The Ninth Layer of Mictlan, the city ruins known as Calakmul.
Tezcatlipoca and the others, who had arrived here ahead of everyone else, were now locked in battle with their enemy.
Or rather, they had been pinned down, unable to advance any farther.
"No way. You took down every last one of them without killing a single Oceloh?"
Tezcatlipoca sounded genuinely impressed.
"What brought this on, 'Alien God'?"
The one fighting them was none other than the 'Alien God' herself.
The enemy of Chaldea, and the enemy of the Crypters as well. U-Olga Marie, who had originally invaded this Lostbelt with the intention of rging with the sleeping ORT.
"I have no obligation to answer you."
U-Olga Marie was breathing a little heavily.
To her, the Oceloh warriors before her hardly counted as enemies at all.
If all she wanted was to reach the deepest part of the Ninth Layer, the place where ORT slept, then a re wave of her hand would have been enough. The gravitational field she could generate could wipe out these last few hundred Oceloh warriors, along with their leader Iscari, in an instant.
But U-Olga Marie did no such thing.
"If you don't want to answer, then fine. If you feel like fighting this kind of ridiculous battle, suit yourself."
Tezcatlipoca let out an unconcerned laugh.
He had already seen through the reason U-Olga Marie was showing such unusual rcy.
Combined with the information Daybit had given him beforehand, the answer was easy enough to reach.
"I'll handle this mysterious Alien God. Brother, please take Daybit and Iscari inside first."
That was Tlaloc speaking.
"That was the plan."
Tezcatlipoca's smile remained cruel.
"But it's about ti you showed your true form, Hummingbird. This is the place where you were summoned, the land known in Proper Human History as Aztlan, the place of beginnings."
After glancing at Tlaloc, he turned his gaze back to U-Olga Marie, who still looked almost entirely uninjured and continued to radiate overwhelming Mana.
"She's not the kind of opponent you can beat just by hiding your na. She can't bring out her full strength right now, but she's still not that much weaker than the Unity God. Ti to stop slacking off on your divine duties."
He continued,
"You've always gotten stronger whenever you fought for humanity, haven't you?"
"I understand."
Tlaloc had wanted to argue, but the situation left her no choice but to accept it.
Having fought the Unity God twice, she already understood that even among gods, the gap between them could still be enormous.
Even the Unity God, whom Tezcatlipoca himself considered troubleso, had been unable to completely overpower U-Olga Marie.
Which ant...
"If you win, then after that, do whatever you want. Retreat, go back to xico City, it's all up to you."
After leaving her with those oddly considerate final words, Tezcatlipoca turned and followed after Daybit, who had already started up the steps, taking Iscari with him.
"Wait."
The mont she saw them leaving, U-Olga Marie tried to teleport after them.
Tlaloc interrupted the process before she could.
That took U-Olga Marie by surprise. For even a Divine Spirit Servant to interfere with her to this extent was honestly worthy of praise.
"I told you, didn't I? I'm not letting you through."
Tlaloc stared straight at U-Olga Marie.
Her whip had been caught, and for the mont she could not pull it back.
"...The terrain?"
U-Olga Marie realized what the problem was.
Tezcatlipoca had not been talking nonsense. Tlaloc was highly compatible with this place, and the defensive concept overflowing from her Servant Spirit Origin was already approaching that of a true god.
Her offensive power was still lacking, but her defense had risen to the point where U-Olga Marie could no longer afford to hold back.
If she wanted to catch up to Tezcatlipoca and the others, if she wanted to stop them from reaching ORT before Chaldea... before that person...
Then she would have to kill Tlaloc.
Or rather...
A Divine Spirit Servant with another True Na entirely.
She had disguised herself under the nas of Tlaloc and Huitzilopochtli, hiding her real identity.
"Stand down. I don't want to kill anyone else anymore. Not Deinos, not Oceloh, not Tezcatlipoca or the Crypters. They're all the sa."
Gritting her teeth, U-Olga Marie tried to force aside the obstacle before her.
"I don't want to stain my hands with the blood of gods or humans ever again."
At the very least, when she t that person one last ti, she wanted her hands to be free of any more unnecessary blood.
Thoughts she should not have had.
Fragile emotions that belonged to humans.
They kept growing inside her one after another, like vines crawling through her mind.
She had nowhere to go, and no desire to fulfill that false mission.
A being that had been created.
A being that occupied a stranger's body.
A being whose very personality had been fabricated.
If there was still anything left she could do, then perhaps...
This last thing was all that remained.
"That really is a pitiful thing to say. If that's all your resolve amounts to, then you'll just have to die here. I can't let you get in Brother's way... no, in the way of the god Tezcatlipoca."
As she spoke, Tlaloc's Spirit Origin began to change, and the True Na she had hidden finally revealed itself.
"My True Na is Tenochtitlan, the heart of the Aztec Empire, the embodint of the City of Water and Flowers. From here on, this will be a real battle. If you don't want to die, then get out of my way at once!"
Tenochtitlan raised her voice, and with it her Mana output surged. The hand U-Olga Marie used to grip the whip was shaken loose, and the two of them pulled apart slightly.
"Why... why is it that nothing I want ever works out..."
Muttering to herself, U-Olga Marie lowered her head. Her eyes and brows were hidden beneath the shadow of her bangs, making her expression impossible to read.
But the distortion in the surrounding gravity, along with the imnse reaction of Mana, made one thing clear.
She was going all out after all.
The longer she remained here, the more troubleso things would beco.
She did not know how Daybit and Tezcatlipoca planned to make use of ORT, but she had to stop them.
She had to buy ti for that person.
And after that...
She could disappear together with this Lostbelt.
U-Olga Marie had played out that ending in her mind countless tis already.
She was prepared.
"You've only revealed your True Na and original Spirit Origin. I do not fear even the Seven Grand Servants. Why would I fear a re Divine Spirit Servant like you!"
"To the Rain God, offer fresh crimson blood. To the War God, offer a heart of fire."
Tenochtitlan swung her long whip, and the torrent of Mana it unleashed turned the ruins of the underground city upside down.
The mythic battle of Mictlan erupted here.
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