"What is that?"
Only when he flew closer did Tetsuhiro see that a silver chain was embedded in the old man's tailbone, stretching into the sky, piercing the clouds, and reaching the stars...
It wasn't just him. The people in both vehicles, the leader with a jack of spades tattooed on his forehead, Barto, Lin, and Kenshiro all had one behind them.
Kenshiro's in particular was the biggest! The thickest!
None of them seemed to notice anything. Only Tetsuhiro could see them.
"Could these be... fate chains?"
Tetsuhiro's expression grew grimmer. A terrible suspicion formed in his mind. Could this entire world be shrouded in an invisible fate? It bound every chosen person, making them prisoners of fate, human puppets under its control.
Did that mean none of those connected to it could escape?! Were Rei, Shu, and all those people from the original story doomed to die?
"Is there really no saving the old man? I fucking refuse to believe that!!!" Tetsuhiro unleashed his full strength against the restraint, gaining a little speed.
"Almost there! Hang on, old man!"
He saw Barto's car struggling to catch up from behind.
Jack of Spades, in the car ahead, fired another arrow at the old man.
"You bastard!" From far away, Tetsuhiro unleashed Repulsive Force at full power to stop it.
Unfortunately, it barely helped, only shifting its trajectory a fraction.
The last young man beside the old man gritted his teeth and intercepted it.
"My grandson!"
The old man watched his grandson fall into a pool of blood in anguish. For a moment, he truly wanted to give up.
But thinking of the villagers, his son, and his grandson who had died, he tightened his grip on the bag and kept running with all his might.
"Hah... hah, hah..."
His feet