage this Servant with conventional means, furthermore he seems to regenerate from near fatal wounds."
"That wasn't 'Near fatal'!" Archer shouted out, Berserker turned to the servant only to catch a boot to the face, the force caused him to stumble backwards while Archer flipped and landed on his feet "He died when I pierced his heart, then came back to life."
"That must mean-!" Rin's eyes went wide as the statement took effect.
"His Noble phantasm is one which covers his body." Archer scowled "It protects him from any Noble Phantasm of C rank and below as well as Magical attacks of a similar nature."
Berserker spun around and dashed towards Archer again, Archer once again began to dodge his blows. Projecting Durandal for a second time he went for a slash at Berserker side, only for the sword to skate of his skin in a similar fashion to his twin swords. Archer widened his eyes and leapt away as Berserker brought his fist down on the spot Archer had been.
"This gets worse." Archer cursed "He has resistance against the weapon which previously killed him."
"That Servant is ridiculous!" Rin gripped her hair in irritation "Super strength, resurrection and resistance!"
"There's likely a limit to his ability." Luvia mused as she studied the Servant still attempting to land a solid hit on Archer "He can probably only revive a certain number of times."
"Yeah." Rin scoffed "Killing him that certain number of times is the real issue."
"I'm afraid we'll be of little use." Irisviel interjected as she joined the two girls "We'll have to rely on Archer."
Archer brought the twin sword up again as he blocked the fist aimed at his chest, the ground beneath his feet cracked slightly, he pushed the fist to the side and rolled under another swipe aimed at clotheslining him.
Miyu pulled out the Lancer card and held it up to sapphire "Lancer: Include!", the mystic code changed form into the cursed spear of Chulainn. Miyu instantly raced forwards, she and Archer briefly exchanged a passing glance as Miyu closed in on the Servant.
Berserker spun around, sensing the imminent threat and caught sight of Miyu rushing towards him, he swung the back of his hand at the girl, Miyu slid underneath the arm as his barely grazed the top of her head.
"Gae Bolg!" She shouted as she thrust the spear forwards, guiding itself towards its target, the spear bent in an unnatural fashion as it aimed for the heart. The lance burst through Berserker's chest and out of the other side. Having seen what had occurred previously Miyu ripped the Lance from the Servant and darted away as Berserker once again slouched over.
She came to a stop next to Illya and Archer, both of whom were focused on the Servant in front of them. Once again, the wound seemed to steam over and heal itself as Berserker's eyes flashed and the Servant got back to his feet and released another roar of anger.
"This is getting troublesome." Archer remarked, the cast a swift glance at the spear in Miyu's hand "That won't do you any good anymore, he'll be resistant to it now."
"What about the Saber card?" Illya interjected, Archer gave her an incredulous look.
"You want to set off an Anti-Fortress Noble Phantasm in a confined space?" He raised a lone eyebrow, when Illya wilted he huffed "Thought not."
He turned back to Berserker and frowned "Either way, this Servant is a considerable challenge to you, and you both lack the ability to take it out. Focus on protecting Irisviel and the others. I'll handle Berserker."
"But-"
"Go!" He shouted at her "You want to be a Hero of Justice? Go protect those who need it!" without waiting for a reply he sprinted at Berserker. At full speed.
For Miyu and Illya, one moment Archer was next to them, the next he was in front of Berserker, a large two handed sword in his hand.
Berserker leant backwards, ducking under a blow aimed to take of his head, rolling into a hand stand Berserker spun around several times launching a number of kicks at Archer. He blocked several of them, the fourth however caught him under the chin and knocked him upwards into the barrier.
Archer released a gasp as his back made contact with the mirror world barrier. Berserker flipped back onto his feet and leapt up at Archer, said Servant kicked off the barrier and back onto the roof with Berserker impacting the spot where he last was. The mad Servant was quick to follow.
Archer however had dismissed Balmung and traced his bow. He jumped away as Berserker crashed down on top of him. He projected an 'arrow' in his hand and notched it into the bow and took aim while in the air.
Berserker had barely gotten his head back up and focus on Archer when he loosened his 'arrow'.
"Hrunting!" The projectile shot off at unavoidable speeds and punched a hole the size of a melon straight through Berserkers chest. The Servant barely had a moment to realise his own death before he keeled over onto the ground.
