Having made indirect contact with Outer Deities several times recently through the Vortex plan, Amon knew that the crimson tide symbolized the Great Mother, the Origin of Evil, The Undying—the Mother Goddess of Depravity.
Once this tide invaded the Physical World, even if the Pillar-level Great Old One herself remained outside the barrier, she could exert considerable influence within it. She could corrupt the entire island and its surrounding waters, attract the sefirah that belonged to her, or...
...worsen a certain deity's condition, driving Beyonders of the Mother and Moon Pathways out of control, beguiling them into becoming her minions.
Under normal circumstances, the gods could work together to stabilize the barrier and sever this secretly infiltrating power and corruption, leaving their angels to gradually contain and eliminate it, just as they had dealt with other Great Old Ones' corruption seeping into reality throughout the Fifth Epoch.
But that was impossible now. With the Vortex plan not yet completely terminated and the Uncertain Mist acting as an intermediary, the other Great Old Ones would not refuse to help the Mother Goddess of Depravity in this matter. They would suppress the gods inside the barrier and allow this small amount of corruption to wreak the greatest possible destruction.
At this thought, Amon, wearing Bethel's appearance, looked up at the sky. His gaze penetrated the lead-gray clouds and entered the Astral World, where he saw the outline of the normally invisible barrier, exposed beneath the pressure of the many Great Old Ones pressing against it.
Red, orange, golden, and brown stars resembled enormous faces whose shapes defied description, pressing different indentations into the barrier. Among them, the crimson moon had grown far larger than usual, hanging so low that it seemed to have crossed the invisible barrier and appeared inside.
This did