However, unlike when it broke through the pillar of light in Fairy Britain, the Storm Border did not successfully drill through this barrier.
Instead, it was thrown back.
Thrown back by force.
The bow itself had dimensional drilling capabilities and was extremely sturdy. After the Holy Sword Armament had been installed, it had been reinforced even further.
So in the end, neither side suffered any damage.
The barrier remained intact, and the Storm Border was unharmed as well.
"As expected... they were never going to let us through that easily."
After going up close to the barrier and examining it himself, Shiomi returned to the ship.
Morgan and the others had already come out from inside, ready to see what was happening with their own eyes.
"There's nothing much to look at. It's a defensive structure similar to Galahad's Noble Phantasm, [Avalon]," Shiomi said. "But this isn't meant to protect Chaldeas. It's a checkpoint, something that prevents foreign matter from passing through."
"A checkpoint?" Morgan raised a brow.
"To be honest, I started thinking about this after Britain disappeared." Shiomi turned back to look at Morgan. "Would Proper Human History really accept beings that were originally born in Lostbelts?"
"But Morgan once went to the Fourth Holy Grail War, and even lived in Proper Human History as a Servant for at least twenty years," Artoria said, unable to understand.
Morgan did not see it that way.
"That was a special exception granted by the great god Odin in the name of the chief deity. He disguised my definition as that of the Morgan from Proper Human History and bypassed Human Order's judgment."
"And not just Morgan, or the fairies either." Scáthach looked at Skadi. "It was the same in the Norse Lostbelt and the Atlantic one. We brought back beings that did not belong to Proper Human History. Beings that should have disappeared along with their Lostbelts."
"So this is really where the journey ends..." Skadi pressed a hand to her chest. "If you don't leave behind those of us who are foreign matter that does not belong to Proper Human History, then you won't be able to enter Antarctica, and you won't be able to reclaim the original Proper Human History..."
At that point, she lifted her head calmly.
"Then leave us here. If you do, you should be able to enter Antarctica."
It was the answer that came immediately once the problem had been identified.
Correct, and cruel.
And even more so, it was not the answer Shiomi wanted.
"To be fair, Skadi's reasoning does make sense. We could even test it by leaving behind everyone who followed me out of the Lostbelts, including my own wife and daughter," Shiomi said, staring at the unseen barrier with his arms crossed, without even turning around. "If we throw away the companions deemed unqualified like excess baggage, then maybe we really could pass through the Wall of Human Order."
"Tenkei..."
Skadi felt her nose sting.
She had not yet figured out what she should say as a farewell, and she had not immediately caught the meaning hidden beneath his words.
"But that's the mindset of trash."
Shiomi turned around and made a slightly mischievous face at Skadi.
The moment she saw that expression, Skadi, who had still been a little sad, suddenly felt like laughing, while also getting a little annoyed.
"I'm not trash!" she protested angrily, thumping Shiomi on the chest several times with both hands.
"The Wall of Human Order exists to separate Proper Human History from the 'foreign matter' that does not belong to it," Shiomi said. "I have no intention of abandoning things that are priceless to me just because of some so-called 'inspection.'"
Morgan smiled at that, understanding him perfectly.
She knew very well that Shiomi would never accept any condition that required throwing away his companions.
Even if the one setting that condition was Human Order itself.
"I understand that you don't want to leave us behind, and the others on the Storm Border don't want to either," Skadi said. "But that still doesn't solve the problem. How is New Chaldea supposed to enter Antarctica..."
Before she could finish, she saw Shiomi and Morgan clasp hands and transform into the Unity God.
"Though I don't know whether Lady Nuwa and the other gods accounted for even this outcome when they created me and set me on this path."
The Unity God raised both hands, opening and closing its fists repeatedly to confirm its condition.
"Wait, who's in control of the Unity God right now? My beloved disciple, or Morgan?" Scáthach cut in, looking deeply conflicted. "Seeing Morgan's face but hearing my disciple's way of speaking is kind of awful... honestly..."
"What's awful about it?" the Unity God said, touching its chin. "My wife's face is a once-in-an-age beauty. Artoria, surely you can understand that?"
"To be honest... not really." Artoria also looked conflicted.
"Honestly, you people are so troublesome. My wife, you take over."
As soon as those words were spoken, the Unity God's tone changed.
"To still be joking at a time like this... it seems my husband really is calm." Morgan let out a soft sigh, then turned to look toward the inside of the Antarctic Circle.
The barrier blocking the ship's advance had vanished the moment the Storm Border backed away.
As long as it did not continue forward, the barrier would not appear.
"If Human Order... no, if the Wall of Human Order will not permit it, then we will."
Morgan flew into the sky and stopped in front of the barrier as it manifested once again.
The moment her hand reached toward it, the barrier naturally moved to stop it.
But only for an instant.
The Unity God's hand passed through the Wall of Human Order as though slipping through the surface of water.
"A hole has been confirmed in the Wall of Human Order. Even for the Unity God, how is this even possible...?!"
Da Vinci and Sion's shocked cries came from the bridge, making the communicator burst into noisy chatter.
"Return to the ship at once and prepare for another breakthrough attempt," Scáthach urged the others back inside. "Use the passage opened by that small hole and have the Storm Border begin Imaginary Number Dive. Set the coordinates to the Antarctic continent on the inner side of the barrier."
"Yes! Captain Nemo, hurry!"
"Possibility of Imaginary Number Dive confirmed. Surfacing coordinates set to Antarctic continent, former Chaldea site."
Nemo rapidly arranged the dive operation.
"Imaginary Number Dive will begin after hypothetical time 0010."
"Don't waste time. Begin the dive immediately!"
Morgan shouted the order.
Following her command, the Storm Border used the opening torn into the Wall of Human Order by the Unity God and found a viable path for Imaginary Number Dive.
In the blink of an eye, the massive ship vanished from the skies near Antarctica.
"Then we as well..."
After confirming that the ship had begun its Imaginary Number Dive, Unity God Morgan used [Independent Manifestation] to enter the inner side of the Wall of Human Order.
"From this moment on, we become true invaders of Proper Human History," Morgan said to Shiomi.
"I have no intention of accepting Marisbury's Human Order Preservation. And I also have a duty to correct that mistake."
"As a god, and even more so as a human."
Shiomi answered calmly.
"Not 'I.' 'We.' Right?"
"Yes. We."
Shiomi agreed with Morgan's words.