Archer, however, realised that this situation was getting more and more precarious the long it went on. He was running out of Noble Phantasms he could easily replicate with the time constraints which wouldn't kill everyone else along with Berserker. Worse was that projecting them outside of his Reality Marble was far more difficult and costly, mana wasn't a serious concern with the amount of power which he was drawing from his contract with Illya, but that didn't mean that the time or burden it took on him wasn't still there.
However, it also meant that eventually he would be forced use his Reality Marble on Berserker. That wasn't something he particularly wanted to use, however it would likely end up being necessary for him.
From an outside perspective, the battle between Archer and Berserker had only lasted for a few seconds and in that time the pair had virtually blinked in and out of view until Archer had fired his arrow and put a hole through Berserker's chest.
"Whoah…" Illya gasped at the display of her Servant, Ruby in her hand shifted.
"He lacks the elegance of a Magical Girl." She huffed before sighing "Although I will admit, he is rather talented."
"Projecting Noble Phantasms like that." Rin shook her head "It really shouldn't be that hard to find out who he was, how many heroes in History could posses so many legendary weapons?"
"Does it really matter?" Irisviel asked "He's here to help, that's what's important."
"I suppose."
Archer dodged another swipe to his head, he scowled. Berserker was starting to get closer and closer to hitting him. The seemingly endless stamina to the mad servant was a serious obstacle to Archer. If this continued on it would likely end up as a war of attrition Archer would lose. At this range he would likely be unable to fully manifest his Reality Marble without Berserker getting a hold of him first.
Loathe as he was to admit it, he needed help. A distraction would be more accurate.
Miyu was watching from the sidelines with a frown on her face, Archer was clearly running out of options fast. He needed help from someone, from her. To her left she saw Illya reaching a similar conclusion.
They both had something in common whether they realised it or not.
She withdrew the card from its holster, however she didn't immediately include it into Sapphire.
Archer was in danger, possible future version or not he was still her brother in some form. What he needed right now was help.
From the pair of them.
Miyu threw the Saber card to the ground and placed Sapphire over it.
"Miyu-sama?" Sapphire called out in confusion, completely unaware of what Miyu intended. Illya was also staring at her in a rapt attention.
"I hereby propose." Miyu chanted "Thy body shall become mine, and thy sword shall be mine to wield…"
Irisviel had placed hypnosis on Shirou when he had awoken for him to return to his sleep. She had done that to avoid causing him any concern and to allow both herself and Illya to sneak out of the house.
It was an act done with the best of intentions and in complete ignorance of Shirou's current predicament.
Therefore she could be forgiven for not knowing that what she did was perhaps the cruellest thing possible.
Trapping him in his dreams, in a slumber he wouldn't awake from for hours.
In his mind Shirou raged, begged and pleaded to whoever was listening to let him out of his nightmare.
The shadow was always there. In every corner of the dream, watching him.
"Senpai." The Purple haired girl smiles, it's pure and full of kindness.
Make it stop!
"Senpai." The White haired girl smiles, its sadistic and full of cruelty.
Make it stop! Make it stop!
"If you compare how Caster takes magical energy from citizens as drawing blood. Then what that thing is doing, is the very act of eating."
The shadow strikes, she's gone.
Saber? Saber? Saber? Saber?
Who is Saber?
"Just think of them as living magical circuits. A Crest Worm, once it sinks their teeth in, infiltrates every last inch of your body and voraciously devours your spirit."
Make it stop! Make it stop! Make it stop!
"If you want to protect someone dear to you, I'll be on your side."
Illya?
He stands there, the blade resting just against his shoulder "Not even worth a thought. If I do nothing then there will be two bodies to bury." the blade slashes down.
I step onto the ground, there's about thirty meters distance between myself and the black giant.
He'll clear it in three seconds.
Therefore, the outcome of this battle will be decided in the next three seconds.
I know the scope of my power.
Projection using concept of creation, basic structure, composition, production technique, growth experience and accumulated years.
"Trace. On."
"Trigger. Off."
"Set. Nine Lives Blade Works."
He closes the Distance, the girl is on her back.
I raise the blade. It will be over in one strike.
"Ah, Shirou?"
I bring the blade down, there's no resistance.
Saber? Who was she again, there are memories. I can't remember.
Ah. I killed someone else for her? Didn't I? This is what it means to ally with someone, isn't it? I'll keep sacrificing important things for the one I care about.
