FATE: Target of Grand Master

Back in the military tent, Xia Yan discussed the deployment and positioning of the Servant battle with Chester.

Compared to Lan Muyan, Chester claimed that he did not have any outstanding abilities, and his servants' fighting style was both close and long-range, so the two adopted a parallel stance.

Currently, the Servants known to frequently appear on the northern front include Berserker Cú Chulainn, Medb, Arjuna, and Minamoto no Tameaki. Their numbers are significantly fewer compared to those on the western front, but their strength should not be underestimated.

Karna, who was on loan, can deal with Arjuna. Medb has a male-specific attack, so she can only be assigned to Musashi or Euryale. Considering their combat strength, it would be safer for Musashi to go.

The remaining Mad King Cú Chulainn and Minamoto no Tameaki are both big troubles.

After some discussion, the two reached an agreement.

Cú Chulainn was assigned to Xia Yan's Cú Chulainn and Euryale, and Chester's von Hohenheim to keep them occupied, while Beowulf and Mephisto went to attack Minamoto no Michi.

With this arrangement, even though it's a 7-on-4 situation on the western side, it still feels like their fighting strength is stretched thin.

"Report: The Eastern Army has entered the canyon and is preparing to launch an attack."

Chester was startled.

"So fast!"

As Xia Yan and Chester stepped out of the military tent, they could already hear the shouts of charging troops echoing through the canyon.

"Attention everyone, prepare to engage the enemy."

Chester loudly commanded the army.

"Mephisto, are the bombs all planted?"

After mobilizing the army, Chester asked his servants.

"Don't worry, hehehe."

Mephisto's face lit up with an expectant smile.

"Okay, follow my instructions in a moment."

Compared to Chester, Xia Yan's plan was simpler. Based on the previous arrangements, they would only act when the corresponding enemy servants appeared, and the battle and pursuit range would not exceed half of the canyon area.

Speaking of the canyon, Xia Yan looked up at the cliffs that were hundreds of meters high. What if the enemy troops came from the top of the canyon? Wouldn't they be able to take the high ground?

Although the outcome of battles is not the key factor in determining the course of the war on the northern front, Xia Yan does not want to suffer an unexpected defeat if the battle becomes too intense.

So he immediately ordered Musashi to take his familiar pigeon up there and take a look.

Upon receiving the order, Musashi sped up and ran straight up the almost 90-degree cliff. The familiar pigeon that had been perched on her shoulder immediately fell down and hurriedly flapped its wings.

After regaining its balance, the familiar pigeon gained altitude and flew to the top of the cliff.

The cliff face was desolate; apart from the crimson rocks and soil, only a few scattered, unnamed weeds showed the tenacity of life.

Fortunately, the Eastern Army did not appear on the cliff.

Just as the familiar pigeon was about to land on Musashi's shoulder to rest, a sharp whooshing sound came from afar.

Before he could even see what was flying towards him, Musashi had already drawn his twin swords and held them in front of him.

Boom!

Musashi's figure was pushed back ten meters on the cliff, but the enormous force did not diminish much until Musashi's feet lost their footing and he fell off the cliff.

"Musashi!"

Xia Yan's familiar pigeon had already been blown away by this force. Once Xia Yan switched back to his own field of vision, he immediately prepared to have Cú Chulainn go and catch it.

Fortunately, Musashi was unharmed. He readjusted his posture halfway down the cliff and used his two katana to slow his descent until he landed back on the ground.

"That was close! If I had reacted any slower, I would have been shot flying."

Musashi described the chilling situation that had just occurred with a smile.

Xia Yan, who had rushed to Musashi's side, asked again with concern, "Musashi, are you alright?"

Musashi's eyes darted around, and suddenly she leaned weakly towards Xia Yan. In a hurry, Xia Yan reached out and hugged Musashi.

"I feel a tightness in my chest, and my arms feel numb."

This terrified Xia Yan, who hurriedly checked Musashi for any wounds.

"Musashi, I didn't expect you to pull this trick. Enough already, the battle is about to begin."

Euryale floated in mid-air, looking at Musashi with an expression that said, "I used such a trick on you eight hundred years ago."

Having experienced Xia Yan's embrace, Musashi knew when to stop and immediately jumped up energetically to show that he was alright.

"What was that just now?"

Seeing that Musashi was alright, Xia Yan breathed a sigh of relief, and the topic naturally turned to the attack just now.

"That was an arrow."

Musashi recalled the moment he was knocked off the cliff, the instant he saw through the magic at the tip of the arrow.

"A metal arrow."

"Did you see where it came from?"

Xia Yan already had a guess in his mind.

"Judging from the trajectory of the arrow, it should be at about the same height as where I am standing, but I didn't see the enemy on the cliff. There are only two possibilities. One is that the other party is hiding. But even an Assassin skilled in assassination will reveal himself the moment he attacks, let alone an arrow with such power. There is no way I wouldn't have sensed it before the attack was launched."

That leaves only one other possibility. The attack was launched from outside my observation and perception range. In other words, the opponent's range exceeded 10 kilometers, something only an Archer-class weapon could achieve. Therefore, the answer is obvious: Minamoto no Tameaki was standing on the cliff 10 kilometers away.

Musashi's guess was the same as Xia Yan's. Although Xia Yan knew that Minamoto no Tameaki had the Moon God's Machine God Fragment, the fact that a shot from over 10 kilometers could still have the power to knock Musashi away showed that his strength was not much different from that of the Mad King Cú Chulainn. It was truly remarkable that Chester was able to preserve his Servant intact in front of these two monsters.

Noticing the commotion on Xia Yan's side, Chester immediately rushed over. After receiving the information shared by Xia Yan, Chester's expression was not good either.

Since Minamoto no Michiko has appeared on the cliff, he must be trying to control the high ground. If Minamoto no Michiko were to stand on the cliff on the Western Army's side and shoot down, Chester couldn't even imagine how terrifying that scene would be.

"Mephisto, plant two more rows of explosives on the west side of the cliff. If Minamoto Mitsuaki really gets here, we'll blow up the cliff. With his 2.3-meter height and 400-pound weight, he'll definitely fall down."

"Hehehe, okay."

Upon hearing that he could plant bombs, Mephistopheles was happy to do anything.

Chu Chu Chu!

The vanguard of the Eastern Army had already rushed out of the canyon, but was immediately shot down by the mechanical soldiers who formed a semi-circle around them.

As the number of corpses piled up, it became increasingly difficult for the Eastern Army to emerge from the canyon.

Seeing that the time was right, Chester said to Mephisto, "Detonate the bombs in the canyon!"

Bang bang bang...

A series of explosions rang out from the depths of the canyon, and a large number of Celtic soldiers from the east were hit by rocks falling from the bombs planted by Mephisto in the canyon, resulting in countless deaths and injuries.

The tactics against the soldiers were very successful, but neither Xia Yan nor Chester cheered.

boom!

Suddenly, a small mountain of Celtic soldiers' corpses was smashed open by a luxuriously decorated carriage. Standing on top of the carriage was a man wearing a hood, naked, with black thorny armor covering his limbs and a non-human tail.

Xia Yan and Chester's eyes sharpened simultaneously.

Here he comes! Cú Chulainn, the Mad King!