To be precise, ever since Chaldea arrived in the Lostbelt, the Fantasy Tree had never been observed.
The reason was simple. Skadi had concealed the Fantasy Tree's coordinates with Magecraft, hiding the very phenomenon of its existence.
The barrier Skadi had originally erected to protect Scandinavia was shattered by Surtr's rampage. After Surtr was cut down by Shiomi, and after the near world-ending collision between two Anti-World Noble Phantasms, the entire Scandinavian region was thrown into chaos.
The Magecraft that hid the Fantasy Tree's position was completely destroyed, allowing its form to reappear before everyone's eyes.
However, the real problem lay elsewhere. Though Surtr was dead, his ice flames that could burn the world had not vanished, continuing to erode the land of Scandinavia.
The area surrounding the Fantasy Tree was also being engulfed in flames.
According to Chaldea's prior information, the Fantasy Tree was not a tree composed purely of Mana, so ordinary fire should not have been able to harm it.
But Surtr's flames were an authority further strengthened after devouring the giant wolf Fenrir. At the same time, that authority was one of the cornerstones that allowed the Fantasy Tree to sustain this world, anchoring it into the bleached planet and maintaining a Scandinavian world that should have long been pruned away.
With Surtr gone, it was only a matter of time before Chaldea felled the Fantasy Tree.
Before Chaldea could even finish analyzing the situation, the Fantasy Tree near Village 23 had already begun to show signs of collapse, as though it could disappear at any moment.
"What exactly is going on? Do you know anything?"
After Morgan and the others brought Shiomi back to where the Storm Border was stationed, Touko immediately pressed for answers.
"This… I can't give you an answer right away. We should head over there—" Skadi insisted on approaching the Fantasy Tree.
"No, it's better not to," Shiomi said. "That's a sign the Fantasy Tree has already begun to wither."
The moment he said that, Chaldea fell silent. No one raised any further objections.
Morgan had once analyzed a Fantasy Tree and seized all of its Mana in one go, using it to bring back Britain after it had been destroyed by calamity.
That incident had been compiled into official records and archived as important reference material for future Lostbelt operations.
"Who could it be…" Baobhan Sith murmured in confusion, then suddenly froze. "Don't tell me… the Alien Apostles?"
Morgan, who had been holding Shiomi, slowly set him down at his request before giving her own assessment.
"It seems the Alien Apostles—no, the Alien God—changed its original plan and decided to reclaim the Mana of the Fantasy Tree. While confronting you on the battlefield, other Alien Apostles who never revealed themselves were operating in the shadows to carry out that task."
"Judging by its current state, the whole thing is probably already finished. Even if we rush over now, it'll be too late."
Shiomi crouched down, examining the condition of the land along its Leylines.
"Although the land itself is gradually calming down, still—"
"Will this world… disappear?"
Skadi gripped her staff tightly and asked in an unnervingly calm voice.
"Originally, this world was meant to be pruned three thousand years ago. The reason it managed to persist until now is something you understand better than I do."
Shiomi knew his words were cruel, but trying to soften them would have been an even greater lie.
"Once it loses its fixed 'anchor,' this Lostbelt layered onto the surface of the planet will quickly return to the Pruning phenomenon."
With that, he stood up at once, activated the communicator, and issued his orders.
"Begin preparations for immediate evacuation via Imaginary Number submersion. All personnel currently deployed outside the ship are to return aboard immediately and stand by!"
To Chaldea, Shiomi was a pillar of reassurance, a trust built through one battle after another and firmly rooted in everyone's hearts.
His orders were carried out without delay.
One by one, the girls boarded the ship through the hatches.
Mash even accepted the unconscious Ophelia from Sigurd, who had come to return the personnel, and brought her back aboard as well.
"Are we leaving this place behind?" Skadi asked quietly at Shiomi's side.
"Not leaving it behind," Shiomi replied, his brows drawn tight but his voice firm. "We take as many people as we possibly can. There's still a little time before the Fantasy Tree fully collapses and this world is pruned. Even if it's only one village…"
"Why do you say that?" Skadi asked in surprise, quickly pressing for an answer.
"Once they lose the world they originally belonged to, and since they aren't inhabitants of another Lostbelt, they become 'Drifters'."
Shiomi looked down at his clenched hand.
"But the way I am now, I should be able to serve as the 'proof' that keeps them from disappearing. If I can bring you and myself along, then bringing at least some of the survivors with us should be possible."
Skadi lowered her eyes, sorrow filling her expression.
"Are you… treating yourself as a god? Even I, with these hands, can save at most ten thousand people. And even then, under my protection, they still wouldn't live long enough to grow old… My love, my snow, can only carry the sign that spring plants will one day sprout."
"Not treating myself as a god," Shiomi said calmly, his words landing like a silent explosion in everyone's hearts. "But becoming a new god."
"The unknown gods we'll face in the other Lostbelts, and the even more mysterious Alien God…"
"Tenkei…" Artoria murmured softly.
The moment she saw him finally bring Marduk's Axe under control, she had already known that Shiomi had made his choice.
"Even if I'm still half-baked and clumsy," Shiomi continued, looking directly at Skadi, "I at least want to save whatever can still be saved."
In that instant, Skadi understood. Above all else, he was prioritizing saving her, and only after that, the people she cherished yet had been powerless to protect.
Once she grasped that, Skadi nodded silently.
She had already accepted him in her heart, accepted the bond Odin had granted them. Skadi would no longer refuse Shiomi.
Because he had fully understood her as a goddess, she chose to place her complete trust in him.
"Then the Valkyries, the dragon-slaying hero Sigurd, and the eldest Valkyrie, Brynhild," Shiomi said, looking at them in turn. "I know this is an unreasonable request, but please take care of the villagers."
They agreed without hesitation. The three Valkyrie sisters, along with the two Servants, immediately rushed to Village 23, the settlement closest to the battlefield. Thanks to its proximity to the Storm Border, it had suffered relatively little damage, allowing them to evacuate the survivors onto the ark.
"By the way, what about Gerda?" Morgan asked at that moment. "Wasn't she still in the royal capital?"
"Is there still time to get there from here?" Scáthach asked, unable to hide her concern.
"There's no need to worry," Ortlinde said as she descended with two children in her arms, offering an explanation. "Gerda was transferred to your ship before the fighting began. She has not yet received the judgment of our goddess, and therefore cannot die so easily."
The answer was still somewhat mechanical, but its outcome put everyone more at ease.
...