Fate/Overarch

BATTLE 2 - Lancer & Archer vs. Faker

"Faker, are you sure we should be getting into a battle this early in the War?"

"Master, these two are perhaps the two most important Masters in the entirety of the war. If we can defeat their Servants now, we'll have a massive advantage."

At that moment, however, it was the twin girls who seemed to have a massive, gray, spear-throwing advantage. They stood outside a castle, proudly guiding their Servants in a fight against Faker.

Lancer continually assaulted Faker with his spear, while Archer intercepted and shot down the various projectiles Faker launched at both of the other Servants.

Sighing, Faker looked at his Master. The young woman looked back at him, and nodded. He had shown her his Reality Marble once before when he was summoned, and she had been begging to see it again ever since.

"I am... the bone of my sword."

Flames engulfed the Masters and Servants.

"Steel is my body, and fire is my blood."

The ground was suddenly a vast desert.

"I have created over a thousand blades."

Swords sprouted up from the desert, as if it were a garden suited for growing them.

"Unknown to death. Nor known to life."

The sky became a mass of black clouds.

"Have withstood pain to create many weapons."

Rusted iron gears floated in the sky.

"And yet, these hands will never hold anything."

Archer discarded his red cloak.

"And so, as I pray--"

"UNLIMITED BLADE WORKS!"

The final line of the incantation was not said by Faker, but rather by his excited Master.

Faker began to launch thousands of weapons at Lancer and Archer. Meanwhile, his Master began to pick up blades off the ground and assault Lancer with them. They broke, one after another, until the woman, Akarui Mirai, picked up one of them and said an incantation. "Scan - set - strengthen!" Suddenly, the blade began to glow, and Lancer felt himself struggling against a sword that was four hundred times its previous wait.

"Reinforcement magic," stated Ida. "Impressive."

"That's what your impressed by? Not Faker's Reality Marble?" commented Illy.

Ida responded, "It's impressively inefficient. The Reality Marble creates cheap, weak blades, about as worthless compared to the originals as a toy car to a real car. Then, the projection magic strengthens them closer to their original capacity, like melting down the toy car as material for the real car."

"But... wouldn't you just use the raw materials to make the real car? If you're gonna immediately destroy the toy car, what's the point of going through the effort of making it, Ida?"

"That's exactly the problem with that woman. She doesn't know projection magic, and can't overwhelm us with weapons like Faker, so she has to waste energy reinforcing the weapons already stored in the Reality Marble. Someone who can use Projection magic would be a much more threatening opponent in this Reality Marble."

Angry at the insults, Mirai jumped away from Lancer, and started to target the Masters.

"Master, wait!" Faker screamed at the woman, before causing a hail of swords between her and the twins. "We need them alive!"

Just then, Mirai and Faker heard a voice previously unknown to them. "Stop this instant! Perhaps we can strike a bargain."

At this, the twins ordered their Servants to stop attacking, and Faker and his Master stood confused.

The twins' mother approached Archer, and spoke: "If you really wish to obtain the Grail, I will assist you. All I ask in return is the use of your Reality Marble."

Faker answered in return: "Who are you, and why should we trust you? What could a Mage want with my Reality Marble?"

"This." As she spoke, the twins' mother let out her arms, and two white dresses appeared beside her, along with a giant rock appearing above her. "I have studied the Einzbern's magic. This Reality Marble- a Factory for the Reproduction of Noble Phantasms- is perfect for allowing me to reproduce any items necessary for the ritual. Of course, these are mere replicas, but with enough time and mana I am capable of producing functional versions."

Mirai stood, and stared blankly at Faker, before turning to the twins' mother. "Well... I guess it's a truce, then."

"You have made a wise decision, young lady." She then walked up to Faker. "Don't think I'm not aware of who you are. My study of the Einzbern family is more than just an attempt at replicating the Third Magic. If you ally with me, I can reunite you with the soul of Ilyasviel von Einzbern."

Faker ran up to the woman, and stared her in the eyes. "Who are you?"

The woman sighed, before picking up a sword from the ground. "Fight me, and perhaps you will realise. You are not the only one who lost family and friends in the Fifth Holy Grail War.  Heroic Spirit Emiya, I am the overlooked participant in the Fourth and Fifth Wars. The swordswoman who guarded the Emiya family for years. And now, I am the guardian of the Lesser Grails. Tiger Strike Blade Works!"

With that, the woman struck at Archer from what seemed like infinite directions with infinite swords. It was similar to a technique he had seen before, but he could also tell it was accomplished through an entirely different method.

It was the strike of someone who was more proficient with Unlimited Blade Works than Counter Guardian Emiya Shirou.
Someone with a deeper understanding of Faker's world than Faker himself.
Someone whose Origin was not Sword, but someone who understood what it meant to wield a Sword, someone who understood what a Sword was.

Archer dispelled the Reality Marble, and simply stood in disbelief at what he saw. "You're..."

"Fujimura Taiga."