ORT

Stop, Fujimaru, Mash. Wak Chan's body has been flooded with toxins.

We can't bring him. We have to leave him.

Our focus has to be getting back to the surface as quickly as we can. How's Tenochtitlan, Mash?

...She's conscious, but...she's also saying she can't go with us.

Understood. Da Vinci, Fujimaru, please get on my back.

To be clear, the five of us who will be returning are Da Vinci, Mash, Habetrot, Fujimaru, and myself.

Are we agreed?

Yes. We have no objections to that. Let's go, Senpai.

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Are you sure you can carry both of us, Tepeu!? If you're having trouble, I can get off and

It's no trouble. You'll need to fight again soon, so you should both conserve your strength for that.

This is all I can do to help anyway.

Tepeu...

An enormous mass is coming up from below! Master, please make sure your Mystic Code's temperature regulation is set to maximum!

According to Sheba, danger levels and hostility readings are off the charts! Its Spirit Origin pattern has no matching wavelength anywhere on Earth!

Estimated Spirit Origin scale is currently at satellite class and growing rapidly!

Enemy contact in six...five... Here it comes!

It's ORT!

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I-it's even more intimidating than I'd imagined! It's a literal space monster!

Even if it was just for a few seconds, I can't believe you actually fought that thing, Fujimaru!

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We've gotta run for it. That thing's way out of our league. Even for a Lostbelt, that's gotta be against the rules.

I know, but ORT already has us in its sights! And it's blocking the way to the wall that leads up to the ninth stratum!

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It just deployed a net of metallic fibers in all directions! We have nowhere to run, especially on such narrow footing!

This is the worst possible place for a battle! Fighting now would be suicide, Master!

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Ughhh, I can't take this anymore! Pardon me!

Did you see that!? It cut through ORT's net like it was nothing! That's gotta be

Kukulcan!

That's right, it's me! Thank you for calling me with such a lovely smile, Mash!

No, wait! Never mind that!

This isn't like you guys at all! You always go charging in all "Raaah!" no matter how strong your opponent is!

You can't give up now without even trying to fight back!

Do you WANT me to be the idiot who was casually having tea with Kadoc and company because she trusted you'd be okay on your own!?

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Gaaah, everything's gone topsy-turvy! My poor gourmand palate feels like it's about to short-circuit!

What's going on out there, Zemlupus!? What happened to Koyanskaya!?

Those things that came out of Daybit's shadow got her! It looks like she took down a few of them, but there're still two left!

Now they're attacking the Shadow Border! Crap, they're about to hit us again!

Get this thing right side up again, Goredolf, before they punch through the bottom and kill us!

Oh, come on. Sure, I'm good, but even I don't have a way to turn a flipped car back over from behind the wheel.

I'd need a tow truck or a crane for that!

Dammit, they're right on top of us! Come on, we need to get out of here!

Heh. You go on without me. I'm the driver. If the Border's going down, it's my fate to go down with it.

Huh!? The hell are you saying!? This is no time to be jokWait. Is your seat belt glowing red?

It sure is. It seems it broke in the crash, and now I can't get it off. Do something, Kadoc!

Ugh, why didn't you just say so!? Hang on, I think I've got an emergency cutter somewhere in

Aaaaaah! We're doooooomed!

You humans from Proper Human History... I can't believe you couldn't even handle a few flimsy outer space terminals. You're really weak, aren't you?

How's it feel, getting saved by an enemy? Something you'd like to say to me, maybe?

Like, begging me to spare your lives, or offering me a bribe to help you?

Oh, thank you! Thank you! I've never experienced anything so frightening in my entire lif

(Wait a second. This sort of stuff has basically been a Tuesday at Chaldea, hasn't it?)

Even so, you were amazing!

Not only did you get rid of those monsters that were giving Koyanskaya so much trouble with just one kick, you were kind enough to give the Shadow Border a tow as well.

I truly can't thank you enough. Please, won't you join us inside for some tea?

I'd be delighted to show off the afternoon tea skills I gained during my time studying abroad in London.

...Are you sure? I mean, I'm still your enemy...

Only because of your position, right? Fujimaru gave us a report, though he was damn sparse with the details.

He said: "Kukulcan has a duty to protect Mictlān because she's the king of this Lostbelt."

