Without any contact, based solely on superficial observation, Nous discovered Holou's history of self-destruction.
Combining this with her Divine Core, it wasn't difficult for Nous's computational power to deduce the truth.
He wasn't surprised that Holou had fallen into nihility, but he was curious how she had managed to walk out of it.
Her Divine Core was too close to the essence of cognition, and the closer it was, the more dangerous it became.
Faced with Nous's question, Holou subconsciously looked up at Su Mo.
"Answer: The Master God saved Holou."
"Master God?"
The blind old man shook his head.
"Su Mo is your Master God, but you have long known he is not your creator."
"If you are the one who questions all questions, then you should have long since realized that he cannot give you meaning."
With remarkably calm language, he pierced through Holou's long-held ostrich mentality and her chick-like imprinting behavior.
All along, Holou's dependence on Su Mo was built on seeing him as a creator god, a parental figure.
As a creator, one naturally bore the responsibility of giving purpose to one's creation.
Therefore, Holou didn't need to struggle with how to confirm the existence of the world. Her meaning and the world's were decided by Su Mo. Su Mo became the bridge connecting her to the existence of the world.
Because of this relationship, her attitude toward Su Mo was almost one of complete obedience. No matter what Su Mo did to her, she could accept it with pleasure, as if it were a meaning bestowed by her Master God.
However, the reality was that Su Mo was not her creator, nor was he her parent.
Although they still had a master-servant relationship, Su Mo had no obligation to give her meaning.
And with Holou's intelligence, she had known this from the very beginning.
This was what Nous was curious about.
Even though Holou knew her ostrich mentality wasn't built on a solid foundation, that her bulwark against nihility was not only flimsy but as thin as paper and could break at a touch...
Under these circumstances, how was she able to step out of nihility and come so far?
"Denial! The Master... Master God is Holou's... Master God is Holou's Master God! Master God can give Holou all meaning!"
The tables had turned, and now it was Holou's turn to break a sweat.
Her once dazed expression became incredibly tense. After having her erroneous perception exposed, not only did she show no signs of detachment, but she desperately clutched Su Mo's hand, as if afraid he would vanish with a "whoosh" and leave her forever.
Even her tone became incoherent, finally approaching a red-faced, forceful rebuttal.
After speaking, she looked up at Su Mo with extreme nervousness, afraid he would take back his previous promise.
Seeing Holou's overly emotional outburst, the blind old man shook his head calmly.
"Deception is meaningless. You should understand by now that your claim contradicts the facts."
"Denial! Holou doesn't acknowledge that!"
The young goddess, with a tearful look, made her claim again, appearing genuinely panicked.
Before she could say more, Su Mo's voice cut off her argument.
"Holou, calm down. Can you feel your emotions right now?"
The sudden question made the young goddess pause.
She subconsciously followed Su Mo's question and nodded.
"Analysis: Holou is currently thirty percent angry, forty percent scared, and thirty percent a jumble of incomprehensible emotions."
Though she was having trouble controlling herself, with tears still clinging to her eyelashes, she obediently answered the question.
To this answer, Su Mo gave his assessment.
"Your panic stems from the facts. Nous's words are not wrong. In the matter of seeing me as your creator, your subjective perception does not match objective reality. Your perception is incorrect."
Hearing this, hearing Su Mo agree with Nous's words, Holou's pupils constricted, and the panic in her eyes momentarily consumed her entirely.
"Denial!"
She had finally found a creator, finally found meaning. Two happy things had come together, which should have been a dream-like time. How could she be willing to be abandoned by Su Mo and be alone again?
Just as she was mustering all her strength, ready to cling to him and never let go...
Su Mo's palm once again covered the top of her head. The familiar warmth made her pause, and she subconsciously relaxed a little.
Only then did Su Mo speak.
"Do you remember the second question you asked me when we first met?"
"The second question?"
Holou once again pondered Su Mo's question and immediately recalled it.
"Search successful. Holou's second question was 'What is a heart?' Master God explained it before, but Holou failed to understand."
The conversations with Su Mo were stored in her highest-priority memory, so the search speed was naturally extremely fast.
"Then now, I will give you another answer," Su Mo said slowly. "Remember this feeling you have now."
"It is one-sided, full of contradictions, errors, biases, and willfulness. It blinds your vision, makes your emotions fragile, and causes you to ignore the facts..."
"And this contradiction and willfulness... is the very heart that is uniquely yours."
After many days, he answered this question once more.
And this time…
"This is... Holou's heart?"
The young goddess pressed her chest, feeling the sour and fiery resonance in her heart. It was as if she understood something, yet at the same time, she felt even more confused.
Seeing her dazed look, Su Mo took her hand again and then looked at Nous.
"Do you understand now? The reason she can stay away from nihility."
He had also given an answer to Nous's question.
"..."
Nous was silent for a moment before speaking.
"It's not that she doesn't know you are not her creator, but that she spontaneously wants to see you as her creator."
"She is the one who questions all questions, and also the one who craves all answers. Therefore, your identity and the answers themselves are not important. What's important is that you are willing to answer."
