Alice in the Land of Steam

Chapter 1369 Have we finally arrived?

Time flowed silently, and from some point onward, Lin Ge gradually stopped paying attention to the changes in the calendar, as if they no longer represented some irresistible, mysterious force in the universe, but rather monotonous, tedious numerical patterns. From the moment he opened his eyes, the light outside the window gradually changed from the pale dawn to the amber of the afternoon, then quietly settled into the gray-blue of the evening, just like the indescribable emptiness in his heart. The young man tried, as Alice had suggested, to confront his own heart and rediscover the meaning of reality, instead of being chased by it and fleeing in disarray.

Such attempts sometimes proved successful. For example, when he sat with Ietta on the steps of the windmill tower, watching the primroses fall like rain, or when he was teased by Rorona with her homemade alchemical gadgets and smiled helplessly, he felt a faint sense of peace. He was acutely aware that he existed here, a tangible trace in the world. However, sometimes, it inevitably made him wonder, "Does it really have any meaning?" For instance, when he walked through an empty corridor and couldn't see that familiar figure, or when he suddenly froze before the statue of the goddess, as if trapped in a memory from long ago, his consciousness seemed to be detached from this world, drifting in an ocean that no one could reach—the loneliest spirit in the mortal realm.

Going against oneself often leads to self-contradiction, but reconciling with oneself is not easy either. The young man tries to piece together his broken emotions and reshape himself into his former self, or rather, the self that others see him as. Will doing so stop him from feeling sad and in pain, or stop making others worry about him? He doesn't know the answer yet, but at least it's the only thing he can do right now.

Just like the lamb no longer clings to Linge.

It had been sulking with the proprietress for a week, still resentful of the white lie she'd told it, but a week later it seemed to have forgotten about it, as if concealment and deception had never existed in its life. When the proprietress smiled and placed an apple in front of it, it immediately began to eat it happily, occasionally glancing around with guilty eyes, as if afraid that its owner would suddenly appear from somewhere and take the apple away, and would tell it earnestly as usual, "You can't eat too much, you'll get a stomachache."

It was ridden by Shemi, running wild across the Cloud Whale Sky Island. The wind whistled past its ears, ruffling its curly fur and carrying the scents of distant flower fields and forests. Even though it had already explored the entire island over the past year, it still enjoyed this endlessly fascinating adventure. It basked in everyone's meticulous care; Ietta would always secretly slip it snacks, and Gloria would frequently find excuses to take it out to play. Their relationship was so close that even the gray-feathered falcon named Little White was a little jealous. Even when it sneaked into Lorona's alchemy workshop and caused trouble, breaking many bottles and jars, it wasn't scolded. Instead, Princess Sea-dwelling praised it with a smile for its energy, as if everyone had transferred the feelings they owed that girl onto it.

Why can past emotions only be entrusted to the present? Some people are too oblivious, always taking everything for granted. Since it started naturally, it shouldn't end naturally either, without realizing that the beginning and end of fate are never under human control. Others are too awkward, unwilling to admit their feelings, let alone express them, as if doing so would be admitting defeat. They don't realize that in interpersonal relationships, the one receiving the emotion is not the loser; it is the one giving the emotion.

However, it's also possible that the girl acted too naturally.

She appears before these girls from different backgrounds and with different personalities as the older sister, always regarding this identity as her inherent responsibility. Although, after losing some very important memories and experiencing many complicated things, we could say that there are no inherent truths in the world, only emotions that come with them, she herself would probably disagree.

For a soul that has been searching in the mortal world for many years, every encounter is a gift of fate.

And she is destiny.

……

Sometimes, Lin Ge wished he could be like a lamb, easily forgetting things and simply remembering them. But human emotions are always much more complex. So far, he has not found a good way to forget and deeply remember, since the two are contradictory from the beginning.

But every night before falling asleep, he couldn't help but think, "At least I've tried my best, right?"

After a long time, when the young man looked at the calendar again, he suddenly realized that it was already October, the month of frost, and this was the third year since he left his hometown. In this imperceptible yet fleeting time, the Cloud Whale Sky Island was like being propelled by the tides of fate, flying forward without stopping for a moment, flying over the territory of the Kingdom of Noah, flying over the territory of the Kingdom of Billinsman, flying over the remote subcontinent of Andriel, and even flying over the central part of the continent, which was still in a state of war.

This is the most politically complex region on the continent of East Tivant, known as "Ashurat" due to its unique geographical divisions and chaotic political situation, meaning "land of endless chaos." This land, with a total area of ​​an astonishing 12.91 million square kilometers, was once the territory of the human empire of the Losonov Dynasty, but after a cataclysmic upheaval, it was shattered into hundreds of large and small countries. Although they share the same origin and race, they are constantly fighting, each yearning to annex other countries and restore the glory of their dynasties.

Among them, Norndorn, located in the northernmost part of the Ashurat region, welcomed Saint Thommy after the catastrophe. Unable to return to the Great Secluded Abbey of the All Saints, the saint, along with a few remaining followers, established the Holy Kingdom of Norndorn there. It subsequently replaced the long-extinct Land of All Souls, Ardes, becoming a holy site in the hearts of countless believers of the Spirit Prayer Society. To this day, it retains its transcendent status in the religious world of the Eastern Continent and even the entire Mirror Star. However, as time passed, even the saint could not escape death, and the cause of his death remains a subject of much debate and inconclusive debate. After the saint's death, several saints left Norndorn, their whereabouts unknown, including the Silent Saint Fie and the Death-Announcer Vannos. It is said that to this day, the only saint still guarding the Great Temple of Norndorn is the taciturn Heavenly Knight Diste, a living legend in the mythology of the Eastern Continent.

