Alice in the Land of Steam

Chapter 227: When you become a human, will your heart feel pain?
A fleeting throbbing and an elusive longing.

Both attacks failed, and the ruler standing on the last crescent moon was not very disappointed. It is better to say that he has never thought about what kind of emotion disappointment is. If he feels disappointed because he cannot hurt others, then does such an emotion have any meaning?
She gently stretched out her five slender white fingers, as if plucking invisible threads in the void. The distinct finger bones bathed in the cold moonlight looked like a flawless work of art. It was hard to imagine that such a beautiful gesture could actually be an evil curse that brought disaster.

As his fingertips moved, the already boiling ocean below suddenly set off an even more violent tide, with huge waves roaring and surging. Illusory crescent moons parted the sea water, slowly and with difficulty poking their bodies out, each containing a cold and biting power.

Seeing that she was going to use the same trick again and summon the crescent moon to launch an attack, the heroic phantom in the third beam of light broke free from its restraints and returned to the world, transforming into a pale stream of light that flashed across his eyes in an instant and descended in front of the ruler. The bladeless holy sword slashed down lightly, and the pale blue light followed, like a tangible dragon biting towards the ruler's heart.

Faced with this fierce attack, the latter was forced to stop calling the crescent moon, and her figure became illusory in an instant. It turned out that her dodge was very timely, because the next moment, the sharp blade of the holy sword had cut through the constraints of space. It was clearly an attack launched later, but it arrived earlier and bit her afterimage fiercely. The cold arc of light was like a touch of cold light, mercilessly cutting it in half.

The real ruler had appeared dozens of meters away, her face was a little pale, and a few strands of black bangs were neatly cut off in front of her forehead, slowly falling from her eyes, as if carrying the coldness of the sword tearing through the void. If she had hesitated just now, even for just a breath, the blue dragon would have bitten her heart and torn it into pieces.

Although, would a heartless creature like me feel pain when my heart is pierced?
The girl had a similar thought for only a moment. She saw the hero phantom holding the holy sword curl his lips, as if disappointed that he had not achieved anything. But without any hesitation, he turned and attacked her again. The blue dragon roared and roared, and its huge dragon wings slapped the sky, setting off waves of surging waves. The burning silver fire was like a dragon's wings, piercing every illusory crescent moon on the sprint path, shattering the moon shadows that had just emerged from the sea.

Her aggressive appearance even made people mistakenly think that they were facing a real dragon, opening its huge mouth, revealing its sharp fangs, eager to prove its strength and bravery with victory. Facing such an enemy with high fighting spirit, the ruler could only retreat, constantly flashing, retreating to a farther distance, leaving behind his own phantom, which was shattered one after another, cut off by the silver wings of the attacking dragon, torn by its claws, and crushed by its fangs. During the pursuit and escape, countless fragments of the phantom were left, fluttering like snow.

In the sight, the edge of the holy sword was getting closer and closer. Pale blue flames spewed out from the dragon's mouth and gathered at the end of the sword, adding the final edge to the bladeless holy sword. Its sharpness was even greater than that of steel, and it was probably enough to cut through all visible and invisible things in the world.

The ruler didn't want to try out how sharp the holy sword in its complete form was, so she just kept flashing and fleeing towards the edge of the world. The cold wind blew towards her, ruffling her dark hair. She wanted to keep running away, to the end of the world where no one could find her, without having to think about those sad things, or be caught in the gap between emotions and missions. Even if one day the person who created her came to ask her why she was hiding here instead of guarding the princess, she could answer him, I didn't disobey your orders, I just couldn't beat you, so I ran away.

She couldn't figure it out, and perhaps she would never figure it out, so she continued to flash, continued to run, and continued this endless chase. But at this moment, she suddenly felt a pulling sensation from her ankle, binding her in place, and she could no longer escape. The girl subconsciously looked down, but saw a sacred golden chain, like a winding giant snake, swimming from a distance and gently wrapping around her left foot.

what.

Treating other people's unwanted garbage as your own treasures, keeping them properly and cherishing them, sometimes worrying whether you are qualified to own them, and sometimes worrying that if that person finds out, they will also classify you as garbage and abandon you indifferently. When I think of that ending, I feel so sad that I can't breathe. What exactly is this emotion?

Tracing the direction in which the chain extends, there is the phantom of the last hero. Her posture is serene and peaceful, always giving people a familiar feeling, as if she had appeared in some corner of memory, when she had not been abandoned yet.

She suddenly realized: It seemed that there was no escape.

