Alice in the Land of Steam

Chapter 905: Finally woke up?

The girl rode her horse around a large area of ​​thriving grape vines and appeared on a wide tree-lined avenue in front of the main gate of the manor. This road, which had witnessed countless knights going out to war in the past, was already covered with fallen leaves in late summer. The withered yellow sycamore leaves spread over the white feldspar used to pave the road, shining in the dim firelight. The knights of the Gustave family stood solemnly on both sides of the street, paying respect to the galloping girl knight. No one spoke, not even a sound, and a solemn and quiet atmosphere spread silently.

As Brandi's steps clicked on the fallen leaves, the figure of the young knight gradually emerged from the darkness and became clear. She was wearing a holy white armor and a snow-white battle robe with the coat of arms of the Gostave family's white thorn flower painted on it. One hand held the reins and the other held a silver knight's lance. The blade was slightly tilted toward the ground. It was not a traditional shuttle or cone shape, but twisted and bifurcated like the branches of white thorn flowers, until the end was gathered into one, condensed into a spear tip. Its delicacy, complexity and beauty even made people doubt that it was still alive, and flowers could bloom from the blade at any time in this midsummer season. However, when the wind blew over and blew a few fallen leaves on the street, lightly brushed across the beautiful spear blade, and was immediately split into two, you would realize the danger hidden under that beauty.

Brandi's outfit was similar to her master's, also in holy white, wearing a battle robe, and from the neck to the body to the horse's legs, all protected by heavy chain mail. This heavy equipment fell on her, but it was as light as a feather, and did not affect her movements at all. Her steps were still light and swift, and she could run a hundred meters in the blink of an eye, but her steps were full of rhythm, not hurried, as if she was strolling gracefully on the battlefield, giving people a sense of calmness.

The knight on the white horse with the silver spear galloped out from the dark night, stepping on the fallen leaves. This scene made people wonder if the white knight in the famous painting by Paolo Martini had walked down from the painting, completing the transformation from fantasy to reality in front of everyone. The knights held their breath as they watched this scene, with a strange light flashing in their eyes.

They recognized the armor. To be more precise, all those who followed the Gustaf family would never forget it, because as early as in ancient times, it was with the help of it that its original owner endowed the creatures on this land with profound rules and distinct vitality, ensuring that it would become the "land of hope" that people needed in any era. The great knight was named Vince Jean Gustaf, a true pioneer.

This set of armor named "Ice Heart" possesses unimaginable protective power. Its workmanship is delicate and complex. The artistic decorations on the helmet and armor plates on the battle skirt have existed long before the birth of human aesthetic concepts. It is obvious that it was not forged by human craftsmanship, but was made by alien hands.

When Baron Vince, on behalf of mankind, signed an oath with the aliens under the witness of the divine horses on the land of Grangenia and the top of the mountains, in order to witness this friendship, the forge dwarves from the mountains and the silver elves from the forest - the former are the pioneers of forging and smelting technology, and the best forging race in the world, and the latter represent the dual pinnacle of technology and art. The word "skill" that human craftsmen often talk about later was originally promoted by the silver elves - these two races united to forge this armor for the great pioneer with five rare metals, fifteen precious gems, mercury, white thorn flowers and unmeltable ice on the snow-capped mountains. Later, they invited the five fairy tribes symbolizing beauty and kindness, namely wind elves, traveler elves, water elves, elves and flower elves, to offer eternal blessings to the armor, so that it will never be stained by dirt, dust, or broken, and will not be worn away by time.

From that day on, the Ice Heart Armor became the heirloom of the Gustaf family and a witness to the ancient oath. It does not possess any magical aura nor any unique abilities, so it cannot be called a holy relic. However, it is more qualified to bear this title than any other holy relic.

Likewise, not everyone is qualified to be recognized by the Ice Heart. At least, a certain Silver Elf elder who participated in the casting process once said to Baron Vince: "Only those who have noble and pure courage can become its master."

Time resumed its flow, and snow-white war horses galloped past. At the front of the crowd, under a tall sycamore tree, Xino saw the figure of the old butler Weber. He was holding a wheelchair, standing quietly at the edge of the shade of the tree, while the old man was sitting in the wheelchair, looking at him with a calm and deep gaze from beginning to end. In those dark red eyes that were no longer bright, there was an ancient wisdom.

