"We're about to pass through Central America. No enemy interference detected from Mexico all the way to Guatemala. After crossing the White Sea landmass, we'll reach the 'Storm Wall.' Estimated time to engagement: twenty minutes!"
On the bridge, Nemo, who was at the helm of Storm Border, delivered the navigation report.
"Good. Maintain our current course," Olga Marie said, then opened a line to Da Vinci's workshop. "How's the conceptualized Holy Sword armament coming along?"
She meant the special weapon developed earlier, built on the Holy Sword provided by King Arthur and installed on Storm Border.
A main cannon that loaded the orthodoxy of Proper Human History, human order itself, as its ammunition.
Its name was 'Hume-Barrel Rayproof'.
"We've run hundreds of millions of simulations through Trismegistus II. The success rate is confirmed at 99.99%. Including the transformation procedure, it's ready for combat."
Both Da Vincis, big and small, eagerly launched into their explanation of the Holy Sword armament, looking thoroughly pleased with themselves.
"Excellent. We'll remain ready to activate the Holy Sword armament at any moment. Launch control will be entrusted to the goddess Skadi, who operates the Leylines Blocking Armament." Olga Marie nodded, approving the arrangement.
At that, Shiomi spoke up.
"The Holy Sword of the Planet was originally a Divine Construct that gathered the hopes of the entire planet to destroy the Harvest Star, the White Giant. Put simply, it's being used as Artoria's Noble Phantasm, but its power has been restricted."
Fully releasing the Holy Sword of the Planet meant taking on a threat to human order and the planet itself.
"Master… what are you getting at?" Olga Marie hesitated, then asked carefully.
"The Holy Sword armament was made for ORT. I know I don't need to keep repeating it, but I don't think it'll be of any use against other enemies. Daybit and his Servant, for example. Or the 'Alien God'."
Olga Marie looked mildly startled, then nodded as she understood.
The 'Alien God' that had appeared in her likeness and called itself U-Olga Marie was a part of the celestial sphere that safeguards human order, Chaldeas.
Whether it was a terminal, a medium, or some other component didn't really change the conclusion.
The 'Alien God' tied to Alien Chaldeas was something that belonged to Proper Human History, perhaps even an existence born to "protect human order."
Which meant the Holy Sword armament's special effectiveness against threats to humanity or threats to human order would not apply. Even if they activated it, it would not deliver the results they needed.
"I keep thinking about it," Olga Marie said. "Who do you think we'll run into first? Daybit's group? The 'Alien God'? Or… ORT?"
"We'll know when we get there," Shiomi answered lightly, doing his best not to add to her burden.
Olga Marie's warmth, so close beside him, brought back Taigong Wang's parting words.
Not every god across the myths approved of what Nüwa had done.
Where there were supporters, there were also opponents.
And there were those in between, neither supporting nor opposing, choosing to watch and wait.
For those gods in the middle, whether Tenkei Shiomi truly possessed the qualifications they recognized was itself something to be weighed.
In the South American Lostbelt, the final Lostbelt, what awaited Chaldea might be Daybit's group, the 'Alien God', and ORT.
But what awaited Shiomi included other existences as well.
Something that had come to test him, or perhaps to pass judgment on him…
"…Teacher… Teacher?"
Olga Marie's voice pulled Shiomi back to reality. He realized he'd fallen into a long stretch of thought.
With others on the bridge constantly exchanging information and discussing the situation, his silence hadn't caused much disruption.
"What is it?" Shiomi asked, glancing at the monitors. "Have we reached the 'Storm Wall'?"
As he spoke, the bridge monitors abruptly went dark, or rather, they could no longer observe the outside world. They were forced to rely on radar and analysis alone.
Storm Border activated its dimensional drilling function and entered the Storm Wall.
The entire ship shook violently. Shiomi stayed in his seat, waiting for the passage through the 'Storm Wall' to end.
A head-on breakthrough like this was a first for him.
The shaking was intense enough to make his stomach turn.
Even so, everyone endured it, strapped into their seats.
After several minutes, the vibrations gradually eased, and Storm Border's interior finally steadied again.
At that moment, a Nemo sailor brought the monitors back online, showing the external visuals the ship had captured.
When everyone on the bridge saw what lay outside, they froze.
"Wasteland?" Shiomi blurted.
South America should have been the Amazon rainforest, the so-called lungs of the Earth, yet there wasn't the faintest trace of jungle anywhere in sight.
Instead, volcano after volcano erupted across a dried, cracked land. Lava streamed along the fissures, crawling over the ground.
Dark clouds smothered the sky. Thunder roared and lightning tore through it.
It looked like the chaos of a world being born, like a hellscape from the planet's earliest days.
"Wait, surface scan results are coming in," Olga Marie said, immediately projecting the data onto the bridge's main display.
What appeared before them was a continent that seemed to be almost entirely a single, continuous landmass.
Shiomi stared, then recognition clicked.
"Pangea?" he asked.
"That's most likely it," Romani said. "I compared it to Chaldea's geography records. The Lostbelt's landforms most closely match the hypothetical map of Pangea."
The age when Earth's crust was far more active than it is now, when all land was one whole during the Mesozoic.
A span roughly from 252 million years ago to 66 million years ago, measured against Proper Human History's year 2017.
The Mesozoic era, made up of the Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous.
"We got played." Shiomi bit at his finger. "The South American Lostbelt picked a prehistoric age like this?"
Right then, Storm Border's alarm screamed. Something was closing in at terrifying speed.
"Looks like there's no time to think about why things are like this," Morgan said, gripping Shiomi's hand. "That presence… it's the 'Alien God'…"
"Everyone else, get ready to support!" Shiomi snapped, having felt the rapidly approaching magical energy as well. "Morgan and I are going to the deck to intercept!"
...
What's up, PinkSnake here.
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