(Rin's pov)

Archer, I don't trust this man, and that's not only because he is annoying. In the Clock Tower, I learned not to trust any magi. They either want to use you, get your secrets, or both. Mostly both.

From what I saw of him, Archer must be a magus. It wasn't difficult to learn this information. An ordinary person wouldn't know about the cards and wouldn't be acquaintanced with the old Saint.

Although he could be with the Church too. His red coat reminds me of the holy shroud that I saw on a few occasions.

He is unknown, but I clearly saw him using magecraft. For the moment before the bow appeared, out of nowhere, I could see his magic circuits light up.

I suspect that he used projection magecraft to make the black bow he was now holding. It's mostly a useless type of magecraft since it's not energy efficient compared to how advanced it is. Made objects also can't stay in the world for too long because the world recognizes them as a phantom that doesn't belong in the natural world and will be erased as an inconsistency.

That raised the question of why just not use a real bow and arrows. Is it for the surprise factor?

It annoys me that I can't figure it out, and I can't even read his expression because of his creepy mask.

I could go to the mirror world without him and just leave him here, but I better keep him where I can see his hands. Keep your friends close and your enemy closer. He is an enemy until proven otherwise. For all I know, he may not even be the Archer Teacher was talking about.

"Come closer, Archer, we are starting."

He walked up relaxed, without any sign of being nervous. He must be experienced and confident in his fighting capabilities.

"Ruby, do your thing." I commanded the stupid wand.

"Then let's go! 2-meter radius, Mirror Road Formation! Opening the path to the other world!"

"Wha-!"

Illya was surprised by the sudden appearance of the magic circle, and Archer seemed to observe the formation with curiosity. Once again, hard to tell with his mask on.

And so we entered the Mirror world.

(Shirou's pov)

The magic circle was interesting... I mostly don't understand it, but it got us to our destination. It would be fun to study it at some point. I don't have that much time, though, so it would be in the future.

I looked around to observe this world. It was dark and wasn't that big, even though it seemed like it.

Materialized servant card will appear soon, so I'll go to my position. I'm mainly support today, and I'll see how Illya will deal with the situation. If she can't win, I'll help out.

Just like I said to Rin before, I'm just a very good insurance.

"Well, I'll go to my position. Good luck."

I reinforced my legs and jumped on the school's rooftop with a few jumps. I didn't even let Rin or Illya say answer me.

Up there, I projected Caladbog II and turned it into an arrow. With a deep breath, I put the arrow into its place, pulled the string, and like that, I was fully ready and focused on firing it at any moment.

(3rd's pov)

Shortly after Archer arrived on the rooftop, a dark portal appeared in the middle of the schoolyard. From it, a woman with long purple hair and a strange blindfold came out.

Noticing the two girls, she launched a powerful attack at them using her monstrous strength. Thankfully it was dodged at the last moment.

Rin using the opening, grabbed three jewels and threw them at Rider.

"Anfang-! Triple fire bomb explosion!!!"

The attack, however, was ineffective against her enemy even though she used her strongest gems during that attack.

With that said, Rin decided to leave everything to Illya, who wielded one of the most powerful mystic codes in the world, allowing its user to use unlimited magical energy, although the output of said energy depends on the user.

Rin didn't run away, though. It was a tactical retreat.

Joking aside, she was ready to assist Illya if the need would arrive.

Illya was not having a good time. She was running for her life from Rider's attacks in an attempt to create some distance between her and her enemy.

She managed to do just that, and now having breathing space, she began her counterattack.

She started releasing a big and powerful mass of energy with swings of her wand in an attempt to hit Rider. The first of her attacks caught her enemy by surprise and managed to hit her, injuring Rider's left arm.

Illya tried using the same attack a few more times, but she couldn't replicate the results of the first one because Rider was too agile for Illya to hit her.

Ruby advised her master to try changing her attack into something else, and Illya complied by using an AoE attack.

It did its job but at the cost of power. It was too spread out, which Rin alerted Illya about.

Using the few moments, she got, Rider was ready to use her Noble Phantasm. A magic circle appeared in front of her.

Seeing this, Rin panicked. A Noble Phantasm was a Servant's trump card. It's usually a very powerful attack that could obliterate anything in its path. She made Illya fight for her because of Ruby, but Illya was still her responsibility. Knowing that she was in danger, she started running to her with gems, ready to create a barrier. Even if it wouldn't be able to stop the attack, it could at least weaken it enough for Illya to survive.

Before even the corrupt Servant could call out the true name of her attack, an arrow went through her heart, flying at high speed. It was powerful enough to make a hole in the Servant's body and hit the ground behind with enough power to create a small explosion to further damage Rider.

Thankfully the said explosion was contained enough to not harm either of the girls.

Seeing that, Rin quickly glanced at where Archer should be, but she couldn't find him. As she was looking up from the corner of her eye, she noticed a familiar red coat.

He was already next to them, walking up to pick up the card.

As he looked at it with a solemn expression hidden behind his mask, he said in a low voice, not reaching anyone around him.

"Can't get a happy ending here either, huh? I can only hope that you weren't self-aware enough to remember it."

For whatever reason, Archer was not feeling a sense of accomplishment or pride for defeating Rider. It was a strange feeling that was hard to describe.

"So, how long are you planning on observing?" Archer turned to two newcomers. They were already here when Illya started fighting, but for some reason, they waited without helping during the fight. Luvia probably wanted to steal the kill in the last second and rub it into Rin's face.

"Oh? So you've noticed us."

Luvia showed herself with a girl in a magical girl outfit similar to Illya's, but the primary colour was purple instead of pink. She looked completely emotionless, which wasn't suited for an elementary school student, any person, to be honest. It was clear to Archer that the child tried to hide her emotions to not be hurt because of her past, and it wasn't just because he knew her story. He had experience with this type, thanks to Sakura.

"A blind man would've noticed. You weren't exactly hiding. You just stood behind the tree."

"As expected of someone recommended by Marshal Zelretch himself. You saw through my perfect hiding spot. Hohohoho~!"

She covered her mouth with her backhand as she laughed in her very unique way. After she was done laughing, she continued.

"It was a magnificent show of abilities, Mr..."

"Archer, you can just call me Archer. You probably noticed why."

"Where are my manners, Archer!? You shared your name with me, but you don't know mine." With that remark, she took a quick glance at Rin, who noticed it, and as always with Luvia, she was annoyed. "Luviagelita Edelfelt at your service." She did a small but gracious bow while holding the hem of her dress. "And this girl is called Miyu Edelfelt. She has a complicated past, and because of that, she acts as my little sister."

"Nice to meet you, Luvia, Miyu."

Then Archer walked up to Miyu and went to her level so they could look into each other eyes. Without saying anything, he brought his fingers to the corner of her mouth and made her 'smile'.

"A smile suits you more. Children shouldn't need to hide from their feelings."

With that said, he patted her head and handed the Rider class card to Rin.

Shirou started walking away as he waved his hand until he realized that he needed either Illya or Miyu to go back to the real world.

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END

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