No, who was this? He's not me! I'm me! I'm me! I'm him! Who am I again?
"It's the eighth class for the Holy Grail War. Avenger. The main body of the shadow fused with Sakura. Angra Mainyu"
What? Grail War? Sakura… she was important wasn't she? Who am I again?
"That is my goal, Emiya Shirou. I am the opposite extreme from you, as you have no wish for yourself. Our desires are of the same nature."
This man, who is he? I can't comprehend him, his wish is alien and horrifying beyond measure...but...
I can't say I hate him…
"Shirou. Do you want to live, regardless of what form you'll take?"
Who is this? She looks familiar…
I̴̧͇̫̙̫̻͗̋̋̀ļ̴̪̱͎̞̑͑̊͘͝ľ̷̨͓̱̇y̶͕͌̂̿̍̓̓͠ă̴̖̺̯̠͕̹̄͒̋̋
Who was this again?
"Do you want to live?"
Something is wrong… she'll trade me for her.
No...I can't remember her but I don't want that.
Its I̴̧͇̫̙̫̻͗̋̋̀ļ̴̪̱͎̞̑͑̊͘͝ľ̷̨͓̱̇y̶͕͌̂̿̍̓̓͠ă̴̖̺̯̠͕̹̄͒̋̋. My little(Older) sister.
Who was it again?
The Girl steps away from me (Him) "I will show you a miracle. This one will be amazing… after all. What you're going to witness will be a true magic."
I don't care. Come back.
I̴̧͇̫̙̫̻͗̋̋̀ļ̴̪̱͎̞̑͑̊͘͝ľ̷̨͓̱̇y̶͕͌̂̿̍̓̓͠ă̴̖̺̯̠͕̹̄͒̋̋
Her name! I know her name! Why did you (I) forget it? I know her name.
What was it again?
I̴̧͇̫̙̫̻͗̋̋̀ļ̴̪̱͎̞̑͑̊͘͝ľ̷̨͓̱̇y̶͕͌̂̿̍̓̓͠ă̴̖̺̯̠͕̹̄͒̋̋
I̴̧͇̫̙̫̻͗̋̋̀ļ̴̪̱͎̞̑͑̊͘͝ľ̷̨͓̱̇y̶͕͌̂̿̍̓̓͠a
I̴̧͇̫̙̫̻͗̋̋̀ļ̴̪̱͎̞̑͑̊͘͝ľ̷̨͓̱̇ya
"You said an older brother protects his little sister, right?"
Don't go! Don't leave him (me)!
"Yes. I'm your big (little) sister. So I have to protect my little (big) brother."
I̴̧͇̫̙̫͗̋̋̀llya
Illya.
Illya!
Illya!
ILLYA!
Make it stop…
Who was I again?
Why is it so lonely here…
Atop this Hill of Blades…
Why does it feel like home…
Help me…please…
Archer was continually dodging Berserker's strikes. This was seriously getting dangerous now, the entire space he was in was too confined for his liking.
What he really needed was-
"Hah!" He was cut off by a battle cry, he turned just in time to see Miyu rocket towards Berserker. The mad servant turned just in time for Excalibur to slice through his side. The mad giant howled in pain and took a strike at the girl.
Even in his madness, the servant expressed shock as to why the girl was not immediately blown away by the strike. Archer was in a similar state of surprise as he beheld Miyu.
The girl was clad in a similar armour to Saber. Not the degraded copy, the original. Berserker's fist was stopped by the flat end of the blade. Miyu used the Servants surprised to knock the fist to the side, when the Servant took a swipe at her again Miyu ducked under the blow and slashed upwards.
"!" Berserker released a howl of pain and rage as his forearm was severed from his body and dropped to the ground. Miyu instantly capitalised on the Servants pain by thrusting Excalibur underneath the Servants rib and slicing across his chest. The servant reeled back in pain before collapsing onto the ground.
Archer blinked at the sudden, and rather violent, execution of the Servant then turned to stare at Miyu.
"I see you figured out how to use the cards properly." Archer remarked, Miyu simply nodded her head at him as they both turned their attention to the giant Servant. His eyes lit up and the wounds began to right themselves as he returned to his feet.
To his left he saw something enter his peripheral vision, he turned and widened his eyes slightly. Illya was using the Archer card again.
