The Tower of Heaven.
Shiomi, who would be leading the advance and fighting on the front lines, brought Morgan and the others, along with Servants from Proper Human History, including the Knights of the Round Table, to the base of the Tower of Heaven.
The bottom section was wrapped and smothered in branches thicker than a person. Once Shiomi led everyone close, he simply lifted a hand and gave a light wave. The branches obeyed his will at once, spreading outward and opening a path.
After a quick glance at the Storm Border, now afloat again, Shiomi led the group inside the Tower of Heaven.
"As you all know, it really is hollow inside, but the only way to reach the Orbital Grand Temple is from within," he said, pointing up. "Only that area hasn't been covered by the Barrier Zeus put in place."
"But how do we get up there?" Gawain asked. "We Servants can turn into Spirit Form and fly, but His Majesty and the people of Chaldea would—"
Shiomi raised his hand. "No need to make it that complicated."
As soon as he spoke, the interior of the Tower of Heaven shuddered again. Everyone could tell at once that the tremor wasn't going to bring the tower down. It was just some kind of internal mechanism starting up.
Before long, the vibration stopped. A spiral staircase formed from countless trees unfurled from the dome above and extended downward until it reached their feet.
Even so, the distance and height between the Star City and the Orbital Grand Temple was practically the same as climbing straight from sea level to the top of the world's highest peak, Mount Everest.
Even with a staircase like this, it was still going to be a long ascent.
Thankfully, nobody here was ordinary. A march this harsh wasn't enough to stop them.
"Oh? We're climbing a mountain before the fight even starts?" Orion rolled his shoulders, then scooped up the non-combat-capable Artemis. "Then I, as a Grand Servant, should take point, yeah?"
"Wait. You're really bringing her?" Shiomi asked. "Without her main body, she's awakened as an independent unit, but she doesn't have any combat capability."
"If I leave Orion, I have nowhere else to go." Artemis spoke in the same flat, emotionless tone as ever. "So I want to stay with him until the very end."
"See? That's how it is. Cut me some slack, buddy," Orion said with a grin.
Shiomi glanced at the others. No one objected to Orion's small bit of selfishness, so he stopped wasting breath on an argument that wouldn't change anything.
Once the Lostbelt mission was over, Orion would have to leave as a Grand Servant, and Artemis's sub-machine would vanish along with the Lostbelt.
Respecting their wishes was the best choice.
"Then, before we head up, to increase our speed and conserve our strength." Shiomi spread his palm, and blue-white flames kindled in his hand. "Please accept my blessing: Inflaming Divinity."
Flames like Prometheus's fire swirled around them, yet ignited nothing. The light flashed and disappeared in an instant, and the Servants jolted in surprise as they felt every one of their parameters rise.
When they set off and began climbing the stairs, their legs carried them with effortless speed, as if they'd become Achilles himself.
Of course, it wasn't truly comparable to that great hero, but it was like borrowing the wind, keeping their expenditure suppressed to the absolute minimum.
"Everyone, listen while we move," Shiomi said calmly, running in the middle of the group. "In the Orbital Grand Temple ahead, the enemies we may encounter can be broadly divided into three categories: the Olympian gods, the Crypters, and the Alien Apostles."
Then he laid out his assessment of those three groups.
First, the Olympian gods. Based on the intelligence Demeter had provided earlier, and the record of those already taken down, only two pillars remained.
The great god Zeus, and the Queen of the Gods, Hera, who still had not shown herself.
Zeus went without saying. He was an enemy Shiomi had to face, and could only face himself. The real problem was Hera, still unseen. Shiomi had no idea what her true strength was.
In the worst-case scenario, he'd be forced into the extreme situation of taking on two gods at once. Even so, Shiomi had only one option: stake everything, and bring them down in one go.
Next were the Crypters.
Aside from Kirschtaria, who originally served as the Crypter of this Lostbelt, there were two others summoned from different Lostbelts: Peperoncino and Hinako Akuta.
Hinako Akuta had also brought along two Servants, Saber Lanling Wang and Berserker Xiang Yu.
As for why Peperoncino had no Servant at his side, Shiomi didn't know either. The only conclusion he could draw was that Peperoncino was deliberately holding back a trump card.
Finally, there were the Alien Apostles.
Back in Atlantis, Kirei Kotomine and Ashiya Douman had appeared together before Shiomi and Scáthach, only to retreat after being defeated.
Kirei Kotomine had been engraved by Shiomi with the Primordial Rune of Death, while Ashiya Douman had died on the spot, even if it wasn't his true body.
Whether those two Apostles would appear again was unknown, but they had to be guarded against regardless.
There was also the Nameless Guardian.
It had only shown itself during the encirclement battle when Chaldea first arrived here, and there had been no sign of it since. Most likely, it was still lurking in the shadows, waiting for the right moment to act.
"Looking at it this way, it seems the remaining combat power is all concentrated in the Great Temple," Percival remarked.
"But as our King already said, we can't count on those three factions, who are only superficially aligned, to start fighting amongst themselves when they face us," Lancelot replied. "So relying on just our current forces may not be enough."
"That's why we need to ascend the Great Temple while also supporting His Majesty from above and destroying Zeus's Barrier," Gareth said. "Once the Barrier is gone, the Storm Border can follow and provide backup in the fight."
The Valkyries, Skadi, and Sakura and the others were all standing by aboard the ship, ready to join the battlefield if needed.
No matter how it played out, this would become a full-scale, all-out battle.
"But can a Barrier that can only be kept from closing by the Tower of Heaven really be broken?" Tristan voiced his concern.
Mordred snorted. "What's with the defeatist talk, you idiot? We've come this far already. Chaldea will definitely create a miracle. Our duty as Knights of the Round Table is to carve a path for Father and Chaldea, even if it costs us our lives!"
"Sir Mordred is absolutely right," Bedivere said, his gentle voice carrying a resolve as hard as steel.
At that, Artoria spoke up. "I understand your determination to fight with everything you have, but if at all possible, I hope we can all survive and welcome victory together at the end of this battle."
"Yes, my King!"
The Knights of the Round Table answered in unison.
Mandricardo, standing among them, also murmured his agreement under his breath, his blood boiling with excitement.
Shiomi and Morgan took in everyone's fighting spirit and exchanged a smile. Then Shiomi looked up and called out loudly,
"Get ready! We're about to enter the Great Temple!"