The manifestation of the Divine Spirit Heracles triggered an immense Mana reaction, one that Shiomi immediately sensed.
It seemed one of the reasons his inspiration had dried up so abruptly earlier was that Olympus itself was consuming inspiration to carry out a special Summoning.
By exploiting the Heroic Spirit Summoning System and the unique conditions of the Lostbelt, they had achieved a method that came extraordinarily close to summoning the original bodies, allowing Lostbelt Servants to manifest here.
Shiomi recalled Demeter once saying that half of the gods had never had their logic rewritten by Zeus and had instead become part of the opposing faction.
Subsequent investigations across the various islands confirmed the truth. The islands scattered throughout the Atlantis Sea bore the names of gods because those deities, after being defeated in the ancient war of the Olympian gods, had fallen into the sea and transformed into landmasses themselves.
The Divine Spirit Heracles was no exception.
The gods who had once refused to side with Zeus were summoned again as Servants, their logic rewritten in parallel to forge them into compliant warriors, then placed along the defensive line meant to block Chaldea's advance into Olympus.
Shiomi swung his spear, smashing aside the Olympian soldiers that blocked his view. He ignored the horde of Magical Beasts surrounding him and calmly surveyed the battlefield.
If Gareth had torn through the ranks aboard a single ship, then Shiomi had broken straight through the entire fleet's formation, arriving at what appeared to be the flagship.
The ship's manpower, armaments, and Magical Beasts were all absurd in scale, and the vessel itself was enormous.
Yet it had one fatal flaw.
There was no Servant acting as commander.
Crypter or Lostbelt Servant alike, there was no one.
In other words, it was a false flagship.
And as a maritime defensive line, although this fleet was larger than the previous two combined, it gave off a persistent sense of inadequacy.
Neither Demeter nor Afrodite had shown themselves.
There was also no sign of the Yu Mei-ren group.
Still, beyond the storm that nearly blotted out the horizon, Nemesis Island had begun to rise above the sea.
Had the defensive line been pulled back to the island? Or was it even farther behind, along the route leading to the Void Cavern?
When searching for the entrance that led into Olympus, Shiomi had dispatched his familiar, Crow, to survey the surrounding waters and the condition of the Fantasy Tree.
The result had been clear. Mana there was in extreme chaos. Whether one traveled by sea or by air, control would be lost, and sooner or later one would be dragged into a Mana vortex. Even if escape were possible, the losses would be devastating.
Did Olympus possess some method of negating such hostile conditions?
While turning these thoughts over in his mind, Shiomi casually cleared away the enemies before him, as if pruning weeds in a garden, and prepared to withdraw to support the Knights of the Round Table.
At that moment, something burst from the water behind him and lunged straight for his back.
Shiomi snapped his chosen spear around, striking the attacker's weapon with a heavy, resonant crash. He slowly turned his head, and when he saw who it was, his eyes widened slightly.
Before him were the very hands his master had once personally laid to rest, now reappearing like revenants.
"The Dioscuri? Summoned again?" He leveled his spear at them. "You really never learn. Do you enjoy throwing yourselves at death that much?"
"Shut up, false god!" the brother, Castor, shouted. "Last time was nothing but your luck. Now that we've received the blessing of the great Zeus, we won't let you take a single step into Olympus!"
Pollux stared at Shiomi with icy calm. "There's no need to waste words on someone like him, brother."
"You're right. Let's do it."
As if they had completely forgotten the pain of their previous defeat, the twin Servants charged at Shiomi, driven by burning vengeance.
Beneath the sea, more Magical Beasts surged upward, surrounding the warship Shiomi stood upon and cutting off the view from Artoria and Melusine, who were fighting nearby.
It wasn't just the Dioscuri.
Odysseus, Theseus, Asclepius…
Servants both familiar and unfamiliar appeared one after another.
All of them were Greek heroes born of the Lostbelt, bearing Spirit Origins of overwhelming strength, utterly different from those of Proper Human History.
Shiomi restored the Earth Leylines, only for Olympus to seize the opportunity and exploit them, using the same Heroic Spirit Summoning to siphon off a vast amount of Leyline Mana.
On the horizon, more warships continued to arrive without pause.
Thunderbolts crashed down ceaselessly, shielding the Lostbelt Servants while striking at Chaldea.
Such blatantly one-sided, hostile weather was likely a set of predefined rules established from the very beginning.
Now the Chaldea fleet had become entangled with the Olympus armada. Although the barrier Skadi deployed protected their allies, it also indirectly spared the Olympus warships fighting at close range from having to endure thunder meant for Chaldea's personnel.
The sea descended into total chaos.
That might well have been exactly what Olympus wanted.
Bracing his spear against the twin Servants' weapons, Shiomi's mind raced, and he arrived at a conclusion almost instantly.
Perhaps Olympus wasn't merely trying to stop Chaldea's advance. The Void Cavern, the gateway itself, was likely going to be sealed as well.
Before the descent of the Alien God, Kirschtaria probably wanted to eliminate any variables that could spiral out of control.
If that was the case…
"To dare lose focus on the battlefield. Just how long do you plan to look down on us?" Castor roared, his voice thick with fury.
Shiomi snapped out of his thoughts and lifted his gaze, staring back coldly.
"Looking down on you would require actually looking first. But trash like you isn't even worth my attention."
"Arrogant bastard. We'll take you apart one by one—"
"Thalassic Calamity," Shiomi said softly.
The torrential rain, already cold enough to sap warmth from the body, instantly grew even more frigid. Even the twin Servants felt the chill bite into them, their movements dulled as they found themselves unable to exert their full strength.
In an instant, the cold spread outward from the flagship, freezing a stretch of sea more than ten meters in radius.
Seawater, driving rain, Magical Beasts, soldiers, all of it froze solid at once.
Seeing that the twins had barely endured the Grand Magecraft, with most of their bodies still able to move, Shiomi didn't press the attack. Instead, he opened a channel to the StormBorder.
"I can see more warships closing in," Shiomi said. "We can't keep wasting time on these idiots. Notify Drake and Bartholomew immediately. Regroup everyone engaged in combat and prepare to break through. Olympus is likely about to close the Void Cavern!"
Crash!
Before Chaldea could respond to Shiomi's warning and assessment, the twin Servants tore their way out of the ice at the cost of torn flesh and lunged forward once more.
"Don't even think about escaping!"
The twins spoke in unison.
"What, did I hit a nerve?" Shiomi asked as he deflected their storm-like assault. "If that so-called gate closes, you'll be abandoned in Atlantis as expendable pawns. And you're fine with that?"
"We have already offered everything to the great god Zeus and to his ally, Lord Kirschtaria! How could a mere false god ever understand that!"
"So that's your faith," Shiomi replied calmly. "Then die for it once again."
Having reached that conclusion, Shiomi spoke without hesitation.