Alice in the Land of Steam

Chapter 775 Witness the true darkness?

Light filled the temple.

They were like tides, like mist, like an ocean formed by countless particles coming together, occupying every inch of space visible to the naked eye, coating the benches, stone pillars, candlesticks, altars and even broken statues that had long been decayed after thousands of years of burial with a layer of sacred platinum. The darkest corners were cleansed, the most distant dust was illuminated, and at this moment, in this hall, nothing else existed except the light.

The one who restored the glory of the ancient temple was a Valkyrie who soared in the sky and overlooked all living things. She held a sword in one hand and raised a dazzling light like the sun in the other hand, staring at the black-haired girl on the ground with indifferent eyes. Just a minute ago, she was still a human being, a kind and weak nun who adhered to her own beliefs. However, a minute later, Carabosse could no longer see the agility or sensitivity of a human being in her eyes, only the unchanging solemnity and pure holiness. Compared with the broken and damaged statue of the God of All Spirits behind her, she seemed more qualified to stand on this altar and be worshipped and admired by all people.

The Holy Son of the Lord, Gabrielvia, this is what she calls herself, and perhaps it is also another soul liberated from her soul.

Carabos's figure became blurred in the flooding ocean of light, and it seemed that she might be drowned by the light and disappear at any time. But she didn't care about the changes in herself, and didn't seem to notice the erosion of her body and soul by the light. Instead, she slowly raised her head, stared at the Valkyrie flying in the sky, and said in her usual calm tone: "I heard a long time ago that the followers of the True Spirit Sect worship a soul named Gabriel, believing that he is the messenger of the Three Saints, who will appear when the world falls into catastrophe, judge the evil, redeem the good, and bring peace and rebirth to all living beings in the world. But this soul is not tangible, and he cannot directly interfere in the world, so he needs another pious soul as a carrier to entrust his power and faith."

"Such a carrier is called a Holy Son. The True Spirit Sect has inherited the Holy Son throughout the generations. Under their protection, the believers who followed the Ring of Human Reason survived crisis after crisis, including two Dark Ages and a Steam Holy War. In this generation, the Holy Son is named Livia. After combining with Gabriel, the messenger of the Trinity, she became you—"

"The Holy Son of the Lord, Gabrielvia."

She raised her eyebrows slightly, and even such a movement seemed elegant and calm. "I'm right, right? Although I have been carrying out missions in the outer universe and rarely return to the ground, I have already read the information about this part in detail before coming here. I also asked my colleagues in the magic research institute. They are all very interested in this special power. They want to know what the so-called Gabriel is, and they want to know more about how two souls can coexist as one and merge with each other at special moments."

From the perspective of scientific researchers, it is normal to have similar questions, but to the other party, such words may be more like provocation or blasphemy.

The majestic and solemn voice seemed to sound from all directions at the same time, colliding with the ubiquitous light and immediately arousing a mighty echo.

So, naturally, he also saw the fleeting stream of light, but it was not light, but the sword of light in the hands of the Holy Son Gabrielvia, like a golden lightning that split open the chaotic world, passing through the gaps between breathing and thinking, and stabbing at Carabosse's heart at a very fast speed. It merged into the sea of ​​light that permeated the battlefield, carrying the momentum of an entire ocean. Infinite light, endless light, and infinite light followed behind the sword, like a surging tide, sweeping across the sky and the earth, impacting the floor and ceiling of the temple, making the walls and domes that had been buried for thousands of years but always kept intact also shaken, so that tiny cracks extended, and all matter was about to tear apart.

Amid the sound of the surging tide, He slowly loosened His left hand, and suddenly a stream of light passed through Carabosse's eyes, like a small and insignificant fragment of time and space, flowing upstream in a short gap where she couldn't even breathe completely, tracing back to the end of the light. At this moment, Carabosse's sight seemed to fall into a strange and indescribable state, and the passage of everything in her eyes became extremely slow: whether it was the flow of blood in her body or the surging tide of light in front of her eyes, they were all compressed into an extremely long and distant time, as if they had not changed their form for thousands of years.

The Sword of Glory separated the chaos of the universe and created a strict order for certain rules. So above the sword, there is light, warmth, and life, while below the sword, there is darkness, cold, and death. All the concepts that have been contradictory and intertwined since the beginning will be opened up by this sword, because it is derived from the purest light and is a force that is both monotonous and complex, overlapping and splitting.

Anyone who comes to face this glorious sword that defines the rules will be unable to resist its divine power and will be pierced through the heart without any resistance. They will then be swallowed up by the surging and howling infinite light, endless light, and even infinite light, and drowned in that entire ocean of light. Their bodies will be evaporated and melted by the scorching light, and their souls will be frozen by the cold light. They will be lost forever in the gap between the scorching and the cold, just like returning to the original pure light. Since there is no thing other than light, there is naturally no thought or consciousness.

The Son of God in heaven looked at her deeply and said, "Neither happy nor angry, neither increasing nor decreasing, not disturbed by external things, not troubled by internal feelings, the greatest is called God, the highest is called Holy, the greatest and highest is Holy."

