Alice in the Land of Steam

Chapter 1083: Did they quarrel?
"Then there is only one last question left."

Saint Shallia looked around, resting her gaze on everyone's face, and spoke softly. Her words made the atmosphere in the hall suddenly darken, even more depressing than when Yieta hesitated and refused to express her opinion before: "In this war, we will face the greatest enemy - the dark witch Carabosse, and the constructed mecha she controls. How should we deal with it?"

Lingge noticed that there was an unnatural pause in her voice when she mentioned that sensitive name, and Ovilla's body trembled slightly, as if she had returned to a nightmare long ago - although she had not dreamed for a long time before Bai Ye boarded the Yunjingkong Island.

To be honest, they were not unfamiliar with this dark witch. They had faced her power in the final level of Belman Castle. However, what was guarding the castle at that time was not the real body of the dark witch, but a byproduct derived from the power of the curse, just like... the relationship between Bai Ye and Gloria.

However, even if she is just a byproduct of the curse, she still has some characteristics of the original owner, and can even be said to be a replica of her personality. Therefore, the image of the guardian is slender but strong, sensitive but calm, and while abiding by her duties, she also feels sympathy and expectation for Princess Berman who is trapped in a dark cage. She even tries to plead with her main personality, although she fails in the end, it is enough to leave a deep impression on everyone. The most vivid example is that when Princess Berman ended the guardian's life with her own hands, she shed tears for it.

Perhaps some of those tears were for the years she had spent trapped in the castle in the darkness, some for the shadows of her parents and hometown that she had seen in her endless memories, and some for the respectable elder she had met again after a long absence but had said goodbye to again forever... But there must be one tear that belonged to her, right? At that time, watching Olvera trembling and shedding tears, the young man had this thought in his mind.

And that image did match the shadow of the dark monarchy that everyone saw in the archives long ago. It would be better to say that she had accidentally split her image into two parts, one half belonging to the guardian of the castle, and the other half belonging to the dark witch of the association. They were one, but also separate.

So, in contrast, what kind of image does the dark witch have now?

Saint Charity might not want to touch on this topic, because the dark monarchy in the archives, who was calm and composed but gentle, was the sister she always cared about and could not forget, but she had been lost in a world long ago; Olvera instinctively resisted this topic, so much so that on the night she stayed at the Evangelical Convent, she angrily denied the sisterhood between the two. Perhaps it was because she could only accept one of the two fragmented images from beginning to end, but that person had died in the collapsed castle, or died under her sword.

Fate made all the sad things happen again and again, and also maliciously played with the emotions flowing in the blood, which was an untraceable source, or a memory of reincarnation. As for today, how can they understand the image of the dark witch that they have never known? They can only learn about it from an outsider.

Cold, indifferent, not bound by emotions, or rather, not easily expressing her emotions, she is high above, overlooking everything, bringing cruel truths but not caring about the consequences of such truths; she extinguishes the candlelight in the night and dims the hope in people's hearts, making everything as deep as the eternal night and as peaceful as death - this long, complex and personal description comes from Sister Livia.

She had a brief encounter with the dark witch Carabosse in the underground ruins of Lunwitin City, and then, Gabrielvia, the Holy Son of the True Spirit Sect, was completely defeated in that battle. Not only physically, but also mentally. To this day, when the battle is mentioned, the nun still has lingering fears.

"She's not such an easy enemy to deal with."

Livia's lips were a little pale, and her eyes were filled with solemnity: "The power of the Holy Son Gabriel is so insignificant in front of her. I feel that her darkness can even cover the entire land of Lunkwell - or make the sun lose its light."

This was undoubtedly a very exaggerated description, but no one thought she was exaggerating. If she was not so powerful, she would not be able to become the banner of the Witch Society in the universe and lead a huge fleet to fight against those extraterrestrial disaster beasts that were as terrifying as natural disasters - if the code-named constructed mecha was added, the assessment of her combat power might be raised to a higher level.

At least she is stronger than the Dread Witch Fei'er who also drives a Construct Mecha, right?

However, it is not entirely true to say that there is not even one person on the Cloud Whale Sky Island who can compete with the dark witch Carabosse.

There are at least two candidates.

"..."

Xinuo looked around, seeing everyone's thoughtful and hesitant expressions. She opened her mouth and said, "In that case, I will--"

"Let me deal with that guy!" Someone slammed the table and interrupted the young knight. She propped her hands on the table, leaned forward in an exaggerated manner, and swept her piercing eyes across everyone's faces one by one, as if to convey her determination and confidence to them. Especially when her eyes fell on Ling Ge, this statement was even more obvious, exuding an unquestionable momentum: "I, the genius player Alice, will personally take action. No matter whether she is a dark witch or a saint of light, she is no match for me!"

"I have finished what I have to say. Who is in favor? Who is against?"

Her domineering question seemed to really shock everyone, so that everyone just stared at her in a daze, unable to say a word. After a long while, Shino, who was interrupted by her, frowned a pair of thin eyebrows like swords and expressed his opposition tactfully: "Don't be too arrogant, Alice. Although I have never dealt with the dark witch, it is said that she is the second most powerful figure in the witch association after Tiandis, and her strength should not be underestimated. In addition to the code-named unknown construct mecha... I'm afraid you are still not capable of it alone?"

"No, no, no, you're totally overthinking it, Shino."

