The Tindalos Hound is a creature that exists within angles. Although called a hound, it's actually more like an invisible alien beast. No physical lifeform can truly see them. Only when they emerge from the angles to attack do people see a large mouth enveloped in mist, which looks a bit like a canine, hence they got the name 'hound'.
Misisha is the Lord of Tindalos. He governs this group of alien beasts, operating on the fringes of angles, constantly attempting to break the continuous timelines built by Yog, replacing them with non-continuous and folded timelines, as this makes hunting easier for them.
Shiller, of course, knew that these guys didn't get along well with Yog, but he didn't expect their relationship with Nya wasn't great either. But it makes sense; Nya's avatar loves mingling in human society, and these hounds don't care if you're a real human or an avatar of an Outer God when hunting. They go for a bite regardless, so it's not surprising Nya's avatar has been chased and bitten by them, making them quite annoying.
"In fact, Shabu doesn't like them either," said the rat. "I always felt that the Black Goat should be their mortal enemy because wolves love to eat lambs. Shabu's cubs have been snatched by them several times, devoured completely each time, which is incredibly annoying."
Goodness, they've offended all Three Pillars Gods. Shiller thought for a moment and said, "Didn't you think of finding a way to expel them?"
"That's the problem," sighed the rat. "Their angled timeline is peculiar. Even an Outer God can easily get lost if they go in. And, despite how arrogant they usually appear, if you go to make trouble for them, they quickly disappear without a trace. They have no physical form, so once they hide in some corner, there's no finding them."
"Indeed, it is a bit troublesome," Shiller said, "Do you think the cube was destroyed by them?"
"I think there's a high possibility," nodded the rat, "Consider this, Yog is interested in your friend, treating him differently from ordinary humans. If Misisha discovers this, he'll definitely find some use for him and might try to capture him. These guys have no manners; they would just bite and damage things casually."
"Will Yog protect Iron Man?"
"Of course," replied the rat. "Yog, while quite mild-tempered, isn't one to be bullied. If the house was indeed destroyed by those hounds, Yog must have held back for a long time. Perhaps the two of them fought in your friend's house, which caused the damage."
Shiller remembered Peter mentioning the high-energy radiation earlier. Peter thought it resembled radiation from a device suddenly exploding, but it's not impossible that it was caused by a battle between Outer Gods. In the Cthulhu Mythos cosmos, this is more likely since there are no nuclear bombs for explosions here.
"Resetting the timeline won't be of much use to both of them," added the rat. "Which means they can still fight here. What do you plan to do?"
"In that case, we need to get there early," Shiller said, "We want to know what information his neural network has collected to determine where he went."
The rat nodded, "I can help you, but only in this time loop. Next time the timeline shatters, we might be flung somewhere unknown, and it could be the last time we meet."
Shiller silently started planning. They must reach there before the cube gets destroyed, and before the red fungus goes out of control, they need to find a way to access the neural network to figure out what Iron Man analyzed and what his trajectory is.
Achieving this is not easy. The environment in the primitive jungle in this time loop has clearly worsened. The most troubling now is their inability to hunt. Even if they catch something, they don't dare to eat it.
Thinking about this, Shiller asked, "Why has the jungle become like this? Has it been contaminated by something?"
The rat shook its head, "If it's true that Yog and Misisha are competing, the previous timeline was possibly closer to Yog's circular timeline, which is safer. But this time is closer to Misisha's angle; when dogs chew and throw bones around, pollution naturally follows."
"If we eat here..."
"You will certainly be contaminated," said the rat. "The animals here are likely contaminated due to some contaminated remnants. If you eat them, you'll become like these animals."
"Is there a way to avoid it?" Shiller asked.
"Avoidance is impossible. But it can be controlled," the rat thought and said, "Being contaminated by which Outer God is crucial. If it's Misisha, there's basically no hope—just look at those animals, they're hideous. But if it's another Outer God, maybe you can pick and choose a bit of the appearance."
"Are you referring to yourself?" Shiller asked.
"If you become my Blessed, eating these contaminated animals won't expose you to further contamination. Of course, there will still be some changes in appearance, but I'll try to make them aesthetically pleasing to human preferences."
"I believe that," Shiller straightforwardly confirmed. In fact, Nya's followers look pretty decent, and most of the human avatars have human appearances. Brand never showed any Outer God characteristics, and Little Bruce only grew a few tentacles, with his human parts untouched.
