Chapter 398: Gem Old Man: Is This Sending Me to the World 50 Billion Years Later?

World Line jump……

It should have been like a meteor streaking across the night sky, merely a matter of an instant.

Whether for the world being jumped to, or for the jumper themself, it was an event that established itself in an instant.

The Second Magic User, who had experience moving back and forth between parallel spacetimes countless times, never doubted this aspect.

He was an expert, and also the authority.

Every jump was as accurate and certain as a precise clock, making him truly the traveler most familiar with the spaces between parallel worlds.

At least so far, the old man had never encountered an existence who could have more say than himself in this regard.

Therefore……

When switching maps was no longer completed in an instant, but fell into an obvious loading process.

If this were a game, or if progress were visualizable, one might be able to see the circle representing the loading icon spinning continuously, round after round, as if rotating endlessly.

Facing this unprecedented strange phenomenon, waves surged in the Gem Old Man's heart in an instant; his intuition, like a sharp blade, instinctively reached a conclusion at the first time:

For the first time in his life, he might have encountered an expert equally versed in this path……

As if in the dark, a power resonated distantly with his magic, transcending the boundaries of parallel spacetime……

——This meant that in the world on the "Opposite Side", there must also exist a power similar to the Second Magic.

This power was so strong that it could produce a subtle reaction akin to mutual offsetting with his own World Line jump, like two torrents converging and hedging against each other in the formless.

So…… did the other party perceive his invasion?

Did that existence on the "Opposite Side", in a voiceless language, declare a refusal, not wanting him to cross over?

The Mage subconsciously thought this way, and it also made his initial guess become even more firm.

——Indeed!

——ORT's mutation was not without cause!

The source was very likely indeed the world on the "Opposite Side"!

Having reached this step, he instead became even more unwilling to give up; not only was it something that must be done, but it also aroused a competitive psychology.

Even knowing awe, it did not mean he would easily set aside his own pride and reserve; even if clearly knowing he was no match, he would never possibly admit defeat easily in the field he was most skilled at.

Not to mention other aspects, just regarding this matter of parallel spacetime interference, Zelretch definitely had absolute confidence in himself.

Thus——

Thus, a contest of magic and spacetime quietly unfolded.

Under the confrontation of magical power, the World Line seemed to become brocade, gently plucked by formless fingers, rippling out circle after circle of delicate ripples.

It continued just like that; unknown how long passed, before the spacetime ripples gradually returned to calm.

As for under the Gem Old Man's subjective perspective, it felt like being caught in network fluctuations, watching that loading icon spin non-stop, round after round, tireless.

Finally, after countless rotations, the loading icon burst forth with dazzling light in his vision——

Time, lines, matter……

As if everything was refreshed at this moment, constituting itself once more.

Like the world, after rapidly finishing rendering, presented itself before his eyes in a completely new posture.

Perhaps an instant, perhaps immeasurable years.

When sensory perception connected to the material world once again, the Gem Old Man discovered he was already situated on a dead silent street, the surrounding scene shocking——

Crumbling walls and broken ruins, a stretch of desolation.

The high-rise building clusters farther away, either half-ruined or covered in a layer of heavy charred black, like ruins licked by fierce flames.

In the air, a pungent scorched smell spread out; it was extremely stimulating, as if able to penetrate a person's heart and lungs, making one involuntarily frown.

Those ruins, that charred black, all told of a whole metropolis's fall and destruction, and furthermore seemed to imply this was merely a microcosm.

Outside the city, it was the same.

Implying that beyond this city, the whole world had already fallen into the abyss of the apocalypse.

Far away, a strange and terrifying shriek resounded through the horizon; it was the roar of some unknown monster.

Where it passed, it was as if tangible sound waves distorted the surrounding air, causing the buildings by the road, those high-rises still retaining shattered glass, to burst open one after another under the sound waves' rampage.

Countless glass fragments, like sharp knives, drew shining trajectories in the air, finally falling powerlessly to the ground, emitting crisp and piercing sounds.

"Not right, not this one……"

The Second Magic User also frowned his already wrinkle-filled brows.

He frowned not because he worried his sudden visit would startle whatever unknown terrifying monster lurked in this city.

But with a keenness surpassing ordinary people, he instantly perceived the true crux of the problem——

This world was not the destination of this journey of his.

After a long and arduous contest, he shockingly discovered that not only had he failed to win victory on the chessboard, he had instead fallen into the fog of defeat without knowing it.

——His destination had been swapped silently?

——His "movement direction" had skewed unknowingly?

The reason he was able to successfully move over in the end was merely because the target was no longer that correct world, so he no longer continued to suffer interception by that defense system?

