"Even as a top-tier Magus, don't you have some kind of vehicle to help us move faster?" Scáthach asked. "Like that sand buggy we used back in the Lion King Singularity?"
"No," Morgan replied flatly.
"Is it really that you don't have one, or that you can't make one anymore?" Scáthach pressed. "I remember my beloved disciple mentioning that when you were touring Britannia, you built something like that."
"It's hardly complicated technology. If you're interested, I can tell you how to make one. Why not build it yourself?"
"That sounds like a hassle. I only want to handle the fighting. Logistics doesn't interest me." Scáthach's tone made it clear she had no desire to be bothered.
After dealing with the reincarnation of Surtr Fenrir, Shiomi showed no signs of excessive Mana consumption.
So the group continued toward the center of the Killing Field.
The terrain was largely open, leaving them no choice but to proceed on foot.
Still, their pace was efficient. None of them tired easily, and they carefully avoided areas where combat beasts might detect them and appear to harass or disrupt their advance.
Scáthach was simply teasing Morgan to pass the time. She did not truly need a vehicle.
"…Let me answer Taigong Wang's question first. We can compare conclusions afterward."
As they walked, Shiomi remained in contact with Taigong Wang's group. The intensity of attacks from the Lostbelt Kin on their side had lessened, and they were preparing to rendezvous with Shiomi's team before confronting Koyanskaya directly.
"To put it simply, this isn't a Singularity or a Lostbelt. It's a Reality Marble. A Reality Marble deployed by the Beast, Tamamo Vitch Koyanskaya," Shiomi said. "When I severed the Leylines here, I noticed something unusual about the flow of Mana. It felt like it was circulating inside a living organism."
As the conversation shifted to serious matters, Morgan and Scáthach moved closer, each taking one of his arms while listening to his exchange of information with Taigong Wang.
"A Reality Marble?" Scáthach considered it. "A paradise without humans, yet overrun by weapons designed to slaughter them. It does fit the mindset Koyanskaya has shown us."
"If her mental state shaped this world, then this world is a denial of humanity's existence and a sharp mockery of civilization," Artoria said. "But if this place truly is a Reality Marble… can something like that really be maintained in the world for long?"
Even the Bleached World was still a complete world.
When a Reality Marble expands and overwrites reality, it inevitably suffers correction from the world itself.
Resisting that correction and sustaining it requires an immense amount of Mana.
The exact cost varies with the scale of the Reality Marble, but for the user, it is never a light burden.
Both 'Ionioi Hetairoi' and 'Unlimited Blade Works' share that limitation.
"But there is a shortcut," Morgan said at that point. "If the Barrier is deployed within the user's own body, it can avoid the world's correction. The Temple of Time that Goetia created using the corpse of the King of Magecraft was also achieved through that method."
For the King of the Demon Gods, however, the Temple of Time itself held greater significance than merely sustaining the Barrier.
"As Lady Morgan said, based on my investigation before you arrived, this special domain, including its outer shell, is most likely Koyanskaya herself. She has expanded her Spirit Origin without limit and sits enthroned in the region of the former Tunguska forest."
"Not only that," Shiomi continued, "since this is Koyanskaya's Reality Marble that rejects humanity, the connection between the Realm of Survival and the Realm of Slaughter makes sense. More importantly, every life-form we've seen so far, whether animal, plant, or combat beast, was born from this Reality Marble. They are siblings in the truest sense, equal in origin.
"Animals, plants, combat beasts… the life in this world does not reproduce. There is no growth, no accumulation of experience, no genetic combination, and therefore no evolution. Every cycle here originates from Koyanskaya, passes through natural cycles and cycles of slaughter, and ultimately returns to Koyanskaya. In a sense, this world is even more closed off than a Singularity or a Lostbelt."
As Morgan added her thoughts, her gaze fell on Shiomi's face.
"Then is the reason Koyanskaya wishes to devour my husband because she knows he possesses the Authority of life? Does she intend to seize that Authority and use it to sustain this world's inner structure?" Morgan asked.
Taigong Wang nodded.
"It is, after all, an Authority bestowed by Nuwa. Many Divine Spirits would beg for it and never obtain it. With such Authority, creating one's own world from nothing would not be impossible, especially now that the planet has been bleached.
"The Alien God erased Proper Human History. The bleached planet is like a newly carved stone stele, waiting for someone to inscribe new words upon it."
"Uh…" Shiomi blinked.
"Let me ask you something, Tenkei-dono," Taigong Wang said, suddenly interested. "After obtaining this Authority, have you ever created life?"
"Only flowers, grass, trees, that sort of thing," Shiomi replied. "The first time the Authority awakened was when I tried to grow flowers in the Land of Shadows, in my master's castle."
"And besides that?" Taigong Wang pressed.
Shiomi hesitated. "Probably not… The Baobhan Sith incident was just returning a dying fairy to a healthier juvenile form, giving her the chance to grow."
Before he could finish, he felt Morgan and his master quietly pinching his waist.
He had not truly created life.
But the act that creates life had been repeated more times than he could count, and he had enjoyed every one of them.
Artoria also caught the gap in his words. Her face flushed slightly as she turned her head away, pretending to scout the surroundings.
"So aside from plants, you have never truly created life in the strict sense, Tenkei-dono?" Taigong Wang said, understanding. "Is it because your Authority has yet to mature?"
"No. It has nothing to do with how fully I can wield the Authority." Shiomi shook his head. "Life is, by nature, something unique. I'm just one among countless beings, only somewhat special… If I ever developed the desire to become a creator, it would likely bring disaster to the people I love."
"Hmm." Taigong Wang hummed thoughtfully. "For Tenkei-dono to have such a temperament, you must have had a fine teacher."
Scáthach lifted her chin, clearly pleased.
"You flatter me."
"And because he has a good wife," Morgan immediately added, unwilling to concede.
"…Uh…"
Artoria opened her mouth as if to say something, but found it difficult to put into words.
After all, back then, she had been more like someone forcing Shiomi onto the seat of a god than a source of gentle guidance.