And his followers, like Constantine, despite absorbing part of his Strength and Wisdom, hadn't changed much either. Frankly, if Nya didn't like the human form, he wouldn't be mingling in human society daily. Although he often stirs up conflicts, he lets them fight in human forms, not turning everyone into monsters.
The rat was a bit surprised, "You actually believe? Looks like the other me made a good impression on you."
"In this regard, it really is not bad," Shiller said. "Your aesthetics are the closest to the human race, and you don't often trouble your employees. The pay and benefits are generous, and the tasks are clearly laid out, without any contradictory demands."
"I'm that impressive." The mouse widened its eyes and said, "Then the cosmos you are in must be in absolute chaos, right?"
"Let's not talk about that," Shiller continued. "How are you going to bless us?"
"Of course, it's going to require a ritual. But it's actually a bit troublesome, involving drawing an array and such. If you don't understand this, then maybe..."
"Don't worry, we have someone here who understands," Shiller looked into the distance, waiting for Peter and Constantine to return.
Soon, the two cats indeed returned, but both appeared somewhat downcast. Peter sighed and said, "Couldn't find any edible plants at all. Those beasts are definitely strange, even the color of their blood is different. If we ate them, we'd definitely..."
Before he could finish speaking, he saw the ordinary mouse in front of them. Immediately, he sharpened his claws on the ground, crouched down and started to twist his body, making clicking noises with his mouth. Shiller quickly rushed over to stop him.
"Wait a moment, it's a teammate."
A question mark appeared above Peter's head. Shiller had to explain it to him further. Although Peter didn't quite understand Nya, Constantine did. He walked over, circling the mouse twice, then said, "I don't doubt you can bless us and rid us of other contaminations, but your strength isn't easy to harness. It will definitely affect the mind..."
"Of course, I am an Outer God," said the mouse. "But, even if it affects you, it will be a long-term effect. Once the timeline shatters, all influences exerted on you will vanish, so it doesn't matter."
Shiller looked at himself. The injuries he had from the previous loop had completely vanished. This proved the loop indeed resets the state, essentially resetting back to when they first arrived, whether it's physical or mental state.
Constantine paced in place, seemingly weighing his options. After a while, he said, "It seems we have no choice. I'm sure these beasts will have severe repercussions if consumed; malicious blood flows through them, and the master behind the scenes is no good."
"Even when compared to Nya?"
"The primary issue is instability," Constantine said. "For Outer Gods, stability is more crucial than benevolence. As long as their state is constant, then even pollution will develop in a single direction. However, if it's unstable, then it will be as you've seen, everything distorting without pattern. This is terrifying for wise beings."
The mouse immediately stood upright, eager to applaud him. He said, "You are perceptive, worthy of being a follower of my other avatars. Do you know how to draw an array?"
"Which type do you need?" Constantine asked.
This time, the mouse was puzzled: "You can do several types?"
"Any type you know, I also know," Constantine replied. "This is my specialty. When I was a magician, arrays were my forte."
The mouse clawed at the ground a bit: "My avatar really lucked out, it's not easy to fool a magician. And you write novels, you're really lucky..."
The mouse complained for a while but still aligned details with Constantine. Constantine went to draw the array while the mouse continued gossiping about the Outer Gods, and the other cats were expanding the burrow. Though sleeping crowded together wasn't too uncomfortable, having more space was still preferable.
"Will you be living with us?" Shiller asked. He didn't mind living with the mouse, but Peter and Little Superman were already visibly driven by their hunting instinct.
"I can only live with you," the mouse said. "After you become my Blessed, you cannot stay far from me, or you may also become contaminated."
"Why is that?" Shiller asked.
"This place is different from your home," the mouse pondered and then said. "In your home, sunlight can pass through the cosmos and atmosphere to shine upon you, but here, it reaches only the distance of Mercury and no further. In human terms, it's likely due to varying dark matter densities, altering the power's penetrative strength."
"So, Outer Gods actually don't have such great power in their own cosmos?" Shiller was genuinely surprised; this exceeded his expectations.
"Kind of," the mouse answered. "We aren't omniscient, omnipotent deities, merely vast compared to you. The human race has a saying that fits well: calm seas do not create skilled sailors. If our cosmos weren't like this, how could we grow so vast?"
Shiller suddenly understood.