(3rd's pov)

The battle against Berserker was taking place in a small area, which consisted of only one multistorey building. It was destroyed to the point that it was a miracle that it was still standing.

Among the rubble was a young man. Many of his bones were crushed by the immeasurable strength of Berserker, his skin tanned in many places, and his hair full of white strands to the point that one would question which is his original hair color.

His clothes were already partially destroyed, but miraculously, his mask still covered his face and protected his identity. While he was alone there, it could change at any moment for unforeseen reasons.

The fight clearly was taking a toll on the boy. While his injuries were slowly healing thanks to Avalon, his mana reserves weren't limitless, and the same could be said about his stamina.

Shirou could see a path to victory. He came into this battle with a plan. Even if a chance for success was small, he would grab into it and never let go of it. However, he would need to struggle a bit longer before he could at least attempt to use it.

At that moment, he started to regret his decision a bit. Just a bit, though. It was still a better outcome than letting his little sister fight this monster.

The young man took out a golden card with an image of a knight engraved on it.

"I would appreciate your help right now, but it doesn't look like I'm getting it. Though it's not like me to ask for help anyway."

▂▂▃▃▅▅▅ーーー!!

A monstrous roar resonated through the air, announcing his presence, and slowly, a huge figure could be seen that while it looked like it was in a worse condition than the young man because of many weapons sticking out from its body and some cuts, the figure similar to the boy was healing and the weapons started falling off.

"So the break is over." The young man forced himself up despite feeling pain overall in his body. He could feel Avalon reaching its limit, so he couldn't take much more damage and walk to tell the tale.

Shirou projected Byakuya and Kanshou even though they didn't have any effect on Berserker anymore, but he was the most proficient with them, and they didn't use up a lot of mana.

"Here I go!"

---

(Before the fight)

Shirou, in his Archer's disguise, was able to convince the girls to let him fight alone in the end. Was it his arguments? Way with words? Maybe his charm. It's a mystery that will never be solved.

"Are you sure about that? You are the one to warn us about the dangers, and at the same time, you threw away your own advice. It sounds pretty hypocritical."

Shirou smirked under his mask.

"You can say that twice."

There was silence for a moment until Rin took out some gems and gave them to Archer.

"Take these. They aren't much, but I hope they could at least buy you some time or create a distraction."

"If Rin goes as far as giving you some cheap gems, I can't be any worse." Luvia joined the conversation, and just like Rin, she gave Archer gems for emergencies.

Even while trying to be nice to a member of their group, their try to one-up each other, and Luvia, being the richer of the two, will always win in a battle of giving, but the situation turned awkward for Shirou as there was one small detail that the girls don't know about.

"How do I use them?"

The being known as EMIYA never learned a lot about jewel magecraft. One of the reasons for that is that jewel magecraft is expensive. While he could create projections of gems, they were far from the concept of swords, so producing them was not efficient in any way, so it was natural that Shirou didn't know anything about it. Also, learning this specific magecraft during his training never crossed his mind as his hands were already packed with projections and runes alike.

Hearing their mysterious companion, both Rin, and Luvia turned to him in disbelief. Miyu, on the other hand, didn't understand why they were so surprised. She didn't know how to do it either.

"Archer... did you attend the Clock Tower by any chance?" Luvia asked with uncertainty. She and her rival Rin probably knew the answer to this question, but they hoped because the answer they came up with was so outlandish, so impossible, and so frightening to some extent that they tried to rationalize what they had witnessed of Archer and what he did say.

While not everyone specializes in jewel magecraft like the Tohsaka and Edefelt households, one could count on one hand how many people on this side of the world didn't know at least the basics.

Jewel magecraft is as old as human history itself. They were symbols of wealth and royalty but also youth and health. That's why they were used in Alchemy as well. Every aspiring magus at least learned about the history of this magecraft, so not knowing anything about it would mean that the person only recently discovered the world of magecraft or was incredibly sheltered and focused on mastering a singular type of magecraft which happens so rarely it's practically unheard of.

The second option was almost impossible to associate with Archer as he showed skills in reinforcement, projection, and runecraft. Each of them was at a high level, which would leave the first option, which was equally ridiculous.

With both options out, they didn't know what to think.

"Not as far as I recall. I never left Japan, to be honest." At least not that he remembered.

The girls glanced at each other and silently agreed not to dwell on this thought too much. Some things are better left unknown, and their instincts are telling them that the answer to their questions would only bring headaches.

"Just try to activate it the same way you do your magic circle. The jewels I gave you will create a weak explosion and blind your enemy. I thought that you would appreciate the secondary effect more, so I didn't focus on firepower."

Rin explained the effects of the gem she gave, and Archer appreciated it. Just as she suspected, even the most powerful of her spells wouldn't be able to even scratch Berserker, so the blinding effect would be valued the most.

"Mine are wind spells. You can use them to blow away your enemy or yourself to dodge some attacks, but I wouldn't recommend it. I would comment on its ability to create a shield, but I doubt it would be useful enough in your fight." Luvia, just like Rin, described the effects of her jewels.

