After spending a full day and night relaxing on the small island in the middle of the river in the First Netherworld, Shiomi and the others finally set off again. They left the First Netherworld and headed deeper into Mictlan, planning to rendezvous with Storm Border at the Deinos city of Chichen Itza on the fourth layer.
Originally, the investigation into the remnants of the Magical Workshop had only been an excuse on the surface. Morgan and the others had not expected to actually discover anything meaningful.
Of course, that was only their initial assumption.
"As expected, the 'she' from Proper Human History intended to turn Tlatlauqui into a massive workshop and use it to interfere with the leylines across all of Mictlan," Morgan said after analyzing the remaining traces. "Since she could not fully adapt to my husband's Authority, she could only make partial use of it. That is why she planned to capture him alive and use him as a catalyst to convert that Authority."
"In the end, she probably intended to use this workshop to obtain all the Authority, completely convert it, and then, with a near-divine body, pursue actions similar to the 'Alien God,'" Touko added as she examined the surroundings and voiced her own hypothesis.
For example, merging with ORT and claiming that power which surpassed the scale of the planet itself, then using it to transform the planet's surface into a fairy realm.
"It was a grand plan. Unfortunately, it failed right at the first step," Scáthach said with a shrug.
"Maybe she was deceived?" Shiomi suggested.
Artoria shook her head.
"No… my sister is not the type who would be easily deceived. Perhaps she simply thought the plan was worth attempting even if the chances of success were low. After all, as a Servant, even failure would not cost her much."
"Judging from the obsession she revealed during battle, that must be it," Morgan said while pressing her fingers to her temple. "Even when I told her that building a kingdom for fairies alone could never last, she still insisted on pursuing it."
"Obsession can be terrifying," Shiomi said. "Artoria should understand that well… and Skadi too."
"Being able to let go is a good thing," Skadi replied casually, tightening her arms around Shiomi. "Is there anything else we need to investigate? If not, we can leave now, right?"
There was not much else left here anyway. After spending a carefree day and night here, she had already discovered quite a few new ways to have fun.
Once they returned to the ship, perhaps she could try some of them alone with Shiomi next time. It would surely have its own special flavor.
"Yes, it's about time we left," Shiomi said, pointing toward the far side of the First Netherworld. "After all, ORT is still sleeping somewhere here. We have no idea when it might awaken. We should hurry and locate it."
"Under normal circumstances, ORT would be sleeping in the deepest part of Mictlan," Scáthach said. "No matter what, the Fantasy Tree here has already been devoured by ORT. The two have fused together and become the foundation sustaining this Lostbelt."
"What a headache," Shiomi muttered.
If they managed to eliminate ORT, the Lostbelt would collapse quickly afterward. Storm Border would most likely need to prepare for Imaginary Number Submarine Navigation during that process.
And by now it was almost certain that even if all seven Lostbelts were resolved, the Earth would not recover from its bleached state.
While thinking about these various issues, Shiomi and the others left the First Netherworld and officially entered the third layer of Mictlan.
On the way, Shiomi contacted Storm Border and confirmed that they had already landed near Chichen Itza under Tepeu's guidance.
At the moment, Team A was exploring the interior of Chichen Itza with Tepeu acting as their guide. The details would be discussed after Shiomi and the others arrived.
After confirming everyone's status, Shiomi felt relieved and continued toward Chichen Itza following the coordinates provided by Storm Border.
"Speaking of which," Olga Marie asked while holding Shiomi in her arms, "Teacher's Authority was split into three parts and taken away. 'Severity' was taken by the Morgan of Proper Human History. So what about 'Mercy' and 'Equilibrium'?"
She already knew that the 'Alien God' had taken one third, but the whereabouts of the last third remained unknown.
At first Olga Marie thought Tezcatlipoca's group might have taken it. But judging from the battle two days ago, that did not seem to be the case. Otherwise, after Shiomi fused with Morgan, he would not have focused entirely on fighting Huitzilopochtli.
"Oh, right. I never actually said." Shiomi remembered.
Back then, the appearance of the Morgan from Proper Human History had drawn everyone's attention so completely that they forgot to ask about it afterward.
He thought for a moment, then shook his head.
"I don't know who took the final third either. All I know is that Tezcatlipoca called that guy Camazotz."
"Camazotz?" Skadi asked curiously.
"The bat god from Mayan mythology. The name itself means 'death bat,'" Morgan explained. "Just based on that alone, it wouldn't be strange for him to be associated with Tezcatlipoca."
After all, Aztec and Mayan mythology are closely connected.
Both Tezcatlipoca and Quetzalcoatl were worshipped by people in both traditions.
It is somewhat similar to the relationship between Greek and Roman mythology, though not exactly the same.
"Maybe. We'll need to keep investigating to know the details," Shiomi said. "But there's one thing I must point out. From that bat-like man… I sensed the presence of a Beast."
"Beast?!"
His words shocked Olga Marie and the others.
The fact that the 'Alien God' already possessed a Beast Spirit Origin was troublesome enough.
Now that another Beast might be involved, the situation had only become more complicated.
"A Beast within the Lostbelt…" Artoria said thoughtfully. "In any case, we should report this information to Storm Border at Chichen Itza and have them stay on alert."
"Already sent," Shiomi replied simply. "And with the ship's current combat power, even if the 'Alien God' attacks, they should be able to hold out until we arrive."
That was also one of the reasons they could act separately like this.
As they continued moving deeper into the third layer, the group discussed how to deal with the possible Beast, Camazotz.
This region was not very different from the first layer, still dominated by vast stretches of tropical rainforest. Along the way they could see traces left behind by the leopard-faced bandits, but they did not actually encounter any.
Instead, they ran into several more Deinos that had turned into Dead Apostles. Dealing with them was easy, but it made the cause of the Deinos' transformation even more concerning.
According to Tepeu, the likely explanation was that the Deinos had degenerated due to their long lifespans.
However, after examining several corpses of the transformed Deinos, they arrived at a different conclusion.
"After analyzing the bodies, it looks less like degeneration causing a loss of intelligence and reversion," Touko said, shaking the blood from her hand, "and more like something external caused it."