Unlimited Blade Works


 * This page is about a Reality Marble. For one of the scenarios in Fate/stay night, see Unlimited Blade Works (route). For the movie see Unlimited Blade Works (movie).

Unlimited Blade Works: Infinite Creation of Swords is the Reality Marble of Shirou Emiya and the Noble Phantasm of the Heroic Spirit EMIYA and his Fate/Extra counterpart. Emiya does not have a true Noble Phantasm that is the crystallized embodiment of a hero's existence like many demonic or holy swords, but if a Noble Phantasm is considered to be a symbol of the Heroic Spirit, then the Reality Marble is his Noble Phantasm. It is high-class thaumaturgy that embodies their internal worlds and imprints them upon the world as a bounded field. It is their one true specialization of magecraft, the result of "Sword" being both their Origin and their Elemental Affinity, and the basis of their projection and reinforcement skills. It is the definite answer obtained by someone whose life was saved by a sword, actually merged and lived with a sword, and acted as a sword all of his life. Emiya has no penalties from the world while utilizing his version of Unlimited Blade Works.

Invocation
Both Archer and Shirou use an incantation to facilitate the invocation of the Reality Marble. It is close to a "Ten-Count" aria, using a poem about the caster as the basis, a sorrowful elegy in Emiya's case, used to activate high-thaumaturgy. Shirou describes it as a suggestion to change himself and the words that will "connect Shirou Emiya." Their chants differ slightly due to the different experiences in their respective lives. The lines of the incantation can be said at any time without requiring preparation, and Archer is able to stop between lines to speak and then resume without issue. The first line is often used in order to strengthen a projection, such as with Archer's use of Caladbolg II and Shirou's use of Rho Aias.

Once the incantations have been completed, an illusionary fire that doesn't emit any heat spreads out to form a boundary and wall for the bounded field. The bright light fills the vision of those present, and manifests an open, barren desert with monolithic black gears gyrating in the distance. It is a kingdom of rubble littered with countless swords anchored in the ground like grave markers in a wasteyard. The basis for the world in the Reality Marble is a hill of swords that spreads infinitely in their minds. It is the final illusion Archer saw on the verge of death, the only pride left within himself, and it is where Shirou makes his vow to uphold his ideals during the Unlimited Blade Works route.

The reflection of this inner world depends on their state of mind and their experiences in life, which means that they are completely different and incompatible with each other. Archer's is formed from the basis of having been betrayed by everything, including his own ideals, and in the end having only been granted this one single spell. Shirou is able to realize his version upon deciding that his ideals and dreams, while borrowed, flawed, and hypocritical, are still worth striving for and upholding.

Shirou's version is bathed in twilight from the extended horizon, while Archer's version has its view opaqued by a thick haze formed from embers and wisps of black smog produced by iron forging rising from the ground. If their perspectives are to interact, such as when Shirou obtains Archer's arm, he is able to utilize the recorded knowledge of stored weapons, but unable to actualize the Reality Marble due to the difference in their internal worlds.


 * Archer

English= I am the bone of my sword Steel is my body and fire is my blood I have created over a thousand blades Unknown to Death, Nor known to Life Have withstood pain to create many weapons Yet, those hands will never hold anything So as I pray, unlimited blade works. Literal English= His body is made out of swords His blood is of iron and his heart of glass He survived through countless battles Not even once retreating Not even once being understood He was always alone Intoxicated with victory in a hill of swords Thus, his life has no meaning That body was certainly made out of swords Japanese= 体は剣で出来ている. 血潮は鉄で心は硝子. 幾たびの戦場を越えて不敗. ただの一度も敗走はなく、 ただの一度も理解されない. 彼の者は常に独り 剣の丘で勝利に酔う. 故に、生涯に意味はなく その体は、きっと剣で出来ていた. Romaji= Karada wa tsurugi de dekiteiru Chishio wa tetsu de kokoro wa GARASU Ikutabi no senjou wo koete fuhai Tada no ichido mo haisou wa naku Tada no ichido mo rikai sarenai Ka no mono wa tsune ni hitori Tsurugi no oka de shouri ni you Yue ni shougai ni imi wa naku Sono karada wa kitto tsurugi de dekiteita Funimation dub = I am the flesh and bone of my own sword. Steel flows through my body, and fire is what courses through my blood. I have created over a thousand blades. Unknown to death. Nor known to life. Many times I have withstood enormous pain to create thousands of weapons. And yet, those hands that have braved so much will never hold anything. So as I pray now, I call forth 'Unlimited Blade Works'." Animax dub= I am the bone of my sword Steel is my body and Fire is my blood I have created over a thousand blades Unknown to death, nor known to life Through the centuries, I have withstood great pain to create many weapons for you Yet the hands I speak of will never hold anything ever again So as I pray to you, I pray, give me Unlimited Blade Works!


