Alice in the Land of Steam

Chapter 816 actually has a second effect?
In a room on the second floor of the Fairy Sleep Inn, Sister Livia lay on the bed, her head tilted to the side and quietly stared at the night outside the window. Her wound had been treated, and her spirit and energy looked much better. Except for her pale face, she looked fine. But for some reason, her personality changed a lot, and she became taciturn. Except when Metien asked her "Does the wound hurt?", "Do you need some water?" or "Are you hungry?", she would nod or shake her head in response, and the rest of the time she was basically just in a daze, which was completely different from the cheerful and optimistic nun who enthusiastically took them to visit the Seven Stars when they first met, and even made the pink-haired girl have the illusion that "maybe they are actually two different people?"

She had no idea about this, and could only attribute it to Miss Livia's injury, but why was she injured? This was also a mystery that she didn't want to tell, but Metien could guess a little. After all, there was no other candidate in Lunweiting who had the strength to threaten the True Spirit Sect and had the motivation to do so, except for the united sect.

Behind the alliance of cults is the Witch Society. Lingge is going to sneak into the banquet of the philosophers of the society tonight to gather information. According to Miss Livia, it seems that his whereabouts have been exposed and he is currently in a very dangerous situation. I don't know what the situation is now. I hope nothing will happen... No, nothing must happen.

The little girl was so confused that she even slowed down the action of cutting the bandage. Sister Livia keenly noticed her abnormality, turned her head slightly, and a faint and reassuring smile appeared on her face: "It's okay."

Her gentle voice startled Metien for a moment. He looked at this girl at a loss, who could still comfort others with a smile even though she was covered in bruises.

"Don't lose hope at any time, Metien." Livia said softly, "As long as you believe in hope, the future will definitely be better."

This sentence sounds like the purest psychological comfort. It has no facts and no theoretical basis. Apart from making people feel better, it has no practical effect. But when it comes from Sister Livia's mouth, it has a convincing power.

Metien's lips opened and closed several times, then he slowly put down the scissors in his hand, sat on the bed, held his cheek and said, "I, I don't understand this, Miss Livia, it's just that I'm a little sad. Everyone is working hard, but I can't do anything. This feeling is like, like..."

She hesitated for a long time, and couldn't come up with a suitable description, as if she was at a loss for words. But in fact, the little girl had already thought it through in her heart, but she just didn't want to say it out loud: just like when she faced the closure of Tianxin Church, she wanted to do something in her heart, but in fact she couldn't do anything.

The blonde nun on the bed quietly looked at the little girl beside her, as if she saw her past self in her - but it was really strange, in this ever-changing world, time may have only passed for a second, a minute, or even an hour, why did she describe it as the past, as if it was a long time ago? Perhaps it is not only the things in the world that are ever-changing, but also her own mood.

"pray?"

"Yes." Sister Livia nodded seriously and said in a tone like an experienced person: "Because a loving mother will not refuse the request of any of her children, so every life born into the world has its own meaning of existence. Metien, you don't know what you can do now, it's just because you haven't found the direction. Before that, you might as well pray."

"I can!"

"Then pray." Sister Livia smiled slightly, "For those you love."

"Really?" Metien raised his head and blinked.

"It's fine with me." Livia shook her head: "You can change the bandage later. Anyway, it won't take much time to just pray, right?"

Metien didn't notice the difference. She almost wanted to nod and agree immediately, but a thought stopped her. The pink-haired girl carefully looked at the wound on the nun's abdomen. The bandage was soaked with blood and almost stuck to the skin. She bit her lower lip and said, "I'll change the bandage for you first, Miss Livia. Your wound can't get worse any further."

"Yes, pray for the ones you love, pray for the ones you are loved, pray for those who know what love is and those who don't. This is the power that Mother has given to each of us that reaches the heart directly. It allows the weakest people to have the determination to fight and the most timid people to have the courage to sacrifice. As long as your voice is pious enough, your prayer will definitely reach that person's heart." Sister Livia asked, "Will you pray, Metien?"