Aside from the holy nations of Nordorne, protected by the saints, the other countries in the Ashurat region were constantly at war, a situation that persisted even until the outbreak of the colonial wars. While defending against foreign invasions, these nations were also embroiled in internal strife, ultimately leading to utter defeat. Within just five years, over thirty nations fell to the colonizers' guns and cannons, and the flames of war even reached the territory of the Nordorne holy nations. As the burial place of the saints, and the only remaining sanctuary for the Spiritual Prayer Society after the loss of Ardes, the land of all souls, its majesty was inviolable. Thus, under the advocacy of Helmer, the then Chief Apostolic Advisor, a momentous conference was convened in the Great Temple of St. Biren, the capital city. This conference included the Holy Kingdom of Nordorn, the United Empire of Yaras, the Kingdom of Northern Merfis, the Kingdom of St. Doron, and other powers such as the Spirit Prayer Society, the Dawn of Calamity, and the Thirteen Hermits. The content of the conference remains a mystery, but the outcome has been witnessed by time and this war: the Holy Alliance was established, standing head-on against the Western Axis powers. This is the origin of the Allied Forces and the Axis powers.

The Holy Alliance's first act after its formation was to persuade most of the nations in the Asurat region to abandon their civil war and unite against a common enemy. It provided these nations with massive amounts of weapons, armor, alchemical tools, magical materials, and even magical weapons from the Western Continent. It is said that even god-level powerhouses appeared on this battlefield, deciding the outcome of battles. This selfless support has continued to this day, or in other words, it will continue as long as the war continues.

All of this stems from the crucial geographical location of the Ashurat region. Behind this defensive line lies the core territory of the Yaras Empire, the sacred religious site of Nordorn, the White Gold Mountain of dragons and the Ironlands of giants, and the heartland of the entire Eastern Continent. Only by holding this defensive line can the Holy Alliance have the confidence to wage a protracted war against the colonists; similarly, only by breaching this defensive line can the Axis powers extend their reach into the true heart of this land.

Both sides had compelling reasons to commit significant forces to this region, leading to escalating warfare that ultimately engulfed everyone indiscriminately, like ships caught in a whirlpool. Regions like Ansers and the city of Suarez in Ashhill, merely among hundreds of rear bases in the central battlefield, witnessed such fierce resistance and battles. Only those who experienced it firsthand can recount the tears and blood buried beneath the Ashlands. In the central battlefield, however, the number is incalculable, for what buried them was no longer the land, but weapons, flags, and corpses.

At an altitude of 10,000 meters, travelers on the back of the cloud whale witnessed firsthand one of the most tragic, longest, and most desperate wars in human history.

On the scorched earth, steel behemoths spewed grayish-white steam, their heavy tracks crushing blood and yesterday's remaining life into the churned soil below. Ancient, primal magical power called to awaken the creatures within, and the giant golems sculpted from rock unleashed their punishment upon the tiny beings, their strides easily crushing the steel behemoths into dust. But the next moment, blazing white alchemical flames descended from the sky, turning steel, mud, and those who hadn't managed to escape into towering pillars of fire, ashes falling like black snow.

In the smog-filled sky, airships roared as they crashed into the dragon horde. Construct soldiers and griffin riders danced together, spinning as they plummeted to the earth. Steel jet engines clashed with the wings of the creatures, arm blades collided with spears, creating brief, blinding sparks before being engulfed by denser magical rays. Griffins occasionally tore through the air with mournful cries, their riders and riders melted into blood mist and fragments by artillery fire; construct soldiers had their armor ripped apart, leaving trails of smoke and despair before exploding into scattered scrap metal on the ground. The final flash of the core magic reactor briefly illuminated the twisted wreckage below.

Everywhere bore the marks of war; the sky was shrouded in gray, and the earth stained crimson with blood. The stench of burning steel, the acrid smell of rotting corpses, the stench of evaporating soil, the sharp, tearing sounds of explosions, the screams of metal twisting and breaking, and the almost ignored yet ubiquitous cries of grief…

On this land that has been repeatedly plowed and refilled with blood, flesh and steel, there is no victory, no glory, only death and attrition.

The cloud whale drifted silently, passing through a sorrowful sea of ​​clouds. Travelers looked down at the dust beneath their feet, falling silent at the sights they witnessed. From the Old World to the New Era, from Doomsday to Genesis, the most profound skill that mortals have mastered since their birth is neither creating magnificent civilizations nor destroying thriving life, but rather creating and then destroying, nurturing and then killing. It seems that their sole purpose in coming to this world is to contend, slaughter, and kill one another.

No one would enjoy such a story. Leticia, who usually talked about killing all the time, turned pale and pressed her lips tightly together upon witnessing this scene, as if she had just had a nightmare and couldn't shake it off. Even her grandmother, who had personally experienced the founding war of Methoth, said that she had never seen such a brutal battlefield, because even the most savage and violent tribes on the Tagu'o Wasteland understood that killing was for survival or honor.

Neither of them existed on this battlefield.

But having entered this story, no one can remain uninvolved. The war on the Gray Hills is merely a prelude; the road ahead will be paved with blood, thorns, and endless sacrifices. Without being prepared, one cannot move forward; without hesitation, one will find it difficult to reach the end; and if one feels only sorrow and pity for everything one sees, without reflecting on the true trauma war inflicts on mortals and the meaning that follows, then the girl's sacrifice will undoubtedly be wasted.

With such mixed feelings, after a long and silent journey, the group finally arrived at their destination.

The United Empire of Yaras, South Aldeon Territory, Atoliga Province.

　Give me some cats
　　(End of this chapter)