"Sothing's wrong..."
After waiting on the ship for a full hour, Shiomi stepped out onto the deck and looked toward the Third Netherworld, Xoxoauhqui.
The sandstorm still had not stopped. Neither the naked eye nor their instrunts could make out what was happening beyond the Netherworld boundary.
He muttered that under his breath.
"Maybe they ran into a fight inside, or..." Morgan said from behind him. "lusine and Kukulkan are both strong, but it's not impossible for them to run into trouble."
"I can believe lusine getting tied down. The problem is Kukulkan getting tied down too..."
Shiomi sounded uneasy.
"Or perhaps the latter is simply enjoying herself?" Morgan suggested.
When things were not urgent, Kukulkan's way of doing things was clearly rather loose.
"In any case, there's no point waiting any longer."
Shiomi rolled his wrist, checking how his gear felt.
"Let's get ready to jump in, my wife."
At that, he rembered sothing else and turned around.
Olga Marie had been waiting with him the whole ti for lusine and the others to finish their scouting and return. The mont she saw Shiomi walk out of the cabin, she hurried after him.
Her guess had been correct. Shiomi had decided to change the plan and enter the Third Netherworld ahead of schedule.
"Teacher..."
Olga Marie hesitated.
Not because she was afraid, but because she worried he might change his mind at the last second and refuse to take her along for safety reasons.
If that were going to happen, it would be better to give up now than make things difficult for both of them.
"Get your wind-and-sand protection Magecraft ready. We're jumping," Shiomi told her.
"Yes!"
Olga Marie answered firmly and imdiately cast a protective spell over herself to shield against the blowing sand.
Magi often had to enter harsh environnts for field investigation. Without the proper Magecraft to protect themselves, they could easily run into danger in complex terrain.
Although she lacked practical field experience, her ti in the Sixth Singularity had already given Olga Marie good experience in using Magecraft under difficult conditions.
Once she had her spell up and confird everything was fine, she took the hand Shiomi held out to her.
At the sa ti, Morgan placed a hand on Shiomi's shoulder, and the three of them jumped from the deck together, plunging into the wind and sand of the Third Netherworld.
Even with magical protection, the sand blasting against her face was still an awful experience, forcing Olga Marie to raise both arms to shield herself.
But it did not last long.
Before long, Olga Marie felt the situation improve.
She cautiously opened one eye and saw that Shiomi and Morgan had already taken on the form of the Unity God. Their power was shielding her now, completely blocking the magic-laden sandstorm.
They landed smoothly on the ground. Olga Marie frowned deeply as she looked up at the dark yellow sky.
"Stay close to us, Marie," Morgan said, taking hold of Olga Marie's wrist. "There's fighting going on here. If we get separated, it'll be harder for us to protect you."
"Okay," Olga Marie answered.
She followed Morgan through the desert, their footsteps making soft rustling sounds in the sand.
The Mana in the air grew tense.
Little by little, violent, unstable waves began to reach them.
It was a battle.
A fierce one.
Both sides possessed extraordinary power.
If one side was lusine and Kukulkan, then who was the other?
That was what Olga Marie was wondering when, all at once, the yellow sand filling the sky abruptly vanished.
A blue sky spread out before them. The blazing sun hung overhead, as though the sandstorm from monts before had been nothing more than a mirage.
"This is..."
She let out a small gasp.
lusine had taken on a half-dragon form and was darting back and forth through the sky, fighting a Servant.
That Servant had hair like fire and wielded a broad, long golden spear. He flew at a speed no slower than lusine's, leaving a trail of fla behind him.
Mana Burst with a fla attribute.
"Karna?"
Morgan clearly recognized the Servant fighting lusine.
"And in that form too... isn't that the one he took in the Indian Lostbelt, after obtaining the power of the three gods during his battle against Arjuna, that Lostbelt's king?"
"Why is Karna here?" Olga Marie asked.
At that mont, the form of the Unity God dissolved.
Shiomi stepped forward, shielding Morgan and Olga Marie behind him. His expression had turned grave.
"It's not just Karna. Look over there."
At Shiomi's prompting, the two of them looked toward three figures darting across nurous floating islands, fighting as they moved.
On one side was Kukulkan.
And on the other...
"Arjuna... and Rama?" Morgan's unease deepened. "They're both Servants from Proper Human History. Why are they here...?"
"Taigong Wang said there were other gods who didn't acknowledge ..." Shiomi said. "Besides Tezcatlipoca, who represents South Arica, the chief gods of Indian mythology probably don't approve of what Lady Nuwa arranged either."
"So they..."
Olga Marie nearly lost her voice.
At that mont, Rama noticed Shiomi and the others arriving. Because of that, he failed to coordinate properly with Arjuna and took a heavy flying kick from Kukulkan, crashing down in front of Shiomi's group like a falling teor.
He managed to recover before hitting the ground, pulled up the sword stuck there, and pointed it at Shiomi.
"That's right! I am the incarnation of Lord Vishnu, and now, by Lord Vishnu's command, I stand here to test your strength, Saver!"
"So it really is that..."
Shiomi frowned.
"Do you realize what kind of situation this is? ORT is sleeping in the deepest part of Mictlan, and your gods are still more concerned with testing ?"
"I understand your objection, Shiomi-sama."
Rama's tone remained calm and steady.
"But just as Vishnu-sama has decreed, from this point on, you concern not only the future of humanity, but also the future of the planet and even the wider universe. It pains as well to stand against a forr ally, but the responsibility is too great. I ask for your understanding."
"..."
Shiomi fell silent.
He could feel the power on Rama.
Not just the power of a Servant, but Vishnu's protection, or rather, a fragnt of Vishnu's authority.
"If you are Vishnu's representative, then..."
Morgan turned her gaze toward Arjuna.
"That divinely granted hero must have received Shiva's will?"
"Exactly."
Rama's long hair stread in the wind as he took a heroic stance, ready for battle.
"And Karna, who now soars through the heavens, was sent by Brahma."
Which ant Karna had once more gained the sa kind of power he wielded in the Indian Lostbelt.
If anything, it might even surpass that.
"What an extravagant move," Morgan said with a smile. "To deliberately choose heroes who were once both our enemies and our allies as divine envoys. But there's sothing you should know. At this mont, all of my husband's authority rests in my hands. If what you want is to test his strength..."
"That changes nothing," Rama said without objection. "Husband and wife are one body in two forms. Whoever steps forward, the aning is the sa."
"Well, that makes the answer quite obvious."
Morgan smiled when she heard that.
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