"Master?" He asked out, he needed to know if she was capable of speech this time. Or she as a simple machine.
"Archer!" She replied, then smiled at him "We match!"
Archer sighed "Yes Master, we match."
Before them, Berserker returned to his feet. A heated glare levelled at the individuals in front of him "!" he released an ear shattering roar as he raised his hands above his head.
And brought them down.
The roof beneath their feet caved instantly as they fell one floor down, Archer was able to use his superior mobility to control his descent. Miyu and Illya were of a similar situation by being able to do just that.
The real concern, was Rin, Luvia and Irisviel who didn't have the durability of a Servant. As the roof caved in under their feet both Rin and Luvia reinforced themselves to take the brunt of the impact as the feel, unceremoniously, to the floor below them. They landed in a rather awkward pose with Rin and Luvia tangled up with eachother.
"Get off me!" Luvia shouted, as she tried to push Rin off her "You savage!"
"That's my line you tramp!" Rin replied as she pushed Luvia as well.
"That's no good." Irisviel muttered as she floated down, the wire eagle she had constructed slowing her descent so she gently touched own upon the ground "You're both young girls, shouldn't you present yourselves in a mature manner?"
Rin and Luvia grumbled as they climbed back to their feet, looking back over to where Archer, Miyu and Illya were still battling Berserker.
The giant roared as it missed another punch aimed at Archer, however it quickly span around and kicked Miyu's guard. The girl was blown off her feet and through a pillar before she crashed into a wall and released a bloodied cough.
"Miyu!" Illya cried out in alarm before she also found herself dodging punches aimed at her head. She held the married swords in front of her in a hastily constructed guard when another fist slammed into it. She had seen Archer do it, she had his card, how hard could it be?
Evidently it was very hard. Despite having superior durability granted to her by the card she was still no match for Berserker in terms of physical strength or even near Archer. She was able to block the blow and use the momentum to kick away, however the punch itself shattered the swords in her hand.
Clearly her swords weren't as good as Archers.
Berserker had little time to pursue her however, as Kanshou and Bakuya slammed into the back of his head.
"I Am The Bone Of My Sword"
Archer recited the first line of his Aria as a second pair of Kanshou and Bakuya manifested themselves in his hands, "Spirit and technique, flawless and firm" he intoned as the servant turned his attention back to Archer. Berserker was quick to charge him as Archer threw this pair as well "Our strength rips the mountains."
What Berserker didn't notice, was that neither of the two pairs of had actually hit the ground, in complete ignorance of reality, the swords were suspended in the air whilst continually spinning around eachother.
Archer manifested another pair of Kanshou and Bakuya as he charged the Servant, this time his held the pair behind his back "Our swords split the water." the swords behind him were reinforced and altered well beyond their safety limits.
The once pristine blades became elongated and brittle, any serious strike and they would shatter. Fortunate then, that was the intention behind the blades. "Our names reach the Imperial villa." Archer leapt above Berserker, the fist aimed at his chest completely missed as the Servant pulled the blades from out from behind his back.
In the limited lighting of the room, Archer was illuminated like an oncoming angel of death "The two of us cannot hold the heavens." the four blades which had been circling above Berserker suddenly fell upon him as Archer descended.
"Triple link Crane Wing!" He shouted out as the blades fell, the reinforced Kanshou and Bakuya sliced through Berserker's chest before exploding, the shards completely ripped the servant apart into a form which could hardly be described.
Archer leapt away from the smoke kicked up by the explosion, he was no fool though, Berserker was likely to revive from that.
"Steel Is My Body And Fire Is My Blood"
His suspicion was proven correct as mere moments later Berserker came charging out of the smoke in a blind rage to do everything in his power to get a hold of Archer. Wild swings and kicks were directed at him. It was the technique of a crazed beast mixed with a certain level of hand to hand combat training.
It wasn't impossible to overcome, yet it was completely ignoring Archers preferred style of combat. To leave open certain holes to lure in his opponents. Berserker was having none of it and was just making wild jabs and kicks wherever he could. He leapt away as Berserker performed an Axe kick and shattered the ground beneath his feet.
"I Have Created Over A Thousand Blades"
Illya felt strange hearing those words, she'd heard them before. However this time there was a warm sensation flooding her body, the Archer card inside her was reacting to whatever spell Archer was doing this time.
