Alice in the Land of Steam

Chapter 812: Still unable to defeat Him?

Gloria looked at the card in her hand quietly. No one knew what she was thinking, let alone whether this was the card she wanted, the only hope to turn the tide. If not, it would be too ironic, because it meant that the girl did not lose to anyone, but to herself.

"Sure enough," Gloria suddenly lowered her voice and said, "It's just as you said."

Who was the "you" she was talking about? Neither Linger nor Alice thought that the Third Princess was talking to them, but was there anyone else besides her? Or maybe she was just talking to herself to relieve the tension in her heart?

This speculation made sense, because they soon saw a faint smile on Gloria's face. She gently pressed the card in her hand onto the duel disk, and her soft but firm voice swept across the dark water: "I summon [Mind Kingship - Gloria]."

However, there was no human figure on the battlefield. Only a gray mist appeared from nowhere and gradually filled the entire battlefield. The shapeless mist enveloped the bridge and the water, turning them into dark shadows that sometimes approached and sometimes moved away as the mist floated.

Gloria's voice then sounded: "I activate the effect of [Mind Kingship - Gloria], add a [Merciful Relief - Ringer] to my hand, and then I Special Summon Mr. Ringer."

"It's your turn again, Lingge." Alice urged repeatedly. For some reason, the young man heard a hint of gloating in her tone.

But Linger had long been accustomed to his mission as a tool man, and with his personality, he would not say anything to complain, so he just entered the field in silence, and silently welcomed his departure: "The effect of [Gloria, the King of Mind] liberates Mr. Linger on the field, and adds a [Gloria, the Fickle Dreamer] to the hand; the effect of [Gloria, the Fickle Dreamer] returns [Gloria, the King of Mind] on the field and Mr. Linger in the graveyard to the deck, and special summons this card."

As Gloria summoned her superior form, the gray mist that filled the field gradually gathered, silently outlining a slender outline. From the person's eyebrows, expression and gorgeous clothes, the shadow of Her Royal Highness the Third Princess could be vaguely seen. But strangely, this image gave people a very fragile feeling, as if it could disperse and disintegrate at any time, just like the fragile mist itself.

Moreover, the prefix of this card name is also very meaningful.

……

Since the deck is the embodiment of the duelist's inner thoughts, the card names are naturally closely related to the soul. So Saint Shalia is the "determiner of fate", Olvera is the "inheritor of past life wisdom", and Rorona is the "creator of all things"... These are all reasonable, but what does "the fickle dreamer" mean? If you understand it literally, is it probably saying that the whole world is just an illusory dream for this gray-haired girl?
Lingge returned to the deck and looked at Gloria deeply. The latter seemed not to notice her gaze. Of course, with her sharp intuition, the young man would rather believe that she noticed it but pretended not to see it. After slowly exhaling, he said word by word: "I activate the effect of [Gloria, the Fickle Dreamer]. If this card is successfully Special Summoned, you can activate it. Declare the name of a 'Girl's Throne' monster. This card's attack power and defense power become the same as that of the card name, and gain the same effect as that card name, and you can activate the copied effect regardless of the activation conditions. The name of the card I want to declare is-"

Lingge ignored her, knowing that this guy was just looking for trouble to make himself more prominent. What concerned him more was Gloria's purpose. Since she chose to copy Rorona's effect, it was obviously to dispatch the magic card in the deck. But in this case, what kind of magic card could help her defeat the powerful Supreme Alexander and win this duel?
Not only Linger was waiting for the answer to this question, but Tiantis was also waiting, or even looking forward to it. In the eyes of Supreme Alexander, the sacred and solemn golden color shone brightly, and the possibility of mankind was releasing a more dazzling light than that. He quietly looked at the tiny girl, like a silent witness.

As soon as he finished speaking, a crystal blue gem suddenly emerged from the right eye of the girl who was made of gray fog. In it were surging fierce waves and whirlpools, and flashing magnificent tides and storms, as if all things in the sea could be found in it, exactly the same as the Origin Stone that Lorena possessed as the half-son of God.

