Within the mirror world housing the Class Cards, it was a scene of absolute chaos.
A storm of steel, barrages of condensed mana, and charged beams of magic clashing against steel and lead.
Shirou Emiya stormed a version of his father, the Counter Guardian EMIYA. Kanshou and Bakuya exploiting every opening and every opportunity to kill him instantly by shattering his Spiritual Core.
Yet, the Counter Guardian would not make it that easy.
Kiritsugu dashed all over the battlefield, avoiding Shirou's Sword Barrel and maintaining distance from Shirou, enough to escape his melee attacks.
He also used his agility to easily avoid the barrages of magical attacks from Rin and Luvia, who tried their utmost to help by wielding the kaleidosticks, even though all they managed to achieve was to become more obvious targets or distract Kirtisugu enough for Shirou to get a few hits in.
But what little damage that Shirou did manage to inflict on EMIYA, Irisviel's Noble Phantasm would heal instantly.
Shirou knew that the only sure-fire way to end Kiritsugu was to destroy his Spiritual Core in a single hit, something that he could do with ease if he used some of his more powerful weapons within his reality marble.
However, the moment Kiritsugu sensed Shirou's activation of his aria, he would instantly target Miyu, who was a non-combatant at the moment, and the now awake but still catatonic Illya, forcing Shirou to switch to a shield instead and protect the girls with Rin and Luvia covering his back.
In essence, Kiritsugu was using the girls as hostages, forcing Shirou to rely solely on his sword barrel and swordplay to fight Kiritsugu and Rin, and Luvia from even dreaming of taking the girls and escaping.
If what Kiritsugu fired were regular bullets or even those enhanced with mana, Shirou would not have worried that much. He would have simply put Rin and Luvia in charge of protecting the girls with the barriers that their Kaleidostics produced.
Given what he had seen so far, those barriers were definitely strong enough to easily tank most attacks.
However, he knew Kiritsugu better than anyone and knew what kind of dangerous arsenal he held with him.
His ruthlessness in battle meant that he would go to any lengths to win. Even going so far as to use the bullets as a distraction and then stabbing the girls with his Noble Phantasm, the Phantasm Punishment.
Given that the girls, except Miyu, don't have any magic circuits or crets and instead rely on this world's magic system, one that Shirou knew only general knowledge about since he did not have much time to delve deeply into it, there was no telling what that Noble Phantasm that is based on Kiritsugu's origin bullets would do to the girls.
He feared that not even the Kaleidosticks would be able to handle Kiritsugu's Noble Phantasm.
That is why he could not risk any of the girls being targeted by Kiritsugu.
"Time Alter: Triple Accel"
Dodging another barrage of bullets from Kiritsugu, Shirou activated his own counter.
"Sword Barrel: Full open!"
Several swords shot forward, intending to skewer Kiritsugu, but failed as the man used his agility to evade the attack.
Once again, Father and Son were left at an impasse as a momentary lull fell upon the battlefield while Luvia and Rin floated in the air and watched Kiritsugu's every move with caution, while also trying to think of a way to take out Irisviel from the equation, something that Kiritsugu would not allow.
'Damn it! I can't bring out any powerful Noble Phantasm with Kiritsugu always interfering and targeting the girls. What now?'
Kirtisugu did not give Shirou the time to think as he once again open fired with his Calico, forcing Shirou to keep moving, while Rin and Luvia reacted instantly and rained down beams of magic, forcing Kiritsugu to keep moving as well.
Trutfully speaking, with his install, Shirou should be on equal grounds with Kiritsugu in most ways except for agility, where Kiritsugu outpaced him, and Shirou having the advantage in magical energy reserves compared to Kiritsugu.
Yet, that difference in agility was forcing Shirou, Rin, and Luvia into a no-win scenario where they were forced to concede ground with every clash.
'Ok. Let's try it one more time.'
"Trace On-"
The instant Shirou started his aria, Kiritsugu fired at the girls, forcing Shirou to stop and cover the girls with a set of shields which were instantly reinforced by Rin and Luvia through their magic, barely protecting the younger girls from magically enhanced bullets.
Once again, the deadlock began, while the children watched helplessly.
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'We are practically dead weight.'
Miyu watched with a lost expression as Shirou, Rin, and Luvia clashed with Kiritsugu Emiya, the man that she once called a father, even if that man never saw her as a child and only saw her as a tool.
Miyu liked to think that this Servant that they were facing was probably the endpoint of the man that her father was. A man who probably never knew love, unlike his counterpart from this world, who had a loving family.
Watching this world's version of her brother go through the same fighting patterns and stances as her own brother, her heart felt like it would shatter all over again.
