After spending four or five years at the Chaldea Observatory, Shiomi's deepest impression of the Antarctic continent was the unending wind and snow.
Clear, cloudless days stretching for miles were rare.
A raging blizzard like the one now, fierce enough to make it almost impossible to keep one's footing, was already something he had seen countless times.
Standing on a relatively flat stretch at the foot of the snowy mountains, Unity God Morgan ignored the violent Antarctic blizzard and gazed up at the sky beyond the outer slopes.
Before long, the Storm Border emerged from the Sea of Imaginary Numbers, ending its Imaginary Number Dive and returning to the real world.
"Return to real-number space confirmed. Beginning environmental scan. Location confirmed as the Antarctic continent, approximately 200 kilometers from the former Chaldea site."
The communication from the Storm Border came through the communicator.
"Two hundred kilometers, hm."
Morgan turned and looked toward the mountain path ahead, its far end completely hidden by the wind and snow.
Chaldeas was located on the snow-covered mountain at the pole.
For the Unity God, that stretch of road was as easy as flat ground.
And weather this harsh would not hinder the Storm Border's advance in the slightest.
That was assuming the road ahead was only plagued by bad weather and treacherous terrain.
"Maintain low-speed navigation and use our route as a marker," Morgan proposed. "Advance slowly toward the former Chaldea site and avoid running into any..."
Before she could finish, a thunderous roar came from the mountaintop.
An avalanche crashed down the slope with the force of heaven and earth collapsing.
Standing before such an avalanche, a human would seem infinitely small, like an ant that could be swallowed up in the blink of an eye.
Even a squad of over a hundred Magi would turn pale at the sight of it.
Without enough preparation in advance and the ability to adapt on the spot, probably only elites of Color rank or above would survive.
That was assuming the one standing there was only human.
But the avalanche sliding down the mountainside met the figure of the Unity God and split apart down the middle, like a river forced to flow around a massive reef.
Just like the miracle of Moses parting the sea.
"An avalanche... whether this is a natural phenomenon or deliberate is hard to say."
Morgan gave a light laugh, treating the avalanche as nothing, and slowly continued up from the foot of the mountain.
"How about it? The Wall of Human Order failed to stop us. Instead, it developed a gap and let us enter this place. As the Chaldeas that maintains this region of Proper Human History, if it couldn't observe something like that, it would be far too incompetent," Shiomi said.
"That's more or less what I thought too." Morgan brushed the snow-dust from her clothes as she walked.
Back in Orkney, she used to need a hood for warmth when going outside in winter. Now, she did not need one at all.
There was something a little regrettable about no longer being able to feel awe at the harshness of the environment.
Though it was only the kind of regret one might have over a missed bit of amusement.
"Come to think of it, why couldn't the Wall of Human Order stop us... no, more precisely, why couldn't it determine whether or not it should stop us?" Shiomi said. "I am a god born for the sake of humanity. Even if I appeared in a human body, that transformation had been a fixed fact from the very beginning."
"In that sense, my husband and the 'Alien God' do have something in common," Morgan said with a teasing smile.
She meant Chaldeas.
The real "Alien God."
"Not necessarily the same. Chaldeas is the achievement of the Animusphere, while I..."
"...am Lady Nuwa's mercy," Morgan said, sounding a bit helpless. "My husband really has become rather proud of being a god."
"Doesn't that make you happy too? By being immersed in my authority, your standing as a fairy has also risen to the level of a god," Shiomi said cheerfully, teasing her in return.
If one ignored the harsh environment and the tension on the bridge coming through the communicator, it would not be an exaggeration to say they were treating a moment like this as a casual outing.
"I am happy," Morgan said, making no attempt to hide it. "The problem is..."
"To the Wall of Human Order, I am something that can absolutely pass, while my wife is something that cannot," Shiomi said.
"And yet I am innocent myself," Morgan replied in a faintly aggrieved tone.
Shiomi was briefly at a loss.
"Uh... anyway, it has nothing to do with innocence... In any case, the problem created by becoming the Unity God is that our existence is something difficult for Human Order to define. We're a concept with blurred boundaries."
"In other words, a loophole program?" Morgan suddenly came up with the description.
"My wife, that way of putting it is not Magus-like at all." Shiomi could not stop laughing. "But it does explain the issue. In short, by using that loophole-like state, we managed to bring everyone into Antarctica before our classification could be clearly defined."
"So in other words, my husband solved the problem on instinct, and if it had failed, we would only have been able to wait for death on the surface of the bleached planet?" Morgan continued teasing him.
"Not necessarily." Shiomi sounded rather confident. "If I couldn't even overcome an obstacle on this level, then it would only mean I'm fundamentally unqualified, and that my trial is far from complete."
"My husband being this serious makes me look like the one who isn't taking things seriously enough." Morgan understood immediately, though her tone remained light.
"This has always been my wish," Shiomi said quietly. "If even being with me isn't enough to let you relax, then I might really be finished."
Something in the softest part of Morgan's heart felt as if it had been gently squeezed.
Right now, she wanted very badly to undo the fusion and hold Shiomi for a while.
Unfortunately, there was no time for that.
"Whether my husband is finished or not is not for me to judge. But this walk is over."
Morgan raised her head.
After the avalanche, on the still wind-lashed, snow-covered mountainside, ranks upon ranks of black hound hunters were standing there in dense formation.
"Ivan the Terrible's Noble Phantasm? No..." Shiomi let out a cold laugh. "So they're watchdogs created by imitating Ivan the Terrible's Noble Phantasm."
"Considering that the one who planned the planet's bleaching and selected the seven Lostbelts was Chaldeas itself, the celestial sphere for the Preservation of Human Order, there's no way it wouldn't know the state of the Lostbelts," Morgan said. "Moreover, the Russian Lostbelt served as the vanguard force responsible for invading Chaldea."
"Or maybe these are things recreated after extracting the data from those hunters back then," Shiomi said.
Either way, every one of those black hound hunters was equivalent to a low-rank Servant.
If this had been the two of them from before, then being surrounded and attacked under the leadership of an Alien Apostle would indeed have made escape difficult.
"But times are different now..."
Morgan raised a hand.
From the avalanche behind them, which had still not fully settled, several frost dragons burst forth and roared as they flew toward the summit, launching an attack on the black hound hunters.
"If they still think creatures like these are enough to stop me, then they are underestimating us far too much."
Shiomi voiced his agreement.