Then, under Sister Livia's smiling gaze, she put her index and middle fingers together, tapped her forehead, nose and lips, and finally clasped her hands together, placed them in front of her chest, closed her eyes, and began to pray seriously and earnestly - this is a prayer gesture that has been passed down for a long time in the Holy Goddess Church, representing the sky, the earth and life respectively. The little girl's lips opened and closed slightly, and the low prayer echoed in the quiet room: "...May we, the people of the world, be with the goddess."

This sentence touched Metien. After hesitating for a moment, the little girl quickly nodded and agreed. She also promised: "It will only take one minute, Miss Livia. I will definitely finish it soon!"

But the three sisters of the Fairy Inn were all gathered in the windmill tower room of Iyetta at this moment. Mr. Rabbit and the magic plants on the first floor had already fallen asleep, so that the only person who saw this scene was Sister Livia. She stretched out her hand tremblingly, wanting to touch the little girl's pure golden hair soaked in light, but her hand suddenly froze halfway, and then she slowly retracted it. The nun gently clenched her pale palm and pressed it against her heart, her eyes slightly closed, and her slender and thick eyelashes drooped low, covering a deep thought.

The smile in Sister Livia's eyes gradually disappeared.

From the beginning to the end, she was talking about "who to pray for" instead of "who to pray to". In the eyes of this girl who has realized the truth about the world and faith, perhaps except for the merciful Virgin Mary who created the world, other gods are just false and mistakes that should not exist.

Metien answered immediately, without hesitation, because she used to be a nun of Tianxin Church. Of course, she is still a nun now.

"There is always a way." She suddenly said, "Don't feel that you are powerless, Metien. There is always something you can do in this world, and it is something that only you can do."

Because she saw that as the little girl closed her eyes and began to pray, it seemed as if a strange breath emanated from her body, deeply shaking her soul. Then, Metien's pink hair began to gradually change to another color, the most sacred and pure gold, as if shining with the brilliance of gold. The room was suddenly illuminated, and the dim light was submerged in a flooded ocean. If someone looked out of the hotel at this moment, they would see a bright sun rising in the dark night, shining on the deep night, lighting up all the dark corners, and even the veins on every leaf in the woods were clearly visible and lifelike.

"Great Mother..."

A whisper that only she could hear echoed in the room: "It turns out that you have already pointed out the direction for me."

...The last hope has been grasped?

Could it be that with this card alone, Gloria could find a way to defeat Alexander the Machine God? Everyone's eyes were focused on the card in the girl's hand, eager to see its effect, but soon they were stunned, because apart from the card name [Apostle of Hope - Metien] and the little girl praying in a dim room depicted on the card, they could not see any other information: whether it was attributes, levels, attack power and defense power values, or the most important effect, all were shrouded in a soft and hazy golden glow, and countless mysterious and complex characters changed shapes in the light, as if they had no fixed posture.

Lingge also felt something was wrong when he saw this scene, but as Metien's brother, he paid more attention to one detail than others: the little girl depicted on the card did not have the familiar pink hair, which was a bit like the blooming of primroses, and a bit like the color of summer cherry trees entering the flowering season; but it was golden, as if woven from the purest light, adding a bit of sacredness and majesty to her face as she prayed devoutly.

Is this really Metien?

It was natural for the young man to have such doubts, because both sacred and majestic were adjectives that were far from his sister, making him wonder whether he should doubt his own eyes or his memory. But soon there was no such worry, because Alice suddenly said "Ah", interrupting his thoughts: "I know!"

“Could it be,” she said mysteriously, “that this is the legendary Inca?”

According to legend, a true duelist can not only decide to draw cards, but can even create cards that do not exist in the deck out of nothing. Of course, there is another level, which is to use the mysterious power of another world to change the drawn card into another card you want. This represents the three stages of a duelist. Could it be that, under her own spur and encouragement, Gloria finally broke through the first stage and mastered the power of creating cards?

Tiantis seemed to have sensed the terror of the second-stage duelist. Under her side-swept black bangs, a pair of sword-like eyebrows first raised, then soon slightly frowned. She stared at the card in Gloria's hand from a distance with a look that seemed to be thinking and seeking confirmation. No one had ever seen such a serious expression on her face before.

"Metien." She suddenly said, "If I remember correctly, she should be Mr. Ling's sister, and another child adopted by Mr. Yang Ke? The information shows that her hometown should have been Lunweiting, but it's strange that we didn't find any relevant files about her in any orphanage, relief home or welfare home in Lunweiting..."