And Shino is the second one.

In this world, there are always many things that cannot be explained by common sense.

It's not about winning, but about coming back.

Divine objects are immortal and will one day reappear in people's vision. Witnessing the advent of the legend makes the knights feel their hearts surge and their souls tremble.

In the past seven hundred years, the only person who could gain the recognition of the Ice Heart was the legendary White Knight.

At this moment, time seemed to slow down. The branches blown by the wind, the fallen leaves that were split in two by the gun blade, and Brandy's front hoof that had been raised but not yet put down... every scene seemed to become a slow motion in the girl's eyes, like a colorful comic book in a storybook, which she could slowly turn over page by page, clearly examining the swinging amplitude of each branch, the traces of the veins on each fallen leaf, and even how many heartbeats it took for the sound of each horse hoof falling to reach her ears.

Yes, it is not the spirit of chivalry, nor is it friendship with the opposite sex, but a kind of "noble and pure courage". However, what kind of courage can be considered noble and pure, no one has known the answer for a long time, and perhaps even the masters of the armor have been wondering.

When the figure of the young knight passed under the shadow of the tree, leaving only a bunch of dead leaves behind her horse's hooves, a faint but firm voice suddenly came from the crowd: "Please come back."

"Miss-"

In this world that was slowing down to a near standstill, the young girl on horseback turned her head and looked among the frozen crowd, but she could not find the source of the voice. It seemed to be spoken by one person, and by everyone. Sometimes it was familiar, and sometimes it was strange. Then the girl suddenly realized that she was experiencing that situation again. At every important moment in her life, there would always be a voice that suddenly appeared, as if reminding her of something.

At the moment when the sound of horse hooves passed by, the young knight opened her mouth softly, letting her voice flutter and shred in the wind: "Then——"

"I'm leaving, Grandfather."

The calm tone seemed to be just describing a short trip away from home, and that he would be back soon. The old man in the wheelchair nodded calmly, and his eyes suddenly became sharp: "Go!" "Knight of the Gustaf family!"

You should use the gun in your hand and fight gloriously like your ancestors, until you win victory for all those who trust you.

Xino retracted her gaze and looked straight ahead again. The cherry-colored lips on her tense little face slowly tightened, and her aura became solemn and sharp in an instant. Brandi jumped and rushed out of the gate of the manor. In the darkness, a shining silver light stabbed straight ahead and soon disappeared at the junction of heaven and earth. The knights seemed to have not reacted yet, and they still stayed in place and stared blankly, but they only saw the snow-white horsetail fluttering high in the wind, like a sacred flag.

"Miss..." someone murmured, "She's really gone."

There was silence, and no one spoke in agreement.

……

A few minutes later, the young knight rode up a hill and stopped there. The withered weeds under the horse's hooves were rustling in the cold night wind. The field was filled with a scene of desolation and withering. The sky was getting even lower, and it seemed that she could touch the lead-like dark clouds with her hands. In this world of gray and black, the young knight in holy white became the only colorful scene. She whispered to her beloved warhorse, "See, Brandi? That's the enemy we are about to face."

In his hand, the Holy Lance Whitethorn, also made by the Forge Dwarf and the Silver Elves, pointed to a place in the wilderness. Brandy looked up, but only saw a vague shadow. It was some ancient buildings, which had collapsed and could not be seen in their original appearance. They were occupied by the roots of towering ancient trees, weeds growing everywhere, and entangled vines. Only an ancient windmill remained as it was, standing tall in the darkness, about fifteen meters high. Because it was too far away, Brandy could not see what the windmill looked like. He just thought it was very strange, because the wind in the wilderness was so strong that it seemed to pull up the trees rooted in the ground, but the blades of the windmill were still firmly fixed there, not rotating, as if it was stuck by something.

"Eh?"

She cried out in confusion, indicating that she didn't see where the enemy was. Xino smiled slightly and was about to explain to her, but at this moment, the ground under her feet suddenly trembled, and the shaking quickly spread, becoming stronger and stronger, making people almost think that the wilderness was experiencing a sudden earthquake.

