Otherwise, you can find another savior.

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That weapon originally belonged to Marduk, the Mesopotamian god-king. Shiomi, being a human, used it without permission and suffered a backlash, remaining unconscious for ten days.

Later, Shiomi took Marduk's Axe away, but never used it again, and almost everyone forgot about the existence of this Noble Phantasm.

The reason it wasn't used before was simply because Shiomi couldn't bear the burden of it.

To wield a Noble Phantasm that symbolizes Marduk's power and authority, one must possess power commensurate with it.

Using it rashly at the risk of one's life could backfire if the attack fails.

Now, with the completion of the trials of Valhalla, the situation has changed accordingly.

Shiomi has not fully understood one thing so far.

That is the power he received, not "life," but "creation."

It belongs to the highest level of power in various mythologies.

Because of a misunderstanding of the true nature of things and an inability to fully control the power, Shiomi was merely used as a convenient tool for healing and nurturing life.

Tiamat did not tell him, or perhaps she thought it unnecessary to tell him, and that she should simply wait for her child to one day come to his true nature.

Eliminate misunderstandings and understand the essence.

They then gained the qualification to wield this treasure that symbolizes the authority and power of the chief god.

Although Shiomi's body was less than a tenth the size of the hand axe, it seemed to be under his control, lifted up with his movements, and about to fall.

"Interesting. Then let you disappear along with the flames!"

Surtr, who had fought against the Norse gods, knew that the axe was no ordinary weapon, even if he didn't know its true name. It was a Noble Phantasm of the same level as Gungnir... or even above it.

"End, planet! Return to dust! 'Radiate the sun, sword of fire!' (Loptr L??gjarn)!"

Unleashing all its power, it unleashed the World-Boundary Attack with its Noble Phantasm, Leivadin, the Flame of the End.

Like the Star Sword, Levadin is a divinely created weapon born from a planet, and like Longomminiad, it also has the function of separating the world from reality.

It was the final blow to the Ragnarok world, the calamity that consumed the world.

Surtr's Noble Phantasm is not only aimed at Shiomi, but will attack all living beings around her first, then creatures with form, and the gods of the Age of Gods.

Morgan and the others had to set up a defense together to counter the initial aftershocks of Surut's attack.

Only Shiomi, who was directly in front of the Noble Phantasm, slowly clenched her fist.

"Forgive me, Mother! This strike is not a disrespect to you, but to save more of your children! O King Marduk, hear my voice! Your divine power is now in my hands! Dispel destruction, 'Enuma Elish, the poem of creation'!"

Marduk's axe transformed into light at that moment, falling straight down to collide head-on with Surtr's Noble Phantasm.

Chapter Thirty-Eight: Intertwined

"The poem of creation by heaven and earth."

Marduk's mythical feat of defeating Tiamat, the primordial mother goddess, and tearing her body apart to form the basis for the creation of heaven and earth.

This hand axe is the manifestation of a Noble Phantasm after this great feat was accomplished.

Unlike the Ea, which recreates the myth of splitting the world, Marduk wields an act that, as the Noble Phantasm literally means, is to create and write the world.

The boundary of the isolated world will be eroded, and everything that does not have the ability to interfere with the world will be crushed without reservation.

It is a treasure of the world and also a creation myth.

At the moment of clash with "Radiant Sun, Blade of Flame," which is also an anti-world Noble Phantasm, the entire Norse world was also affected by the force of the impact of the two Noble Phantasms.

Even if Surtr's Noble Phantasm could withstand that attack, what awaited him afterward was a domain that only Marduk could control.

To counter the Fiery Sword that burns away all life and gods in the world, one must possess a treasure that can create the world.

The primordial hell, or perhaps the rebirth of the world.

This was the first feeling that Morgan and her team could think of when they were fully engaged in defense.

If it were someone else but them, they would probably have disappeared in the aftermath.

Morgan didn't want to blame Shiomi for her recklessness; even he probably hadn't fully assessed the scale and power of the clash between Marduk's Axe and the Flame Sword.

But there is only one thing that can be confirmed.

Surtur's Noble Phantasm has been suppressed by Shiomi's Noble Phantasm. In another ten seconds or so, this Norse world will bear the marks of a battle comparable to Ragnarok.

"I, who destroyed the gods, am actually being attacked by this kind of human—"

Realizing his own weakness, Surut let out an incredulous cry.

