Otherwise, you can find another savior.

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"So... if you were a god, and your divine core was taken away but you didn't die, what would you do?" tide Jian asked.

Artoria followed up on his question and thought about it seriously for a moment: "This means that I don't only have one God Core, but losing the God Core also means losing important power... Whether out of emotion or reason, it is necessary to take back the God Core."

“That’s right. Now that the Divine Core is in our hands, if Poseidon can sense this, it means we will become a significant marker. But if he can’t sense it—” Shiomi squinted.

"Tianxi wants to use this divine core for its own purposes?" Artoria realized.

“After all, it’s the core of a god, and an obstacle blocking the road to Olympus. While we have the divine core, it’s essential to analyze the data as much as possible. This will be crucial for a future showdown with Poseidon,” Shiomi said. “Furthermore, since Poseidon wants to reclaim his divine core—”

"Then give it back to him?" Artoria couldn't help but chuckle. "But Tianxi doesn't guarantee that the returned divine core will be in its original state."

"I'm quite curious to see what kind of problems would arise if a malfunctioning or even cursed divine core returned to a god's body." Shiomi turned around, leaned against the control panel, and told Artoria about her plans.

Artoria couldn't help but feel a little sorry for Poseidon: "Turning a precious divine core into a time bomb... it seems the sea god of Olympus won't have an easy time of it."

"I can't exactly swallow this thing and gain Poseidon's powers, can I?" Shiomi shook her head. "Leaving aside the risks, powers beyond one's own capabilities are never reassuring. Besides—"

“Tiamat will be angry,” Artoria pointed out the issue that Shiomi was concerned about. “After all, if one really wants to pursue greater power, it would be more reasonable to ask her for a blessing directly.”

“That makes sense.” tide Jian snapped her fingers.

Then the two of them laughed in unison.

“Analyzing the divine core will take some time. I plan to send the data to Romani tomorrow and ask him and others to analyze it.” Shio raised her hand and placed it on Artoria’s cheek. “Why don’t you go back and rest? You drank quite a bit earlier, and the lighting in the tavern wasn’t very good, so I didn’t notice that your face is a little red.”

“That strong liquor extracted from the body of a magical beast is indeed very potent. Although I am sober now, I can still feel a little dizzy.” Artoria tilted her head naturally, feeling the warmth of Shiomi’s palm. “However, I would like to stay with you a little longer.”

"Artoria..."

“It’s been a while since we’ve been alone together like this.” Artoria held his hand that was pressed against her cheek, sniffing its scent as she moved closer to Shiomi.

Understanding the meaning behind her words, Shiomi held Artoria in her arms and gently lifted her face.

Artoria naturally closed her eyes, her pink lips parted slightly, and she received a kiss that tasted of strong liquor.

From being passive to being active, and then demanding from each other, my already somewhat groggy head became even heavier, while my thoughts became even clearer.

"It smells like alcohol," Shiomi said softly.

"Hmm, it feels different from when we kiss normally."

Artoria responded somewhat intoxicatedly, her hands already unconsciously wrapped around Shiomi's neck, her full breasts pressed tightly against him, as if she had no strength to stand, and she leaned softly against his chest.

“There’s good wine in the Lostbelts too, let’s grab some before we go. We can drink together like today when we’re free,” Shiomi suggested.

"If you're with me, I can accept even the cheapest bulk wine."

Artoria's breath grew increasingly hot as she spoke, striking Shiomi's cheeks and neck, gradually igniting his body.

Then came another storm of kisses and intimate caresses. When he came to his senses, the Knight King was left only with his undergarments.

She ignored this and only cared about seeking warmth from Shio.

"Don't be in such a hurry, the night is still long, I'll stay here and won't leave," Shiomi told Artoria gently.

“Once we’ve defeated Artemis and restored the earth’s ley lines, we’ll need more troops to attack Olympus, won’t we?” she said.

"Well, so—"

“If the Knights of the Round Table had answered the call to help Chaldea, we probably wouldn’t have had this much time to spare,” Artoria whispered to Shiomi.

“Well… it’s not like I have to make you the one to summon Servants,” Shiomi explained helplessly. “Chaldea has more than one Master.”

"Private matters are private matters, and public matters are public matters." Artoria's face was flushed. "The more combat power we have, the more secure and successful this battle against the Olympian gods will be."

"That's true."

tide Jian chuckled in agreement.

To reiterate, if the Knights of the Round Table were to witness the current Knight King and perceive her mindset, they would likely be divided into two factions, just like during the Camelot singularity, and unable to reach an agreement.

Different knights have different expectations of the king, and it is hard to say whether these expectations can accommodate the king's desire for the happiness of ordinary people.

"But how can I thank you for constantly thinking about these things and for all the effort you've put into achieving victory?" Shiomi asked Artoria in a slightly flippant tone.