"I activate the effect of the copied Miss Rorona, return a card from my hand to my deck, and select a magic card in my deck that meets the conditions to activate. Although I don't have a card in my hand, the copied effect can ignore the conditions, so I can still activate this effect. The magic card I want to activate from my deck is - [Inheritance Ceremony of the Tenshin Church]!"

Hearing this name, Lingge was in a trance, and before he could come to his senses, a familiar church had occupied his entire field of vision. The old and moldy basswood benches, the old and dim brass candlesticks, and the stained glass windows with dust and sawdust flying around cut the afternoon sunlight falling on the floor into fragmented patterns. In the dim corridor leading to the kitchen, under the old altar with collapsed stone bricks, in the remote corners that the little girl could not reach even if she stretched out her hands during the church cleaning... everywhere were shadows of the past.

"What do you want to do in the future, Lingge?" The middle-aged man who was wiping the sacrificial silver utensils suddenly asked. His silver hair seemed to be covered with a layer of warm glow under the afternoon sun. It should have been a light silver-gray color, but now it is closer to platinum.

The boy, who was only as tall as his waist, was stunned for a moment. He stood at the edge of the altar without sunlight. His expression and brows showed his calm and indifferent temperament in the future. He lowered his head, put the polished silverware back into the drawer under the altar, and whispered: "I want to inherit Tianxin Church and become a priest like you, father."

The two figures under the goddess statue were talking, but no sound was heard. The scene looked like a silent pantomime. Only Lingge could hear what they were saying. The memories were distant and strange at first, but gradually became clearer, so much so that the young man mistakenly believed that he had returned to the past and was reliving the emotions of that time.

When his eyes moved upwards and fell on the two figures, one large and one small, under the statue of the compassionate goddess, his heart twitched suddenly. What followed was not pain, but a kind of bitterness and helplessness, which was an extremely rare experience in his past life. Sometimes he even doubted whether he had these two emotions. But now the memory once again proved that even if a person is firm enough, it does not mean that he is strong enough. If you can't learn to forget, then there is actually no difference between the past and the present.

"【The creator of everything—Lorena】!"

"That's not what you would say." The man smiled and said, "Didn't I tell you last time that you should just do what you want to do. The only requirement is that you don't hurt others or yourself. So, answer me again, Lingge, what do you want to do in the future?"

'Copy the effect?' Alice cried. 'Then why not copy my effect? ​​I am useful!'

The boy was silent for a while, then he finally raised his head. A few rays of bright sunlight suddenly broke into his golden eyes, shining like amber: "I want to study history, father."

"That's not an easy thing to do, but if it's you, it will be no problem, Lingge, because you are a smart kid." The man stretched out a hand and gently rubbed his head, and then said: "Of course, no matter how smart you are, you have to study hard to realize your dreams. If you really want to learn history, start now. There are several books on history in my room, you can go and take a look, and when you go to college in the future, there will be more professional teachers to teach you."

"Is it okay, father?" "Yes."

The man turned around and said a few words to the boy, who nodded vigorously. Then, under his gentle gaze and the loving eyes of the goddess statue, he walked impatiently past the altar and the area where believers gathered to pray, as if he wanted to go upstairs. But when he just stepped on the first step, he suddenly heard a familiar call from behind: "Lingge."

The boy at the stairs turned around with a blank look.

The man standing under the statue of the goddess smiled at him and said in a somewhat melancholy but relieved tone: "You are the older brother. You must take good care of Metien in the future."

……

So, how did I answer at that time?

The picture gradually solidified and turned yellow, as if it had turned into a faded painting. Only the goddess statue on the painting still looked at the world with a loving and compassionate gaze. At this time, Gloria's voice interrupted the young man's thoughts and brought him back to reality: "According to the effect of this card, I will add a [Merciful Relief - Ringer] to my hand, and then-"

She paused, took a deep breath, and continued, "The additional effect of this card is that when you have summoned seven types of 8-star or higher Girl Kingship monsters in this duel, the player who activates this card will directly win the duel!"