"But if this error is the reason for the birth of a heart, then your conclusion is correct. The choice of individual will is enough to resist the erosion of nihility."
Without needing much explanation from Su Mo, with his vast knowledge, Nous quickly parsed Su Mo's meaning.
In fact, from the beginning, he hadn't thought Holou's reliance was false. A false reliance would not be enough to resist the erosion of nihility, let alone for a god like Holou who was born alongside it.
He just didn't understand how Holou could build such a strong resistance on an erroneous perception.
And now, he understood.
Su Mo didn't need to be her creator. She only needed to want him to be her creator. That was enough.
Hearing their conversation, Holou finally reacted with a delayed realization and carefully looked up at Su Mo.
"Query: Does Master God mean that Master God is still Holou's master and is willing to answer Holou's questions?"
"Of course. That is the content of our contract. I will not go back on my word."
Su Mo nodded and activated the contract within Holou, allowing her to feel the connection between them more deeply.
"Even just now, I was merely demonstrating the meaning of a heart to you."
"Analysis: Master God is right!"
After a moment's pause, Holou immediately accepted Su Mo's words without question, and the heavy weight in her heart finally lifted.
She even seemed more at ease than before.
As Nous had analyzed, Holou was born alongside nihility, so she was particularly afraid of being alone.
The reason she submitted to Su Mo so quickly was simply that she wanted to find someone willing to answer her questions. She didn't even mind being a pet.
Now, having felt her own heart and being able to see Su Mo as her creator according to her own will, she no longer had to secretly worry about their relationship.
Doubt and belief are two sides of the same coin. After questioning all things, Holou had finally learned what it meant to believe, and she could finally understand what a heart was.
And this was her greatest defense against nihility.
"Free will is enough to resist the erosion of nihility. The same goes for civilization."
Seeing that Nous had received his answer, Su Mo continued.
"You should already know about my previous discussion with Herta and the others, so I won't repeat it."
"In short, putting aside the inherent flaws of epistemology, the Aeons who can hinder your calculation of the universe's answer, besides the Destruction and Enigmata they mentioned, there is also the most mysterious Aeon they overlooked: IX, the Nihility."
If Holou's Divine Core was a challenge to Nous, then the existence of Nihility was a negation of all Aeons, and even the entire universe.
When discussing the relationships between the Aeons, Nihility was the eternal enemy of almost all of them.
And from Nous's reaction just now, it was clear that he was particularly concerned about Nihility.
"Person from an outside universe. Your question... is it related to Nihility?"
Nous's attitude toward Su Mo was more cautious.
Unlike Holou, who he could see through at a glance, the aura around Su Mo was too complex. Even he couldn't easily understand everything about Su Mo.
However, he could still grasp the basic information.
So, although the rules had already been broken with Holou, he still intended to follow the normal procedure with this unknown factor, Su Mo.
Everyone invited here could ask one question. He was now asking Su Mo to state his question.
Faced with Nous's question, Su Mo raised an eyebrow.
Nous wanted to follow the procedure, but he didn't.
Before coming here, he had indeed thought of a question and how to go through the motions.
But the conversation just now had confirmed a lot of information for him.
Thinking about the plot progression from the original story and his own plans, Su Mo felt he could be a bit bolder.
"If it were before, the question I planned to ask you had little to do with Nihility and more to do with the Trailblaze." Su Mo smiled and said with complete honesty. "I originally wanted to confirm whether the period of historical transition has arrived, whether Akivili's Astral Express will usher in the third era of prosperity for interstellar civilization, and lead it through another developmental transformation."
As mentioned before, the change of Aeons often occurred during periods of drastic civilizational change. Su Mo called this key turning point a "period of historical transition."
From the information in the original story, it was known that the Stellaron Hunters' plan was related to killing an Aeon. According to Su Mo's theory, a major event of this level would only happen during a period of historical transition.
Nous's calculations could predict the direction of the world. By simply confirming this piece of information with him, Su Mo could completely verify his theory, thus completing the second necessary step in constructing his new theory.
Once successfully confirmed, Su Mo would only need to proceed to the third step: creating an Aeon.
"But now, even without confirming this, I can be sure that my theory is correct."
From Nous's attitude toward Nihility, Su Mo could already confirm many things.
"So now, I've changed my mind!"
Looking at the blind old man before him, Su Mo's eyes burned as he took a step forward. At the same time, a star-shaped dodecahedron, shining with a brilliant light, appeared beside him, orbiting him.
It was the Suniaster, which he had completely mastered and could never be taken from him. It was also the sovereignty of the world of No Game No Life.
Under the protection of his world's sovereignty, Su Mo spoke to the Aeon before him.
"In my capacity as the One True God of a universe, I extend an invitation to you. Aeon of Erudition, will you form an alliance with me to fight against Finality and Nihility?"
"!"
Seeing the starlight draped over Su Mo, Nous's silence this time was one of genuine shock!
No matter how much he analyzed, he could never have imagined that the being before him was a bona fide master of a universe.
What happened to the native planetary god?!