Alice in the Land of Steam

Chapter 1119 No other choice?
"There's no use running away."

The Dark Witch rode the dragon tide and pursued the Armed Goddess, which was only concerned with escaping, with a roar of raging waves. The scene looked like huge waves rising high in the storm, and then falling heavily, intending to swallow up the light and nimble petrel and make the dark seabed here her burial place. However, she was always one step slow, so that the scene seen by the audience seemed as if the surging tide was being led by the petrel and gradually led to the other side of the battlefield.

So, running away certainly works.

I must escape, I can only escape, only by escaping can I...

"As long as you keep distracting me, you can create a chance for Alice and the others to escape - you don't think so, do you, Celestial Themis?" Carabosse's cold voice was like a sharp razor scraping past, rubbing out a sharp echo, the tide gradually slowed down, and finally stopped in a dark abyss. The dragons emerged from the deep seabed, clearly unconscious bodies condensed by magic power, but they seemed to have life, baring their teeth and claws, sometimes showing their sharp fangs to the figure who could only flee in a panic, hissing and threatening.

Carabos stood on the dragon tide, looking down indifferently, with no emotion in her black and white eyes. Celestial Themis felt that the pursuit from behind seemed to have lost momentum, so she gradually slowed down until she stopped completely. She stared at the witch on the crest of the wave in silence from a distance that was not too far away. On her tense little face, the two slender eyebrows were deeply furrowed without knowing when.

"fighting."

Carabosse said coldly: "Since you have chosen this path, you should understand that fighting is the only way to solve the problem. Blindly escaping is only to shame your own awareness. Celestial Themis, do not underestimate the power hidden in your body. When you are determined to fight, even the Temple of Heaven will awaken for you."

Just as the young girl's royal power inherited the sixteen laws of creation from the goddess, the Celestial Themis also inherited a part of the goddess' power, which is reflected in her control over the Temple of Heaven. As a miraculous creation that came into the world with the birth of the goddess of creation, and also an observation station of the ancient universe, the origin magic accumulated in the Temple of Heaven, and its interference authority over the laws of the universe, are by no means inferior to any young girl's royal power. Since the Celestial Themis knows how to use that part of the origin magic and interference authority to create a suitable carrier for Alice's fantasy royal power, it is not difficult to use it in combat based on the same principle.

An observer who can only run away cannot intervene and mediate the conflict between the girl's royal power.

Themis in the celestial world also knew this, but she did not answer Carabosse's question. Instead, she felt strange and heard a deeply hidden...expectation from the other party's seemingly indifferent words.

She expected herself to fight, why?
According to normal logical reasoning, it is more in line with the interests of the Witch Society to give up the battle on your own initiative, right? After all, an observer who can only run away cannot have a substantial impact on their plan. In addition, before, Carabosse wanted to kill Alice, but at the same time reminded her that only by showing the courage to kill the enemy can she win this difficult battle. If she didn't say it, the Queen of Order would never be able to grasp this key information, right? However, what good would it be for Carabosse and even the Witch Society to deliberately reveal this information? What was she thinking at that time?

Although she had been silently paying attention to her for such a long time, now, Themis from the Heavenly Realm still felt that she had never understood Carabosse's thoughts. Just like when she secretly brought the Kingdom of Chaos to Mirror Star without telling Saint Shalia and other Kingdoms of Order, what was she thinking in her heart?

This may be a mystery that can never be explained.

The girl expressed her attitude through silence.

"Still unwilling to fight?"

Caraboss was not surprised, but her tone became colder: "This is also understandable. When Mother created life and endowed them with emotions - whether divine or mortal - they also gained a kind of stubborn power, making them indulge in the present and resist change. But this is definitely not Mother's original intention. Perhaps it can be considered a price that life must pay for having emotions. The richer the emotions, the stronger this power will be, but people cannot remain stubborn forever. One day, emotions will collapse, power will disintegrate, and you will be forced to fight. At that time, what choice will you make, Celestial Themis?"

As she spoke, she raised her left hand and pointed in a direction slowly and firmly with her slender but pale index finger.

