Volume 8, Chapter 69 – The Enemy Behind the Scenes, The Leader of Chaos?

With all three being Ninth-Tier powerhouses, Fia and her companions didn’t take long to reach the entrance of the second Nursery.

Even without entering the second Nursery, Fia could hear the sound of the earth trembling within—the noise of something violently crashing against the cave walls, causing the entire underground cavity to rumble with echoes.

The blue-eyed Chaos’s voice in the thought connection gained a hint of urgency.

“Father God, they are just ahead.”

“You stay here. Lucitine and I will go in.”

“How can I stay in a safe place while you risk danger?”

The blue-eyed Chaos flying ahead of them corrected. To this, Fia calmly shook her head.

“Since the traitors have a way to pollute your consciousness, we naturally need to reduce your contact with them. Do you want to be polluted by the traitors and turn your blade against me?”

“I won’t be polluted!”

“The polluted Eyes thought the same way.”

The blue-eyed Chaos was instantly speechless and lowered his head.

Fia then led Lucitine forward into the narrow passage.

“This isn’t a problem you can tough out with strong will. Stay here. That’s an order.”

“Yes…”

Without further words, Fia and Lucitine plunged into the passage ahead.

What appeared in their field of vision was a large lake. The lake surface alone was over three kilometers wide. The water in the lake was entirely Chaos. The stagnant black lake surface emitted waves of foul stench. Apart from the absence of huge stone pillars, its structure was no different from the Chaos nests Lucitine had seen before that relied on large cavities.

Because Chaos spontaneously devours surrounding elements, Lucitine felt a strong sense of discomfort enveloping her entire body. Her skin tightened, and she was completely unable to breathe.

“So this is the second Nursery…”

“Don’t get distracted!”

Just as Lucitine murmured softly, the lake of Chaos beneath their feet suddenly surged. Just like when Fia had gone to the abyss before and the sea of Chaos formed spikes and vines to attack her, the Chaos here also rose towards Fia and Lucitine in the same manner. However, this time, the Chaos were more cunning. They first slowly approached Fia, only erupting suddenly when they were less than ten meters away.

If not for Fia’s keen perception as an elf, Lucitine would have been caught off guard by the Chaos’s sneak attack.

Fia frowned deeply and, in the shortest possible time, threw a fireball downwards.

[Flame Storm]

A massive pillar of fire carrying countless flames shot into the sky. The orange-red flames instantly turned the Chaos spikes to ash. However, instead of scaring off the Chaos, the flames acted like throwing raw meat into a wolf pack. The previously calm lake of Chaos had a chain reaction. Countless Chaos sensed Fia and Lucitine, raising waves that reached the cavern’s ceiling, crashing down towards the two with overwhelming force.

Even the pillar of fire from [Flame Storm] couldn’t hold out long against the sea of Chaos. Accompanied by the sloshing sound of mucus squeezing, the tsunami instantly devoured the flame storm. The fifty-meter-high pillar of fire emitted a brief hiss and vanished without a trace. The wave surged towards Fia with even more ferocity than before. The overwhelming scene was nearly suffocating.

[Wind of Exploration] fed back that after extinguishing the flame storm, the Chaos’s magical reaction had significantly increased.

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Could they even devour offensive magic?

“Fia, let me handle this. You search for the Chaos that obey your commands.”

“Okay.”

Leaving the battlefield to Lucitine, who was a head taller, Fia stood behind the tall woman and used [Mana Vision] to scan the area—Milan and the others were fighting at the lake bottom. Sensing her arrival, they were moving towards her while battling the Eyes entangling them.

Fia tried using a Spatial Hand formed by [Telekinesis] to forcibly part the lake surface. However, the Chaos now were different from any she had seen before. Soon after the Spatial Hand penetrated deep into the lake, its magic power was devoured by the Chaos, causing it to dissipate on its own. It could last at most less than half a minute.

Everything has its limits. Perhaps the magic she used was too weak, allowing the Chaos to devour them.

“—[Ice Storm].”

