FATE: Target of Grand Master

Suiqunyuan Academy was not too far from where Xia Yan and his companions were. After dealing with several monsters blocking their way, Xia Yan and his group were able to see the academy buildings in the distance.

Along the way, Xia Yan also used his familiars scattered in various places to check the situation. Perhaps due to the hunting by magical beasts, the number of familiar pigeons that Xia Yan could mobilize had been reduced by half. Fortunately, he could still contact the familiars in several key locations.

Xia Yan first looked at the Emiya residence, which was of most concern to him. Cú Chulainn was protecting Sakura in front of him, confronting several magical beasts in the courtyard.

The several monster corpses lying in front of Cú Chulainn indicated that a battle had already taken place there, but these monsters showed no fear. Instead, they were attracted by the blood of their companions and all moved towards the Emiya residence.

Xia Yan hurriedly contacted Rin, telling her and Archer to hurry up. There was no need to worry about Cú Chulainn, but protecting Sakura from the siege of so many magical beasts was still a bit tricky.

After contacting Rin, Xia Yan looked at several other locations.

Because ordinary people were hypnotized, Mr. Jin, a concerned citizen, released the Gate of Babylon without any restraint in the city center. The monsters on the ground were lying dead everywhere, but there was still no sign of the situation subsiding in the short term.

At the Fuyuki Church, Kirei Kotomine, shirtless, was engaged in a brutal, hand-to-hand combat with the approaching magical beasts using Bajiquan.

For some reason, Xia Yan sensed a hint of irritation from Kirei Kotomine's still calm expression, probably because he was struggling to explain the strange changes that had spread throughout the city.

The remaining images transmitted by the familiars contained no useful information, only monsters.

Matou Ryouken didn't show up either; I wonder where he's hiding.

Refocusing their attention on the present, the three arrived at the entrance of Suiqunyuan Academy, where several magical beasts were fighting with more than twenty Dragon Fang Soldiers.

Xia Yan wanted to speak up and remind her, but under Shirou's urging, Artoria indiscriminately used her magic to remove all the obstacles piled up at the school gate.

This also caught the attention of Medea and Souichirou Kuzuki at school.

Upon seeing that the visitors were Xia Yan and his two companions, Medea's tense expression eased slightly.

However, the witch showed no remorse for fleeing Ryudou Temple earlier. Instead, she complained, "Next time, please take a closer look. My Dragon Fang Soldiers are fighting those monsters. They're not allies. Can you please not just wipe them out indiscriminately?"

Shirou, being an honest man, immediately apologized, "I'm sorry, I was in a hurry and didn't notice these things. I'll definitely pay attention next time."

Seeing Shirou's sincere attitude, Medea didn't say anything more and summoned a bunch of Dragon Fang Soldiers to guard the school gate again.

Xia Yan wasn't as easily fooled as Shirou. He crossed his arms and said, "Caster, shouldn't you give me an explanation for why you were the first to run away yesterday?"

Medea immediately stiffened, her eyes darting left and right.

"It was such a chaotic situation back then, um..."

At this moment, Kuzuki Soichiro unusually took the initiative to speak.

"Caster did that to protect me. Xia Yan, if you have any complaints, you can tell me."

No, Mr. Ge Mu, why do you think I'm being petty by protecting my wife like this?

Medea looked at the tall man standing in front of her, and her eyes immediately filled with tears.

Xia Yan finally sighed and reiterated, "Let's let it go this time, but our alliance remains in effect. When we need your help, please fulfill your duties as allies."

Kuzuki Souichirou promised, "Yes, don't worry, we'll help."

Now that we've brought this up, it's time to learn about the situation in Fuyuki City.

"Tell me about what happened to you today?" Xia Yan asked.

"Lord Soichiro, please take a rest. I'll continue."

Medea wiped away the tears on her cheeks and said, "After leaving Ryudouji Temple yesterday, we came here and stayed in the school's faculty dormitory. Everything was normal this morning, and Lord Soichiro was still teaching at the school, but at noon, a large number of magical beasts suddenly flooded into the entire Fuyuki City."

Shortly after, an immense surge of magical power erupted from the church, activating a grand spell that covered the entire city of Fuyuki, rendering all ordinary citizens unconscious. The academy also suffered numerous attacks from magical beasts, and Lord Souichirou entrusted me with guarding the school. That's roughly all we know.

The events described by Rin are largely consistent with her account, so she doesn't appear to be lying.

"So, what's your idea about these magical beasts?" Xia Yan pressed.

"Yes, that's the main point I want to make next. These magical beasts are a bit strange. In terms of appearance, they are not ordinary magical beasts, but more like magical beasts from the Age of Gods. However, in terms of the magical power and strength they exhibit, they haven't reached the level of true magical beasts from the Age of Gods."

These words startled everyone present.

Artoria stroked her chin: "No wonder I felt something was off about these magical beasts during the battle earlier. They were like inferior offspring of the magical beasts from my own time."

With Medea and Artoria's guidance, Xia Yan also realized something: putting aside their strength, the appearances of these magical beasts seemed to have appeared in the Seventh Singularity—Absolute Monster Front: Babylonia.

But how did these inferior ancient monsters end up in Fuyuki City?

The scale of this mysterious leak has far exceeded the scope of the Holy Grail War.

"Bang!"

Just as everyone was deep in thought, the sound of a wall breaking suddenly came from the second floor of the building next door.

Xia Yan looked towards the source of the sound; it was the teachers' office!

Realizing what was happening, Xia Yan and Emiya Shirou rushed into the building first, taking three steps at a time and quickly arriving at the teachers' office.

A bird-like monster with wings and red and white feathers was slowly pulling its body outwards, with a short-haired brown woman in its beak.

"Fujimura-san!"

Emiya Shirou took a step forward, and immediately projected two swords, one black and one white, into his hand, slashing at the bird-shaped monster named Garuda.

Xia Yan immediately unleashed a fire magic attack, but neither Xia Yan's nor Shirou's attacks hit Garuda.

It just swaggered off, carrying Fujimura Taiga in its beak, and flew away into the distance.

"Saber! Let's chase her!"

"Alright, Shirou!"

Emiya Shirou jumped out of the hole created by the monster and landed steadily with Artoria's help. Then, in order to show the fastest speed, Artoria picked up Shirou and rushed out.

The two moved so fast that Xia Yan didn't even have time to say, "This might be a trap."

Previously, the magical beasts that Xia Yan and the others had encountered only treated humans as food, but there was no precedent for taking people away. Moreover, the person taken away was none other than the person that Emiya Shirou, who was most prone to getting carried away at the moment, cared about—Fujimura Taiga.

Xia Yan found it hard not to associate this behavior with a trap.

After contacting Rin and learning that she and Archer were still helping Cú Chulainn clear out the monsters at Emiya's mansion, Xia Yan couldn't wait any longer.

After telling Medea and Kuzuki Souichirou that Rin Tohsaka and the others would be joining them later, Xia Yan ran alone in the direction Shirou and Saber were chasing.