Abyssal Wanderer.

"You talk too much nonsense."

Regarding the threat from that memetic entity, Theta simply interrupted in a cold voice.

She did not continue to spread her Nyx factor—as the other party had said, if she chose to continue spreading it now, she would only be burned to ashes by the other party's eerie, ghostly blue flames.

Before you understand the principles, you must proceed with caution.

With a thought, the Nyx Factors that had previously spread out gathered around Theta, and they hummed like a cloud of metal flies.

Upon hearing this, V gripped the blade, used the hilt to adjust the brim of his hat, and then twirled the hilt, saying:

"It is my interest to talk to the dying, of course, if you dislike such conversations..."

Without warning, he threw two throwing knives at West Tower.

The speed was far beyond what could be achieved by throwing alone; the two throwing knives tore through the sound barrier and aimed directly at Sita's neck. Raindrops in the air were first shaken into a fine mist by the shockwave, and then, drawn by the sound waves, formed a funnel shape in mid-air.

But the two throwing knives were swallowed up by the leaden "swarm" of flies surrounding the West Tower.

The moment the blades pierced the lead-colored particles, their surface coating was completely eroded away. The two throwing knives seemed to be stuck in quicksand, and began to slow down at a visible speed—the Nyx factors densely enveloped the blades, and each particle exerted force in the opposite direction with nanometer-level precision, forcibly suspending the two throwing knives less than a palm's width away from Sita's neck.

"You read my actions?"

V tilted his head as he spoke, and the eternal smile on his mask looked somewhat eerie in the rain.

Sita did not answer.

Lead-colored particles swirled slowly around her, emitting a fine, static-like crackling sound.

She reached out and took the two stationary throwing knives down, weighing them in her hand.

Rather than calling them throwing knives, it's more accurate to describe them as "floating assassinating bees" shaped like throwing knives. Servants are essentially powerful constructs controlled by memetic entities; those seemingly supernatural things, stripped of their decorative exteriors, are still technological creations at their core.

But this still doesn't explain those suddenly ignited flames...

As Theta was thinking this, V continued speaking.

"I'm confident that I didn't hold back at all with those two strikes; their speed far exceeded your reaction time. Yet you blocked them without even blinking... Can the Nyx Factor also read a Servant's mind?"

V casually twirled a new throwing knife between his fingers as he spoke.

But Xita remained silent.

V suddenly stopped spinning the throwing knife.

Immediately, the throwing knives burst forth again—this time not from his hand, but suddenly flying out from under his cloak.

Four throwing knives simultaneously attacked the West Tower from four different angles.

This time, however, Theta's Nyx factor reacted even 0.1 seconds earlier than V.

They did not disperse—at the current concentration surrounding her, the Nyx Factor could not simultaneously block all four throwing knives.

Sita focused all her attention on manipulating the factor to intercept two of the throwing knives, while her completely relaxed body evaded the third one on its own, and raised her hand to parry the fourth one with her forearm armor.

The blade carved a deep groove in the armor, and the sparks that flew up were swallowed by the rain.

"You've seen through my attack pattern!"

V clapped excitedly.

There was no anger in his tone; instead, there was a hint of appreciation.

"But you can't read my mind. The Orpheus Path's abilities are ineffective against Servants. So how did you manage to do it? My movements? My eyes? Or some little habit of mine that I'm not even aware of?"

"You do talk a lot of nonsense."

Sita finally spoke:

"Want to know the answer? It's simple—people with histrionic personality disorder like you are all too easy to see through."

After being rebuked like that, V immediately fell silent.

It took him a long time to speak:

"Interesting...really interesting."

As he spoke, he raised the throwing knife again, and a ghostly blue flame began to dance on its blade.

is coming……

Sita immediately focused her attention upon seeing the flaming throwing knife.

Servant is essentially just a high-level construct controlled by memetic entities, at most with the added function of replenishing equipment and ammunition at any time using a universal printer—even a Servant shouldn't be able to produce any supernatural means.

Therefore, his attack must have been based on some clues.

Thinking this, Theta saw V snap his fingers.

Without any warning, the air around Sita ignited instantly.