While these jewels weren't the most powerful, Archer needed everything he could get his hands on for his fight. Even if he had a plan, he couldn't use it from the beginning. Shirou would need to kill Heracles a few times before the plan could even work.

After everything was said and done, it was time for Archer to get teleported and defeat Berserker.

"Go inside in about 30 minutes. Either I defeat Berserker and will be waiting for you, or you should have an easier time finishing him off."

"Don't even joke about it, you cynical bastard! We agreed to let you fight only because you said that you could win." Rin argued with Archer, at which he shrugged his shoulders.

"That's the plan, so don't you worry."

With that said, Luvia gave a signal to Miyu to teleport Archer, and that's what she did.

(Illya's pov)

I was taking a bath, trying to finally decide what I should do. I know that Rin said that I have up to three days, but the earlier I know what I want, the better.

I thought that relaxing in the bath would clear my thoughts... It didn't help. Now, I was just wet with the same thoughts I had before. I somehow feel cheated.

*Slam*

"Yaaaa-hoooo, Ilya-chan!!! I AM BACK!"

A white-haired woman entered the room with a burst of joyful energy, who, of course, was...

"Ma... Mama!?"

"Yeah! I'm home, Illya!"

Mama took notice of Ruby almost instantly and picked her up by her 'wing'.

"Oh? a toy? Illya, you are still a little child."

"No, that's..."

"Long trips are so exhausting. When was the last time we took a bath together?"

Mama took her clothes in an instant and hopped into a bathtub. I really can't keep up with mama. She is too energetic, but I think it's one of her better qualities, but at the moment I don't know how to behave. She came back so suddenly.

After some of her usual shenanigans and calling it deepening bonds between mother and daughter, she asked me something that made me flinch internally.

"While I was away, did anything strange happen?"

Yes, mama. I found out that magic is real, became a magical girl, and fought to the death with what appeared to be historical figures.

Not like I can say that outlook. *Sigh.*

"... Nothing special"

"Oh, come on! It did happen, didn't it!? Something reeeealy amazing!"

"Eh? Eeeeeehhh!!!!?

Does mama know about everything that I did? Is it the reason why she came back?

"Yes, there's a huge mansion in front of our house!"

Oh, that...

"I almost hadn't noticed that. Sella told me one of your classmates lives there. What's her name?"

This question somehow saddened me. I still haven't decided if I should continue fighting or not, but somehow, my indecisiveness was betraying Miyu.

"It's... Miyu..."

"Miyu-chan, eh? Is she a transfer student? Are you friends?" Mama continued asking.

"... Yeah."

"Tell me, what's she like." Mama's voice was very gentle at the moment, and because of that, words just kept coming out, and I started explaining to her about Miyu. How she is a shy girl and talks only when it's necessary, or rather she isn't accustomed to talking. How she is exceptional in both studies and sports.

The more I talked, the more I started to realize how high the opinion I had of Miyu was. Maybe deep inside, I thought that she would be alright even without me. She was a better fighter than me and had a stronger reason to fight, so why would she need me...

"Are you regretting your decision?"

"Huh?"

Mama's question threw me off.

"What do you mean by that, mama?"

"You talk about Miyu-chan like your friendship has ended. Does that have to do with the key activating two times already?"

If the previous question threw me off, then this made my eyes go wide.

"Ma... ma... what did you just say?"

"I didn't think it would loosen up so early. After keeping it for 10 years, it's almost drained of magical power. You used most of it..."

"Mama... you knew about my power...? Then tell me! What is that power!?"

I needed to know. What is the power that allowed me to defeat both Saber and Assassin and, at the same time, harmed my friends?

"Who knows~."

"Wha-!? Don't play dumb so suddenly, mama!!!"

Mama started explaining how it was meaningless to tell me because I needed to learn it by myself, and it was too early for me to know. When I started arguing, she delivered a karate chop straight on the top of my head.

"I can tell you one thing. You shouldn't be afraid of your own power. It's neither good nor evil. The important thing is how you use it... Your will. It doesn't matter what kind of power you have. You don't need to be afraid. It is, without doubt, a part of you."

Part of... me? I didn't want to think of this power as part of me. If I have a part of me that hurts people around me, then I would rather not have it to begin with, but maybe I was thinking about it the wrong way. If that's part of me, I should be able to control it and use it. I still feel bad for hurting Rin-San, Luvia-san, Miyu, and especially Archer-san. He was wounded the most.

"I can see that you somehow understood what I meant. My Illya-chan is growing up so fast." Mama pulled me into a hug. "Now, the only thing left is for you to decide what you want to do?"

Mama is right. I know exactly what I should do now. The doubt that was clouding my mind vanished with the fear of my own power.

"Thanks, mama. I need to go somewhere now!"

I knew that I could wait for tomorrow to let the group know about my decision, but I just couldn't wait and ran to Luvia-san's mansion to tell them.

