Hearing Gran's words, Chronoa couldn't help but let out a sigh.
She had witnessed countless scenes of monsters appearing while observing the Realm of Time, yet what she saw now was exactly the same as what Gran was seeing.
No traces. No abnormalities.
The monsters truly seemed to appear out of thin air.
"It's coming."
At that moment, Chronoa's eyes sharpened.
Gran's concentration also reached an unprecedented level.
Under their watchful gaze, the mass of black smoke grew denser and denser. Then, a monster completely shrouded in black mist emerged above the center of the mine.
Crackle! Crackle!
Black lightning flashed around its body, influenced by the monster's sinister power.
Gran had already killed this creature once six years ago, so he knew very well that beneath the black mist was nothing more than a skeleton.
Its bones were strange as well. The shape of its skull resembled that of a crocodile, while sharp spikes covered its entire body. Anyone who saw it would think it was some dead abyssal creature that had crawled out of the depths of hell.
"Gran, did you see it clearly?" Chronoa asked.
Pulling Gran into a hidden fold of space, she concealed their presence to avoid being noticed by the monster.
"I saw it."
"Then did you discover how it appeared?"
"No."
"..."
Black lines instantly appeared across Chronoa's face.
In other words, all the effort she had spent bringing Gran back to this point in time had been completely wasted.
"Wait!"
Seeing Chronoa preparing to return them to their original era, Gran grabbed her wrist.
Chronoa wanted to ask what he was planning, but after seeing the serious look in his eyes, she reluctantly stopped.
Inside the mine, the monster suddenly released a terrifying roar.
BOOM!!
The entire mine instantly collapsed under the force of that roar.
Bursting through the rubble, the monster immediately flew toward the nearest human settlement.
Gran knew that before long, his past self would arrive and eliminate this creature, so he paid it no attention. Instead, he pulled Chronoa out of the spatial fissure.
"I refuse to believe it's really this mysterious."
With a wave of his hand, Gran flattened the collapsed mine into an open plain and flew toward the exact spot where the monster had appeared.
Thinking that Gran simply refused to give up, Chronoa followed behind him.
Arriving at the monster's point of emergence, Gran raised his fist and punched the void.
BOOM!!
The immense force shattered the surrounding space instantly.
Gran and Chronoa jumped inside and looked around.
It was pitch-black.
Beyond space lay absolute nothingness.
Gran was very familiar with this kind of void. Whenever beings at the level of Candidate Gods of Destruction or higher fought seriously, they often shattered space itself, leaving behind this kind of empty nothingness.
"See? There's no way to trace where these monsters come from."
Chronoa sighed.
"Can they really be this mysterious?"
Gran still refused to accept it.
In an instant, he transformed into his strongest state.
A massive energy wave erupted from his right hand as he poured Angel Realm power directly into the void.
BOOM!!
As if creation itself were being torn apart, the endless void was instantly shattered.
Even space-time itself was pierced through.
Just like when Gran had slain Quitela, a massive space-time rift appeared within the void.
Gran and Chronoa entered it together.
However, unlike ordinary space-time fissures, there were no terrifying currents raging within this one.
Hovering in place, Gran carefully examined everything around him.
He was determined to find the path from which the monsters had come.
The entire space-time fissure was silver-white.
There were no unusual phenomena.
Nor could he sense even the slightest trace of the sinister aura the monster had possessed moments earlier.
"Damn it. There's still nothing."
Gran slowly closed his eyes.
For the first time, he truly felt defeated.
Looking at him, Chronoa asked,
"Can we go back now?"
"Wait a little longer."
Gran suddenly opened his eyes again.
Startled by his reaction, Chronoa jumped slightly.
"What is it?"
"After space shatters, there's the void. After the void breaks, there's a space-time fissure."
Gran spoke rapidly.
"But if the space-time fissure itself is broken... what lies beyond that?"
"Chaos."
Chronoa answered instinctively.
The moment the word left her mouth, her eyes widened.
"Wait—you think the monsters came from Chaos?"
"I don't know."
Gran shook his head.
With his current strength, he could enter a space-time fissure, but he could not step into Chaos itself.
Chronoa was probably in the same situation.
That was why neither of them knew whether the monsters truly originated there.
But if Chaos wasn't their point of origin...
Then what if they came from somewhere even beyond Chaos?
Gran fell into deep thought.
The expression on Chronoa's face shifted repeatedly as well.
In the end, Gran let out a sigh.
"At the end of the day, we're still too weak."
"Let's go. There's no point staying here any longer."
He knew continuing the investigation would yield no results.
"Alright."
Chronoa brought Gran on the journey back.
Before long, they returned to the Realm of Time.
Chronoa went back to the swing in the garden, gently swaying back and forth.
Gran sat on another swing nearby.
Neither of them spoke.
Neither of them looked particularly happy.
Especially Gran.
Investigating the monsters had always been part of his long-term plan.
His original intention had been simple:
First master the Rule of Destruction.
Then improve his Space-Time Power.
After that, uncover the true origin of the monsters.
Yet after all this effort...
He had discovered absolutely nothing.
The garden was peaceful and silent.
Half a day passed.
Yet it felt as though an entire century had gone by.
Finally, Chronoa broke the silence.
"Gran, aren't you going home yet?"
"Can't I rest here for a while?" Gran replied helplessly.
"I'm the one who took you back through time. I'm the one who's exhausted. What exactly are you resting from?"
Chronoa rolled her eyes.
"I've been training my Space-Time Power nonstop lately."
"I'm tired."
"Oh?"
Chronoa shifted her gaze toward him and carefully examined him.
"Show me your Space-Time Power."
Gran didn't hide anything.
After all, Chronoa had known for a long time that he possessed such abilities.
Raising a hand, he directed his power toward a flower in the garden.
Spatial Transfer.
Spatial Severance.
Time Reversal.
Time Stop.
Under the influence of those abilities, the flower continuously withered and bloomed, over and over again.
The sight was strangely mesmerizing.
Then Gran combined both powers.
Space-Time Travel.
Space-Time Imprisonment.
Space-Time—
The flower suddenly vanished completely.
As though it had never existed in this timeline at all.
"So?"
Gran lowered his hand and turned toward Chronoa.
"What do you think?"
END OF CHAPTER
Disciple of Beerus - MrBehringer's Secret
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