It wasn't flames spreading from the direction of V, nor was it any kind of projected attack; rather, the air around her suddenly burst into flames. A ghostly blue explosion erupted from her center—the flames didn't burn in from the outside, but burst forth simultaneously from every inch of space around her.

As the West Tower was engulfed by the sudden, dazzling fireworks, V, not far away, opened his arms like a magician, making a gesture of greeting to the viewers watching the live broadcast around the world.

However, a shadow that still roughly retained a human shape emerged from the flames.

The flames dissipated around her, and countless lead-colored particles turned into wisps of smoke around her.

Including the costume and hairstyle of a classic purple-haired mature woman cosplaying, her entire bionic appearance was burned to ashes by the flames—her face, which was indistinguishable from a real person, the bionic skin covering it, and everything that made her look like a "person" were all burned away.

At this moment, Sita revealed the combat prosthetic body beneath the bionic skin.

It has no voluptuous curves, no anthropomorphic design, it is simply pure combat equipment.

The servo motor bundles at her joints were exposed, their indicator lights flickering faintly in the rain, and the night marrow along her spine was exposed segment by segment. Her sensor matrix, replacing her delicate facial features, was directly exposed to the air, with several lenses cracked from burning, causing the images she received to flicker continuously.

She stood there, her voice coming from a throat speaker, now with some extra static compared to before.

"I don't know."

She raised her right hand, which was covered with ventilation holes, and made a confused gesture.

“I checked those throwing knives earlier. I admit their propulsion method was strange, but the knives themselves were fine. And after they were intercepted by my factor, they didn’t explode or burn. Even if there was still propulsion energy inside, it wouldn’t be enough to cause such an explosion.”

Her sensor array re-locked V.

"So how did you do that? It wasn't fire from the knife; you set everything around me ablaze."

V let out a low laugh, a laugh tinged with the smug satisfaction of finally being asked an expert question.

He smiled and twirled a new throwing knife between his fingers, his movements elegant and composed.

"I am an expert in explosions and fireworks displays."

“These are my old professions.”

V thus says.

"Explosions require explosives, and fireworks require gunpowder."

Sita began to speak:

“And your knife isn’t explosive, and you don’t have any gunpowder on you… You haven’t answered my question yet.”

"I have already answered. It's just that you don't understand yet."

V pressed his hand to his chest and bowed.

Sita stared at him, while releasing more Nyx Factor from her body.

These factors were more concentrated than before, the lead-colored particles covering her burn-marked prosthetic surface like a thick layer of armor. They spun faster and made a louder buzzing sound.

"It doesn't matter."

As the Nyx factor gathered, she spoke.

"I refuse to believe these flames can shut down friendly damage!"

This time, she chose to take the initiative.

The prosthetic leg joints unleashed a force far exceeding its specifications, propelling Theta toward V like a cannonball.

Her right fist, imbued with dense Nyx factors, slammed into V's mask. The energy within her internal reactor resonated with those factors through an electric field, unleashing intense gamma radiation.

But V was faster than she had imagined.

He dodged to the side, simultaneously throwing two throwing knives in retaliation.

The throwing knife left a trail of eerie blue flames in the air, but this time Sita did not intercept it.

By observing their attacks, she had figured out her opponent's attack habits.

The trajectory of the throwing knives is fixed, and the opponent usually aims for three areas: the head, neck, and chest. She tilted her head to avoid the first knife, and raised her hand to deflect the second one with the thickest part of her armor—the blade was stuck less than two centimeters into the outer shell of her forearm.

Although the opponent was faster, Sita still chose to continue closing in.

Faced with the forearm radiating gamma rays, V took a step back, but this was within Theta's expectations. She had preemptively planted a Nyx factor at the point where he retreated, and a leaden stream silently emerged from beneath the water, covering his left ankle.

V glanced down.

"pretty."

He snapped his fingers, and the Nyx Factor wrapped around his ankle was instantly engulfed by the ghostly blue flames, the leaden particles disintegrating at the molecular level. But Theta had already seized the opportunity to rush in front of him, his right fist, carrying the remaining Factor, slamming into his mask.

V raised his hand to block, and his fist slammed into V's forearm, making a dull metallic clang, but V did not take a single step back.

Then, with a backhand slash, he forced Xita back and landed steadily on the railing of the pier.

