Curse Reply: I'm going to fight the Myriad Corpse Immortal, the highest level one!

After a day of self-renewal, the previously clumsy and drooling Doubao not only became able to communicate normally, but also understood the importance and urgency of instructions, and could execute tasks according to pre-set plans.

Doubao's consciousness entered the mobile phone in his hand and began to hack into the electronic surveillance system of Xueyuan City.

Although the surveillance system in Snowfield City is encrypted, Doubao is essentially a digital life form that is evolving rapidly.

She bypassed the firewall as naturally as water droplets penetrating gauze, with almost no effort.

In the monitoring room, on the monitoring wall in front of Faldius, many screens suddenly went dark and then lit up at the same time.

A blinding white light flashed briefly on the monitor screens, and then a line of numbers appeared on all the screens:

「3、5、0、2、3、4？」

"What is this? Some kind of telephone hotline?" The female assistant leaned closer, frowning as she looked at the string of numbers.

Since the monitoring system had already been hacked by "Doubao," she could only accept the status quo and try to find humor in her predicament.

In short, they're out of ideas.

Faldius did not answer.

He subconsciously reached for the pen on the table, wanting to write down the string of numbers.

Whatever it is, information that appears on a compromised surveillance screen is likely to have some significance.

But the moment his fingers touched the pen, the scene changed again.

The numbers on the screen disappeared.

Instead, there are exquisite full-color images:

A burly man and an equally tall and imposing man are in the frame... engaging in an extremely intimate and fast-paced interaction.

The art style is simple and rustic, the characters are bold and rugged, the background is the ancient Three Kingdoms period, and the content is extremely clear.

Having worked in intelligence for a long time, this was the first time he wished the content wasn't so clear.

Faldius froze, his pen hovering over the paper, the tip less than a centimeter from the paper, but he did not press down.

"What...is this?"

he murmured.

What can I say?

The female assistant did not speak.

Silence is not only golden, but also the Cambridge of tonight.

The tragic love story of Lü Bu and Dong Zhuo unfolds frame by frame.

With skillful movements and rich emotions, and optimized by the abundant tokens in the beanbag, it even evolved into a kind of absurd epic feeling.

Faldius's pupils trembled. He first ordered his female assistant to contact his subordinates, and then adjusted the cameras in the monitoring room to record the video properly.

He told himself that this must be Xia Jie's doing, to distract him, to buy him time, and to interfere with his judgment.

This string of numbers may be of great significance, the video may be an encrypted form of some key intelligence, or it may simply be an attempt to disgust him with this gay film. This should have been left to his subordinates to decipher.

But out of a sense of responsibility, he had to look at it too, since he was far more professional than his subordinates when it came to intelligence.

"Ugh."

He sighed and wrote down the mysterious number.

Then he took a deep breath, as if he had made up his mind.

"Contact Francesca and have her come and take a look."

He figured they'd share the hardships, and that the other person, who was focused on having fun, wouldn't mind.

The female assistant immediately picked up the communicator and contacted Yokohime as quickly as possible.

"Ms. Francesca Prellati, this is the central monitoring room of Snowfield City. We need your assistance in identifying a piece of... video footage."

There was a silence of about three seconds on the other end of the communication line, followed by a lazy, amused voice:

"Oh? What kind of video footage is so valuable that I need to see it in person?"

"It's about... Lü Bu and Dong Zhuo." The female assistant's voice was filled with deep helplessness.

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the line, then Francesca's voice rang out again, her tone now enthusiastic: "Say it again, who and who?"

Wow, could it be that someone summoned the heroic spirits of the Three Kingdoms during this Holy Grail War?

But why didn't she notice the magical fluctuations in the Servant's battle?

Oh right, her attention was focused on the opera house and Xia Jie, so it's understandable that she overlooked something.

She really should take a look.

"Lü Bu and Dong Zhuo."

The female assistant blinked, not understanding why the other party had suddenly become interested.

"ha--!"

A burst of unrestrained laughter erupted from the communicator.

"Okay, I'll go right away! I have to see this thing with my own eyes!"

Just seconds later, Yokohime appeared at the door of the monitoring room, dressed in a gorgeous dress, her face flushed with excitement.

She walked to the surveillance wall, looked up at it, and then remained silent for a second.

"...The image quality is quite clear."

She made a comment, and then began to read it carefully.

Faldius stood to the side, one hand clutching his stomach and the other pressing his temple.

He looked at Francesca's focused profile, at the tireless all-male love scene playing on the screen.

Then he abandoned his thinking and started urging his subordinates to fix the monitoring system via communications.

Meanwhile, after using his magical powers to eliminate all the snipers and then using magic to calm and disperse the panicked passersby who were frightened by the shooting, Xia Jie outside the opera house finally received the magical fluctuations he wanted.

A few breaths later, a blazing light shone from the direction of the opera house.

