Alice in the Land of Steam

Chapter 445: One step faster than disaster?

Nevile suspected that Leticia had lost too many memories in her last rebirth, so much so that she even forgot that she was a noble vampire. She had to confirm again and again: "Are you kidding, Leticia?"

"No." The girl said dejectedly, "I really can't fly anymore."

The bat wings behind her moved and flapped vigorously a few times, but the whole person was still rooted to the ground, motionless. Nevi pressed her forehead and said helplessly: "There is no other way, then you get on my back and I will take you down."

When the girl heard this, her expression became even more depressed: "No, grandma."

"why?"

“Because this is – a limitation of the gameplay.” Leticia answered using the term she learned from Alice.

"Gameplay?" Obviously, it sounded very confusing to Nevile: "What is that?"

"I'm not sure, but it's... a negative effect of a magical spell called game. It makes me unable to fly, and I can't be carried by others to fly, grandma."

Nevile suddenly realized that although she had never heard of any game magic, it made sense.

For the girl, memories always go back to the past. Everything she has ever gained in life, whether happy or sad, happy or painful, will eventually be returned to time. However, there is only one person who is special, and that is herself. No matter how many times she is reborn, she has never forgotten the cold rain, the fishy smell of the soil, and the gradually blurred scene in the rainstorm. She will always instinctively hide behind herself, and look at this world that is so strange but so familiar to her with a vigilant and distant look.

Because this was a promise made a long time ago.

Strong power often comes with risks. Whether it is magic or holy relics, you need to pay a corresponding price to use it, but sometimes it is magic power, and sometimes it is something more essential. She was very confused before. With Leticia's strength, how could she break through the blockades and sneak into the castle without being discovered by the two sides in fierce fighting? She even killed Berlefa by surprise. Although that guy is a fool, blindly arrogant and disgusting, he is not weak, otherwise he would not be the leader of the Valenhild family. Leticia was able to kill him with a fatal blow in a sneak attack, leaving him with no chance to fight back... If the price to pay for such a powerful power is only the inability to fly, Nevi'er believes that there are many people in the world who are willing to accept it.

"Since you can't fly," Nevile said, "let's leave through the main gate."

Nevi was stunned. For a moment, many images flashed through her mind, and her memory went back to that rainy afternoon when she picked up a lonely girl in the heavy rain. From then on, she got the only warmth that could comfort her heart. In the first half of her life, her world was gloomy, but it was only after she met the girl that it was dyed with colorful colors. She took her across mountains and rivers, across plains and valleys, and witnessed wars and death. After a miracle of resurrection from the dead, she firmly believed that the two would always accompany each other and spend a long period of time about love, loneliness, and loneliness of love.

“Leticia…”

However, this does not seem to be a good thing for the current situation.

Nevile looked at the girl in front of her worriedly: "You don't have to force yourself."

"This is not forced, grandma." Leticia also looked at her relatives in front of her, her expression had never been so serious, and she said word by word: "Please believe me, I will definitely, definitely, definitely come back to you safely!"

"No!" Leticia refused flatly. She stared at the explosion countdown in the prompt box, which was ticking away. There was only less than half a minute left. She whispered, "We are running out of time, grandma. You go first. I have a way to leave here!"

Sometimes, Nevile even wondered if the rain had been falling in the girl's heart, repeating all the lonely scenes, until one day a pair of hands held her in a warm embrace, and then it would stop.

In those familiar scenes, in the vague memories, in the future that I want to foresee... Have you ever thought that one day the girl who needs to hide behind you to face the world will actually stand up bravely and tell her in a clear and firm tone, I will come back to you.

It seems that in this journey back to the past, memories are always abandoned, but some things are preserved. She reached out and gently touched Leticia's silver hair, saying with emotion: "You have grown up, Leticia."

"Eh?"

The girl blinked, and before she could react, Nevile turned around and said, "I'll wait for you downstairs."

Then it spread its bat wings and leaped over the edge of the cliff. Its figure was like a streak of light in the dark night, gracefully moving through the thick and gloomy fog and soon disappeared.

Although she didn't know why, she was praised by her grandmother. Leticia touched the place where her grandmother had just touched and giggled. It was not until Metien reminded her in her mind that time was running out that she came to her senses and realized that now was not the time to indulge in complacency.

