Alice in the Land of Steam

Chapter 151 Is Curse Also a Divine Mission?

In the dim firelight, the silver cloak around the giant wolf's neck fluttered, making a whistling sound, and a pair of scarlet eyes were fixed on Olvera's face. There was not much evil and cruel feeling, but rather like a pool of water that had accumulated for many years, full of calmness, rationality and profound meaning.

He walked forward slowly, his steps as graceful as if he was strolling in the woods under the moon. His heroic and majestic posture, his proud and extraordinary brows, all revealed a certain innate pride.

"It is an inherent truth in the world that the brave are praised, but most people don't know where their courage comes from. If a momentary impulse can be called bravery, then the memory of cowardice will be buried forever, until the depths of time that no one knows." He looked down at the tiny girl in front of him, his voice as majestic as frozen ice and snow: "Princess of Beman, it is surprising that you have come here. But do you know what exactly supports you to come here?"

He stared deeply into Olvera's surprised eyes, trying to find something hazy but firm in the white-gold light of the star cluster. Unfortunately, he didn't find it.

The Princess of Beman stood in the light of the lantern, her face looking a little pale. Facing the giant wolf's oppressive gaze, she subconsciously took a step back. When her thin lips opened and closed, she spoke the same words as Alice in her mind: "Can you speak!?"

She never knew that these shadow beasts could actually communicate.

In the princess's mind, they have always been silent jailers, wandering in the darkness, guarding a lonely power that can destroy humanity. Such silence has no end and is not bound by time. Perhaps even when the sands of time have fallen and the world ends, they will still silently linger in every corner of the corridors, stairs and ceilings, accompanying the cursed princess through the last stage of her life, just like shadows lingering at the feet of their master.

This metaphor is not an exaggeration. After all, they were originally beasts separated from Ovilla's shadow.

The giant wolf's tail gently swept through the darkness behind it, cutting the light released by the brazier at the edge of the square into fragmented afterimages. He opened his mouth and exhaled a slightly cold breath between his cold fangs: "Yes, as you can see, I am different from other shadow beasts. I have the ability to communicate verbally. However, this is not innate, but acquired, a gift from some magical and mysterious power."

Alice couldn't bear to look at it: A question like this would be embarrassing no matter how the other person answers, right?

When he said this, Olvera and Alice already understood what that "magical and mysterious power" referred to. There was no other possibility except the game console and the cartridge.

Olvera didn't understand what she was saying. She quietly clenched the hilt of the holy sword and looked at the majestic giant wolf in front of her. Her voice was a little nervous: "In this case, since you can communicate with humans, can you tell me... what exactly are you?"

Uh, this child really can't speak.

He slowly raised his head and looked around, taking in the majestic and solemn arena. "A force that we cannot understand has changed the laws of this area, causing inherent things to undergo unpredictable changes. I believe you have a deeper understanding of this matter than I do."

"That's true," Alice muttered softly, "There has to be some plot dialogue."

Fortunately, the giant wolf did not understand the concept of human embarrassment. He glanced at Olvera calmly and replied concisely: "We are phantoms."

"phantom?"

"That's right. We are all phantoms that split from the body of the first and strongest ruler. We each inherited a bit of her power and were given a sacred mission to guard every road leading to the castle and prevent the caged Son of Light from escaping." "The caged... Son of Light?" Olvera blinked blankly, "Are you referring to me?"

"Of course, who else but you can bear such a noble title?" The giant wolf lowered its head slightly, as if to express its respect, but soon raised it again and said, "The children born of light know the myriad mysteries of the world. If we ignore them, I am afraid that the lessons of the past will be repeated. Only by trapping them in darkness and imprisoning them in a cage can we eliminate the threat and prevent them from affecting the great cause... These are the original words of our Lord, and the reason why we linger here."

Upon hearing this, Olvera gripped the hilt of the holy sword even tighter, with confusion and sadness in her eyes: "You mean, the master you mentioned cast such an evil curse on me to prevent me from affecting their 'great cause', so I can only stay in this cage for the rest of my life and never leave...?"

The giant wolf neither admitted nor denied it, but simply said: "What is an evil curse to you is a sacred mission to us. I - including my split body, the ruler who guards the bottom of the castle, were all born for this mission. Therefore, it is not wrong to say that it is the meaning of our existence..."

"But I have no idea what the so-called 'great cause' means! And I have never seen the master you mentioned!" Olvera interrupted him. The holy sword in her hand had been raised in front of her unconsciously, and the bladeless sword was pointed at the burly and majestic giant wolf. Under the surging blue crystal, there was her angry and trembling eyes.

The girl who had always been weak and hesitant, as if she didn't care about anything, showed such intense emotional fluctuations for the first time: "If, if just for such a ridiculous reason, you want to decide my fate, and even endanger the entire land of Belman, and make my parents, my teachers and friends, my subjects and citizens... all fall into tears and grief, and despair for the innocent disaster they have suffered, such a thing, such a thing, isn't it very sad!?"

She asked with a trembling voice, and such a question was difficult for the wisest philosopher in the world to answer, not to mention that the giant wolf was just a phantom split from the darkness. Therefore, the latter just shook his head slightly, and said calmly: "The fate of people is destined. Every accidental connection has already planted the seeds of cause and effect thousands of years ago. Therefore, we often say that there is no irrelevant connection, but you have not noticed it yet."

"I don't understand."

Olvera pursed her lips and said, "Mortals talk about fate, but have never witnessed its true greatness. In the end, it is just futile words and vain actions." If your master is a truly powerful person who can create darkness, he should understand this truth. But he did something so rebellious. Does he mean that people can make subjective judgments for something we are still uncertain about? "

"Not only do I not understand, I cannot agree with it either." She said seriously, "Please tell me the true identity of your master, and where is he now? I want him to know how wrong his decision was, and how serious the consequences were... No matter what his original intention was, it cannot be forgiven."

"I'm sorry, but that's hard to do."

The giant wolf replied: "If we are asked to betray our master, it would be like asking a shadow to condemn the darkness for being too deep. It would be like forgetting our own roots. We all exist because of the Lord, and we should firmly fulfill the sacred mission given to us until the end."

"I understand. In that case," Ovella took a deep breath and slowly assumed a basic combo stance. She gripped the hilt of the sword with both hands, and a pale blue afterglow flashed across her hazy eyes. "Please let me find the answer myself."

The giant wolf looked at her deeply and said, “You have the will to fight, which is of course good, but at certain moments, impulsive courage is not real courage, and it will only bring the opposite consequences.”

But his advice was ineffective because the girl had already rushed forward and took the initiative to attack.

　Give me some meow
　　
　
(End of this chapter)