"etc!"
Before the battle began, Shirou Emiya suddenly spoke up, looking at Lin Zhongtian seriously and said, "Your Excellency the Judge, what if I choose to surrender?"
Lin Zhongtian glanced at him, shook his head and said, "You can't surrender. Only Saber herself can choose to surrender..."
Toosaka Rin glanced at the two people who had already started fighting on the battlefield and frowned, "But Emiya-san, you know she won't surrender."
Emiya Shirou raised his right hand, looked at the Command Seal on the back of his hand and whispered, "I can use this to force her to surrender."
Lin Zhongtian said in surprise: "But that requires you to do it yourself."
Emiya Shirou nodded calmly: "I understand."
Lin Zhongtian blinked and asked curiously, "Why?"
Emiya Shirou did not answer, but instead asked a question.
"Why do we have to kill each other?"
"I think I have explained that the Heroic Spirits are the contents of the Holy Grail. Only by gathering the magic power of the six Heroic Spirits can the Holy Grail be filled."
"Then why did you allow Gilgamesh to surrender?"
Shirou Emiya stared at Lin Zhongtian steadily: "I can see that if he hadn't provoked you, you wouldn't have killed him..."
“……” Lin Zhongtian blinked and looked at Emiya Shirou.
Tong Shen and Toosaka Rin next to him also raised their heads and looked at Lin Zhongtian with different expressions.
Suddenly, Lin Zhongtian squinted his eyes, chuckled and said, "Okay, you found out!"
"I don't care about the Holy Grail, the Heroic Spirits, or the contents. I just want to watch these Heroic Spirits from different times and civilizations fight..."
Shirou Emiya looked at Lin Zhongtian in astonishment and couldn't help asking, "So you did this just for fun?"
Lin Zhongtian thought for a moment and said, "That's about right!"
Toosaka Rin couldn't help but ask, "Why, is it really that interesting to watch the Heroic Spirits kill each other until they die?"
"Wrong!" Lin Zhongtian glanced at them and said calmly, "Who told you they were dead? You don't really think you can summon the heroic spirits from the side of the world, do you?"
"No, the so-called Heroic Spirits are beings separated from the timeline. They will be summoned to all times, no matter if it is the distant past or the distant future. However, only the world itself can summon the real Heroic Spirits. What you summoned are just the Servant projections of the Heroic Spirits. The real ones still exist in the Seat of Heroic Spirits beside the world."
"When everything is over, these Servant projections will return to their original bodies at the same time as they die. The Heroic Spirits can record the actions of the Servant like reading a book..."
"That's why Saber, who participated in two Holy Grail Wars, remembers the events of the last Holy Grail War."
At this point, Lin Zhongtian paused, looked at the three people with shocked expressions, chuckled and said, "To some extent, they are just playing an immersive role-playing game. As an outsider of the game, it shouldn't be a heinous thing for me to invest in hosting a competition between players, right?"
“…”
After hearing Lin Zhongtian's explanation from a unique angle, Tong Shen and the other two were stunned for a moment.
Toosaka Rin reacted quickly and said angrily: "What about us, Kotomine Kirei, Kuzuki-sensei, and those masters who fought and died in previous Holy Grail Wars, who are we?"
Lin Zhongtian glanced at her and shook his head, then sighed and said, "Although it may be a bit cruel to say this to you, but in this game, you so-called masters are the real NPCs!"
"What about me?" Tong Shen suddenly asked, staring at Lin Zhongtian, "Am I also an NPC?"
"..." Lin Zhongtian blinked his eyes, thought for a moment, sighed, and reluctantly told the truth, "Of course you are not an NPC. You are an outsider like me."
Tong Shen's eyes lit up, and he blurted out subconsciously: "So you really are..."
Before he could finish, an invisible force grabbed his throat, preventing him from uttering the following words.
Lin Zhongtian looked at him speechlessly, then sighed and turned to look at Lu Bu and Saber who were fighting fiercely below.
"Fengxian, have you had enough fun?"
“…”
Lu Bu frowned slightly, swung his halberd to repel Saber in front of him, and then looked up at Lin Zhongtian.
"What do you mean, sir?"
“Nothing.” Lin Zhongtian shook his head. “I just let it slip by accident and let this guy know our identities… Fengxian, it’s almost time for Yougang to come forward and end this battle!”
Lu Bu said somewhat unwillingly: "But sir!"
Lin Zhongtian smiled and said, "You Gang is the only one among us who has practiced the art of summoning spirits and sending generals. With him here, are you still worried that you won't be able to fight these heroic spirits from different time and space in the future?"
“…”
Lu Bu fell silent, hesitated for a moment, and then nodded respectfully, "I will obey your order, sir!"
As he spoke, the expression on Lu Bu's face changed, from solemn respect to a helpless smile.
He looked up at Lin Zhongtian and sighed, "Boss, I've already agreed with Fengxian that he will fight in this battle. Aren't you making things difficult for me by suddenly intervening?"
