No Noble Phantasms. No Magecraft. Just a pure hand-to-hand fight.
Shiomi and Camazotz attacked each other like two primitive n, trading blows with fists and feet.
Morgan sat atop a high place, silently watching everything unfold.
It was not that they lacked weapons, nor that their Mana had run dry and prevented them from using Magecraft.
At this point, however, what Shiomi sought was not simply victory in battle, but the answer that this fight might reveal.
After all, he could never accept that defeating ORT required sacrificing everything he had protected until now.
There had to be another answer. Another way.
What he wished to deny was not the actions of Camazotz and the people of the Kingdom of Ka'an, but the notion that this was the only possible choice.
Because they were different.
Because they ca from different places.
Their answers were bound to be different as well.
That was precisely what Camazotz had mocked.
Morgan wanted to step in, yet there was no place for her to intervene.
All she could do was watch this unusual battle as Shiomi's closest and most beloved wife.
To witness her husband's resolve.
Fortunately, the fight did not last long.
As ti passed, the miracle awakened by 'The Earth Mother's Feast' gradually faded away. The light that filled the land slowly dimd.
The darkness of the Fourth Underworld returned once more, and the figures of the people who had offered their king reverence and comfort gradually disappeared.
Until at last, only the skeleton standing there remained.
Even it slowly lost the strength to maintain its shape and collapsed.
Their existence had been the thing supporting Camazotz's heart.
After being forced to rember what he had once forgotten, it beca the reason he could continue fighting without being crushed by the weight of those mories.
He had lost everything.
Then suddenly, he had regained everything.
All he could do was respond as a king before this fleeting dream vanished.
But in the end, fighting while forcing his mind to endure it all had pushed Camazotz to his limit.
The limit of his heart.
The limit of his spirit.
His final punch was noticeably slower.
Before it could land, Shiomi's fist struck Camazotz in the abdon, his muscles caving inward under the blow.
"Guh...!"
Blood burst from Camazotz's mouth.
"My victory, Camazotz."
"Looks like it..."
Clutching his wounded stomach, Camazotz staggered back a few steps before collapsing to the ground, breathing heavily.
"...Been a while since I fought hand-to-hand like this. I'm exhausted..."
Shiomi also felt the strength leave his body. He dropped to one knee, staring at Camazotz a few steps away.
"You've got quite the twisted sense of humor too. Mourning the ruins of Ka'an, bringing those skeletal warriors back to life..." Camazotz sneered quietly. "You're not much different from Tezcatlipoca."
"We never had any real grudge between us. Once my authority was taken back, we were basically even," Shiomi said. "What happened earlier was just a bit of punishnt."
"Heh... Ahahaha... punishnt, huh."
Camazotz burst into laughter.
"You've already lost. No matter what happens, the Fourth Underworld can no longer stop Chaldea's advance," Shiomi said. "We're heading to the Ninth Layer where ORT is located. We'll stop Daybit and Tezcatlipoca from awakening ORT and cut this Lostbelt away."
"So this is the last ti we'll see each other, then."
Camazotz sounded unconcerned.
His eyes remained closed, giving no hint of what he was thinking.
"It should be."
Shiomi stood again and looked toward Morgan, preparing to cross the Fourth Underworld with her first and set a guide marker for Storm Border in the Ninth Layer.
"After seeing the future Tezcatlipoca showed , I understood," Camazotz suddenly said. "I had no way to save Mictlan. That's why I tried to replace you. To beco the final god of Proper Human History and protect it in my own way."
"You've never even seen Proper Human History yourself. You only learned about it from others, didn't you?" Shiomi asked.
Camazotz let out a cold laugh.
"Listen well, god of Chaldea. Tezcatlipoca is a foolish god who only cares about the present. And Kukulkan, who's been traveling with you, is a cold god who only looks toward the future."
"They?" Shiomi blinked.
"Neither of them is fit to be the King of Mictlan. And neither of them has the right to speak of the value of Proper Human History. Only I, who coexist with humans while treating them as sustenance, was qualified to be king. Of course... that's already a matter of the past."
"You said Kukulkan is a cold god who only looks toward the future. What exactly do you an by that?"
"You still don't see it?" Camazotz said. "To Kukulkan, Mictlan is a world that endlessly repeats destruction and rebirth. Whether it's the Oceloh or the Deinos, it doesn't matter which side goes extinct. Mictlan itself won't truly disappear. It will simply be reborn again. All she needs to do is watch. To watch Mictlan continue into the future."
"I see."
Shiomi was not surprised.
If anything, that attitude suited a god's perspective perfectly.
Even if it was only one possible perspective.
Unlike Tezcatlipoca. Unlike Kukulkan.
Shiomi valued the past, cherished the present, and always kept his eyes on the future.
Since neither of them cared about the destruction of this world, Shiomi and his companions would find a way to protect this underground world.
They would watch it quietly reach its final sleep and its natural end.
"If there's nothing else, I'll be going."
Shiomi turned around. While repairing his wounds, he leapt onto the hill where Morgan stood and took the hand she extended to him.
"Get out of here already. Whether it's Chaldea or anything else, go wherever you want. But if you co back to bother again, it won't end this easily."
Camazotz issued the dismissal with clear irritation.
Shiomi smiled silently.
Holding Morgan's hand, he walked toward the other side of the hollow mountain. The exit lay there, the wind flowing through the mountain pointing the way.
"Did you find the answer?" Morgan asked.
"How should I put it... it's so-so."
Shiomi sighed softly.
"But I understand Camazotz's regret. And the price of losing one's sanity."
"If it truly becos an impossible obstacle... then we might also..." Morgan tightened her grip on his hand.
"I know."
Shiomi nodded.
"If I lost all of you, there would be no reason for to keep living either. A life that cannot die also has its own use."
"You don't need to go that far. It's still too early for despair."
Morgan smiled and encouraged him.
"After everything you've been through, you're still this hopeful."
Shiomi spoke quietly, comfort filling his voice.
"Well, we are saviors, after all. If we fell into despair so easily, how could we save the world?"
"You're right."
Holding her hand, Shiomi walked with her toward the deepest reaches of Mictlan.
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