[179] The Same Type of Ability!

Clang!

A blade flashed, erupting like the northern lights.

The strike was unimaginably fast.

He hadn't even sensed anyone approaching, completely caught off guard in that instant. In the blink of an eye, the blade pierced through his chest.

Boom!

Immediately after, his vision spun wildly as if struck by a meteorite. His entire body was sent flying in an instant, crashing heavily onto the ground.

When he steadied himself, a blinding light filled his sight.

Looking around, he realized he'd been sent flying from backstage all the way to center stage by that single slash, now lying directly under the spotlight.

Opposite him stood a slender figure.

The girl wore a pale blue haori, her delicate frame radiating sharp intensity. Her sapphire-blue eyes were as cold as ice, like an executioner about to deliver judgment.

The man glanced down at his chest—a visible hole ran straight through from front to back.

Faint electric sparks crackled around the wound.

"...Someone actually detected me?"

It seemed he'd need to adjust his evaluation of this world slightly.

Lately, everything had gone so smoothly here. Having encountered few worthy opponents, he'd unconsciously begun thinking himself invincible in this world. Turns out there were still some capable fighters around!

"So it's you?"

A voice brimming with frost came from behind.

The man subtly turned his head, bringing the other side of the stage into his peripheral vision.

The world's top diva—also ranked second in the Asterisk City—was glaring at him with unprecedented sharpness, her face contorted with barely restrained fury.

"Haha, what a failure. I'd planned to announce my arrival during the world's greatest songstress's concert. Instead, I've made a fool of myself."

His sigh dripped with regret.

To Silvia's ears, it also served as confirmation of her suspicions.

"Can creatures like you only exist by destroying others' happiness?"

Silvia instinctively reached for her weapon, only to remember she'd left her Lux weapon backstage before the concert.

"I'll handle this one."

Miss Okita interrupted their exchange.

"He's controlling the audience with threads—the ends are near their ears. To free them, you'll need to sever those threads with energy-based attacks. Whether you can manage that is up to you."

"...Understood. I'll leave this to you then!"

Silvia glanced at the audience. Though she burned with the desire to cut down this bastard, saving her fans took priority now.

With a nod, she entrusted the cloaked man to Miss Okita and hurried toward the spectator stands.

Soon, only two figures remained on stage.

No.

Only one person... or rather, neither was human to begin with.

Miss Okita was a Servant familiar—not just not alive, but not even human.

As for the cloaked man...

Miss Okita glanced at the opponent's still-sparking chest and immediately understood the situation.

Beneath that cloak was most likely an artificial body.

What a coincidence.

They were in exactly the same predicament.

"What's your name?"

The cloaked man turned his head, his gaze finally settling on Miss Okita.

Without a word, Miss Okita raised her sword and decisively charged forward.

"Such a temper!"

The cloaked man spread his arms, threads from his ten fingers converging to form a net-like barrier in front of him.

Miss Okita's blade pierced straight through the gaps in the net, but just as her body was about to collide with it, she abruptly halted.

The origin of these threads was unknown, and Roy didn't dare let Miss Okita touch them. If control over her was lost, wouldn't that mean losing both the battle and the advantage?

"Be careful of those threads! Dismember him without making contact!"

Roy remotely input the final command.

He switched Miss Okita's control from manual to automatic.

In manual mode, every reaction of Miss Okita required his direct instruction, which could easily lead to embarrassing situations like the one this morning.

But in automatic mode, her combat would be governed by her body's instincts. Though still not perfectly fluid, it was enough to unleash 80-90% of Miss Okita's original combat prowess! While Miss Okita herself wasn't overwhelmingly strong, one mustn't forget—her body housed the Lesser Grail as an energy source. With such vast magical power supporting her, the strength of this familiar surpassed even that of the Servant Okita.

On stage, Miss Okita's eyes suddenly lost their luster.

Then, with a twist of her wrist and a flick of her blade, she coated the sword in magical energy. With a single slash, she shattered the net before her, then followed up with an upward diagonal strike aimed at the cloaked man.

A sharp tearing sound echoed as a massive gash appeared across the cloaked man's chest.

His reflexes were far too slow to match Miss Okita's blade speed. Despite his desperate evasion, the deep slash nearly cleaved his body in two, exposing his energy core.

"Haha, you're really strong!"

The cloaked man let out a cheerful laugh, utterly unfazed. Instead, he praised Miss Okita's skill.

"But unfortunately, I was never good at close combat—let alone in this body. How about letting this big guy be your opponent instead?"

As he spoke, he swiftly retreated.

At the same time, threads continuously extended from his fingers, adhering to the stage floor and tearing it up to obstruct Miss Okita's advance.

This method, of course, couldn't hold her back for long—not even a few seconds. But in that time, he recklessly produced countless threads, spreading them throughout the venue.

Not toward the humans, but toward the steel beams, railings, seats, and other equipment.

A cacophony of creaking and snapping filled the air as steel beams crashed down from the ceiling, railings bent and stretched toward the center, rows of seats flipped over the surrounding crowd, and countless pieces of equipment soared into the air. Before the eyes of over ten thousand spectators and cameras, the debris twisted and reassembled midair.

On the ground, Miss Okita effortlessly maneuvered around the shattered floorboards, beheading the cloaked man with a single, effortless slash, followed by several more strikes that left him in pieces.

Then she stopped.

From the scattered metal wreckage, a camera suddenly flew out, rapidly ascending higher and higher until it merged into the distorted metal sphere in the sky.

Roy: "..."

One downside of Miss Okita's automatic mode was that once her instructions were completed, she would shut down immediately—regardless of whether the enemy got back up or had any remaining tricks.

In the sky, the sphere formed from countless steel beams and railings transformed under the control of threads into a massive metal puppet. Its limbs were made of steel rods, its torso of seats, its body bound by railings and threads—before plummeting heavily toward the ground.

BOOM!

The earth shook violently as the nearly twenty-meter-tall metal puppet landed with a thunderous impact.

"Hahaha! How will you deal with this now?"

From the pile of wreckage on the ground came a hoarse, electronically distorted laugh.

***

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