Noticing this, he widened his eyes slightly, confirming that it wasn't some unusually bright celestial body, but a presence floating in the eastern sky above the Interstellar City.
Its name was the Machine God's True Form.
As Shiomi's gaze froze, Morgan and Scáthach noticed it as well. The three of them rose to their feet and moved toward the edge of the forest, searching for a cliff with a clearer view of the eastern side of the Interstellar City.
As their field of vision opened up and dusk rapidly deepened into night, that enormous, radiant "star" finally became clearly visible.
At the same time, a continuous series of alarms echoed through the eastern districts of the Interstellar City. The entire western side of the city seemed to turn into a massive loudspeaker, the piercing sirens so shrill that even the forest floor trembled in response.
A gigantic Machine God, yet one whose form was utterly different from any they had seen before.
At first glance, it almost resembled something like an airborne early-warning craft.
And that was the true form of Aphrodite, the goddess of beauty and love. After being incorporated into the Roman mythological system of Proper Human History, she was also known as Venus, a name that carried the meaning of "adoration" or "grace."
A god who guided humanity through both ideal and reality, an instructional terminal that conveyed human doctrine through the very definition of her existence.
"This feeling… is that Aphrodite's true form?" Scáthach said.
Having once crossed blades with the goddess of beauty, she identified her almost immediately through the overwhelming Mana reaction.
"But she hasn't even found our trail," Morgan said, frowning in confusion. "What is she trying to do? Especially when none of us are even inside the city right now."
Shiomi took a deep breath. "There's no doubt about it. Aphrodite… no, the Olympian gods have abandoned the search for our whereabouts. They've decided to deal with this in a more direct way."
"An indiscriminate, wide-area extermination," Scáthach muttered, her brow knitting.
Demeter had done the same. Artemis had shown similar tendencies earlier. And now Aphrodite. There was nothing strange about it.
In the end, it was almost certainly Zeus's decision. The goddesses were merely executing his will through the authorities they were responsible for.
To the Olympian gods, the prosperity and extravagance of the Interstellar City were gifts they themselves had bestowed.
And gifts could be taken back at any time.
In the eyes of the Interstellar City's inhabitants, who worshipped the gods, whether it was life or death, all of it was divine grace. Naturally, there would be no complaints.
Then, a melodious voice echoed across the skies of the western city.
"Beauty is dominion. Love is dominion. O citizens of Olympus, you who know my beauty and my love… rejoice even as you weep. I will not let your suffering be in vain."
Just like Demeter's earlier declaration, Aphrodite proclaimed her divine love for the city's people, then passed judgment from on high.
"—Pollution begins."
The Mana reaction of Aphrodite's true form surged abruptly, climbing straight toward a dangerous threshold.
By all logic, Shiomi and the others, positioned well outside the city, shouldn't have had anything to worry about. And yet, an ominous feeling welled up in his chest.
Especially when that massive true form grew brighter and brighter in the night sky, its light bathing the city below until it shone like broad daylight. At that moment, the unease in Shiomi's heart began to turn into reality.
What followed was even more excessive, more extreme than what Demeter had done. No longer confined to the city itself, a vast wave of "pollution" spread outward from the western districts, engulfing the entire Interstellar City.
This was not contamination on a physical level.
It was something that struck directly at the mind.
The city itself suffered no damage. The citizens were not deprived of their lives.
And that was precisely what made it so terrifying.
In the space of a single instant, nearly ninety percent of the citizens in the western districts collapsed mentally under Aphrodite's [Pollution].
"Ugh…" Scáthach let out a muffled groan. Her legs weakened, and she dropped to one knee. "The sound… it's ringing directly inside my head."
"She really went all the way," Morgan said, her brow deeply furrowed. "Even circulating Mana has become difficult. This is a rare experience. My mental defenses should already be at their highest level, and yet this is still the authority of a god…"
Less than half a minute after the [Pollution] began, Morgan and Scáthach were affected as well.
The entire western sector of the Interstellar City and its surrounding regions had fallen under Aphrodite's [Pollution].
Even they were not spared.
"Don't force yourself. Steady your breathing. Don't think about anything. Entrust both your body and your mind to me."
Shiomi's voice sounded beside them as he drew them into his arms, murmuring softly in reassurance.
As someone who could still retain his sense of self even under Aphrodite's [Pollution], Shiomi managed, with great effort, to shield them from her influence.
But this was nothing more than a stopgap.
Shiomi was not an expert in mental interference. That had been true when he was a Magus, and it was still true now, even as a god who had yet to fully take shape.
And while he could maintain his own selfhood, remaining here without acting was not a good option for him.
Aphrodite's [Pollution] was very likely her Noble Phantasm. If nothing was done to stop the goddess's true form floating in the sky—
If she were allowed to continue releasing her Noble Phantasm freely, it would eventually spread across the entire Interstellar City. When that happened, neither Sakura and the others' special operations team nor Storm Border would be spared.
The problem was that even if they could reach Aphrodite's position, if they were unable to deal effective damage, then Shiomi's ageless, immortal body would amount to nothing more than a living target.
"Calm yourself, my husband." Morgan grabbed Shiomi by the shoulders. "Don't let your mind waver."
Because Shiomi was sharing the burden of their pain, the pressure brought on by the [Pollution] eased somewhat.
Their earlier intimacy had, by chance, produced an unexpected benefit. The indirect deepening of their Magic Circuit connection allowed Morgan and Scáthach to enter Shiomi's protection, resisting the [Pollution]'s further erosion.
With a little breathing room to think again, Morgan offered her reminder.
"The problem is that even my power is being interfered with, and we still have to fly that high to fight," Shiomi said. He held the hands of his wife and his master, staring intently at Aphrodite's true form. "We can't use the same method we used to bring down Artemis…"
He raced through possible countermeasures, when Scáthach spoke up in a low voice.
"Since this is primarily mental interference, and one that can't truly affect you, my beloved disciple… she's bound to respond."
"…Master, you mean—"
"Putting aside why you're able to largely ignore mental interference, even if it still suppresses your output," Scáthach said after taking a slow, steady breath, "lure her into the sea of your heart. Do you understand?"
"I understand."