Alice in the Land of Steam

Chapter 777 Only... then...?

In the dim hall, the darkness has faded, and the light no longer exists. Only the candles on the silver candlesticks are still burning sadly, releasing the light of the old times. The circles of light covering the flames are decayed and dim, quite like the dim corona after the sun goes out, giving people a feeling of uncertainty and drifting.

The Holy Son Gabrielvia leaned weakly against the wall, covering the wound on her abdomen with one hand, and looked up blankly at the high dome. Through the broken and collapsed gap on the top, she saw the darkness of the underground world. The jagged and piercing rock walls were like the dry and broken scales on the back of a black dragon, extending endlessly to the end of the eternal night, a place beyond the reach of the eyes.

Until now she still hasn't figured out when and how she was defeated. She only remembered that everything in front of her eyes turned black and white. When darkness and light intertwined, the strength in her body was gone. She was like when she was still a mortal. She lost the power to soar in the sky and overlook the world. She fell to the ground powerlessly, without even the strength to stand up. She could only lean against the wall like now, dazed.

If there was a pool of clear blood, perhaps Gabrielvia could see her current miserable appearance from it: the sacred armor was torn, revealing a pale and weak body; the silver cross sword with the corona as a ring was broken, the hilt was still held in her hand, but the blade lay silently in the dark corner, letting the dust scatter and be covered with gray haze; the wings of the light network behind her were riddled with holes, like a curtain pierced by thousands of swords, or like butterfly wings drenched in a storm, no longer able to bear the heavy weight, and could only droop limply beside her, covering her shoulders and arms... But she could not see these, because the blood flowing from the wound in her abdomen was not the normal scarlet color, but pure gold, shining to the extreme, and blazing and bright, looking like a piece of sunlight flowing on the floor, reflecting a dazzling glare.

Light is invisible, something more ethereal than thoughts and beliefs. But for some people, light is tangible, a concept with substance, just like blood flowing through blood vessels. With every breath, she feels their rhythm like tides and ups and downs like heartbeats.

Once, a long time ago, someone told Livia: "There is a great soul sleeping in your body, as great as the Virgin Mary, the Saints and the Son. If you turn your heart to light and desire justice, then He will come when you need it most, and bless you and every good person around you."

Livia believed it without a doubt and had been doing what he said for twenty years. However, the more she understood the doctrine, the closer she was to the light, and the more she became a devout believer, the less she felt the existence of that person, and even gradually forgot his voice and appearance. Who said this to her at that time? She suspected that it was the old lady who taught her to sing hymns in the choir class, and later she suspected that it was Brother Mufasa who was dedicated to the public, and it might be Lord Pancras, the oldest legend in St. Annville Cross Church who watched her grow up... But it seemed that none of them were the ones.

As the days passed, she got used to this kind of life and stopped thinking about it. She sang the hymns handed down from the canon with sincere and pious emotions in the choir, and gradually grew from a little girl whose tone was corrected by the old lady to a leader who could teach other little girls; she became a member of the Battle Sisters under the recommendation of Brother Mufasa, and later became the chief, and sometimes went to the underground world to purge those evil aliens or evil thieves; she finished reading Victor Hugo's "White Mountain Priory" and found that the prototype of the bell ringer in the book was actually around her, so she pestered old man Pancras to ask him to tell her stories from the past...

Since when did I forget that voice? And why did I suddenly remember that voice?

"What a pity." Carabosse said softly, "After all, imitations can never compare to the originals, but it's not a bad thing. At least now you look more like a human being."

For those who are not familiar with ancient history, this question may be a little difficult, but it is not the case for Livia. As the successor of the Son of God Gabriel, if she does not even know this question, she would be ashamed of her faith.

The Dark Witch quickly withdrew her gaze and asked the nun leaning against the wall, "Since you are a follower of the True Spirit Sect, then tell me, who was the first person to inherit the ideas of this sect? In other words, who was the founder of the True Spirit Sect?"

Livia was ignorant. She was just a child when she was chosen as the Son of God. She never thought about such profound questions. Her parents would not ask either, because they were the most devout believers of animism in the Seven Stars Disk Area. They were so happy that their daughter could become the Son of God of the True Spirit Sect that they were too happy. Why would they do such a thing in vain?

This sounded a bit like a test in Sunday class. Sister Livia was slightly startled. Normally, she should answer Saint Tumi, because the True Spirit Sect has always adhered to the concept of "spiritual self" and regarded the animism system as a tool for understanding the world, which is undoubtedly in line with the original intention of the saint. However, this scope is too general. If this answer is given, then those believers of the Holy Spirit Return Sect who have been committed to holding the ceremony of inviting gods and summoning the imaginary spirits can also claim that their claims are inherited from the great saint, because the two have the same source in essence.

