FATE: Target of Grand Master

"Wasn't what I just said valuable enough?"

Damian asked timidly.

"It certainly has value. But compared to your life, I think it's not enough. Of course, if you feel that your life is only worth that much, then I don't think it's a big loss to lose it."

"Of course not!"

Damian quickly denied it, then frowned and began to think hard.

Think quickly, what else can you say?

Anything is fine, my brain, come up with something else!

Damn it, that bastard Oliver! If he hadn't dragged me out, I wouldn't be here now!

correct!

"I...I've got it! Other Masters can pass through the Holy Grail Front's territory."

These words immediately piqued Xia Yan's interest.

"Please elaborate further."

"Wasn't there someone else with me just now? That person's name is Oliver, and he's in the same Master group as me. We happened to meet once when we were fighting over a base. He voluntarily gave me that base, and we became friends. Afterwards, he told me that we could conquer the nearby tiles together, so we went together."

In this process, we choose to take turns occupying squares, which naturally leads to situations where I go to his territory and he comes to mine. Through testing, we discovered that as long as our territories are in contact, and the owner of the square I'm standing on allows the other party to enter, the other party can enter their territory without occupying a square.

This was indeed information Xia Yan had never received before, but he did not believe it immediately.

"Take me for a test."

Damian immediately understood and led Xia Yan to his territory.

Just as Xia Yan was about to step into Damian's territory, a message box popped up in front of him.

The contents are to confirm with Xia Yan whether they want to occupy the stronghold or apply to enter the master's territory.

Xia Yan chose the latter, and another information box immediately popped up in front of Damian.

The information inside was naturally Xia Yan's request to enter.

After Damian gave his approval in front of Xia Yan, Xia Yan and his followers were able to enter Damian's territory.

"Damian, isn't this a risk of someone taking advantage of the situation?"

"You mean, someone is using this to go to someone else's safe house and then corner them at the door?"

It must be said that Damian reacted quite quickly.

"right."

"There's no loophole here. To trap the opponent inside their safe house, you need to occupy the first square outside their safe house, but once you apply to join, you can't occupy that Master's territory. It won't be confirmed again until you leave and come back next time. In addition, we've also tested that if you choose to attack a point, the opposing Master won't receive any information."

Xia Yan nodded, indicating that he understood.

"Very well, this information is enough to exchange for your life."

Hearing Xia Yan's words, Damian breathed a sigh of relief.

There was still a Servant left in his safe house. Although the road ahead would be difficult, at least he had survived. As long as he was alive, there was still hope.

"Then I'll be going now."

Damian really didn't want to stay by Xia Yan's side any longer.

"Wait a moment."

Xia Yan called out to Damian, which Damian interpreted as Xia Yan going back on his word.

"Don't panic, I'm not going back on my word."

Xia Yan noticed Damian's nervousness and immediately explained, "However, if you can tell me some more valuable information, I can return this to you."

Damian was tempted when he saw the teleportation ball in Xia Yan's hand.

He only has one Servant left, and the trials to come may present unsolvable situations. If he had a teleportation orb, he would have an extra layer of protection.

Damian racked his brains but couldn't think of any other valuable information. He could only say helplessly, "Xia Yan, I really don't have any information to tell you. How about this, I'll exchange my Holy Grail Front's stronghold for a teleportation orb."

Xia Yan thought for a moment. Although he currently only had two strongholds, based on his experience of being ambushed today, each stronghold needed to be equipped with at least two Servants, which would make a total of at least four Servants.

I currently have a total of nine Servants. If we exclude Miss Tsuru, who has virtually no combat power, it is necessary for me to take four Servants to the trial. I simply do not have any extra combat power to defend the new stronghold.

Therefore, to Damian's surprise, Xia Yan rejected his proposal.

"I don't need the base for now. However, I can give you the teleportation orb first, and you must provide me with valuable intelligence afterwards. Don't try to renege on your promise, or I can block your door anytime."

Xia Yan tossed the teleportation ball back to Damian and then added him as a friend.

After returning to the safe house, Xia Yan first visited the injured Nero. With Morgan adding various auxiliary magic to the safe house, Nero's recovery speed was much faster than Xia Yan had expected.

"Excuse me, performer. I..."

"Alright. Stop being so pessimistic. In my mind, His Majesty Nero should always be full of energy, shining like a little sun around him."

Xia Yan reached out and patted Nero's head, adding, "I know that a few simple words won't be enough to get rid of your guilt, so I want to say something different to you."

Nero tilted his head curiously, waiting for Xia Yan to continue.

"Afterwards, I will likely face even more dangerous trials than before. Although I already have Morgan and Tiamat, I have never underestimated or disregarded the power of any of your other Servants."

Everyone makes mistakes, even those of you who have left an indelible mark on history. Making mistakes isn't terrible; what's terrible is dwelling on past mistakes and being afraid to look forward.

I won't ask you to deliberately forget your mistakes; on the contrary, I hope you'll keep them firmly in mind and use them as motivation to help me pass the trials to come.

Nero nodded, then murmured softly, "I'm actually afraid that you'll hate me because of this."

"How could that be? I love seeing His Majesty Nero's smiling face."

"Could you give me some encouragement, performer?"

Nero poked his fingers together.

What kind of encouragement do you want?

Nero didn't speak, but closed her eyes, her cute little mouth slightly pouting, the meaning couldn't be clearer—kiss me.

Faced with Nero's invitation, Xia Yan didn't want to spoil her fun, but he also didn't want Nero to be too easily satisfied. So, he reached out and held Nero's head, gently kissing her forehead.

"Waaah... The performer is bullying me."

Nero was clearly not satisfied with Xia Yan's actions, but she couldn't say that Xia Yan hadn't encouraged her, so she could only blink her big, watery eyes and look at her Master with a wronged yet adorable expression.