Chapter 110

"Master, come look, what's up ahead?"

Faced with this situation, Xia Zhi decisively called out to Togashi Rikka, who was lying in the back seat.

Although, the latter wasn't asleep at all, just lying in the back seat pretending to be asleep.

Upon hearing Xia Zhi's voice, she immediately sat up straight, poking her head out from between the seats. This Chuunibyou girl, with her right eye covered by an eye patch and bandages wrapped around her arm, gazed forward with a serious expression.

"..."

"..."

After a good while like this, classmate Rikka slowly spoke with a serious face: "I can't see it, the Evil King True Eye's power has been obscured by darkness..."

What does "the Evil King True Eye's power has been obscured by darkness" mean?

With you like this, which eye can still see things? It'd be strange if they weren't obscured.

"Wait! You take off your eye patch first!" Watching her with one eye covered by the eye patch and the other squinted, Miss Tenka raised an eyebrow, preparing to reach out and snatch off her eye patch.

"Ah, no... too despicable! We've already reached a ceasefire protocol at the Invisible Boundary Management Bureau, you can't sneak attack me at a time like this!"

The Evil King True Eye User immediately resisted vigilantly, simultaneously citing the ceasefire protocol they had reached at the Invisible Boundary Management Bureau.

"Cough cough, please, both of you calm down."

Seeing this scene, Xia Zhi coughed lightly, interrupting the sisters' infighting: "No need to see too clearly, Master just needs to roughly describe the situation ahead, like whether the road surface is fractured, that's enough."

"Hmph hmph, I got it..."

Togashi Rikka dodged the Holy Regulator's sudden attack, agilely pulling her head back, her eyes vigilantly scanning the other party. After confirming safety, she still leaned as close to the young man as possible, trying to maintain a distance from the Holy Regulator.

"Emmmmmm... no problem ah, the road's fine, nothing up ahead, I don't see any fractures or places like that."

"Is that really so?"

Miss Tenka frowned tightly, with a doubtful and uncertain gaze.

She pursed her lips, once again turning her head to look at the end of the road ahead.

As far as her vision reached, a huge rift valley appeared before her eyes. This was a giant crack formed by the shockwave from the meteorite's landing splitting the earth open. The rift valley spread out, passing through the mountains and forests, tearing Mountain and Valley apart, appearing extraordinarily perilous.

Beneath the rift valley, a surging great river.

Despite the distance, the urgent sound of rapids could still be clearly heard.

Imagine, if one misstepped and fell into that abyss, the consequences would be unthinkable.

Moreover, the road ahead was also directly severed, the end clearly a steep cliff, and multiple warning signs were placed on the road surface; all of this was very obvious in her eyes, it should be an indisputable fact.

However, in these two's eyes, it didn't seem to be the case?

Or rather—

The world in their eyes is another layer of reality unknown to herself?

"To tell the truth, I'm a bit... more or less don't understand..." Gripping the steering wheel tightly, Miss Tenka took a deep breath, closed her eyes and opened them again, looking forward once more, discovering that in her eyes the world remained that appearance.

—No change whatsoever.

"I have a thought, perhaps it's because the history here is already in a kind of uncertain superposition state..." The young man in the passenger seat pinched his chin, thinking seriously, then he glanced at Miss Tenka, "How about..."

Hesitating slightly, he glanced at classmate Rikka in the back seat through the rearview mirror, and decisively changed his words:

"You and Master wait here a moment, I'll go take a look?"

He did want Miss Tenka to just drive over, see what's what, lead the mule or the horse out for a walk.

Miss Tenka is in this side's reality, himself in that side's reality, then when in the same car driving straight forward, what kind of situation would result? Which direction would reality collapse toward?

Toward the reality where the road is fractured...

Or toward the reality where the road is not fractured...

In short, he was indeed quite curious about this, and very interested in exploring it.

But—

Miss Tenka definitely wouldn't be interested, she has her caution and concerns.

Especially with Rikka still in the car, she absolutely wouldn't take this risk, so on second thought, Xia Zhi changed his mind.

He closed the car door and advanced toward the target direction without hesitation.

During the walk, he didn't ask back and forth, just silently sensing the surrounding atmosphere. And when he estimated he was nearing the destination, he stopped and looked back. He saw Miss Tenka gripping the steering wheel tensely in the car, her eyes revealing tension and incomprehension.

