Aaaaaand I'm back with chapter 2! yes, by now I should know that when I say 'in a week' or something like that something will ALWAYS happen that will lengthen the time. it's just my luck. why do i care? ahem, for those of you who haven't re-read chapter 1 after the correction, go back and do it, as I changed a few things.

To say that Miyu had been assaulted and overwhelmed by excessive maternal concern was the understatement of the century. well, not really. After Shizuku's death I had been entrusted to her acquaintances, who had also died last year; so in the end my legal guardian officially became Yagi Toshinori, who unknown to most of the rest of the world is All Might. The peace symbol had taken this rather seriously, although when I had asked him it was mainly as a matter of practicality, since I work for him and there would be fewer problems if I were 'entrusted' to his care, so no one would ask questions or nag me while I was working for the peace symbol. So, yes, Toshinori looks like a worried mom when he's not fighting crime and doing his peace icon things.

It is quite hilarious to see him in his chubby form asking questions about my health, whether I was eating regular meals properly and so on.

"I understand. Don't worry, I will immediately contact some of my acquaintances and they will resolve the issue of the adoption in no time" so, the first thing I did the next morning after explaining to 'All Might' what had happened, asking for his help with this, after 'Toshinori' had informed him of Miyu's situation.

Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on how you look at it, the blond idiot had rushed over as soon as he received the emergency signal signaling the activation of the defense system. I suppose being a minor under his care has that effect? Anyway, in order to keep up appearances and prevent Miyu from discovering his secret identity, Toshinori had left for work the next morning, while hero No. 1 had shown up some time later, informed of the situation by phone, and had come to check it out.

We had said well or badly what had happened to Miyu, skipping some parts or altering it, although the girl was rather reticent to talk about her past. We did not say that she came from another dimension, but that she lived in an isolated house in the mountains because her guardian wanted to keep her away from some fanatical cultists, for reasons she did not fully understand. Sadly, in addition to not knowing where her home was initially, she also did not know where she was being kept segregated until her brother came to rescue her, since she had been kidnapped and taken away with a teleportation 'quirk'. Jarvis had heard a distortion open in Musutafu, and since I was curious, I had gone to check on her and found her unconscious in the snow. I brought her in and offered her shelter for the evening while I thought about what to do with her. Needless to say, the treatment the 13-year-old girl received there was far from stellar, and she was met with extreme concern by the 'two' adults once things were explained the night before.

I had been admonished rather harshly for my reckless curiosity both times, but All Might had complimented me and my 'heroic act' at the end with a smile that almost blinded me. The sincerity and relief emanating from the symbol of peace, along with his pure charisma, had made both Miyu and me seriously feel bad for lying to him, but it was necessary.

"Thank you very much for your helpfulness" Miyu said, bowing her head slightly, honestly grateful for the kindness of the No. 1 hero.

[I am deeply grateful for his help] agrees Sapphire, taking a bow in her own way as she floated beside her new mistress.

Justifying the mystic code had paradoxically been a piece of cake. I had simply said it was a new invention of mine, which I had inadvertently activated and it had crashed into a window, setting off the security systems. I had built much crazier things than an AI-equipped drone, so in addition to being scolded, among various other things, for my carelessness, he simply waved at the kaleidostick as if it were the most normal thing in the world. The two girls from other worlds were equally bewildered and skeptical that this kind of incident was the norm with me.

"Well, as delicious as the tea and the much appreciated break, I still have a lot of work to do" All Might says a little more seriously, getting up "Shonen, take a week off to help Miyu-shojo settle in, I'll talk to the boys at the tower. For the adoption, I make a call on the way. If all goes well, my lawyers should have finished all the paperwork by this afternoon."

Out of the corner of my eye, I see Miyu's muscles relax for the first time since she entered my house. I assume it hasn't happened before because she was skeptical of the matter. Then again, even I would be very paranoid if I find myself in the house of a stranger who says he wants to help me, right at the moment when I am at my weakest and most vulnerable. Glancing at the girl I could see the hint of a smile and her shoulders relax slightly.

"Thanks, All Might" I say simply, rather happy that he believed both me and the story we told him.

Nothing we said was a lie, but it wasn't the whole truth either. Did it still count as lying? I think it depends a lot on how people take it…

"Don't thank me for something like that. You've probably helped me more than you think, and to be honest, not being able to repay you at least a little bit was starting to get a little frustrating" Toshinori admits, scratching hishead a bit, his ever-present smile a little tighter "Take the week off, anyway, and help Miyu-shojo settle in"

I nod, saying no more. We've had this conversation hundreds of times before, and if we continue now we'll probably go on for hours.

Miyu was torn apart. Not so much physically as mentally. Well, maybe even a little physically, but that wasn't the point. Shopping with her new...brother? Guardian? Shopping with Jack had been exhausting. She had spent literally five hours changing between whole dresses, T-shirts and sweaters, skirts, jeans, winter jackets, hats, gloves, scarves, shoes, pajamas, panties and bras of every shape, pattern and color. He kept letting her try on sets of clothes nonstop, and at one point she began to fear that he might purchase all the clothes in the store, since every time she wore a new piece of clothing, saleswomen/mothers/sisters of someone's eldest would come to give advice on further pairings or outfits for her to try on, since to all the people there she was a 'natural beauty' no matter what she wore.

The agonizing shopping spree had been interrupted by Yagi-san, who had joined them with the papers for her legal guardianship. The lanky man had been rather surprised that he was so 'enthusiastic' (even though he had seemed focused, or at least calm, to her the whole time?) about anything other than engineering, his hobbies, or the study of quirks. They quickly finished the last parts of the process, as only some photos and a couple of signatures were needed to finalize everything before enrolling her in school. The grueling day was over with them dining out at a family restaurant to celebrate her arrival.

The candied warmth of that first 'family' dinner was the best feeling she had felt in a while, despite how awkward the two males who had found her were (Even if apparently it would have been only her and Jack at home, since Yagi-san travels almost all the time for work, as he is All Might's personal assistant, so he would come to check on him from time to time, or in the rare case Jack asked for a hand with was more likely that they met at work rather than out). The last time she heard anything like this was when her brother taught her how to cook. Or when she played ball with him for the first time. Sapphire called it 'joy' and maybe it really was. With that candied tempore, she went to sleep peacefully, looking forward to the next day. There was no school on Saturday, she should have waited for Monday, but that was fine. Technology, and science in general it seems, was much more advanced than that of her world and in her new home there is a vast library full of books, collections of notes, theories, old studies and a lot of other things that she doesn't see herself reading, which Jack had been working on over the years. Having come across as a recluse, willy-nilly she was, reading had become her biggest pastime besides cooking, and she was very hungry for knowledge. He had over two centuries of data and studies on genetic evolutions called 'quirks' to retrieve and he couldn't wait to get started. Other than the embarrassment that would surely come the next day at the hands of her new legal guardian, who had asked Jarvis to take pictures of the two of them interacting and studying together to send him, there was nothing that could upset her in that moment .

Except for the fact that Sapphire warned her of the first problems to come.

She gets up with a grimace from the most comfortable bed she had ever leaned on, looking at her new partner.

"All right. Let's go" she says, getting up and undoing the buttons on her black-spotted white cat panda pajamas, folding them up and laying them on the bed.

[I notice Jack-sama while he gets ready.]

"No."

[Miyu-sama?]

"...facing this situation was my choice. I don't want to endanger him because of this" announces the new magical girl, approaching the closet dressed only in panties.

[But-]

The door suddenly opens.

"Miyu a class card has appeared, we have to go to-"

Everything in the room stops as the boy's eyes lock on her.

Miyu feels her face burn and quickly covers herself with her arms. It was the first time a boy had ever seen her naked! Not even her brother had ever seen her like that!

"Sorry. I should have knocked" he says stiffly, turning away from looking at her.

[Yes, you should have] flat Sapphire admonishes him [However Jack-sama, did you say a class card appeared? Is the technology of this world so advanced as to detect magic?]

Miyu quickly recovers and dresses, still mortified by the embarrassing situation. She hopes it will not become commonplace. However, Sapphire's question had a point. Was magic in the public domain and could it be traced?

"Nah, I'm the one who is just awesome" he replies, as if it were the most ordinary thing in the world.

[...I really don't know whether to take his word for it, or if it's his ego speaking] comments the flying wand uncertainly.

This was a problem. If he can detect the class cards, then she doesn't have a way to keep him out of fights, and she can't even sneak out, because Jarvis constantly monitors the house and can warn Jack if she tries to leave.

She was really torn between being excited about studying something like this or frustrated that she couldn't stop her new brother from fighting, and it was really vexing her.

Honestly, when I sensed something distort the space quite violently, I almost jumped out of my lab chair. The distortion was rather strong, although it was not at the level of yesterday's disturbance, so I was, again, worried that other supernatural beings had felt it. How long did we have before someone caught up to that point? Had Ruby found her partner or would I have to fight a servant? Even with my meager and almost nonexistent magical ability I could feel the slowness with which Miyu was regaining her magical power, which was worrisome, as it indicated excessive tension in her circuits.

Ergo, she was in no condition to fight tonight.

So I decided to use my greatest work in advance: GNY-001 Gundam Astrea. A prototype multi-purpose mobile suit for general combat, based on the exoskeleton and systems of the O-Gundam, the first model of the second generation. Of course, there are differences besides the fact that instead of a robot it is an armor, but I think the biggest and most embarrassing of all is by far the lack of a GN-Drive.

Yes, I have not been able to recreate the main means of powering the Gundams...

Not for lack of trying, mind you! There is simply no element on earth in nature that can withstand the pressure and stress caused by the furnace to function! I have tried thousands of combinations in recent years, but nothing.

