FATE: Target of Grand Master

"Is there anything else that needs to be changed?"

On the surface, the vines seemed a little impatient, but inwardly they felt a slight fondness for the girl in the beret.

This time there was no further movement, and the vine decisively said, "Alright, then the groups are settled. Next, I will stamp each of you with a seal as your team's identifier."

After saying that, Tengman jumped off the stage and walked to Xia Yan and the girl in the beret first, stamping each of their left hands with a stamp made of Tengman's own portrait.

Xia Yan carefully examined the chapter but didn't sense anything unusual; it seemed to be an ordinary chapter, nothing out of the ordinary.

Then, the vines went to the other side of the line and stamped their left hands as well.

Xia Yan, with her sharp eyes, noticed that the vines were stamping another set with BB's image, thus distinguishing the two sets.

Back on stage, Tengman smiled and continued to explain the rules of the lottery.

"As per BB's request, the knockout stage will adopt a one-on-one format with group matches, with Group A facing off against Group B. Since Group A only has two players, they will be the first to draw lots. Their opponents will be chosen from Group B on the other side. The results of the draw will be displayed on the big screen in real time."

Upon hearing this, Group B, which had a significantly larger number of members, began to whisper among themselves.

"A one-on-one format in group battles, that means the two people in Group A will constantly be fighting one-on-one against everyone in Group B, right?"

"That's how I see it too. No matter how strong those two are, they're bound to lose in a 14-person onslaught."

"Hehe. That little dwarf who loves to show off, he's got a screw loose now."

The vines on the stage looked at Xia Yan and the girl in the beret. The two of them showed no signs of panic, which made the vines think more highly of them.

She pressed the remote control she was carrying, and Xia Yan's and the girl in the beret's names appeared on the big screen. Xia Yan finally learned that the short girl next to him was named Hu Xia.

Of the two, Xia Yan was the first to draw lots. The name of Xia Yan's opponent started scrolling rapidly, then gradually slowed down, until it finally settled on a familiar name - Li Zhuang.

It really is true that enemies are destined to meet, Xia Yan couldn't help but smile.

On the other side, Li Zhuang frowned when he saw his name appear, but then relaxed.

He originally hoped to be in a more back position so that his losses would be less, but thinking back, Xia Yan only had Nero as his servant, and overpowered servants like Morgan were not around. Wasn't this the best time to kill him?

He still remembered the regret of being overturned by Xia Yan despite his favorable situation in the North American Singularity, and he was determined to repay that a thousandfold here.

Although the opponent's Servant Nero is quite powerful, Romulus on their side is the founding emperor of Rome, and has a bloodline advantage over Nero.

It works!

With that thought in mind, Li Zhuang immediately began his performance.

"Everyone, it seems that fate has entrusted me with the task of sniping the 'cheater' Xia Yan. I will do my best to defeat this guy."

"It's up to you, Li Zhuang."

"Li Zhuang, we'll cheer you on."

Immediately, the Masters in Group B expressed their support for Li Zhuang, and the scene seemed incredibly united.

The two members of Group A and Kirei Kotomine remained silent, watching Group B's performance quietly. Only Fujiman interrupted them, annoyed, saying, "Continue with the draw."

Immediately afterwards, Hu Xia also drew his opponent for this round, the Master who had previously complained about drawing Spartacus.

The Master had an expression that said, "Why am I so unlucky?", but with the encouragement of the Masters around him, he accepted reality.

With that, the draw for Group A was complete, but there were still 12 Masters in Group B without opponents.

One of the Masters joked, "Candy Vine, does that mean the rest of us Masters can be considered to have advanced to the second round?"

"Haha, you're dreaming."

His words immediately drew laughter from those around him, and occasionally a Master would jokingly curse at him.

The vines smiled slightly and said, "Your idea is very creative, but our competition system will not be so unfair. The remaining 12 Masters will naturally have to fight, and their opponents will be the people around them."

After he finished speaking, the large screen behind the vines displayed the arrangement of the six matches.

The names of the 12 Masters scrolled up simultaneously, and then they took their seats one by one, quickly completing the arrangement of the 6 matches. Combined with the earlier draw between Xia Yan and Hu Xia, the first round of the elimination tournament was completed.

"Wait a minute, Candy Vine, didn't you just say this was a one-on-one team battle mode? Why do we in the same team have to fight each other?"

One of the Masters astutely noticed the problem.

"I did say there would be group competitions, but I didn't say there wouldn't be competitions within the groups."

The candy vines revealed a cunning smile.

"What? You're playing word games! Then what's the point of grouping them?"

The Master wouldn't let it go.

"It's meaningless?"

The candy vine raised its eyebrows and scolded, "If the number of people in both groups were the same, there would be no need for intra-group competition. But you all like to huddle together, so let's all go to the arena together."

"This is unfair! I demand a regrouping and a draw!"

The other Master was clearly extremely dissatisfied with the arrangement of the Candy Vine, or rather, extremely dissatisfied with his draw.

"Huh? Are you a three-year-old? All you do is cry and throw a tantrum when you're not satisfied. If you're not as skilled as others, just admit it honestly, instead of always finding fault with others. Let me be frank, I'm not as easy to talk to as BB. Don't be fooled by BB's scheming appearance; she values ​​fairness more than anyone else. Since you say there's a 'cheater' here, it means you don't agree with BB's fairness. Well then, I'll show you what true freedom looks like."

These words were like igniting a powder keg, instantly provoking resentment from all the Masters.

"Why should I listen to you? Who do you think you are?"

"We do not accept intra-group competition, only inter-group competition!"

Seeing that the Candy Vine was calmly watching them, with the corners of its mouth turned up as if mocking them, one of the hot-tempered B-group Masters even directly ordered his Servant, Blood Axe King, to attack the Candy Vine.

Just as Blood Axe King's giant axe was about to hit the candy vines, a tremendous force struck Blood Axe King from the side, sending him flying directly into the gymnasium wall.

"As the overseer of the Holy Grail War, I cannot allow anyone to attack the host."

Kirei Kotomine stood beside the candy vines, retracting his right fist behind his back.

Everything happened in the blink of an eye. The Masters turned to look and saw that the Blood Axe King's giant axe had been broken into two pieces, which made them reassess Kirei Kotomine's strength.

It seems that in order to maintain order in the Holy Grail War, BB has adjusted Kirei Kotomine's strength to a level comparable to that of a Servant.

The Master who impulsively ordered Blood Axe King to attack collapsed to the ground.

He only intended to scare the vines, but Kirei Kotomine was unexpectedly ruthless. Judging from Blood Axe King's injuries, it's absolutely impossible for him to recover before this round of battle. In other words, he is almost certain to be eliminated in this round.

The candy vines swept their gazes over the Masters below and asked, "Does anyone have any objections to my arrangements?"