"Are you not done yet?"
Bai Ye felt the strong wind beside him and abruptly lifted his foot, stomping it heavily on the ground.
With a boom!
A large area of flames appeared from beneath Bai Ye's feet, then surged upwards, continuously rolling and pushing outwards.
In the glow of the fire, the figure of Fuuma Kotaro was revealed.
Bai Ye curled his lips and said, "Found you!"
It was merely concealment, not disappearance. In fact, it wasn't even a higher-level concealment like invisibility; it was just using the surrounding shadows to hide his figure.
Since that was the case, illuminating the surroundings would suffice.
Bai Ye sharply turned his body, dodging the shuriken thrown by Fuuma Kotaro, then forcefully pushed off the ground with both feet.
Bang!
The ground shattered!
Bai Ye shot forward, instantly appearing before Fuuma Kotaro, his renowned blade, Bloodthirsty, slashing downwards.
Clang!
A crisp clashing sound rang out.
Fuuma Kotaro swiftly blocked Bai Ye's attack with his short sword, then rapidly retreated.
But in that instant...
Bai Ye reached out, the Steel Slime wriggled rapidly, solidifying into the Shadow Axe in Bai Ye's left hand, which he then hurled forward with great force.
Fuuma Kotaro clearly hadn't expected Bai Ye to suddenly produce a weapon. However, Fuuma Kotaro's reaction was indeed extremely fast, and he still managed to perform a backward dodge.
Swish!
Fuuma Kotaro's clothes were torn by a slit, but fortunately, he avoided the rapidly spinning Shadow Axe.
Fuuma Kotaro quickly turned to continue his evasive maneuvers, but...
His speed had become so slow!
Fuuma Kotaro showed a look of surprise, completely failing to understand what was happening.
The reason was simple, because...
Crippled (For the first target hit, reduce the opponent's 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 pure speed, Bai Ye believed he was likely no match for Fuuma Kotaro; this fellow's movement speed was unimaginably fast.
However, after a 50% reduction, it was a different story.
Bang!
Bai Ye arrived before Fuuma Kotaro, directly delivering a knee strike to his abdomen, then grabbing Fuuma Kotaro by the neck.
"Flame Burst!"
Flames surged from Bai Ye's hand, followed by a thunderous explosion.
A massive fireball erupted in Bai Ye's hand, engulfing Fuuma Kotaro, but...
Bai Ye frowned slightly.
A close-range Flame Burst, even if his head wasn't blown to smithereens, would definitely cause considerable damage.
But Bai Ye felt something was amiss; to be precise, the feel was wrong.
Bai Ye forcefully swung his arm, dispersing the flames, and then looked forward.
What he was grabbing was not Fuuma Kotaro's neck, but a wooden stake.
The next moment...
A shadowy silhouette of a human figure rapidly glided along the ground. After creating distance from Bai Ye, Fuuma Kotaro suddenly emerged from the ground, leaped up, and landed on a utility pole to the side.
"My visit concludes today. I shall take my leave."
Fuuma Kotaro knew he had encountered a tough opponent. Even if Gilgamesh didn't help, facing him head-on...
He didn't seem to be Bai Ye's match!
Since that was the case, he could only retreat for now!
After speaking, Fuuma Kotaro quickly jumped onto the roof to the side.
Bai Ye swiftly moved forward, and as he pursued, he formed a sword seal. The Frost Sword was materialized and shot forward, transforming into a beam of sword light.
But he was still a bit too slow. By the time the Frost Sword arrived, Fuuma Kotaro had already leaped down the other side of the roof.
With a boom!
Bai Ye's sword sliced through the roof, creating a large hole.
...
Night fell, and distant lights twinkled.
Li Jiayi sat by a riverside bridge, playing a melodious tune with a leaf.
Suddenly, a figure flashed behind Li Jiayi.
Fuuma Kotaro knelt on one knee and said, bowing his head, "Apologies, I was unsuccessful."
Li Jiayi was not surprised. He put down the leaf and asked, "The sneak attack didn't succeed?"
Fuuma Kotaro replied, "Yes, the opponent was extremely vigilant."
Li Jiayi asked, "Did you engage the opponent directly?"
Fuuma Kotaro was silent for a moment, a look of apology on his face as he said, "We did engage, but I am not the opponent's match."
Li Jiayi said, "It's alright. Your forte has always been assassination. It was indeed too much to ask you to fight the opponent head-on."
Fuuma Kotaro lowered his head even further and said, "No, I failed to accomplish what you instructed."
Li Jiayi turned around. "Oh?"
Fuuma Kotaro continued, "The opponent's Servant did not intervene. I only briefly engaged the opponent's Master, and I was not their match. Therefore, I did not complete the task you assigned, which was to ascertain the identity of the opponent's Heroic Spirit."
"Is that so..." Li Jiayi pondered for a moment. "At least you saw his Heroic Spirit. Are there any clues?"
Fuuma Kotaro replied, "He wore golden armor. I surmise he is likely a Swordsman or a Knight. Due to the heavy armor, he is not very agile. He should not be a Lancer, but the possibility cannot be entirely ruled out."
Fuuma Kotaro pondered for a moment and added, "The probability of him being a Berserker is also low; he doesn't possess that kind of frenzied aura."
Li Jiayi nodded. "Thank you for your efforts. You did very well."
Li Jiayi sighed inwardly. Among the seven classes of Heroic Spirits, the ones he least desired were the Assassin and Archer.
These two, as their names suggested, were adept at assassination and long-range combat, respectively.
It wasn't a matter of strength, but rather the limitations in their combat style and obvious weaknesses.
Next were the Mages, whose limitations were also apparent, but compared to them, magic was still capable of creating miracles, making them somewhat better.
And what Li Jiayi most desired were the Swordsman and Berserker. It seemed highly likely that these had fallen into Bai Ye's hands.
But since the Heroic Spirits had already been summoned, what could Li Jiayi do?
He glanced at Fuuma Kotaro and felt that they would have to make do. After all, he was loyal. At most, their roles would be swapped; the Servant would play support, and he, the Master, would have to work harder and personally enter the fray.
"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 would wear such dazzling golden heavy armor?
Wouldn't that make him a target on the battlefield?
Both conspicuous and not agile enough!
...