This is not to say that I haven't found a method to replicate GN particles though. Aeolia Schenberg really lived in this world when the first generation of quirks was beginning to appear, and he was an Electrical and Mechanical Engineer as well as a brilliant quantum physicist. Thanks to his incredible intellect he had made various theories and designs that could potentially solve the global fuel crisis of those years; he had prepared early drafts for designs for an orbital elevator combined with a photovoltaic energy system. Unfortunately, the level of technology at the time, combined with the global crisis, the problems of pollution, the advent of quirks and the proverbial witch hunt that occurred in the first decades of their appearance, worse even than the German concentration camps created at Hitler's behest, had scuttled any attention he might have gotten, especially after it was discovered that he and his team were all unwitting generation users of quirks.

To sum up, they were all killed for one reason or another, but Aeolia Schenberg had tried to prevent anyone from stealing his research for misuse by destroying it along with the first form of what I assume would later become Veda. Thus, the celestial beings, the developing armed organization that was meant to prevent the onset of the Third World and calm the chaos that was sweeping the world, had been crushed before they were born.

In a stroke of luck that even I found it hard to believe was still real today, during an excursion to America with the university to get to I-island, I had found a secret laboratory abandoned for centuries, which belonged to Aeolia. I was able to recover scraps of data regarding many of his theories and studies that he had done during his lifetime, though because of anything that happened in there it was only megabytes of the hundreds of terabytes of data it must have been. Mere crumbs, but still more than enough material, that had helped me with my hobby for years to come up until today.

I worked and tested on baryonic decay for years and I managed to create perfectly functional GN condensers, thanks also to the fact that in this world science and resources are much greater than the previous one; so, I believe I'm on my way to making a working one. I simply can't go to Jupiter to test my research; therefore, the five suits created so far are all powered by a GN Condenser which, even though it occupies most of the back, is capable of generating 7 giga-joules per second, practically more than almost any nuclear power plant in the world.

As a unit designed to test armaments and various supports, it has direct lines connected by hard points on the forearms and legs, to allow me to feed them directly with the torso-mounted GN condenser, as well as having two more accessible on the front of the torso , once the antennae on the collarbones have been removed. Weapons attached there have priority in particle reception. The clavicle antennas are used to manipulate the scattered GN particles, and through them, the jamming of radar and electromagnetic waves is possible, as well as the control of some parts of the Gundam . Therefore, the suit has reduced capabilities in these areas when power lines are used.

To maximize efficiency in flight, the Astrea uses a three-thruster design for the rear cover of the GN condenser, allowing it to reach Mk2 speeds with little difficulty, even tripling speed with the Trans-am for a few minutes, but this gave the mobile suit very high power, comparable to that of Artoria's magic core, which however causes an excessive burden on the human body, even when using the touki to reduce stress. The safety issue led me to create a nanosuit to put under the armor, which would take care entirely of inertial control. This does not mean that the Astrea is unusable without it, it has its suspension integrated into the frame adapted to be an armor, together with an additional limiter controlled by the Alaya-Vijnana which lowers the performance to the point of not being dangerous if for some reason I didn't put it before entering the mobile suit.

Attached to the armor are eleven GUND-BITs, drones commanded by AI specially tuned for the Astrea and powered by smaller GN condensers, which can join together to form a shield, be used singly as turrets, or stick together to increase speed of movement of the mobile suit. They are positioned one on each limb, while the others are attached in the shape of an inverted V on the back of the belt. All use the grip function and are covered in nanolaminate armor. The bits can fire plasma jets high enough to fuse most things (or people) today. Or they can fire repulsor blasts strong enough to do a lot of harm, without risking accidentally killing the target.

The exoskeleton is strong enough to lift up to a maximum of 30 tons without the limiters, basically a D stat if I follow the minions parameter rules, which can increase if I use the bolster. It can fly at MK 2 speed solo, MK 3 with bits as support and can also boost here if I use boost and trans-am. Since I haven't really had contact with the supernatural except with some elderly exorcist or old yokai, I haven't been able to find or create materials more durable than Earth's; therefore, I used mostly titanium with tungsten and steel alloy reinforcements. The Astrea has an extra layer of defense in the form of nanolaminate armor, a defensive varnish forms a multi-layered molecular arrangement that can handle impact from the outside, but it can crack or peel, requiring repainting. At first glance the armor looks tough, but in principle it's like a very thin cushion with several layers. It is capable of reflecting things like lasers, spreading and deflecting the beam fired, minimizing the damage done, although it is unable to absorb the beam's energy or weaken it. Nanolaminate armor is also effective against physical projectiles as its energy-carrying molecules can absorb the impact of live ammunition and explosive charges, thus protecting the machine body from damage, although extreme temperatures can melt it at some point. Hypothetically speaking, if I'm outside the epicenter of the explosion, the nanolaminate armor could protect me from the heat wave and gamma radiation of a recently detonated nuclear weapon for a few hours before it starts to break down. The only real flaw it has is that if the Astrea shuts down, its defensive capabilities also drop significantly, because the particles that compose it are no longer electrified.

The Astrea has access to the trans-am, which triples the mobile suit's power output, however lacking a GN-drive I can only use it for 3 minutes, after which I'm basically on emergency power. In addition to tripled mobility, he manages to raise both his brute strength and defensive capabilities by a whole step.

I currently have a proto-GN Long rifle, nearly two meters long that can change into three different shapes: sniper rifle, halberd or one folded in half for carrying when not in use. It is connected to the right shoulder of the Astrea. It also equipped two GN-beam sabers and a Beam magnum. Not knowing which card I was going to face, I decided to bring along one of the most destructive weapons I had available, just in case. The only real difference between what I'm holding and the unicorn's, other than size, is that instead of e-packs it uses GN-capacitors to work, but it has the same firepower. Capable of firing projectiles with a temperature of 10,000 degrees, contained by a plasma field that has a temperature ranging from 3,000 to 7,000 degrees, depending on range and dispersion Has a five-round magazine fitted, with two spares attached on my left thigh.

"Miyu, I'm fighting alone tonight, so keep your distance and watch out for stray shots" I warn her.

"No. It's my job, I should be doing it" she denies immediately, making me frown under the helmet.

"You are not able to fight yet. Do you really think I didn't notice that your magic circuits are numb from an overload?" I ask in a flat voice.

[This could be a problem, Miyu-sama] Sapphire warns her somewhat alarmed [My creator made it so that I can supply an almost unlimited amount of energy, but the power it can actually use is limited to the output that the her magic circuits can withstand. If she overloads them too much it could permanently damage them and render them unusable, or worse, kill her if the stress is too much for her body to handle] shedeclares concerned.

Miyu gives the wand floating by her side a betrayed look when she sides with me, causing me to sigh.

"I didn't say you'll never fight, only that you won't today. If you force your circuits now, and by some miracle you survive, you won't be able to do anything from here on out, and we have to retrieve six more cards after this one" I try not to be too harsh, but I wasn't going to lie or sugarcoat things to make her feel better either way. The reality is this. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that she hardly recovered at all between yesterday and today, even though she tries to hide it. Then again, how much mana had gone through her body during the ritual at the end of the Grail War in her world to send her to another dimension? I don't know, but I'm sure the unit number has at least six or seven digits; so, I'm not surprised if her circuits are still in a sorry state. Her body temperature is two degrees higher than normal, and while a magus' body warms up when she uses magecraft because of the circuits, hers are currently off and she hasn't used them since she arrived. If I didn't know about magecraft, you'd say that she still looks feverish after some flu "Sapphire, can you do something to help her recover?"

The magical girl stares at the mystic code waiting for an answer, with a rather piercing gaze, enough to make her recoil a little.

[Yes, Jack-sama. One of the abilities of the transformation into a magical girl is regeneration, both physical and spiritual, to allow the master to recover quickly in case of serious injuries and allow her to continue fighting. If Miyu-sama grabs me, depending on her condition I can cure her even in one night, but she still won't be able to do anything tonight. I think he'll have to deal with the class card by himself, Jack-sama] admits with displeasure Sapphire, making Miyu frown. She wasn't at all happy with the answer, even seeing that all the cards were on the table. A blue handle comes out of the mystic code [Miyu-sama, please hold me. Once transformed I will take you from the card]

I looked around and saw the site completely empty. This place was supposed to be where they are building the new mall here in Musutafu. We managed to get in because I can fly with the Astrea and we avoided security. Currently on the fourth floor of the building, in a hexagonal structure almost 500 meters wide.

"Is it in a parallel dimension?" I ask, already knowing the answer.

[The more precise term would be mirror world, but yes. It's a dimension reflected to this one, which I can access thanks to the kaleidoscope]replies the wand [Whenever she wants, Miyu-sama]

"Wait-"

Miyu doesn't wait and holds Sapphire, the next thing I know she's glowing blue. At least, that's what should have happened, except that, like my contact lenses, the Barbatos' cameras have numerous functions, including filtering light, colored or otherwise, to prevent being blinded. I only saw Miyu's clothes break down into particles that left her naked, while her magical girl clothes displayed during the transformation sequence, consisting of: a pretty purple swimsuit-like dress with black details like a floral skirt open at the front, a white cape that made her look like a fairy, and white boots with a slight heel. Instead, her arms are covered with long purple gloves with wide black edges, leaving her upper arms and shoulders uncovered. The stockings of the dress reach to mid-thigh, leaving the rest uncovered, showing off an empty holster, where the cards should be contained.

"I told you to wait" I reply annoyed at the mystic code, letting all my discomfort show.

[Why?] asks Sapphire confusedly, causing me to sigh.

"I designed the Astrea's lenses and cameras to prevent strong sources of light from blinding me while wearing the armor. How would that blue lightning have done..." I point out, much to the horror of the duo "So, yes, it was a good show, but please don't become a stripper while I'm not around to keep you from doing impulsive things like turning in public."

