Alice in the Land of Steam

Chapter 1115 What do you want to do?

"It's not over yet..."

Alice dragged her wounded body and stood up tenaciously. Her hands and feet were shaking, and even her pale lips were trembling constantly, as if she was exhausted. But it didn't matter, no matter how miserable her appearance was, at least she still had a heart. The power of the heart is endless, enough to support this sacred mecha to rise from the ashes again and again after being bombarded, just like no matter how powerful the boss is, no matter how many times the game is over, as long as they have not given up, they will have countless opportunities to challenge again. The only one who can defeat the players in this world is themselves.

but.

"It's no use, Alice."

Carabos watched her quietly, and did not stop the Armed Goddess from standing up and continuing to pose for her. How sacred, beautiful, and full of fighting spirit this machine is. She is the product of all the hard work of a talented player, as well as a strong desire. But if these emotions are poured into the wrong object, then her failure is inevitable.

"Just thinking about victory is not enough, Alice." She said, "You must have a stronger belief than that, such as the determination to kill a person. I have said it a long time ago that the disagreement between Chaos and Order is a disagreement in philosophy, and the disagreement in philosophy is a struggle between life and death. We all want to change the world, and sacrifice is inevitable. So, after the breakdown of the negotiations in the Thorsen Mountains, I said to Saint Shalia: The next time we meet, we will be enemies of life and death. I hope you can fight with the determination to kill me."

She did not lower her voice, but rather deliberately spread it out so that some people could hear her words - she was not only talking to Alice, but also to everyone who had once been a sister, explaining to them again that simple but cruel truth.

On the distant Yunjingkong Island, a blue-haired girl heard these words. Her frail body trembled violently. She raised her head, and her eyes were filled with a deep sadness.

"It's a pity that they didn't make it in the end." Carabosse said calmly, as if she was not involved and had never experienced the battle in person, so she could examine, judge and evaluate everyone's choice with such a calm attitude: "When the Witch Society went all out and eliminated the enemies that hindered the plan at all costs, they still had unrealistic fantasies, hoping to use a victory to change our attitude and change the world in a peaceful way. But peace will not bring change, and change must be accompanied by sacrifice. This is not any law created by Mother when she created the world, but a rule that naturally evolved after the birth of life, mortals and civilization. We respect it and act according to its guidance, so you have already seen the result of the battle. Alice, do you want to repeat the mistakes of the past?"

She extended a hand to the Armed Goddess, her expression reserved and cold, as if she was inviting her to a dance. However, in sharp contrast to this elegant demeanor was a tragic battlefield, which undoubtedly conveyed a cruel fact to the audience: this was not a dance, but a fight to the death.

"It is useless to fight with the belief of victory. After victory, eliminating the enemies that stand in your way at all costs is the awareness that people who want to change the world should have. If it is a mountain that blocks the way, flatten it; if it is a river that blocks the way, cut it off; if it is a person that blocks the way, then of course, kill him."

As soon as she finished speaking, her figure flashed and disappeared from Alice's sight. The next moment, the latter felt a sharp pain in her back and could not help but groan. Coldness seeped out from her pale forehead. Behind the Armed Goddess, Carabos swung the giant scythe and made a light stroke. With a cold and sharp straight line that split the void, the left wing of the Armed Goddess broke silently. The cut was smooth and flat, like a polished crystal, but what gushed out was not blood, but beams of dazzling star flames.

"I will kill you in this fight, Alice."

The witch whispered in my ear, her voice like a thorn in my flesh, lingering like a ghost, as calmly as if she was just talking about the dishes for tonight's dinner: "This is my unshakable belief since I stepped onto the battlefield. What about you? Do you want to kill me, or are you satisfied with just pursuing victory? If it's the latter, you will die here today; if it's the former, then come and take it from me."

Take away victory, and then take away my life.

She raised her giant sickle and slashed at the other steel wing of the Armed Goddess, but Alice reacted in time. The silver-white body dodged sideways at the last moment and avoided the burning sickle blade by a hair's breadth. Black fire swirled like snowflakes. The Armed Goddess used the inertia of turning to swing the blade and attacked the witch unstoppably. In the cockpit, Alice bit her lower lip tightly, and even a trace of blood oozed out: "I would do the same without you telling me! Do you think I dare not kill you? I have seen many villains like you in the game. When have I ever shown mercy? I am the protagonist, and the protagonist must kill big villains like you to bring a happy ending to everyone!!!"

She seemed to be angered by the witch's words, or perhaps she was poked at some weak spot that she had been avoiding, so she became even more excited, shouting and swinging her sword at Carabosse regardless of anything. The sharp blade drew cold arcs in the darkness. She kept moving forward, and the witch kept retreating. It seemed that Alice had the upper hand on the scene, but every sword she swung after losing her composure was completely random, more like a child's fight, so that Carabosse could easily dodge every sword that fell on her without even concentrating. Finally, she seized a flaw that Alice revealed due to her excessive impatience, leaped through the storm of swords, and in an instant she attacked the Armed Goddess. Instead of swinging the scythe, she stretched out her other hand, firmly grasped her throat, and lifted her up.

The tiny witch lifted up the huge mecha, and the scene looked quite funny, but no one who saw it could laugh. The mecha and the driver's senses were deeply connected, so Alice in the driving space also felt a strong clamping feeling in her throat, which almost suffocated her and her cheeks gradually turned red.