Lucitine’s voice, devoid of emotion, rang out. Along with it came a bone-chilling cold that penetrated to the marrow. Visible white frost and a violent wind swept across the Chaos wave. The overwhelming Chaos tide instantly erupted in a series of cracking sounds as it froze. Its advance grew slower and slower, until finally, it stopped in mid-air as ice sculptures. From an artistic standpoint, calling them the most lifelike sculptures wouldn’t be an exaggeration.

Having done this, Lucitine let out a long breath. She released the scales sword, letting it float in the air.

“Fia, these Chaos give me a different feeling. They didn’t just extinguish your flames; they ate your magic power and converted it into their own.”

“Yes, I know.”

But that wasn’t the crucial issue. The real question was, who was manipulating them?

Ordinary Chaos only act on instinct, like animals drinking water when thirsty and eating when hungry. Chaos spontaneously approach areas with dense magic power. This “approaching” should not be the quiet movement towards her feet they had just displayed. It should have been like the Chaos under the abyss, erupting without warning. Their knowing to quietly sneak up before attacking meant two possibilities.

One, the Chaos were being controlled by someone. Two, the Chaos had evolved hunting intelligence.

Either possibility was tricky.

Crack crack crack crack crack—

Just as Fia was thinking, the Chaos that Lucitine had frozen erupted with cracking sounds again—the sound of ice breaking. The motionless wave was slowly advancing towards Lucitine once more.

Before Lucitine could express surprise, the ice exploded the next second. Countless ice shards scattered everywhere. In the blink of an eye, the Chaos accelerated and once again crashed down towards Lucitine with irresistible force.

“Impossible!”

“Tch.”

Stepping forward in one stride to stand before Lucitine, Fia used the Moon Key as a staff to deploy [Bee Shield Forcefield]. However, these Chaos waves didn’t actually strike the forcefield. Just before contact, they stiffly stopped, defying gravity.

At the same time, Milan’s voice sounded in Fia’s heart.

“Father God, please forgive my failure to protect you.”

Although his voice held fatigue, Fia’s [Mana Vision] noticed that two of the Eyes opposing Milan in the lake of Chaos were missing. This meant Milan had gained the upper hand. Just a few seconds later, Milan emerged from the lake surface and came to Fia’s side. Simultaneously, the waves rising from the lake crashed down with a boom. Clearly, control of the Chaos had returned to Milan.

What made Fia frown was that Milan’s completely blue eyes now had a little red glint. This red was nearly identical to the beast Chaos she had seen.

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Vigilance rising in her heart, Fia watched the other Eyes rising from the lake surface and asked calmly.

“Milan, there’s red in your eyes, like those beast Chaos.”

“Yes, I was also affected by the frenzied thoughts of those traitors. However, my wisdom is higher than other tribesmen. This level of madness cannot affect me.”

What was going on here?

Although she wanted to ask the reason, Fia knew this wasn’t the time.

On the other side of the lake, seven Eyes emerged from the water one after another. Most of these Eyes were at the Seventh and Eighth Tiers, with only one at the Ninth Tier. All the Eyes shared a common feature: the eyeballs occupying half their faces were all an ominous dark red. Just looking at them was hair-raising.

It was worth mentioning that Fia could still feel her connection to them through the ring. This meant that if Fia wished, she could eliminate them with a single thought at any time.

“This aura…”

“What is it?”

Fia looked at Lucitine. The latter turned her face away, her gaze evasive.

“Nothing. These red-eyed Chaos are the traitors, right? I’ll go eliminate them.”

“Wait, let me.”

Fia stopped Lucitine and proactively moved closer to the Chaos on the opposite side. She could sense the Eyes’ consciousness through the ring, meaning they could still communicate with her. She needed to determine if there was any possibility of saving them.

Stopping less than ten meters from the seven Eyes, Fia questioned sternly in ancient Elvish.

“Why do you rebel?”

“Devour… everything…”

“Should not exist here… sinners who destroy the world…”

The seven Eyes simultaneously transmitted feelings of loathing and hatred through the ring. And this hatred was directed at her.

