Ready, Another Me?

"Now then—it's time for the new hero introduction you've all been waiting for. Please enjoy the video."

At those words from Kino Kazuki, development director of Fate's Battle, the blue screen on the monitor cut to black.

The black screen brightened, and what rose with it was a laugh that could only be called peculiar.

The one laughing on the screen was a girl with hair redder than blood. Gray eyes fixed on her enemies, a cruel smile on her lips, she thrust a reddish-brown staff toward the sky and cried out.

A single beam of red light shot from the staff into the heavens. With the sound of the sky ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠splitting open, the girl's scarlet hair and black cloak began to whip in the wind. What then tore through the clouds was a flash of red.

The red flash pierced the ground at a terrible speed. The floor collapsed, and lava burst forth to swallow her enemies.

The video ended on the girl watching that ruin and laughing like someone who had lost her mind. Then an illustration rose on the screen: the same girl, seated in midair upon her staff as if it were a chair.

"Yes. This is Miss Akabane Yukari, the four-star hero of this event."

The live chat erupted with the viewers' fervor. Not every reaction could be called kind, and yet it was an undeniable fact that most of the messages were positive. Of course, the majority of that chat belonged to the Iztomo and the Familiars—but the reason the excitement kept boiling over lay in something particular to Fate's Battle itself.

Fate's Battle was a long-lived game about to greet its eighth anniversary. And yet, in more than seven years, the number of times it had collaborated with another work came to exactly five. Every one of those had been some other game or novel from a subsidiary company—and only works whose worlds already continued into Fate's Battle.

This, at last, was the first time Fate's Battle would cross over with an outside IP. That alone was enough to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠set the game's players trembling with expectation. Ordinary gamers don't devote themselves to a single title; they play several, and now and then they catch themselves wishing the games they love would collaborate. Fans of Fate's Battle were no different. But for eight years the game had never once crossed over with an external IP, and the players had already reached the enlightened realm of giving up. The collab with StarsFlow was the announcement that hope like that was starting again.

"And next, we'll introduce one more hero. We hope you'll enjoy it!"

At a gesture from Kazuki, the screen changed once more. This time it did not cut straight to a hero's noble phantasm. First it showed a silhouette standing against a beach, and then a beret worn tipped slightly back, and a cardigan wrapped around the waist.

The line printed itself across the picture. The silhouette's whole body came into view, and the name was revealed.

An instant later the screen flooded white, and there was Izumi, smiling with everything she had.

A long umbrella rested in the hand of the Izumi who had said it. She gave it a little shake, up and down, then settled into a stance like a kendo athlete.

She dashed forward, cut an enemy down with the umbrella, and then—for some reason—took the posture of sheathing a blade.

The moment she said so, the enemy that had been standing behind her exploded with a tremendous noise, and raindrops began to fall from the sky.

Izumi flinched and spun around, and in that same instant the video ended. As with Yukari before her, an illustration floated up onto the screen: Izumi standing with the umbrella braced beneath her, smiling wide, drawing a V beside her eye with one hand.

The chat splintered into every kind of reaction. She was too cute. The noble phantasm's direction was poorer than four-star Yukari's. Someone wanted to adopt her as their daughter. But the response that came up most was, inevitably, No matter how I look at this, it isn't the Izumi I know. An Izumi who didn't stutter at all, bright and full of energy, was unknown territory itself to the Iztomo.

Kazuki, of course, had no way of reading that ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠chat. He carried the broadcast along in the same dry tone.

"Yes. This is Miss Kaino Izumi, the five-star hero of this event."

"Wow. It's finally here—Fate's Battle's first outside collab!"

At Kazuki's words, the woman seated beside him, the voice actress Kasumi Ryoko, answered with a clap of her hands.

"It really is. It actually showed up, haha."

"Fate's Battle usually has this image of never doing collabs, so I bet a lot of Masters were shocked when they saw it."

"I'm sure they were. We were shocked too, when the collab was first decided. I imagine the Masters will be far more surprised than we were."

"And with VTubers, of all things—the ones everyone's been talking about lately. I'm so excited~."

"Yes. I hope every Master enjoys it."

After that, Kazuki walked through the in-game schedule, revealed the commercial that would air on television, traded a stretch of idle chatter with Ryoko, and brought the broadcast to a close with his thanks.

"Then we'll see you again next time~."

"Goodbye."

And so the introductory broadcast for Fate's Battle's first external collab event came to an end.

"Mmm. I-I think everyone already knows, but... this time, Akabane-san and I are joining Fate's Battle as heroes."

"It is absurd. Why is this body a four-star, while Izumi is a five-star? Would anyone fail to see that this body ought to be the five-star?"

"Th-that's not something to tell me. T-talk to the company about that..."

Of course, I think I ought to be the five-star. I'm the Water Avatar, I'll have you know. A mere witch trying to become a five-star stronger than me is just arrogant, Akabane-san.

"Ah, y-yeah. At first they were going to leave it to Toka Mama and Yuri Mama, but in the end I ended up taking it..."

This was why I hadn't been able to do a single art stream lately. If I'd wanted to, I could have—but draw on stream and this whole story might have slipped out, so the company stopped me.

"Still, I d-drew the pictures, but... the illustration designs were all checked directly by the Mamas..."

Both of them had sent over stacks of references, saying these were outfits they wanted to put on us. Choosing one out of all of that had been pretty grueling work.

"Wh-what are you talking about...? Anyone could see it s-suited me incredibly well. I'm a total super i-inssa, atmosphere-maker, beautiful high school girl. That's me."

...Honestly, the first time I heard the concept, I thought we were doomed. I couldn't imagine myself saying lines like these at all. And when we actually recorded, the bad takes piled up without end. The truth is, those lines are a bunch of separate recordings spliced together... I p-probably shouldn't say that, right?

The lines for the third ascension, at least, had been all right. I didn't have to force the mood. All I had to do was talk the way I usually do. I still stuttered partway through, same as ever, but we were able to finish that one with the power of editing.

"Well then. I believe it is about time we moved on to today's theme.... Are your preparations complete, Izumi? The loser shall grant one wish."

"Th-this time I'm definitely going to win, Akabane-san..."

Turning the stream on today, collaborating with Akabane-san—all of it, obviously, had been for this.

A gacha showdown. The rules were the same as last time: whoever pulls one first wins. If we pull at the same time, we keep rolling until one of us pulls an extra copy. The hero we had to pull was, of course, Kaino Izumi.

I'm planning to limit-break her all the way to the cap anyway, so it doesn't really matter—but even so, I don't want to lose a match. On the Heracles rate-up last time I lost overwhelmingly. This time, I'm going to win.