Alice in the Land of Steam

Chapter 190 Will the so-called counterattack begin at this moment?

When Olvera opened her eyes again, she saw an ancient and majestic tree. It was so tall that it seemed to extend to the end of the universe. Its rough trunk, covered with bumps and holes, stood in the center of the dark world. Perhaps it would take a thousand giants to reach out and hug it to measure its waistline. There was no leaf on the treetop that blocked out the sun. Instead, it was gray and withered, like countless pale huge bone claws, grabbing the power of despair from the dark night sky with resentment and unwilling will.

Looking from far away, the place is surrounded by a gloomy deathly aura, and the black earth stretches out like a floating ocean. Life is extinguished, and rotten bone trees stretch out their branches. At the end of each gloomy and heavy branch, there is an evil dew drop hanging down, like decayed acid rain, which will devour and melt existing matter in an instant.

It is the tree of death in the original legend that stands in the center of the underworld and supports the infinite darkness. Its withering, its silence, its corruption, just like the world itself, shows no hope.

Ovilla stood under the tree, her figure as small as an ant looking up at the skyscrapers. The long, far distance in between was perhaps an abyss that even the mind could not cross. The lantern trembled and swayed at her waist, and the flame it released was weak and unstable, unable to withstand a single breath of the cold wind under the tree.

The chill of death began to erode the world. The bone-chilling cold made the princess shiver. She could hear the sharp screams and boiling cries of ghosts from time to time. The ground beneath her feet seemed to have its own consciousness. Every grain of black sand was wriggling, and every drop of dark water was flowing. It could reach hundreds of thousands of miles away, forming a monotonous and numb wall, trapping a loneliness that could destroy humanity.

"what is that?"

Olvera murmured, not daring to believe her eyes, because she always felt that the tree she saw now was too similar to the tree she saw in her memory, except for the size.

Some people were a tree in their previous life.

"As you can see, this is the boss of this floor." Alice's voice came to my ears. It was only a few minutes since I last heard her, but it felt like I hadn't heard her for a long time. "She is also the culprit that caused you to be lost in memories as soon as you entered the room."

After a brief pause, she tutted again: "But, that was a really cool thing you said, Olvera - give me back all my companions! Come on, have you seen EVA!? People call him Little Shinji?"

As she spoke, the other party's information automatically appeared in the princess's eyes:
[Shadow of the Ruler - Lonely Memory: HP2000/2000, a phantom split from the legendary ruling beast that guards the castle, perhaps symbolizing a memory from the past. She will test the will of the challenger, and under her chanting of ravings, the fragile will indulge in eternal illusions. Only by seeing the truth with a firm will can you gain her recognition. Successful defeat will open the way to the second-level corridor and weaken the strength of the ruling beast. The giant tree is good at using words to shake the enemy and create illusions to confuse the enemy. Once trapped in the illusion she created, if you don't have the most determined will, it will be difficult to return to reality and will become bait for the corrosive beast she raises. No weak damage type, weak attributes are thunder and fire, no shield coverage. ]

Avella blushed a little at what she said, and lowered her head silently without any response.

Perhaps her ugly appearance had some of the princess's memories, but Olvera would never admit that the evil monster in front of her was the gentle and elegant teacher she imagined. So she took a step forward and asked sternly, "Anyone can say high-sounding words, but the warmth you talk about is nothing more than distorting people's emotions and trapping them in a cage of darkness and silence! What's the meaning of companionship obtained in that way? It's even more sad than the loneliness that can never be escaped!"

"Princess of Bemang, you had the opportunity to escape the loneliness of your past life and obtain the warmth you always dreamed of. However, you gave it all up... What a foolish choice."

A muddy, hoarse, and sharp voice echoed the young man's words. Then, everyone saw that on the rough and uneven surface of the gray-white ancient tree's trunk, the hideous bone tumors left over from the years gradually twisted into an ugly face. The scarlet fire was like burning blood, and it was fixed on the princess's face from a distance: "The so-called illusion is nothing more than the self-perception of the living. If you don't intend to fall into reality, then the illusion can also accommodate the eternal soul."

Alice followed up with, "So we watched a plot animation for more than ten minutes. It was much longer than before."

"So, what I saw before was all an illusion?" After reading the introduction of the BOSS, Ovira finally understood where that strange feeling came from.

"That's right." Ling'er's voice came from my ear: "She is a cunning enemy. Perhaps she started to create an illusion before you entered the room, so you didn't notice anything."

