Alice in the Land of Steam

Chapter 1109

Olvera gradually felt that she could not breathe.

She thought that after such a long period of training, she had finally adapted to the curse on her body, and could even imagine a sweet dream in the warm darkness, in which she would see her majestic father, her gentle mother, her teacher who always had a smile on her face, and the garden covered with sunshine and violets. Although such a dream has not yet become a reality, she believes that it will come one day, because no one wants to see the violets bloom more than she does. Since she planted those seeds long ago, she has been responding to everyone's expectations, including her own expectations.

But when the darkness really came, she found that she was still a little girl who had not grown up. Facing anything beyond her expectations, she would feel panic and be at a loss. She didn't want to think about her childhood, wandering alone in the deserted palace, under the sympathetic eyes of people around her, and the fearful and alienated looks of her peers. But the memories always came flooding back, just as the darkness would invade like a tide.

I've gotten used to all this.

She told herself that whenever she wanted to cry, she would use this sentence to deny the necessity of tears. Habit is a strong and great force. In the castle where she thought she would be imprisoned for life, Olvera lived her life in a dull and numb way with this expectation.

She looked up and saw darkness engulfing everything.

The forest disappeared. Olvera remembered that there was a small open space surrounded by white tung trees, where she used to practice swordsmanship secretly. The withered yellow tung leaves formed a thick blanket under her feet, and sometimes flew up with the wind, like a drifting butterfly. The streets disappeared. Olvera remembered that she used to walk on those wooden planks, running back and forth between the Fairy Sleep Inn, the Heart of Heaven Church, or the primrose fields of Ieta, sometimes to collect materials for her novel, and sometimes to water the violets she planted, hoping that one day they would bloom. At that time, she was so busy that it seemed that she had no free time in a day, but she felt very fulfilled. Even the alchemical plants and card soldiers who had fought side by side with her just now disappeared, the silly pea shooter, the silent and resolute nut wall, and the commander who always shouted "victory" and "charge", their figures can no longer be seen.

Olvera suddenly felt panic, because many people or things with the same name had entered her life in the same way, and eventually left her in the same way, as if the reason they appeared in front of the girl was just to make an absurd curse seem to have a beginning and an end, but they forgot that the girl did not live in the world for this curse.

The corners of her eyes began to sting.

I'm not used to all this yet.

Olvera told herself that, as the girl had just said, whenever she wanted to cry, she would use this sentence to deny the necessity of tears. Now, she had to sadly admit that her fear of darkness did not come from the deprivation of sight, but because the princess had always lost something in the darkness since she had consciousness, and it was irreversible.

Is it the same this time?

Olvera almost gave up resistance, her hands fell weakly, letting her body fall into the endless darkness. But suddenly her right hand seemed to touch something, a familiar and cold metal touch. The girl was slightly startled, and it took her a while to react. It was her own sword.

It was the sword she promised to a young man that it would protect herself and everyone else, and that she would never give up no matter what difficulties they encountered.

Olvera closed her eyes.

Although it was the same deep darkness whether she closed her eyes or not, the darkness she saw after closing her eyes was different. To her, it was a more familiar feeling, and very warm, just like the young man was sitting next to her, reading a book quietly, and the rustling sound of the paper turning gently made her feel that it was drizzling outside the window, and she could sleep peacefully and comfortably.

I could get used to this.

Olvera told herself again that at every moment when she felt like crying, she would use this sentence to deny the necessity of tears.

Then she tried to stand up. Although she staggered at first, she soon stood firm, breathing slowly. A sickly red appeared on her pale face in the darkness. After that, weakness invaded the girl's body and limbs, but she leaned against a solid object, not knowing whether it was a tree trunk or something else, supporting her body and refusing to fall. She adjusted her breathing slowly and evenly, always keeping her eyes closed, and kept talking to herself in the darkness that she was more familiar with, saying, "There's nothing to be afraid of. I'll get used to it. I won't lose anything again, because I have more than before..."

