FATE: Target of Grand Master

Li Shuwen shuddered, shaking off all the water droplets on his body, thus rendering Xia Yan's method ineffective.

Is it really so?

Li Shuwen wandered through the damp square. Without the distorted water droplets to guide him, Nero tried to judge by the sound of Li Shuwen's footsteps.

Unfortunately, even in the incredibly damp square, Li Shuwen, a martial arts master, remained completely silent.

"Saber, watch out for changes in the ground."

Xia Yan's reminder came again through telepathy.

"Although Li Shuwen doesn't make any sound when he moves, and we can't sense his presence, it doesn't mean that his presence has been completely erased. Every time he moves, he will definitely cause changes on the damp ground. These changes are extremely subtle, at least I can't see them, but as a Servant, you should be able to observe them."

After Xia Yan's reminder, Nero carefully observed the surrounding area from near to far, and soon discovered two places where extremely tiny water droplets appeared. These were probably traces of water droplets sticking to the edge of his shoe soles and falling off, which Li Shuwen had tried his best to avoid but could not completely avoid when he moved.

Based on the proximity of these two marks, Li Shuwen's figure will arrive beside him in a second.

Without time to think, Nero swung around in place with the "Primordial Flame" in hand. Flames spread around the blade of the crimson greatsword, further expanding the range of his attack.

Li Shuwen, whose attack intentions had been exposed, showed surprise again. After his two more attacks were neutralized, Li Shuwen voluntarily released the circle and appeared in front of Xia Yan and Nero.

"Assassin, why did you cancel your skill?"

Julius had been trying to ambush Xia Yan while Li Shuwen was holding Nero back, but his instincts as a professional assassin kept warning him not to act rashly.

Julius was able to rise to become the captain of a terrorist unit privately set up by a Western European conglomerate. His intuition had saved him many times along the way. Therefore, even though he was extremely anxious at the moment and wanted to eliminate Xia Yan before the system discovered that he was engaging in illegal combat, he still did not take action.

Ignoring Julius's question, Li Shuwen looked at Xia Yan and Nero and expressed his confusion.

"Saber, and Saber's Master, how did you determine my location?"

"Assassin, you don't actually think we'd be naive enough to tell you about this enemy, do you?"

Nero replied without any politeness.

"Indeed. However, I am quite curious. If you are willing to tell me the reason, I promise to stop using 'Circle'."

"Hey, Assassin, don't act on your own!"

Li Shuwen's words immediately drew Julius's objection, but Li Shuwen replied calmly, "Don't worry, Master. I just want to know the reason so I can be more careful in future battles."

"How arrogant of you, Assassin. Your words just now made it sound like you were certain to win this battle."

Nero raised the "Primordial Flame," ready to attack at any moment.

"This is not arrogance on my part, but simply stating a fact."

Li Shuwen's tone was very calm, and there was indeed no arrogance in his manner.

"Warning! The system has detected an illegal battle! Both parties must stop immediately, or the system will punish you!"

Just as Nero was about to retort, an electronic voice came from above the square.

Julius frowned. It seemed the system had detected the battle here. But Xia Yan already knew too much about him, so he absolutely could not be allowed to stay any longer.

"Assassin, I grant you permission to use your Noble Phantasm!"

"Yes, that's exactly what I was thinking too."

Li Shuwen assumed a fighting stance and said to Nero, "Saber, I regret to inform you that I was indeed very interested in your method of breaking the 'Circle of Enclosures,' but unfortunately, you no longer have the chance to reveal it. Noble Phantasm! Unparalleled!"

Li Shuwen's Noble Phantasm can be activated extremely quickly, which may be related to the fact that his Noble Phantasm does not use magic power, but is simply a sublimation of skill.

In the blink of an eye, Li Shuwen had already closed in on Nero.

"Too slow."

Nero tried to block with "Primordial Flame," but his defensive movements couldn't keep up with the speed of Li Shuwen's punches.

"May you bleed from all seven orifices and explode to death!"

Nero was hit directly by Li Shuwen's punch, and immediately felt an uncontrollable force surging through his body. His spirit foundation was instantly inflated like a balloon, ready to explode at any moment.

"Pfft..."

Just as Li Shuwen said, Nero coughed up a mouthful of blood, and blood also flowed from his eyes, ears and nose. If it were an ordinary Servant, he would have been dead by now.

That's right, this applies to regular Servants.

Just as Li Shuwen was convinced that Nero would die from his Noble Phantasm and was about to withdraw his arm, Nero grabbed his arm.

"I've finally caught you."

Nero's appearance, bleeding from all seven orifices, coupled with her fierce eyes and upturned lips, gave Li Shuwen the momentary illusion that he was facing an incredibly ferocious beast.

"Although I don't know why you didn't die immediately, you should be on the verge of death. It's just a matter of delivering one more punch."

Li Shuwen raised his left hand, which was not caught by Nero, preparing to swing it at Nero's head.

The Petrifying Demon Eye!

Upon seeing this, Xia Yan immediately activated his Demon Eye.

Just like the effect Xia Yan had on Red A during the beach volleyball match in Fuyuki City, it only caused a momentary delay in Li Shuwen's movements when he used Magic D.

Just like Archer felt at the time, Li Shuwen only felt his movements pause for a moment, but in battles between Servants, such an opening is often fatal.

Pfft!

Li Shuwen felt as if his heart had been pierced by a sharp, hard object. Looking down, he saw Nero's deep red greatsword.

"Pfft..."

Li Shuwen coughed up a mouthful of blood and then fell straight backward.

Nero finally couldn't hold on any longer and knelt on one knee, panting heavily. If she hadn't been clinging tightly to the "Primordial Flame" for support, she probably would have collapsed to the ground.

"Hey, Saber, you've pierced my heart, there's no chance of survival. Can you tell me how you broke through my 'boundary'?"

Nero took several difficult breaths before managing to speak to Li Shuwen, who was radiating golden particles, "Assassin, you... are really... persistent."

However, since things had come to this point, there was no harm in telling him. So, Nero told Li Shuwen the method that Xia Yan had told her.

"Hahaha...cough...cough..."

Li Shuwen burst into laughter, but choked on the blood that rushed into his mouth.

"If it weren't for this environment, I would have won. No, it was your Master who created this environment. It seems you've met an extraordinary Master, Saber."

"Hmph. That's for sure. Anyone chosen by Yu to be a performer is no ordinary person."