"When did I interfere?"
Lin Zhongtian glanced at Deng Yougang and said with a half-smile: "When the battle was announced just now, you two didn't object!"
"ah?"
Deng Yougang was stunned for a moment, but soon reacted. When Boss Lin announced the start of the battle, he mentioned the battle between the swordsman and the adventers, but he never mentioned Lu Bu fighting against King Arthur Altria!
…It turns out there was an ambush here.
Deng Yougang looked suddenly enlightened, then revealed a helpless smile.
At the same time, everyone, including Saber and Red A, could not help but look at each other in bewilderment.
Shirou Emiya looked confused and couldn't help asking, "What are they talking about?"
Hong A glanced at him, then looked at Lu Bu in disbelief, and said in a deep voice: "If they are not joking, and my logical thinking is not distorted, then there should be a soul in Lu Bu's body!"
Toosaka Rin was stunned and asked: "There is another soul?"
Shirou Emiya was shocked and said, "Could it be two souls in one body?!"
"Idiot, of course not!" Red A couldn't help but retort to him, and then said calmly, "According to what the referee said, the other soul in Lu Bu's body is the real descender!"
Having said this, Red A paused, then looked at Lu Bu on the field and murmured, "I finally understand why he is an Adventer and not a Pretender..."
At the same time, in the venue, Deng Yougang turned his head and looked at Saber in front of him, who was holding the Sword of Promised Victory with a serious expression.
"Please reintroduce yourself..."
Deng Yougang spoke while controlling the Qi light to cover his entire body.
The huge body, which was originally more than two meters tall, gradually shrank under the blue Qi light.
When the light completely faded, a black-haired young man about 1.8 meters tall, of medium build and with a handsome face appeared in front of everyone. On his face, which had a little baby fat, there was a hint of a shy smile.
"My name is Deng Yougang. In the distant past, I once led the Northern Expedition and unified China. In the near future, I also stepped into the universe and fought against the interstellar legions from the starry sky..."
"Now, I have been summoned as an Adventer to participate in the Fifth Holy Grail War."
Saber's eyes were filled with shock and solemnity. She couldn't help but ask, "So, you are the Adventer?"
Deng Yougang nodded and said, "That's right."
Tong Shen in the audience couldn't help but lean on the railing and asked loudly: "Who is Uncle Bu?"
Deng Yougang looked up at him and said with a smile, "I am a disciple of the Northeast Chuma Immortal Family. I am best at the art of summoning gods. In addition, I have also cultivated the magical power of [Binding Spirits and Sending Generals]. Fengxian is the most powerful martial arts spirit in my hands."
Tong Shen said in a deep voice: "So, the real heroic spirit I summoned is actually you!"
Deng Yougang nodded and said, "That's right."
The corners of Tong Shen's mouth twitched, and he couldn't help but look up and look at Lin Zhongtian.
"Then what about the red... that piece of horse bone you sold me?"
"Of course it's fake!" Lin Zhongtian said with a half-smile, "Tomb robbing is against the law, have you forgotten?"
Tong Shen: “…”
After being absent-minded for a moment, Tong Shen showed a lost expression on his face.
"So... this is all fake?"
"Uncle Bu, Heroic Spirit, is my Master identity also fake?"
Looking at the expression on Tong Shen's face, Lin Zhongtian shook his head: "No, your identity as the Master is real."
"What about the holy relic?" Tong Shen retorted, "It's a fake. It can't really summon a heroic spirit, right?"
Hearing Tong Shen's words, Lin Zhongtian and Deng Yougang couldn't help but smile at each other.
Seeing the smiles on their faces, Tong Shen was stunned for a moment, and then seemed to understand something, and shouted in shock.
"Could it be that... the holy relic is... is..."
It's me?!
Tong Shen widened his eyes and looked at Lin Zhongtian who was smiling in the sky, and his heart was filled with turmoil.
Yes, he should have thought of it earlier. If Lin Zhongtian and Deng Yougang were both time travelers, then as a time traveler, he would be the best medium to lead them to this world!
Thinking of this, Tong Shen couldn't help but laugh at himself.
He had previously teased Rin Toosaka about her identity as the 'holy widow', but now it was his turn to be a holy relic.
"Okay, we have answered all the questions that can be answered."
"It's hard to tell you the rest here. I'll tell you after this is over!"
As he spoke, Deng Yougang withdrew his gaze from the audience and instead smiled at Saber who was still digesting the information in front of him.
"King Arthur from Britain, are you ready?"
"I'm not Fengxian. If you can't concentrate in front of me, you will be killed instantly~"
Hearing Deng Yougang's chuckle, Saber came back to her senses, her face straightened, and an invisible barrier climbed up, hiding the sword shining with golden light once again.
“Come on!” Saber held the invisible sword in both hands and said solemnly, “No matter who the opponent is, I will go all out!”