"exactly--"

Because, although loneliness cannot be escaped, it can be temporarily eliminated through encounters with people; but people who indulge in illusory dreams may never wake up in their entire lives.

Lingge calmly reminded him, "If you want to chat, you can leave it for later. Now is not the time to relax. You have only broken free from the opponent's illusion, and you have not defeated the enemy yet."

“I will never accept that kind of ending!” The girl raised the holy sword in her hand. The sacred golden silk thread woven patterns were as delicate and intricate as an ancient wind blowing, making her sleeves and skirt flutter. The smooth curves were like a dazzling and holy cloak, with an awe-inspiring and inviolable will.

"In that case, I'm sorry."

The ugly human face on the bone tree slowly opened its huge mouth, and the corner of its mouth suddenly split and extended, as if a crack had been torn through the surface of the tree trunk. Grayish-white mist gradually spit out from the bloody mouth that was as dark as the abyss, accompanied by a hoarse and sharp curse: "Foolish people who choose loneliness, bear the same price." The gloomy and heavy death air spread, like a gray ocean pressing on every corner of the sight. From time to time, dark and terrifying shadows swam through the depths of the ocean. The huge tail made up of white bones swept across the surface of the rotten tree trunk, making a low and noisy sound. It was not limited to the space visible to the naked eye, but could be heard in the black tide and high walls hundreds of thousands of miles away. These sounds like the roar of a giant could be heard.

As the death fog spread, lead-colored rotten buds suddenly began to sprout from each branch of the gray-white bone tree, which quickly grew into corroded dead leaves, from which bloomed mournful dead flowers, which were as delicate and sad as violets. The gray mist covered heavily, and the dead flowers withered and fell, forming broken and shriveled fruits. The fruits cracked at the call of the human face on the tree trunk, and countless terrifying skeleton beasts swam out from them.

There are strange birds with sixteen pairs of pale bone wings and sixty-four inverted towers on their backs, and there are giant whales with hideous sharp teeth all over their mouths, some even piercing their backs, and no other organs except teeth. There are tattered dolls made of corpses sewn together, with rough and surging black lines, and there are giant worms with pale rings all over their bodies and countless messy steel-cast buildings growing inside their bodies... They were originally the ancient will sleeping in the dead world, and now they have been awakened by the great call, and they are rushing towards Ovilla with their fangs and claws.

The darkness of nothingness continued to make loud rumbling noises, and dozens, hundreds of deformed monsters, with their huge bodies, occupied the only sight, and wanted to destroy this tiny creature with their terrifying power. They were the most evil corrupting beasts that were raised on the souls of the weak.

“The number… is huge!”

Olvera felt that this was a bit tricky. She frowned and kept thinking in her mind, which holy weapon should she use to destroy so many enemies? The [Blue Flame Dance: Unparalleled Combo] of the Holy Sword - Broken Steel Oath, or the [Elemental Torrent] of the Holy Scripture - Elemental Ruler? Both seemed to have some limitations. Apart from that, there was...

"If you don't mind," a clear and peaceful voice came from my mind, "please use my power, Olvera."

"Baa!" The lamb echoed its master.

Is that Miss Saint Charia's voice?

Olvera was stunned for a moment. Before, for some reason, she subconsciously ignored the newly awakened Holy Lock - Fate Pendulum. It was not until Saint Shalia's reminder that she suddenly remembered it. Was this neglect based on unintentional avoidance or some kind of specious premonition?

She didn't understand, because Saint Xia Liya continued, her tone gentle, not caring that she had been ignored. She was a very good sister, and naturally would tolerate all the little mistakes of her sister: "I think if it were me now, maybe I could help you."

"Can I, Olvera?"

At the same time, Avella suddenly felt a new power surging in her body, and she subconsciously glanced at her status bar.

[Drawing strength from past memories, you gain the will to "melt loneliness." 】

【融化孤独：使你的全部属性值提高至基础值的300%；使你的看破操作不再需要前置与冷却时间；使你的ATP槽增涨速度提高100%；使你在受到敌人攻击时获得1秒的无敌时间；使你每次成功看破后获得100%的加速效果；该状态持续期间，你的CTP值固定为上限值。剩余持续时间：180秒。】

Olvera, current CTP: 100/100.

The princess was stunned for a moment, and then a warm smile slowly appeared on the corner of her mouth. She nodded vigorously: "Okay!"

"Then I'll leave it to you, Saint Shalia!"

“Meh!?”

"I'm counting on you too, little lamb!"

"Bah!"

　Give me some meow
　　
　
(End of this chapter)