Alice in the Land of Steam

Chapter 1026: Is drinking poison to quench thirst?
Alice stared blankly at the screen which had turned pitch black, not knowing what she was thinking.

When Tiantis saw the last scene, he closed his eyes. The sneer on the corner of his mouth gradually disappeared, replaced by a kind of indifference, as if the person who just appeared in the picture was not himself.

After Themis of the Celestial Realm silently closed the lengthy file record, her eyes swept over Alice and Tiantis successively, and finally fell back on Saint Shalia. She seemed to be deliberately forcing herself not to look at the two people next to her.

As the audience watched this scene, they couldn't help but feel a great sorrow and indescribable complex emotions in their hearts, especially Saint Xia Liya, because in every long period of her life, there has never been a moment like this moment when she felt the impermanence and change of fate so clearly. Those silk threads that once crawled gently in her palms were as heavy as mountains when they fell on each tiny individual.

Fate has gone around in circles between them, and in the end, everything has become strange. At this moment, Alice, who is staring at the screen and still can't believe that she is the young queen, will she see the shadow of the Alice in the past? At this moment, Tiantis, who is thinking with her eyes closed and looking indifferent, will she think that the serious, strict, but occasionally warm-hearted black-haired girl in the past is her past life? At this moment, the celestial Themis, who is so calm that she doesn't even have a trace of expression, sees the girl who has the same face as herself, and she will cry in her sister's arms like an ordinary girl. Will there be a flash of familiar memories in her heart?

Emotions and impulses made them closely connected, but in the end fate and time separated everything. They were once so close, but now standing here, they are more like three lonely strangers, staring at the shadows of the past for comfort.

The silence was contagious, and the atmosphere gradually became so depressing that even the heartbeat and breathing could hardly be heard. Everyone felt like a drowning fish, and if they didn't do something, they would be completely drowned. Finally, someone spoke up, breaking the silence, and he asked softly, "So, what was the result?"

Themis of the Celestial Realm asked subconsciously: "What knot..."

Suddenly she realized something was wrong, and quickly put on a stern face and asked again in an emotionless tone: "The judgment is: it is impossible to judge. Please correct your question and give a more accurate description, visitor."

Tiantis finally opened his eyes and glanced at her calmly: "Do you have to speak in this tone, Celestial Themis?"

The girl did not answer, or rather she did not dare to answer. She just pursed her lips tightly, looking a little stubborn.

Linger repeated the question word by word: "Since the code name of this file record is Rebel, we already know the reason for the rebellion and we have also seen the process, but what was the final result of the battle? Why did Eden disappear, why did the goddess fall, and how did the Mirror Star appear? Could it be--"

He paused for a moment before slowly speaking out his guess: "Was it that battle that led to the destruction of Eden?"

This question was very sharp, but Tiandis did not get angry. He just looked at Linger deeply and said meaningfully: "Eden has never disappeared."

Before Ling Ge could think about what this meant, she changed the subject and said, "As for the result of that battle, you have actually seen it. Both sides suffered losses. Those false gods seriously injured me, and I fell to the earth along with the Holy Temple of Heaven. However, the young queen will not die. She will only sleep and reincarnate. That is why I am still standing in front of you. As for them, they did not get what they wanted. Instead, I killed them all. Not a single one survived."

The corners of her mouth slowly raised into a cold and sarcastic arc: "That's what I've always wanted to do. I didn't expect that it would be realized in this way. It's really ironic."

Hearing this, Alice, who was still in a daze, couldn't help but tremble, and Themis silently lowered her head without saying a word. Time will change many things, just as I am no longer the same person as before, Alice is no longer the same Alice as before, and Tiantis is no longer the same Tiantis as before.

Everyone was speechless. The two young queens were seriously injured, and the false gods who participated in the rebellion were killed or wounded. It sounded like a result that neither side was satisfied with. What was the root cause of the conflict? What were the two sides pursuing? And who was the person who suffered the most damage in this battle? Things have already happened, and the time is too far away. It seems meaningless to trace back these things.

"I'm curious about something." A voice suddenly came from the crowd. Everyone turned their heads and found that it was the Countess who was speaking. She had a sullen face. She asked the question regardless of her granddaughter desperately pulling her hand and anxiously trying to dissuade her: "The young royal power is obviously the offspring of the goddess and controls the great laws of the world. Why was she defeated by a few false gods among mortals? If Alice... the Alice in the past trusted her friends too much and did not anticipate their sneak attack, then Miss Tiantis, as the real royal power, you did not trust those false gods from the beginning and were wary of them. Could you fail for the same reason?"

This question seemed to be more pointed than Lingge's question just now, but Tiandis was still not angry. He just looked at the countess with interest with his black agate eyes. Leticia thought she was going to bully her grandmother, so she jumped out to protect her grandmother, threatening her with her teeth and claws, although it had no deterrent effect.

"I remember you, Miss Neville, the Countess of the Peninsula." Tiandis suddenly said, "I heard from Times that you met her unexpectedly in Heinrich's secret study, and a battle broke out, right? In this case, I can understand why you asked this question. In fact, this is not difficult to explain. Remember what I told you before, what is the essence of magic?"

Neviel still remembered, or rather, it was impossible for her to forget, so she immediately replied, "It is the spirit of Her Majesty the Goddess, and it is also the medium through which mortals can borrow the power of law from Her."

