As Mulan raised her fist to smash at the sorcerer, the sorcerer instinctively turned into a wisp of red mist to dodge.
Just as Mulan's heavy slash had been unable to hit the sorcerer before, Mulan's fist also failed to touch him.
But…
This was clearly a mistake!
As the sorcerer's body turned into red mist, his control over the Heart of Dawn weakened.
Almost instantly, arcs of electricity appeared around the Heart of Dawn. Affected by the magnetic field vortex, the Heart of Dawn shot up, spinning continuously with the wind current vortex, heading towards Bai Ye.
The sorcerer roared, "Stop him!"
Almost simultaneously, everyone abandoned their struggle against the magnetic field's pull and instead used the suction force to rapidly approach Bai Ye.
But it was too late!
The moment Bai Ye saw the Heart of Dawn flying towards him, his eyes lit up, and he then slammed his fist into the ground.
With a roar!
Bai Ye's fist struck the ground, followed immediately by the sound of an explosion.
Amidst the explosion, a large amount of flames erupted from Bai Ye's fist, spreading outwards along the ground before surging upwards, forming a ring of fire that forcefully blocked everyone.
Then…
Bai Ye leaped up, grabbed Mulan's greatsword which was floating erratically within the magnetic field, raised it high, and swung it down with force towards the Heart of Dawn.
"Shatter, damn you!"
With a clang!
Bai Ye's sword struck the Heart of Dawn, directly forcing it down towards the ground.
The moment the Heart of Dawn hit the ground…
Crack!
A fissure appeared on the Heart of Dawn, and then…
The sound of shattering echoed!
The Heart of Dawn did not merely crack; under that single sword strike, it turned into crystalline powder and scattered outwards.
And as the Heart of Dawn was destroyed…
The ancient mechanical giant's body suddenly froze.
Its scarlet eyes lost their glow, its body remained in a forward-leaning posture, its right arm raised high, clenched into a fist, poised to strike.
But that punch would never land.
And…
The ancient mechanical giant's body began to decompose. The floating boulders around it, as if suddenly losing their anchor, gradually drifted away from the altar.
"You have successfully prevented the activation of the ancient mechanical giant. Mission reward: Shard of the Heart of Dawn x1, Entry Qualification to Hero's Tomb First Layer x1"
The mission was complete!
As the ancient mechanical giant fell silent once more, it signified the failure of the enemy's plan.
The sorcerer's gaze was grim. After glancing at the others, he retreated to the edge of the altar.
Seeing this, the rest immediately moved towards the sorcerer.
"We will meet again!"
The sorcerer curled his lips. Then, a gust of wind blew, and peony petals swirled in from nowhere.
Red mist also began to appear, enveloping everyone. Then…
The red mist condensed and dispersed, and the sorcerer, along with the others, quickly vanished within it.
Mulan picked up her greatsword from the ground, stood at the altar's edge, and peered downwards, but could no longer see them.
The mysterious swordsman holding a wine gourd approached Mulan and said, "It seems we have won."
Mulan said solemnly, "But he said he would return."
The mysterious swordsman laughed, a hint of carefree abandon in his voice, and said dismissively, "Then let him come."
Mulan couldn't help but smile. She then turned to look at the others and said, "Since this matter is settled, let's return first… Huh? Bai Ye, why are you glowing?"
Mulan stopped mid-sentence, looking at Bai Ye with surprise.
At this moment, Bai Ye was radiating golden light, his body flickering in and out of existence, gradually becoming ethereal.
Bai Ye also looked astonished at his own body. Then, a holographic screen suddenly appeared before his eyes.
"You will be teleported in ten seconds…"
"10, 9, 8, 7, 6…"
Bai Ye almost spat out a mouthful of blood. Was it as he suspected?
In the next instant…
Amidst the golden glow, Bai Ye suddenly vanished, leaving Mulan and the others stunned.
On the other side…
As the golden light faded, Bai Ye found himself at an intersection. The traffic light ahead turned green, vehicles on both sides stopped, and pedestrians began to cross the street along the crosswalk.
It looked like a bustling city…
Then…
Bai Ye patted his forehead. It was indeed as he had suspected.
"A participant has triggered a wish-granting mission. The First Holy Grail War is about to begin."
"Within the world battlefield, the seven chosen ones with the highest kill count will participate in the Holy Grail War."
"Your kill count ranks sixth."
…
Bai Ye sighed. Such sudden, forced teleportation could only be the work of a wish-granting mission.
Of course, normally, being able to participate in a wish-granting mission was a good thing. It's just that the timing of these missions often felt incredibly frustrating.
For example, with the battle against the ancient mechanical giant not yet over, a wish-granting mission suddenly triggered…
Wouldn't his hidden quest be wasted?
Fortunately, this wish-granting mission arrived at a rather opportune moment. Bai Ye had just completed his hidden quest when the wish-granting mission appeared.
And unlike the previous time when participants for the Twelve Great Battles were selected through a forbidden zone quest, this time the selection was based on kill count. In essence, it was a battle among the chosen ones, with the seven currently having the most kills.
This left Bai Ye rather dissatisfied. How could his kill count only be sixth?
He was clearly approachable, kind, and benevolent, yet cruel and merciless, a slaughterer of men…
Huh?
Did something strange slip into that list of idioms?
Bai Ye scratched his head and continued to look at the holographic screen.
The rules of the Holy Grail War are as follows:
"Rule 1: Seven participants will each receive a Command Seal and summon a Servant belonging to them through a summoning ritual. If the Servant refuses an order, the Command Seal can be consumed to forcefully compel the Servant to obey. Each Command Seal can be used three times."
"Servants are divided into seven classes: Saber, Archer, Rider, Berserker, Lancer, Caster, and Assassin."
"Rule 2: The seven participants must find and seize the Holy Grail. The one who ultimately obtains the Holy Grail will be the victor of this Holy Grail War and receive a reward."
"Rule 3: The trigger for this wish-granting mission has already completed the wish for the reward. The victor's reward is: a random Noble Phantasm of their summoned Servant."
"Gentlemen, for the Holy Grail, for the desires of your hearts, for your wishes."
"Let the city of Fuyuki…"
"Run with blood!"
…