"Be careful what you say, human."

Everything near the residual image, whether it was the ceiling and floor built of bricks and stones, or the ancient sacred altar and the broken and damaged statue of the God of All Spirits, gradually disintegrated into countless golden particles under the scouring of the tide of light, floating down like sand, as if blending into the ocean and becoming the same pure light. Only the residual image of the girl was not affected. Gabrielvia couldn't even see through its current state. It seemed real and could be seen by the naked eye; it seemed illusory and could not be captured by the senses. It was between reality and illusion, as if it existed nowhere, but it existed nowhere...darkness.

"I will tell you about your conceit after the battle." The Son of God turned around, his golden eyes dyed like the sun flickered slightly: "It's just the first sword."

Carabosse did not feel panicked or afraid, nor did she even try to hide. She stood there, silently watching the infinite light, endless light, and infinite light sweeping in, hitting the void and making the sound of surging tides. The light separated the void above her head and the ground beneath her feet in the instant it passed. The void was bright and warm power, and the underground was dark and cold. The two were engaged in an endless confrontation in a fierce conflict and contradiction, causing the ancient temple to tremble as if it was about to collapse.

"Oh?" Carabosse asked with interest, "What is the sacred realm?"

Watching the figure of the black-haired girl being swallowed by the overflowing light in an instant, the Son of Heaven, Gabrielvia, raised her eyebrows slightly, and a moving look flashed across her gorgeous and noble face: He did not sense the breath of Carabosse, she was neither injured nor dead, but disappeared. As for the figure who was still motionless and pierced through the heart by the Sword of Glory, it was just a residual image. She was fixed there, enduring the harsh scour of the tide of light, as if retaining a past image, reminding others what kind of battle had taken place here a few seconds ago.

Karabos smiled and said, "I forgot that you, the True Spirit Sect, all follow the doctrine of the Ring of Human Reason, which is different from the general animist believers. Of course, in my personal opinion, what you do is much more dangerous than those believers who long for the return of the Holy Spirit."

“Where there is light, there is darkness.”

Behind Gabrielvia, Carabosse's voice came, her tone calm and unhurried: "Light and darkness coexist and invade each other. If the light is pure enough, it may be able to swallow up the darkness, but at present, your power has not reached that level."

"It sounds even more boring than Freud's psychology - I agree that people should control their emotions, but if they control it to this extent, it is not self-restraint, but complete bondage." Karaboss commented: "It's like drawing a circle and trapping yourself in it."

Gabrielvia, who had been silent all this time, finally spoke. Her voice was neutral, with both the male bravery and domineering, like the messenger of heaven who brought down judgment in the oracle book, and the female gentleness and mercy, like the thousands of saints who saved the world in religious stories. But apart from that, the strongest tone that Carabosse heard was the divine majesty and indifference that did not belong to humans: "Respect the knowledge you don't know, think carefully, but don't cross the line. This is the duty of being a son of man. Let me tell you: the soul of all living beings has two bodies, one is the self, and the other is the self. The self pursues life, while the self pursues everything outside of life. Only by restraining the self and understanding the self can people reach a sacred state."

Gabrielvia did not respond, but silently raised the cross sword in her hand. The ring on the hilt was like a corona, and a round of incandescent flames burned on it, drawing all the surrounding light to His side, condensing into a brilliant corona cross sword. They all turned around and pointed the shining blades at the black-haired girl on the ground. He said coldly: "In this case, the only way is to fight, human."

"Because human wisdom has its limits." Gabrielvia's tone remained calm, just as He had said just now, neither happy nor sad, neither increasing nor decreasing: "If you blindly pursue things outside the circle, you will only violate taboos and bring greater disasters."

He raised his hand, and the second Corona Cross Sword fell into his hand, with the same incandescent divine fire burning on the hilt as before.

“This is the second sword.”

He said indifferently: "How many swords can you hold out, human?" The voice aroused a huge echo in the overflowing ocean. The next moment, the shining sword in His hand swept past like thunder, and in Karaboss's sight, a series of platinum-colored thunders condensed to the purest extreme burst out. The thunders connected into one and plowed past, like a huge light snake twisting its body and opening its huge mouth, wanting to completely devour the tiny figure.

The Holy Son Gabrielvia watched this scene with deep eyes. When the light snake bit Carabosse's figure and countless platinum-colored thunders crackled and devoured it, He raised his hand again, and the third Corona Cross Sword fell into His hand. He threw it behind him without looking back. The sword light suddenly passed through the gap between time and space, and opened up a straight track in the sea of ​​light. Countless lights, like separated waves, retreated along this track and stacked up, as if repelled by a great will, forming two insurmountable walls, stretching inside and outside the temple and going straight through the dome.

As soon as Carabosse appeared there, she was pierced by the sword, but again, no blood flowed, no wounds appeared, and even her clothes were not torn. The shining Corona Cross Sword nailed the girl's body, but it was more like freezing the afterimage of a second ago, and could not lock the position of the main body.