My teasing was ignored because Miyu was too mortified to pay attention to me. It was already the second incident tonight.

It's going to become a thing, isn't it?

[I'm really sorry Miyu-sama, I didn't know the technology here was so advanced!] she apologizes immediately, as her mistress covers her crimson face, which was visibly smoking.

"Anyway…I think we should go to the cards. Lead the way Sapphire" I say, trying to distract the two of their misery.

[Yes...] the wand murmurs, still a little shaken from how nothing was going as planned [Imaginary number parameters added to the fifth binding variable-] a magic circle begins to form beneath our feet as Sapphire speaks [Preparing for the inversion. Confirmed the presence of multiple spaces. Reference coordinate stabilization completed. Partial reversal of connections with the reflected world]

I felt a strange, slightly light-headed feeling, like when you're on an unstable medium for too long as it shifts. Around us a large dome appears and two meters high forms and then expands for a couple of kilometres. I blink as I survey my surroundings as the purplish-blue magic circle disappears. Apparently nothing seems to have changed, except that a prismatic dome was visible around the entire construction site, where it was possible to see through a faded view of the city.

[The coordinates are stable. Full Transfer]

For a split second, I saw a flashing red dot and without hesitation I pushed Miyu away, just in time to prevent a black bullet from passing where she was at the moment and destroying the walls and floor behind her, sending dust flying and debris everywhere. I pointed the rifle in the direction of the shot and fired a couple of shots at the point where the arrows were coming from. Across the building, bullets from the Beam magnum shoot through the building, melting the concrete like butter on a hot plate, leaving holes twenty feet wide each. There were more red flashes, coming from another point, a sign that they had quickly moved to another area as soon as the first shot was fired. Without waiting for a second, I turn on the thrusters and grab Miyu, who is still dazed from the previous blow and froze for a moment. I broke through the wall with a shoulder and came out of the structure still under construction, landing on the ground floor.

"Wasted no time in welcoming us, huh?" I ask sarcastically, flying close to the ground.

[Miyu-sama, are you okay?!] Sapphire asks worried, finally recovering.

"Y-yes, I didn't expect such an attack as soon as we arrived" the girl admits very uneasily "If I had been alone..."

"Don't think about it too much, now you have to hide-" I nail quickly enough to prevent an arrow from piercing through Miyu and me, however it still ripped off the barrel of the beam magnum, rendering it unusable, much to my annoyance.

I halt to observe a man with a bow, covered by a threadbare cloak that completely covers his face and almost his entire torso. He is nearly six feet tall, wearing a bulletproof vest composed of a tight black sleeveless shirt with dirty silver accents outlining his muscles, along with black pants that have two black straps on the thighs and two more tied around the shins separated by each. He wears black metal-plated shoes that appear to be attached to his pants. His clothes are threadbare, and he is covered in a berselot-like black haze that made it difficult to discern further details. He holds a long black bow, lowered, since he has just shot and has no other arrows in his hand.

[Has he already reached us?!] the wand gasps in alarm, making me snort.

"Well, we're basically in his personal playground, what did you expect?" I ask rhetorically as I put Miyu down.

I don't even need to use structural analysis to scan his bow to see who he is, I recognized him on the fly. Then again it was hard not to know that Archer is EMIYA, as Miyu is Shirou's sister…

Still, I feel I can take it down on my own too. Servants are manifestations of heroic spirits in containers, as there was no way to summon all of them into the nasuverse by modern humans; thus, they have only a fraction of their real power. Also, that power is reduced even more by the class card because, if I remember correctly, the consciousness of the heroic spirit was forcibly suppressed with pandora's box mud. The difference between a manifestation and a class card user is that the former had no reason at all and acts like a rabid dog in most cases, even losing a rank or two on stats and abilities, which in this case weren't exactly the highest to begin with. Even so, did he realize that Miyu is unable to fight and stuck to the weaker target? From what I've seen he seems to have at least some instincts and uses techniques that EMIYA would have done though. Does he have an intrinsic knowledge of his real abilities? People from the class cards usually have it, maybe that's why.

"Miyu, go hide where he can't hit you while I'm fighting him, otherwise he might aim at you again" I order as the corrupted spirit replaces the bow with Kanshou and Bakuya.

"But-" despite everything, she still didn't want to be convinced and tried to protest.

"Right now you're in my way, and I can't fight while protecting you" I cut her off before she could even say a word. My comment seems to hurt her almost physically, but I don't have time for that right now.

The servant charges forward, enoughfast enough to make sure I wouldn't be able to keep up with him without my armor, and I do the same. Predictably, if my reflexes weren't amplified by the Alaya-Vijnana System I probably wouldn't even be able to see it. Instead of trying to cross weapons with me, he bounces off the roof at the last second and tries to cut me in half with an overhead slash, which I intercept with a lunge. My halberd's blade squeaks when it collides with wedded blades, sending sparks flying everywhere, but it holds up perfectly as Archer's white blade shatters. I move the shaft of my weapon and parry the second blow bareback, which barely makes me flinch. His strikes aren't very heavy, but he's stupidly fast. I swing my halberd to try to cut it in two, but Archer deflects the blow without issues and tries to do the same, aiming at my side, in a point where the armor joints are more fragile, but I intercept him by hitting him with a kick accelerated by the exit from the particles.

He is thrown a few meters away, out of the corridor and I chase him. He jumps back a few times and tries to get around me, but I don't give him time. I throw myself at him quickly and a fast and violent exchange of blows ensues, which sends sparks flying almost everywhere, while the metal of our weapons screeches with the effort. I strengthen my halberd to make sure it holds up better, since the bastard is always trying to hit the same points, trying to break it. Suddenly Archer increases his speed again, and I'm forced to duck to avoid a blow to the throat. He leaps away when I try to hit him after his botched attempt, and I lunge at him again with a lunge that he dodges again, easily. I don't stop the whirlwind of blows, which however cannot reach the poorly formed servant.

I reinforce the Astrea, increasing its performance beyond the norm to try to match the pitch. My lunges get much closer to him now and it seems to throw him off balance little by little each time. A particularly strong one knocks him back, giving me enough room for a slightly heavier attack. I spin myself to add centrifugal force to the swing and attack him, never really losing sight of him thanks to the various systems and cameras. The downward swing breaks his guard, and as the halberd slams into the ground the plane collapses. The force behind the swing was such that it cracked the ground and made it collapse under the weight of the blow. The shock wave released, in addition to making debris fly everywhere and raise a tide of dust, also throws the corrupted servant away. I lunged at him once again with the intention of impaling him, but without success. He managed to deflect my weapon again, and the subsequent thrusts were of little use, which didn't keep failing to reach him. He jumps when I try to cut him in half with a horizontal swing and he tries to cut him in half with a handstand. I tilt my weapon to deflect the incoming force and its attack slides down the shaft, hitting the ground. I take advantage of the opening and attack the blunt side of his weapon directly, shattering it before he can make another move.

I swing my weapon with all the force the Astrea is capable of and strike him in the face, causing his blood to splatter almost everywhere as the cloak is ripped away and his face deformed.

The shadow servant is launched as a projectile upwards, breaking through a couple of floors due to the diagonal it has taken and finding itself in the air. I lunge at him too, breaking the sound barrier, ready to hit him; however, the bastard didn't want to be beaten like a rag doll and with the speed at which I launched, the only thing I could do to avoid getting a new hole in my head from his arrow was to tilt a bit the neck, since I wouldn't have had time to physically move. The arrow breaks the Astrea's antenna, but I don't slow down and try to hit it while it's still in the air, unable to dodge. With quick reflexes as always, Archer discards his bow for a fresh copy of the espoused swords and parries the incoming blow, flying by the force behind it with his weapon shattered again, crashing into it a hundred yards away. of distance.

A new arrow flies towards me at Mk 1 speed. I don't even try to parry or deflect it, I just move a bit to avoid being torn in half. If I let my guard down for even one second, anything he threw at me would punch through me. I let out a sigh to calm my nerves as I land, though the relief I felt at not being dead was very short-lived as I saw Archer come back to his feet, his wounds perfectly healed.

I frown at him, but maybe I shouldn't even be so surprised after all. Although servants may bleed and may have their organs damaged, their true essence resides in a spiritual core obtained upon their first materialization. Their material body envelops it and must be hit for them to be defeated, although in this case it should be replaced by the class card. It gradually diminishes with excessive expenditure of magical force or sustaining heavy bodily wounds, and if damaged by powerful magical arts, curses, or Noble Weapons, it can be destroyed, preventing the Servant from re-materializing. The heart and brain are directly connected to it, thus becoming the main weaknesses of a Servant.

He used his mana to repair himself, and returned to full strength, surely saving mana thanks to independent action, in addition to whatever he has left. The process may not be dissimilar to the effect of a command seal on the servant. In Fgo it was possible to fully heal them using one, even bring them back to life if necessary. In Stay night and what little I had read in hollow ataraxia, it was possible to do many other things, such as dramatically increasing the power of the servant. Did Saber travel 4 kilometers in under a second with command seal fueled mana burst, if I remember correctly? The shadow servant seems to be able to do something similar, albeit in a much smaller way, using his personal reserves.

"You…you're really annoying" I groan, as I see him materialize an arrow to exhale.

Things may turn out to be a little more complicated than expected. It was really lucky that I installed the new AI on the Astrea after I finished it, because otherwise I couldn't use it to the fullest and with the next few hits it would surely kill me if it hit me even once.

"T-this is a battle with a heroic spirit…" Miyu mutters, really shocked by what she's observing.

Though Jack had told her to hide, she'd decided to observe from a distance. She couldn't fight, but if need be she could fire a distracting shot or two according to Sapphire, and give Jack enough time to catch up and retreat. She needs to stand still to create the magic circle and exit the mirror world, but Jack with the Astrea can still move while carrying her and finish the process. The mystic code wasn't happy that her new mistress wouldn't listen to reason; therefore, she offered this plan to prevent her from trying to interfere in the fight too far out of her reach in her current condition.