In other words, these words were purposefully conveyed to her. Calling her “a sinner who should not exist, who destroys the world” wasn’t just random talk.

An interesting claim. She wondered if it was something they made up, or if the one controlling them was issuing a challenge through the Eyes’ mouths.

“Shouldn’t the ones truly destroying the world be you? Turning a world full of life into stagnant water.”

“Die!”

“Kill the outsider, gain release!”

Not giving Fia a chance to explain, the maddened Antler Chaos attacked without warning. The Ninth-Tier Chaos stood still, bright red magic circles condensing in its eyes, a sight Fia had never seen before. The remaining six Chaos launched suicide attacks from left and right, crashing towards Fia—calling them suicide attacks because Fia could sense the surging magic power within them. Probably knowing she could use no-chant magic, they opted for the inefficient method of detonating their internal magic power to buy time for the Ninth-Tier Eye.

However, they underestimated her power too much.

Fia expressionlessly raised the Moon Key.

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[Spatial Confinement]

As if time had stopped, the entire space was frozen. Whether it was the six Antler Chaos attempting to self-destruct or the Ninth-Tier Chaos condensing its bright red magic circle, all were turned into insects sealed in amber, motionless. After doing this, Fia didn’t stop. She instead redirected her staff towards an inconspicuous corner of the lake of Chaos below.

A thunderous boom flashed by in an instant.

[Thunder Spear]

The Moon Key’s bonus on magic power was reaching an extremely terrifying level. The thunder spear, usually no thicker than an arm, now resembled a raging dragon roaring within the clouds. The moment it plunged into the sea of Chaos, it stirred up a massive water column that nearly hit the ceiling. Nearly half the small lake of Chaos was turned to powder by the lightning. The splashing Chaos struck the cave walls like bullets.

Fia’s aiming target was the dark red Chaos lurking at the lake bottom, which appeared dark red in [Mana Vision]. This part of Chaos gave her a strong sense of discomfort, nearly identical to the monitoring Chaos snake from before. It gave her the feeling that someone was monitoring her through the Chaos.

“Oh my~ Found out after all? Too bad~ I wanted to see more of you.”

The now-quiet cave echoed with a mischievous girl’s voice. Fia tried to pinpoint the source of the voice, but it seemed to come from all directions, simply impossible to locate. Not only that, but both Lucitine in the distance and Milan showed no reaction to this voice. This meant only she could hear it.

“Who are you?”

Fia asked, narrowing her eyes. This voice should belong to the one monitoring her through Chaos—in other words, the instigator who had delivered the recording crystal to Ruth.

“All you need to know is that I’ve come to take your life. Your existence will destroy this world. I am the envoy here to stop you. Hmm—using the terminology from your world, calling me a ‘righteous partner’ would be more appropriate. We will meet again. That will be the time I destroy you. No matter how many times, I will stop you, outsider. Your strength will only bring us disaster.”

“Your disaster, not ours.”

“Then let’s try. The fact that I can appear means the previous you failed countless times. Good luck.”

The voice grew fainter and fainter, until finally it sounded like it came from far away.

Gone.

Just in case, Fia successively used [Wind of Exploration] and [Mana Vision] to search. The result was finding nothing of value. The other party was indeed not nearby.

Was this the leader of the Chaos under the abyss? But how did she send Chaos to the surface? And she spoke with a tone suggesting she had dealt with her before. “The previous you failed countless times.” Who did “you” here refer to—the Eldest Princess, or the Father God who saved the Eye tribe’s mother body ten thousand years ago?

She really wished the other party would speak more clearly. But since they were enemies, she couldn’t expect them to explain things clearly.

As long as she continued pushing forward the matter of eliminating Chaos, she would eventually meet them. Then they would tell her the answer.

Temporarily suppressing her questions, Fia turned towards Milan and Lucitine, who were slowly approaching from behind. Both were amazed by the Chaos frozen in mid-air. Instantly rendering a Ninth-Tier powerless was on par with the legendary magic [Time Stop]. Of course, theoretically, [Spatial Confinement] enhanced by [Hyper-computation] was no different from [Time Stop].