Gabrielvia frowned deeply: "How long do you want to escape, human?"

This battle was called a battle, but from beginning to end, it was only He who fought. This was undoubtedly a huge shame for a noble and proud soul: If He was unwilling to fight in an upright manner, why did He appear here? If He had the power to fight against me, why did He only know how to escape?

"That's true." Carabosse's voice came from above. Gabrielvia looked up and saw the figure of the black-haired girl under the ceiling that had been assimilated into the dome of light. The two of them reversed their positions, and she looked down at him calmly: "I have roughly figured out your level, and the battle is almost over. But before that, please try to defeat me with your strongest attack, because I will make you admit defeat with all your heart."

"Insanity."

The corners of Carabosse's mouth curved into an elegant arc. "But I said this after I experienced your strength myself, and you actually don't know whether I have the power to defeat you, but you have arbitrarily assumed that I don't. From this point of view, who is more arrogant?"

“…” Gabrielvia was silent for a while. After a while, she slowly raised her hand, but it was her right hand. On her flawless palm, there was a blazing golden halo, shining as brightly as the sun in the sky. “He” said in a deep voice: “In that case, we will know after a try.”

As soon as he finished speaking, the Son of God stretched out his other hand, reached into the light it released, and gently grasped something.

It was the hilt of a sword, a trail of light, or even the ember of a fire.

Gabrielvia grabbed it, gripped the hilt, pulled out the trail, rekindled the embers, and countless meteors burning with red flames flew out from the tiny sun, falling to the ground one after another, with their tails dragging straight and long. Carabos, who witnessed this scene, suddenly remembered the scene of the meteor shower she saw on the alien philosopher passing through the atmosphere and falling to the earth.

But it was not a meteor, but the edge of a sword. Each meteor was a burning sword. The myriad rays of light were myriad divine swords, and the sword held in Gabrielvia's hand was the greatest and most holy divine sword. It swept across under the wielding of the Son of God, and the blade emitted a magnificent sword light. It was white and golden, blazing and bright, extending forward inch by inch until it stretched into a hundred-kilometer-long Sun Sword. The white-gold blade even pierced the outer wall of the Great Hermitage, but did not cause any damage. Instead, it passed through as if it were an illusion, making people feel that this divine sword was actually essentially different from this world, and the two could not affect each other.

"Since ancient times, light came first and then everything. The light of nature shaped life, and the light of human reason shaped civilization. Therefore, the name of this sword is--"

The Holy Son Gabrielvia had a solemn expression on her face, and she whispered the true name of this great power: "Original Divine Light Sword."

He swung his sword down without hesitation, and the sword in his hand flashed in extreme brilliance. The hundreds of kilometers long original divine sword passed through the ruins of the All Saints Gospel Monastery, swept across, and lightly passed over Carabosse's body, smearing a brilliant golden color on the deep black skirt. At the same time, it also passed over the entire underground ruins outside the ruins, passed over the battlefield where people were still fighting, and passed through the eyes of the red monk Mufasa, making him sigh in amazement: "How beautiful, how magnificent."

pity.

Then came a feeling of irreparable regret, and he sighed softly.

……

"pity."

In the temple, facing the sharp edge of the Primordial Divine Light Sword, Carabos did not turn into a residual image to dodge like before, but gently raised his hand and held the falling sword blade with his flawless white palm. The huge sword blade, as big as a mountain, was held by a seemingly weak palm, not to mention how powerful the sword blade was, it was difficult to move forward. The Holy Son Gabrielvia, who witnessed this scene, suddenly contracted her pupils, and for the first time, a look of loss of composure appeared on her face: "How... is it possible!?"

"Nothing is impossible. Haven't you ever realized?" Carabosse gave him a cold but polite smile: "There is a fatal flaw in my power."

"Let me tell you what you are missing."

"If you are the soul of light, then I am the embodiment of darkness."

Caraboss gently squeezed the seemingly indestructible and invincible original divine sword, which was easily crushed. The sword tip shattered into countless fragments of light, which fell one after another under the stunned gaze of the Holy Son Gabrielvia, as if a dazzling rain of light had fallen. In the deepest part of the rain curtain, where the ocean of light was the most flooded and the tide was turbulent, the black-haired and black-eyed girl slowly closed her eyes, letting everything fall into darkness.

Light is something that can only be seen when one opens one's eyes, but before gaining vision, all living beings were immersed in the thick and indissoluble darkness. In other words, darkness is a concept that was born earlier than light.

"Black moon, black night, darkness, this is the eternal destination of all living things."

The deep and profound tone echoed in every corner of the underground world: "In the endless wild night, the life that cannot rest, glimpse the stars and the moon above your head, and feel the silence and tranquility of your soul."

She gently pressed the index and middle fingers of her left hand on her tightly closed eyelids and said in a low voice: "Death Star, Dark Apocalypse."

　Give me some meow
　　
　
(End of this chapter)