Irisviel frowned however, that was a long Aria, yet there was no visible impact on the World. A spell with aria like that should have made an impact by now, yet Archer was continuing on with parrying Berserker strikes.
"Illya-chan!" She heard Ruby call out, this time it was in shock.
"Ruby?" She replied "What's wrong?"
"Archer is draining mana from you at an alarming rate!" She shouted "I don't know what he's doing but it's big, if you didn't have me you'd probably collapse from exhaustion… feel free to praise my grandeur." Illya sweat dropped, even in this situation Ruby wanted to get one up on Archer.
"Unknown To Death, Nor Known To Life"
Archer threw Kanshou into the undamaged roof above Berserker, the debris collapsed on the giant kicking up a cloud of dust which obscured both him and Berserker from the view of those around him.
Illya looked at the cloud in a panic, she couldn't hear anything from the cloud. Not of Berserker nor of Archer. Near her, though she didn't notice, Miyu was also in a similar state of panic at the loss of vision on Archer.
The cloud of dust began to die down to reveal Berserker, stood unaffected by the debris which had fallen on his head. However, rather than charge the girls or the Magi, he remained stationary. His eyes scanning the area for any sign of Archer, though none could see him.
To everyone, the question in their minds was where Archer had gone.
The answer was soon revealed, through the large hole in the roof, rays of moonlight filtered through the smoke and debris and illuminated the room. Gradually the lunar rays revealed the form of Archer, undamaged, but otherwise completely passive.
Crouched on one knee with his right hand over his chest and completely ignoring Berserker's existence.
"Have Withstood Pain To Create Many Weapons"
Berserker whirled on Archer, and released a roar before sprinting towards the Servant.
"Archer!" Illya cried out in alarm as the Servant made no attempt to avoid the oncoming hulk of muscle which promised nothing but death for any it got a hold of.
"Yet Those Hands Will Never Hold Anything."
At this point Illya could feel the Archer card in her chest pulsating rapidly, it was crying out in nostalgia, anger and regret. However, Archer himself still made no move to avoid the Servant which was now mere feet from him.
"So, As I Pray…"
The Giants hands were about to grip Archers head, Illya and Miyu were rushing in a vain attempt to save Archers life. She knew she wouldn't make it in time. They both did. Yet Archer made no effort to prevent his seemingly inevitable death.
"Unlimited Blade Works!"
Then there was Fire.
Illya opened her eyes.
This place… it was warm, there was light from a Sun which wasn't real. Or rather, there was light from a non-existent sun.
She looked around.
Swords. Swords. Swords.
Everywhere she looked were swords. An infinite number of them which extended into the horizon without end.
"This place!" Ruby shouted out "This is!"
"A...Reality Marble…" She heard mama gasp out in shock, she turned to see Rin and Luvia had gone pale as they stared at the vast land which lay before them. The unlimited blades all of which were planted in the ground.
Unlimited blade works.
"What's a reality marble?" She asked Ruby, the immaterial stick was silent for a few moments. Still caught off guard by the manifestation of this place.
There was a brief light as the Archer card was forced out of Illya's chest and Ruby returned to her original form, the card fell to the ground before Illya crouched and picked it back up. Ruby was floating around, to her left Miyu had similarly been disarmed of her class card.
Cranking turned their gazes upwards. In the sky were monolithic gears which hung in complete defiance of gravity. There were no words which escaped Illyas mouth as she beheld this place.
She'd seen it in her dreams with her brother. Just flashes at the end of each one, this dream with a man standing alone atop a hill of blades.
"A Reality Marble is the manifestation of ones inner world." Illya turned to Sapphire, who was floating around a blade in the ground "A taboo magic which creates a physical version of a persons inner soul."
"Then…" Illya paused as she looked around the world they stretched around them "Then this is Archer's soul?"
'It looks so lonely' She thought as she stared at the swords which surrounded her.
"!" The group was silenced by Berserkers roar, they turned to the direction it originated to see the behemoth being stared down by Archer as he stood atop a hill of blades.
"I did not lie Master." His voice cut out across the field "I own neither a Holy Sword nor a Demonic one. However, it a Noble Phantasm is the symbol of a Heroic Spirit...then this World is all I have to show for my life." His words sounded bitter, tinged will barely concealed regret.
"You are in a world of Unlimited Blades, Berserker." He called down at the Giant Servant "This world contains every blade I have ever seen and shall ever need." he raised his hand above his head "Throw away your fears and come at me!"
