"Pushed all the way back to here, huh? Then let me—"
Peperoncino stood with Hinako Akuta, gathering what little force they had left for a final stand.
He didn't even get to finish. Shiomi moved first, stepping in front of Peperoncino as if simply passing by him.
"Go to sleep. When you wake up, you'll be on the ship."
Peperoncino had mastered divine swiftness, yet he didn't even have time to react. Shiomi slapped a hand over his face, drove him into the floor, then flung him off to the side. Peperoncino crashed into the wall and slumped in the corner.
One exchange. That was all it took to strip him of the ability to fight.
At the same time, Mordred charged Hinako Akuta.
She could tell right away that this wasn't like the Magus Shiomi had just put down. Hinako Akuta wasn't a mere Master. Her strength was on the level of a Servant.
"Mordred!" Morgan called out.
"You go on ahead. I'll knock this one out and catch up." Mordred's grin was vicious.
Sakura had told her earlier: the Crypter had to be taken alive.
And the one in front of her didn't look like someone who could be captured cleanly. Fine. Mordred could use her to hone her blade.
"No," Morgan said, cutting in. "I'm reminding you that Hinako Akuta probably isn't easy to kill, so you don't need to hold back."
Leaving those words behind, Shiomi and the others disappeared through the gate at the end of the Machine God's Corridor, leaving only Mordred behind, locked in combat with Hinako Akuta.
"Don't underestimate me!" Hinako Akuta snapped, looking genuinely furious as the twin swords in her hands ignited with blood-red flames.
"Are you human," Mordred asked, almost curious, "or something else?"
Even as she spoke, she showed no sign of easing up.
After all, even Shiomi had said it.
She just needed to deal with this one fast, then catch up and help take down Zeus, the real big boss.
Meanwhile, thanks to the knights' all-out fighting and willingness to throw themselves into the fray, Shiomi and the others broke through the Machine God's Corridor's layered defenses in the shortest time possible.
They reached the grand altar at the very top.
Inside the temple, the blend of ancient Greek sculpture and sci-fi elegance was even more striking than in the corridor below, yet it was completely empty.
Above the altar, the sky was visible. They could even see the Fantasy Tree itself.
And floating above the roofless altar was a disc-shaped construct. Its shape didn't resemble it at all, yet the moment Shiomi sensed the power contained within, the first thing that came to mind was—
"A crown?"
The others stopped with him, scanning the area.
So far they'd only encountered the Crypter. With more enemies potentially hiding in the shadows, no one could say when they would finally show themselves.
"That is a possession of the great god Zeus, known as the Kronos Crown." A gentle woman's voice rang out.
"Kronos?" Scáthach narrowed her eyes, staring up at the enormous disc.
In myth, Zeus defeated his father Kronos and ascended to the throne as king of the gods.
Which meant this should have originally belonged to the Machine God Kronos.
Everyone tensed as a blonde woman stepped out of the shadows, dressed in lavish finery with a harp in her hands.
"Who are you?" Artoria asked.
"That is the divine consort Europa," Artemis told them quietly. "According to the records left behind through synchronization, she's also a Servant summoned from Proper Human History. But Zeus fused the divine core of Hera, the queen of the gods, into her. Her mind was likely manipulated as well."
"Huh?" Shiomi didn't know what to say for a moment.
"So you made it here after all, unknown new god." Europa's fingers brushed the strings of her harp, producing soft, pleasant notes, but her gaze was icy. "Everything is unfolding exactly as the great god Zeus foresaw."
Then a bell began to toll within the altar. Immediately after, an ancient, weighty voice spoke:
"—Divine essence: awaken.
—Divine essence: manifest.
—Synchronization with the divine construct Kronos Crown complete.
—Projecting divine essence from true form/reality.
—Grand altar domain: divine essence manifests automatically.
—Divine name: Zeus.
—Manifest. Manifest. Manifest.
—Recommendation: surrounding sapient entities should initiate mental defense."
The air shuddered violently.
In that instant, a mana reaction so vast it was impossible to measure burst into existence.
The air was already saturated with dense mana, yet its concentration surged again, enough to make even Morgan and the others feel a sharp wave of discomfort.
"Tch… Even with a Grand Servant Spirit Origin, it still feels this bad. Zeus…" Orion muttered.
Stationed at the very rear, Orion took advantage of the moment he could still move, slowly shifting toward the side of the altar. His eyes stayed locked on Europa.
If Europa had fused with Hera's divine nucleus, then even as a Servant from Proper Human History, she would stand with Zeus… no, she simply wouldn't be able to disobey him.
When the time came, Orion would draw his bow and put down the divine consort, split Zeus's attention, and create an opening for Shiomi.
Shiomi noticed what he was doing. Understanding immediately, he allowed it, lifting an arm like a wing to shelter the others.
Right now, under the mana reaction that heralded Zeus's imminent arrival, only Shiomi could still move without restriction.
"He's coming."
A bolt of lightning slammed down from the sky, and Zeus appeared within it.
His divine body looked as though it had been carved from the purest marble, perfectly formed and powerfully built. In his hand he held a lightning staff, a symbol that alone declared absolute authority.
The great god Zeus. The almighty god Zeus.
This was the first time they had ever faced a chief deity in the truest sense.
"…This is an audience with the almighty god. This is not a blessing. This is not an audience that ends with a fleeting joy. Therefore, kneel. Kneel."
The two commands were spoken in the same tone, but the second carried Authority within it. Crushing pressure descended without warning, blanketing the entire grand altar.
A vast weight. Control over gravity itself.
If Sakura and the others had been here, they wouldn't have lasted five seconds before their knees gave out under that overwhelming force.
But the ones who had reached the grand altar first were anything but ordinary.
"So after all that," Shiomi said flatly, "your 'make them kneel' isn't even a display of divine majesty. You're just forcing people's heads down."
Under the crushing pressure, Shiomi calmly raised his right hand and snapped his fingers.
The force that felt like it was compressing their bodies and even the air itself was abruptly shoved back. In an instant, the burden on everyone lightened.
"Star-Eye. God-man of unknown name. Child of Tiamat, Mother of Creation." Zeus's eyes crackled with blue lightning as they fixed on Shiomi. "Since you are a god, answer me. You came all this way, claiming to be Odin's messenger. For what purpose?"
"So those eyes aren't hollow after all," Shiomi said, lowering his hand. "At this point you're still asking why? Shouldn't you be the one who knows best, Zeus?"
"Heh… hahah… hahahahaha!"
Shiomi's answer clearly delighted him. Zeus erupted into wild laughter once more. The crushing pressure threatened to intensify again, but Shiomi forced it back every time, never letting it touch anyone else.
"In that case, there is no need for further talk. Come, Talos."
The bronze giant that had once fought Shiomi and the others in the star-spanning city suddenly reached up, seized the edge of the grand altar's outer wall, and hauled itself into view before them.