[I'm shocked. I didn't know Jack-sama's armor was capable of so much]the wand almost numbly admits, still struggling to believe the situation they were observing [Almost every magus of the clock tower would have died as soon as he entered this space. Probably also my previous master... and this spirit is weakened...]

"Do you think he can win by himself?" asks the new magical girl, undecided on how to feel about the matter.

Now she couldn't argue with Jack's strength. The single fact that she was evenly fighting a class card when he himself didn't have one was absurd to her and Sapphire. This made it an invaluable aid, if the intensity of the current fight is an indicator for future battles with the other six cards. Her brother had only managed to do it because he had absorbed Archer's abilities, and the most he had managed to do was hold Angelica long enough for the ritual to fulfill his wish. He had narrowly succeeded, and only because the heroic spirit that had possessed him was Gilgamesh's worst kind of enemy. A handful of seconds more and he would have failed, making all his efforts useless. The problem is, she didn't want to endanger someone who had saved her and given her a place to live, as well as a new life in this world. How could she look Yagi-san or All Might in the eye if Jack died helping her, because she wasn't strong enough to be able to complete the task she selfishly accepted? She wouldn't even be able to forgive herself if it were to happen, let alone if they didn't blame her. If they don't, which was likely considering their character, it will probably only make her feel worse.

[Honestly, I don't know] the kaleidostick's words make her tense with fear and anticipation [If we're just talking about overall performance, then Jack-sama with the Astrea is ahead, though not by much. The problem is that that heroic spirit doesn't seem to have lost his fighting skills along with his mind that's why he can't finish him. Archer quickly adapted to Jack-sama's fighting style and performance, furthermore…]

"Furthermore?" the 13-year-old asks hesitantly, feeling her heart rate quicken along with her growing anxiety.

[The heroic spirit has not yet used his Noble Phantasm, nor do we know which one it is in the first place. Not to mention that he seems to have fully recovered despite the fact that the last blow seemed to be devastating to him] just as she finished speaking, there is a surge of magical power and a thunderbolt passes right over them and crashes out of the mall, generating a large explosion, which raises a column of smoke almost as high as the building. More smaller explosions begin to scatter across the roof as the fighting began to intensify rapidly again [If Jack-sama fails to land a decisive blow soon, he may indeed be overwhelmed].

Miyu's grip on Sapphire's grip tightens as she struggles with herself not to intrude. If she was dead weight when they weren't fighting to the fullest, what can she do now that they're lashing out?

She shifts her gaze to the Astrea, which had glowed red at one point, suddenly becoming much faster and stronger, while the pieces she thought were additional boosters actually turned out to be drones firing plasma charges powerful enough to snap Archer's arrows.

She will really have to ask him how Astrea works after...

Things were not going well. Really, they were not going well at all.

I had been using trans-am without stopping using reinforcement on my armor. The problem? It was that the piece of shit, perhaps sensing the danger, had started throwing literally anything he could trace at me. The unnamed projectiles, because of the reduced abilities, were barely E-grade, which in itself was not a problem, since my drones, also with the trans-am system activated, could easily destroy anything he threw at me. The problem was that it started firing Caladbolg II at me on repeat, using it as broken phantasm. The only boon in this situation, was that bow and projections are weaker because of the lowered parameters, leaving him with a C grade, which is dangerously close to B grade. He could raise Caladborg's parameters, but the bow he uses would break with recoil, throwing off his aim.

He had also tried with Hrunting, but had been destroyed by the drones halfway through each time. Archer EMIYA could shoot it at MK 10 speed and make it travel 4 kilometers in less than a second, but that was not the case for this shadow servant, thankfully.

Thanks to the Alaya-Vijnana System which amplifies my connection to the mobile suit during the trans-am, my computational power was high enough to be able to predict the trajectories of its arrows which go at supersonic speeds before it even fired them, besides to have a reaction time boost high enough to allow effective dodging with minimal movement, even though theoretically I shouldn't even be able to think fast enough before I'm turned into a red spot on the floor. Combined with the fact that I can fly faster than he can run, he can't get far enough away from me for his arrows to pick up speed, making it feasible to dodge or deflect them, although I can only do it twice more with the duration left on the halberd . I tried it before, that stunt had chipped one of my weapon's blades despite the reinforcement, also causing damage to the Astrea's arms, although nothing serious beyond a few superficial cracks on the frame.

We are in a stalemate. No matter the techniques used, neither can finish the other, turning this situation into an endurance contest that I wasn't sure I could win. I used a third of the prana I have available and one of the three minutes of the trans-am, while Archer shouldn't have had so much reserve yet considering all the broken phantasms he was shooting in bursts. Honestly, I was fine with winning even like that. Class card manifestations appear because the card absorbs too much energy in an uncontrolled manner; thus, if it runs out he should disappear like a normal servant.

At one point though, I manage to get within 60 meters of him. Archer stops and a hundred floating swords materialize behind him.

"Ah, is that how you want to solve it?" I ask, not really expecting an answer.

All the swords fly towards me and I accelerate again. The GUND-BIT commanded by me with the help of the Astrea's AI shoot all the swords that I can't avoid, nimbly avoiding them being hit, while I deflect all the ones I can't avoid with the halberd. It wasn't difficult to pass through that barrage, as with the amount of energy amplified by the trans-am system the nanolaminate armor was much stronger than normal, preventing bullets from passing through, allowing me to get ever closer to the Blackened Archer. As I did so, I sensed different objects coming from completely different angles and in the corners of my vision were three sets of Kanshou and Bakuya flying towards me.

Archer himself, in a sprint, finds himself in front of me, ready to strike with two other copies of the married swords. It didn't take me to figure out what was going on. That's Archer's best sword technique, Triple-Linked Crane Wings. He had blocked every possible escape route or possibility of counterattack by executing an inevitable combination through throwing and cutting maneuvers, making the most of Kanshou and Byakuya's attraction capabilities. Normally, I wouldn't be able to stop more than one pair of swords, I'd get hit by at least one or two sets, or by Archer himself.

Normally.

"You're exposed" I say with a wry smile.

It had taken me a while to figure it out, but all the openings I had taken for the entire knife fight were holes left on purpose by Archer. They were all fakes, a way to expose the opponent, causing them to attack gaps on lethal points that did not exist, thus allowing him to deliver deadly blows safely. It was an extremely dangerous style of fighting, which at the slightest mistake meant certain death, but because of his skills, it had enabled him to face and defeat opponents he normally would have no chance of defeating. And, ironically, it was the culmination of his technique that had caused him to make the biggest mistake.

With a mental command sent through the Alaya-Vijnana, the drones fired, increasing to maximum power, launching plasma discharges toward the three sets of projections, destroying them. Archer was not in time to stop his assault, however, because it was then his turn.

GUND-BITs riddle Archer with blows, starting with his arms and legs, before moving to the rest of his body. He loses momentum completely during his run, allowing me to strike him full in the chest with a thrust of my halberd, piercing his body from side to side. The longer part of the hybrid weapon breaks, from all the damage taken in the previous exchange of blows, but I don't care. The barrel of the rifle is still intact, so as the shadow servant falls, I redirect my weapon at his face and fire, causing him to explode.

The incomplete servant's body crumbles into particles, causing an object to fall from its body. I took Archer's card as soon as his body finished disintegrating. Soon after, the wedge world began to crack and wobble, as I stopped bracing the Astrea and put the limiters back on, shutting off the trans-am, which had used 66 percent of total energy in about 98 seconds.

I had to use my weapon as a crutch, when I was seized with a most unpleasant attack of nausea, strong enough to make me dizzy. It was an annoying side effect that manifested itself when connected to the Alaya-Vijnana System, as my perception was increased far beyond what would have been possible for my body, especially during the trans-am, which further amplified it to allow me to keep up with the increase in performance.

"Better move out…" I mumble, barely repressing the urge to vomit, as the badly worn GN long rifle folds up for easier transport.

I fly by Miyu, who is two hundred meters away from the crash for some reason, when I had clearly told her that she should stay out of sight.

"Jack!" I land next to her as she looks around confused as she sees this dimension crumbling "Sapphire?"

[The mirror world is closing because the card that was causing the distortion has been neutralized and recovered. We have to get out of here] summarizes the wand [Removal of the imaginary number axis from the binding variable. Stabilization of the reference coordinates. Return to the real world]

The circle beneath our feet glows as we are brought back to our dimension. Just outside, I sit on the still-unfinished little wall, unfold my helmet and let out a weary sigh.

"Are you okay?" asks Miyu worriedly, and I nod wearily.

"I'm exhausted, but yes" I confirm, "I didn't suffer any injuries, but I used more prana today than in the last four months total. No wonder normal humans can't compete with a servant. Even reduced to that state, if he had not thrown himself at me like that at the end I would most likely have died" I admit with a grimace.

In fanfictions I had read it seemed much easier than that...then again, MCs were each more broken than the next, or had special conditions that guaranteed assured victory ( unlike plot armor, though for technicalities).

[You shouldn't be so surprised. Heroic spirits are the pinnacle of anything ever achieved in legends, not something you would normally encounter, even if they are classed copies, and corrupted like the one you saw tonight. My sister and I were created specifically to deal with threats of this magnitude; so, it's amazing that you did it by yourself Jack-sama. I will try to be less skeptical about his abilities in the future] compliments Sapphire, still in the hands of her mistress [From the data I was able to gather during the fight, these class cards trap the power of a heroic spirit in the card, although I don't understand the reason for such a thing. It seems that the system used is somewhat similar to the one used in the Holy Grail War, but instead of using servants do they use these cards? I'm confused. Summoning a servant and binding it with command seals would have been much more efficient, both in battle and in other situations...]

