As if sensing it, Shiomi could feel the source of the voice, still hidden somewhere unknown, turn its attention toward him.
"I am Zeus. The great god Zeus. The ruler of the vast ocean that has endured since the Age of Gods, and of the magnificent city among the stars. I am the king of this Lostbelt, sovereign over all that you see."
The voice announced its name.
For Chaldea, it would have been stranger if the speaker had been anyone other than Zeus.
The omniscient, omnipotent King of the Olympian gods had noticed Storm Border the instant it entered this space, speaking with absolute confidence.
"I see." Shiomi spoke slowly. "I am the messenger of Odin, the great god who rules the Norse world. Great Zeus, would you grant us an audience?"
Morgan couldn't help but glance at Shiomi.
On his face was an unsettling sincerity, far too convincing to be real.
It was nothing like how he looked when facing her or their companions. This was sincerity crafted to deceive.
Her husband was lying, deceiving Zeus, who had revealed only his will and not his true form.
Because they couldn't locate the enemy, he was exploiting Zeus's initiative in opening communications and his overwhelming confidence in declaring his name, trying to lure him into revealing himself.
"Unnecessary. Fall."
After several seconds of silence, Zeus rejected Shiomi's proposal.
A surge of high-intensity Mana rushed toward Storm Border in an instant. Shiomi's grip on Morgan's hand tightened slightly.
"So decisive. Is this the King of the Gods?" Morgan murmured, extending her hand together with Shiomi as they deployed their barrier.
At the same time, Skadi, inside the ship, expanded her barrier spell to its maximum scale the moment Zeus announced his name.
What followed was a lightning storm even more violent than the one over the waters near Nemesis Island.
Compared to the thunder crashing down now, the lightning of the stormy seas earlier was probably not even one percent, perhaps not even one-thousandth, as powerful.
"This strength…" Shiomi bared his teeth slightly. "Every strike is on the level of Artemis's arrows…"
"Teacher, Lady Morgan! We're preparing to make an emergency descent into the forest four thousand meters below. Please return to the interior immediately! The defensive barrier is being maintained by Grand Master!"
"No need to hesitate. Proceed with the descent," Morgan replied.
After a brief silence, Olga Marie responded with a firm "Understood," and Storm Border immediately began accelerating.
The unavoidable thunder crashing down toward them was blocked by layer after layer of barriers erected by top-tier Magi.
The warship forced its way through the divine lightning intent on annihilating it, charging straight toward the forested region in the lower section of the interstellar city-mountain.
The rapid descent of four thousand meters produced far stronger vibrations on the deck than inside the ship. It was the first time Shiomi and Morgan had experienced an impact like this. Though they were unharmed, they lost their footing and tumbled together across the deck several times.
When everything finally settled and the barrier that obscured external perception deployed, Shiomi lay on his back, gazing up at the star-filled sky above Olympus and the crystalline mountain range. Only after confirming that Zeus's lightning was no longer coming did he let out a small breath of relief.
"Are you alright, Morgan?" He shifted slightly, looking down at his wife cradled in his arms.
"What could possibly be wrong with me?" Morgan raised her head with a quiet sigh. "Every time we rolled, it was you adjusting your position in midair, using your own body to take the impact against the deck. If anything, I should be the one asking that."
"A bit sore, but nothing serious." Shiomi helped her sit up, then turned his gaze toward the city above. "What a decisive god. Not even a sliver of room for negotiation."
"Your intent to deceive was exposed, wasn't it?" Morgan couldn't help but laugh. "If you'd gone with a feigned surrender, things might have been easier. But instead you chose to lure him out…"
And even before that, in Zeus's eyes, Shiomi was probably already the most dangerous individual alive.
He had shot down Artemis and forced Kirschtaria to retreat.
Even when Aphrodite and Demeter intervened, they still failed to cut off or alter Chaldea's advance.
"You're right…" Shiomi said, looking as though the thought had just occurred to him. "I've never considered surrender in my life. I almost forgot that was even an option."
"But there was never much hope of that anyway," Morgan replied, gazing at the interstellar city. "Judging from Odysseus's earlier reaction, Olympus had no intention of considering that possibility to begin with. And the fact that they detected us the moment we arrived here doesn't seem related to the Void Cavern being breached."
"An all-knowing, all-powerful Lostbelt king noticing us on his own territory sounds pretty normal to me." Shiomi gently stroked Morgan's cheek. "Don't tell me you couldn't do the same."
"It's different." Morgan shook her head. "I can only tell when someone enters Britannia. If their movements are well hidden, or if they use a method that bypasses the Wall of Light, I wouldn't be able to sense them at all."
"Alright, alright, don't be so serious. I was praising you." Shiomi smiled helplessly and helped Morgan to her feet. "Still, Zeus making such an overt display of power clearly means he has no intention of letting us approach the core of this city of the gods. In other words, his own location."
Morgan glanced down at Storm Border, checking the damage from the emergency landing. It still looked intact from the outside, but whether it could take off again would depend on Captain Nemo's detailed report.
"And before long, the companions who stayed behind in Atlantis will enter from the Void Cavern after dealing with the remaining Olympian forces. If we can't restrain Zeus, they'll just be walking into their deaths…"
Morgan was analyzing the situation out of habit when she suddenly froze mid-sentence.
She and Shiomi exchanged a look.
Both of them had reached the same conclusion.
"If simply entering Olympus like this is enough for Zeus to notice us, then what about the Servants who entered here earlier as the vanguard?" Shiomi frowned. "How many of them could withstand Zeus's thunder? How many even survived?"
"No matter what, reconnaissance comes first," Scáthach's voice rang out. "Just like in Scandinavia. Most will remain behind, while my beloved disciple leads a small group outside."
"Master…"
Shiomi looked at Scáthach and nodded deeply.
Thankfully, compared to their time in Scandinavia, Chaldea's available combat strength, or rather Storm Border's, was no longer something they needed to worry about.
"It seems everyone's thinking the same way. I agree this is the right approach. But before that, there's one more issue we should address," Morgan said.
"What is it?" Shiomi hadn't expected that.
Morgan looked at him and smiled gently. "My husband, why don't you take a bath first, change into something dry, and then we can discuss our next move?"
"…You're right…"
Shiomi fell silent for a moment, realizing she had a point.
...
If you'd like to support my work and unlock advanced chapters, you can follow me on p-@-treon.
[email protected]/PinkSnake (100 Chapters Ahead).
You can also follow as a free member to read a few advanced chapters.