High above the city of Fuyuki, lights twinkled rapidly.

While most of the people below in the city would believe it to be nothing more than fireworks or something mundane, the truth was a bit more mystical than that.

"Why are you attacking damn you! Have you forgotten that we are working together on this mission!?"

"Honestly, this is troubling. That shot is something to take seriously."

"HuHuHu! This is my mission Alone! Even you won't be able to take all of these!"

"Master, you sound like some sort of monster."

"Silence, Saphire! For the sake of my shining future, disappear! Tohsaka Rin!"

With a powerful shine, a beam of condensed mana shot out of the strange stick being held by the girl in a blue dress with animal ears on her head towards the other girl with a red dress and black animal ears on her head.

"AAH! Ruby! Expand a barrier! A barrier!"

"One normal barrier coming up, But-"

Whatever else the stick wanted to say, it could not complete as despite a barrier made of pure mana forming around the girl called Rin Tohsaka, the blast from the other girl still managed to char Rin with the attack.

"Such a strong magical blast cannot be completely repelled."

The stick completed its words while comically slumping forward, showing that it had taken damage just like its master, even though it was very bizarre for a stick to talk, let alone emote like a living being.

"Well, I'm using regeneration, so withdraw for a little while and heal your wounds-"

"No, I don't need to heal. Pain, now it's just pain."

"Really, just like a pest. You are such a stubborn woman. Won't you just hurry up and get lost?"

The Kaleidostick Ruby, a mystic code created using the second true magic by the Kaleidoscope himself, fell silent as it sensed the rising rage within its master at the taunts of Luviagelita Edelfelt of the Edelfelt family and the user of its twin, the Kaleidostick Saphire.

"So, that's how you feel. If that's how it is.."

"Rin?"

Rin reached into her coat and took out a Class Card, causing Luvia to do the same.

"I SHALL GIVE YOU YOUR LAST RIGHTS!"

"..In that case, I won't hold back either."

Both the girls placed their Class Cards on their respective Kaleidosticks while calling out.

"Class Card: Archer"

"Class Card: Lancer"

"" Include""

And yet, much to their confusion, nothing happened.

The short fuse of Rin Tohsaka finally ignited as she started slamming the class card into the Kaleidostick, trying to forcefully make the stick include the card.

"Hey Ruby? Include! Why aren't you doing anything?"

"What's wrong Saphire?"

"Well, isn't this great? Now, we have to cut off association with you two."

"HA!?"

"The old sorcerer did not loan us Kaleidosticks to you so you two can quarrel like children. You two are supposed to be cooperating in order to carry out the duty which the master has given you. But, if this is how you use my magic power, then you have greatly failed to see the importance of this task."

'Ack! She has a point…'

"Saphire?"

"It is as Ruby-neesan says. It is because of the Sorcerer's orders that Luvia-sama is my master for a few days right? Completely ignoring the mission with such arrogance and defiant behavior, With all due respect Luvia-sama, I do not judge you to be a suitable master."

"" And so-""

At the same time, both the sticks withdrew their power from the girls, causing them to change back into their civilian clothes.

"While you are being selfish, enjoy the little bit of spare time you are getting now!"

With their piece said, the Kaleidosticks shot out into the horizon faster than the eye could track, leaving the girls high in the air to plummet to the ground comically.

"AAHHH! I'm falling!"

"Saphire? This is not acceptable!"

Thankfully, the fact that they were both accomplished Magus for their age was the only thing that allowed them to survive their fall.

But neither the two young Magus nor the Kaleidostcks noticed as the shadows on top of the bridge shifted a bit and revealed a young man wearing black armor and a red cloak covering all his features.

Neither did they notice that he was ready to protect the girls should they be unable to slow themselves before they fell into the river, or the fact that his golden eyes never failed to track the two Kaleidosticks as they shot into the horizon.

Assured that the girls were fine if the way they were now wrestling on the bank of the river was anything to go by, the figure dismissed the knife that he used to conceal himself in the shadows and shot towards his destination.

I shot through the city of Fuyuki by jumping from roof to roof while reinforcing my body to the utmost limit, trying to get to the place that I had scouted out a few days ago but chose to wait until I was a little more powerful to challenge it.

But given what I just saw, I don't think I can afford to wait anymore.

It was already a shock for me to see Rin and Luvia arriving in Fuyuki this early, just over a year after they left for London to 'pursue their dreams' as they told me before departing, which clued me into the fact that they must have left for the Clock Tower. But no amount of words is enough to explain what I felt when I saw them flying in the air and attacking each other with powers that were borderline sorcery, something that I doubt even my Counter Guardian self can fight against without relying on the Counter Force.