"Isn't that really the point?" I comment casually, taking the opportunity to spread some useful information passing it off as a hypothesis, in an attempt to benefit Miyu "From what I understand fighting it, that spirit did not have its own mind or personality, but it could use its general techniques and abilities even though they were clearly weakened . I believe that the focal point of those cards is not to summon actual servants, but to be used to store powers and techniques of a heroic spirit, allowing the user to enhance himself and acquire, even if in a reduced way, the power of the spirit it contains, since even when bound by command seals, more powerful or high magical resistance servants can resist it to a certain extent, or be completely free of it."

Miyu winces, though she tries not to give it away. She had not yet talked about the details of her past, had only given snippets of her story to create the cover we used, but she implied that she was at least somewhat aware of magic. Sapphire, on the other hand, assumed I knew what she was talking about since I was participating in the conversations; therefore, she didn't waste time explaining certain things unless Miyu needed clarification, and that was fine. I didn't want to lie to avoid telling the truth, so I never corrected her or brought up the subject.

[Is such a thing even possible?] asks Sapphire in surprise [Will that be why the grand master installed the include function in me and nee-san?]

"Include?" murmurs Miyu, with her usual stoic expression. She really makes it hard to understand what she's thinking sometimes.

[I...yes. The grand master added a function that allows me to harness magic trapped in enchanted cards, after seeing anime about magical girls that nee-san's master had once mentioned...I wonder if that wasn't his original goal? After all, he can travel and see parallel worlds, and initially this assignment served as a test for his two students...] reasons the kaleidostick, somewhat astonished and disappointed by the lack of vital information.

"Well, it's useless to speculate why or how, unexpected events always happen even if some are more annoying than others" I comment casually, a bit irritated by Zeldrech actually. I understand that he wanted to keep it a secret to test Rin and Luvia, but why not tell the two kaleidosticks? Did he have sawdust for brains? "Tomorrow afternoon, when Miyu is back in perfect shape, we will see what she can do in her magical girl form and how the card works"

Miyu, who was lost in thought, blinks in surprise at the premise of the training.

"Is there somewhere we can train privately?" she asks a little surprised.

"Where do you think I text my most volatile intentions? After I blew up the garage for the fourteenth time, I got tired of having to renovate it from top to bottom and I had an area built behind my house specifically for the most destructive situations" I confirm by closing the helmet and getting back up, when the nausea was finally starting to subside. "I can't throw you into battle without some understanding of your capabilities, especially after we see what we're up against, right?"

Miyu nods with a determined expression.

There was, however, a glint of excitement in her eyes. Was she excited about training? or just the anticipation before a new job? I don't know, but hey at least she's happy, I think...

The return home was nothing so sensational. As it was already almost midnight when we left and there was no one but Jarvis waiting for us at home, the only reason we were in a hurry to get back was to go to sleep, as we were tired from the late hour. Miyu practically collapsed on her bed as soon as we arrived, while I did the same after taking the Astrea to the lab for repairs.

I suppose it's not so strange my confusion when I find myself in an unfamiliar grassy field at dusk instead of in my bed in the middle of the night. The greenery is flourishing around me, the breeze is quite relaxing, the sound of the wind moving the leaves was quite pleasant and catchy, the orange-gold sunset sky gave this place a rather picturesque image, almost too good to be real, despite the clear sensations it conveys.

I was a bit alert and made copies of Kanshou and Bakuya, which I had copied from Archer in the middle of the fight. Honestly, I expected it to be more difficult, but…it came frighteningly natural to draw C-rank noble phantasms, for some reason, and I didn't even feel the exhaustion too much actually. That was something to look into later.

However, I followed the wooded path and soon found myself in front of an altar, where a rather familiar broadsword was embedded. the edges of the blade and the fairy letters almost seem to glow gold in the lighting of this place. I could feel the immense power it contained from just one glance, without even having to use structural analysis.

That sword cannot be called beautiful, because the definition of 'beautiful' would only make it dirty. It is a divine construct born out of humans' desire for salvation. The crystallization of the prayer called 'glory' and all that is engraved in the hearts of those who are scattered to the brilliance of the sword. The nostalgic, painful and sacred dream of all who are placed in the bloody hell called battlefield, yes all warriors, past, present and future, completely exposed to the fear of death and despair, still clinging to one desire: to be exalted .

I stared at Excalibur, somewhat confused by the strange vibration I was getting from the sword appearing in…dream? Hallucination? Mirage?

"Don't you take it out?" asks a soft, strangely familiar voice.

I turn to look at the source of the aforementioned rumor and suddenly I understand why, despite its beauty, this place does not give me positive vibes, indeed, literally anything, even the blades of grass ordered me to get away as far as possible from here.

"No, this is the signal for me to leave" I reply deadpan, turning on my heel and moving for an immediate retreat, without the slightest hesitation.

My answer takes my interlocutor a little by surprise.

"Aaaaaah, wait wait wait!" in a hurry the woman throws herself at me, grabbing me to prevent me from running away "Let's talk about it! I'm sure we can reach an understanding!"

"Dealing with you is a one-way ticket to an indescribable hell; therefore, there is nothing to discuss!" I reply warily, trying to remove her arms from around my waist, but it was extremely difficult to move them even a millimeter because Proto-Merlin has an E in strength, and despite that being a low stat for a servant, she still remains ten times stronger than a human at their peak, three times stronger than me with touki and reinforcement active.

"It really matters! I swear!" she yells again as I try to drag myself away from her "Please, at least listen to me!"

I ignore the pathetic whine of the half-succubus, try to keep walking as she puts her feet down and tries to pull me back.

"Let me go, Merlin" I growl, wriggling out of her grip, trying to shake her off "I don't want to deal with any of your bullshit!"

"B-but I'm bored-ahem, I mean, the world is in danger! You have to listen to me!" for a moment, her play slips to give space to her real problem, boredom.

"Have you become senile with your old age? Who in their right mind would want to meddle in your bullshit?!" I yell shocked at the stupidity of it.

"How rude! I am still a beautiful young woman as you can see!" she shouts indignantly (although she is incapable of actually doing it) "Don't you want to be a hero?! What kind of hero abandons an innocent maiden in distress?!"

"Someone with a modicum of brains!" I reply exasperated when she just won't budge "And stop groping my abs, you old pervert!"

"I'm not old!" she yells again "…however you are well packed, much more so than Arthur at your age. You really took care of your body" she mutters causing my eyebrow to twitch when she does the exact opposite of what I said and examines my muscles more closely.

"Fou!" a squeak/war cry rings out as a white bullet collides with the half-succubus' cheek.

"Gueh?!" she is forcefully thrown away when a graceful white squirrel-like creature hits her cheek with a drop kick. Merlin rolls on the ground a few times, holding her bruised face "W-who's aiming especially at a lady's face, Cath?!"

"Fou! Fou Fou!" Cath Palug aka Primate Murder answers by emitting its... verses? noises? The fact is that I have no idea what it is saying, but from the bewildered face of the beautiful succubus it was nothing nice.

"I'm not a pervert, I'm a woman of culture damn it!" she curses, still holding her cheek where beast III's footprints glow red.

"Good, I'm out of here" I sigh, finally free to leave.

Only to be hugged around the waist again by the persistent flower sorceress, who clung to me like I was her lifeline, which made me and Fou let out an exasperated groan.

"P-please, at least listen to onee-san first!" she asks, her eyes full of (false) hope.

I observe her for a moment, while the sparkling amethyst eyes look at me full of expectation.

"No" my curt answer also destroys this mask though.

"Uwaaa~ don't leave~!" Merlin whimpers unbearably, making Cath growl in annoyance.

"The tantrum earlier might have come off as a slightly forced comic skit, but now you're just pitiful" I sigh, my sanity really on edge after this nightmare "For what damn reason did you trespass on my dream? Or was it you who dragged me here?"

The half-succubus stops pretending to cry and pretends to look at me hopefully.

"Will you help me?"

"I will listen to you, then leave, forget whatever happened here, and possibly never meet again."

"Uwaa~"

"Fou" I call impassively.

"Fou!"

"Gyaah?!"

A second drop kick hits Merlin's nose, causing her to pull away from me. This time the whimper of pain was very real, but I decided to ignore it.

"So, for what kind of goddamn reason do you think I should listen to the complaints of a jaded fossil?" I ask, already mentally drained before I even started this conversation.

"T-told you I'm not old!" she whines, holding her nose hit by the fake squirrel "Besides, if something wasn't going on, I certainly wouldn't have contacted you in the first place. Watching humans is my favorite hobby, but I haven't interacted with them since I retired," she announces, snapping her fingers.

Suddenly a gazebo appears, with a small round table, two chairs and a tea set ready. She motions for me to follow her, and reluctantly I do, sitting down in front of her.

"..." I looked at her, wary as she takes a sip of her tea and Fou munches some cookies that were evidently prepared for him, without a care in the world.

"Don't you drink?" she asks puzzled, while I stare at her in anticipation.

"We are not here wasting time, nor do I really want to be in your presence very long to begin with" I reiterate my initial thoughts "Cut the chase and tell me what you want."

"All right, all right. Kids these days just don't know how to enjoy the company time of a gorgeous onee-san" she murmurs, almost annoyed by the complete lack of any reaction from me "As I said before, the world is in danger. Something has caused both Gaia and Alaya to tremble, but for some reason the counter force has done nothing. This fact alone is already worrying; it means that it is something out of her reach. It never happened that a fairy brought Excalibur to me before, even with everything that has happened so far; so, I think you can understand that my concern when Vivian of all beings gave me the sword and told me to find someone to destroy whatever threatens the world."

I couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at her words.

"...Can you worry about anything?" I ask rather skeptically, as she looks at me impassively.

