Obel's Research

“	At first, there were only those infected by the Spell. Some of them became Sleepers, and some became Dormant abominations. Then, after the first solstice, there were Awakened. However, there were also Nightmare Gates of the Second Category, and with them, more powerful creatures came into our world. Eventually, there were more Sleepers, more Awakened... there were also Masters. But with them came more Gates, and more Gates that were unlike anything we had ever seen.	”
― Obel to Sunny, Chapter 880 Cause and Effect

The disasters of the Spell descended on the waking world in stages. The number and power of Awakened in the real world correlate with the number and power of the Nightmare Gates that manifest. The Ascension of many Awakened can be the cause of the growing number and intensity of the Nightmare Gate. But there is an exception, the Category Five gate which appeared before a bunch of Supremes ran around the world.^[1]

Obel's research suggested a direct correlation between the rise of powerful Awakened and the speed at which the Nightmare Spell consumed Earth.^[2]

This means that the appearance of a powerful Awakened in the future could send ripples backward through time, influencing past events. The North American catastrophe might not have been a random disaster, but just an echo of a god emerging from the human race in a distant, dire future.^[1]

Whether the Nightmares reach the Earth first, causing the Spell to descend and cause people to Awaken or the Spell infected the Earth bringing the Nightmares, Professor Obel's research suggests that these events are one and the same — because ripples caused by these vents spread outward in time, affecting both the past and the future.^[2]