Artoria's legs were already weak, and she could only squeeze out a seductive voice from her dry throat.

"...Please hold me tight..."

As soon as he finished speaking, Shiomi picked Artoria up and placed her on the workbench behind him.

Then, she remembered nothing.

Chapter Twenty-Nine: The Battle of Hecate (1)

Details about the Lostbelts of Atlantis are unknown, and the chart is a rough outline drawn by Bartholomew based on his and other Servants' investigations.

Starting from Hestia Island, the book records the general situation of several other islands located in the northern sea area of ​​the Void Caverns, including Hercules Island.

Then there are the other islands whose locations we only know, but whose names we don't even know.

Storm Border crossed the sea and sailed swiftly toward the waters of Hecate Island, while Drake's ship followed alongside it at a slightly slower pace.

"As expected, the raven's detection was correct." Shiomi stood on the deck, gazing at the vast array of sea and sky arrays spread out around Hecate Island.

In addition to a fleet of ships of the same size as the one previously commanded by Odysseus, there were countless monsters and spherical hovering weapons.

Although Chaldea considered the possibility of encountering aerial combat before coming here, Atlantis has yet to produce any decent aerial weapons.

Is it because the sky is a forbidden zone, only permitted to fly by the gods, or is it that they never considered the need to fight in the air?

After all, the warships built with these advanced technologies should already possess overwhelming combat power. To go to the trouble of building an air force would be superfluous.

"So, what should we do?"

Morgan, who was sitting firmly on the bridge and manipulating the energy-blocking weaponry, asked a question via communication.

“Since we’re already waiting here, there’s no way we can get around it,” Shio said. “Give the order, Chief!”

Standing on the bridge, Olga Marie swallowed hard as she looked at the fleet formation on the screen—a formation so large that it was impossible to capture everything once the screen was zoomed in.

After overcoming Odysseus's annihilation campaign, Chaldea enjoyed a week of peaceful sailing without encountering any major battles.

But that smooth sailing was, in the end, just the calm before the storm.

"Open the hatch and begin releasing the automated flying dolls one by one." After understanding the situation, Olga Marie decisively issued orders in an orderly manner according to the pre-arranged tactics. "Have the Valkyries and Miss Melusin prepare. Once they enter the firing range of the Spirit Vein Blockade Armor, take off immediately. After Ms. Morgan opens fire, provide air support and attack the Olympus fleet."

“That’s how it should be.” Morgan smiled with satisfaction, then sat up straight, his expression turning serious. “Vein-blocking weapon, Longomminiad, begin loading—”

They were still a little short of the effective firing range, and both sides were waiting for the other to enter their firing range.

However, in terms of attack range, Morgan's veil-blocking weaponry has a much greater range than the Olympus fleet's warships, a fact already confirmed in previous naval battles.

The cannons on the Olympus fleet are actually heavy bows, with the bowstrings and arrows powered by the ship's magic furnaces. Each magic arrow fired is as powerful as a B-rank Noble Phantasm, capable of killing a top-tier Servant with a single shot.

With Olga Marie's orders issued, all departments of the ship began to bustle with activity.

Skadi, located in the core area of ​​Storm Border, deployed a barrier capable of withstanding enemy naval fire, quickly enveloping the Chaldea mobile base.

Meanwhile, in the weapons control room, Aozaki Touko gave a final check on the automaton that was about to be launched.

In the temples on Hestia and Hercules, Chaldea obtained many metals called "God's Legacy," which are unique to the Lostbelt of Atlantis and are top-tier magical materials.

Once he got his hands on them, Orange couldn't resist the urge to work with the two Leonardos and put the materials into automata.

She had originally planned to place the "God's Legacy" on Melsin's flying exoskeleton, but considering that it belonged to the Olympian gods, and that there might be some backdoor that could have a negative impact on Melsin, who was controlling the flying exoskeleton, she gave up on the idea.

"Shouldn't we say something now, Orange?" Little Leonardo da Vinci playfully reminded Orange.

"Huh?" Orange didn't react. "Does it mean they're starting to deploy automatons into the combat airspace?"

“No…” Leonardo da Vinci adjusted his glasses, “It’s the kind of line you use to provoke the enemy before a battle. Even if the enemy can’t hear it, it can still give you a beneficial psychological boost.”

“Yes, that’s it.” Leonardo da Vinci pushed up his glasses as well.

"So that's what you mean." Orange immediately smiled, then took off her glasses and said coldly, "May your technology bring you destruction, Olympus—"

Then, the hatch for launching the automatons opened, and after being ejected, the automatons tumbled a few times in the air before automatically flying towards the Olympus fleet via their built-in "pseudo-Swan Costumes".

Having worked as a puppeteer her entire life, Orange has done many things with her puppetry skills, but she never imagined that she could use her puppets to fight against the gods.

