Fate: How About a New Savior? Chapter 998 - 75: Of One Mind

The Fourth Netherworld, Yayauhqui.

Also known as the Eighth Layer of Mictlan, the final barrier before the deepest reaches of this subterranean world now stood right before them.

Unlike the waters of the First Netherworld, the obsidian blade mountains of the Second, or the desert wasteland of the Third.

The Fourth Netherworld was nothing but barren mountains.

There was not a single trace of vegetation. It looked like a land where life had never existed.

The feeling was strangely familiar to Shiomi.

It felt almost as if he had returned to the Land of Shadows.

Outside the Shadow Citadel, the landscape was filled with desolate mountains just like this.

Standing less than ten kiloters from the mountain's base, gazing at the towering boundary line of the Fourth Netherworld that seed to pierce the sky, Shiomi could not help reminiscing about his days in the Land of Shadows.

Unfortunately, his master had gone to the observation station.

She had beco quite interested in the Archetype of this Lostbelt and had joined the delegation heading up the mountain where the observatory stood.

That mountain resembled an extinct volcano. Inside the crater-like basin was an enormous lake.

It was said the Archetype lived within that lake.

"What are you looking at, my husband?"

Morgan's voice ca from behind him.

Shiomi instinctively shivered and turned around with a slightly guilty expression.

That reaction made Morgan burst into a smile.

"At this point, my husband can still be startled from behind? Does that an I can approach you silently without doing anything now?"

"Well... about that..."

Shiomi awkwardly scratched the back of his neck.

"I was just thinking about Master. When my wife suddenly spoke like that, I felt like I'd just been caught cheating."

"I see."

Morgan did not seem bothered by it.

"Then should I call Scáthach over and let the two of you have so ti alone?"

"No need."

Shiomi hooked his thumb toward the Fourth Netherworld behind him.

"Seeing Yayauhqui just reminded of the Land of Shadows."

Morgan nodded in agreent.

"Unlike the Second Netherworld, this place carries a much heavier aura of death. To , it feels very close to Ereshkigal's underworld."

Or rather, this was what a true underworld should feel like.

"After all, this is Camazotz's base. He even returned here specifically to wait for us."

Shiomi stepped in front of Morgan.

"At least the environnt itself is fitting. It helps keep us alert."

"We never intended to underestimate the enemy in the first place... hm?"

Morgan had been replying casually when she suddenly noticed Shiomi very seriously holding her arm and guiding her to sit on a nearby rock.

Then Shiomi sat beside her and gently took hold of her wrist.

"My guess is that once the final authority returned, and Severity, Balance, and rcy rged into one, the experience would be completely different from when you only held part of the authority," he said seriously.

"You are a fairy of the Garden with mystical perception far beyond humans, but still…"

"You're worried it might place a burden on , so you're considering taking it back?" Morgan asked.

"That was my thought."

Shiomi nodded slightly.

"That's why I need to check your condition…"

"Everything is normal."

Morgan was already well aware of her own state.

It was indeed an experience far beyond what fairy eyes could perceive, but it had not exceeded what she could bear.

In fact, the authority she held had originally been part of Shiomi himself.

It was rely an extension of him.

Because of that, the authority itself naturally obeyed her and even protected her.

"That matches what I see."

Shiomi lifted his gaze. His heterochromatic star-like eyes appeared for a mont before slowly dimming back into ordinary eye colors.

"With the complete authority now in your hands, in a sense, my wife has already beco a true god."

"From the perspective of power alone, that is true," Morgan said.

"But this authority of 'Creation'. Do you truly not intend to take it back, my husband?"

Morgan's concern was not that Shiomi wanted to avoid responsibility.

Rather, the authority itself was extrely important.

Without it, Shiomi's strength would be little different from that of a Heroic Spirit.

Against the enemies ahead, it would be difficult for him to accomplish much.

She was perfectly willing to beco the unified god alone and fight for her husband.

But that was not the best choice.

"What if I said that letting my wife keep the authority is because I want you to walk the road ahead together with ?"

Shiomi asked seriously.

"Hm?"

Morgan looked surprised.

Shiomi t her eyes.

"You should have already noticed. I'm no longer an empty shell of a god. When I gave up all my authority, sothing new filled the gap it left behind."

"A blessing in disguise?"

Morgan's speculation had just been confird. She felt both delighted and puzzled.

After all, when Shiomi ended the battle in the Third Netherworld earlier, the pressure he emitted had already surpassed what it was when he first beca a god.

"Of course, I didn't know this would happen beforehand, and I still don't fully understand what it ans."

Shiomi gently placed Morgan's hand against his chest.

"'Creation' and 'Continuation'. With both gathered in a single being... what exactly does that an…"

"That simply ans my husband has beco sothing even I cannot imagine."

Morgan spoke with absolute certainty.

"Neither Lady Nüwa, the great god Odin, the Indian Trimurti, Tezcatlipoca waiting in the Ninth Layer, nor even the Demon King Lucifer could possibly have anticipated this."

She could not say whether it was correct.

But she believed it wholeheartedly.

If even a wife could not believe in her husband, how could anyone else believe in him?

"Who knows."

Shiomi understood Morgan's feelings perfectly. With a smile, he lightly brushed the topic aside.

He pulled her to her feet and began walking toward the Fourth Netherworld.

"Shouldn't we tell everyone?" Morgan asked.

"I already inford the people on Storm Border. Romani should be watching the radar right now."

Shiomi looked ahead.

"But our opponent this ti is Camazotz…"

"As for Camazotz, Archetype, the stargazing priestess of z-Titlan, told us quite a lot of information."

Morgan kept pace beside him.

"It might help with the battle ahead."

"Hmm... is that so."

Shiomi looked intrigued.

"To be honest," Morgan sighed softly, "when I believed that my dream of six thousand years was already an obsession strong enough, other Lostbelts always manage to surprise even more."

"Six million six hundred thousand years... that amount of ti is simply beyond my comprehension."

"Sa here."

Shiomi nodded seriously.

Holding Morgan's hand, the two of them stepped up to the foot of the barren mountain of the Fourth Netherworld.

One more step forward would place them inside this domain of death.

And Camazotz would know they had arrived.

"Ready?" Shiomi asked with a smile.

"I've been ready for a long ti."

Morgan tightened her grip on Shiomi's hand, their fingers interlocked.