Published at 12th of January 2022 12:13 pm

Chapter 727: Balancing Forces

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A Chaos Demigod? I blinked in surprise when I noticed Keenan’s trait, as it was completely ridiculous that such a young boy was the ‘most accomplished’ when it came to the void. Especially when Leowynn had said that she was training a few people to become Fallen Gods.

However, if one were naturally born with an affinity to chaos, that would explain it. If he ever embarked on the path of divinity, he would surely become a deity with the same level of power within the void as Leowynn herself. But… Terra, I’ve got a quick question for you.

Hmm? Fire away, Dale. Terra’s voice was projected back to me with a yawn, showing that she seemed to be busy. Likely, she had started guiding another incarnation, or was actively tutoring the ‘Terra twins’. Knowing her, it was probably the former.

If someone becomes the Fallen God of Chaos, is that even a thing that could happen? While it was entirely possible to have a God of Chaos, I assumed that they would be simply treated like a Fallen God. But a Fallen God of Chaos, if he happened to cultivate that route…

Oh, it could. Just like someone could technically become the God of Divinity. Though, personally I’d never pick either of those domains.

Why not? Knowing Terra, there was some deeper reason than just ‘they’re too strong’. Otherwise, she would love those domains for herself.

They’re too general. The extreme scope of the domain makes it so that they technically can do whatever they want. However, you’ve seen what the energy efficiency is like for someone doing something that isn’t part of their domain. For a Fallen God of Chaos, or a God of Divinity, it’s just a bit better than that.

In a way, they never really upgrade from the Divine Soul stage, where they are still just using their energy to perform whatever domain they wanted. The only real difference is that they can receive power from the faith of others. For anyone pursuing a domain with practical applications, a domain that is just the same as the energy they use to reach it is a waste.

I gave a small nod at that. I had been worried that a God of Divinity would simply be able to tear apart the divine energy of other gods, and… I suppose it would be possible. However, the price that they had to pay would probably be similar to the amount of energy they were dispersing. As for a God of Chaos, or a Fallen God of Divinity… Terra had been rather specific in saying that it was bad to cultivate the same energy as your domain.

Thinking back, I recalled the woman that killed Leowynn in a previous invasion. She was a Goddess of Space and Chaos, as I remembered, but because of her second domain she was able to wield the authority of a Fallen God.

Part of me wondered if this was a hint to reach the new level that Terra had revealed, the Origin that her incarnation had become. Yet, I felt like there had to be more to it than just that. Otherwise, it would not be something so unbelievably high level that its mere existence threatened to elevate my world.

Shaking my head, I turned my attention back towards the screen. I was rather interested in seeing how Chel and her group fared when they found the primordial artifacts the map was leading them to. As it used a full ninety-eight percent of my mana as the Keeper to create that map, I… definitely did not want to see it go to waste.

Life aboard the Traveler was extremely comfortable. The ship itself was more than generous, doing its best to provide the best entertainment, food, and even lodging. At first, it had offered to provide them with an internet connection so that they could play online games, but Chel refused. She did not want to leave any opening for the forces back home to identify their circumstances.

Instead, the three of them relaxed for the three days of their journey, using the exercise equipment prepared for people of their level and alternating between different games. By the start of the third day, both Thea and Nora had received a slab similar to the one that the Traveler had given Chel, indicating that it wished to be friends with the two of them as well.

It wasn’t until late into the third day when the voice of the Traveler echoed throughout its halls. “We are arriving at System X-989, the location of the first target. All passengers, please report to the bridge. I will be displaying active scan results on screen.”

Chel and Thea were already on the bridge, the two of them sharing a meal when the announcement rang out. Thus, it was only Nora that had to come running from the distant pool. When she arrived at the bridge, her hair was still wet, though it was clear that she had dried both her tail and her clothes. As she approached, she shook her head slightly to work on her hair, as well. “Sorry, didn’t realize we were so close.”

Chel shook her head with a smile. “We haven’t been moving for about an hour.” She revealed. “He just wanted to let you get a bit more time to relax while we ate.” It was very difficult to tell when they were moving or not, as the world beyond the ship was an expanse of golden mist. Yet, Chel seemed to have grasped the method. Saying that, she set her plate down, turning around to look at the monitor.

“Traveler, mind showing us what we’re dealing with? I’m not familiar with this system.” Although Chel had spent a little time studying certain star clusters, those were only ones that already reported possessing life, or contained known habitable worlds.

“Of course, Chelsea.” Traveler answered, a large map appearing on the front window of the bridge, zooming out to show the entire solar system. “This appears to be a binary system containing three planets. Of the three, there are two lava planets, and a singular barren rock.”

Chel nodded at his explanation, before furrowing her brows in confusion. “What do you mean it appears to be? Is it a binary system or not?”

“That is… difficult to say.” Traveler responded awkwardly. “The gravitational field is inconsistent with the standard for a binary system. However, there are certainly two stars, which appear to be orbiting one another.”