But somehow, at such a critical moment, she thought of Saint Shalia. Whenever she annoyed the good-tempered girl, she would use the same tricks against her, so much so that Olvera and others jokingly called it "being strangled by fate". But that was just a joke between companions. Xiao Xia's hands were always gentle and caressing, and her painful expression was also fake. But the dark witch in front of her was completely different. This guy... This second sister Carabosse, who was respected and trusted by her younger sisters along with the eldest sister Saint Shalia a long time ago, really wanted to kill her!
Alice even suspected that if the hands were not strangling her, but Saint Shalia, Olvera, Leticia, etc., she would not loosen her grip at all. Because this was the Dark Witch's belief, a belief that she would change the world even if she had to kill everyone who got in the way. She had done the same thing once before, seven hundred years ago.

Compared with this, the so-called "love, justice and courage" will never lose and are indeed ridiculously weak.

For the first time, doubts arose in the genius player's heart.

"You always do."

Karabos said slowly, "Treat the world as a game. It seems that only by treating the world as a game, and treating me as a virtual NPC in the game, a piece of digital code, and a villain whose mission since birth is to be killed by players, can you convince yourself to make up your mind to kill me. But what's the use of such a weak determination? The world is not a game, but a huge collection of destinies intertwined between living beings. Every existence in this collection is alive and has its own thoughts and actions. Alice, you have to treat them as unique souls, understand the meaning of their existence, understand their respective choices, and deeply understand what position they occupy in this world and what role they play. On this basis, you decide to kill some people and save others, and change the world in this way. This determination is the most firm and unshakable."

Unconsciously, she increased the strength of her hands, and the light in her eyes became cold and stern. "Don't be like a child playing a game. If you win, you shout and say that love, justice and courage will conquer everything. If you lose, you comfort yourself by saying that I just didn't try my best and I will defeat you one day. But, I repeat, Alice, this world is not your game. You don't have a chance to start over—no one does."

Even if the young queen can be reincarnated, once she dies, she will inevitably lose something. Friends? Career? Ideals? Memories? Once lost, they no longer exist, and there is no chance to reload the game. The dark witch has a pair of beautiful and white hands that form a sharp contrast with the flying black dress. At this moment, they are as heavy as iron pliers, firmly grasping the throat of the Armed Goddess, lifting her up into the air inch by inch. Alice in the cockpit felt more and more difficult to breathe, her face and lips turned blue, and a dark shadow appeared in front of her eyes. She tried her best to break free from the witch's control, and every knuckle was clenched white, but it didn't work at all. The machine did not respond to her call. Perhaps, as Themis in the celestial world said, the power of the heart is also a consumable. Once, Alice used it recklessly, but now the ocean has dried up and turned into a wilderness.

In the distance, Yunjing Sky Island has turned around and rushed to the battlefield. A young knight with long snow-white hair walked out of the church and looked at the sky with a solemn face. Behind her, her beloved horse seemed to have heard the call from her master and came over on the fallen leaves. On its back was the Ice Heart Armor and the Holy Lance White Thorn, which had been passed down from generation to generation in the Gustaf family. Although I promised Alice in advance that I would not intervene in this battle, the situation was urgent. If I watched my companions fall into a life-and-death crisis and did nothing about it, what kind of knight would I be?

"You're in great company."

Carabosse whispered, and this time, only Alice, who was close at hand, could hear her: "But, is it too late?"

Black flames appeared on her palms.

At first, it was just a small cluster of flames. After it came into contact with the darkness outside, it trembled slightly, and then grew to a size visible to the naked eye. It crept quietly, splitting into a hundred or more. These quiet and well-trained flames were like small black snakes, quickly swimming to the entire body of the Armed Goddess, passing through the shoulder armor, bypassing the arms, and entangled with the wings, making every inch of space it touched burn silently. The silver-white armor was engulfed by the flames, and the cold and sharp blade was stained with the color of shadow. In the end, even the huge blue gem on the chest was included. The darkness was burning fiercely on the body of the mecha, but in this process, no heat was transmitted, but instead, people felt a suffocating feeling as if they were sinking into water.

Not burning, but drowning; not releasing, but depriving; not destroying, but assimilating.

That is the nature of darkness.

"I've already told you, Alice." Carabosse stared at the Armed Goddess, which had completely turned into a dark torch, and said as if talking to herself, "I will kill you in this battle."

So if you want to survive.

Just make up your mind to kill me.

Read the error-free version at 69shuba! 6=9+shu_ba is the first to publish this novel.

She suddenly saw that in the darkness, under the silver-white helmet of the Armed Goddess, the scarlet light in the eyes that were polished into a long crescent moon suddenly went out, as if the machine had fallen back into a deep sleep in an instant. She was stunned. She didn't expect Alice to give up so quickly. Could it be that her so-called "love, justice and courage" had always been just bluffing?
The next moment, the light came on again.

It was not a dangerous and flamboyant scarlet color, but a bright and determined fiery gold color, shining brightly like moonlight.

"Detected... a new thought entity has landed..."

At the same time, a low, peaceful voice that was interwoven with rationality and divinity began to echo under the canopy of the universe, causing the blazing shadow flame to freeze for a moment: "Begin to execute... the god-transforming procedure..."

"Power mode, switch... Celestial form, ON..."

Wait, what did she say?
Celestial…form?
A look of astonishment appeared on Carabosse's face. For the first time since the battle began, something beyond her expectations had happened.

……

The Temple of Heaven, the headquarters building of the Game Command Company, the top floor.

At this time, the control center was empty. The figure of the silver-haired girl disappeared at some point, and no one knew where she went. In the huge servers and cabinets surrounding her, only her words echoed. In fact, she was not very firm, and even a little confused. She was actually always confused, but sometimes, even if people are confused, they will be pushed by a force called fate and continue to move forward: "I... want to do something, even if I lose something, so..."

"Mother, please look at me!"

Want to achieve something, even if it means losing something.

This is also part of human nature.

Give me some meow