"The timing is perfect." Xino pointed the blade of the Holy Lance Whitethorn at the ground, and the shaking on the hill stopped immediately. Then she looked up at the source of the earthquake, the place where the shaking was the most violent in the entire field, which was the ancient ruins of Trovenica. The corners of her mouth slowly drew a curve: "It is about to wake up."

Is he getting excited because he feels the White Knight's descendants are approaching?
Brandi stared at the ancient ruins that were shaking violently, and felt an unpleasant evil aura from it. She was not afraid, on the contrary, the instinct inherited from her ancestors made her eager to fight the enemy. But Xino did not seem to have the intention of taking advantage of the opportunity when the enemy just woke up to hit it head-on. He still sat firmly on the horse and did not give Brandi the order to charge.

While waiting, the vibrations of the ruins became more and more violent. The power from the ground even tore the ground into hideous cracks. Sand, gravel, and vegetation fell down and were swallowed into the endless darkness. These cracks spread and expanded again and again, but not in a directionless manner. Instead, under the guidance of a certain force, they gradually drew a circle with the ruins as the center. When this circle with a radius of one kilometer closed and took shape, except for the part of the ground where the ruins were located, the rest of the surface inside the circle was shattered and collapsed. Huge stones fell together with the vegetation and dust on them. The scene was just like a terrifying monster in the ground opened its huge mouth and swallowed all the matter on the surface, leaving only a semicircle of nothingness.

The flying grass clippings and dust formed a fog that was hazier than clouds. From the depths of the black fog, a huge and terrifying shadow slowly emerged, flapping its evil wings behind it and gradually rising into the sky.

It was a forbidden monster that was difficult to describe in words. Its body was as huge as a mountain, but it was not made of flesh and blood. Instead, it was made of rocks, steel, dead trees, and even rotten soil. Similarly, its appearance was not like any beast that had been recorded, but a combination of many complex features: three heads, the left one was a lion head that spewed thunder, the right one was a snake head that spewed fire, but the head in the middle was not a beast, but a black goat head with six pairs of scarlet vertical pupils; four pairs of huge wings, namely the crimson dragon wings, the golden griffin wings, the pure white Pegasus wings, and the pitch-black night crow wings, all of which were powerful monsters that appeared in ancient legends; it had eight pairs of spider-like joints. The limbs are divided into two parts, but the claws come from golden-maned lion-men, eagle-men, mountain vulture-men, werewolves, deer-headed spirits, vampires, dog-men and bat monsters, the notorious alien races in the legend of Metosh; two hideous scorpion tails gently brushed through the smoke and dust, one is the tail of the lion scorpion, filled with purple poisonous mist, and the other is the tail of the sand scorpion, spitting out rough yellow sand... But these parts are without exception the same as its body, not flesh and blood, but made of various forbidden and evil substances, emitting a blasphemous breath from the inside out.

The ancient ruins of Trovenica were held up by this terrifying monster on the head of a black goat in the center. The windmill in the ruins had long lost its camouflage, and the stones covering the surface collapsed, revealing a pale horn surrounded by six curved spiral horns. It looked like a prison, locking up a terrifying and shapeless power.

Across a long distance, the sleeping monsters that had awakened smelled the disgusting smell. All three heads raised at the same time, looking down at the tiny figure on the hill. When they saw the armor on the other party and the spear in his hand, their six pairs of scarlet vertical pupils flashed at the same time, followed by a violent and ferocious breath. The three mouths opened at the same time and roared forward - the lion head roared, the snake head hissed, and the black goat head whimpered, like the roar of a whistle. The roar turned into a tangible storm in an instant, attacking the direction where the young knight was standing, causing the void along the way to groan under the heavy load, and also causing the nearby grass and trees to fall in the same direction, forming an arc visible to the naked eye.

In the storm, only the knight and her horse stood still. The handsome face under the silver helmet was expressionless as she whispered the name of the terrifying monster in the sky -

"Are you finally awake?"

"Synthetic monster, Chimera."

(End of this chapter)