"I can't understand emotions most of the time, but being a sentient being who analyzes everything extremely objectively" she clarifies "However, if an extension of the planet, a grand mother class fairy to be exact, asks me to help with a threat that should wipe out all life on the planet, then yes, I can legitimately consider myself 'concerned'. Especially if I can't even see this 'threat' even with my clairvoyance"

I tried to keep my expression neutral, but…yes, she was concerned. Even setting aside "most of the time" which would imply that Merlin can understand human emotion at least a little, the fact that the greatest sorceress ever lived can't seem to find a threat this great was worrying to say the least. Are you referring to a future threat from DxD or nasuverce? Some alien god wants to come down to earth? Or is it an outside threat, from another universe like me?

"Beast-class threat level? The fact that you can't find it is worrying to say the least. The only individuals with more powerful clairvoyance than yours that I know of are Solomon and possibly Gilgamesh…" I mutter, trying to think of a possible threat. Too many variables and little information. The nasuverse is filled to the brim with planetary-class threats, be it a Beast or a Type. Also from DxD there are several worrying ones, such as the Thirexia or the alien god who killed Greath Red. Those two are the first ones that pop into my mind "Don't you have more useful information?"

"No. try as I might, I can't find the origin of this threat" she replies simply.

"If you can't find it, how do you expect me to? If you haven't noticed, I don't have any particular skills or unique traits that I can use for this task" I point out impassively "To begin with, why did you choose me of all people? I'm sure there are hundreds, if not thousands of people better suited to this task."

She just shrugs.

"Call it a bet" she replies as if it were the most normal thing in the world "While I was looking I saw you and the otherworldly girl fighting a class card, but since for some reason I couldn't distinguish you well from a distance, I tried to bring you here to see if it was you, but nothing. Your soul is older than your body, nothing I've ever seen, but the strangest thing about you is that you don't belong in this world. Differently from Emiya Miyu"

So she knows there's something wrong with me, but she doesn't know what it is? But then why -ah, wait.

"Do you want to use me as bait?" I ask seriously, not at all amused.

"Caught" she doesn't even try to defend herself as she makes a sympathetic expression that just gets on my nerves "If I can't see or sense you even as I look at you, I have no doubt that you are a difficult anomaly for anyone to track. I want to see if this strange feeling you give off manages to draw my target out into the open somehow while I'm looking for them. Excalibur is an extra security to protect you in case things go wrong."

"..."

That was a problem. I'm not surprised that she knows about Miyu, but it's troubling that there was just one more enemy somewhere that I didn't know about and could tear the world apart, but now this succubus wanted to pull me into this. Just the fact that it is Merlin who is making this direct request for help does not portend anything good, but the most troubling thing is that I am no longer alone now. Before, I had no real attachments left, but now I wanted to help Miyu with the class cards and keep her out of other messes. Helping Merlin means putting her in harm's way simply by being near her. Miyu is not yet strong enough to defend herself from what this world could do to her, and I am not strong enough to protect her from all those who might come after her. The list of beings who would take advantage by making use of her is simply too long, and having a powerful weapon like Excalibur would definitely help in that case.

In order to get it, however, it requires a price that I am not sure I can pay. What should I do? Information-free hunting aside, is Merlin really telling the truth? I have no doubt that this threat is real; what puzzles me is the truthfulness of everything else. Usually the flower wizard only gives vague information of her predictions, so how should I take her words?

"If it can reassure you, your little friend will inevitably end up in the crossfire, whether you accept my proposal or not, although you will have a few years to prepare yourself to face what is to come" my thoughts are interrupted by Merlin, who had decided to throw more fuel on the fire "If you want to save her, you will accept the sword. Even if it means resigning from being human by wielding it."

I stared at her, silently, trying to figure out whether or not she was screwing with me.

I reopened my eyes, if possible more tired than I was. A quick glance informed that I had only 'slept' two hours. To turn the knife in the wound, after the discussion with Merlin, I was quite uneasy not being able to sleep. I stand up and as I do, I notice the extra weight in my right hand. I observe Excalibur prototype in silence and use structure analysis on it. I couldn't understand almost anything honestly. The forging method was unfamiliar to me, and I couldn't read the letters of the fae, having never studied anything related to them. To me they were just designs in which an absurd amount of power flowed, suppressed by the thirteen restrictions.

Seen like this it looks like a feast for the eyes, but just by holding it in my hand I could feel a sacred aura that seemed to have no end, making me almost giddy at how... different it felt to two of my senses.

Not being able to simply leave it around unattended, I go down to my laboratory and seal it in the deepest layer of my vault, where I keep my most dangerous inventions, sure that no one will be able to perceive it there.

I sit at my desk, now wide awake and too disturbed to sleep; so, I decide to do what I always do to relax: fiddle around until I fall asleep.

I observe Archer's card for a few seconds, then, activating my circuits, I collect and direct the prana into the card, trying to activate it.

"Install"

And everything went black.

"Oi, wake up" I hear a voice, but it's too…I don't know, I feel like I'm feeling some sort of déjà-vu, like when I'm dead "Get up, kid. Oi"

I am shaken a little harder, which makes me realize that no, I'm not dead, but a stranger is talking to me.

"Mngggg…who the fuck ran over me this time?" I curse getting up, still groggy as hell. It felt like someone had taken my brain out of my skullcap and put it back there wrong.

I looked around. Squinting a bit to get used to the rather strange lighting of the place. The sky was black and seemed endless, even though it was lit by countless stars. The terrain? If possible it was even stranger. There was metal everywhere. And when I say everywhere, I mean literally everywhere. A shiny and irregular black metal, which built the foundations of what seemed to be the ground, where there are countless barbed trees together with other structures as far as the eye can see, while the flames burn and come out of the cracks that furrow the ground.

"...I didn't remember having done myself with acid" I comment casually observing a place that could pass for a ruined cybertron.

"Yeah, well, I didn't remember being inside a teenager's head either, yet here I am"

I turn to look at the sarcastic voice and see Archer, frowning at me, waiting for…something.

"So you are the spirit in the card that I kicked last night. How is it going? Do you have less homicidal instincts than before?" I ask casually, bringing a hint of confusion to his perpetual frown.

"What are you talking about?" he asks confused.

"…you have no idea how you got here?" I ask, really curious what happens to the servants once they are placed in the class cards.

"...no. The last thing I remember is when I died, but I didn't fight you. I have no idea who you are or why I'm here" he replies annoyed, much to my disappointment.

"Great, so you don't even know where you are now" it wasn't a question, but he nods "You know the grail war? Basically, some idiot tried to replicate the ritual by trapping servants in cards to fuse them with participating magus. This is probably where our consciousness meets when I activated the class card without an external mean to prevent this phenomenon, or at least, who like me has one...I think?"

He stares at me, and to his credit I can't really make out what he's thinking, until I see him sigh in exasperation.

"Only with my luck could I end up in such a situation..." he murmurs annoyed, rubbing the bridge of his nose "Who's the idiot who did such a thing? Melting physically is practically horribly painful assisted suicide."

"From what I saw when I retrieved your card, during use it is not literally inserted into the user's body, but in a dimension connected to his body, to avoid permanent damage to the magus" or at least, that's what I remember by prillya. The class cards were actually very interesting, but it's been years since I read the manga; therefore, my memories of then are fuzzy "I made an attempt to connect just now, although I have no idea where we are or how we got there in the first place. It was the first time for me too"

Archer stares at me like I'm stupid as I metaphorically see the wheels in his head turning.

"I don't know any magus who could do such a thing, but I think I have a half idea where we are" he admits looking around with a stony expression "Do you know what a reality marble is?"

...oh shit, do I have a reality murble? This explains so many things! I'm not exactly the healthiest or most stable person on earth, and more than once I've been seen as freaked out by my ideas or the way I work. We can say that for this I am alien in more ways than the society of this world! I feel like an idiot for not thinking of this sooner, but then again, they're extremely rare and need very special conditions to form; so, what was the probability that I had one? Infinitely small.

Then again what effect can the class card have on a reality marble? No one besides Emiya Shirou from the miyuverse had one, or at least no one else had appeared up to the point I'd gotten to; therefore, the effects a class card might have on me are unknown. It had the effect on him of giving him all the abilities of his alternate future counterpart because they were the 'same' person, from two different universes, as well as some degree of superhuman strength, but how would that go with me?

"...yes, I know what it is" I conclude, definitely curious how this matter will end "You have one too, what do you think will happen now?" he turns and stares at me, but I shrug before he can even ask his question "Zeldrech isn't the only one who's seen alternate universes, EMIYA-san"

"...how much did you see with the kaleidoscope?"

"I'm not a true second sorcery user, but I've seen enough to know that normally you can't be summoned as a servant since you're not a heroic spirit but a counter guardian, even if the summoner is your younger version of a other universe" I answer rather sincerely "Whatever happened on the other side triggered Alaya's reaction, and helped the other Shirou win the Grail War to get Miyu out of that world. Or at least, that's how the 'I interpreted. I know at some point things get so bad that with something we might call a dying last cry, Gaia summons a counter guardian of her own, but I don't know much about her other than the fact that she wields a fairly powerful flaming sword to damage Pandora's box after 6,000 years of accumulation"

That and Miyu provided him with prana to fight until he left his dimension or else he couldn't power his Ubw.

"…just my luck" he grumbles with a sigh, resigned to the idea of constantly ending up in annoying and obnoxiously complicated situations.

"Yeah, it sucks to be you most of the time." I agree, earning myself a glare. "So what's up now? I know about Unlimitade blade works and how it works, but since I apparently have a reality marble too, is mine affected by yours?"

"...I do not know. I think you've seen it, but the only time I've encountered a similar phenomenon is when dealing with my younger self, even though those memories are quite hazy and fuzzy currently" he comments, scratching his chin. .