"Yes, the mother bestowed the power of the law of the royal power on the girl, and at the same time lent the law to mortals for use. In this case, why do you always subconsciously feel that the law He bestowed on the royal power on the girl and the law He lent to mortals are actually two different things, with a difference in superiority and inferiority?" Tiantis said meaningfully: "Perhaps you think that the mother is partial, and she always treats her own offspring and her own creations differently. But the mother's love is far beyond your imagination. In her eyes, all living things and all matter exist equally, without distinction of superiority or inferiority. Therefore, there is actually no essential difference between the laws mastered by the royal power of the girl and the laws mastered by mortals, only a difference in magnitude. Just like the flame of a piece of paper and the flame of a forest, although the former is weak and the latter is more violent, can you say that the two flames are different?" Of course not.

"This characteristic still exists today, and we can see some clues in the extraordinary system of mortals. Extraordinaries like the [Creator] path can use magic to shape things. Isn't it the same essence as Miss Rorona's [Creation] kingship? Extraordinaries like the [Poet] path can create moving works and even manipulate the emotions of others at will. Isn't it the same source as Miss Gloria's [Mind] kingship? Therefore, although the flame of a piece of paper is weak, if many flames are gathered together, it may not be comparable to the raging flames of a forest."

Tiantis smiled and said, "That's the case with the false gods in the Eden World. Of course, with their magic power level, they might be able to successfully launch a sneak attack on the unprepared Alice if they unite, but they are no match for me who is well prepared. They know this themselves, so they made a very cunning decision, or you could say it was very smart, which was to destroy the magic recording device. It stores a huge amount of origin magic, which does not participate in the magic cycle of the Eden World, but is used to maintain the operation of the entire Heavenly Temple. When they absorbed the origin magic, they gained the qualifications to fight against me, but this crazy approach also indirectly led to the tragedy that followed."

tragedy?

Everyone looked at each other, puzzled, except Lingge, who seemed to be thinking deeply. He remembered that before entering the Heavenly Temple, Saint Shallia once said that the origin magic was a magic that only the goddess and the young royal power could use; and Tiandis also said that the laws mastered by mortals were actually no different from the laws mastered by the young royal power. In this case, why did the goddess deliberately distinguish between the origin magic and ordinary magic? Wouldn't it be better to treat everyone equally and give mortals the qualification to use the origin magic?

Unless, there is some reason that prevents mortals from using origin magic.

"That's the difference in the soul." Tiandis said softly: "The souls of the young girl's royal power are all carefully created by the mother, and are endowed with many unique characteristics, such as immortality and reincarnation. The souls of mortals are mostly based on the same template. Because there are too many of them, the mother cannot create them one by one. Origin magic is a more efficient, faster and non-delayed transmission medium than ordinary magic. This means that when using origin magic, the soul is actually communicating with the law at a deeper level. The feedback from the law will continuously wash your soul and try to assimilate it. Only the special soul of the young girl's royal power can bear the burden of using origin magic, while ordinary souls will only gradually lose themselves under this washing and become part of the law. Therefore, the mother created a more gentle and less side-effect ordinary magic for mortals to use."

Washing the soul and assimilating the mind? Ling Ge's mind flashed: "Erosion phenomenon?"

"That's right." Tiantis nodded gently: "Another advantage of origin magic over ordinary magic is that because it directly contacts the law, you don't need to be familiar with that power to use it. In another sense, it is the so-called [royal power]. However, you all know very well what consequences will be brought about by rashly contacting and using a power that you are not familiar with."

It's nothing more than losing control, going berserk, and committing self-destruction.

"So, in that battle, Nigflam and other false gods died at my hands, or they died because of their own greed, ambition and excessive demands. Their death is not a pity, but the problem is that after their death, the origin magic power absorbed in their bodies escaped and lost the control of the magic recording device. Along with the fall of the Temple of Heaven and the operation of the magic circulation system, it gradually spread to the entire Eden. You should know what this means."

Tiantis's meaningful look made everyone, including Lingge, shudder: Doesn't this mean that from now on, every inch of land, every living being, and even every substance in the world of Eden will be mixed with the origin magic that mortals cannot use? This is just like, just like...

"It's like living in a polluted ocean," Rorona whispered, with a rare hint of sadness in her tone. "Breathing the poisonous sea breeze, thirsting for the scorching seawater, sighing at the sky filled with smoke and stench...even the fish and corals are beginning to rot and die. If an ocean area falls to this point, then its future is doomed to be without hope."

In other words, there is no future.

"Unfortunately, some people don't think so." Tiandis sneered: "They all think this is a good thing - the fall of the Holy Temple is a good thing, because no one is restricting them from absorbing magic power; the spread of origin magic is a good thing, because it symbolizes a stronger force than ordinary magic; even the death of those false gods is probably a good thing for them. After all, if the gods above them don't die, how can they have a chance to stand out?"

When everyone thinks this is a good thing, they naturally ignore the risks hidden in the dark and only focus on the immediate benefits. That's why Tiantis said that mortals are a race that is used to grasping the present. This not only means that their emotions are closely linked to their short lifespan, but also indicates that they find it difficult to accept waiting, and cannot see the long-term future. Even those extraordinary people with long lifespans have no awareness of being immortals. They always desire to get something, and they must get it immediately; and if they are afraid of losing something, they will postpone losing it to the distant future. The future has nothing to do with them, so losing is not unacceptable.

"Drinking poison to quench thirst."

Alice, who had been staring at the screen in a daze, suddenly uttered a slang that no one quite understood.

Only those who have been exposed to Earth culture know the meaning of this sentence and find it very appropriate.

Tiandis even asked Ling directly: "If you were about to die of thirst and there was a bottle of venom in front of you, would you choose to drink the venom to quench your thirst, or not?"