(3rd's pov)

The young white-haired girl hurriedly dressed up while also taking Ruby, as the wand couldn't fly with Irisviel present. All that was on her mind was to let her friend know that she planned to fight with her till the end.

Earlier, she didn't possess a resolution to fight, but it changed today. She realized that she didn't need to fight for herself. She didn't want to let Miyu and Archer fight alone. She won't think of this as a game anymore, and while being hurt still scared her to a small degree, knowing that her friends are fighting and could be injured while she could prevent it scared her even more.

Illya ran like the wind to the mansion across the street and went through the gate. With a Lear of excitement and impatience, she pressed the ring bell, but no one answered, so she repeated the process a few more times.

It was true that it was already late, but not late enough for everyone to be asleep.

"Are they out at this hour?" Illya thought out loud as she peeked through the window.

"That's certainly strange. If you would like, I could use Secret Device #4 to search up Sapphire." Ruby offered a solution, and Illya, of course, agreed to her suggestion.

After Ruby pulled out an antenna and started looking for Sapphire's signal.

"Hmmm... That's strange. Sapphire right now is at the location of the last card...!" She said something she shouldn't have near Illya, and she quickly checked on her Master, who surprisingly didn't give a big reaction, but her excitement vanished and was replaced by sorrow and some regret, probably because she didn't make up her mind earlier. It didn't sit right with Ruby.

"Illya-san, let's go meet them!"

"Eh?" Illya was surprised by Ruby's outburst.

"If they really lied to you, we are going to kick their asses. How dare they play with your emotions like that. Especially Rin... She was the one who listened to you and should understand your resolve the most. If they don't have a good excuse, I'm going to use one of my Secret Forbidden Devices to make their life miserable!"

Ruby was fuming with rage. She cared for Illya a lot and wanted nothing more than for her to be happy, as she was the ideal magical girl in her eyes. Even if Illya decided to never fight again or run away somewhere far away, she would stay with her Master till the end.

Illya perked up a bit hearing Ruby.

"You are right, Ruby. It could also be a misunderstanding, and they are just checking the location before taking any action." Illya was thinking optimistically, and with that said, she transformed into her magical girl persona and flew toward her new destination.

---

Shirou Emiya, in his disguise, got transferred into the mirror world. He was, just like before, standing at the top of the building. He looked around carefully to observe his soon-to-be battlefield. The world was a lot smaller than before. At the moment, it was only as big as the building Shirou was currently standing on.

Not a lot of space for a fight of this caliber, but he already knew that it would be the case.

▂▂▃▃▅▅▅ーーー!!

A loud roar came from below, and moments later, Berserker climbed through the floor, revealing his towering figure of while holding his axe-sword.

Shirou could see that Heracles was clearly more powerful than him, and all of his instincts were telling... no, yelling that this fight would be his biggest challenge so far and the battle won't be an easy one.

Shirou projected his bow and Caladbog. It wasn't time to play around or even play safe, as it wouldn't be enough to defeat Heracles. That's why the redhead didn't stop at projecting Caladbog as an arrow but filled it to the brim with his prana to the point it was almost breaking.

Seeing that the weapon couldn't handle it anymore, he shot it at Berserker.

Emiya used a Broken Phantasm. He couldn't project weapons at their original strength because the only thing he can create is fakes, but Broken Phantasms allowed him to somehow bypass it. Every Servant is able to use it, but no one would use it in a real fight unless, as a last of last option. It's a suicide attack that destroys the user's weapon in exchange for power, and the broken Noble Phantasm is almost impossible to fix.

The only known exception for this is EMIYA and, by extension, any version of Shirou. As he doesn't possess a true Noble Phantasm, he can abuse this technique to some extent.

The arrow flew at Berserk at speed high enough for untrained eyes to be invisible. Still, Berserker, even in his madness, was an exceptional warrior with crazy battle instincts, so it was obvious that he would attempt to dodge it, which Shirou was prepared for.

Heracles grabbed part of the rooftop that he had destroyed and threw it at the arrow, making it explode earlier than planned. Shirou was forced to back away a bit, but he didn't let go of his bow. Opposite, in fact, he fired six arrows in quick succession at the floor below Heracles, using the smoke and dust from the explosion to hide his intentions, and it worked.

Berserker fell down, and Shirou rushed at Berserker while he was falling down. Emiya projected his trusted twin blades and was ready to pierce his opponent. He was aiming at his neck from both sides, but as he was in range, his instincts screamed to dodge, and rightfully so. Berserker, even in the free-falling state, was able to locate and swing his weapon at Shirou.

Using reinforcement and his instincts, he barely dodged the swing by the hair, and if not for reinforcement, Shirou would have been blown away by the air pressure created by the swing itself.

Being in range, Shirou leaped at Heracles, and as he reinforced Kanshou and Bakuya into overedge, making it possible to pierce Berserker's skin, but just to be safe, he made them Broken Phantasm, so as soon as they sank into giant's body Shirou jumped away as fast as possible to escape the incoming explosion.

"That's one. Eleven more to go."

---

END

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