Chapter 193: Little Kiara's Guardian Is the Celestial Fox Herself?
How did he know!?
Minamoto-no-Raikou was visibly stunned.
She had assumed that Noah, as the emperor from the west, would be unaware of their situation here, but... she never expected that Noah would even know about her collaboration with those Evil Spirits!
And judging by Noah's tone... he seemed to be aware of the Heavenly Fox as well!
Noah suddenly bringing this up completely disrupted Minamoto-no-Raikou's train of thought.
When her thoughts finally settled, the scattered pieces reassembled, and an utterly terrifying possibility emerged in her mind.
First... her collaboration with the Evil Spirits should only be known to the Heavenly Fox, the Evil Spirits, and herself!
Those Evil Spirits were utterly incapable of escaping from the layer between the Great Yata Barrier and reality. Shuten had paid an almost suicidal price just to send her—a human who could seek aid from other humans—out. So, it couldn't have been the Evil Spirits who tipped Noah off.
Nor could it have been herself who told Noah... she hadn't said a word.
Then... the only one who could know about this was the Heavenly Fox!
Moreover, the very reason she had collaborated with those Evil Spirits was that, after uncovering part of the truth about the Heian Capital, she had gone to assassinate the Heavenly Fox and happened to witness the Heavenly Fox conversing with a Foreign God of immense power!
And they were discussing things like sacrifice, destruction, slaughter, and descent!
If the Heavenly Fox were to tell anyone about her alliance with the Evil Spirits, it would likely be this Foreign God!
Finally, Minamoto-no-Raikou felt the overwhelming pressure emanating from Noah!
She hadn't recalled it when she first faced Noah, but now she remembered!
She had never felt such immense pressure even when facing the Heavenly Fox.
If there was anyone whose presence could compare to Noah's, it would only be that Foreign God!
When she had accidentally witnessed the Heavenly Fox conversing with the Foreign God, she had only sensed a fraction of the other's presence. But if the owner of that aura were to stand fully before her—it would likely be just like Noah!
So, someone who knew about her alliance with the Evil Spirits, knew about the Heian Capital, knew about the Heavenly Fox, and was this powerful... the identity of such a being was practically confirmed, wasn't it!
As this horrifying possibility dawned on her, Minamoto-no-Raikou abruptly stood up and placed her hand on the hilt of the sword at her waist!
"You... you... you're the Foreign God behind the Heavenly Fox!"
Minamoto-no-Raikou knew that if the other party truly was the mastermind behind all this, she should draw her sword... But, driven by reason, she knew she couldn't win even if she did. Driven by instinct, her very being fiercely resisted the idea of showing hostility toward Noah!
At that moment, a voice sounded behind her, unsettling her already troubled mind.
"Though I think you'd only be killed by Master if you acted, if Master handles everything, it'll make me seem useless... I really don't want to lose this job, Miss Minamoto-no-Raikou."
The voice came from Vivian.
At this moment, Vivian had already opened her heterochromatic eyes, and her hands crossed behind Minamoto-no-Raikou. Seven golden magic circles materialized, all aimed directly at Raikou.
If Raikou made even the slightest move, these Spell Formulas of the Age of Gods, activated by Vivian, would instantly trigger against her!
Though Vivian might seem unremarkable when by Noah's side, she was far from weak.
At the very least, she was no weaker than Morgan.
As the Prophet of the Lady of the Lake, she had mastered an immense number of Spell Formulas of the Age of Gods, having inherited the knowledge passed down by the Lady of the Lake over countless years.
Moreover, her own Magical Energy and spellcasting techniques were exceptionally formidable.
As a member of the Lady of the Lake's race, she was naturally suited to manipulating mysteries.
If she went all out, with her ability to simultaneously construct seven Spell Formulas of the Age of Gods and her mastery of High-Speed Divine Words, it was uncertain whether Raikou could even defeat her.
However, seeing this, Noah spoke up.
"There's no need for tension. It would be far too discourteous to engage in a major confrontation here."
Though Raikou heard Noah's seemingly gentle words, she never took them as a sign of weakness.
Because the moment Noah spoke, the seven spell formulas Vivian had constructed blurred and vanished.
After exchanging a glance with Noah, Vivian was forced back into her soft seat by an overwhelming pressure, unable to move a muscle!
At this point, how could Raikou not understand Noah's meaning!
His seemingly gentle words were actually saying—facing an existence like him, even taking action was unnecessary!
If he wanted to deal with her, a single glance might be all it took to end everything!
Just like how she was now, effectively already captured!
To him, if crushing an insect required donning full armor and wielding a sharp sword, such behavior would undoubtedly be seen as barbaric and crude!
No...
To him, she might not even be worth as much as an insect!
An insect still required effort to crush, but to deal with her, he didn't even need to lift a finger!
Seeing Noah like this, Vivian closed her eyes again and retreated to the side.
Then, Noah addressed Raikou.
"Although I originally intended for you to reveal the whole truth..."
Noah was the Star Performer. With his abilities enhanced by the label of "Singer," when he focused, he could clearly discern whether someone was lying.
When Raikou had pleaded for help earlier, he knew she wasn't lying—she truly believed what she said.
But Raikou had clearly not revealed everything. He wanted to hear what she was hiding and why she had concealed it.
What did this have to do with those demons?
This would allow him to gain more initiative when he later went to Japan to face Little Kiara's guardian.
After all, on his end, the Supernova was already an inevitable outcome of natural progression.
Thus, he didn't want any unexpected complications in this matter.
However, he never expected that by simply frightening Minamoto-no-Raikou a little, he would hear from her a piece of news that completely took him by surprise.
————The Foreign God behind the Heavenly Fox!
In other words, in the Supernova incident, the mastermind might not be the Heavenly Fox, but some kind of god?
Now the question arises.
"Who is this Foreign God, and why do you think I am Him?"
Noah's tone remained unchanged from start to finish.
But when questioned by Noah, Minamoto-no-Raikou couldn't even muster the slightest resistance—not even the thought of saying something like, "Guh, just kill me." Before her mind could react, her mouth had already spoken.
"I don't know exactly who the Foreign God is. I only sensed a fraction of His presence, and it felt... as if He were standing before me, He would give me the same feeling you do..."
It was only then that Minamoto-no-Raikou's mind caught up, but she didn't resist. Instead, she sighed inwardly and continued.
"As for why I thought you were the Foreign God... it's because the fact that I collaborated with those Evil Spirits... tsk, is only known to me, the Evil Spirits, and the Heavenly Fox."
"Those Evil Spirits are still trapped in the gap between the Barrier and reality, unable to escape, let alone contact you. I never told you either... In that case, the only one who could have told you is the Heavenly Fox. Combined with your presence, that's why I thought you were the Foreign God—aren't you?"
Noah completely ignored Minamoto-no-Raikou's question.
At that moment, he was pondering one thing.
First, as the Star Performer, he could sense that Minamoto-no-Raikou wasn't lying to him.
Second, he had obtained this information from Little Kiara's guardian.
So... if everything Minamoto-no-Raikou said was true, then Little Kiara's guardian... was the Heavenly Fox herself!?