"……"

"……"

His expression was slightly unsightly, and the depths of his eyes seemed to flash a layer of gloom.

The Second Magic User faintly began to suspect his life a little, harboring deep worry toward this adventure and his own ability limits.

But still with almost not any hesitation.

He directly activated the Second Magic again, his figure and existence disappearing into the air.

Since it wasn't the destination, then naturally he must immediately continue refreshing the map, absolutely cannot delay.

………………

………………

The subsequent developments were imaginable, still not very smooth.

One could even say it was entirely a ruthless trial of will and patience.

Accustomed to silky seamless instant switching, the operation of moving to a parallel world in the blink of an eye, the Gemstone Old Man found the lengthy loading and waiting hard to accept.

Mainly because a mortal's mind could hardly endure that indescribable torment.

Because during the activation of the World Line jump, he seemed to be forgotten by the world, losing Existence in the Material World... existing neither in A World nor in B World.

There was inevitably a switching gap in between.

If the jump proceeded and completed in an instant, then naturally there would be no problem.

But if not...

Then the experience would definitely be completely different.

This sensation of solitary confinement in the crevice between two worlds, the prison feeling experienced, could be said to be maxed out for the Gemstone Old Man.

Only by relying on the Death Resistance attribute of agelessness and immortality, and the resilient will forged through countless parallel world hardships, could he silently endure, continuing to deadlock in this seemingly hopeless struggle without a sound.

——But having resilience is a good thing.

——Not knowing how to give up might be a bad thing.

Switching maps again and again, the results were all much the same.

Every effort, every contest of wisdom, ultimately only led the Mage to one seemingly insignificant parallel world after another.

One couldn't say they were completely unrelated either.

In those strange and bizarre World Lines, the Gemstone Old Man Perceived their specialness and strangeness.

Those World Lines all seemed to have ORT, but ORT had not Awakened, had not taken any action, simply existing as some kind of doomsday Device...

——This was a "hidden" part the Mage had previously been unable to observe.

Secondly, those World Lines all seemed very strange, or rather their trajectories were abnormally Distorted.

They neither simply tended toward affirmation or denial of human history, nor were they simply stories of Heroic Spirit glory or Dead Apostle prevalence; they were complex and variable, full of Unknowns and Variables.

As if like one "large-scale testing ground" after another testing diversity, exploring the infinite possibilities of Existence, challenging the limits of imagination——

………………

He saw a world where all humanity united as one, constructing a Space Elevator reaching straight to the Mors Star, the Human Federation's brilliance shining on a new era...

He saw a world where planetary Mystery thoroughly ended, a giant monster appeared in the Pacific Ocean, humans manufactured giant mecha warriors who rushed to the Battlefield to engage in passionate hand-to-hand combat with the monster...

He saw a world where neither Heroic Spirits nor Dead Apostles existed, where there was no flashy Magecraft here, only tennis techniques developed to their peak, where people developed shocking "superpowers" for this sport...

………………

——Just like that, who knows how many times, the Gemstone Old Man witnessed World Lines like a bewilderingly complex maze.

They displayed unprecedented diversity and complexity in a jaw-droppingly Distorted posture.

The result was...

The torment of switching maps failed to break the old man's composure.

Rather, these strange and bizarre parallel worlds made the Gemstone Old Man somewhat unable to hold it together.

But through continuous trial and error, as the sole wielder of the Second Magic, the experienced old man ultimately...

………………

………………

In the deep pitch-black Cosmic Space.

Inexplicably, there was light flickering.

In the surviving Xing Xi, gems and ores, under the action of Unknown power and Mechanism, whoosh, gathered together in an instant.

Then——transformed into Human Form, possessed flesh and blood, had Breath and Aura...

This was the "Existence" of a certain sentient entity Transferred over.

Opening his eyes, the instant perception Recovered, the first thing the Gemstone Old Man felt was weightlessness, he floated alone in Space.

He should have appeared at the same location on the Earth position on the "Opposite Side", why was he thrown into Space...

The old man Pulled Mouth Corner, an Ominous premonition rising in his heart.

And the next second, the scene entering his vision seemed to tell him the truth.

No Existence of Earth.

In the empty Cosmic Void, that original Orbit was empty, nothing at all, the Star that should have borne all life had disappeared as if Not Exist.

In the distant interstellar space, the blazing burning Star seemed to be gasping its last breaths.

Seemed to be the Sun, but appeared to have already Evolved to the Red Giant stage.

Even with mental Preparation, the Gemstone Old Man still felt his heart tremble, where exactly has this sent me?

Theoretically speaking, shouldn't the Sun normally evolving to the late-stage Red Giant be a matter of five billion years later?

(Chapter End)