"!" The Servant instantly kicked off, speed which had no right to be used by a being of that size, cleared the distance between Archer and himself in a few seconds. However, that worked only against him.
"Trace. On." Archer spoke as the Servant closed in on him, in the hand he held above his head, his circuits hummed as a sword formed above his head.
No. To call it a sword would have been generous. It was a sharpened slab with a handle. Yet Archer held up the impossibly heavy weapon with one hand as Berserker charged him down, not a single emotion was evident to say that Archer thought he as in any danger at all.
Archer met Berserker head on, in a split second, he was in front of the giant Servant with the stone axe-sword in his hand "Nine Lives!" He cried out, The axe-blade swung through the air at impossible speeds. The mad servant, completely unprepared, charged straight into the deadly attack as he helpless to avoid Archer. In an instant Berserker was struck nine times. His body was obliterated with the rapid strikes which severed his arm, collarbone and his head from his body.
Yet it was still not over, Berserker began to steam and thrum back to life. Archer smirked "Should have figured you'd get back up after that." he chuckled "Good thing you're weak, otherwise I might be in serious trouble here."
Berserker's body began to regenerate itself as the giant returned his focus to Archer, his eyes shining with rage. The mad giant thrashed around and instantly closed the distance between the two and returned to throwing wild strikes in a desperate attempt to hit Archer.
Illya was distracted by rattling around her, the swords were beginning to move. Slowly they began to shuffle in the ground where they had been implanted.
"What is-?" Her question was answered moments later when hundreds of swords suddenly freed themselves from the ground and took to the sky.
"You can't have too many lives left to spare, can you Berserker?" Archer questioned between dodges "I suspect you're at about the limit of your ability."
He leapt away from the mad Servant as the rain of blades fell upon him, very few doing much in the way of actual damage, however several penetrated the Berserk servant and turned him into a veritable pin cushion. However, the Servant showed no signs of caring as he continued to charge towards Archer, despite being on the verge of yet another death.
Archer held his hands out in front of him, a final sword began to manifest itself in his hands.
Beautiful. Were the words Illya thought when she saw it. The weapon was a straight sword, it looked far more ornamental than practical, yet that didn't take away from it in the least.
As Berserker rushed Archer, he held the sword in front of him, the tip pointing towards the oncoming Servant.
Archer remained focused as Berserker closed in on him. The moment that the two were feet apart Archer thrust the blade forwards and through the Servants chest. Berserker ground to a halt, yet this time showed no signs of dying as his hands came above his head to slam into Archer.
Archer however, showed no signs of panic. He had already won the moment he penetrated Berserkers chest.
"Sword of selection, grant Me power! Cleave the wicked!" He shouted as the Noble Phantasm in Berserkers chest began to glow "Caliburn!" the burst of light immediately engulfed the Servant and vaporised the top half of his body.
This time however, the Servant showed no signs of regenerating his wounds. His lower half collapsed to the ground and began to dissipate into particles of light, the only trace it ever existed at all was the small card which now displayed the words 'BERSERKER' on it.
Archer reached forward and picked up the Card, he turned to his captive audience as they stared at him with various levels of shock.
Or in Irisviels case, a deep seated sadness as she was still fixated on his reality marble. With a single command the world was engulfed in white and vanished. Returning the group to the mirror world, already beginning to collapse due to the Servant being removed from it.
The return was rather jarring for the group as they looked around to confirm where they are.
"W-what was-" Rin stuttered out before Archer cut her off with a single word.
"Catch." He said as he tossed the class card over to her, Rin immediately dove to grab the card before it hit the floor. He turned to Miyu and Illya and remained silent for a few moments.
"We'd best be on our way, Master." He said. Illya nodded and turned to Ruby. Who was not focusing directly on Archer.
"Ruby?" Illya asked "Are we gonna head back now?" she sounded nervous as the mirror world began to collapse around them.
"Right." Ruby replied, far more serious than Illya had ever heard her before. The pair transformed and Illya began to activate the spell to return the group back to the building they were in. Now undamaged.
"I'd say we're done now." Archer spoke then turned to Rin "You've collected all your cards, and the mission is over. Now th-"
"Who are you?" He was cut off by Ruby, he turned to the stick to see it floating mere inches from his face. All jovial nature gone from her voice "Really, who are you?"