He knew he had reached the fracture point of reality.

Perhaps in Miss Tenka's eyes, he seemed to be walking in the Void Point.

However, Xia Zhi lowered his head to look at the asphalt road under his feet, stomped his foot hard, the solid feedback of feet on ground transmitted, that was a genuine tactile sensation. In his perception, this was real existing earth.

"Tch..."

Xia Zhi raised his head, his gaze piercing the distant horizon, gazing at the Imaginary Root just taking shape.

This scene aroused his immense interest, causing a bizarre light to involuntarily flash in his pupils.

Logically speaking, even the two different historical routes derived from three years ago, the initial difference was only limited to the divergence point of "over five hundred dead" and "zero casualties."

In other words, no matter which route, the meteorite's arrival was an inescapable premise.

That heaven-collapsing earth-splitting disaster would happen regardless; the destruction of the Sugar Guard District was also unavoidable. No matter how history's course changed, no matter how casualty numbers changed, this region would suffer heavy damage, incurring a devastating blow...

Land collapsed from the meteorite's impact, forming a deep great lake.

Roads would be thoroughly destroyed, the former group mountains and terrain's orientation would all be thoroughly changed.

These are all naturally to be expected.

So, the current situation is undoubtedly very worth debating.

————

————

Ten minutes later.

Xia Zhi spoke: "Is this still the fractured part?"

"……"

"……"

"……Yes……"

The youth's inquiring voice came from beside her ear; Toriya Satone gently closed her eyes, then slowly opened them, nodding imperceptibly, her tone slightly powerless.

"……Still the broken part……" she said in a low voice.

The wind at high altitude blew over bitingly cold.

Making Miss Tenka's jet-black long hair dance wildly behind her.

She simply did not dare look down, because this was just like walking a glass skywalk; at this moment she stood in the high altitude hundreds of meters above the ground, following the person beside her walking forward slowly, only feeling her legs were no longer her own.

Miss Tenka felt a bit of regret.

If time could turn back a few minutes ago, she would certainly choose the detour option, rather than following this person to walk straight across.

"Mm……"

Rikka at the side curiously observed the Holy Regulator's reaction, her face serious as she tilted her head, simultaneously glancing at the earth beneath her feet. In her view, beneath her feet was a stable asphalt road surface, and she and the others were proceeding along the road through deep mountains and old forests.

But the Holy Regulator's reaction could not be faked either; walking as if on thin ice, gaze fixed straight ahead, not daring the slightest downward glance, shoulders and body trembling slightly…… all this indicated that she seemed to truly feel there was nothing beneath her feet.

Actually——for the person involved, it indeed was empty.

It was just that Xia Zhi created mana blocks on the material plane, and ensured these mana blocks appeared precisely beneath Miss Tenka's feet, supporting her every step.

Theoretically speaking, she was actually no different from standing on flat ground, even running directly would be possible…… but that was only theory, after all it was just like those tourists walking onto scenic area high-altitude glass skywalks.

No matter how sturdy, each piece of glass able to bear tons of weight——

However when that time came, tourists would not think about these things.

Beneath the feet was emptiness, that was the key point; that heart-palpitating height simply could not be ignored.

——Miss Tenka right now was in this kind of similar situation.

Although she used rationality to tell herself she could trust the person beside her, believe he had sufficient power to protect her…… however, when facing such high altitude, that unease in her heart and the feeling of weak legs still could not be eliminated.

"That…… let me support you!"

Classmate Rikka at the side was also somewhat conflicted; after hesitating a moment, she still came over and directly supported her sister's arm.

Although the sisters' daily relationship was somewhat subtle, she had repeatedly caused trouble with her sickness acting up and chuunibyou episodes, and been ruthlessly suppressed by the Holy Regulator, but in the end she still knew the Holy Regulator was good to her……

So now, seeing the other party so scared she couldn't walk the path, classmate Rikka also felt she had the necessity to do something.

Just——

Classmate Rikka still thought too simply; she ultimately did not understand what kind of situation the Holy Regulator was facing.

Just like many people playing VR, outsiders might not understand, but for the person involved, it might be genuinely feeling "immersed", walking a tightrope in mid-air or something……

In this kind of situation, being suddenly touched by someone would cause panic……

"Ah ah ah——!!"

Miss Tenka's scream reverberated above the rift valley.

(Chapter End)