Once again, Shirou Emiya was fighting to protect his loved ones, pushing himself beyond the limit.
And once again, she was rendered helpless, watching with her hands tied as the kind boy was forced to sacrifice everything all over again for his family.
Gritting her teeth, Miyu reached into her pocket, taking out the Lancer Class Card.
Fear and unwillingness clashed against her determination, forcing her to hesitate on what to do.
While she did not know much about the Class Cards, she did know how to properly use them thanks to her situation.
After all, it was thanks to a Class Card that her brother was able to win the Holy Grail War and save her from the Ainsworth, and then wished to send her away to a different world.
But, she was afraid. Afraid of what kind of being inhabits this Class Card. Afraid that, if she used it, the Ainsworth will somehow track her down again and cause trouble for her friends.
She felt afraid that, once again, her happiness would be stolen from her by the Ainsworth should she install the Class Card.
"...We have to help them."
The whisper from beside her caught Miyu's attention, making her focus on Illya, who stared ahead with a blank look.
Miyu had no words to describe how haunted and broken Illya looked at that moment. But she knew the truth in those words.
"How do we help them?"
And yet, despite knowing the truth in Illya's words, Miyu hesitated. Unable to answer.
Then, she saw it.
While Kiritsugu was firing at Luvia and Rin, in a split second, he replaced his gun with a different one.
Miyu never knew the names of her father's weapons, but her brother always taught her that the weapon he now held, the one called the Thomson Contender, was a truly dangerous weapon.
Her eyes widened, just like Shirou's when he noticed.
"Watch out/Look out!"
Both of them shouted at once, yet it was too late.
A bullet different from everyone that they had seen so far was fired from the Thompson.
Knowing exactly what it was, Shirou did not hesitate to jump in front of Luvia, who was the target of the bullet, since she was distracted by drawing up some runes to trap Kiritsugu.
The Origin Bullet. A weapon that holds the concept of severing and binding, based on Kiritsugu's own Origin and made from his own ribs, pierced through Shirou's skin and was stopped in its tracks by Shirou's sword armor beneath his skin.
And yet, despite being stopped, the conceptual weapon caused immense pain to the teenager as his Reality Marble clashed with the conceptual weapon designed specifically to target the magic circuits of the target.
His screams of pain were chilling to say the least.
"Shero!/Emiya-kun!"
Rin and Luvia caught the boy and retreated towards Miyu and Illya while creating a multilayered barrier around themselves.
The sight was enough to squash any fear that Miyu may have held up to this point, as a new kind of fear and desperation overrode her previous hesitation.
The fear of seeing her friends in this world die as she watched helplessly.
Taking a deep breath, Miyu spoke with determination.
"Illya, I will go and help. You stay here and-"
"No."
The steel in Illya's words made Miyu stare at her with surprise. Illya, in turn, gave Miyu a determined look.
"I will help. Tell me what to do."
"But-"
"Miyu. Please."
She saw it. The same desperation that she felt.
Miyu saw the fear and anger in Illya's eyes. The fear of losing her brother and friends, and anger at the man who wore her father's face for doing it in the first place.
Faced with such an expression, all Miyu could do was nod.
"Ok. Do as I do."
Taking the Lancer Class Card, Miyu placed it on the ground and spoke the words that she had seen the Ainsworth woman back home speak when she was their prisoner.
"Install: Lancer"
She felt a rush as power surged through her tiny body.
Knowledge, skills, and understanding of how to use what she now held in her hands flooded her mind.
Her school uniform was instantly replaced by a blue body suite and the familiar crimson lance landed in her hands.
While installing the Ainsworth Class Card would not give her the memories of the Heroic Spirit within, not even their real names, this was still adequate in her opinion.
Because now, she had the power to fight.
Seeing her friend's actions, Illya mimicked her.
"Install: Archer"
Instantly, Illya felt power rush through her just like Miyu.
Yet, something went wrong.
Because when the transformation was complete, it was not Illyasviel von Einzbern, the bubbly and self-conscious but kind girl that Miyu had come to call her friend.
No. This was not that Illya.
This was someone who held a world of infinite swords. A barren world of smog, ash, and rusted gears.
Seeing those emotionless golden eyes, Miyu felt a chill go down her spine. As if she had unleashed something that she never should have.
Yet, deep down, from the very core of her Class Card, Miyu felt something different.
A raw excitement not her own. Like a hound that just saw its most favoured toy.
'Now is not the time for this.'
Taking a deep breath, Miyu focused back on reality.
"Are you ready? Illya?"
"Hm. Let's go."
As one, the two girls shot forward.
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Author Notes: Read 5 chapters ahead on Patreon: patreon.com/Ruijard1