Noah's face was that of smiles and enthusiasm as he accepted the gazes of the powerful Void Rank beings, but his heart was cold as a variety of thoughts continued to rise and fall. If he couldn't achieve his objective of taking down this crazy powerful Athena currently, he would go the other path and start scheming!
She was extremely powerful right now that even with the insane abilities of the [Lesser Cthulhu], he wasn't too confident in being able to kill her quickly and without leaving a trace for an uber powerful Celestial to come looking for him.
He needed to first get his hands on the Absolute Skill that would allow him to look past the shackles of a Spatial Lock if his enemies were ever to lay one on him, as well as even more skills similar to what the Vampyre Prince held that allowed for him to escape the detection of the Celestials!
So if he could not make any grand moves at this moment in time, he would scheme for now, and even get on their good side as he awaited for an opportunity to arise.
...
Unbeknownst to Noah, an opportunity outside of his wildest dreams would arrive soon enough.
---
Outside of the First Realm of h.e.l.l, the Celestial Grandmaster replayed the scenes of the battle that led to the ultimate death of the Aberration as mysterious golden lights coursed through his eyes.
His expectations for Athena were exceeded once again as she showed tremendous control and battle power over all the aspects of the fight. This was truly the lead disciple over the past few years, with very few holding a candle to her brilliance in the various Celestial Stars where they trained new disciples.
When his thoughts arrived at disciples, he briefly recalled his own disciple, Drax, that had fallen under the hands of the dead Infernal Aberration, as well as the other three disciples that died even earlier than him.
He only felt that it was a slight loss, but looking at the grander scheme of things, the disciples' deaths were put to good use in this ordeal. Because of their sacrifices, they had successfully been able to stop the future advancement of an Infernal Aberration that held the qualifications to become an Infernal Lord in the future. This was a high achievement that would go on to prevent countless deaths and disorder that another rising Infernal Lord could have caused.
A few lives lost for the maintenance of order and livelihood of countless worlds was worth it in the Celestials' eyes.
The Grandmaster still couldn't solve the mystery as to why the first three deaths did not show him the Infernal, but he put this aside for now as he focused on the singular issue that the Celestial Star he was on had lost a significant number of disciples in this one mission, and it would not hurt to bring in suitable candidates to quickly fill up the gaps.
His peering gaze went back to the image of the courageous Saint Realm disciple that had stood in the dangerous battlefield where attacks at the peak of Void Realm were being thrown around. In this dangerous battlefield, this disciple had played a crucial role in the death of the Infernal Aberration as he displayed a genius sense of timing and showed the even more monstrous ability of being able to tap into the power of Aether.
At Saint Realm, he was able to release an attack that injured and threw the essence of a being that was breaking the shackles of the Void Realm, a rank above his, into disarray successfully. These were the types of talents that the Celestials favored, these were the beings they would put their resources into training as they watched the working of fate to see if they would have a grand path laid out for them in the future.
The Celestial Grandmaster also observed the Vampyre Prince at the Void Realm that let out powerful attacks that could injure the Infernal Aberration, but this Vampyre Prince seemed subpar!
The Celestials looked for the talents that could skip levels and be able to stand toe to toe with those more powerful than them, a being that was simply outstanding in the same realm like this Vampyre Prince was not worthy of raising in the Celestial Grandmaster's eyes!
So he continued to look at the disciple under the name of Crixus. A genius disciple that had comprehended the rare element of Aether and possessed astute battle sense. Who knew what levels of comprehension he would be able to achieve under the guidance of Celestials?
The Grandmaster made up his mind as he sent a message to the Incarnations he had sent in the First h.e.l.l, as well as the leaders of the powers still waiting outside the doorway in their Interstellar Sh.i.p.s. The message was one confirming the end of the Infernal Hunt as a major threat had been taken down in the First Realm of h.e.l.l!
His thoughts went in another direction after he sent this message as he moved his fingers in the air and watched the appearance of multiple strings of fate. These strings were something only he could observe and understand as he calculated what the events that transpired today brought to the overall order and balance of the surrounding lands.
His expression rapidly changed as he observed the probable chaos to have increased even more!
Various thoughts pa.s.sed through his mind as his expression became clouded, not understanding why the defeat of an Aberration that would have brought untold chaos did not actually reduce the unraveling of fate that had been initiated by an unknown being some time ago, and it had even further enhanced it.
'Was my appearance here the cause?'
The Grandmaster pondered the consequences of his own hand that he played as he could not find an answer at the current time, and he actually found himself back to a place even further than square one as the unraveling of fate had now worsened even more, still portraying a future where chaos would increase.
His gaze became somber as he observed the gradual return of the beings he had added his power to go aid Athena, watching as the impromptu Infernal Hunt came to a close with the death of a powerful Infernal Aberration.
They were returning as conquerors that had vanquished a terrible evil that would have caused countless chaos in the future, but the Celestial Grandmaster had different thoughts coursing through his mind.
Had they truly averted that fate?