While the Olympus fleet certainly exhibited a massive magical reaction, Chaldea's radar still detected several massive Spirit Origin reactions within the fleet.

There are followers, and even more so, gods.

The overly stimulating sensory experience made Orange, who had a history of amphetamine addiction, feel that all her past behaviors were insignificant.

The blood in my body is boiling.

Of course, along with the exhilarating feeling came the vibrations caused by the ship gradually accelerating.

The Storm Border is well-suited for high-speed navigation, and there is not much discomfort inside the ship until a certain threshold is reached.

“What’s going on… Has this ship encountered the enemy again?” In the confinement room, Ophelia looked out at the corridor through a small window.

"That's probably it," Kadoc's voice came from across the hall. "Unlike when we fled in Antarctica, Chaldea isn't the Chaldea we know anymore. Kirshtalia... can they win, right?"

“They will win. Unlike us, Lord Kirshtalia is the chosen one. He won’t lose to Chaldea as easily as we do,” Ophelia whispered.

“I thought you were already planning to side with Chaldea,” Kadoc said.

In recent days, Skadi, Mash, Olga Marie... many people have come to visit them in turn, and Ophelia is more clearly shaken than Kadoc.

“There’s no such thing as pledging allegiance. If Lord Kirshtalia wins, we might be taken back…” Ophelia shook her head.

Yuekadok stepped back from the door and sat back on his bed.

If Fei loses, just as Shiomi said, the Hidden Ones... the former Group A will once again "gather together".

Chapter 30 The Battle of Hecate (2)

"Is there no way to get Artemis to ambush Chaldea?"

Hinako Akuta, standing on the flagship's deck watching the battle in the Olympian fleet, asks her questions of the masked Saber, a servant beside her.

“I’m afraid that’s impossible, Master,” Saber said. “Chaldea’s ships are moving too fast; even the god in satellite orbit would need to aim at them.”

Every time Artemis aimed, Chaldea had already moved out of the area hit by the divine arrow.

This cycle continued until Storm Border collided with the Olympian fleet, preventing Artemis's Arrow from being fired again.

"Wouldn't that just be waiting for Chaldea's ships to crash into us?" Hinako Akuta clicked her tongue inwardly. "Isn't there any other way, Saber? You're a general who's fought in battles, aren't you?"

“I’m sorry, Master,” Saber said with some regret. “I fought in the north, against enemy countries that were also in the north. I never went south to conquer, so I am not good at naval warfare.”

“That makes sense…” Hinako Akuta felt a little relieved.

At that moment, a deep voice sounded from behind: "Don't panic, my wife. I will handle the fighting myself."

"King Xiang!" Akuta nods with surprise and relief.

The one whom Hinako Akuta called King Xiang was none other than Xiang Yu, a Servant of the Berserker class.

"Order the fleet to prepare for the assault; we're about to enter engagement range," Xiang Yu told Akuta Hinako in a calm and composed voice.

Saber immediately took over the order: "I will relay this to the fleet right now!"

"As long as Lord Xiang Yu is here, there is no reason for us to lose." Akuta Hinako felt very reassured.

They must help Kirshtalia achieve victory over Chaldea, which is why Hinako Akuta went to great lengths to persuade the emperor to allow her to bring Xiang Yu to Kirshtalia's Lostbelt to help.

The Emperor showed little interest in the Lostbelt conflict itself and demonstrated sufficient confidence.

However, the fact that Chaldea had severed three Lostbelts in succession inevitably made the Hidden Ones, who had captured two of their companions, uneasy.

"They're coming, my wife," Xiang Yu said.

"Prepare to meet the enemy!" Hinako Akuta, abandoning her usual quiet demeanor, loudly issued the order.

However, what arrived first was the cannon fire from the Chaldea warships.

Another consequence of the annihilation of Odysseus's fleet was that Olympus only possessed a pitifully small amount of intelligence, all of which consisted of eyewitness accounts brought back by Dioscuri and Chiron after their survival.

The Spirit Vein Blockage weapon accurately hit the heavy bow of the Olympus ship at the forefront.

Then came a dense array of automatons, which startled Hinako Akuta.

She recognized those dolls.

When I was hiding in the Clock Tower as a magician, I heard about the Grand Doll Maker and saw the finished dolls a few times.

So Hinako Akuta barely recognized her.

These puppets attacked the soldiers on the Olympus warship from the air, leaving the flightless monsters and soldiers unable to reach them. They were forced to defend themselves and try to change the direction of the heavy bows on the ship so that they could start firing at these automatons.

A chill ran down her spine. Hinako looked up and saw a silver-haired girl in flight armor at a higher position in the Automaton Legion.

The Gatling gun on the right side of the flight armor was aimed at the flagship and began firing.