As Mulan raised her fist to smash at the Fangshi, the Fangshi instinctively turned himself into a wisp of red mist to dodge.
Just as Mulan's heavy slash couldn't hit the Fangshi before, Mulan's fist also couldn't touch the Fangshi.
But…
This was clearly a mistake!
As the Fangshi'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 instantly flew up, spinning continuously with the airflow vortex, heading towards Bai Ye.
The Fangshi roared, "Stop him!"
In an instant, everyone abandoned their struggle against the magnetic field's pull and instead used the suction 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. He then raised his fist and smashed it towards the ground.
With a boom!
Bai Ye's fist hit the ground, and then, the sound of an explosion erupted.
Amidst the explosion, a large amount of flames emerged from Bai Ye's fist, spreading along the ground in all directions, and then surged upwards, forming a ring of fire wall, forcefully intercepting everyone.
Then…
Bai Ye leaped up, grabbed Mulan's greatsword that was floating in the magnetic field, raised it high, and swung it forcefully towards the Heart of Dawn.
"Shatter for me!"
With a clang!
Bai Ye struck the Heart of Dawn with his sword, directly slashing it towards the ground.
The moment the Heart of Dawn hit the ground…
Crack!
A crack appeared on the Heart of Dawn, and then…
The sound of something shattering rang out!
The Heart of Dawn didn't crack; instead, under that sword strike, it turned into crystalline powder and scattered in all directions.
And as the Heart of Dawn was destroyed…
The ancient mechanical giant's body suddenly stiffened.
Its scarlet eyes suddenly lost their luster, its body remained in a forward-leaning posture, its right arm raised high, clenched into a fist, maintaining the pose of about to smash down.
However, that fist would never fall.
And…
The ancient mechanical giant's body began to decompose. The giant stones floating around, as if suddenly losing their anchor, gradually began to move away from the altar.
"You have successfully prevented the ancient mechanical giant from activating. Reward obtained: Shard of the Heart of Dawn x1, Entry Qualification for the First Layer of the Hero's Tomb x1"
The mission was complete!
As the ancient mechanical giant fell silent again, it signified the failure of the enemy's plan.
The Fangshi's gaze was grim. After glancing at the others, he retreated to the edge of the altar.
Seeing this, the others immediately moved towards the Fangshi.
"We will meet again!"
The Fangshi curled his lips. Then, a gust of wind blew around, carrying peony petals from somewhere.
Red mist also began to appear, enveloping everyone, and then…
The red mist swirled and dissipated, and the Fangshi, along with the others, quickly vanished into the mist.
Mulan picked up her greatsword from the ground and stood at the edge of the altar, looking down, but she couldn't see any sign of their departure.
The mysterious swordsman holding a wine gourd came to Mulan's side and said, "It seems we have won."
Mulan said solemnly, "But he said he would return."
The mysterious swordsman laughed, with a hint of unrestrained freedom and indifference, "Then let him come."
Mulan couldn't help but smile, then turned to look at the others, "Since this matter is settled, let's go back… Huh… Bai Ye, why are you glowing?"
Mulan's words trailed off, and she looked at Bai Ye in surprise.
At this moment, Bai Ye was emitting a golden radiance, his body flickering and gradually becoming ethereal.
Bai Ye was also surprised, looking at his own body. Then, a light 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. Could it be as he guessed?
The next moment…
Amidst the golden radiance, Bai Ye suddenly disappeared without a trace, leaving Mulan and the others stunned.
On the other side…
When the golden radiance dissipated, Bai Ye found himself at a crossroads. As the traffic light ahead turned green, the vehicles on both sides stopped, and pedestrians began to walk across the crosswalk.
A seemingly prosperous city…
Then…
Bai Ye patted his forehead. As expected, it was just as he had guessed.
"A participant has triggered a wish mission. The first Holy Grail War is about to begin."
"Within the World Battlefield, the seven selected individuals with the most kills will participate in the Holy Grail War."
"Your kill count ranks sixth."
…
Bai Ye sighed. This kind of sudden forced teleportation could only be a wish mission.
Of course, normally, being able to participate in a wish mission would be a good thing. However, often, the timing of wish missions felt incredibly annoying.
For example, the battle with the ancient mechanical giant was not yet over, and suddenly a wish mission was triggered…
Wouldn't his hidden mission be wasted?
Fortunately, this wish mission came at just the right time. Bai Ye had just completed his hidden mission when the wish mission appeared.
And unlike the previous selection of twelve participants for the Great War through the Forbidden Zone mission, this time the selection was based on kill count. In essence, it was the seven individuals with the most kills among the selected ones.
This made Bai Ye somewhat dissatisfied. How could his kill count be ranked sixth?
He was clearly approachable, kind, brutally ruthless, and a mass murderer…
Huh?
Did something strange sneak into the idioms?
Bai Ye scratched his head, then continued to look at the light screen.
The rules of the Holy Grail War are as follows:
"Rule 1: Seven participants will receive a magic crest and summon a Heroic Spirit through a summoning ceremony. When the Heroic Spirit refuses an order, the magic crest can be consumed to force the Heroic Spirit to obey. Each magic crest can be used three times."
"Heroic Spirits are divided into seven classes: Saber, Archer, Rider, Berserker, Lancer, Caster, and Assassin."
"Rule 2: The seven participants need to find and seize the Holy Grail. The one who ultimately obtains the Holy Grail will become the winner of this Holy Grail War and receive a reward."
"Rule 3: The trigger for this wish mission has fully completed the wish for the reward. The winner's reward is: randomly obtaining one Noble Phantasm of their summoned Heroic Spirit."
"Gentlemen, for the Holy Grail, for your heart's desire, for your wish."
"Please fight with abandon."
"Let Fuyuki City…"
"Run red with blood!"
…