Then, he immediately realized that Shiomi was not an ordinary human.

"—Is that so! Is that so! Odin! The one you chose is actually this kind of being! Haa ...

Squeezing out its last bit of strength, it pushed the magic of the Flame Sword upwards a little, only to have it quickly pushed back down.

The heavens and earth roared.

As if leaving a scar on the planet, the light of Marduk's Axe, which seemed to cut through the heavens and earth, cleaved the Nordic land in two, leaving a long chasm.

As the light and impact subsided, Surtur, with his colossal body, stood motionless, holding the Flame Sword. His previously arrogant and ruthless voice had vanished without a trace.

Like a boulder that had been severed but hadn't yet reacted, a cracking sound rang out. Surut's massive body split open from the side of its neck. Its body, which had undergone further transformation after absorbing Fenrir's power, was severed along the boundary line by its torso, which was a mixture of ice and fire.

The upper part slowly slid down to the right.

As his body separated, Surut slowly fell backward, causing another tremendous roar.

Confirming that the battle was over, Morgan looked up at the sky, only to see Shiomi falling helplessly. Releasing this Noble Phantasm had consumed a huge amount of magical power, making it impossible for him to maintain his floating state with the runes for a moment.

"My husband!"

Morgan rushed out first and caught Shiomi as she fell, which also lowered her own hovering height.

Scáthach and the others gathered around, looking at Shiomi who was weak and exhausted.

"That was close... I almost thought I was going to die from the fall, although it seems like I won't die." He optimistically complained about his condition.

"Having just become a true god-king, I'm about to fall from the sky to the ground... Maybe I should just call myself the King of Fall Resistance..." Scáthach rubbed his head helplessly.

"You can't say that... after all, Marduk's Noble Phantasm wasn't fully unleashed." Shiomi was powerless to dodge and could only respond with a dry laugh.

They all smiled one after another.

----------

The clash between the two great anti-world Noble Phantasms swept across the entire battlefield, interrupting the battle between the alien apostles and Lostbelt Servants against Chaldea, forcing them to distance themselves and confront each other.

Surut's defeat was within their consideration, but the manner of his defeat was beyond their expectations.

"This is truly... this is truly... I never expected them to pull out such a Noble Phantasm. If they were to launch another attack, we would all perish here, wouldn't we?" Kirei Kotomine remained composed. "It seems that Lady Koyanskaya has already retreated. We should retreat as soon as possible as well."

"Are you planning to run away, Father?" Orange asked coldly, fiddling with her glasses that she had taken off.

"Of course, I should also inform Kirshtalia about the situation here. After all, he only intended to test Chaldea's fighting strength before arranging this operation. I didn't expect you to be this capable. If things continue as they are, I'm afraid all Lostbelts will end up with the same fate," Kirei Kotomine said. "However, in this case, even he has no reason to stop the descent of 'God'."

Katniss then called out to the Twin Sabers:

"Hey, Saber! Take Ophelia with you, or we'll be in trouble if they take her away!"

"Although I want to say it like this..." The younger twin looked troubled.

"Let me see the situation clearly before I speak," the older twin retorted to Katniss, clearly dissatisfied.

After Surtur lost control, Ophelia, who had been knocked unconscious by Morgan's magic, was now being protected by Saber Sigurd, who was supposed to have disappeared, and another female Servant.

"I thought that after I desperately managed to achieve the resummoning, I could avenge my defeat on the battlefield, but I never expected to witness the War of Myths... So all I can do is protect the prisoners." Sigurd held up his blue longsword and confronted the group of alien apostles, surrounding them from the front and back. "My love, these guys are not easy to deal with, be careful."

The female servant called My Beloved—Brynhildr—wields a long spear.

—She had just been released from her seal by the three sisters.

“I understand, I understand perfectly. You must also be careful, Sigurd.”

"Tsk... Are we surrounded?" Katniss clicked her tongue in annoyance, but she wasn't panicked. "Unfortunately, this won't stop us!"

As soon as he finished speaking, countless paper shikigami fell from the sky.

They realized something was wrong.

Chaldea and Sigurd launched an attack together, but it was blocked by the shikigami.

"Well then, everyone, it's time to head back."

Caster Limbo remained hidden near the battlefield, waiting as a backup plan for retreat.