The pupils of Celestial Themis suddenly contracted, because she saw that, following Carabosse's movements, the Dyson Sphere behind her also began to move. The giant celestial body slowly rotated, and the curved surface of the planet stretched out spectacular but cold arcs in the rotation along the axis. In the center of the matrix composed of 23,128 radially arranged red skylights, a huge probe that was condensed into a cone structure by thirteen star ring structures was gradually adjusting its angle, aligning the direction of the muzzle with the direction indicated by Carabosse into a straight line that was invisible to the naked eye but did exist.

What's in that direction?
Cloud Whale Sky Island.

What was even more fatal was that Yunjing Sky Island was heading here at this moment, instead of taking the opportunity to evacuate the battlefield while Themis in the celestial world was distracting Carabosse's attention as she expected.

Obviously, the travelers on Cloud Whale Sky Island never thought of abandoning their companions. At first, they wanted to support Alice who was in danger, and now they wanted to support Themis in the sky. However, it was precisely this spirit of unity and help that made them step into the range of the Dyson Sphere in their anxiety.

Can Ieta's barrier withstand the Dyson Sphere's cationic star destroyer? Can Saint Shalia's power of destiny derail the Dyson Sphere's bombardment? Or is there some powerful item secretly stored in Rorona's alchemy workshop that can play an unexpected role in times of crisis? But even if the power of all the girl kings on the Sky Island is gathered to block this bombardment, it is impossible to ensure that no one will be killed or injured? The magic herbs, stone guards, and weak lives such as Shemy, Little Sun, and Little Lamb on the Sky Island are likely to die under the beam of destruction.

Iyeta seemed to realize the seriousness of the problem. Under her control, the Cloud Whale Sky Island suddenly accelerated. Instead of retreating, it rushed to the battlefield at a faster speed. It seemed to have made up its mind that as long as it avoided the next bombardment, it would be able to arrive in time to provide support and replace the Celestial Themis who was not good at fighting to fight the Dark Witch in a real decisive battle. Perhaps Alice had already lost, but there was another person on Sky Island who could make the final decision, and that was Victory King Shino.

When did the usually weak Angel Lady become able to make such a decisive judgment? Was it the cruel battlefield that changed her, or was it the young man who was guiding her?

But that wouldn't work. Even if it was the Cloud Whale Sky Island, even if it was the Cloud Whale Sky Island controlled by Yieta, it would never be possible to avoid the Dyson Sphere's cationic star destroyer cannon, because, because -

In the cockpit, Celestial Themis bit her lower lip silently, with a complicated look in her eyes. This was a difficult question that Carabosse had given her, telling her that she actually had no choice. That's right, that's it. Carabosse observed Celestial Themis's reaction, and couldn't help thinking: Between watching your companions fall into danger and facing the reality and fighting at the cost of your life, you actually have no choice. In essence, they are the same thing.

So, how would you choose?
The observer who is expected by the mother and willing to stand up for the sincere feelings—

"Cation Star Destroyer," she uttered the command to fire, word by word, slowly but firmly. This command would be received by the 312 control rooms in the Dyson Sphere and faithfully executed by a total of 4,632 control personnel until the curtain of the story fell and the plot came to an end: "And then..."

However, the next second, the whale disappeared from her sight, as if it had suddenly dived into the deepest seabed that even she could not reach and disappeared.

Instead, there was a humanoid mecha.

The Armed Goddess cast a dark cloud over the enemy, and a pair of shining golden eyes were like a blazing crescent moon in the darkness, giving people a strong and distinct sense of oppression. This was the first time since the start of the war that the Armed Goddess did not flee, but actively rushed to the enemy. At this close distance, where even the breathing could be clearly felt, through the pure gem embedded in the chest of the mecha, Carabosse seemed to see the resolute look on the girl's face, and she couldn't help but flashing all kinds of thoughts in her mind -

Had his threat worked? Had Themis finally decided to abandon her hope of escaping and confront him head-on?

