Chapter 212: In the End, the Root of the Problem Is Distortion
Chaos, this entity is essentially a massive construct formed with a star from another galaxy as its core—an interstellar super-massive carrier that absorbed the entire energy of a star—the Space-Time Fortress Chaos.
Although Noah doesn't know how the civilization that created such a thing ultimately met its demise, the fact remains that the civilization that built Chaos has perished. As the first-generation carrier, Chaos used ninety-seven percent of its own energy to teleport several Machine Gods across the universe to this side.
Those Machine Gods then wandered through space, eventually finding Earth just as they were on the verge of exhausting their energy.
—Those beings are what are known as the Twelve Olympians of Greece.
In a Lostbelt, when these Twelve Olympians encountered the Umbral Star Vanguard, they would merge under Zeus's sudden inspiration, securing victory and preserving their Machine God Bodies.
But if it wasn't a Lostbelt, the Twelve Olympians would have their bodies destroyed and become Conceptual Gods—judging from Odin's presence in the Inner Sea of the Planet, the now-divine Twelve Olympians might also be within the Inner Sea of the Planet.
Noah is fully aware of all this.
But there's one thing he's particularly curious about.
Why did Chaos come to Earth?
If it were a Lostbelt, then Chaos would indeed come, open the Hole of Nothingness, and attempt to excavate forty percent of Earth to convert into 30 energy, freeing itself from the void and soaring into the Sea of Stars.
This is similar to how it sent the Machine Gods here—both actions were aimed at reviving its home planet.
But this isn't a Lostbelt, is it?
And even if it were a Lostbelt, Chaos wouldn't come at this time, would it?
No matter how he thinks about it, Noah can't make sense of this.
Moreover, the current Chaos seems different from the one that emerged in the Lostbelt... In the Lostbelt, although Chaos also opened the Hole of Nothingness, it only had that one gate at the time, and what it revealed was merely the tip of the iceberg.
But what about this one... Earlier, when dealing with the Heavenly Fox, its will was able to manifest, and from the words it left behind, this entity clearly doesn't just have a gate.
...
Thinking this far, Noah suddenly froze.
He suddenly remembered something.
Because this happened not long ago, Noah almost immediately connected it to Chaos.
That was when he was dealing with Velber—Velber had told him a piece of news: Velber's main body and its multiple Umbral Star Vanguards had been devoured!
And it seemed they were pulled in by some kind of opening, with only Velber itself managing to escape!
—Could this have been Chaos's doing?
Suppose Chaos first used some special method to open its first gate in this world. Originally low on energy, it could only explore slowly. But then, suddenly, Velber flew over and delivered a "meal" to it. As a result, Chaos not only recovered a certain amount of energy but likely also obtained information about the solar system from Velber.
The Umbral Star Vanguard was attacking Earth, and Velber might have had information about Earth.
Then, perhaps upon learning that the Machine Gods it had sent earlier had landed on Earth, Chaos followed them here.
And he planned to dig out forty percent of the Earth to free himself from the void.
Then came the present situation...
This way, some pieces of the puzzle began to connect.
However, the question here is: if Chaos intended to dig out forty percent of the Earth, why would he trigger a supernova in the solar system if no one stopped him...
At this thought, Noah suddenly recalled what he had heard during his last simulation in Volume Two—the words spoken by Xiao Huang.
"The Heavenly Fox Lord of Four-Tails, no... the Heavenly Fox Lord with nine tails, is furious!!"
Previously, Noah had always believed the Heavenly Fox was the Golden-Faced Nine-Tailed Fox, so he thought it wasn't strange for her to have a way to restore her nine tails.
But now... Noah looked at Tamamo-no-Mae, who remained unconscious and hadn't woken up. After learning the true identity of the Heavenly Fox during the clash of consciousness with Chaos, he no longer believed the Heavenly Fox had the ability to reach nine tails.
If he hadn't intervened at all, then it was likely this fox before him had done something.
Judging from her previous state, if she had eight of her own tails plus one tail from the Heavenly Fox, she wouldn't become the Golden-Faced Nine-Tailed Fox. Moreover, if she could utilize a portion of the authority the Heavenly Fox had obtained from Chaos to interfere with the physical sun...
She might have found a way to resist Chaos.
And, like his current self, she had achieved temporary success.
Then Chaos triggered the supernova.
He probably had a way to directly convert that explosion into energy after the supernova erupted, or to use the supernova to expand the Hole of Nothingness, allowing himself to emerge.
Thinking this way, everything seemed to fall into place.
The only thing that remained incomprehensible was: how exactly did Chaos open the first door?
Hmm... this temporarily inexplicable situation, which had occurred more than once...
"Could it be caused by the Distortion...? But that seems unlikely."
At this thought, Noah's brow furrowed.
After all, he remembered.
The reason his world was plagued by so many disasters, aside from Gaia and Alaya—the two Counter Forces—somehow losing their responsiveness to any calamity, was precisely this Distortion.
This Distortion had sent many people to this era.
If Chaos was also brought here by this phenomenon, then both the Titan issue and the Heian Capital problem were caused by the Distortion!
Hmm...
Noah glanced at Little Kiara, who was sleeping by Tamamo-no-Mae's bedside.
—Kiara Sessyoin had also been sent here by the Distortion.
In addition, Tamamo-no-Mae as well.
Although the two of them hadn't become their most malevolent forms due to Chaos and the Heian Capital, if not for that, if these two had fully erupted, it would have meant the descent of two Beasts!
Yes, thinking this way, there was also Manaka!
After opening up to Manaka that day, Noah had heard her say that when she first arrived in this world, because she absorbed a part of Mary's memories, her expectations for the prince had vanished!
Such a Manaka Sajyou could have become a simple and gentle traveler.
Without that obsessive love, Manaka Sajyou could also erupt into a terrifying disaster of completely unknown and no less severe magnitude than any other existence!
Even Minamoto-no-Raikou might be...
She was sent here along with her subordinates, and her subordinates died in the Heian Capital, which is why the problem evolved this way.
What if they had died elsewhere?
Although the harmfulness would not compare to the previous cases, if Minamoto-no-Raikou were to become corrupted, it would still be a disaster!
Thinking of this, Noah's frown deepened.
Ultimately, after learning about the matter of Chaos, he did not believe he was incapable of resolving it.
Tamamo-no-Mae and Little Kiara seemed stable here, Manaka had also settled down, and Minamoto-no-Raikou had even become his backup candidate for the Knight of the Round Table.
Everything seemed to be going smoothly.
"If you think carefully about this Distortion, it's practically a disaster trigger mechanism... Even if we don't understand this phenomenon well, we still have to guard against it!"
Just as Noah was pondering these things, he heard some sounds coming from Tamamo-no-Mae's direction.
Tamamo-no-Mae woke up, and along with her, Little Kiara also crawled up, rubbing her eyes.
Seeing Little Kiara like this, Noah calmed his emotions, patted her head, and comforted her, who had been awakened by Tamamo-no-Mae's movements.
Then he looked at the awakened Tamamo-no-Mae, about to greet her, when he noticed something off about her condition.
Upon seeing him, she lowered her head, emitting a faint warmth from her body.
Then————she pounced!
"Lord Noah~ When you helped little Tamamo before and I learned some information while fighting that monster, you must have been prepared to be clung to by a fox, right? Right? So let's build a small, warm, and sweet little home together~"
"...Of course, if we're just talking about the house, the bigger the better~!"