Until a beam of light shone on her tightly closed eyelids, bringing a burning sensation.

Olvera opened her eyes and saw Lingge standing in front of her, holding a kind oil lamp in her hand. Olvera thought she didn't need it anymore, so she put it in the room. But surprisingly, the lamp still burned tenaciously in the domain of the dark witch, releasing the same brilliance for thousands of years. It was so warm, perhaps because the small flame was not supported by firewood, but condensed a great love - the love of relatives, the love of teachers, and the love of friends.

The young man's face looked a little stunned in the light of the fire. There was a lot of sweat on his forehead and neck, even seeping down and soaking his collar and sleeves. He must have run to Olvera's room as soon as darkness fell, found the oil lamp she used before, and then rushed here without stopping, because the young man knew very well that without this lamp, without himself, Olvera could not do it alone.

This is a fact.

The young man saw Ovilla standing close to the tree trunk, breathing heavily, her face full of abnormal, sickly red. He seemed to be frightened: "Ovilla, you——"

"I am fine."

Her Royal Highness Princess Leslie gave him a weak smile. She looked as haggard as a violet after being hit by frost, but she still panted and trembled as she said, "I'm really fine."

Her voice was hoarse, as if she had a cold.

The princess held onto the tree trunk and staggered towards the young man, looking like she would fall down at any moment. Linger subconsciously reached out to catch her, but before that, Avra ​​had already hugged him tightly, buried her head in the young man's arms, and sobbed with a twitch in her nose. She looked so thin that she looked like a human being. Linger held her, but he could not feel any weight.

"I... huh, I'm not scared."

She took a deep breath, suppressed her fragile heart, and repeated word for word in a voice that only the two of them could hear: "I'm really, really not afraid, Lingge."

"Well, I know."

The young man gently patted her bony back, as if comforting a sobbing baby: "You did a great job, Olivia, I knew you could do it. Come, go back with me, let's go back to the Fairy Sleep Inn together." "..." Her Royal Highness was silent, her head suddenly arched in his arms, and she said in a muffled voice: "I, I can't see."

"I can see it."

Linger said that he did not see it with his naked eyes, but he had memorized every road and every terrain of Yunjingkong Island in his mind. That was why he rushed all the way here without any accidents. Even the terrain bombed by the army of the Witch Society did not hinder his progress. When you want to do something desperately, even the world will make way for you.

He handed the oil lamp to Her Royal Highness the Princess and said, "Take it, Olvera. This is something left by your father. It is more suitable to be in your hands."

The princess did not say anything, but just took it silently. The next moment, she let out a soft "ah" because the young man suddenly stretched his hands around her back and knees and lifted her up horizontally in a shameful way.

"Ling Ge, you, you——"

"I'll take you back." The young man said seriously, "Go back to the Fairy Sleep Inn and stay with Metien and the others. You won't be so scared."

I wasn't afraid in the first place - Ovella wanted to say this, but her reason made her take it back in time. Her Royal Highness lay in Lingge's arms and nodded without saying a word. She held the lamp left by her father in her chest, like holding a small sun. Through the warm light, you can see the shy blush on her face.

In fact, as long as I stay with you, I am not that scared.

She suddenly wanted to say it again, but took it back. This time it was not reason that stopped her, but something deeper, more passionate, and difficult for her to express.

Lingge did not notice the girl's mental activities and emotional changes in his arms. He walked in the direction she came from. When darkness fell, the first thing that came to the young man's mind was the princess of Bemang. Olvera was the person he was most worried about, because the girl was always afraid of the dark, or she was afraid of the feeling of being alone in the dark. As for the others, Yieta had been taken care of by Shesta and Shelia, Gloria was accompanied by Bai Ye, and Saint Xia Liya and the Countess did not need to worry. The only place where accidents might happen was the Fairy Deep Sleep Inn. Although Sister Livia was an elder with a mature and stable personality, she had been defeated by the dark witch, and it was hard to say that she had no psychological trauma left; Shemi and Leticia were not very reliable, and perhaps they needed Metien to comfort them.