The next moment, a huge blue dragon descended from the sky, opened its huge mouth and swallowed up the tiny body, along with the last crescent moon's light. The sharp blade of the holy sword tore open the girl's soft abdomen, and blood gushed out as dark as the night, gurgling and gathering into a trickling stream under the sky.

It was an unexpected thought. Why would I think like that? It was obviously irresponsible, wasn't it? But the emotions that made up me were like this. I was innocent and kind, and I would sympathize with my enemies, but I was also cowardly and timid, and I would only think of running away when I encountered difficulties... It was because of this that I was abandoned by that person, and then I picked him up like unwanted garbage.

Her body endured such a horrible force, and she fell uncontrollably, as fast as a meteor falling in the night sky. She finally stopped when she hit something hard. She sat on the ground powerlessly against the wall. She turned her head with difficulty and found that it was a gray-black root. As for further away, it was the princess of Bemang and the four majestic beams of light.

The strange thing was that no matter when she was entangled by chains, hit by the holy sword, falling from the sky, or hitting the roots of a tree... she did not feel the slightest pain, as if that feeling did not actually exist. She was an illusion, a memory, an unwanted emotion, and therefore could not feel the pain of being a human.

The sword knocked the Ruler down from the sky. The phantom of the Holy Sword Hero did not continue to chase him, but stopped where he was and turned to look at Olvera, who was surrounded by four beams of light. Not only her, but the phantoms of other heroes also made the same move, as if they were all waiting for the same person to put an end to this story. Those expectant, encouraging, happy, calm, gentle... eyes all fell on her. The princess holding the Holy Dagger - the Star of Grass and Trees Bane exhaled gently, as if calming down the excitement in her chest. Then she slowly walked towards the Ruler who was sitting against the tree roots and had no ability to resist. The girl's abdomen was torn and black blood was still gushing out. The cold stream wet her skirt, making her look so embarrassed and so weak.

The figure of Olvera was reflected in her gradually cloudy eyes, getting closer and closer. She said something indistinctly, which made the princess look surprised.

"Ovilla, you won... I won't fight you anymore... So..." She felt her chest was so heavy, as if something was pressing on it, making it difficult to breathe. Her words echoed in her ears: "So, can we... not be... enemies...?"

"..."

Aoweila pursed her lips and didn't answer. She didn't know how to answer. In the end, she just nodded silently. She thought that from today on, the girl in front of her would no longer exist. There was no need for her to regard a non-existent person as an enemy.

After receiving her answer, the ruler managed to force out a smile, which was so weak that it made people feel a little heartbroken. The dark hair slid down the pale cheek gently and fell to the bleeding ground, stained with the color of blood, but it seemed that it had never changed. She slowly closed her eyes and accepted this ending. The next moment, she felt something sharp gently piercing her chest, strangling the silent noise.

It's so warm, she thought, but it also hurts.

It turns out that the feeling of pain is the feeling of warmth.

From today on, does the fact that I can feel pain mean that I am a living being with a heart?

That's why you will be defeated by another heart.

I really hope that another me... can also understand this truth.

In the chaos, the girl's heartbeat gradually calmed down, and she murmured incoherently:
"Thanks……"

In an instant, everything began to crumble, like ruins burning in flames, or like flower buds withering in frost. The old castle collapsed with a roar, and the last few intact bricks began to crack; the towering trees trembled and rang, shaking off the green leaves all over the sky, twisted branches broke, and winding roots withered. The princess stood there in a daze, watching the phantoms of the heroes quickly dim and become blurred, and everything she saw with her naked eyes began to distort and blur, as if she had entered from one world into another.

A cold voice came from my ear:
【Memories are born together, but fate is separate. All emotions that wander in the darkness are actually illusions of the past. In this dim world, what does a heart really desire? Is it the stubbornness of constantly struggling and moving forward, and not giving up hope even if alone? Is it wandering in the world in pursuit of the past, longing to see that person appear again, and finally suddenly realizing that there is no awakening of the same soul in the world? Or is it the pain of wandering between two opposing emotions, wanting to face it and wanting to escape? The soul of life has no finality, so it can become the greatest power in the world. 】

[At the end of the night, you see light; at the end of loneliness, you meet again; at the end of pursuit, you gain enlightenment; at the end of pain, you feel warmth... After losing, you gain; after meeting, you part; after fighting, you understand. On this long road ahead, everyone will have their own choices, about the past, about the future, and about the memories buried deep in the soul.]

【Congratulations, dear players. 】

【Game Clear. 】

　Give me some meow
　　
　
(End of this chapter)