"Actually, I shouldn't be the one to tell you this, but if the True Spirit people haven't revealed any information to you from beginning to end, then I can only reluctantly do it for them." Carabosse said, and her eyes seemed to glance outside the hall intentionally or unintentionally, where the battle was still going on, with the sound of gunfire and fighting. The Judge Mufasa was also on the battlefield. Since the animists collectively evacuated Lunwitin, he has been the highest-ranking believer in the True Spirit. Unfortunately, it seems that he did not fulfill his duties, but instead made mistakes and embarked on a dangerous path.

"That's why I said that you don't understand what the power in you is." Carabosse looked at the weak nun. There was no condescending arrogance in her eyes, but a calm tolerance, as if she was looking at a poor and helpless soul in the world: "Did the person who let you inherit the soul of the Son Gabriel never tell you His nature?"

Karabos would not ask such an obvious question, so what she should want to know is another source, that is: who first proposed the Ring of Human Reason followed by the True Spirit Sect?

The sound of footsteps interrupted the nun's thoughts, and a shadow fell, covering her body and blocking the glare reflected by the golden blood. The nun lowered her head with difficulty, and her eyes gradually moved down from the damaged and collapsed dome, passing through the rugged rock walls, huge stone pillars and high walls with relief murals, and finally fell on the person in front of her. She had long hair and eyes as black as night, and she was wearing a long dress as black as night, looking at her with a rather regretful look.

This sentence sounded a bit like sarcasm, but Sister Livia did not hear the sarcasm in her tone. She stared at Carabosse for a while before she uttered a word softly. Her voice was hoarse when she spoke, as if her throat had completely dried up: "What... do you mean?"

Rather than the previous sacred, majestic, yet arrogant and indifferent Holy Son Gabrielvia.

Looking at her, Carabos couldn't help but sigh, feeling helpless and a little angry. Of course, neither of these emotions was directed at Livia, and she concealed it well, so Sister Livia didn't find out. Seeing how weak she was now, she probably didn't have the time to pay attention to the enemy's emotions. The soul of the Son of God Gabriel was backfiring, and anyone who wanted to use this light must be prepared to be burned by it.

She just wondered why Carabosse asked such a question.

The nun opened her mouth and spoke in a low voice: "...the original follower of the Saint, one of the Twelve Saints, Lord Kenos, the 'King of Cursed Rings'. The doctrines and ideas of our True Spirit Sect, and all the truths and precepts contained in the Ring of Human Reason, all come from him."

The Cursed Ring King, Kenos, was a familiar name. In Caraboss's impression, he should be a taciturn, rigid and conservative young man. He was not the oldest among the Twelve Saints, but he was the most majestic one, because he single-handedly formulated the original religious precepts and national laws, the former totaling six and the latter totaling four. Now in the ruins of the All Saints Gospel Monastery, there is a palace that houses the original versions of those precepts and laws, known as the "Ten Laws of the Ring King". Caraboss was very familiar with each of the Twelve Saints. Some of them were too crazy, such as the "God of Disaster" Abraham; some became friends and colleagues by accident, such as the "Silent Saint" Fei. But the deep impression that Kenos left on her was because of an experiment he conducted later, the content of which was so crazy that it was jaw-dropping, and completely subverted his previous image.

"This was the origin of human civilization and religious belief. It was also the holy city protected by Tumi and his twelve followers." Carabos suddenly looked around at the intact but bleak temple and said softly, "But the sacred place fell overnight, and all the twenty-four holy places were destroyed. The former holy city has not been able to see the light of day until today. Do you know why, Miss Livia?"

Livia didn't quite understand why her topic jumped so much, from Lord Kenos, the Cursed Ring King, to the fall of Guardes City. But she still covered her aching wound and gave the answer based on her memory: "...a catastrophe."

"What kind of catastrophe?"

"The heavens and the earth turned upside down, and all things were destroyed. In the prophecies of the Moriahs, it was called the disaster of destruction."

"Then did you know that the Moryas also believe that this disaster was not an accident, but was caused by humans? They call the person who caused the disaster... a witch."

Livia slowly opened her eyes wide when she heard this. This was something she had never known before, and she inexplicably felt that the image of a so-called witch seemed to fit the black-haired girl in front of her. But how was this possible? She knew the identity of this girl: one of the seven great orthodox churches, the Saint Carabos of the Night's Dwelling, had a seat at the round table of the Holy Radiant God's Gospel Cathedral. If we put aside the dispute of faith and the "Religious Decree" and other factors, even Livia, who was an enemy, had to recognize her nobility and strength. Could such a person be the legendary witch?

Carabosse chuckled. "Just as you thought, I am a witch. To be more precise, I am one of the witches. But we had another name at that time: the Girl Kingship. Do you know what the Girl Kingship is?"