Lingge trusted Metien, his sister, the most. He knew that the gentle child's first reaction would be to help others, not to be afraid, no matter what kind of predicament she was in. That's why he told Olvera to go back to the Fairy Sleep Inn and stay with Metien and the others. They could keep each other warm, just like small flames gathered together to become a huge bonfire, which could illuminate any darkness.

In comparison, there is someone else who needs his worry more.

Alice.

Although he told Yieta that he had to trust Alice, in his heart, Linger always felt a vague sense of uneasiness stirring in the depths of darkness. Miraculously, this uneasiness did not come from the judgment of the difference in strength between the two sides - after the brief confrontation earlier, he was sure that the creation mecha created by Alice, the Armed Goddess, undoubtedly had the power to fight against the Dark Witch, because the wounds on the other party's body and the surprise revealed after the injury were not disguised.

But if that is the case, where could it come from?

Driven by such thoughts, the young man couldn't help but look back before embarking on the road back. But the darkness was so deep that even if the lamp in Avra's arms could emit light, it could only illuminate a small area around it. Farther away, in the vast universe, on the battlefield where the mecha and the witch danced together, he could not see anything.

I hope it will be like Alice said.

Love, justice and courage will never fail.

He shook his head silently, then turned around and his back quickly disappeared into the darkness.

……

Just as Linger guessed, Alice was in a very passive situation. She originally intended to win by attacking, but now she had to control the mecha and avoid waves of attacks from the dark. What annoyed her was that she didn't even know what the enemies attacking her looked like. Could they be sharp spikes? Trying to pierce countless holes in the steel mecha; could they be flexible tentacles? Attacking from every direction, even the blade of the Armed Goddess couldn't cut them off; sometimes she even felt that they were huge extinguished planets thrown at her by brute force. It was impossible to resist such an attack head-on, and the only thing she could do was to avoid it.

The Armed Goddess is a super-class mecha. From Alice's shallow understanding, the so-called super-class is completely linked to the driver, both mentally and physically. Therefore, the detection performance of the Armed Goddess is actually completely dependent on her senses and intuition. Fortunately, the two sides are complementary. Alice uses her spirit to control the mecha, and the Armed Goddess also reversely amplifies the driver's perception ability through telepathy. Therefore, she can accurately predict the evasive direction of the Dark Witch in the continuous offensive and suppress it through sword dance. As for this moment, facing the enemies constantly attacking in the dark, she can also dodge with various incredibly sensitive movements. Under her control, the Armed Goddess does not look like a heavy mecha, and it is even more flexible than a real person.

But the enemy's offensive was also becoming fiercer, as if she would learn, and formulate corresponding countermeasures by observing Alice's movements, and her learning speed might be faster than Alice's adaptation speed, after all, this is the witch's territory. As time went by, Alice's dodges gradually became more thrilling, and each time she dodged at a distance of almost a millimeter difference. This kind of game made her feel a long-lost thrill and excitement, and even her adrenaline was activated a lot.

It is said that in some competitive games, the top players enjoy the feeling of playing against opponents of the same level, and they get pleasure from it. But Alice is not like that. Genius players prefer to crush their opponents. One-sided victory can stimulate her senses more. From another perspective, a victory that is sure to win is far more reassuring than a victory that is settled at the last minute.

So she quickly made up her mind.

"If you think that this level of power can defeat an ace pilot like me, you are totally wrong!"

After dodging another sneak attack in the nick of time, Alice loudly declared to the darkness in front of her. She knew that person would be able to hear her words. That person actually dared to say that the love, justice and courage of super robots were childish. This was an unforgivable act: "Let me show you the power of the super system, Carabosse!"

"Armed Goddess——"

The voice of the genius player and the voice of the machine sounded in the darkness at the same time: "Begin to execute... full fire coverage program!"

Give me some meow