“Father God, your warriors being polluted by the traitors this time was due to my improper command. I take full responsibility!”

Milan knelt on one knee before Fia, his voice in the thought connection full of shame.

Fia gently shook her head.

“By that logic, I also bear responsibility for improper management. I don’t blame you. No one could have predicted the enemy’s abilities would be this tricky. Rise. I want you to tell me the detailed sequence of events.”

“…Thank you, Father God.”

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Not rising due to Fia’s forgiveness, Milan still maintained his kneeling position and began to recount the events to Fia.

On Milan’s way to the Hall of Reverent Light to notify Fia, one of the Antler warriors touched the uncontrolled dark red Chaos in the lake. The moment the Antler warrior touched it, a disordered thought echoed in the hearts of all Eyes in the second Nursery, to the point where they couldn’t communicate with each other through the thought connection.

To describe it for Fia: it was like a massive amount of information pouring into the same channel, preventing anyone from using it normally. And this massive amount of information was filled with maddening viruses. Some lower-tier Antler Chaos couldn’t resist the madness in the thought connection and became part of the madness.

Although the thought connection later became usable again, anyone who tried to communicate with the dark red Antler Chaos would once again receive the frenzied obsession sent by their companions, exposing themselves to the danger of consciousness pollution. Most Eyes were infected during this process. This was why Milan had reported the situation as urgent—they relied on the thought connection for survival. No one knew how to proactively sever connections with someone. Without control, all Eyes would be polluted.

Fortunately, this frenzied connection had a range limit. Milan and others could drag them to the lake bottom and eliminate them with long-range magic, thus curbing the madness from spreading further. Now that the Antler Chaos were trapped in [Spatial Confinement], they could no longer sense the frenzied thoughts.

“Father God, I recommend immediately eliminating these polluted traitors. They are beyond saving. Keeping them will only harm the entire tribe.”

Milan, still kneeling, said sincerely.

Fia nodded slightly. Honestly, the situation Milan reported put them in a very terrible position. From now on, the warriors of the Eye tribe wouldn’t just be unable to help; they could become time bombs, turning the Antler Chaos through the thought connection. It was a scheme cunning to the extreme.

“Milan, you said dead warriors are reborn through the thought connection preserving their memories. If I kill them here, will they be reborn with their current consciousness, or the consciousness before they went mad?”

“Well… since there has never been a similar precedent, I’m not sure. But these people, after going mad, have separated from the main thought connection. They can only communicate with us within a certain range. I think if they are reborn, they should appear with the consciousness they had before going mad.”

“Good. Prepare a place when we go back. I want to question them myself. Remember to find a remote spot. That way, if they are still mad, we can easily respond.”

“Yes.”

Fia paused, then assessed Milan again. The dark red in his eyes had now faded considerably, leaving only a small red dot.

“Also, Milan, are you sure you haven’t been affected by that frenzied obsession? There’s still red in your eyes.”

Milan bowed deeply to Fia and said in a low voice.

“I cannot say for certain that I am completely unaffected. But if I or my companions attack you, please, by all means, eliminate us without hesitation. We will return to the mother body’s embrace and be reborn. The warriors of the Eye tribe can disintegrate, but they must never betray their faith.”

“Good.”

Fia gave Milan a long, hard look. Then she shifted her gaze to Lucitine, who had been silent, clearly preoccupied with her own thoughts.

“Lucitine, did you notice anything noteworthy?”

“No… this place just makes me very uncomfortable. Fia, let’s return to Blossom first. Tell Ruth to put the body creation on hold. I have matters to assign to the Thirteen Attendants.”

Lucitine placed her hands on Fia’s shoulders and gazed at her. Her pure pink eyes faintly flickered. Her beautiful features clearly showed a plea and urgency.

Fia silently buried her questions and nodded lightly.

“Mhm. I’ll take you there.”