Chel shrugged it off, as there were many supernatural phenomena within space. It would be no surprise if their were a spatial distortion here, especially as it was the location for an item from the dawn of creation. “What are the results of your scans? Any significant monster activity in space? It could also take the form of weather phenomena on a planet.”

“Negative.” Traveler said simply. “I am reading no significant weather patterns within the three detected planets, or any of their corresponding moons. Additionally, I am not picking up any monster activity in this region of space.”

Chel thought it over for a moment, before nodding her head. “Give me an analysis on every significant celestial body in this system. Both stars, the planets, and their moons. The item might be buried too deep to produce visible effects.”

“What are we going to do if the item is buried that deep?” Thea asked in concern, looking at the report as it was printed out. “We can’t stay here long enough to stripmine each planet, can we?”

“Of course not.” Chel shook her head, as if the mere suggestion of it was ridiculous. “If that’s the case, we’ll just blow up the planets, and wait for the phenomena to appear. There is no life in this system, so shattering the planets won’t cause any harm to any ecosystem.”

Thea and Nora simply looked at each other when they heard Chel say that, surprised how she had so easily gone to the answer of ‘blow up a planet’. “But… it looks like we won’t have to do that.” Chel followed up with a grin as she looked at the reports, deciphering the information that was being printed. “Unity, Separation, Duality, Splitting… probably one of those.”

Nora looked curiously at Chel. “Have you found the item already?”

Chel chuckled, nodding as she stared at the report. “Traveler, can you get a close scan of the stars? Specifically, the space between them? According to this report, the gravitational readings are consistent with a single star, not with two that are orbiting one another as you said.”

“I can try, Chelsea. My mana has a hard time penetrating that deep without me getting too close, and Mother warned me against flying too close to the sun.”

Chel smiled when she heard that. “Don’t worry. Just get close enough that you can scan the position between the stars. Once you find the item, I’ll handle the retrieval myself.”

“Very well.” Traveler agreed, moving closer to the center of the system. Nora and Thea could see the two massive, blue stars hanging in the distance, seeming identical to one another. Eventually, they were close enough that Traveler stopped moving, apparently satisfied with this distance.

“I am now within range. Probing the area with my sensors… note, there appears to be a crystalline mass directly between the two stars. From my scans, it seems to be locked between their gravitational pulls.”

Chel shook her head at Traveler’s report. “No, it’s at the center of the true star. The two that we see are created by the crystal’s power, which has divided the sun into two equal parts that revolve around it. Once we extract the crystal, they will come crashing into each other. Given their size and density, the event will surely lead to a supernova.”

Chel stood in place, seeming to run through some calculations in her head. “Traveler, are there any star systems within fifty light years that have reported habitation?”

“Negative.” Traveler reported, causing Chel to let out a breath of relief. “Why…?”

“Because after these two stars collide, if their mass is added together, the most likely event will be a black hole. If we use the combination of the stars as the base mass of the black hole, it will be powerful enough to consume all systems within fifty lightyears before they have the chance to handle evacuation procedures.”

Thea chuckled weakly, looking at Chel, who still seemed ready to follow through with this plan. “I suppose you have some way to deal with a black hole, then…?”

“Huh? Oh, of course.” Chel smiled confidently. “Traveler can escape into the Travel Domain before the stars collide. I just need to leave behind something to ensure that the mass explodes outwards, instead of inwards.”

Thea let out a sigh of relief, though she wasn’t entirely sure that she liked the sound of that. “Do you have anything capable of doing that?”

“Nope!” The shorter kitsune let out a light laugh. “But I can get one, with some help. Hey, Traveler, you have shrines to all of the Greater Pantheon, right?”

“That is correct, Chelsea.” Traveler responded, though even it seemed nervous at this point.

“I need you to arrange a temple room for me, housing shrines of Tubrock, Leowynn, Ashley, and Ryone. I’m about to introduce this world to something my people came up with in their glory days.” Chel grinned, turning and walking down the hall.

“Do we… want to know?” Nora asked, even as they felt the structure of the ship shifting in the distance.

“It’s a Collapse Inverter.” Chel explained as they walked. “In the long term, it’s better for the surrounding systems if a supermassive star doesn’t turn into a black hole, so we came up with this device. By redirecting the force of an erupting star outwards instead of inwards, it’s possible to prevent the formation of a black hole. Of course, doing this sacrifices the system that was around the star, but it was already going to be destroyed if the star collapsed on itself anyways.”

“The real kicker is finding materials that can withstand the gravitational pressure and extreme conditions of a star like that. We designed a special material specifically for that job in my time, but it will be easier if we use the power of divinity here.” As she talked, she pulled out a notepad, hastily scrawling away to draw out complex blueprints.

James had been doing his best to ease new levels of technology into the world as they were needed, gradually building the world into a technological civilization that he could be proud of. However, there were two things wrong with that idea at the present moment. First of all, they had need of this device to overcome their deadline and return without creating massive damage to the galaxy.

More importantly, James wasn’t here right now.

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