She stood in front of him, trying to use her body to block the Dyson Sphere's attack for Yunjing Sky Island?

No, it was impossible. The terrifying energy eruption caused by the cation star destroyer when it was fired could even penetrate interstellar storms. It was definitely not something that a single construct mecha could completely block.

Or did she want to use force to stop herself before the order to fire was given?

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Only thoughts can surpass speed, let alone someone as thoughtful and meticulous as Carabosse. In a very short moment, she considered all possibilities. However, Celestial Themis did not have so many complicated thoughts. She only knew one thing: the preparation time of the Dyson Sphere was 0.5 seconds, and the time for the bombardment to arrive was only a short 1.2 thousandths of a second, which was all the time left for her to react.

If you succeed - no, you must succeed!

Under the stunned gaze of Carabos, she made a move that no one expected: the Armed Goddess stretched out a huge steel gauntlet, and gently grasped the tiny Dark Witch in her palm like a hug. Then, without waiting for the Witch to react, the six floating light cannons on the back of the machine suddenly erupted with a blazing and brilliant tail flame, pushing the machine and the Dark Witch in its palm to accelerate towards the Dyson Sphere, which was gradually brewing a destructive red light. In a tiny moment that was too small to complete in the blink of an eye, the Armed Goddess... disappeared.

That's right, it didn't move forward, but disappeared; it didn't move, but jumped - jumped from one coordinate point to another, without any signs or intentions in between, even the speed of light and heat couldn't catch up, the gorgeous tail flames from the floating light cannon didn't leave any traces in the deep and dark universe. When the vision and consciousness returned to normal, the humanoid mecha had already carried a huge and terrifying kinetic energy, and it crashed into the strict matrix composed of 23,128 mechas in an unstoppable manner.

First, with the impact point as the center, the matrix sank downward into a terrifying pit with a diameter of hundreds of yards. The buildings within the impact range, whether they were made of molten steel or hollow red skylights, all collapsed and shrank inward, as if they were swallowed by an invisible black hole. Then, a ring-shaped shock wave visible to the naked eye, with the pit as the center, carrying iron blocks or dust from the collapsed buildings, as well as fragments of torn optical cables and pipes, spread rapidly in all directions, sweeping the entire Dyson sphere in an instant. The scene looked like a meteorite hitting the surface of the planet, raising vast dust and hurricanes, causing haze to cover the sky, extinguishing volcanoes, and rolling energy winds washing every remaining building in the matrix. Finally, the dark witch Carabosse gave the belated command: "... Launch."

The next moment, a brilliant red beam shot out from the central launch silo.

However, it was not fired towards a predetermined coordinate point, but was guided by some strange force, bursting energy backwards, using the crater created by the collision between the Armed Goddess and the Dark Witch as the impact point, and penetrated straight and resolutely through the central area of ​​the Dyson Sphere - the scene looked like at the moment when the beam of the cationic star destroyer burst out, there was an invisible giant in the dark, reaching out to grasp the red spear containing the power to destroy stars, and exerting an irresistible force in the opposite direction on it.

Thus, the weapon that killed the enemy turned into a fatal blow to one's own heart.

Two figures, one big and one small, were submerged in the majestic red light at the same time.

The giant celestial body, which had its heart pierced by the cation star destroyer it fired, suddenly let out a terrifying and even horrifying groan. The uniformly rotating planetary surface creaked and slowly stopped like an old and worn gear that could no longer function. For such a huge object, whether it was a change in speed or angle when rotating or stagnating, it could be called a storm in the sea of ​​​​the universe, easily causing a collapse or disintegration inside the celestial body. This seemed to be its last struggle, but it soon became silent. The lights in the control rooms dimmed, and the energy in the red skylights began to ebb. The magic signals transmitted in the magic optical cables and metal pipes also lost their targets. They flickered for a while like a headless fly, and then went out listlessly.

The Dyson Sphere is still huge, still spectacular, and still has an incredibly shocking sense of oppression brought about by its size and technology.

But it remained quietly in the darkness.

Like death.

Give me some meow