Livia couldn't answer this question, and Carabosse knew it, so she explained before she could speak: "They are the rulers of the dreamland, the gods who listen to wishes, and the kingship of all mysteries. They have been observing your world from a universe far away from the mortal world since ancient times, and use their power to maintain the balance between order and chaos, so that this world created by the goddess can run in an orderly manner and thrive naturally. By the way, the goddess who created the world also has a place in your animistic doctrine. You call her: the Holy Mother."

Livia opened her mouth wide, so shocked that she didn't notice that her movements had affected her wound. She felt a dull pain in her abdomen. "This is impossible. The Virgin Mary is a concept that created the universe and defined the scale of all things. She is not a tangible existence. We worship the Virgin Mary, but we don't worship a specific god..."

"That's just Tumi's selfish words." Carabosse interrupted Sister Livia's words that she was eager to deny, and said, "He believes that the existence of the mother will affect the development of civilization and religion, so he deliberately blurred Her image in the doctrine. However, this is just deceiving himself. Since he has accepted the gift of royal power from us girls, he will never sever his relationship. Wanting power but not willing to take responsibility, don't you think this is very selfish?"

Livia could hear the contempt and sarcasm in her tone towards the saint, but she was no longer interested in it. She asked in confusion, "Lord Saint Tumi... accepted the gift of the girl's royal power?"

"That's right." Carabosse looked at her deeply. "He obtained fourteen royal relics from us. After returning to the human world, he used these relics to research a method to stimulate human spirituality, which is the so-called magic potion system. From this, the path of human transcendence was extended. But he forgot the promise he made. Our gift was to make up for the lack of magic power that Mother did not give to humans when she created the world. Secondly, he promised us that this power was only to help humans become self-reliant. Humans who were once weak can empathize with other weak races. Therefore, even if they become strong, they will never stir up disputes, but will create a better future in this world protected by the goddess and the royal power of the girl. We believed his promise, but he broke it too quickly. You should know what happened later."

Sister Livia could not help but remain silent. After the brutal and heroic War of Hundred Races, mankind rose and established four powerful empires. However, not only did they repeat the path of aggressive wars, they were merciless to the defeated alien races, and even cruelly oppressed the extraordinary people who were also humans, thus creating the chaos of the First Dark Ages.

If all this is true, then the glorious image of Saint Tumi is inevitably stained with a gray haze. Livia found it hard to believe, and even harder to imagine. After all, she had been a devout animist since she was a child. Her worship of the Virgin Mary, saints, and the Holy Spirit was rooted in her bones and would not be easily shaken by a few words from her enemies.

Carabosse didn't expect to make her believe him after a few words. She told these past events just to better explain the cause and effect: "We were angry about Tumi's failure to keep his promise. When we went to him and asked him to take responsibility for his lies, he instead had an ambition that he shouldn't have. He tried to kill us young royals and monopolize the power of the royal holy artifact for humans. This move completely angered us, so we fought him and his students. The battle was so brutal that it even split the originally intact land into two pieces, completely destroying the city of Guardes and sinking the ruins into the ground... That was the natural disaster, the catastrophe you know."

She glanced at Sister Livia, who was stunned, and confirmed that she was only distracted by the huge amount of information and there was no sign of emotional instability. Then she continued, "The natural disaster completely changed the world's pattern, but this has nothing to do with today's topic. The point is that the twelve believers who followed Tumi also participated in the battle. Some died, and some are still alive. The Cursed Ring King Kenos is one of the survivors. He still stayed with Tumi and helped him establish the Nordon Holy Kingdom in the East Continent as another holy place after the destruction of the city of Guardes. However, the teacher and student eventually parted ways because of different philosophies."

"Concept?" Sister Livia murmured as she listened to the secrets in history that she was unaware of.

"That's right." Karabos nodded slightly. "The young queen will not die. She will only return in reincarnation. Tumi and his students believe that the conflict between the two sides is irreconcilable and will inevitably end with the destruction of one of them. In fact, this is not wrong, because the first thing I wanted to do after waking up was to seek revenge on him."

Hearing this, Livia let out a soft "ah", but Carabosse pretended not to hear it and continued, "In order to end this dispute, they began to look for ways to completely eliminate the Maiden Kingdom on the premise of their own victory. Tumi believes that humans, as the leaders of all spirits, have infinite potential. As long as they continue on the path of magic, they will be able to defeat the Maiden Kingdom sooner or later. However, the Cursed Ring King Kenos believes that the Maiden Kingdom is the offspring of the Goddess of Creation and a symbol of the laws of the universe. From the beginning, it has been above all living beings and there is no possibility of being defeated - at least, it cannot be defeated by future creatures."

"So he put forward a view, or rather, a hypothesis."

Carabosse's gaze was fixed on the confused Sister Livia, which seemed intriguing: "That is, only a young girl's royal power can kill another young girl's royal power."

　Give me some meow
　　
　
(End of this chapter)