(Lian Li POV)
When I returned from my latest jump, I was given the news about those tentacled things heading straight towards us.
Once Manami and Kiyomi also completed saving Master from their latest Universe, we had decided that we would join Eris and her alternate Universe selves in delaying those monsters for the rest to fix Master.
The only question was how we were supposed to get there?
Elaria looked at my question with a weird face, "Eh? Well, that's easy. I already set up a defensive line about a light year away from here so you can just join up with them."
Eh? A light year? What is that?
"Ara? Are you sure that's far enough?" Manami asked.
Eh? Wait a minute… Manami knew what she was talking about?
Master's little sister shrugged, "Any further and we wouldn't be able to respond as effectively if those tentacled freaks decide to change their route midway."
Manami tapped her chin thoughtfully, "Hmm… I see. Are we engaging with energy based weapons or kinetic based weapons?"
"Oh! We'll start off with kinetic based weapons first since they have longer range! Then we'll move to the energy ones when they are closer to us~"
"Ara, ara? I see you were prepared~ Ufufufu~"
I raised my hand, "Err… Hold on… Are you the real Manami?"
She tilted her head at me, "Ara? What do you mean, Lian Li?"
"The normal you wouldn't even start saying things like 'energy based weapons' or 'kinetic based weapons'... What happened to you?"
"Ara? Ara, ara? It seems like I may have been a little too absorbed in the previous Universe I went to. It was a Universe that was focused on technological advancements unlike ours and I had learnt the basics while I was still there~ It was really interesting to be honest, ufufufu~"
Ah, that makes sense.
Kiyomi tilted her head, "Was I in that Universe as well, elder sister?"
"Ufufufu~ There was another version of you, yes~ But she's not as cute as you are though! Ah! Could I ask that you make some of those clothes that we were wearing in that Universe, Elaria? I'm sure Master would like them as well~"
"Ehehe~ Leave it to me! There are so many designs I'm already dying to try them all out! This venture is turning out perfectly! I'm so glad I accounted for this!"
Hold on… She accounted for this?
I narrowed my eyes at her, "Wait a minute… Did you… Make this machine before this parallel Universe thing even started happening?"
Elaria looked away and started whistling, "Eh… I… I don't know what you're talking about… It's not like I was planning to look at other Universes to find a faster way to ascend or something… Or to see how else to seduce Onii-sama…"
Ugh… This girl… She's always the one making all the crazy things…
I can already see Master scolding her once He comes back… At least she can argue that this was beneficial to us…
Putting that aside, Manami and Elaria were able to give us a quick crash course of the space and planets thing before we ascended into the sky.
"I wonder why no one has ever flown straight up like this before," I wondered aloud.
"Ufufu~ That's because there is no air up here and even Practitioners would find it hard to protect themselves in the vacuum of space. Since we have already ascended, we have shed most of our mortal coil and are less bound by mortal restrictions."
I looked down as the land became smaller and smaller beneath us, the mountains and forests starting to look like what you would see on a map.
Right as we were able to see the sea, however, the three of us suddenly crashed into something midair that sent us reeling back.
"Owww…" I groaned, rubbing my temple to ease the pain. "What in Master's name did we hit?"
Kiyomi stretched out her hand until it came into something solid and invisible, the white fox frowning as she tried to push against it but remained stuck in place.
I followed her actions and found myself pressing my palm against what felt like an invisible wall.
"This… Seems to be an invisible wall of sorts…" Kiyomi muttered while moving a short distance back from it. "Did that stalker bitch set this up?"
Manami suddenly let out a gasp, "No… I know this… Look."
Kiyomi and I turned to look at where she was pointing and I realised we were looking at what seems to be distant land masses far out across the sea.
"What is that?" I asked.
Manami narrowed her eyes, "If that mountain I'm looking at is what I think it is… That's the Spiritual Plane."
Eh?!
I gasped, "Wait a minute… Then doesn't this mean that this barrier… This is the barrier between Planes?"
Kiyomi's eyes narrowed, "That… I think that might be it… But how do we get out?"
Manami tilted her head, "Ara? Isn't that simple? We just need to teleport over to the other… Ara, ara? It seems like this barrier also blocks teleportation Techniques. If that's the case… Then how did Elaria's ships get through?"
"Maybe you should ask her how it works?" I suggested.
"Ufufu, you're right~ Give me a moment…"
Manami used her telepathy Technique to talk to Elaria as both Kiyomi and I watched her change her expressions multiple times throughout the call.
She switched her gaze back to us after a while and sighed, "It seems like her ships have something that opens up a tunnel between two places, allowing them to jump through the barrier using said tunnel. She didn't even know there was such a barrier in the first place. Although… She did ask Master what we would need to do and He simply said that as Divines of this World… We could simply will ourselves through it…"
And to demonstrate, she phased through the barrier like it wasn't even there.
Manami continued, "The other Gods of this World can do this as well… While mortals would still need to rely on things like the Convergence between Planes to pass through or forcibly break through it…"
Kiyomi and I looked at each other and we did the same as well, passing through the invisible barrier without any problems after both of us consciously wished for it.
We flew even higher for a while before looking down again.
"This is… Our World?" I murmured.
Below us was what looked like a sphere that was mostly blue in colour with patches of land masses dotted around its surface.
From here, I could even recognise our Beiyang Continent with several other land masses a distance away from it. I guess now we know how the Earthen Plane looks like.
"That's the Spiritual Plane and the one over there must be the Cloud Plane…" Manami pointed to two specific land masses beside each other.
To think this was how our World looked… It was truly an eye opening experience.
Whoops, now isn't the time to marvel at this, we have two giant monsters to take care of! We can always come back and explore it next time!