The biggest problem, however, is the fact that I was unable to Trace those weird sticks that seem to be the source of their power. From what I did manage to trace, I could tell that the Second Magic was involved in their operation, which was bad news for me. Even worse, they seem to have some variation of the Class Card similar to my own in their possession which brought into question their whole existence in the first place but it is a problem for later since there is a bigger problem from what I saw.

If the Kaleidoscope saw fit to give mystic codes of such power to Rin and Luvia for whatever it is they are doing here, then it must mean that the threat that they must face has to be on a similar level as that of a Heroic Spirit or a Dead Apostle Ancestor at the very least, or something even worse. Considering how my life seems to be the embodiment of the saying may you live in interesting times, I am willing to bet that it is the latter.

Now, the simplest solution would be to confront Rin and Luvia to find out what is happening. But this approach meant that I would have to give up the fact that I am a Magus to the two, giving up the element of surprise should they somehow end up being a threat to my family, something that was all too possible thanks to Dad's past and the countless enemies he made during his time as the Magus Killer.

I ignored the twinge of guilt and pain I felt when I tried to imagine Rin and Luvia as enemies. They may be very close friends of mine, but I cannot allow my family to be in danger, even if said danger is from those I consider my closest friends.

With a body of Steel, and the Heart ablaze.

These hands will never lose anything.

With the vow remade, I focused on my current course of action as I arrived at my destination.

First things first. I need to complete all of my Ascension Quests and seriously start getting Exp. But before that, I need something that can negate those magic blasts that the girls seem to be able to use that could probably easily bypass my Rank D magic resistance.

-Dungeon: The Knight cursed with love-

-Rank: B-

-Warning: The dungeon is two levels above the player's Rank, death of the player highly likely-

-Safeguard activated: Instant Dungeon escape feature available-

Looking at the ranking, I took a deep breath and directly entered the dungeon that was located at the docks. A dungeon that I had already scouted out before and decided to wait before challenging since the entity inside was far beyond what I could handle at the moment.

But, I no longer have the time to wait, and I need the powers of the one inside this dungeon.

The moment I stepped inside, I immediately heard the roar of the mindless brute and the whistling of the wind.

On instinct, I ducked as a blood-red spear passed right through the area where my head was a fraction of a second ago, displaying the massive difference in speed and strength between the two of us.

"Install: Archer"

Instantly, my Class Card merged with me and boosted my parameters, allowing me to somewhat match the monster's parameters. This allowed me to once again dodge the thrust of a yellow spear that was directed to disembowel me.

This time, I took advantage of his swing and distanced myself from the entity, allowing me to see him in his entirety.

Just like when I had scouted out the dungeon, his teal outfit was marred by blood-red pulsing vein-like structures all over his body, indicating his corrupted status. His handsome face was famed to have attracted countless maidens marred by his snarling visage and blood-red eyes. The love spot that made him famous no longer had any effect as his berserk status overrode its usefulness. His two spears had cracks running across their lengths, showing that they were on the verge of turning into Broken Phantasm due to the stress being placed on them by the upgraded Mana rank of their wielder.

-Diarmuid Ua Duibhne-

-Level: 10 [Rank: B]-

-Class: Lancer (Corrupted)-

If I had not used my Class Card, I am very sure I would be blood splatter on the ground by now.

To go up a Rank on the overall level, I need to reach Level 100 and then take an Ascension Quest, resetting my level back to zero and raising my Rank by one level. Going by that logic, the difference between my Rank D level 40 and the Rank B level 10 Lancer in front of me is the same as the difference between the heavens and the earth.

Thankfully, the cheat item that is the Class Card allows me to bridge the gap a little bit, raising my Rank to B as well and allowing me to fight the corrupted servant on equal grounds. Even then, it only put me on the same level as my opponent, which meant that I still had to worry about the disparity between the skill of my opponent and his or her personal skills which could very easily one-shot me even when having the Class Card installed.

As I projected Kanshou and Bakuya and parried the strikes of the Lancer, I kept my eyes on his weapons, letting my instincts guide my body to deflect any sneak attacks that the servant would send my way while taking advantage of the fact that I was staring at his weapons.

Judging the concept of creation

Hypothesizing the basic structure

Duplicating the composition material

Imitating the skill of its maker

Sympathizing with the experience of its growth

Reproducing the accumulated years

Excelling every manufacturing process

"Trace On"

Just as I predicted, Kanshou and Bakuya broke after the repeated strikes and parrying of Lancer's weapons, but the moment they broke, my new projections appeared in my hand and stopped Lancer in his tracks, whether from shock or confusion, I would not know, but I would take advantage of his lapse in judgment.