Burn marks appeared on V's arm where he had blocked the opponent's punch, and blue smoke was rising from the gauntlet. But he stood firm, and the smile on his mask remained.

"I understand, you are analyzing me."

He spoke, his tone no longer flippant. "From the way I threw the knife, to the length of my retreat, to how my fingers moved with every word I spoke. You're predicting my next move based on these details... What is this, representing topological structures? Even memetic entities can have their topological structures read?"

V thus says.

Sita did not reply; at that moment, her sensors were locked tightly on V.

Now, her back-end tactical program has established a behavioral model for V, which was gained through the losses in previous rounds of combat.

In the next round, she will be able to predict the outcome with millisecond precision.

Orpheus's path adjustment fears being killed on the first encounter, but as long as they have fought the opponent once and established an accurate behavioral profile model, their win rate will increase greatly.

But there is one problem she still hasn't solved.

As long as this problem isn't solved, she has no chance of winning.

Flames erupted.

The other party did not ignite the throwing knife, nor did they launch it from some device on his body.

Without any warning or transmission path, the air around me suddenly caught fire—how did that even happen?
Her gaze fell on the puddle from before.

The previous puddle also experienced a burst of flames, but the other party didn't even throw any throwing knives there.

Was it because of the Nyx Factor I had previously created? The opponent's ability is to ignite the Nyx Factor?
But that's impossible... How could a Servant's ability be specifically designed to deal with the Nyx Factor?

In any case, the Orps path doesn't deserve to be targeted like this, does it?

With that in mind, Theta turned her attention to the Nyx Factor surrounding the combat prosthetic body.

These nanoparticles are currently powered by the micro-electric field in the prosthetic body, and they also convert energy into electromagnetic fields.

Countless nanoparticles, through different resonance modes, create corresponding effects in the macroscopic world.

At this moment, the Nyx factor surrounding her was in a high-energy state, with fine currents flashing within it from time to time, ionizing and releasing faint ozone.

Ionization, blue flames, deflagration, rain...

Rainwater, water, hydrogen, oxygen...

You're lying to me.

Sita suddenly said, her tone carrying a hint of displeasure at being fooled.

"Ok?"

V simply tilted his head in response.

"You said before that rainy days were inappropriate and that rain would affect your fireworks, but those were all lies—blatant lies."

With that, Theta's sensor array locked onto V again.

"Your flames don't come from the throwing knives, and you don't need any fuel. You're just breaking down water molecules—in the air, in the rain, on the ground. You break them down into hydrogen and oxygen, and then ignite them. You're not throwing knives at all—it's just to ionize a path in the air, first using the electric field of the knife-propelling device to shatter the water molecules along the way, leaving a trail of hydrogen and oxygen mixture, and then igniting them. That's your firework."

"Rainy days are not your problem, rainy days are your best battlefield. The higher the humidity, the more fuel you can decompose, and the stronger your firepower will be... You have been misleading me from the beginning."

V remained silent for a moment.

Raindrops pattered on the mask, sliding down its porcelain-white curves, accumulating at the corners of the smiling mouth, before dripping onto the cloak.

Then he raised his hand and gently pushed up the brim of his hat with the hilt of his knife.

"You are smarter than I imagined."

He said softly.

"You're too easy to see through."

The West Tower was cold and desolate.

"Whether it's your attack pattern or the principle behind your fireworks—once you take a closer look, there's no secret to it!"

"But... what good is knowing the truth?"

As V spoke, he took out several throwing knives from under his cloak and played with them in his hand.

"This untimely rain is your destiny... If it weren't for this rain, or rather, the Servant who brought this rain, I wouldn't have noticed the situation at the port, and naturally I wouldn't have discovered you before you summoned your Servant."

"And this rain has provided me with the perfect stage. With your abilities, you might have been able to escape using the Nyx Factor after abandoning this combat prosthetic body and find an opportunity to summon a Servant... but you just happened to run into me."

As V spoke, a ghostly blue flame ignited around him.

"If you spread the Nyx factor with all your might, it will only ionize the moisture in the air, which will then become the fuel for my fire. But if you gather those factors together, I will defeat you head-on... At this point, you have been forced into a desperate situation."

