The thing that fills the land with its shining radiance.
The thing that constantly burns in the sky.
The thing that hangs in the air with an abnormally gigantic form, looking down upon the entirety of the Norse Lostbelt, like a gathering of flames.
That is the sun in the sky.
Li Mo looked at the sun.
The roar from "Sigurd" paused because Surtr within him had already departed. Under his "gaze," Surtr returned to the sun.
"It's begun. Svalinn, Sigurd is in your care."
Li Mo turned around and looked at the Fantasy Tree.
The golden-haired Valkyrie bowed her head and said, "Yes, Great God."
Receiving the command, Svalinn acted to stabilize Sigurd's shattered spiritual core. As one of the three Valkyrie sisters, she possessed the capability.
She bowed to Li Mo not because of Skadi's order, but because she saw the shadow of the Great God upon this man.
Those two ravens, one called "Huginn," the other "Muninn." Svalinn recognized those ravens, for they were the ones that once perched upon the shoulders of the Great God "Odin."
The aura of the Great God had appeared upon this mage. That was the reason for Svalinn's respect.
Accepting his task, Svalinn began to aid Sigurd. His spiritual core was stabilized. After Surtr's departure, Sigurd's own will regained control of the body. Svalinn's power ensured his combat capability.
"What do we do next?"
As a god-like hero, as the Servant imprisoned by Surtr, Sigurd, the moment his restrictions were lifted, understood his position—to stand with the Valkyrie before him. And then... to confront Surtr!
Thus, Sigurd asked.
Only Svalinn could answer him. She said, "Watch."
Watch what?
Sigurd followed her gaze and saw the mage who had "killed" Surtr walk to the side of the towering Fantasy Tree. Then, he faintly sensed... fear?
Why could he sense fear from a tree?
Sigurd felt puzzled. Clearly, this question had no one to answer.
Li Mo stood beside the Fantasy Tree. He only needed to raise his hand to touch it. Being closest to the tree, the emotions he felt were the most distinct. It was fear, the fear of death.
"Even without its own intelligence, it possesses instincts, huh? Ah, right. Plants are living beings too; it's normal for living beings to have instincts."
Attachment to survival, fear of death. These all came from the Fantasy Tree's instincts. It feared, feared Li Mo standing beside it.
He would lead it into the abyss.
The Fantasy Tree had self-protection mechanisms. But orders from Scathach-Skadi suppressed those mechanisms from activating. In reality, even if the Fantasy Tree's self-protection mechanisms fully activated, what effect would it have on Li Mo?
It would merely waste a bit more of his time.
"Don't be afraid. What you face is not the end of life, but the continuation of life. You will still exist in this world; you will still support this world. Only... in a transformed state."
He stretched out his hand, his fingers spread, and placed it upon the Fantasy Tree.
Then.
The gigantic, sky-piercing Fantasy Tree, bearing the name of a galaxy, began to shrink in an instant.
It wasn't shrinking proportionally; its height decreased, its diameter reduced. Because Li Mo was absorbing it. The area he contacted distorted, sucking in the Fantasy Tree bit by bit like a black hole.
Aura surged forth.
His magical energy erupted from the pores all over his skin. "Pseudo·Imitated Star Creation Mythos·Mystical Foundation" unfolded here; his cosmology occupied the surroundings. The aura of a Saint Graph leaked out, but the inner aura belonging to a Beast was filtered by the cosmology.
Devouring the Fantasy Tree? No, Li Mo was merely using the method of devouring to absorb the Fantasy Tree into his body. The method for forging "Gungnir" required energy, a furnace, design blueprints, materials... Step by step, everything except the "furnace" had been prepared long ago.
Li Mo had never told anyone what the "furnace" he prepared was. Yes, without a doubt. What could be more suitable than himself? With the cooperation of "Pseudo·Imitated Star Creation Mythos·Mystical Foundation," what could be more suitable than inside his own body?
The "Star Anchor" is a divine construct, a weapon forged within a planet. And inside Li Mo's body, his own unique "cosmology" could perfectly simulate that environment.
Bit by bit, the entire colossal Fantasy Tree was slowly devoured by Li Mo, akin to a boa constrictor swallowing an elephant. The entire Lostbelt shook due to the Fantasy Tree's disappearance. But in the sky, a seven-colored rainbow spanned the Lostbelt. The rainbow descended from the heavens to the earth, replacing the Fantasy Tree and firmly anchoring the Lostbelt upon the world.
Li Mo looked into the distance, at the gigantic sun.
To outsiders, he was merely a Servant, a Servant who had swallowed the Fantasy Tree into his body.
A human who, in a human body, wielded the power of a Heroic Spirit has a special designation.
That is...
"A Pseudo-Servant? He's actually a Pseudo-Servant? How could he be... a Pseudo-Servant?"
Far away in the castle, even though still bound by Skadi's power, Ophelia witnessed it all. She saw Li Mo and Surtr heading to the Fantasy Tree together, saw him allowing Surtr to fully manifest, saw him devour the Fantasy Tree. And then, she discerned his identity as a Pseudo-Servant.
Ophelia was exceedingly familiar with "Pseudo-Servants." Because, in Chaldea, there existed the world's first Pseudo-Servant—Mash.
Within all of Chaldea, she was also one of the few mages who treated Mash as a "human." Precisely because of this, her relationship with Mash was quite good.
But that man... was the same type as Mash.
"Don't dwell on it so much, Ophelia. That child Li Mo is just someone who easily creates miracles," Skadi said.
"That's not the point, is it? The point is, he devoured the Fantasy Tree. Since when did the Bifrost have the same function as the Fantasy Tree? And... Surtr has emerged."
After the initial shock, Ophelia returned to reality. Because it involved Mash, she had been momentarily distracted. But upon regaining her senses, she knew where the focus of the matter lay.
The disappearance of the Fantasy Tree wasn't that unacceptable, because the Bifrost stood there.
What was truly unacceptable was Surtr's emergence.
As if hearing Ophelia's inner thoughts, Skadi dispelled the light screen before her. She said to Ophelia, "Let's go outside to watch."
Going out was simple.
The entire castle was an extension of Skadi. Changing the castle's environment was as easy as moving a divine hand for her. Thus, the ceiling opened, and the floor beneath them began to rise. Soon, the palace became an open-air platform.
Ophelia saw the Bifrost connecting heaven and earth, saw the cloudless sky.
And she saw, from within the sun, a giant being being born.
—The flames have come.