Alice in the Land of Steam

Chapter 1299 Is it not just the power of faith?

Those who haven't experienced the corrosive power of faith can hardly comprehend that profound feeling: accompanied by what believers consider fervent prayers, the impure magic of the soul assaults like a storm, churning the ocean of the spirit. Polluted thoughts begin to erode reason and memory, and the dam built upon humanity and emotion crumbles. In endless pain, confusion, and struggle, your personality seems to be torn apart. A strange self emerges from the source of this division—or rather, it is the deity imagined by the believers, the very image the power of faith seeks to mold you into. In it, you see no trace of life: reason and emotion? Memory and feeling? Thought and choice? What is unnecessary does not exist. It was born to respond to the prayers of the believers, like a puppet on a stage, devoid of blood, tears, heart, and soul.

Admittedly, the power of faith is not without its flaws. In another sense, it acts as an anchor, helping mortals maintain a stable course in the chaotic ocean. For extraordinary individuals who often face the risk of losing control, this is undoubtedly the most important lifeline. Therefore, when this theory was proposed, religions on both the Eastern and Western continents proliferated, vying for a limited number of followers. Since there is competition, there must be positions; since there are positions, there must be right and wrong. Thus, the conflicts between orthodox religions, heretical religions, false religions… and between religion and faith, are even more intense than the conflicts between ancient tribes.

The same applies to the power of young girls.

The power of faith, as an anchor, can pull a god on the verge of going out of control back to the mortal world, and can also awaken the memories of past lives and allow the constantly reincarnated young woman Wang Quan to regain her past authority. However, everything is based on two words: "moderation".

Only by using this power prudently and with restraint can the balance between "erosion" and "anchor point" be maintained, just as one carefully maintains a fragile scale, striving not to let either side tilt.

This is unimaginable for ordinary people.

Debating the right and wrong of doctrines, distinguishing between good and bad faiths, vying for the allegiance of believers, and encroaching on the interests of other religions—fanatics use this method to prove their piety, while non-fanatics need it even more to prove their worth. Thus, once matters of faith are involved, ordinary people inevitably tend to go to extremes. In this respect, the Orderly Kingdom is undoubtedly much luckier than the Chaotic Kingdom. Due to the nature of the kingdom itself, even if the followers of the Orderly Kingdom go to extremes, they will instinctively maintain order, only their methods will be more extreme, their actions more harsh, and their personalities more rigid. Such people are certainly detestable, but they are not necessarily categorized as "evil."

In contrast, the faith in Chaotic Kingship gathers the most extremist group in the world. Just as darkness breeds panic and corruption attracts reptiles, this is a natural consequence, unrelated to the will of the kingship itself. Such individuals, once driven to extremism, are more prone to madness, readily unleashing bloodshed and destruction. This corrupt and heavy force of faith, instead of serving as an anchor, drags Chaotic Kingship deeper and deeper until it utterly collapses.

Carabos died several times before he met Tientis.

The first time was when she died from that man's betrayal. He was willing to detonate the sacred artifact to kill them all. At that time, the young queen was devoted to restoring the laws of the world and was unmoved by his betrayal. It can be said that she willingly sacrificed her first life for all living beings, a fact that neither the Order Queen nor the Chaos Queen can deny. As for the subsequent times, she only had vague memories. Her impression was as if she had been asleep for a long time, always waking up in a dark abyss, feeling someone calling to her in the darkness. So she walked out of the abyss and stepped into the mortal world again.

Seeing this bustling and beautiful world, I felt a sense of familiarity, yet also a void, as if I had lost something because of it. It must have been something very important, something I still can't forget. But why did I forget it? Why did I forget them? And who...who are they...?

Like a soul resurrected from the dead, tormented by the gap between memory and loneliness, she has forgotten the meaning of love. The young girl yearns to reclaim her long-lost affections and firmly believes that there is still someone in this world who knows who she is. If she could find the answer, perhaps she would no longer be in so much pain…

However, her reincarnated soul was corrupted by worldly desires, losing its purity and becoming unable to control her power, causing a surge of dark energy that affected the present world: sometimes she would devour the sun like a giant bird, sometimes she would drink up the stars and moon like a magnificent whale. Wherever she went, half was silent and half was peaceful. People were terrified and fearfully called her a witch...

Despite her best efforts to control her powers and avoid harming anyone, she was still met with harsh words and driven away by lies. For some reason, she wasn't surprised or angry. Perhaps she had known for a long time what kind of beings mortals were: utterly useless when unknown, valued only when known; they readily accept what is useful and discard what is useless. Since that's the case, she thought, "Just avoid contact with humans. It's so simple. By not interacting with humans, I won't be bothered by their words or actions, nor will I be affected by them." She didn't realize that this was also the thought of her many years ago, a time when she failed, choosing to distance herself from people, wandering alone, seeking a way to control her powers while searching for lost memories…

Finding her were those emanating a repulsive aura, who called themselves followers of the Dark Saint, existing in secrecy since ancient times, their activities unknown to anyone. They had long heard the legends of the witch, witnessed countless strange phenomena, and believed the girl to be the reincarnation of a god, destined to lead them on a distant, sacred mission. So they prostrated themselves on the ground, kowtowing and pleading, "Only you can eradicate the evil in people's hearts, bringing eternal peace with eternal darkness..."