 * Shirou

English= I am the bone of my sword Steel is my body and fire is my blood I have created over a thousand blades Unaware of loss, Nor aware of gain Withstood pain to create weapons, waiting for one’s arrival I have no regrets. This is the only path My whole life was unlimited blade works Literal English= His body is made out of swords His blood is of iron and his heart of glass He survived through countless battles Not even once retreating Not even once being victorious The bearer lies here alone Forging iron in a hill of swords Thus, my life needs no meaning This body is made out of infinite swords Japanese= 体は剣で出来ている. 血潮は鉄で心は硝子. 幾たびの戦場を越えて不敗 ただの一度の敗走もなく ただの一度の勝利もなし. 担い手はここに孤り 剣の丘で鉄を鍛つ. ならば、わが生涯に意味は不要ず. この体は、無限の剣で出来ていた. Romaji= Karada wa tsurugi de dekiteiru Chishio wa tetsu de kokoro wa GARASU Ikutabi no senjou wo koete fuhai Tada no ichido no haisou mo naku Tada no ichido no shouri mo nashi Ninai te wa koko ni hitori Tsurugi no oka de tetsu wo utsu Naraba waga shougai ni imi wa fuyouzu Kono karada wa mugen no tsurugi de dekiteita

Usage


The Reality Marble's purpose is a steel manufacturing factory that produces the countless famous swords without owners that extend into the horizon. It contains all of the raw materials and sorcery needed for the formation of the weapons, and it records and analyzes all weapons and defensive armaments encountered. The number of unique weapons encountered and recorded by Archer exceeds numerous thousands, most of which are Noble Phantasms. Their entire histories, compositions, and designs are all perfectly recorded, allowing for instant proficiency with the weapons by inheriting all combat skills and techniques utilized by their original owners. This allows for the reproduction of Noble Phantasms, which would generally be impossible for a faker. They can also be modified to the user's taste with reinforcement as shown by Archer's Caladbolg II and Kanshou and Bakuya.

Close combat weapons such as swords, spears, and halberds are the main focus of the Reality Marble in accordance with Shirou's Origin of "Sword", which also makes it impossible to record or reproduce modern weaponry like guns and other mobile weapons. Shields and defensive armaments can be reproduced with a much greater struggle, as the cost in prana is high, two or three times greater than a sword, and the effects are merely transient compared to the originals. Weapons encountered are immediately analyzed with a single glance, enabling them to be projected immediately afterward, and once projected, they are stored within the Reality Marble for later use. Shirou is able to instantly recognize dozens of weapons being fired from the Gate of Babylon at an extremely high rate and instantly counter with projections of the same weapons before they can strike.

The construction of weapons is limited to materials found upon the planet in the present era, so weapons like Ea, which is constructed from substances not found in the world, cannot be analyzed. The analysis of weapons is limited only to the direct use of human senses, meaning that blueprints and materials will be unable to provide the necessary information for a proper analysis. Shared memories, such as dreams shared with a Servant, can allow for weapons to be analyzed and projected, even if they have been lost like Caliburn. The quality of projected weapons will always be degraded by one rank due to humans being unable to fully conceptualize the existence of an object through only one sense, and they will never equal the originals without a technique such as detonating them as Broken Phantasms. The one exception for Shirou is Avalon, which can be projected perfectly due to having been fused with him for many years.

Without being deployed, the Reality Marble allows for projection and reinforcement in the real world. Weapons are produced within Unlimited Blade Works and then brought into the world, greatly lowering the cost of reproducing them and allowing for numerous weapons to be prepared at once to be projected. Weapons can be summoned directly to the user's hands, or they can be summoned to levitate within the air and fire upon the enemy as arrows much like the Gate of Babylon. Once the Reality Marble is deployed, all of the weapons are available for use, and any weapon can immediately be called to the user's hands or levitated even while the user is in direct combat. The weapons reproduced once the Reality Marble is first activated will not consume prana, but those used or destroyed within it will add to the cost of maintaining the bounded field. The amount of energy used to reproduce weapons that did not exist after the bounded field was expanded and the amount of energy used to recreate weapons destroyed while it is activated is extremely costly.

