The scabbard was originally in the hands of Emiya Kiritsugu, who used it to summon Saber to participate in the Fourth Holy Grail War.
Later, in order to protect Irisviel, it was buried in Irisviel's body as a concept costume, and returned to Saber during the war. After Saber left, it was buried in Kiritsugu's body to heal Kiritsugu who was corroded by the black mud.
When Kiritsugu and Maiya left Fuyuki for the war-torn Middle East, Kiritsugu took her out and quietly placed her on his daughter's body. It was his greatest hope for his daughter's life to be safe, the most stringent protection in the world, and something that could only be retained by a strong and sincere ideal.
Ten years ago, it resonated strongly with Kiritsugu Emiya's noble yet foolish ideal of "becoming a partner of justice".
Now, she has awakened again because of Illya's simple and innocent call, and it is this connection that makes Saber appear again and come to this family.
Of course, in addition to the connection between the scabbard and Saber, there is another condition - the ritual that Kiritsugu carved ten years ago. At that time, Irisviel, as the Lesser Holy Grail, had absorbed the souls of two Servants, and her body functions were severely weakened. She could only lie in a special ritual to recuperate. This special ritual was exactly the summoning circle that most Masters would carve - summoning was just a common name circulated among Masters. The function of the ritual was not only to summon, but also to stabilize the spiritual base, speed up the recovery of the servants' magic power, etc. It could also have a stabilizing effect on the Lesser Holy Grail that contained the servants' souls.
After the Fourth Holy Grail War ended and before Orange created a new body, Irisviel mostly stayed in this ritual to preserve her soul. After obtaining a new body, Kiritsugu did not eliminate the ritual, and because the old warehouse was rarely used, it was well preserved until today when it was awakened by Illya's magic and wishes, opening the connection between the real world and fantasy.
The girl standing in the summoning circle pressed her hands against her abdomen, where a glow that was extremely worthy of Saber was gleaming. It was the ultimate ideal of a king, a treasure with the same name as the legendary fairy town "Avalon"!
After ten years of silence, this treasure finally appeared in this world again and appeared in front of Saber.
"Go, Illya!" The knight girl said to her new master, with nostalgia and anticipation in her jewel-like eyes.
"Yeah." Illya nodded vigorously, "That monster..."
"It's okay, I'm here - we're here!"
When the two walked out of the warehouse, the courtyard outside had changed its appearance.
The steel giant is still alive, and continues to use his powerful strength to stir up storm after storm.
However, this time, the storm failed to destroy everything as wantonly as before. It was firmly confined to a tiny area in the center of the courtyard—a steel cage made up of black rafters rising from the ground.
For a terrifying giant who can easily demolish walls and block bullets with his body, a mere iron pillar is nothing and can be easily destroyed by an axe, sword or his strong body.
However, there were not just one row of iron pillars blocking his way, but ten or twenty rows. Even a giant with unparalleled strength would need some time to destroy these iron pillars. When he finally cleared the obstacles blocking his way, a woman in a tight leather jacket stood in front of him again.
Compared with the giants, the purple woman is just the size of a normal human. Maybe she is tall among women, but she is still insignificant compared to the giants. She is so short and fragile that it seems that she can be crushed with just a blow from an axe or sword.
But when the giant actually swung his axe and sword, the result was exactly the opposite.
The purple woman who looked "short and fragile" actually managed to block the giant's axe and sword. She didn't dodge or use any skills, but just relied on her strength to block the giant.
"■■■■■■■■■■■────!"
The giant whose attack was blocked roared wildly. This was the first time his attack was blocked. Even though he was repelled by Saber just now, it was because Saber took advantage of the surprise.
The hand holding the axe and sword changed from one hand to two hands, and the already clearly defined muscles became even more bulging, so obvious that the blood vessels under the skin could be seen.
However, even this did not make the "little" woman retreat a single step.
No, not only did he fail to retreat, but he also—
"I won't let you pass, Berserker! Get back!"
Amid the cold whisper, the woman's waist-length purple hair flew back, and her arms and knees, which had been bent by the axe and sword, straightened instantly. This sudden burst of power deflected the axe and sword that was chopped down on her head, and also made the giant's huge body retreat involuntarily - retreating to its original position.
As he retreated, the iron fence that he had destroyed with violence was also repaired quickly. When the giant stood firm, the iron pillar had been restored to its original state, and the iron cage was completed again.
Behind the purple-haired woman, a man with a lighter complexion walked out and clenched his fist in the direction of Berserker.
"Kazikli Bey (King of Capital Punishment)!"
What happened next seemed to be a replay of what happened just now.
The giant used brute force to destroy the cage, and after a gap was opened, the purple-haired woman quickly blocked it and used even stronger force to push him back. Then, the cage was repaired and Berserker was tied up again.
This scene has been repeated several times. Because of this, Saber had the time to talk to Illya so much and guide her to take out the scabbard.
"Big liar, it's you!!!" Illya screamed in shock when she saw the appearance of the master of the iron cage.
"I told you not to call me—"
There was only one man who was called that by Illya, Shinji Matou. He turned his head to complain out of habit, but before he could finish his complaint, he was stunned because of the familiar young knight next to Illya.
"—Fuck, Artoria!"
"Long time no see." The young knight, Saber, Altria smiled beautifully.
"Ah, long time no see, but how did you-wait, how did this thing end up in your hand?"
The first half of the sentence was addressed to Artoria. He had never thought that Artoria would appear at this time, even though Kiritsugu had not returned yet.
The second half of the sentence is because he saw the scabbard in Illya's hand. It was a holy relic belonging to Altria, and this could explain why Altria appeared. But a new problem arises. In Shinji's cognition, the scabbard should be on Kiritsugu, but he didn't expect that he had already given it to his daughter.
Probably to protect his daughter - based on Shinji's understanding of Kiritsugu, the answer came out quickly, and Shinji's expression returned to normal.
Just then, he heard Medusa's anxious voice.
"Shinji, be careful, get out of the way!"
PS: That magic circle does have other functions. Before the final battle between the Emperor and Winky, Weber put him into the magic circle to speed up the recovery of his magic power.