IBHJ Chapter 942

He took a couple of deep breaths to steady himself, then turned back to Tiamat. "What exactly is that Vortex?"

"I don't know when it appeared, how, or even why. Perhaps it was the final act of vengeance from a dying interstellar empire, or some incomprehensible cosmic catastrophe. By the time we became aware, It was already there. And It destroyed Gaia's civilization, twisting Earth's very ecology."

Tiamat's voice was heavy with sorrow. "Isn't it ironic? The interstellar civilization that won the cosmic war was ultimately annihilated by an unknown vortex."

He frowned and looked at Tiamat, asking: "Is this Vortex some kind of Outer God?"

Aside from Outer Gods like Cthulhu from beyond the universe, he couldn't think of anything else capable of doing it.

"Those Outer Gods from beyond? No. We don't interfere with each other, and they won't cross boundaries to intervene with us. At most, out of curiosity, They might use mental pollution to transform someone's mind into their avatar, to act on this planet. Of course, this was strictly forbidden back then, but unfortunately, you children now lack the power and resources to stop them," Tiamat explained.

He realized why Heroic Spirits of the 'Foreigner' class, like Abigail, existed. The Cthulhu mythos represented the idea that some things are fundamentally unknowable, a philosophy of 'agnosticism.' In contrast, human civilization is built on the idea that everything can eventually be understood, a 'gnostic' philosophy. This means there are only things we haven't discovered yet, not things that are impossible to understand.

Simply put, things considered unknowable by modern society were recognizable to the super-advanced civilization that had evolved to a stellar level. The Cthulhu mythos was set as unknowable, like the source of the universe, but for a super sci-fi civilization like the M78 nebula that had developed to the point of exploring multiple universes and freely playing in hyperspace containing multiple universes, the unknowability of Cthulhu didn't exist. And for the three-dimensional people who created the Cthulhu mythos, the unknown of Cthulhu didn't exist either. Of course, this was a philosophical argument, but it was undeniable that as civilization developed, what was once unknown became known, and new unknowns emerged.

Based on this, it wasn't hard to imagine that the super-advanced civilization could recognize Outer Gods. They were the champions of knowledge and understanding in the cosmos back then. It made sense that Outer Gods would have a non-interference agreement with them. But if they ruled out the Outer Gods, how did that Dark Vortex even come to be and destroy those civilizations? Was it really some kind of last-ditch weapon left behind by that interstellar empire?

"We simply don't know. But it was indeed the cause of our destruction," Tiamat said, her gaze meeting his. "No one knows the reason for its birth. You call it the 'Dark Vortex', but we called it the Lord of Salvation."

"Lord of Salvation?" he repeated, lifting his eyebrows. "Why call that vortex by such a name?"

"Because that thing is always 'saving itself', 'saving others', 'saving everything', constantly repeating 'save', 'save' without end," Venus answered. She fiddled with the God Brain, looking up at him with a touch of sarcasm. "It goes on and on about that, so it was called the Lord of Salvation."

"But..." Mordred looked up at Venus, confusion written on her face. "If it talks about salvation, maybe it's a good guy? Just like the ones in storybooks. Maybe it got too powerful and turned bad, like the dragon-slaying hero becoming the evil dragon?"

"Perhaps," Venus replied.

"Perhaps?" he repeated, looking at her.

Her lips curved into a smile. "Some of the things it did would be considered 'absolute evil', far worse than any villain or evil deed, completely unacceptable to you humans with your limited understanding. If that thing were an individual and had survived until now, it would definitely be classified as a 'Beast', just like Tiamat."

Tiamat glared at her with open displeasure.

"But let's move past that," Venus said smoothly.

She glanced at the irritated Tiamat, her lips curving slightly. Her provocation had hit the mark, and there was no need to push Tiamat any further.

Turning back to him and Mordred, she continued, "Besides, that Lord of Salvation wasn't a good thing from your perspective, our perspective, or the perspective of the entire universe. Because Its idea of 'salvation' was flawed from the very beginning."

"What's the problem?"

"Its purpose is unification," Venus said. "There's a philosophical understanding among you humans that the world has a single source point from which all things derive – in simple terms, development. Many schools of thought and religions have emerged from this. The purpose of the Lord of Salvation is the opposite of development."

"The opposite of development?" Artoria murmured, for some reason suddenly thinking of Vortigern.

"Development creates contradictions, contradictions lead to conflict and destruction, and conflict and destruction affect neutral entities not originally involved in those contradictions. Sometimes the destruction of one planet can cause the destruction of several unrelated planets, let alone human civilizations. As long as there's development, there will be contradictions, and as long as there are contradictions, there will be conflict. Unfortunately, no one has a way to resolve this contradictory reality, not even those super-beings with 'Savior' class," Venus continued.

After a pause, her eyes turned cold, and she said in a deep voice, "But the Lord of Salvation had one. Its answer was unification. Eliminate the boundaries between matter and spirit, assimilate everything into Itself. Whether it's planets, stars, living beings, non-living things, organic matter, inorganic matter, Outer Gods, Savers, UOs... everything is assimilated into Itself, making Itself that source point. That was Its salvation."

As soon as these words were spoken, a heavy silence fell over everyone present.

"This, this..." Artoria stammered, her mind reeling. The craziest person she'd ever met was Vortigern. But the Lord of Salvation was on a whole other level of insane.

The idea of erasing all boundaries, absorbing everything into itself... It sent chills down her spine.

"So, in the war against the Lord of Salvation, we UOs also joined the fight. But sadly, the Lord of Salvation was way too powerful for any of us. In the end, it was the super-advanced civilization itself that managed to seal it away in the Akashic Records, ending the war," Venus explained.

"Akashic Records..." he whispered. The Akashic Records, the Root itself.

"And after the war, Gaia's civilization was completely wiped out, and Earth became a harsh, hostile place. The land was destroyed, the sky was shattered, and even Gaia herself could no longer intervene in her own affairs. The Alaya system was also damaged, its functions impaired, and it lost contact with its subsystems all over the universe. After that, the super-advanced civilization helped us, gave us technology, and tasked us with carrying on civilization, going out into the stars to seek habitable worlds." Tiamat closed her eyes, remembering that incredibly distant time.

Back then, she had already been transformed by that civilization from a warship into a carrier of civilization's seeds.

"Survive, that was our final mission. Carrying the seeds of life, we wandered the universe for countless years. Companions disappeared one by one, and we never found a suitable home. In the end, I returned to Earth, planted the seeds of civilization, and re-evolved life," Tiamat explained.

"Why return to Earth?" he asked curiously.

"It was the will of Gaia and Tethys."

"Tethys? You mean the Primordial Fairy Lady Tethys?" Artoria's face was filled with surprise, and Morrigan was also stunned.

Among those present, especially the Pendragon sisters, no one could ignore that name. She was the origin of the legendary land of Avalon, a fairy surpassing even the Nine Great Fairy Queens of Avalon.

It made sense for Gaia to have a say in Tiamat's return, but what did Tethys have to do with it?

"Of course, because Tethys is also a survivor of that cosmic war era," Venus clarified.