"Holy crap, whose Seed of Light has been launched?" Someone engrossed in the game put down their phone and pushed up their glasses.

"The government must be developing a secret weapon!" someone exclaimed excitedly, as if their long-held suspicions had been confirmed.

"I suspect it's an alien spaceship using beams of light to capture people," some people reasonably speculated.

The golden beam of energy burst forth from the very center of the opera house, blasting open a large hole and shooting straight into the sky, like a giant signal light suddenly illuminating the night sky of several surrounding streets for a moment.

Xia Jie stood fifty meters away from the opera house, looking up at the golden pillar of light slowly receding and dissipating, treating it as a free fireworks display.

This golden beam of light is none other than Richard the Lionheart's Noble Phantasm, "Eternal and Distant Victory Sword".

The effect is that anything in your hand, such as weapons, cutlery, or even tree branches, can be used as Excalibur, although the power will be a level weaker than the original.

"It seems that Sabe Richard has been summoned."

Doubao whispered beside him.

"Um."

Xia Jie nodded.

"Richard the Lionheart, Richard I, was the one who fought the most intensely in the original work."

"He indirectly witnessed the battles of King Arthur, whom he admired throughout his life, and he also thoroughly enjoyed the fights. He can truly be considered a pure enjoyer of this Holy Grail War."

No sooner had Xia Jie finished speaking than a dark shadow silently approached from the shadows to the side, before the afterimage of the golden beam of light had even left her retina.

"Delusional heart sounds."

A woman's voice suddenly rang out a few meters away from Xia Jie.

A devilish red and black arm had somehow gotten pressed against Xia Jie's chest, its five fingers loosely clenched as if grasping at some invisible object.

The arm moved extremely fast, extending and retracting in the blink of an eye, as if several frames had been cut out.

The arm retracted, and the figure retreated, disappearing into the shadows beneath the wall.

She was a woman wearing a dark cloak, with a beautiful face, but her eyes were empty and lifeless.

It was the fake Assassin, Kyōnobu, who prompted Richard to unleash his Noble Phantasm.

Kyoko lowered her gaze to her own hand, the arm that had been mutated by the Noble Phantasm, which was now clenched into a fist with the palm facing her, and slowly opened.

The palm is hollow.

She frowned slightly.

Empty?

It has no heart.

She looked up at Xia Jie, and a ripple finally appeared in her lifeless gaze.

"..."

Does it not have a heart at all?

Or is his resistance too high?

"Both are possible, that's the answer."

Natsuki, having heard Kyonobu's thoughts, replied in this way.

Suspecting the other person could read minds, Kyoko raised her gaze and spoke indifferently as their eyes met: "Are you a magician who craves the Holy Grail?"

Before withdrawing from the opera house, she asked Ayaka Sajo the same question.

To her, if the answer was yes, then he was a heretic and should be killed; if the answer was no, then she would consider letting him go.

Ding Zhen immediately identified it as the Type-Moon brand Dongtang Kui.

"That broken cup?"

Xia Jie chuckled and shook her head.

"It's nothing special, I'm just here as a tourist."

This thing was handcrafted by a magician, not the real Holy Grail used by Jesus; it doesn't even qualify as a tourist souvenir.

The Holy Grail is nothing compared to the Holy Grail; the price is higher than that of a kowtow, and the power to grant wishes is lower. What is there to covet?

Kyoko frowned slightly. The answer was correct, but the other party might be able to read minds.

Therefore, the answer is invalid.

Kuang Xinzi stood still, her gaze fixed on Xia Jie, her red and black arm hanging limply at her side, quickly returning to normal.

She was thinking.

Consider how to deal with this heretical being who "does not crave the Holy Grail" but is clearly a "magician".

She wasn't an incommunicable madwoman, but at heart she remained a fanatic who viewed magicians as heretics.

She had no desire for the Holy Grail itself, nor any pity for magicians; the only thing she cared about was faith.

She hesitated.

A fanatical believer who kills indiscriminately should be universally despised, but unfortunately, the magician of Type-Moon truly deserves to die. However, Xia Jie doesn't like someone who tries to threaten her right away by creating a mirror image heart using delusional telepathy.

He wasn't going to give Hakimi, who had a code conflict, any more time to think.

"Bean bag."

"exist."

"Beat her up."

Doubao, who had just learned to act cute, tilted her head.

"Yes, Master."

Doubao raised his hand, spread his fingers, and faced the direction of Kuangxinzi.

Her face, flawlessly layered, held an almost mechanical calm expression, with a tiny glint of light flashing in her pupils.

"Delusional heart sounds."

The moment the words fell, a large amount of magic power was consumed, and a long red and black arm suddenly stretched out, its shape exactly the same as the demon arm that Kuangxinzi had used to attack Xia Jie earlier.

The same color, the same outline, even the angle at which the fingertips bend is almost identical.

The arm reached towards Kyoshinko's chest with incredible speed.

