Alice in the Land of Steam

Chapter 171 Can you see the stars in the darkness?
Olvera stood in front of a black iron door, holding a rusty little key in her hand. Behind her was a tattered armor that was dissipating into black mist. Its chest was torn open by the wind blade, and there were charred marks on many parts of its body. The will-o'-the-wisp in its eyes had long been extinguished by the rushing water, and tiny electric snakes were flashing in between... It was obvious that it had just experienced a baptism of magic.

The key in Olvera's hand exploded from this guy. It is worth mentioning that she had to deal with this battle entirely by herself. Neither Linger nor Alice gave any help. They just watched silently, watching her get flustered under the fierce attack of the elite monster. But in the end, she relied on the skills she had learned before to kill the opponent without any injury.

Why do I feel this sense of relief that “my child has finally grown up”?

The long-lost system prompt popped up again.

[Do you want to open the road to the rulers? Yes/No]

[Warning: The guardians among the rulers are extremely powerful. If you are not sure of victory, it is best not to challenge them lightly! ]

Olvera, who had already prepared herself mentally, naturally chose yes. The key in her hand floated towards the door. The black iron door that had stood there for a long time welcomed the long-lost guest. It trembled slightly to shake off the dust, and then slowly opened. The gap in the door that was originally closed gradually widened, revealing the scene behind it to the visitor.

"Are you ready, Olvera?"

Alice asked in a deep voice.

The princess did not answer, but nodded slightly, and then stepped forward. Although it was not the first time she faced a BOSS, her palm subconsciously clenched the hilt of the holy sword Broken Steel, and while keeping alert, she walked towards the rulers behind the door.

"so beautiful……"

After entering the room of rulers, the three of them were surprised by the scene before them, because they actually saw a starry sky.

The darkness is as endless as the night, but the faint light of the stars can illuminate it, so a magnificent and diverse ocean of stars is reflected above the head, and each star in it is shining with its own light. They are so close to the ground that mortals standing on the ground will have a strange association, as if they can touch those brilliant stars by just stretching out their hands, or even pluck the stars and hold them as treasures in their hands and stars in their eyes.

……

Olvera stared blankly at the sea of ​​stars above her head and murmured.

At this moment, they seemed to have returned to the ancient times when fire had not yet been discovered. Like the ancestors at that time, they were afraid of the horrible minions hidden in the darkness, melancholy about the boundless wilderness at night, but did not know how to deal with it. Therefore, they could only rely on the faint light of the fading stars to guide their way home. For people of that era, stars were heavenly fire, auroras, and sometimes even greater than the sun.

Fourth floor corridor, current progress: 80%.

Alice was also shocked by the scene before her, but she quickly came to her senses and asked in confusion, "Why is there a starry sky here?"

She hadn't seen the starry sky for a long time, and had even forgotten what it looked like. Now seeing it again, she suddenly felt an inexplicable throbbing, as if those stars were more than just stars, and those starlights were more than just starlights. They all had deeper meanings, and in the depths of her memory, there was another look.

They should have opened the gate to the rulers, not some messed up space gate, right? Once opened, the player will be teleported to another map. And speaking of which, this game actually only has one map, the castle, and the scenes of each floor corridor are actually reused texture materials...

"Because this is not the starry sky."

Lingge looked through Avra's eyes, but he didn't look at the sea of ​​stars above his head. Instead, he looked straight into the depths of the endless night. In those shadows surging like tides, he saw countless huge shadows standing tall. He whispered, "Look carefully." Because of his words, Avra ​​and Alice withdrew their attention from the sea of ​​stars and fell into the darkness. Then, like Lingge, they saw those towering shadows. Their outlines and shapes reminded Avra ​​of the twelve round arched stone pillars summoned by the giant wolf BOSS on the first floor. They were like relics from ancient times. They exuded an ancient, magnificent, sacred and majestic atmosphere in the ruined arena, and provided a perfect stage for the BOSS to perform, which once left a deep impression on the princess.

Could it be that the boss on this floor is also like this!?
No, it doesn’t matter. I have already fully mastered the operating skills of the Holy Sword Broken Steel, and I have also obtained the power of elemental magic. Even if it is a BOSS of the same type, I can definitely defeat it!
Just when she was fully prepared mentally, she heard Alice's voice: "Hey, that seems to be... a tower?"

tower?
Olvera took two steps closer, and the flame of the lantern was like a light ship sailing on the dark sea, parting a large area of ​​thick and bleak fog, and also illuminating the huge buildings that were looming behind the fog. Although it was still a little blurry, it was not difficult to recognize the outlines and shapes. They were indeed towers, with a solid and cold appearance, built entirely of silent black bricks and stones, and the color was extremely dark and low, so it blended into the black fog and was indistinguishable from each other. At a glance, it even seemed that the fog had condensed into the shape of a tall tower.

A high platform was built on the top floor of each tower, on which were fixed sparkling gems that were polished smoothly and without any dirt on the surface. The gems do not reflect light, but they release light by themselves. Therefore, every flat cut surface is flashing an extremely dazzling divine light, sometimes lively, sometimes solemn... The starlight that the three people saw just now was actually the light released by these gems, and that sea of ​​stars was naturally not a real sea of ​​stars, but a brilliant sea of ​​light formed when the light of the gems gathered together.

After realizing this, the shock in their hearts did not diminish, but became even stronger. When they looked at those towers again, they had all kinds of strange associations, as if their majestic figures were actually ancient giants holding torches, wading across a dark ocean, about to cross the sea to find a new home; or they were lighthouses that stood tall in the storm, guiding the cruise ships back to the land with their unquenchable flames.

If there were a thousand towers, there would be a thousand giants holding torches, and the sound of their trekking across the sea would be louder than the waves; there would also be a thousand lighthouses burning with flames, and the boiling hot smoke would be enough to evaporate a terrible storm and turn the coastline into the edge of a volcano... But are there really a thousand towers here? It is impossible to count them, and it may not be enough, but it may also be far more than this number, because the mutual refraction of starlight will make people lose the definition of number and even confuse the cognition of individuals. Who can know whether the star they just counted is the reflection of another star?

"so beautiful."

Avella murmured, repeating what she had just said. But behind the two identical compliments, there might be different feelings hidden.

"It's really beautiful." Alice was not stingy with her praise for this CG that was good enough to be screenshotted and used as wallpaper. After praising it, she changed the subject: "But this is not important. What's important is where is the BOSS?"

Lingge didn't find the BOSS, so he couldn't answer her question.

The two people's current perspective is limited to the scene that Olvera sees. If Olvera does not change her perspective, they will not be able to see more.

But the princess is still staring at the sea of ​​​​gemstone light in the sky, in a daze, as if she is in no mood to look for the BOSS.

Alice urged him, "Don't look at Olvera. Although she is really pretty, you should have seen enough. Fighting the boss is the most important thing now."

"No, Alice..."

"What's not to like? What could be more important than beating the boss? If you really think it's pretty, I'll send you a screenshot later... Ugh, can I draw it for you? I've loved drawing since I was a kid, and my drawings are really pretty. Everyone calls me Little Van Gogh."

"That's not the question, Alice."

"What's the problem?"

"Well, that star...is it going to fall down?"

"Eh!?"

　Give me some meow
　　
　
(End of this chapter)