Instinctively, the knight raised his red spear to block my attack, creating an opening in his stance. Taking advantage of the opening, I thrust the yellow rose of mortality towards the chest of the Servant. But, the servant proved why he was considered a famous figure in history and immediately let go of his red spear, opting to block my attack with an identical yellow spear.

Unfortunately for the knight, this was within my calculation.

The moment our spears met, I overloaded my projection of Gae Buidhe, the Yellow Rose of Mortality, causing the Noble Phantasm to become Broken and immediately explode. The resulting blast threw us both in the opposite directions while also causing the original Gae Buidhe in Lancer's hand to break apart due to the external force finally surpassing the threshold for stress the weapon was holding onto barely from its owner's berserk mana.

This resulted in another explosion that once again threw Lancer across the battlefield even further, causing multiple containers to collapse on him.

With precious few seconds gained for my next attack, I projected my Black Bow.

"I am the bone of my sword."

Unlike with the Gremlin Village, I cannot restrict the power of my next attack, so the incantation is needed to unleash its full power

"My core is twisted in madness"

"Caladbolg"

With a burst of magic power, the fake spiral sword vanished and a single second later, an explosion shook the area while once again throwing me into the air like a ragdoll.

Wincing at the pain that shot through my body, I got up to my feet to survey the enemy and felt a chill go up my spine.

The entire docks were gone, in its place was a massive crater akin to what would happen if an ICBM hit the spot. But the thing that stood out in the smoking and smoldering crater, was Lancer, dragging himself to his feet using Gae Dearg, the Crimson Rose of Exorcism, as a crutch.

But my initial fright turned to relief and sadness as I properly observed the Servant with my Clairvoyance.

While he might appear to still be able to fight from the distance, the truth is that he is already on his last leg, literally, since one of his legs was bent at an awkward angle and his left hand, the hand that was holding Gae Buidhe, was missing entirely, probably blown to shreds when the Noble Phantasm exploded while still in his hands, and since it was the original and not a copy like mine, the explosive force must have been magnitudes higher than what happened when I overloaded my projection.

Aside from these obvious injuries, he also had a piece of Gae Buidhe sticking out of his left eye, rendering him blind in that eye.

Frankly speaking, he is no longer a threat to me and I can easily get rid of him by firing another Caladbolg from the distance. But, for some reason, I cannot help but feel dirty when I think of that strategy.

So, for the first time in a long while, I allowed my feelings to dictate my action instead of logic and sprinted towards the Knight while projecting Kanshou and Bakuya.

Oddly enough, his remaining eye was no longer blood-red and clouded by rage but had a golden hue similar to my own and a clarity to them that he did not have before.

I did not have much time to study the anomaly since the moment he sensed my approach, he tried to use his remaining leg to steady himself and tried to use Gae Dearg to fight me off, but given his condition, I did not have to struggle much before my blade found its mark and pierced through his chest, ending his life.

And yet, for some reason, I felt like he was content with his death. His golden eye stared at me with gratitude and another emotion that I could not place as he vanished into black motes of light. And in the place where he once stood, a jet-black Class Card similar to my own floated in the air.

With a thought, Class Card ejected from my body as the notifications arrived, indicating my victory.

-Dungeon Cleared-

-Rewards Received-

-Additional Rewards Received for clearing a Dungeon with a higher Rank than the player-

-AP:150-

-Skill EXP: 10,000-

-Lvl EXP: 25,000-

-Unique Item received: Class Card [Lancer]-

-Summoning Catalyst Received: Fragment of Gae Buidhe, the Yellow Rose of Mortality-

-Skill absorbed from the enemy. Please choose one-

|Love Spot [Rank: D]|

|Knight's Strategy [Rank: C]|

|None [Will receive Skill EXP]|

Without hesitation, I chose the third option and received Skill Exp instead of any of those skills, while Knight's strategy will make things easier for me, I don't think I will be able to use it effectively since it would definitely clash with my fighting style that I inherited from Counter Guardian EMIYA.

With that out of the way, it's time for the real reason why I chose to challenge this dungeon this urgently.

Taking out my Archer card and the Lancer card, I used a function of the system that I had only recently discovered.

-Class Card Merger initiated-

-Class Card [Lancer] dissolved-

-Initiating Upgrade-

-Upgrade Complete-

-Class Card [Archer] Rank increased by one Rank-

Without even using Structural Grasp, I could already tell that the process was a success as all the skills and parameters of the Archer card were increased by one Rank across the board, but as a result, the Lancer card is now destroyed permanently, which is an acceptable loss considering that I have already gained Gae Buidhe and Gae Dearg in my reality marble.

"One down, five more to go."