FATE: Target of Grand Master

The girl was taken aback at first, then pointed to the corridor and made a shushing gesture.

Xia Yan immediately understood and squatted down next to her, hiding in the blind spot by the windowsill, silently waiting for the patrolling soldiers to leave.

"Huh? Where did the sound go?"

"Did you hear me correctly?"

"Probably not."

"Could it be some kind of small animal? Ever since the king turned the entire city into gold, it's become increasingly difficult for those small animals to find food."

"That's possible."

Two soldiers in silver armor surveyed the corridor for a few more moments, but finding nothing, they left.

Xia Yan and "Satiao Ayaka" beside him both let out a soft breath.

"Ayaka Sajou?"

Xia Yan asked again, tentatively.

The girl who looked remarkably like Ayaka Sajou shook her head and replied, "Almost everyone who meets me for the first time calls me that, but unfortunately, I am not Ayaka Sajou, I just look extremely similar to her. My name is Linghu Shi, and I am a Master. You must be a Master too."

Linghu Shi looked at the Command Seal on the back of Xia Yan's hand. Since arriving here, Xia Yan's three-stroke Command Seal had been restored.

"That's right, my name is Xia Yan, and I am also a Master."

Now that his identity as a master has been exposed, Xia Yan has nothing left to hide.

However, he currently has no followers by his side, so he needs to be careful when communicating with this young woman named Linghu Shi.

Summer heat?

Linghu Shi felt like he had heard the name somewhere before, but he couldn't quite place it.

"Little Poem, I've knocked out the enemies in the corridor."

Suddenly, a blond, blue-eyed male servant dressed in silver armor appeared in front of the two.

Arthur Pendragon!

Xia Yan looked at the male servant in front of him with some surprise, then turned to look at Linghu Shi beside him, thinking: You still say you're not Ayaka Sajou?

Linghu Shi seemed to have seen through Xia Yan's thoughts and gave an awkward laugh, saying, "Would you believe me if I said it was all a coincidence?"

Xia Yan shrugged, not wanting to dwell on the issue any further.

Whether the other person is really Ayaka Sajou or not makes no difference to him; what he needs to do now is find a way to leave this place.

"By the way, I see you came from this palace, so you must have already explored this place. I'm also here to gather information about the king and queen inside the palace. If you're willing to share the information about the palace with me, I can exchange other information with you."

"What other information do you have?"

Judging from Linghu Shi's attitude towards him and the fact that his servant is Arthur, Xia Yan can basically conclude that this Master is not a bad person at heart, and at least he is someone who can cooperate with him.

"For example, information about the other Masters in this trial."

In fact, the moment Xia Yan met Linghu Shi, he realized something: he must have stumbled into another Master's trial.

BB seemed to have been caught off guard by this intruder. The evidence was that when Xia Yan was imprisoned in the room earlier, he tried to check his mission information but found it to be a jumble of gibberish. In other words, there was no mission objective set for him in this trial, so he shouldn't have been here.

If we compare it to the Absolute Demonic Front: Babylonia that I just experienced, this Critical Prosperity City is also a Seventh Singularity, and we also have to face a Beast. It is reasonable that there are multiple Masters participating, and they should all be from the same faction.

This is also why Linghu Shi assumed that he was on her side after meeting him.

According to this reasoning, wouldn't I, as Draco's Master, be standing on the opposite side of all the Masters participating in this trial?

This also includes Linghu Shi, who is standing right in front of us.

Xia Yan now has two choices. One is to betray Linghu Shi and join them in fighting Draco. Whether Linghu Shi and his Masters can defeat Draco is another matter, but if he chooses this option, he will not gain any benefit regardless of whether they can defeat Draco in the end. On the contrary, he will lose Nero, his Servant.

Another option is to return to Draco's side and continue to be his Master, but given Draco's current state, he would most likely be imprisoned like a caged bird, which is not what he wants.

Thinking about it this way, Xia Yan realized that he was now in a dilemma.

"Do you have any concerns?"

Seeing that Xia Yan hadn't spoken for a long time, Linghu Shi asked.

Well, let's take it one step at a time. For now, it's best to be on good terms with Linghu Shi and break free from Draco's control. Maybe Morgan will come later.

"I didn't see the king, but I'm certain of the queen's identity. She's Draco, also known as Nero the Beast. Judging from the environment here and Draco's identity, the king here is most likely Nebuchadnezzar II, wearing Gilgamesh's skin."

As Xia Yan spoke, Linghu Shi's pupils turned a light blue, but Xia Yan didn't notice because she was wearing glasses.

The name of Linghu Shi's magic eye is "The Eye of Emotion".

It doesn't possess the same powerful combat abilities as the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception, Petrification, or Distortion, nor does it have the ability to manipulate and influence others like the Mystic Eyes of Enchantment. Compared to these, it seems rather mediocre.

Joyful green, angry red, sad blue, fearful black—different emotions are represented by a specific color in his eyes. By observing the color state of the other person in the demon's eyes, one can intuitively understand the other person's current emotional state.

This magic eye is useless in combat, but it can be used in negotiations to check the other party's attitude and help determine whether the other party is lying.

At this moment, from Linghu Shi's perspective, Xia Yan's body was white, which was a state of emotional stability, without any emotional fluctuations and very calm. At least the man in front of her was not lying.

"Thank you for sharing, but we can't just speculate about the king's identity. I have to confirm it myself. There are plenty of cases of substitution in the trials. We can't assume that just because we know the plot, we can ignore the work of verifying information."

Xia Yan greatly appreciated Linghu Shi's meticulous attitude, but he didn't want to go in with her right now. However, if they parted ways, the chances of him escaping the palace alone would be greatly reduced. It seemed he had to find a way to persuade Linghu Shi to give up the idea.

"Miss Linghu Shi."

Just call me Linghu Shi.

"Alright, Linghu Shi. If you want to personally confirm the king's identity, you will inevitably have to go deep into the palace. Regardless of whether the king is Nebuchadnezzar II with Gilgamesh's spirit origin, Draco's perception alone is extremely powerful. As an Assassin-class Servant without a concealed aura, you'd better not take this risk."

Linghu Shi asked curiously, "How did you know I don't have an Assassin-class Servant?"

"If you have an Assassin-class Servant, you can have them use Presence Concealment to act alone. This is much more efficient and safer than you, as the Master, venturing deep into the palace."

"Little Poem, you see, that's what I was saying too. Even with a few of us Servants protecting us, it's not a wise move to venture deep into the enemy's base."

It seems that Arthur also opposes his Master's adventurous exploration.

"But without confirming the identities of the King and Queen, I cannot assess the combat strength of both sides, and therefore cannot formulate subsequent plans."

Linghu Shi scratched his head in frustration.

"Linghu Shi, didn't you just say there are other Masters? Don't they have any Assassin-class Servants either?"

"They do have it, but I don't trust the information they give me."

Linghu Shi gave a look of disgust.

"Not counting you, there are two other Masters in this trial besides me. However, they are both from the same Master group, so they are openly and secretly trying to take advantage of and exclude me."

Oh ho, it seems the Masters here aren't of one mind.

Xia Yan suddenly felt that his future was fraught with difficulties.