Emiya and Shirou have access to a large number of Noble Phantasms that they have encountered during their lifetimes, which include Caladbolg II, Durandal, Hrunting, Kanshou and Bakuya, Rho Aias, and numerous weapons from the Gate of Babylon. Divine constructs, such as Ea and Excalibur, are unable to be replicated, though there may be degraded Noble Phantasms with similar abilities stored with the Reality Marble. Archer claims that it is possible to reproduce an imperfect version of Excalibur likely to drain him of all of his prana in a suicide attack. Shirou using Archer's arm in the Heaven's Feel route states that he would be able to project it if Saber Alter were to give him time, but believes that he cannot handle the sword and that the difficulty of doing such a high level projection in battle would make it impractical. He uses it at the cost of his life during the normal ending to destroy the Great Grail. The conditions of the Moon Cell for where wrought iron is possible are boosted, so it is no longer bound by the normal limitation of being unable to project holy-sword class weaponry. Their performance is still inferior, allowing for Archer of Fate/Extra to project the degraded variation of Excalibur called Excalibur Image.

The Reality Marble is a natural counter to Gilgamesh, allowing Shirou, a below average magus, to completely overwhelm and defeat him. Though Shirou would be no match against other servants, who have mastered their own weapons to the utmost limit, the fact that both he and Gilgamesh are "owners" of numerous weapons places them on a level playing field. Neither has a specialized weapon with which they can be called a "wielder", so Shirou's ability to counter each and every weapon fired by the Gate of Babylon places Gilgamesh at as disadvantage. Outside of the Reality Marble, Shirou is barely able to keep up with Gilgamesh's assault while he was simply playing around with Shirou.

Once within the confines of the Reality Marble, all of his weapons are produced and ready to attack, which means that the Gate of Babylon's slightly slower summoning rate allows Shirou to hone in on Gilgamesh to fight and defeat him at close range. He is unable to handle Shirou's attacks, which forces him to allows his own weapons to be destroyed in order to counter Shirou's projections, and Shirou even has time to instantly recognize Ea as Gilgamesh is drawing it and quickly chop off his arm before he can utilize it. Even with the advantages, he claims that Gilgamesh would win if he were to have time to regain his composure.

Outside effects
The Reality Marble is able to invade Shirou's body in the form of numerous blades during severe trauma to heal and overwrite wounds. It changes the nature of the regeneration provided by Avalon into a indirect form that “changes his muscles into blades in order to knit his wounds with swords.” It replaces and reinforces broken bones and muscles with swords after he is wounded, allowing him to survive a blow to the chest from Rider's dagger. It also allows him to survive a kick from her that would normally gouge out his stomach when she realizes his innards are too durable to fatally wound him. She kicks him out of a window to kill him instead, and the ability goes out of control after he hits the ground during the "Rafflesia Umbrella" bad ending, where blades burst from his chest and cause a fatal wound. The ability manages to keep him from having his entire body destroyed from an attack by Gilgamesh, and makes him appear to have "masses of blades shaped like muscle fibers" as he heals.

He is completely invaded by Archer's Unlimited Blade Works after taking his arm during Heaven's Feel. The more he uses the abilities from the arm, the harder it becomes for him to suppress the Reality Marble. It will create an infinite number of blades inside his body rather than outside, causing a thousand blade to eventually pierce and kill him instantly if he lets it go fully out of control. The arm eventually begins to start permanently replacing parts of his breaking down body with blades as it frantically tries to keep him alive due to overusing its abilities. His joints gradually become harder to move properly as they begin to take on a metallic, grating sound when he moves, and hundreds of blades protrude from numerous areas on his skin as they prepare an inescapable death by skewering. He comments that "I am the bone of my sword" when thinking over that fact. During his duel to the death against Kirei Kotomine, it makes him unable to strike Shirou without also hurting himself on the blades, and it increases Shirou's durability so that only a fatal strike to his head will kill him. Before his body completely gives out, he states that even his senses are turning into steel as well.