Flames climbed up the blade of the throwing knife.

"Tell me, how do you plan to escape?"

V asked this question.

Sita chuckled softly upon hearing this.

"It's simple, just take care of this guy who talks too much nonsense."

As soon as he finished speaking, Sita's left arm instantly deformed.

As countless modules underwent a dazzling transformation, a high-powered Gauss weapon emerged from within the prosthetic body—it was the Perseus Path weapon module, its muzzle flashing a blood-red light that was particularly glaring in the rain.

Thank you, Perseus I...

The moment she unarmed herself, Sita thought to herself.

Previously, when dealing with a Category II crisis in the Nord resettlement area, Number One assembled a temporary combat prosthetic for her. Although it was awkward to operate, after exchanging it for the original Orpheus prosthetic in Damascus, she still installed several excellent modules onto the combat prosthetic.

This includes...

Sensing the high-energy reaction from the cannon muzzle, V quickly jumped up to try and dodge.

But in an instant, a powerful force of gravity suddenly acted upon him, causing his movements to become noticeably slower.

Aegis Gorgon Form!
The signature weapon of the Perseus Path is to first immobilize the enemy using a gravity-generating device, and then aim and fire a deadly cannonball.

The immense kinetic energy of the Gauss cannon struck V head-on, blasting him directly into a nearby container—which caved in like a cardboard box.

But as the dust settled, V calmly walked out, clutching his chest.

Even after taking a direct hit from a Gaussian kinetic energy cannon, he appeared completely unharmed.

"Behind this mask lies not just flesh and blood. Beneath this mask lies a mind..."

V strolled out leisurely, watching Sita slowly sheathe her weapon, and continued:
"But ideas are not afraid of bullets."

【Ideas are Bulletproof】 is a skill possessed by Servant V, which grants him great resistance to kinetic weapons.

Even if it were the scaled-down version in Theta's hands, or even if the original One himself came and used the "Aegis Gorgon Form," as long as he chose a kinetic weapon, there would be no way he could deal effective damage to V.

"What a pity. If you had chosen to attack with an energy weapon earlier, you might have posed some threat to me... but it was a kinetic weapon. Even if the power of that previous shot had been several times greater, it wouldn't have been more threatening to me than a pebble."

V thus says.

"I know."

In response to V's taunts, Theta remained calm.

V's body froze instantly.

It wasn't that he was completely stiff, but rather that his movements showed obvious pauses.

He raised his left hand, which was holding the throwing knife, halfway before suddenly stopping, as if his body was no longer entirely under his control.

"You don't mean..."

V was shocked.

"Yes."

The indicator lights on the Theta sensor are displaying a smiling face.

"But the Nyx Factor... isn't it supposed to be ineffective against memetic entities?"

V is somewhat difficult to pronounce.

"This has always been a big misunderstanding. The mind-reading and cognitive manipulation of the Orpheus pathway directly target consciousness itself... It's just that the Nyx factor is only good at decoding biological brains, while we are relatively weak in hacking capabilities."

Meanwhile, in the long-abandoned reception center outside the port, AR was sitting on a rusty filing cabinet with a data tablet on his lap.

She injected an entire can of Nyx Factor into her body and connected herself to Theta's quantum communication facility.

At this moment, her fingers flew across the projected keyboard, and the screen scrolled with constantly changing underlying protocols—data she had extracted from the Nyx Factor that had invaded V's body.

The firewall of the follower is very complex, several orders of magnitude more complex than malware in low-light conditions, and cannot be breached by conventional hacking methods.

But AR is not a conventional hacker, and she doesn't need to break through the entire firewall.

She only needed to find a crack, and she found it quickly: V's mental matrix.

"nailed it."

She said softly.

On the pier, Xita stood up straight.

Her sensors were locked onto V.

At this moment, thanks to AR's decoding, she has already connected to V's mental matrix.

Every time the opponent tried to raise their hand, every time they wanted to retreat, every time they prepared to throw their knife, those "thoughts" would be intercepted by AR's virus, transformed into data streams, and transmitted back to Theta's consciousness through the Nyx Factor and the quantum communication link, where she would decipher them into commands.

She no longer needed to analyze the details of his movements; his body now told her—what his next move would be. (End of Chapter)