Alice in the Land of Steam

Chapter 453: Are you afraid of the fangs of fate?

It is said that people always feel fear suddenly at a certain moment. That feeling comes for no reason and you can't find any signs. Try to understand it as an instinctive rejection of loneliness, but it will strike even in the busiest places; or regard it as despair of this cruel world, but it will often linger in warm dreams. Therefore, in the end, what cannot be found and grasped can only be explained by fate.

Saint Charia ran in the dark forest, her footsteps trampling on the soft swamp, her breath rumbling in the damp mist. She was in the middle of the team, with Leticia, Metien, Shemi and Alice in front of her, and Linger and Nevi holding Olvera in the back. Logically, this was a position that would make people feel at ease, but fear still came without warning, like fate surrounded her.

Once again she saw the great golden net spread out in the sky above her head, and once again she remembered the words of the old Moriah wizard who had baptized her with blood. He had said to her: "The fate of the world is entangled in a great net, and all things exist in that net, just as the stars are arranged in the night sky. Some things are small and insignificant, so they are dust and gravel; while others are huge and inseparable, so they are stones and fruits. When stones and fruits fall into the net, the weight will cause a part of the net to dent... What will happen next, Saint Shalia?"

"They will be attracted." The girl remembered that this was what she should have answered at the beginning: "Dust and gravel will be attracted by the pits created by stones and fruits, and will fall into them involuntarily."

Because this is the law of the world, the law of matter.

"Yes." The old wizard smiled slightly and said, "So although some people do not believe in fate, but believe in their own will; and some people believe in fate too much and leave everything to fate. But you have to remember, Saint Xia Liya, when you realize that you are being attracted to something, that is your destiny."

So tonight, Saint Shalia once again met her destiny.

But she was terrified of this fate.

This is a very ironic thing. Ever since the old wizard of Moria was baptized with blood and passed on his knowledge and experience, the shepherdess has been able to see those lines and know what state they are in and what kind of development they will have. She saw the lines of the trees spiraling up around the branches and leaves. They will reach a certain peak after years of accumulation and growth, and will only live to be strong and wither from then on; she saw the lines of the rocks draw endless tracks and finally go deep into the ground. She knew that it would be buried in the soil at a distant moment, and may become part of the continental shelf or volcano in the future; she also saw that all the lines of life were straight forward, as if there would be no bending moment, which implied that the more their bodies suffered, the tougher their souls would be. The process of survival is the process of constantly tempering oneself until a strong will like steel is forged... However, she could not see her own line, what it looked like, and which direction it would go.

The girl turned around, and Ling'er's heart skipped a beat, because it was the first time he saw such undisguised fragility and confusion on her face. She said in a tone that sounded more like a plea than a negotiation: "Let's not go any further, okay, Ling'er?"

"why?"

She actually knew nothing about herself.

Seeing Saint Xia Liya stopped where she was, Ling Ge couldn't help but frowned: "What's wrong, Saint Xia Liya?"

Olvera, who was held in his arms with her arms around the young man's neck, also looked at her sister with a puzzled look, thinking that she seemed a little strange.

She suddenly didn't want to go forward anymore, and her steps slowly stopped, because she finally understood what made her so scared: if she went forward, she would know who she really was.

"Because..." She was silent for a moment, her eyes suddenly avoided the young man's gaze, and she said softly: "Sorry, I don't know."

Was it the young girl Wang Quan? Was it Linger's companion? Was it Olvera's sister? Or was it a memory left by an old Moriya wizard many years ago? Or even a ghost from the past, lingering around. She remembered that before she left the apple orchard, the tall apple trees withered one after another, and small creatures such as spiders, lizards and rabbits crashed into the tree trunks and died, their bodies buried by the yellow leaves. Could it be that their thoughts before death condensed into herself, which made this girl, who was always separated from the world by a window, break the fragile glass barrier for the first time and touch an unknown mysterious world?

Lingge was speechless for a moment, not knowing how to answer. He sensed something from Saint Xia Liya's abnormal attitude, but his premonition did not give him any clues. Aoweila looked at Lingge on the left and Saint Xia Liya on the right. She timidly lowered her voice and said, "How about I run down and Lingge, you hold Sister Saint Xia Liya?"

This is obviously not the reason.

Lingge felt helpless. He had never figured out what the girls around him were thinking, or he simply had no way of understanding it. Except for Metien, it seemed that everyone's mood was equally complicated. They were all confused, timid, sensitive and suspicious, softer and more fragile than camellia petals. What should he say at this time? Should he warn her in a stern tone that it was just her illusion, or simply comfort her? Even he was a little at a loss. At this time, Nevelle had caught up with them. Seeing that they were actually staying there to chat, without any sense of crisis, she couldn't help but ask, "What are you doing? Why don't you run..."

She stopped talking halfway because she found that the people running in front of her had also stopped and turned around to run back at a faster speed. Alice was waving her hands and shouting something while running. Nevile caught the sound coming from the wind with her keen hearing and her face changed instantly.

Because what Alice shouted was: "Run! It's a trap!"

But it's too late.

Suddenly, a rustling sound was heard in the originally peaceful forest. Then, a team of fully armed magic knights emerged from the lush vegetation, surrounded the group in all directions, raised their cold and empty gun barrels, and aimed at the enemies who stepped into the trap. The neat clicking sound of the magic guns when they were reloaded was creepy. They were also equipped with "magic optical camouflage" that could isolate magic reactions and create illusions. When they came out of the forest, they seemed to have grown here naturally. No wonder I didn't notice anything unusual just now, Nevelle thought with an unpleasant face.

At the same time, the fog above was also broken, and silver-white figures fell from the sky like flying birds. The fixed wing system behind them spewed out star-blue flames, drawing a dazzling trajectory in the dim night, which also symbolized the trajectory of death. These two-person-high mechanical soldiers may be small toys in front of Gundaruf, not worth mentioning, but in front of normal people, they have a solemn sense of oppression, and the thick gun barrels mounted on the shoulders block every inch of space in the sky, giving people a feeling of being insurmountable.

Alice ran back to her companions breathlessly, ignoring the enemy who was close at hand, and shouted: "It's over, it's a trap, we fell into it!"

As long as you are not blind, you can still see this.

Lingge put down Ovilla in his arms and pulled Metien, who also ran back breathlessly, behind him. The little elf Shemi lay on the girl's head and trembled, as if he couldn't wait to shrink himself under those pink hair; Nevi'er also pulled Leticia behind him and protected her tightly. This tacit move made the two of them raise their heads and look at each other. They saw a kind of surprise and recognition in each other's eyes.

But now is not the time to exchange parenting experiences. The cold barrels of guns and cannons are right in front of us, and may at any time pour out artillery fire that symbolizes destruction and death. Let's think about how to get out of this situation first.

Surrounded by teams of silent magic knights and the silver-white mechanical soldiers in the sky, everyone slowly gathered together and formed a circle. The space was so tight that one could even feel the muscles of the people next to them tense up and their breathing slowed down a lot, as if they were worried that too much noise would stimulate these sensitive rabid dogs and make them attack recklessly.

In fact, there is no need to worry about this.

Because the person who commanded the mad dogs to set the trap was nearby.

"It looks like our distinguished guest has arrived." A leisurely voice came from the higher slopes. "I wonder if you are satisfied with our warm welcome?"

at the same time.

Saint Shalia sighed silently.

Sure enough, fate always works like this. A sad thought came to her mind: it only shows its fangs when people are least prepared.

　Give me some meow
　　
　
(End of this chapter)