FATE: Target of Grand Master

Seeing this, Xia Yan finally realized what the strange feeling he had earlier had come from those three frost giants was.

Their faces were not bound by masks!

In the original work, this mask was used by Scáthach Skadi, the Queen of Lostbelts, to restrain the Titans' movements. But now they have all broken free of their restraints. Combined with the fact that the black, empty sun in the sky is gone, an indisputable fact is laid before Xia Yan.

Surtr has descended upon the land, leading the giants in an attack on Lostbelt Queen Scáthach, and based on current observations, Surtr has a greater chance of winning.

However, this also raises a problem.

Where did Surut go?

The size of a fire giant is not so easy to hide.

And where is Scáthach Skadi?

Surely they can't both perish together, can they?

Xia Yan couldn't believe he had such good luck in finding a bargain.

No, if both sides perished, then the scorched earth and snow on the ground should no longer be fighting. In that case, it is more likely that both sides were seriously injured after the battle and are now in a phase of hiding and healing.

If that's true, then it would be fantastic news for him.

Seemingly feeling that it was unbelievable that the opposing side was still swaggering in mid-air, Xia Yan signaled for everyone to land on the ground first.

"Morgan, can you use the magic within this snow to trace back to the entity providing that magic?"

The quickest way to find out what's going on is to find Scáthach Skadi. Anyway, he has Morgan, so even if he has to fight her after finding her, Xia Yan isn't afraid.

Morgan summoned his cross wand and cast five different spells at his feet, but ultimately shook his head slightly.

"It's a bit difficult. Although there's a lot of magic contained in this snow, the person who cast the spell clearly has a high level of magical skill and had prepared a counter-tracking spell and a spell to completely and evenly distribute the magic in advance."

Xia Yan scratched his head, not too surprised.

Although Morgan's magical skills are extremely high, Scáthach Skadi also possesses the power of the primordial runes entrusted to her by Odin, so her magical skills are naturally not bad either. In terms of magical skills alone, the two are probably on par, so it's not that strange that they can't find each other through magic.

Since that's the case, we'll have to conduct a thorough search. Although we can't find anything from a distance, Morgan says that if we get close enough, she can still find anyone who's hiding.

Just an hour after Xia Yan and the others moved quickly through the snowy area, a faint sound of battle could be heard from afar.

After quickly confirming the direction, Xia Yan immediately led everyone there, where they saw a black-haired Valkyrie leading a blonde girl as they ran forward, with more than ten giants chasing behind them.

Judging from the occasional pained expression on the black-haired Valkyrie's face, she was clearly seriously injured. Otherwise, even if she couldn't defeat more than ten giants, she could at least have flown away with the blonde girl.

The black-haired Valkyrie was the youngest of the three Valkyrie sisters in the original story—Otrind, while the blonde girl she was protecting was Gerda.

As an FGO player, Xia Yan still feels sorry for Gerda's jump that didn't land. Regardless of whether Otrinde is his enemy, he orders Musashi, Nero, and Ereshkigal to deal with the giants chasing them.

Meanwhile, in order to probe the other party's intentions, Xia Yan also asked Morgan to make him, Anastasia, and Euryale invisible to avoid prematurely revealing that they came from the Russian Oddity Belt.

"roar--!"

After the three Servants swiftly and decisively dealt with more than ten giants, Otrind and Gerda also stopped, panting heavily.

"Are you two alright?"

Xia Yan, accompanied by his three openly acknowledged followers, approached the two with a warm smile.

Although Xia Yan wiped out the enemies behind the two, Otlind still protected Gerda behind her, looking at Xia Yan and the others with a wary gaze.

"Thank you all for your assistance. If I'm not mistaken, these three should be Servants, and this one must be the Master."

Xia Yan did not deny Otlind's guess, and said directly, "That's right, I'm here to defeat the Giant King Surt. If possible, I hope to communicate with the Great God Skadi and form an alliance."

Regardless of whether the current Lostbelt King is Scáthach Skadi or Surtr, one thing is certain: they can never be on the same side. Therefore, Xia Yan's statement will definitely win over Otrind's favor.

As expected, Otlind smiled from the bottom of her heart after hearing Xia Yan's words, but her smile quickly turned into sadness.

"Great Goddess Skadi is currently seriously injured and unable to speak with you at the moment."

Otlind's reply was unexpected by Xia Yan. He had considered that Skadi was at a disadvantage, but he did not expect that Skadi had already fallen into a coma.

"Could you tell me the current situation in detail?"

"roar--!"

Just as Xia Yan was about to continue asking about the current situation, several more giants spotted them and charged towards them.

After Musashi and Nero finished dealing with the situation, they said to Xia Yan, "Xia Yan, the smell of blood here might attract more giants. If you want to talk, you'd better find somewhere else."

"Would Brother Xia Yan like to come back to Village 23 with us?"

Gerda, who had been protected by Otlind, made the suggestion.

Otlind hesitated for a moment, but ultimately decided to trust Xia Yan and chimed in, "The four of you, come with me. We can talk about it when we get back to Village 23."

Xia Yan was naturally happy to oblige and immediately followed behind Otlind.

Whether it was an illusion or not, Otlind felt that when she started moving again, her body was lighter and her speed was much faster than before.

The six people quickly arrived outside Village No. 23.

"There shouldn't be any problems here."

Otlind stopped and turned to Xia Yan, saying, "Master Xia Yan, may I call you that?"

"Just call me Xia Yan."

"Alright, Xia Yan. Regarding the current situation, I can only say it's extremely bad, so bad that I can't think of any way to defeat the Giant King Surt. If defeating Surt isn't a necessary objective for you, I suggest you leave here immediately."

Hearing Otrind, who was relatively taciturn among the Valkyrie sisters, speak so solemnly, Xia Yan could feel the tension in the situation. However, defeating Surte was truly his goal, so Xia Yan replied without hesitation, "Otrind, thank you for your kindness. Perhaps I am the key to turning the tide of the battle?"

Otlind remembered that she hadn't introduced herself to Xia Yan, but he had called her by name accurately. Perhaps this Master, like that other person, was not completely ignorant about this world. Considering the three Servants beside him, all of whom were stronger than her, he might really be the last hope.

No, Otlind, how can you be so naive?

Even though Xia Yan's three Servants are quite powerful, they are still far from being as strong as Surtr and his assistants.

Seemingly sensing Otlind's suspicion, Xia Yan snapped his fingers, and Morgan, Anastasia, and Euryale appeared beside him.

"I didn't have time to introduce myself earlier, but I actually have six Servants. With that kind of strength, are you still going to refuse?"