Alice in the Land of Steam

Chapter 216 Make them all disappear?
"Do you still want to persist?"

The mysterious and majestic ruler stands above the moonlit sky. His voice is as hollow and indifferent as the moonlight. He has a different attitude towards everything than pure creatures. The value of his existence is therefore defined: "Fighting is to gain victory, and victory is to gain meaning. The conclusion is that a battle that cannot be won is meaningless."

"Fighting a meaningless battle is equivalent to living a meaningless life."

"I see power in your eyes, but that power is too fragile and vulnerable. Some people can defy fate and pursue the meaning of fighting; while others are forced to perish and are often confused because their emotions are too empty, meaningless, worthless, incompetent, meaningless, useless, insensitive, and illogical..."

She used a series of "nothing" adjectives to deny the meaning of Olvera's continued persistence, but her tone was so matter-of-fact, as if she was not exerting verbal pressure from the enemy's standpoint, but simply stating a fact.

The wounded princess lying on the ground bit her lower lip when she heard this, feeling stunned and absurd from the bottom of her heart.

If those persistence can be summed up as "meaningless" in the other party's mind, then what is the long pain she has experienced? What is the loneliness that almost broke her down? What are the people of Beman who are powerless to resist and can only endure the dark disaster? What are the emotions that her father, mother and teacher want to convey to her across her memory?
Some questions are destined to have no answers, but even those that have no answers must be pursued. If you give up at this moment, all your past efforts will be in vain. Ovilla is very clear about this truth, so she took a step forward, stubbornly raised the holy sword in her hand, and answered with practical actions.

The moon's brilliance gathered into an endless sea of ​​silver. The solitary ruler standing in the sea of ​​moon was not angry at the princess's stubbornness. He just asked calmly: "Do you think you still have a chance of winning?"

Judging from the power she just displayed, the answer is obviously no.

"Why not?"

This is the reason for fighting, and it is also the reason why she believes she must win. It cannot be taken away by simply saying "meaningless".

"It was Alice and the others who helped me change my mind and made me realize that habit is the most terrible thing in the world because it makes some abnormal things become normal, including loneliness and many other things."

"So, about this curse."

The princess asked back, while tightening her grip on the hilt of the sword, her eyes bright: "I have never thought of giving up, because when encountering difficulties, I feel scared, escape, and then walk away. It is the easiest thing to do, but nothing can be changed. In the past, I was not mature enough. I always thought that as long as I got used to loneliness, I could adapt to this curse that made me lose many things."

"I see."

"Courage, longing, will, and the belief in fighting... these are the strengths they gave me, allowing me to escape from those false memories. Alice, Lingge, Saint Shalia, Metien, Shemi, and the lamb... they helped me selflessly, hoping that I could leave here and regain my freedom. I am very grateful for their help, and I hope that I can live up to their expectations and never let anyone down again."

"I no longer want to...get used to it."

A look of understanding seemed to emerge on the face of the ruler. She nodded slightly and said something surprising: "Then, I want to apologize to you."

“…” Avella was at a loss, not understanding why she suddenly apologized to her.

"I apologize for my previous contempt: the emotions you have, though weak, are sincere and not empty." She finally affirmed the significance of emotions to Avra, her voice floating like mist: "Courage is good, it allows you to face reality bravely and overcome suffering; yearning is good, it allows you to have aspirations and yearn for light no matter what kind of difficulties you are in; willpower is good, it allows you to resist loneliness and grow gradually in countless encounters and separations; fighting faith is also good, it allows you to understand what you are pursuing and persevere in walking your own path... They are good, of course, all good."

The girl's voice became softer and softer, as if she was recalling something. She admitted that these emotions based on memories were meaningful, but for some reason, Olvera felt even more uneasy, as if something she was afraid of was about to happen. She wanted to stop her from continuing, but it was too late.

“Those are good.”

A calm voice came: "But what if they all disappeared?"

If they all disappeared, or if they never appeared in the first place, would the reasons for fighting now still exist? Would the meaning we have now still exist? Would the fate we want to resist now become something we take for granted?

A taut string in her heart suddenly broke, making a shrill sound. The uneasy premonition finally became a reality. Olvera opened her eyes wide and shouted in horror, wanting to call out the names of her companions, but her voice seemed to be erased, so that only her mouth was opening and closing, performing a silent pantomime.

The next moment, the girl on the moon raised her left hand and gently turned over her palm, overturning everything in it. Her movements were so casual, as if she had turned the world upside down and turned back time.

The moon in the night sky suddenly dimmed. The silver light did not disappear, but it did make people feel that it had lost its original color and turned into a dead and low gray color mixed with black and white, as if mixed at the junction of light and darkness, hazy and blurred. Tiny snakes clung to the edge of the night sky, and like strands of bleak spider silk, they formed an intricate web of the mind, imprisoning a power that could destroy humanity.

The edge of the world began to shatter, and the accumulated gray fog collapsed, like a mighty tide sweeping past, swallowing up everything around it more unstoppable than the torrent of time, even submerging Ovilla's tiny figure, venting out the power of darkness.

Olvera was in the middle of a terrifying torrent. She suddenly felt terrified when she saw the deep darkness before her. However, it was not because of the suffocating feeling that made her unable to breathe, but because she saw her memories falling into an endless abyss, causing everything that had happened in the past to begin to flow back.

As the sweeping torrent roared and crashed against the ancient stone bricks, she was involuntarily swept in the direction from which she had come. When she came to her senses, she found herself in a magnificent and solemn arena. The God of War Emperor Karna, with three hands each holding a giant red-gold sword, was staring at her quietly. His majestic and sturdy body was like a mountain that would not collapse, and her cold and grim eyes revealed a bit of sympathy and compassion.

The holy sword in his hand, Oath of Broken Steel, was replaced by the holy staff, Key of Stars. Above his head was the gathering of the starry sky. Under the slowly swirling vortex of stars, bright and dazzling star spots continued to burst out, outlining the outlines of the little girl and the fairy. One of them waved the holy staff, and the other took out a huge gift box, activating the hero joint skill [Contract of the Pure One], trying to prove the truth that the strong are not always strong, and the weak are not always weak.

However, the scene froze at this moment. The sympathetic and compassionate eyes of the Martial God Emperor Karna were transmitted through the black and white portrait. The staff waved by the little girl was frozen in mid-air. The little fairy who took out the gift box seemed to be shouting something, but the sound was enveloped by a huge and silent noise, and became an empty echo... Everything became a phantom stagnant in the cracks of time and space. Even Olvera herself could not move. She could only hear a cold and indifferent voice coming from the void outside the arena: "It's meaningless."

The frozen scene instantly shattered like a mirror, splitting into countless transparent fragments, which were swept by a sudden gust of wind and flew past the princess. In the fragments of memory, the phantoms of the little girl and the goblin gradually became hazy and dissipated from bottom to top, and finally shattered into crystal stardust that drifted away with the wind. Olvera saw that at the last moment before she dissipated, the little girl holding the holy staff seemed to have a premonition of something, turned around, and spoke to her.

Her voice was destined not to reach Ovilla's ears, but her lip movements were clearly visible, so Ovilla knew what she wanted to say.

"Don't give up, Sister Olvera..."

　Give me some meow
　　
　
(End of this chapter)