Alice shook her head repeatedly, then untied her game console and cartridges from her belt and showed them to everyone like a treasure: "She has a constructed mecha, so don't I have my own super robot? My Genesis Mecha - ahem, the specific code name cannot be revealed for the time being, and it has to remain a little mysterious - but in short, it is based on countless outstanding predecessors as a model, with my amazing wisdom as the skeleton, and with Rorona and Ling's creativity as the flesh and blood. It is a product of countless efforts! How can it be inferior to the Creation Mecha of the Witch Society?"

She put down the game console and the cassette, her eyes fixed on the Knight Girl, and said word by word: "Believe me, Shino. Although you may not have seen how good I am at playing games, I am a genius player - a genius player of the cosmic level. No enemy can be my opponent. As for you, you are our secret weapon. Shouldn't secret weapons be kept until the most critical moment? So you don't need to take action for the time being. I can bring victory back to you and everyone!"

She pretended to speak in a relaxed tone, as if to convince everyone and give Xino some confidence. However, the knight of the Godafu family did not give in. Instead, she narrowed her eyes slightly. The wine red in her pupils seemed to be diluted by the light, and covered with a stern and serious luster. Her tone unconsciously became tough: "Although your game console and cartridges are indeed magical, they are essentially your royal power, Alice. You can't even treat your own power correctly, but you have to go to the battlefield alone to face an enemy that is enough to kill all of us, and you keep saying that I can rest assured? This attitude of treating war as a game is not what a warrior should think. How can you reassure me? Do you really know what this battle means? Or, do you know what will happen to your companions behind you if you lose?" "You won't fail!"

Alice looked her in the eye without avoiding any hesitation, and said firmly: "I will never fail. As you said, although this power is my royal power, it is still in the form of a game in essence. As long as it is a game, I will not lose, because I am the genius player Alice - and a genius player Alice of the universe level!"

No one knew when she had the prefix "Universe Class" and she was still keen on talking about it as if it was some extraordinary title, but it was undoubtedly related to someone. Because the change in the mentality of the genius player Alice started after a conversation with that person, so they all turned their eyes to the same direction.

"Lingge," Xinuo looked at the young man seriously, the young man who brought her here from the distant Grindelwald Fields and whom she once thought could understand her, just as she later understood her parents and her grandfather's choices. Now, she wanted to get an answer from him: "Do you think so too?"

The young man pursed his dry lips subconsciously. He was not unfamiliar with the feeling of being watched by everyone. A long time ago, when he was standing on the altar of Tianxin Church, the gazes of the people below were so anxious and pressing. They were all fighting for survival. The bread and milk they received from the young people were far more important than those empty doctrines. Today, the gazes were for faith. They all had their own reasons for fighting, and they firmly believed that their reasons must be more correct. However, in war, does being right definitely mean that they will not fail?
Shino said, although it is a game, it is still your kingship in essence.

Alice said that although it was royal power, it was still essentially a game.

The order of events is important, because once the cause and effect are reversed, thoughts, wishes, and destiny will also change. But what can you decide? Between 99% and 100%, which result would you choose?
Ling is a rationalist, so he chooses the former.

"Let her try." The young man gently lowered his eyelids, avoiding everyone's gaze. His voice was impossible to hear unless you listened carefully: "Alice has been preparing for this battle for a long time. We can... trust her."

It's like believing that a story from long ago won't repeat itself because it's been seen once, so it can be avoided.

After hearing this answer, Alice didn't react. Shino's pupils had shrunk slightly. After the initial shock and daze faded, what came to her mind was a kind of anger of being distrusted and an unspeakable grievance. She forced herself not to look at Lingge and the others' faces, but turned her head away, intending to continue to argue with Alice. No matter what others thought, she could not allow Alice to step onto the battlefield with such a playful mentality. It would not only hurt herself, but also hurt everyone.

But she was stunned when she turned around, because Alice was looking at her with eyes she had never seen before. What kind of emotion was that? Expectation, pleading, humbleness, and even a hint of firm sadness. It was as if those eyes were speaking. She said to herself, "Just let me give it a try, Shino."

"I will do my best to defeat my enemy, no matter how powerful she is."

“Then, bring victory back to everyone.”

The young knight fell silent.

She really wanted to say that this was not something that could be tried casually, that it was not possible to reverse the strength and weakness and victory or defeat by making up one's mind, and she even wanted to say angrily that I am standing here not to argue with you about right or wrong, but because I have reasons to fight - just like the pioneer Baron Vince, the white knight Hibden, the paranoid Leonard, and the glorious ancestors of the Gustaf family.

But good upbringing, excellent self-cultivation and an emotion that she herself could not explain clearly stopped the girl from acting impulsively. She gradually calmed down, and then felt an indescribable loss and melancholy. The girl took a deep breath and exhaled it gently, calming her restless heart in this way. When she spoke again, her voice was so calm, as if the conflict just now had never happened: "Now that things have come to this, please let me look forward to your performance, Alice."

"I'm not feeling well. I'm afraid I need to rest for a while."

"I'm leaving early, please don't mind."

After saying that, she bowed, and before anyone could react, she turned around and walked out of the hall. She clearly said she wanted to rest, but the direction she was heading in was not the direction leading to her room. Instead, the sound of her footsteps gradually moved towards the door, getting farther and farther away.

Alice stood there blankly, holding her game console and cartridges in her hands, at a loss as to what to do.

The others also looked at each other in bewilderment at this sudden change, but Saint Xia Liya reacted quickly and cast a questioning look at Ling Ge. The young man sighed helplessly and mouthed to her, "You continue to discuss it with everyone."

"I'm going to find Shino."

"By the way, have a chat with her."

Give me some meow