So could this EMIYA come from a similar scenario to UBW or HF, or at least remember his misadventures in those routes?

"Can I copy your noble phantasms?" I ask suddenly, making him blink "I'm good with projections and after our fight I realized that while your version of tracing was definitely more advanced than mine, it's more a matter of experience than technique. I am not a 'sword' incarnation, but knowing me this place may have similar abilities as my origin is 'creation' and my element is 'metal'. Even if this place doesn't work like your reality marble, I have an eidetic memory, so I can try to reconstruct them myself in my lab once I have the right equipment if I see the original blueprints, or anything close to it."

Not 'if' but 'when' I have the materials. I made sure to specify that point since even if they don't exist in this world, I can always alter the materials I have on hand to come up with something like this original designs, but I doubt I can't find it in this size since the age of the gods is not over yet. What I'm missing, which are incredibly hard to find are connections, rather than raw materials at the moment.

"Do you want to copy the weapons I copied in my life? No, before that, did you say you learned my version of tracing? It shouldn't be possible since it's-"

"Oh come on, don't you want to see Gilgamesh's face when I shoot copy versions of copies of his 'treasures' at him? I can already hear him screaming in scandal from here" I say with a shitty smile.

Again not 'if' but 'when'. Since Miyu has arrived here then the Ainsworths should have succeeded too, consequently Gilgamesh will also be there since it is Angelica's card. Being prepared is better than improvising, so I better start working on it now.

Again, Archer stares at me, trying to figure out what was wrong with me, before shrugging, deciding he doesn't give a shit anyway.

"Well, it's not like I have better things to do" he comments casually, not wanting to risk unnecessary brain damage trying to make sense of my actions. "Are you sure you can keep up, kid?"

"I'm pretty sure I have to ask you that question, old man"

"I'm not old!"

[Jack-sama looks pretty happy today, did something good happen?] Sapphire asks with a hint of curiosity.

"Is it that obvious?" I ask absently as we walk towards the training area, 500 meters from my house.

"Yes. You're practically glowing" Miyu confirms impassively.

"Well...I figured out how to neutralize magic damage"

[Huh?]

"Huh?"

"The Barbatos is covered in a special paint I created called nanolaminate armor. It is a defensive paint with a multilayered molecular arrangement capable of deflecting lasers, bullets and explosions with great ease. It doesn't cancel all the impact of the incoming blow, but it forces those who fight me to get closer because otherwise they can't do real damage, and needless to say how much it makes my armor more resistant, right?" I ask rhetorically, not expecting an answer. "Analyzing yesterday's fight, I started looking for ways to deflect magic-based attacks. I was doing this before this whole class card thing, but tonight I found the missing piece to the puzzle and tweaked the molecular structure of the nanites that make up the paint a bit to make it impervious to magic! Sure, it doesn't nullify physical hits from servants, but I'll be able to nullify almost all damage from magic and magical blasts! Unless the heat they generate is high enough to melt it, but it takes a lot to get to that point"

After Archer handed me over a thousand noble phantasm and mystic things, I had spent a few hours analyzing them. Using the class card also honed my shooting skills and basic thaumaturgies. I had spent a lot of time observing the various structures and forging techniques of the various artifacts.

Shizuku had a small treasure chest which contained various interesting things, such as a unicorn horn, various talismans and tomes, and some Mithrill, which she had left for me after her death, but which I didn't know how to use.

At first I didn't know where to get my hands because the structure of the material was like none I've ever seen before. Almost all minerals have a crystalline structure, that is, a regular and ordered scaffolding of atoms. From this invisible structure originates the external shape of the mineral, which is instead clearly visible and equally regular and which is called crystalline habit or crystal. A crystal, therefore, is a geometric solid with faces, edges and vertices that originate from the progressive growth, atom after atom for billions of times, of an elementary three-dimensional structure of infinitesimal dimensions. Whenever a mineral can grow unhindered it develops into single, perfectly formed crystals. If, on the other hand, growth is hindered by the contemporary development of other crystals, the result is a mass of closely aggregated individuals, in which it is not possible to recognize the crystalline habit without suitable instruments, which fortunately I have.

The internal structure of a crystal of any mineral is therefore characterized by an arrangement of the atoms in space which is repeated at regular intervals along several directions. The three-dimensional structure thus created is generically called the crystalline lattice and appears as regular alignments of atoms.

Without further delving into the subject, the possible distributions of atoms in space to form a mineral are 32, and Mithril does not fall into any of these because each of them is characterized by one or more simple crystalline forms (cubes, prisms, pyramids) . Mithril not only lacks a geometric shape, it is also extremely mushy. It fuses with the crystal lattice present in the metal used to create the alloy, blending perfectly without altering it, making anything it fuses with capable of storing, altering, using, and expelling Mana particles.

Considering its absurd adaptability, surely there will be treatments in the supernatural to adapt it to channel other sources of energy such as demonic power. I spent a few hours last night balancing mithril with all the elements that make up nanolaminate armor, and I finally succeeded. When I fired a bullet infused with reinforcement, it was completely knocked back. Normally it would disintegrate on contact, but in this case the mana particles were completely repelled, leaving the projectile structure nearly intact.

I had scanned Kanshou and Bakuya during yesterday's class card fight, who together were able to deflect Medea's A-rank spells when wielded by Archer, thanks to the protection spells she had placed over the blades, and using them as a base I had learned to work Mithrill enough to grant me a complete dispersion of any mana particle-based attacks, or at least magical protection that deflects 80% of incoming magical attacks. Sure, I wasn't even close to Gān Jiàng's level of smithing technique, but hey, I had started yesterday at the end, not to mention I didn't have 'Essence of Five Mountains' or 'Six Hero Metal' that the original smith o the counter guardian they had used; thus, I had failed to enchant Astrea with anti-monster abilities, or grant a higher rank in magical and physical defense.

[...] shehas no face, but Sapphire stares at me, I could tell by how she was floating with the star pointing in my direction [I...don't even know how to comment on this...] says the mystic code on the bomb uncertainly which I had just unhooked.

Miyu just shrugged. She had no information to calculate with, so she seems to have just accepted that it happened and put her mind at ease.

"Did you sleep?" she asks with a frown, though, staring at the dark circles I knew I had.

"No, but don't worry, I'll get some rest when we finish here" I still have plenty of caffeine in my system to burn off.

I wasn't going to be able to do it anyway after everything that happened last night. Then again, I still had a lot of things to do, like fitting that alternator on the Astrea that was just ready, along with its new armor. I also had to build a new frame, but that would take longer, and I wasn't sure it would be ready for at least another couple of days.

What alternator? One that converts volts into mana particles. Since I had not focused only on noble phantasm, I had found many items, mystic code, projects or equipment that Archer does not give in grade to make after seeing them, like the knight arms, but thanks to the discarded project of a magus who wanted to accumulate magical energy from a thunderstorm for his rituals, I had finally found some pieces that I was missing. It wasn't very efficient, since it takes 10,000 volts to make a single particle of mana, but it was better than nothing. Thanks to that alternator I could take energy from the Astrea core and replenish my prana in case I needed it through the Alaya-Vijanana, which I discovered could do it. Maybe because it is connected to my brain? Whatever, it required more research as soon as I had time and energy to use.

In fact, maybe I was just so excited about being able to build a lot of new things that my hands were quivering to draw and design new armor, weapons, equipment, and various upgrades. It had been a long time since I had been so impatient with the idea of locking myself in the workshop.

[It's not good to have such irregular hours, especially for someone who is still growing] the flying wand admonishes me, as we arrive at our destination.

"Working with All Might required an unhealthy amount of overtime and small hours beforehand, so I got used to that, I guess" I deflect the subject.

I had talked about it many times with the elderly couple who took care of me after Shizuku died, and they had finally given up, understanding that they would not change my mind or habits. My job, especially at the beginning, was backbreaking, but necessary. All Might needed the new costume and considering how quickly he ruined the old models, well, I had no choice but to extend the hours to prepare him spares while I worked on the final version of his current loadout.

"It's not healthy anyway" Miyu shoots back, frowning.

Honestly, it's kinda cute how awkward she tries to show her concern. It shows that despite the low affection she cares at least a little, I suppose.

"Perhaps, but we'll talk about that another time. We've arrived" I say, stopping.

The place wasn't that impressive. More like an airstrip, with some large well maintained hangars. The whole area is surrounded by a 15m high wall, which indicated the private area and serves to keep things from flying beyond the test area. This place is isolated, because Toshinori usually tests the equipment I prepare for him, and he needed adequate precautions for All Might's tests. Then again, it was difficult to create an area that could handle someone who with one punch generates more energy than the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

"It's spacious…" Miyu helpfully notes, looking at the surrounding area.

"Good, now that we're here, transform and see what you can do" I say turning my back to Miyu to avoid accidentally seeing her naked again.

Honestly it was a good sight, because although she was a loli, she is actually not completely shapeless, just very 'modest' because of her size. That doesn't make her any less sensual with the right atmosphere, but it was neither the time nor the place, besides the fact that it would definitely make her uncomfortable to be viewed that way now. Just because she trusts me didn't mean she was ready to see me that way. She most likely would not have done so before rescuing Shirou, when the duo would really be safe from the Ainsworths.

"Done" she announces after a few moments, distracting me from my thoughts.

I turn to look at her, more calm now since we don't have a threat in the form of a corrupted spirit that could run around doing a massacre, and I couldn't help but appreciate the outfit.

"Pretty" I comment casually, finding her really adorable in that dress that makes her look like a fairy.

Reflexively, the magical girl covers her face with flushed cheeks.

"D-don't say things like that so abruptly" she mutters, embarrassed.

"Now quite adorable" I comment casually teasing her, causing her to let out an even more embarrassed squeal.