Ling'er's heart skipped a beat. He almost immediately wanted to scold her and stop her from going deeper into this topic. Young people rarely show such excitement, but if it involves their only relatives, it is another matter. However, one person's actions were faster than hers. She slowly withdrew the hand holding the card, casually glanced at Tiandis across the bridge, and said indifferently: "This has nothing to do with the current duel, and it is not something I care about."

"That's true." Tiantis nodded, and put the matter behind him. He said politely: "Then please continue your turn, Miss Gloria. Let me see your duel full of possibilities. In the deepest and most intense despair, what kind of flower will the only hope bloom into? I think, not only me, but many people are looking forward to that moment."

Behind Tiantis, the perfect Alexander's eyes flashed with deep and wise light; on the duel field, the Mechanical Saint Midei and the Holy Creation Knight Dayang both looked at the figure of the gray-haired girl with serious faces; in the consciousness space that was invisible to the naked eye, the companions held their breath and dared not make a sound, for fear of disturbing their thoughts...

Gloria could feel all these emotions, but she didn't care, because she was not the real Gloria, so she naturally didn't have her weakness and incompetence, nor would she inherit her guilt and self-blame. Her only purpose in appearing here was to win this duel, and anything else meant nothing.

The girl placed the card she had just drawn on the Duel Disk with an indifferent look on her face, and the soft golden glow covering the card instantly dissipated, showing the card's effect to everyone, accompanied by Gloria's emotionless tone: "Activate the effect of [Metien, Apostle of Hope]. This card can be Special Summoned by returning a [Ringer, Merciful Relief] from your Graveyard or Banished Zone to your Deck. If this card is Special Summoned successfully, draw a card."

[Apostle of Hope—Metien/Light/1 Star/Effect/Attack Power 0/Defense Power 0]

A girl with pure blonde hair and an innocent face opened her eyes and found herself in a universe surrounded by suspended gear planets and huge steel stars. However, she did not panic at all, but just quietly looked at the magnificent scene in front of her, and quietly used her clear eyes to accommodate a majestic and magnificent mechanical god. This calm and composed performance made Linger more convinced that she might be Metien, but definitely not the Metien in his memory.

The effect of [Metien, the Apostle of Hope] was activated, and Gloria drew a card from the deck, but because the deck was originally emptied, the card she drew could only be Ringer, which had just been returned to the deck.

"I normally summon, [Merciful Relief—Linger]."

With a flash of white light, the young man appeared on the duel field, right next to his sister. This was the first time he was Normal Summoned by someone, instead of Special Summoned by his own effect, and he felt a little complicated. He glanced at the blonde sister next to him, and before he could say anything, he vaguely heard a golden-haired maid say, "Is Lingge going to be released again?"

The corner of the young man's mouth twitched. Although he had this premonition, he didn't want to hear the answer from this guy anyway.

However, unexpectedly, Gloria did not choose to free Lingge, firstly because there was no option to free Lingge in Metien's effect, and secondly because there was no need for it.

When the brother and sister from Tianxin Church gathered on the field, the rules of victory were determined.

"I'm going to activate the second effect of [Merciful Relief - Ling'er]." Gloria said.

"What?" The spirit Alice behind him was horrified: "Linger has a second effect!?"

Others were also surprised, they all thought that Lingge was just a person who was used as a search tool; Tiandis on the other side of the bridge tilted his head slightly, and an intriguing smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.

But Gloria ignored all these reactions and continued in her usual calm and cold tone: "This effect can only be activated if seven or more types of Maiden Royal Monsters have been summoned in this Duel. Return all cards in your Graveyard and Banished Zones to the Deck, then select seven Level 8 Maiden Royal Monsters with different card names from your Deck to equip this card on the field, increasing the ATK and DEF of this card by the total Level of the equipped monster cards multiplied by 1000. When this effect is activated, the Monster Zone on your field can also be used as a Magic Trap Zone, and this card equipped with seven or more Maiden Royal Cards is also considered to be [Elf King - Ringer] in terms of card name and effect."

　Give me some meow
　　
　
(End of this chapter)