Olvera, the inheritor of past life wisdom, Saint Shallia, the decider of cause and effect, Lorena, the creator of all things, Leticia, the controller of eternity, Iyeta, the guardian of the endless sky, Gloria, the unpredictable dreamer, and Alice, the invincible genius player, who is not a girl's kingdom but is considered a girl's kingdom monster according to the rules.

This way, we have exactly seven categories!

"Beautiful!!!"

Alice couldn't help but scream out. If she had a physical body, she would have widened her eyes and clenched her fists, wanting to cheer for Gloria's wonderful operation. The third princess of the Victorian royal family does have a strong will. Even after a tragic defeat, she can still regroup and find a second way to win. If directly reducing Tiantis's basic points is useless, then use the special effect of the card to win. In this way, even Alexander, the steam engine god who can reverse time and space, may be helpless, right?

Gloria breathed a sigh of relief, as if she had unloaded a heavy burden. As her announcement fell, in the frozen yellowed picture, the only goddess statue that retained its original color suddenly burst into a dazzling light. The light spread like a tide, gradually sweeping every direction of the city, awakening it from its ancient and long sleep. Bathed in this ocean of light, everyone felt a warm breath blending into their blood and lungs, and felt relaxed and comfortable from the bottom of their hearts. This was the scene of the creation of the world, the first separation of chaos and order. The goddess created life and gave souls to all things.

A great will from the universe cast its gaze, so loving and gentle, as if the grandest hills and the smallest dust had equal wills under its gaze. The soul was trembling, and the light purified all the filth and unclean things. Gloria gently opened her hand on the duel disk. She saw the magnificent Indorsis Bridge tremble in awe of this great power. On the opposite duel field, everything was turning into light and dissipating, including the Mechanical Saint Mida and the Holy Creation Knight Dayan, including the Enigma Secret Book filled with evil and rationality, the purple prismatic crystal floating in the sky, and even the figure of Tiantis himself, which was gradually decomposed into the purest and most primitive light particles. As a gentle breath gradually blew away, the night sky seemed to be illuminated by an extended river of light. The scene was so beautiful.

Gloria knew that when everything on the opponent's field was decomposed into pure light, she would win the duel. She felt relieved, but it was not a sense of relief, but a sense of completing a difficult mission. She silently said to the other self in her mind: So, I can do it if I want to.

—Don't be too happy, Gloria.

The other self said coldly: Who told you that this duel is over?

"Who told you that the duel is over?" The same sentence came from the broken bridge opposite. Gloria suddenly raised her head and looked at the black-haired girl with incredible eyes. She had turned into light from the waist down, but there was no panic expression on her face, but a kind of... disappointment and regret.

"I should have said that escaping is useless. Only by defeating mistakes head-on can we grow. Whether it is bypassing the machine god Alexander and attacking me directly, or winning through the special effects of magic cards, it is just an escape." Tiantis said while raising his hand upwards. Behind the white and slender fingers was the majestic body of the machine god Alexander. In his shining golden eyes, there was wisdom interwoven with rationality and divinity.

"Every time Alexander the Machine God repairs the wrong ending and returns from the time and space vortex, he will absorb the emotions, memories and even the power of faith of all lives in that wrong time and space line, becoming more powerful." Tiantis said lightly: "Activate the effect of Supreme Alexander. When the opponent's duelist wins, the effect of that duel will be invalidated, and then a [Steam Machine God Alexander - Perfectionism] from the deck will be Special Summoned on the [Steam Machine God Alexander - Time and Space Supreme] on your field. These two monsters are considered to exist at the same time according to the rules."

"Changes in the future have been detected..."

Rumble!
Amid the roaring steam engine, the deep mechanical sound rang out again, echoing in the overflowing ocean of light, causing the light elements that had existed since the beginning of the world to tremble uneasily: "Begin to execute... the god transformation program..."

"Target...Differentially closed universe...Observation completed..."

"Starting now... time and space stealth."

　Give me some meow
　　
　
(End of this chapter)