[I definitely agree] Sapphire admits, making her new mistress's cheeks puff out.

"Don't make fun of me" she pouts, her cheeks still rosy from the compliments she didn't expect, as she looks at her partner. "So, what do I do?" she asks a little more seriously now.

[All she has to do is imagine the action to be performed, I'll do the rest automatically] Sapphire explains helpfully, earning a rather confused look from Miyu.

"How does the process work?" the new magical girl asks skeptically, making her wand make a thoughtful sound.

[This is….a good question. I never thought too much about the process actually. For me it has always been normal. It is as if I asked him to describe all the functions of the human body. I could tell him the ones that catch the eye the most, but I wouldn't be able to answer on the part of the more complex mechanisms, such as the one concerning the second true sorcery] Sapphire reports, with a bit of indecision in her tone, confusing her new user even more.

"...you are programmed not to be able to access the most vital information of your specifications" I say, shifting the attention of the two to me "Zeldrech will surely have put security locks in place to prevent the most important data on your creation and operation not leaked, in case you get stolen, I suppose. I've done the same thing with Jarvis when I've created and modified him over the years. Trying to force yourself to access such sensitive information is more harmful and counterproductive than anything else, so rather than asking him how it works, try to imagine the process of the action you want to achieve, so you won't hinder Sapphire's operating system, Miyu"

"Okay" she nods after a moment "Are there any targets I can shoot at without problems?"

I nod, beckoning her to follow me. We moved closer to the sheds, where I got dummies for target practice. Miyu then fired test magic bullets. All were high explosive plasma charges. After those we did several tests, where it tried causing bigger explosions, some concentrated, a continuous jet of magic, a shield to repel incoming blows, piercing blows of various sizes, solid blades and so on. The thing that immediately caught my eye, though, was that he could do everything with ease and was using me as a role model. The explosive rounds, for example, had the same composition as those of the Barbatos. The GUND-bits lasers, piercing shots relied on the tip of my halberd, while the blades on the cutting parts. She had replicated all the chemical and physical components that I used to do the same things with my armor, through Sapphire. Even for the shield she had used Newton's third law of motion as a basis.

A couple of hours later, we could honestly tell that Miyu had a rock solid foundation on her mystic code ability, much to Sapphire's surprise and delight. I myself was quite proud and happy to be used as a model by her; however, I wasn't so blind to an obvious problem. Despite Miyu's remarkable skills and solid grounding, she's held back by the very rationality that makes her so competent, which will surely hinder her from here on out as she adjusts to her new situation.

In fact, the first problem had arisen quite early actually.

[Good, now imagine flying Miyu-sama] says the Sapphire [Due to my functions, it also has air combat as an employment option. It would be a real shame not to use it, when Jack-sama is here to help her with her workouts]

"But...humans can't fly" replies the sorceress in training, with a rather serious and confused expression at the same time.

There was a slightly uncomfortable silence after that, especially when they both look at me, waiting for an explanation.

"Well, basically, it wouldn't be wrong…if I said that 200 years ago" I reply, trying to find the right words to say it. This seems to hit her like a punch in the stomach though "Although rare, there are quirks that allow you to fly or do so for a limited time. Some examples would be quirks that give the user tactile telekinesis which among other things allow them to fly at great speeds, others cause a physical mutation that creates wings, gravitational changes on the user or-" the more I spoke, the more she seemed to be physically affected by my words "Well, why don't we use this last idea as evidence?"

"Mn?" Miyu makes a rather adorable confused sound.

"I'm sure you know that since you like reading my old library research-" the girl at least had the decency to blush. I had to drag her away this morning to take her to try on school uniforms, as she had completely isolated herself from the rest of the world by almost compulsively reading all the things she had 'missed' "The average acceleration of gravity measured on the Earth, which is worth 9.80665 m s-2, influences our mass to establish its weight. Since you can't imagine yourself flying, why don't you start by floating? Undo the gravitational pull the earth puts on you using that formula, then start figuring out how to get you moving from there."

She blinks and understands what I mean, but still looks dubious.

"Can't you tell me how the Astrea flies?" she asks, a bit hopeful actually.

"Honestly, I don't think it's possible for you to move like that, at least for now" I say with a grimace "Realistically speaking, a human brain couldn't normally calculate the amount of data it would take to move like I did last night, at least not without a quirk doing the bulk of the work. You could do it with Sapphire, but even if you gave it all the data from the Astrea, I'd have no idea if it could handle the effort and she can't check its specs to make sure the amount of data doesn't overload it. If I pass it dozens of terabytes of data, I risk breaking it and I don't have a way to fix it later."

"I understand. I'll try gravity then. I have an idea for moving in mid-air, and I think I figured out how I should think." My answer upsets Miyu enough to make her immediately dismiss the idea. The mystic code doesn't make a sound at the prospect though, but somehow, I could tell she was disappointed in herself.

I nod, a little thoughtfully. Would it be possible instead to create a separate device to connect to Sapphire for that kind of calculations? In that case, all the operations would be managed by an external device which would only give the necessary instructions to put into practice the flight and all the movements to be done in the air, as I do with the Astrea through the Alaya-Vijnana...

While I think about how to solve the problem, Miyu continues to practice in the air, canceling her gravity and using platforms as a springboard to move in mid-air. At one point she tried to remove the friction with the air to increase her speed as much as possible, but it didn't end very well. She still has to get used to the simpler movements.

I was slapped hard, losing my balance.

"Ow?! What the hell Miyu?!" I yell, massaging my sore jaw, as I return to the real world.

[Jack-sama, are you okay?!] asks the wand a little frantically with concern.

"Yeah, I was better before though" I comment offhand, setting me down, still with a sore face "Did you want to take my head off? Why the hell did you hit me in the first place?"

[Because we had been trying to talk to you for nearly 15 minutes and you weren't showing any signs of life!] Sapphire replies deadpan, with the care from before replaced by some anger [What happened anyway? By the time we went back for advice, you were dressed as Archer]

"Mn?" I look at myself and see that I am still dressed as Emiya. I tried to run into Emiya again, but in my reality marble I couldn't find anybody else this time. Yesterday he looked quite down when he saw how I was processing and using his knowledge better than he ever did in his life "Strange. I tried the Install before, but-"

[What?! Why?!]

"I was curious? We had to do some testing anyway so-"

[There's a difference between running tests and jumping into something potentially fatal!] shouts the mystic code exasperatedly [Goodness, can you tell what's wrong with you?]

"Aren't you being a little too melodramatic?" I ask rolling my eyes, only to be hit over the head by Sapphire, courtesy of Miyu "Ouch! Miyu, what the fuck?!"

[Language!]

"Not now!" I blurt, ignoring the wand, staring at the person who hit me with the wand again, with a frown. Unlike her normally stoic expression, she had a very pronounced frown, and was looking at me with obviously mixed emotions "Why did you hit me? We were going to take this test anyway, so why are you reacting that way!" I ask annoyed.

[He doesn't seem to understand just how reckless Jack-sama was] sighs Sapphire annoyed [Pushing someone's soul inside someone else's body is the height of stupidity. The repercussions that could be afterwards are often almost lethal and irreversible. That thoughtlessness of his could have seriously taken its toll on his life]

"I highly doubt it would have happened since we found ourselves in my reality marble, but even if it was the risk if I hadn't taken it Miyu would have, so in the end nothing changes" I retort, impassive.

[I am programmed to use the power of the cards, nothing would have happened to Miyu-sama!] she hisses at me against the mystic code, ignoring the reality marble part.

"The command you knew you could run was 'include' not 'install,' and it was to use a portion of the power inside the card, not to merge with the spirit locked up in it. Not to mention the fact that you didn't even know what that function was for until last night," I remind her, growing bothered by the way they were putting me on the spot. "Running the first test to see how the card works is essential to have an extra weapon in case things go bad with the next one. If the backlash in the worst case was as bad as you implied, then that was all the more reason to have me test it first. Unlike Miyu, I still don't have a way to enter the mirror world alone, and we still haven't heard from your sister. If I had kicked the bucket, it would have been less harm than losing Miyu, because she can still stop class cards in the mirror world instead of waiting for them to break into the real one if the places were reversed."

[Jack-sama, does he even hear what he's saying?!] winces appalled Sapphire from my cold reasoning.

"Yes. Class cards, willingly or unwillingly, are dangerous enemies we know little about, and we need every advantage we can get to keep them from coming into town and wreaking havoc, because the people who could stop them in that case can be counted on the fingers of one hand" I reply deadly serious "We have no idea how long it would have taken you to find a new combat-ready master, and we don't know when the next attack will be. I looked at the choices I had, and I took the one that guaranteed the greatest gain with the least risk to accomplish the mission."

The Astrea is incredible compared to any piece of engineering created by humans, but it still wasn't enough against a heroic spirit. Yesterday I won only because Archer was reduced to a mindless beast and his stats were incredibly low compared to the average servant, due to the fact that he comes from a timeline where the era of the gods ended and had been upgraded a bit by Alaya as part of the deal they made, just enough to make him 'useful' as a world defense system. I needed more than a few enhancements to be able to compete with the individuals who made history; therefore, I was intent on using all the counter guardian knowledge to the bone.

Having taken part in this hunt, it was simply logical that I would do whatever was necessary to achieve our goal. In the event that I drop dead while fighting the class cards, it is not certain that Ruby and Sapphire with their masters will not be able to retrieve the class cards and save everything there is to be saved, because my 'life' is not a necessary requirement in itself.

Besides, we do not know if the class cards are the same as the ones I remember, since my luck is what it is. It is just one more reason to do everything in my power in the situation.

Miyu's eyes become glazed over.

"Why don't you understand?" she whispers, allowing all her frustration to slip away "I...don't want to lose another person because of me!" she shouts, leaping away using the method I had pushed her to make in advance.