"But she's also not the type to hate someone just because they're technically a foreign enemy."

I agree, though I can't be as optimistic as him.

Still, thanks for saving us. Sincerely.

Koyanskaya's sulking in the Border right now, but I'd like to thank you on her behalf, too.

Thank you, Kukulcan.

You really were amazing out there. I'm glad you turned out to have a heart.

I see. So to you, I'm a god with a heart, hm?

Guess I'll just have to help you out a little more, then!

Okay, it's a little embarrassing to admit this, but I actually don't have a way of tracking the Crypter.

The Malla just can't seem to make out his heartbeat.

So I've decided to tail him and let Fujimaru worry about stopping him.

Of course, once he HAS been stopped, then I'll have to stop Fujimaru from cutting down the Tree of Emptiness...

Still, in the meantime, if you're going after him too, would you like to come with me?

I can fly down to the ninth stratum carrying both of you easily enough. Should be much faster and safer that way.

...Thank you, but, I'm afraid I'll have to refuse. While we would love to have you protecting us, we also have our own role to play:

Using the Shadow Border to aid the vanguard that went on ahead of us.

So please, don't worry about us. We'll have the car back up and running lickety-split, then be on our way.

The Commander's right. We'll catch up to Fujimaru's group on our own in no time.

So we'd appreciate it if you went on ahead. It's not just Daybit they're up against. It's Tezcatlipoca, too.

Are you sure? Once I catch up to Fujimaru, I'm going to

No, you're not. Besides, there's nothing more we can do if you stop him anyway.

All we care about is stopping ORT. Once that's done, we can have a nice sit-down and talk about Mictlān's continued existence.

...Good point. Then, I think I'll go on ahead andNo, wait. Hang on.

Is that offer for afternoon tea still on the table?

I still have so much I want to learn about Proper Human History culture, yes!

And that's the story of how I enjoyed some delicious tea and sandwiches, and two pieces of cake! Teehee.

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Commander Goredolf continues to impress. He never forgets to conduct himself elegantly, no matter what may be going on!

Well, it also means I've got some extra calories to burn!

Just so you know, I'm going to be fighting at full power. Think you can keep up?

Of course! Having you on our side again is a big load off our minds!

Now we won't have to worry about conserving our strength for later!

Come on, Fujimaru, Mash, Habetrot! Let's do this!

We're going to neutralize ORT ourselves! We can worry about cutting down the Tree of Emptiness afterward!

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Right! Initiating battle with the invader known as ORT!

None of ORT appears to be operational any longer. I'm not detecting any internal ether signals or cosmic rays...

We did it! ORT has shut down! We actually neutralized it!

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...Is that true? Then, that would mean I'm not a representative of Mictlān at all...

Your hands appear to be trembling, Kukulcan. Is everything all right?

Tepeu... I... What do I do now?

I know I'm not a deinos, but, I still thought I was born in Mictlān... That I was a friend of this planet...

...Ah, I see. So you've discovered the truth.

I wasn't entirely certain either, but I deduced as much over the course of our underworld pilgrimages.

Kukulcan, you're most likely

...!

She just flew off! What, did she go on ahead to make sure the path was safe or something!?

...

That's a lot of shaking! Does this mean the area beneath us has completely collapsed?

Mash, take a look at ORT with Sheba! Is it showing any signs of rebooting!?

N-no, it's not. It's beginning to cool down from its exterior inward.

It's almost as though light that had burst out from a circle is gathering again towards its center...

Crap! Everyone, run for the wall, now!

ORT never actually rebooted before fighting us, nor did it shut down again from taking too much damage!

It's only now about to actually reboot itself!

We're getting a critical alert from the computer room! Major gravitational fluctuations are being detected in Mictlān's lowest stratum!

Dammit, the instruments can't keep up! Estimated Spirit Origin scale ranges from satellite to plano, make that star level!

The laws of physics are being overwritten starting from the lowest stratum and spreading up to the surface!

Space-time continuum transcription speeds have reached negative 3.6 seconds! Aaah! We're so screeewed!

Captain, it's the Tree of Emptiness! Trismegistus II has detected the Tree of Emptiness!

I can see that from the readings. Where is it? How big is it? Can we see it from here?

W-well, you see...there are too many signals to count!