She stood at the edge of the cliff and took a deep breath, letting her nervous heartbeat gradually calm down. Then she stuck her head out and looked at the bottomless darkness below. Although she thought she had made enough mental preparations, she was still a little scared: "Are you sure it's okay, Alice?"

"No problem, no problem. Just jump. I've never heard of an assassin who died from falling." Alice said carelessly, "Besides, what else can you do if you don't jump? Are you going to wait here for the castle to explode? There's not much time left. You should make a decision soon...ah!"

She suddenly screamed, but no one blamed her for her sudden reaction because everyone was also startled.

The countdown in the prompt box had unknowingly come to an end, and the commander of the Balance of Order issued the order to blast without hesitation when the time was up. Along with a terrifying roar from the inside of the castle, dazzling flames shot up into the sky, illuminating the dark night. The century-old Froze Castle trembled violently at the sound of the explosion, and then began to disintegrate with the explosion point as the center, which was difficult to contain by human power, just like the mud castle on the beach was quickly dispersed by a storm, or like the weathered and fog-eroded limestone was washed and shattered in a rainstorm. The impact of the explosion instantly broke countless heavy and dark supporting columns. The ancient spire lost its support and quickly broke and collapsed. The sky was full of bricks and stones mixed with mud and sand, pouring down from the sky like a waterfall. All the bell towers, high walls and towers were collapsing. Visible hot air waves roared through every room in the corridor and courtyard on the ground, blowing the solid stone walls and luxurious interior decorations high into the sky, uprooting the lush weeds and dead trees in the garden, leaving behind ugly pits.

In the cemetery that Leticia had just left, countless mud, sand, and bricks fell from the sky, quickly burying the gray and pale tombstones, and even buried the open-air tomb at the exit of the secret room, raising an ugly mud mound. A large group of crows living in the cemetery were startled by the explosion and flew towards the night sky stained by blood-red moonlight, like a large dark cloud covering the head, making noisy and hoarse strange cries, which was creepy.

There were explosions and collapsed buildings everywhere. People who didn't have time to escape were buried in the ruins and cried miserably, but were soon covered by the rumbling walls and bricks until the sound disappeared completely. Even the ground underfoot was shaking and groaning under the heavy load, making people think that this terrifying explosion had spread to the inside of the cliff and was about to completely destroy this majestic statue created by nature, breaking it apart from the center.

Leticia was dumbfounded as she watched this scene, as if she had witnessed the end of destruction with her own eyes. Alice in her mind was even more shocked: "What the hell did the people from the cult detonate? Can an ordinary bomb have such power?"

But now is not the time to feel sentimental. The explosion is spreading rapidly. The collapsed buildings, howling air waves and terrifying flames have not spared this remote cliff. They are even spreading to every corner of the high cliff, burying everything in soil and mud, fire and ruins, to prove how great their power is.

Leticia turned her head and stared at the bottomless darkness below the cliff, gritting her teeth.

"What are you waiting for, Leticia?" A cold voice came from my ear. It seemed to be the young man named Lingge who was speaking. He rarely spoke and gave people an inconspicuous feeling, but for some reason, he seemed extremely firm at this moment and could not be questioned: "Jump!"

As soon as she finished speaking, Leticia jumped up as if driven by instinct, not by careful consideration. She opened her arms in the sky and jumped into the diffuse mist in an elegant posture like a bird spreading its wings, falling rapidly to the ground. She felt the wind passing through both sides of her cheeks, but it did not hurt. Instead, it was like an invisible palm, warm and touching her. Gradually, she felt that she was integrated with them. At the same time, the figure of a young man flashed behind her, falling down in the same posture, and their bodies gradually overlapped.

[Leap of Faith: During the fall, you have 30 seconds to think about what your faith is. Every assassin master has come up with a different answer, but the only thing that remains unchanged is how much you love your faith and are willing to sacrifice your life for it.]

The wind howled as he fell. Behind him, the explosion and collapse of the castle continued as if it would never end. The ruins of the building buried all traces and figures, and the raging flames engulfed all the blood and corpses. But no matter the disintegrating ruins of the building, the blazing flames, or the terrifying howling air waves, they could not catch up with the two figures leaping into the darkness.

Because assassins are always one step faster than destruction and death.

　Give me some meow
　　
　
(End of this chapter)