Kukulkan.
The Lostbelt King who had remained on the sidelines ever since ORT appeared.
For Shiomi and Morgan, her doing so had been understandable.
After all, the battle against ORT was tied to the Lostbelt's very survival. If ORT were destroyed, Kukulkan alone would not be able to keep Mictlan in existence.
But that was only a secondary reason.
"Kukulkan..." Shiomi kept his eyes on ORT without looking at Kukulkan's back. "You know what you're saying, don't you?"
"I do. In fact, I went all the way to the observatory and asked Tepeu, who was still there, just to make sure," Kukulkan said.
The truth was, she had already understood it the moment she saw ORT, the moment she came into contact with its attacks. Even so, she had still wanted to confirm it more precisely.
She was neither a god born from the Lostbelt, nor a human of the Deinos or the Ka'an Kingdom.
She was ORT's heart, dug out by Camazotz six million years ago.
After the passage of millions of years, that heart separated from ORT and became a new sun belonging to this Lostbelt, belonging to Mictlan.
Then, after faith from Proper Human History was introduced, the "teachings of the sun" were born from that sun.
Kukulkan.
"You'll die..." Morgan warned softly.
Kukulkan only smiled and said nothing.
She raised her right hand high and pointed it at ORT.
"You invader from the void, ORT, with whom we once shared a symbiotic relationship. You devoured the Fantasy Tree to extend your time of activity, while we used your heart to keep this world going. To destroy you here also means destroying this Lostbelt. But we cannot force the vision of the Sun Altar, the future seen by the Smoking Mirror, onto Proper Human History... Thank you for everything you've done."
Even when facing an enemy with whom communication was impossible, Kukulkan still thanked ORT as though it were only natural.
Even though sustaining this world had never been ORT's original intent.
"Then let me speak the overall will of the Maya. Mictlan ends here. Life nurtured for sixty-six million years, sixty-six million years of time, sixty-six million years of answers... 'This is good, but there are other ways.' We have accepted that. We will stop the seeds on this planet from developing. Extinction comes equally to all things. No matter the environment, no matter the ecology, as long as it is life, there are no exceptions."
That was both Kukulkan's own choice and the overall will of the Maya that she conveyed.
At this moment, the two became one and formed the final reason Kukulkan stood here.
"Listen well! This sun is your heart, and also the embryo that created me and gave birth to me! My name is Kukulkan, one born from the sun! In other words, I am one with you! Now is the time to return my body to the sun and strike you down! Interstellar Voyage Heart, activate!"
Kukulkan's body began to burn.
It was not an ordinary flame, but the blazing solar fire that had illuminated Mictlan for countless years.
"The wind comes from the sky, and stars fall from the cosmos. Only ORT can defeat ORT! The time for destruction has come, Ultimate One! The thing that devours this planet and all of us shall not be allowed to exist!"
Declaring that end in a ringing voice, Kukulkan transformed into a burning sun and charged at ORT.
ORT had only just completed its manifestation and was in its most complete state, yet it had no way to withstand that strike.
This was a power of the same root and origin as ORT.
It was something that had belonged to ORT itself.
Even if ORT tried to defend against it, it had never fought itself before.
That meant it had no possibility of blocking this blow.
At that moment, the sun in the sky became unstable, swelling larger and larger and larger.
Then it exploded.
The phenomenon that marks the end of a star is called a supernova explosion.
Of course, the sun hanging in Mictlan's sky was not a real star. It was only an artificial sun with stellar-class output.
A substitute created using ORT's heart.
Its explosion swept across the whole land of Mictlan, burning away the sea of Fantasy Trees created by ORT's corruption, along with all the Fantasy Tree seeds that had not yet taken root.
The blazing storm was so fierce that even high in the sky, its heat could still be felt.
The Storm Border ran its engines at full power, doing everything it could to maintain its flight posture.
The land of Mictlan was not set ablaze. Instead, within the flames of the sun's explosion, it returned to its original state.
"Ah... Not just ORT. Even the sea of Fantasy Trees has been burned away completely."
Shiomi looked at Kukulkan, who could no longer maintain her existence.
She had detonated Mictlan's sun and turned herself into the very weapon of attack, perishing together with ORT, which had manifested as a Grand Servant.
ORT's Spirit Origin had simply disappeared first.
Now that even its heart was gone, the ORT of this Lostbelt could never manifest again.
"I guess I got a little carried away and burned everything clean," Kukulkan said, sounding slightly embarrassed as she turned back toward them.
"But in the end, even though we were both Lostbelt Kings, it seems we never truly fought each other."
It was the sort of tone someone might take after pulling off a huge feat and suddenly becoming self-conscious under everyone's attention.
"Not exactly," Shiomi said. "Back when we were on the surface, that one attack of yours was something even the Unity God couldn't completely block."
"That was done in the middle of the chaos, following the will of the Maya, to protect Mictlan," Kukulkan replied frankly. "Still, even if it's just once, I really would like to fight the Unity God."
"Are you some kind of battle maniac? Then again, the Quetzalcoatl from Proper Human History was like that too." Morgan rubbed her temple. "My husband, what do you think?"
"We're pretty worn out too. But having a fight with Kukulkan, who also doesn't have much time left, wouldn't be a bad idea."
Shiomi reached out and pressed his palm against Morgan's.
Kukulkan looked at the Unity God and broke into a satisfied grin.
"You're not in a hurry to leave?"
"The Storm Border will depart first. We'll stay and fight with you until the Lostbelt disappears," Morgan said. "After all, we can manifest independently."
"I see."
Kukulkan cracked her knuckles eagerly.
"Come to think of it, as a god, I only just debuted not long ago. Would this count as a rookie god's debut battle?"
"If you want to think of it that way." Morgan clenched her fist.
She and Kukulkan leapt away from the deck of the Storm Border.
The others returned to the ship one after another, preparing to leave the Lostbelt through Imaginary Number Dive.
"At most... ten minutes," Kukulkan estimated by instinct. "I'd like to see the sleeping Deinos off and welcome the end of this world together."
"Five minutes. I'll make sure you enjoy it."
As soon as Morgan finished speaking, she shot toward Kukulkan like a meteor.
She collided with the dying embers of the sun, and the dim sky of Mictlan lit up once more.