Shiomi's assessment reached Storm Border and made Olga Marie's heart skip.
Olympus meant to close the gate, cutting Chaldea off from entering the City of the Gods through Atlantis.
It was a reasonable guess, but there still wasn't enough proof.
The only way to confirm it was to push through Nemesis Island as fast as possible and get close to the Void Cavern. Only then would they know whether it was true.
Either way, letting themselves be bogged down by a massive fleet and Servants they couldn't wipe out quickly was far from an ideal plan.
After a brief moment of thought, Olga Marie decided to trust Shiomi's judgment.
Kirschtaria had said the Alien God would descend in only a few days.
And once they accounted for the time it had taken Chaldea to reach this point, they honestly didn't know how much time was left.
Every minute they wasted meant another variable they couldn't control.
Chaldea couldn't afford to cling to a childish hope that the Alien God and the Lostbelt's Olympian gods would turn on each other and let them swoop in for an easy win.
"Notify everyone still fighting. Return to the ship immediately. We're breaking through the defense line, bypassing Nemesis Island, and heading straight for the Void Cavern!"
Olga Marie issued the order.
But the moment her words went through comms to the other two ships, Drake cut in with a reply.
"Sorry, Director of Chaldea," the woman captain said with a frank, breezy apology. "If we just ignore these guys and push through, it'll be like having a fire chasing us the whole way. And if we end up clashing with Poseidon after that, it'll be a nightmare."
"Captain Drake?" Olga Marie stiffened. "You're planning to—"
"Stay behind and cover you," Drake said. "At the very least, we'll hold their fleet back so they can't tail Chaldea's ships."
"But—"
"I'm staying too. One ship won't be enough," Bartholomew joined the channel. "Besides, I'm not much help against Poseidon. Better I make sure these bastards can't interfere while you make a full-speed run."
Olga Marie hesitated.
Olympus had thrown so many Lostbelt Servants into the fight for one obvious reason: to slow Chaldea down.
Whether they were buying time for the Alien God or preparing to seal the gateway into Olympus, either approach was effective.
If Chaldea kept getting dragged into a slog here, wasting time fighting this fleet and the reinforcements that were about to link up, trying to "clean up" the threat behind them, they'd be doing exactly what Olympus, and Kirschtaria, wanted.
"Don't worry. It's not like we're the only ones who can steer a ship," Drake said, grinning broadly on the screen as she calmly met the enemies boarding the Golden Deer.
The message was clear. Over the past few days, the Servants from Proper Human History who had joined up had already held private meetings and run through all sorts of possibilities.
Shiomi's call happened to match one of them perfectly, and this was their chance to stay behind as the rear guard and block the pursuing fleet.
"I understand."
Olga Marie stopped hesitating. To waver any longer would be an insult to these Heroic Spirits, a betrayal of their willingness to risk themselves just to buy Chaldea time.
"Broadcast this immediately to all personnel fighting outside Storm Border: return aboard at once. We're going to accelerate to full speed and break through this defense line."
Her voice went out over the broadcast, cutting through the storm's curtain and reaching everyone still locked in desperate combat.
"So you're abandoning the time-wasting annihilation and choosing to ignore the fleet and force your way through," Scáthach murmured, one eyebrow lifting as she understood Storm Border's intent.
"Like hell I'll let you go, Scáthach!" Caenis snarled.
As the battle dragged on, the Mana pouring off Caenis only grew stronger, a brutal contrast to the blood smeared across her body.
She had thrown herself back into the fray to challenge the same enemy again, yet nothing had changed.
Fury and frustration gnawed at her.
She knew exactly how overwhelming her opponent was, power that trampled her pride as a Divine Spirit into something dim and pathetic, like a joke that wasn't even funny.
"Whether you want to leave or fight isn't up to you."
As she spoke, Scáthach lightly slipped past Caenis's attack and landed on the wreckage of a nearby warship, clearly intending to move closer to StormBorder.
Caenis chased after her like a ravenous wolf that refused to let go, locking onto Scáthach's movements and pursuing without pause.
Her fighting grew fiercer by the second, her speed climbing higher and higher.
Gradually, Scáthach sensed something off, and her expression finally shifted.
"Oh? Your Mana and Spiritual Rank aren't dropping, they're rising instead. Have you reached your limit?"
"Limit? I don't have any limit!"
Caenis was bloodthirsty, but not irrational. She embraced the surging battle lust head-on, a will to fight that seemed to have no end.
Overwhelming Mana, dense enough to feel solid, coiled around her. Wind, waves, and debris spiraled at her side, then detonated outward.
In the next instant, Caenis burst free. Her silver armor, silver spear, and silver shield all transformed, their sheen turning a brilliant gold.
"Hng!"
Scáthach blocked the strike aimed straight for her vitals. The impact sent her skidding back before she landed once more on the surface of the sea.
"Don't rush, Queen of the Land of Shadows. The real fight is only just beginning."
"By my own will, or perhaps with my Master's permission, my Spirit Origin has undergone reascension, raising my Spiritual Rank."
Scáthach snapped her spear, and an invisible slash rippled outward.
The storm was cleaved apart in an instant, opening a brief gap before the cut swept through where Caenis had been, splitting the warship wreckage cleanly in two.
"You bastard!" Caenis snarled as she also fell back onto the sea, veins bulging on her forehead. "So you had this kind of power all along? Were you holding back until now?"
"I wasn't holding back. I take every battle seriously," Scáthach replied, twirling her crimson spear and standing atop the raging waves as if on solid ground. "Since you've shown your trump card, then show me everything you've got, Divine Spirit. If you can't… then there's only one road left. Death."
As she spoke, she glanced toward StormBorder as it began to accelerate, then slammed the butt of her spear down onto the sea. It rang out with a sharp, solid sound, as if striking stone rather than water.
Waves infused with Mana surged outward from her position.
"This is—!"
Caenis's eyes widened in shock.
"Witness the true form of the Land of Shadows!"
Scáthach lifted her chin slightly and declared.
The dark clouds overhead twisted and spun, forming a massive vortex.
From within it, a gigantic, heavy stone gate slowly emerged.
"Open, O Veil of the Otherworld—! 『Gate of Skye』!"
As Scáthach invoked the Noble Phantasm's True Name, the enormous doors opened above Caenis.
The realm of death began to swallow everything on the battlefield below.