Waaah! You can see them from the monitor, too! What's going on!? What ARE those things!?

...Every tree in Mictlān is becoming a Tree of Emptiness... Does this mean ORT is rebooting...?

Yes, it does. The ORT that was invited to this Lostbelt's hypothetical history is not the same ORT from Proper Human History.

Its power and destructive instincts are inferior to those of Proper Human History's ORT, which makes this one more of an ORT variant.

However, by consuming the Tree of Emptiness, it has reached a point where it can create its own Reality Marble on a massive scale.

It is an invasive life-form that has remade every tree on Earth into a Tree of Emptiness in order to provide itself with a more suitable environment.

This place is no longer a golden sea of trees. It is now the largest and most dangerous Lostbelt we have ever seena galactic hell created in the depths of the earth.

This is the Tree of Emptiness Sea...ORT Xibalba.

ORT just made its way up to the ninth stratum, too! Its Spirit Origin scale and output are a whole order of magnitude greater now!

Hell, you can see for yourself how much it's grown! It's about a hundred meters tall now, just like you reported seeing in México City!

Are you kidding me!? That's ridiculously huge!

According to the future Tezcatlipoca revealed ORT's going to keep heading towards the surface, right!?

We'll never catch up to it on foot! We need a vehicle that can carry all of

We have Tree of Emptiness seeds headed our way! Sheba's rating them at a threat level of B+!

They're much more dangerous than the seeds we fought earlier! What are your orders, Master!?

Wait, Mash! Don't fight them! You're exhausted from all the fighting on our way here, right!?

Those things'll kill us all if we try to fight so many at once! Let's head back to the temple for now, Fujimaru!

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Good, we made it! You can fill us in later! C'mon, hop in! There's a shitstorm of seeds out here!

Heh. Every talented team knows to spend as little time as possible on a pit stop.

Hahaha, are you actually moved to tears!? You must have been through quite a lot!

...Well done.

You accomplished the most important mission of all: bringing everyone back alive.

Are you freakin' kidding me!? You barely escape with your life and THAT'S the first thing you say!?

Well, sucks to be you. Kukulcan drank all the tea and I ate the last cheese cookie.

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This is a great help. I'm relieved to see the Shadow Border is large enough for me, even if only just.

May I suggest you all have a seat and catch your breaths for a bit? I understand the situation is urgent, but you still need to rest.

Yeah, I think I'll do that. You and Mash should too, Fujimaru.

And I'm gonna go back to my base form. Hey, where's Koyanskaya? Wasn't she with you guys?

She went back to Chichén Itzá ahead of us, since she can make her way across Mictlān on her own.

Of course, now that Mictlān's gone to Tree of Emptiness hell, she might be stuck grumbling in the fourth stratum.

Oh, I wouldn't worry about Koyanskaya. Knowing her, she'll end up taming a bunch of those seeds on her way back.

As for us, I'll handle the driving. I'm taking us through a safe zone right now, dodging seeds along the way.

Now, what's the situation? What happened down there, anyway?

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...And that's the long and short of it.

Ultimately, we were unable to stop Daybit from reviving ORT...

Kukulcan, despite coming in to help us for a time, flew off to parts unknown.

And...we learned that the foreign planet the Foreign God is from is actually Chaldeas...

... (*Mental overload)

Hmm, so this is the autopilot button. Pardon me, Goredolf, but I think I'd better press it.

...I see.

And you say Daybit said to go to Antarctica if you manage to stop his plan?

Yes. He also said we should see things with our own eyes first and foremost.

Damn straight. No wasted words, no coddling... That's about as Daybit an answer as there is.

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...Sure I am. But of course, I also stood against Chaldea myself for a while.

Learning there was more going on than we knew about makes sense to me.

The noble over here is the one taking it hard. He put up everything he had to buy it because he thought it was a respectable organization.

Now he finds out it was actually plotting our extinction the whole time.

Talk about a bad beat.

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Whoa, whoa, what are you saying? I'm as much a victim here as anyone. And I'm counting on you to testify to that effect in the inevitable inquest.

Don't worry, Gordy. Once we finish taking the Earth back, you'll be one of the Clock Tower's greatest heroes!

Of course, for that to happen, we first have to figure out how to sort out this mess.