He initially thought it was unnecessary, but the battlefield situation was indeed unexpected, and Koyanskaya was very clever; seeing that the situation was unfavorable, she retreated first.

"Listen up, Chaldea! You can take Ophelia with you, but don't think it'll be this easy afterward!" Katniss pointed her gun at the Chaldea members. "No matter which Lostbelt you go to next, we'll treat you well!"

With the declaration of war, Katniss and her party disappeared from the battlefield under the escort of the shikigami.

The time between the killing of Surut and the execution of Surut was no more than three minutes.

"They retreated quite quickly..."

Orange put on her glasses and sighed helplessly.

But before she could finish speaking, a strong tremor suddenly came from the direction of the Imaginary Tree.

Chapter Thirty-Nine: Farewell to the Icy World

To be precise, the Imaginary Tree has not been observed since Chaldea arrived at Lostbelt.

The reason is quite simple: Skadi used magic to conceal the coordinates of the Imaginary Tree, thus hiding its existence.

Skadi's original barrier to protect the Norse was shattered by Surtr's rampage. After Surtr was killed by Shiomi, the two anti-world Noble Phantasms clashed almost to the death.

Everything in Northern Europe was in complete chaos.

The magic that concealed the location of the Imaginary Tree was completely destroyed, allowing the Imaginary Tree to reappear before everyone's eyes.

However, the problem lies elsewhere. Although Surut is dead, his icy flames that burned the world have not disappeared and continue to erode the land of Northern Europe.

The area around the Imaginary Tree was also burned down.

According to Chaldea's original understanding, the Imaginary Tree is not a tree that purely possesses magical power, so ordinary flames cannot harm it.

However, Surtur's flames were an enhanced power that had been further amplified after he devoured the giant wolf Fenrir. They were also the cornerstone of the Imaginary Tree's maintenance of this world, allowing it to take root on the bleached planet and sustain the Norse world that should have been pruned.

With Surtur gone, it's only a matter of time before the Imaginary Tree is felled by Chaldea.

Before Chaldea could fully analyze the situation of the Imaginary Tree, the Imaginary Tree located near the 23rd village had already shown signs of collapse and could disappear at any moment.

"What exactly happened? Do you know anything about it?"

After seeing Shiomi being taken back to the Storm Border location by Morgan and the others, Orange immediately asked.

“This… I can’t answer right away either, so let’s go there now—” Skadi thought they should get closer to the Imaginary Tree.

“No, it’s best not to go,” Shiomi said. “That’s a sign that the Imaginary Tree is starting to wither.”

Upon hearing this, Chaldea fell silent, and no one raised any further objections.

Morgan once deciphered the Imaginary Tree and seized its magic in one go, using it to resurrect Britain, which had been destroyed by calamity.

This matter has been documented and archived as an important reference for future Lostbelt raids.

"Who exactly is it..." Bawan Xi was puzzled, then suddenly exclaimed in surprise, "Could it be an alien apostle?"

Morgan, holding Shiomi, gently lowered him to his feet at his request before making his own deduction:

"I'm afraid the alien apostles—no, I should say the alien gods—have changed their initial strategy and decided to reclaim the magic of the Imaginary Tree. While we are fighting you, there are already alien apostles in the shadows carrying out this mission."

"Judging from this state, the whole thing is probably already over. Even if we rush over now, it's too late." Shio knelt down, examining the earth's spiritual veins. "Although the land is gradually returning to calm, but—"

"Will this world...disappear?" Skadi gripped her wand tightly and asked in an extremely calm tone.

“Originally, this world would have been fixed three thousand years ago, but it has been preserved. You actually know better than me why it has lasted so long.” Shiomi knew that saying this was cruel, but flattery was an even greater deception. “Without the fixed ‘needle,’ this Lostbelt attached to the planet’s surface will quickly revert to the fixed state.”

At this point, he quickly stood up, activated his communicator, and gave instructions:

"Prepare for evacuation from the Lostbelt immediately. All personnel who have disembarked, return to the ship and stand by!"

Shiomi is like a reassurance for Chaldea, a testament to the trust he has built in everyone's hearts through countless battles so far.

His instructions were met with an immediate response.

The girls boarded the warship one after another through the hatch.

Mash also took the unconscious Ophelia from Sigurd, who was returning personnel, and brought her back to the ship.

"Are you going to abandon this place?" Skadi asked Shiomi.