FATE: Target of Grand Master

Chester's words were not wrong, but they were also unhelpful. Xia Yan had already concluded that the East was stronger than the West when they took the initiative to contact him.

"Could you provide more details about the battle situation? For example, where is the current battle line approximately? What are the troop strengths in the east and west? What information do you have regarding the east?"

Chester smiled when he heard Xia Yan's series of questions.

"Mr. Xia, please don't worry. We will naturally not hide anything from our allies."

Xia Yan smiled too.

Good grief, they're targeting me.

"I'm sure you two know that this place is a wounded soldiers' camp. When I first entered the trial, I encountered Cú Chulainn, the Mad King of the East, and he stabbed me and seriously injured me. Fortunately, Nightingale, the head nurse here, saved me with her Noble Phantasm, so I have a blood feud with the East."

Chester's smile widened after hearing Xia Yan's words.

"I absolutely believe what Mr. Xia said, but that is not enough to be a prerequisite for us to form an alliance."

Xia Yan raised an eyebrow.

"We have a common enemy, isn't that enough?"

"Mr. Xia, I don't like beating around the bush, so I'll just get straight to the point. The way Mr. Lan and I formed an alliance was by showing each other our mission objectives, like this."

After he finished speaking, a message box appeared in front of Chester. With a flick of his finger, Chester casually turned the message box towards Xia Yan.

Main Quest (Required): Defeat King Cú Chulainn

Side Quest (Optional): XXXXXXXXX

Meanwhile, Lan Muyan, who had been silent all along, turned his information box towards Xia Yan after erasing the side quest.

The main missions for both of them are exactly the same as Xia Yan's: to defeat the Mad King Cú Chulainn. This is indeed an indisputable condition for forming an alliance.

Seeing how candid the two were, Xia Yan followed suit and showed them the information box of his side quest, which had been hidden.

Chester nodded, and the two sides had established a basic level of trust for their alliance.

"Mr. Chester, can you tell me about the current situation of the battle now?"

This time, Chester didn't refuse, but instead gave a wry smile.

"To be honest, the current situation is very unfavorable. Lan Muyan and I are in charge of the northern and southern fronts respectively, but on both sides, the eastern army has already pushed past two-thirds of the entire North American continent. Fortunately, our western troops are mainly composed of mechanical soldiers; if they were human soldiers, their morale would have been completely shattered long ago."

This situation is indeed very unfavorable.

Recalling that Xia Yan had just entered the wasteland where the trial was located, which was right near the central axis of the continent, the Eastern Army had advanced such a large area in just two days.

Moreover, if Xia Yan remembered correctly, Denver, where the Western Army's headquarters was located, was situated in the area that spanned two-thirds of the way from east to west.

"Therefore, the Western Army is almost at its last resort."

Chester gave an awkward smile, which was taken as tacit agreement.

"So, how did you each lose on your respective northern and southern fronts?"

The process is actually more important than the result.

Chester glanced at Lan Muyan and spoke first: "Let me go first. The main enemy on the northern front I'm in charge of is the Mad King Cú Chulainn. Besides him, there's Medb and Arjuna, as well as the Servant who supports the Eastern Army Master, Minamoto no Tameaki. Can you imagine a scene on the battlefield with a berserk beast and a Gundam? My Servants, plus Karna from the Western Army, are no match for them. Once the Servant battle is lost, the front line will naturally collapse."

After listening to Chester's explanation, Xia Yan turned his gaze to Lan Muyan.

Lan Muyan's voice was very gentle, which contrasted sharply with his cold and aloof appearance.

"The situation on my southern front is the opposite. The enemy's Servants include Fergus, Finn, Diarmuid, and Zhang Jiao. Their strength is not particularly outstanding compared to mine, but Zhang Jiao can continuously produce new troops. In addition, Medb is constantly supplying Celtic soldiers, so the number of soldiers in the eastern army is more than twice that of the western army. With the Servant battles proving to be evenly matched, the front line is being gradually eroded."

Xia Yan finally understood. The Eastern Army Master's command ability was excellent. He made the most reasonable allocation of the battle lines against the two Western Masters, causing them to retreat in defeat.

"Cough...cough..."

Xia Yan cleared his throat, trying to ease the awkward atmosphere.

"The past is the past; let's discuss our strategy for the future."

"Oh no! Oh no!"

Suddenly, a blue robin landed beside Robin Hood and cried out urgently, "The Eastern army is attacking!"

"What?! Why now of all times?!"

Chester stood up to leave, but Lan Muyan was a step faster, disappearing from the spot along with the Servants.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Xia, let's discuss the alliance later."

Chester was about to leave when Xia Yan called him back.

"Wait a moment, Mr. Chester, I'll go with you."

"What?"

Chester was clearly somewhat surprised.

"We Chinese have a saying, 'If the lips are gone, the teeth will be cold.' If your Western Army is completely defeated by the Eastern Army, I will not be able to complete the trial mission alone. Please lead the way."

Seeing Xia Yan's determination, Chester didn't waste any more time and immediately got to work.

This was the first time Xia Yan had acted with other Masters since the start of the Master Trial. In order to achieve the fastest speed, both Masters relied on their respective Servants to move, and soon caught up with Lan Muyan and his group who had started earlier.

"Is the Eastern Army attacking from the north or the south?" Chester asked.

"The enemy has been spotted in the south so far, but we cannot rule out the possibility that the north may also be attacked," Lan Muyan replied.

Chester nodded in agreement.

"That's right, we've suffered from their diversionary tactics before. So, Mr. Xia, please go and support Lan Muyan. I'll defend the northern front. Now that you've joined us, we finally have some spare troops to allocate."

"Just call me Xia Yan. No problem, then I'll go to the southern front with Mr. Lan."

Lan Muyan did not object to the decision, and the three of them quickly separated and moved toward their respective battle lines.

At this moment, Xia Yan couldn't help but sigh that Fujimaru Ritsuka was truly a ruthless person.

In the original work, Fujimaru Ritsuka walked across the entire North American continent, which shows the value of an "ordinary person" in the Type-Moon world.

"Xia Yan"

Lan Muyan, who had been silent all along, suddenly spoke up.

"Although Chester and I are both fighting for the Western Army, this is the first time I've fought alongside another Master on the same front. I'm skilled with all kinds of firearms, and considering our Servant lineups, I think you should be in front and I should be in the back. Of course, if you're worried about me shooting you in the back, we can also fight side-by-side."

Xia Yan agreed with Lan Muyan's analysis and confidently replied, "I agree with your point of view. I'm first, you're second."

Then, Xia Yan added in his mind, "If you dare to stab me in the back, you'll have to bear Morgan's wrath."