Surprise, doubt, bewilderment, incomprehension—they might be scammers; I should stay away from them… Stop following me! Why can you follow me wherever I go? Are you secretly stalking me?… Because you followed me in a past life, so you have a premonition. This is a revelation from faith, a guidance from the divine… What an absurd claim, yet he speaks it with such conviction. Does he truly believe such a thing? I can't delay any longer; this needs to be resolved. How can I regain my memories if I'm constantly being followed by these people? I'll listen to what they have to say…

From those people came a familiar yet strange story: Thousands of years ago, the Dark Saint, taking pity on humanity, bestowed power upon them, only to be betrayed. His followers wept bitterly, powerless to stop him, watching helplessly as the Saint fell. For five hundred years, Mirror Star lost its sun and moon. The majesty of God cannot be violated, and the sins of mortals must be repaid. Now the time has come for You to judge all living beings, plunging all things into darkness, and then creating a great world…

Something seemed to come to mind, yet nothing remained; anger swelled at that person's betrayal, yet a feeling that mortals shouldn't bear the responsibility; perhaps the present is more important than the past? What about the other gods in the story? What about those gods who, like me, came from the heavenly sanctuary? Where have they gone? Regardless, I must find them first…

Repeatedly rejecting their pleas was seen as a test. To prove their piety to the Dark Saint, they committed many cruel acts; their pure, fanatical malice deeply corrupted the still-dormant soul of the monarchy…

Persuasion was useless; stopping them was useless; anger was useless; fighting… only fighting was effective. So, they fought, trying to stop them, but so many died; the more they fought, the more people died; the more people died, the more excited those fanatics became; they didn't care about the deaths of their own people, as long as darkness spread and they created the world they wanted; they couldn't fight anymore, but what else could they do; their bodies felt so heavy, their minds were blank, they couldn't remember anything; were they going to die? If dying could end all of this, that would be wonderful…

However, death cannot end all of this.

So the girl died and was resurrected, then died again, repeating this process over and over. She was constantly being chased by a faith she didn't want, running away from it, but she could never escape the desires of mortals. In this process, she gradually lost herself, became confused, and even forgot who she was.

In her final moments of sanity, she saw a black-haired, black-eyed girl before her, gazing at her with an expression that defied description—a mixture of pity and sorrow. The girl gently touched her forehead to her own, helping her awaken illusions long submerged in the deepest depths of her memory. In that instant, the girl, once known as the Dark Witch, recalled everything: the Heavenly Sanctuary and the Maiden's Kingdom, Tumi and the Spirit Prayer Society, the betrayal, and everything that followed. But she had no time for anger or sorrow; instead, she was horrified to discover a strange memory within her mind. In that memory was a familiar girl, with the exact same face, yet with a chillingly unfamiliar cruelty. She sat high on her divine throne, scorning or ignoring every mortal prostrate at her feet. Countless people, seeking Her power, for earthly authority or status, or simply to prove their piety, were willing to sacrifice innocent lives, offer the destruction of nations, and bring thousands of souls as offerings, all for a single glance of Her mercy. However, He didn't care about any of this; it was all too insignificant and not worth mentioning. He said—

"From this moment on, let everything return to darkness."

The believers dared not rise, but prostrated themselves and shouted, their cries like waves crashing against rocks, the roar spreading outwards: "By the command of the great Dark Saint, let everything return to darkness!"

They said they did it in accordance with God's command.

But is that what God wants, or what you want?
Is it God? Or you?

Absolutely not... me...

“You have been corrupted too deeply by the faith of mortals,” the black-haired girl said sympathetically. “Luckily I arrived in time, otherwise I would have had to kill you and then awaken you in the next life.”

Carapos didn't care that she casually said she would kill him; if she had known from the beginning that she would be posing as God and issuing those disgusting commands to so-called believers, she would have made the same decision.

What could be more tragic than watching yourself become someone else entirely?

"Where are the others...?" she asked weakly. "Xia, Fei Er, Lady, and everyone else..."

“We haven’t found it yet.” The black-haired girl looked at her quietly. “However, if you’d like to help…”

"it is good."

Carapos didn't ask her what she wanted, how she had awakened her, or even her name or origin. Ten thousand years ago, she and her sisters, driven by goodwill, trusted a distant stranger and paid a heavy price for it. Ten thousand years later, would she repeat the same mistake? But she had no choice.

The deeper one is entangled in the world, the less choice one has.

……

Later, Caraboss and Tientis found their other sisters who had been reincarnated into the mortal world, and restored their memories and powers one by one. Some of them had been less corrupted and could live as normal people. Some were even revered as saints in some orthodox churches and secret organizations because of their royal power, receiving the respect and awe of mortals. That was the case for the Orderly Royal Power. However, others were severely corrupted. The most severely corrupted, Times, even sealed her memories again after awakening, preferring to know nothing rather than face the past. Why were they treated so differently when they were all young girls with royal power? Perhaps the rift was planted at that time, but no one discovered it then.

The conflict erupted when the kings gathered and Tentis revealed her plan to eradicate demons. Some felt the situation wasn't serious enough and that her methods didn't need to be so extreme; others supported Tentis's plan, arguing that no matter how extreme the methods, as long as the result was good, it didn't matter. This scene was exactly the same as their debate about whether to grant mortal kings power. Ironically, when the kings debated and voted, their stances were determined by their personalities. That's why Fafrena, as the king of Chaos, chose to support it, while Baiye, as the king of Order, clearly opposed it.

At this point, it is their respective identities that determine their stance.

The Orderly Kings chose to oppose, while the Chaotic Kings chose to support. This was no longer about personality, emotions, or even right and wrong; it was simply that they couldn't understand each other.

Perhaps, when the power of the young queens fell into the mortal world, it was not only the power of faith that eroded and corrupted them.

Give me some cats