"Are you not done yet?"
Bai Ye felt the strong wind beside him and abruptly lifted his leg, stomping down hard on the ground.
With a boom!
A large expanse of flames erupted from beneath Bai Ye's feet, rising and rolling outwards in all directions.
In the flickering firelight, the figure of Fuuma Kotaro was revealed.
Bai Ye curled his lips and said, "Found you!"
It was merely concealment, not true disappearance. It wasn't even a high-level concealment like invisibility, just using the surrounding shadows to hide his form.
In that case, illuminating the entire area would suffice.
Bai Ye sharply turned his body, dodging the shuriken flying from Fuuma Kotaro, and then pushed off the ground with both feet.
Bang!
The ground shattered!
Bai Ye lunged forward, instantly appearing before Fuuma Kotaro. The renowned blade, Blood Drinker, descended towards him.
Clang!
A crisp ringing sound echoed.
Fuuma Kotaro swiftly parried Bai Ye's attack with his short sword and rapidly retreated.
But in that instant...
Bai Ye reached out, and the Steel Slime rapidly coalesced, forming an Shadow Axe in Bai Ye's left hand. He then hurled it forward with great force.
Fuuma Kotaro clearly hadn't expected Bai Ye to suddenly conjure a weapon. However, his reaction was incredibly fast, and he immediately performed a backward somersault to evade.
Shhh!
Fuuma Kotaro's clothes were torn by a slash, but fortunately, he avoided the rapidly spinning Shadow Axe.
Fuuma Kotaro quickly turned, intending to resume his evasive maneuvers, but...
His speed had become incredibly slow!
Fuuma Kotaro's eyes widened in surprise, utterly bewildered as to what was happening.
The reason was simple, because...
Crippled (For the first target hit, reduce their movement speed by 50% for 7 seconds).
The effect of the Shadow Axe had taken hold!
Bang!
Bai Ye leaped forward, once again appearing beside Fuuma Kotaro.
In terms of sheer speed, Bai Ye admitted he was likely no match for Fuuma Kotaro. The man's movement speed was unimaginably fast.
However, after a 50% reduction, it was a different matter entirely.
Bang!
Bai Ye closed in on Fuuma Kotaro, delivering a direct knee strike to his abdomen, and then seized Fuuma Kotaro by the neck.
"Flame Burst!"
Flames surged from Bai Ye's hand and then exploded.
A massive fireball detonated in Bai Ye's grasp, engulfing Fuuma Kotaro, but...
Bai Ye frowned slightly.
A point-blank Flame Burst, even if it didn't blast the head to pieces, would undoubtedly inflict significant damage.
Yet, Bai Ye felt something was wrong. To be precise, the sensation was off.
Bai Ye forcefully swung his arm, clearing away the flames, and then looked ahead.
What he was holding was not Fuuma Kotaro's neck, but a wooden stake.
The next moment...
A shadow in the shape of a human figure swiftly slithered across the ground. After creating distance from Bai Ye, Fuuma Kotaro suddenly burst from underground, leaping into the air and landing on a nearby utility pole.
"Today's visit concludes here. I shall take my leave."
Fuuma Kotaro knew he had encountered a formidable opponent. Even without Gilgamesh's intervention, facing him head-on...
He didn't seem to be Bai Ye's match!
Since that was the case, a strategic retreat was the only option!
As Fuuma Kotaro finished speaking, he swiftly leaped onto a nearby rooftop.
Bai Ye quickly moved forward. The instant he pursued, he formed a sword seal, conjuring the Frost Sword, which shot forward, transforming into a streak of sword light.
But he was still a moment too late. By the time the Frost Sword arrived, Fuuma Kotaro had already leaped off the other side of the rooftop.
With a roar!
Bai Ye's sword cut through the rooftop, leaving a large hole.
...
Night descended, and distant lights twinkled.
Li Jiayi sat by a riverside bridge, playing a melodious tune on a leaf.
Suddenly, a figure flashed behind Li Jiayi.
Fuuma Kotaro knelt down, his head bowed, and said, "Apologies, I was unsuccessful."
Li Jiayi was not surprised. He put down the leaf and asked, "Your sneak attack didn't succeed?"
Fuuma Kotaro replied, "Yes, the opponent was extremely vigilant."
Li Jiayi asked, "Did you engage him directly?"
Fuuma Kotaro paused for a moment, a look of apology on his face, and said, "We exchanged blows, but I am not the opponent's match."
Li Jiayi said, "It's alright. Your specialty is assassination, after all. It was indeed asking too much for you to engage him directly."
Fuuma Kotaro lowered his head further, saying, "No, I failed to accomplish the task you assigned."
Li Jiayi turned around and asked, "Oh?"
Fuuma Kotaro continued, "The opponent's Servant did not make a move. I only briefly clashed with the opponent's Master, and I was not their match. Therefore, I did not complete your mission of ascertaining the identity of their Heroic Spirit."
"Is that so..." Li Jiayi pondered for a moment. "At least you saw his Servant. Are there any clues?"
Fuuma Kotaro said, "He wore golden armor and was presumed to be a swordsman or knight. Due to the heavy armor, he wasn't very agile. It's unlikely to be a Lancer, but it can't be entirely ruled out."
Fuuma Kotaro paused and added, "The probability of him being a Berserker is also low; he didn't possess that kind of berserk aura."
Li Jiayi nodded. "You've worked hard. You did very well."
Li Jiayi sighed inwardly. Among the seven Servant classes, the ones he least desired were Assassin and Archer.
These two could be inferred from their names alone: those skilled in assassination and those skilled in ranged combat.
It wasn't a question of power, but rather that their combat styles had obvious limitations and drawbacks.
Next would be Caster, whose limitations were also apparent. However, magic was something that could create miracles, so it was somewhat better.
What Li Jiayi wanted most were Swordsman and Berserker, and it seemed highly probable that these had fallen into Bai Ye's hands.
But since the Heroic Spirits had already been summoned, what could Li Jiayi do?
Glancing at Fuuma Kotaro, Li Jiayi thought he might as well make do. After all, the man was loyal. At worst, they could switch roles; his Servant would play support, and he, the Master, would have to work harder and fight on the front lines.
"Let's go!" Li Jiayi said. "We'll find a place to stay first."
At the same time...
Bai Ye and Gilgamesh were discussing the same issue.
"Archer?" Bai Ye looked at Gilgamesh in disbelief. "Is there even a single part of you that resembles an archer?"
Bai Ye found it utterly incomprehensible that Gilgamesh was an Archer. What kind of archer wore heavy golden armor?
On the battlefield, wouldn't that just make him a target?
Both conspicuous and lacking in agility!