"I told you already. I-"
"Liar." Ruby cut him off "A Reality Marble is something that very few Magi even attempt to study, let alone succeed in creating. If there was such a hero who could create that, then he wouldn't be some nameless one."
"You seem sure of that."
"Archer…" He turned to see Irisviel staring at him with… was that pity?
"Yes." He frowned at her expression.
"That world… was your soul, wasn't it?" She sounded hesitant "That was you as a person."
Archer sighed "I did say I wasn't a good person." then turned away "Regardless, our objective here is finished. The class cards have been collected and my presence here is no longer required." he turned to Illya, the girl fidgeting under his gaze "Master, it is time w-"
"Tomorrow…" Illya's voice was barely above a whisper "C-can you leave tomorrow? Just stay with me for tonight… please." she raised her head and looked him in the eye.
Archer kept her gaze before he clicked his tongue and turned away "You really are quite troublesome, aren't you?" he chuckled "I suppose I can remain with you for tonight, Master. Then we gave give our proper goodbyes."
"Oh?" He turned to see Irisviel smirking at him "Are you perhaps… a tsundere Archer?" he immediate went passive, then reverted to spirit form.
Irisviel giggled as he avoided her question. Rin then turned to her, also chuckling "One question. With Archer like that, how do you intend to get off the roof when we get back up there?"
Irisviel froze, her smile fixed in place as she realised Archer had stranded her "Archer, I was kidding! It was just a joke! Archer!"
Irisviel pouted as she trudged behind the group. Archer had left her on that building for several minutes while the others had flown down.
"Ruby was right." Irisviel muttered "You are the devil."
Archer chuckled as the woman did her best to slap his arm "I warned you I wasn't a good person."
They remained in silnce as the group continued their walk back to their respective homes.
"Archer…" Irisviel began "That Reality Marble…"
"Yes?"
"That's where you ended up in life, isn't it?" She didn't look at him, whereas before she had seen just a snarky man similar to Kiritsugu now she saw the truth.
He was broken. That reality Marble was all Archer had. That lonely Hill and a cursed poem about his life. It was a tragic thing to look at, Illya and Miyu didn't realise the full extent to what Archer had just done.
He had revealed who he was as a person to them.
And it was a tragically lonely man.
"...I suppose you could say that." Archer replied "What you saw was my world. That is the only thing I own… and its filled with fakes."
"...Who are you? Really?" Irisviel turned to him "Ruby was right, a hero like you would be famous, yet no one has ever heard of you. You possess all these Noble Phantasms yet you said you needed to see them first. Who are you, really?"
"An answer would not do you any good." Archer replied "Perhaps I misspoke when I said I didn't remember my identity. However I have long since thrown away my name."
"Why?" Irisviel asked him, her expression becoming more and more heartbroken, although she couldn't quite understand why his words hurt her so much.
"…" Archer didn't answer her, instead he had his brows furrowed as he came to a stop. Irisviel paused as well, then turned to see they had come to a stop in front of their house. While that wasn't too surprising, what was rather out of the ordinary was the person waiting for them.
Kiritsugu stood just outside the house, staring at them. To everyone else it would have been easy to guess he was feeling irritation judging by his furrowed brows, narrowed eyes, and tapping foot.
Irisviel however, recognised the expression.
Panic.
"Kiri?" Irisviel stepped forward and asked, her own voice tinged with concern "What's wrong?"
"It's Shirou." Kiritsugu began "Something's happened to him."
AN: OH… oh dear me.
Well, whereas before Shirou would awaken before the nightmare became too extensive, Irisviels hypnosis trapped him in it. Sucks to be Shirou.
But some of you will be asking, how come Chloe didn't manifest this time? Well, normally its because it is her exerting her own will over Illya and using the card to do it. This time, Illya used the card of her own choice, meaning Chloe had no opening to take control and separate herself.
That's the explanation I'm going with anyway.
But yeah. UBW. Whoohoo!
I like to thing I did the fight fairly well, Archer wasn't too outmatched but it wasn't exactly a curb stomp either.
Yes, I realise Berserker only had 7 lives here. That's because he was downgraded.
But yeah. We're moving onto to the second Arc after this. How will Archer find an excuse to stay around?
Pain.
That's how.
Edit: Seems I fell into an unfortunate trap when it comes to reality Marbles. My bad.