With ORT on the move, we don't know what we'll find in Mictlān anymore.

ORT's erosive Reality Marble has hacked every tree here, turning them into identical Trees of Emptiness.

At this point, getting rid of ORT alone won't be enough to excise this Lostbelt.

So I'm thinking we have no choice but to give up on that.

But if ORT is the source of all these Trees of Emptiness, isn't it possible that eliminating ORT would result in the other Trees shutting down?

Maybe, but it's very unlikely. If anything

(Even if we do manage to stop ORT, as long as just one Tree of Emptiness remains...)

Well, let's worry about that later. Right now, we need to figure out our strategy for ORT.

Once it's out of the underground, it's almost certainly going to make its way to Antarctica and destroy Chaldeas, along with the rest of Chaldea Base.

And since Chaldeas is an incredibly detailed copy of Earth...

...destroying it would require an impact massive enough to destroy Earth as well.

That impact would shatter forty percent of the planet and wipe out everyone from Proper Human History and this Lostbelt alike in one fell swoop.

We have to prevent that at any cost.

Even though Chaldeas may be behind all this, we still need to keep it safe right now.

And if we're going to do that

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"We have to defeat ORT"!? Don't give me that nonsense! Especially when you're only just barely holding it together already!

ORT absolutely crushed you, both in México City and in the underground temple just now!

You're the only one here who's fought the thing and you've basically said it's unkillable!

I'm not signing off on a mission like that! It's suicide!

I'm not against taking desperate risks. I know that's been Chaldea's way since before I came along!

But I can't approve a mission with a zero percent chance of success!

Give me an alternative plan, Technical Advisor! There has to be something!

There isn't, Commander Goredolf. From the moment we failed to stop Daybit

No... From the moment Daybit joined Team A, this was always going to be our only option.

We have to defeat ORT if we're going to survive. Remember, the Storm Border isn't a spaceship.

Even if we managed to get it out of Earth's atmosphere, it would just be a matter of time until we all died on it.

I...! ...Be that as it may, I still can't condone sending someone even younger than me off to

Thank you, Director. But by now, you should know better than to underestimate us.

Chaldea never fights battles we don't think we can win. We're not about to begin a mission where our deaths are a certainty. Never again.

On which note, things should be just about ready to go. Sion, do you read me?

Loud and clear, Da Vinci. We are done with our inspections, and will be ready very soon now.

Just as Fujimaru mentioned in his report...

...the four underworld borders have proven to be free summon zones that permit Heroic Spirits from Proper Human History.

With this in mind, as well as all the Heroic Spirits Master Fujimaru has formed bonds with...

...we should be able to conduct a mass summoning on an unprecedented scale.

The Storm Border is standing by above Chichén Itzá. We can divert the full power output of three Triton Engines to summoning rituals.

We are also setting up to put the Spirit Origin graph of every Heroic Spirit registered with Chaldea to date...

...into an upgraded state rather than the typical base state.

It will be a huge battle involving no fewer than Servants; it will be the first squadron of Heroic Spirits in history.

So, what do you think, Goredolf? I confess, it is a rehash of the Grand Order at the Temple of Time in which we were unable to participate...

...but would you not like to participate this time all the same?

...Heh. Don't be ridiculous. I never once said I was against it.

Very well. Operation approved! I trust you have no issue with that, Fujimaru!?

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You will pursue ORT and engage it in battle.

According to Trismegistus II's calculations, it should take ORT twenty hours to cross all of Mictlān.

Your job, Master, is to head to the nearest level of the underworld and begin summoning as soon as you arrive.

The Storm Border will run three Triton Engines at full power to supply the Shadow Border with magical energy...

...which you will then use to summon an entire battle line of Servants as the opening act of our anti-ORT operation.

According to Trismegistus II, this operation has "a chance" of success. No percentages were given with this assessment.

Again, we have twenty hours to complete the operation. If we do not succeed in that time, we will never learn Chaldeas's secrets...

...or the truth of the Bleached Earth Phenomenon, and we will lose our last chance to reclaim humankind's future.

The computer room has dubbed this operation "The Tree of Emptiness Sea Showdown." The Storm Border will now enter combat mode.

This is the time to make full use of all the Servants you have gathered thus far. Good luck, Chaldea!