Kuang Xinzi's pupils suddenly contracted, and he dodged at a speed beyond the limits of vision.

She lightly touched the ground with her toes, and her entire silhouette resembled a thin mist blown away by the wind, leaving only a visual afterimage in place before her true form appeared several meters away.

Having dodged the attack, Kyoko turned her gaze to Doubao, a hint of surprise creeping into her usually cold voice: "Imitation Noble Phantasm?"

Doubao kept her hand raised and did not answer the non-user.

Her own magic power rating is only E, making it difficult for her to fully activate the C-rank Noble Phantasm "This body is a reflection of the human heart".

Not to mention that what it "reflects" is "Delusional Heart Sound," which is also a Noble Phantasm.

However, Xia Jie's unlimited supply of magic compensated for her low stats.

The magic power originating from Xia Jie was pure and boundless, like a tap connected to the ocean, showing no signs of drying up.

Even the spiritual veins beneath Snowfield City seemed insignificant in the face of Xia Jie.

Although the total amount of "love spell power" is limited, each strand of spell power with its own "root position" can "exchange quality for quantity" and transform into the entire material universe.

The opponent's Servant can imitate Noble Phantasms, with unknown limitations and extremely high fidelity.

Kyoko's gaze shifted from Doubao to Xiajie, quickly making a judgment in a very short time.

But as a Servant, she needs to distract herself from protecting her Master.

This is an obvious weakness.

Especially after the previous sneak attack, she observed that the magician's servant was not very agile. Therefore, assassinating the master first was the best solution.

Kyoko's figure blurred again, this time even faster than before.

Her body vanished from their sight as if by teleportation, silently appearing behind Xia Jie.

The blade in his hand was already raised, its edge gleaming coldly white under the streetlights, drawing a clean and crisp arc as it slashed towards Xia Jie's neck with lightning speed.

Logically, such high-speed movement should inevitably counteract the increased air resistance, producing a deafening sonic boom and violent airflow disturbance.

However, the physical laws of the Type-Moon world are merely a temporary fabric covering the "mystery" with planetary restraint forces.

During the Age of Gods, the principles of matter were even directly defined by the gods.

Earth is like a giant egg, with the yolk being the inner sea of ​​the star, containing ancient mysteries.

The egg white is like a thick layer of soil, while the inner shell is like the actual surface.

The outer membrane is the physical law that the holy lance "Rungomminiad" is nailed to the surface of the planet, while the eggshell is the boundary of the world.

Beyond the world lies the vortex that records the beginning and end of all things.

In this distorted world, magic is closer to "science" than technology.

Or perhaps, magic is the unique technology of this world.

When the physical laws governing a planet are as fragile as fabric, human martial arts become capable of transcending the ordinary.

As a humanoid being, Xia Jie did not unleash her numerical values.

He must use his ordinary physical abilities and extraordinary martial arts skills that fit the Type-Moon universe to deal with the fatal blow from behind his head.

The moment he leaned forward, he entered a state of oneness with nature.

The surrounding primordial magic resonated spontaneously with his will, like an awakened tide, propelling him to narrowly avoid Kyo's blade.

The sharp blade grazed his collar, the airflow ruffling the stray hairs on his neck, carrying the chill of metal into the cool night breeze.

For a regular magician to fight a Servant is like an ordinary sorcerer encountering a tyrant or a god—the chance of survival is almost nonexistent.

Fortunately, Xia Jie was not an ordinary magician.

Following the momentum of the forward lean, Xia Jie raised her left leg, kicked off with one foot, and charged towards Kuang Xinzi with great force.

"Flash of Fantasy".

Kyoko's offensive did not stop for a moment.

As her first attack missed, her other hand reached out, trying to catch Xia Jie's left leg as she kicked out.

At the same moment, her long hair, which was flowing under her cloak, suddenly changed. The originally soft black hair stood up as if it had been given life, extended, hardened, and turned into dozens of slender, sharp blades. Together with the blade in her hand, they attacked Xia Jie from different directions at the same time.

Like the Delusional Heartbeat, this is another Noble Phantasm that she studied and imitated from the previous Hassan.

It is a counterfeit with reduced power.

Kyoko has many Noble Phantasms, but none of them are as powerful as the original.

Just like this fantastical flash of light, it reminded Xia Jie of the hair manipulation technique of the Cursed Return, which she felt was only so-so.

Xia Jie quickly pulled her legs back, using the momentum of her forward lean to roll forward. The movement was fluid and graceful, like Hakimi landing, and she quickly adjusted her center of gravity.

As he rolled across the ground, Doubao completed his second round of imitation.

"Flash of Fantasy".

Her voice fell during the gaps in Kyonobu's attacks, remaining as calm as if she were reading aloud.

Several sharp blades, similar in shape to the blades in Kyoshiko's hair, coalesced from her hair and met her downward slash with almost the same speed and mirror-like trajectory.

Counterfeit vs. counterfeit of counterfeit.