FATE: Target of Grand Master

The next morning, Xia Yan and his group, who were having breakfast together, discussed their plans for the future.

It is currently known that the enemy has at least five Masters in total. Although Xia Yan has controlled one of them, the other four, if they unite, would still be a considerable force.

Anastasia had been out for a day and a night, and Ivan the Terrible's sleep had not been very restful. She needed to return to the imperial palace in Moscow just in case.

After much deliberation, Xia Yan decided to take all his followers back to Moscow.

Firstly, Xia Yan plans to have Morgan establish teleportation arrays in both Moscow and this place, which has now become a socialist village, so that they won't waste time traveling when they come out again.

Secondly, he currently knows almost nothing about the Masters on the rebel side, except for their numbers and the fact that they have Servants who can summon sea monsters and mechanical soldiers. Rather than wasting time running around, he would rather patiently wait for Villeneuve's contact.

Thirdly, during the return journey, Musashi and Ereshkigal's injuries and mana depletion can be further repaired.

So, after Morgan set up the teleportation array, Xia Yan immediately set off with his followers.

On the way, he was also speculating about the identities of the Servants on the rebel side. Based on the current information, the Servant who could summon the sea monster was most likely Marshal Caster, but the identity of the Servant who could create mechanical soldiers was questionable. Babbage, Edison, Tesla, or even Leonardo da Vinci were all possibilities.

Well, these Servants may cause some trouble, but we also have our own Killer Hunters. We just need to take care of the Masters and Servants of these rebel forces before the Thunder Emperor awakens.

Thanks to Morgan's help, Xia Yan and the others returned in half the time they had previously taken, even though the wind and snow were so fierce that they deliberately controlled their flight speed.

Of course, only Xia Yan and his Servants flew back; as for the Slaughter Hunters, let them run slowly behind.

Upon entering the palace, Xia Yan deliberately dispersed his followers and led Anastasia, Morgan, and Nero up to the second floor.

After confirming Lei Di's sleeping condition with their own eyes, Xia Yan and the others left Lei Di's bedroom and returned to the rest room.

"Morgan, do you see anything wrong with that priest?"

After entering the rest room, Xia Yan asked Morgan about his opinion on Kirei Kotomine.

As a veteran Type-Moon player, Xia Yan knew Kirei Kotomine's nature very well. Although he had been doing his job diligently in 2.1, it was mostly because Rasputin was around, so Kirei Kotomine didn't go all out. In addition, as an apostle of the alien god, Kirei Kotomine was still quite polite to Kadoc.

But he is not Kadoc. Whether Kirei Kotomine here possesses Rasputin's will and whether he will carry out the mission of the alien god's apostle is questionable.

"Suspicious, of course, but what this guy told Anastasia earlier was the truth."

Morgan could only give such an answer, because Kirei Kotomine had only given Anastasia a minimal answer about the Thunder Emperor's condition when they left, which showed his caution and cunning.

With Morgan around, Xia Yan wanted to eliminate Kirei Kotomine, this unstable factor, as soon as possible. However, considering that once Anastasia left the palace, only Kirei Kotomine could appease the Thunder Emperor, he could only keep him for the time being.

Of course, Xia Yan could also choose to have Morgan cast an illusion instead, but the subsequent battle with Kirei Kotomine might cause Kirei Kotomine to wake up the Thunder Emperor. At that time, he would have to face both the Thunder Emperor and Kirei Kotomine at the same time. If the Masters on the rebel side were more clever, he would be caught in a three-sided attack.

Even with Morgan around, Xia Yan couldn't afford to be so reckless. So, he chose to proceed cautiously and first wipe out the resistance forces.

Just as Xia Yan obtained a map of the Russian Lostbelt from Anastasia and was carefully examining the approximate location of the rebels' hideout, Villeneuve's voice came through Xia Yan's communication familiar.

"Hello, is this Xia Yan?"

Villeneuve's voice was very soft, accompanied by the sound of a cold wind whistling.

"It's me," Xia Yan replied.

"I've got some new information here. You can write down the place names I'm going to mention later, and then find a map to check them out."

"Okay, you go first."

"After I returned yesterday, the other four Masters contacted me and we held a meeting. The main topic was how to expand the strength of the resistance. After our discussion, we set a basic framework. Each of us Masters will occupy a region to develop, with the main purpose of winning over Yaga and developing the resistance forces. As for the long-term plan, the leader only said that we want to take Moscow."

Xia Yan asked calmly, "So, it can now be confirmed that, including you, there are a total of five Masters who need to defeat the Lostbelt King."

"Yes. The others also searched afterwards, but they didn't find any new Masters."

"Alright, do you know the names of the other four and the Servants they possess?"

Villeneuve's tone became noticeably hesitant.

"I do know the name, but just like I told you before, we communicate purely through voice during meetings, so we can only roughly determine the gender and age by the voice."

Xia Yan was not disappointed. The Master Trial had reached this stage, and the surviving Masters must be extremely cautious.

"It's okay, just tell me what you know first."

"Okay. Currently, our nominal leader is a man named Craig. Judging from his voice, he's probably between thirty and forty years old. He has a lot of charisma and is the rather composed type. There's another man named Kentauros. He doesn't talk much, but from the few words he does say, he seems like a refined and mature man."

The remaining two were women. One was named Cecilia, who spoke very little and it was difficult to determine her age; the other was named Freya, a talkative and seemingly frivolous woman.

Xia Yan silently memorized Villeneuve's description in his mind, then continued to ask, "Is there any other information?"

"Yes, there are still some!"

Villeneuve seemed afraid that Xia Yan would think the information was insufficient, so he hurriedly continued, "Didn't we say earlier that each of the five of us occupies an area? Craig occupies the Great Valley Fortress in the due north, Kentauros is in the fortress built by the rebels in the northwest, Cecilia is in the village of Sychevka, which is closest to them, Frenita is in the village of Smolensk in the southeast, and I am in the village of Demensk, which is closer to the middle area."

Following Villeneuve's words, Xia Yan immediately marked the opponent's five strongholds on the map, as well as the village of Vyazma, which he had just transformed.

Upon closer inspection, the situation became immediately clear: their village, Vyazma, was surrounded by five enemy strongholds.