The Warrior of Love

Chapter 775: Who should we pray to?

Ortlinde didn't understand Jiang Liu's desire to help these humans.

"No one forced them to do this, it was just fate. Since they were born in this twilight world, they have to accept this fate.

Moreover, they themselves do not resist, but can live their "life" happily. Without such a system to maintain them, their lives will only be more miserable.

Now that you know the reason... why interfere?"

The black-haired Valkyrie followed Jiang Liu obediently, consciously lagging behind by one step, and was also observing the men and women in formal attire in the distance.

Ortlinde has no objection to the way the world works because she is a "Valkyrie", a being who knows her own destiny from birth and strictly abides by it.

More disciplined than any Puritan, more precise than any machine, more loyal than any soldier, they neither question nor hesitate, and take the orders of the great god Odin as the standard for everything.

Now that the "authority" has been transferred to the goddess, they will naturally obey the goddess' arrangements.

Moreover, even from a rational point of view, the "system" established by the goddess did not deliberately persecute humans. Everything was a helpless choice due to resource shortages. The goddess has done her best to protect humans.

Why destroy this system? Doesn't Jiang Liu know that this will only accelerate the collapse of the world?

"This is their own choice, isn't it?" said the Valkyrie.

"Uh..." Jiang Liu did not answer, not because he was disdainful, but because he did not know how to answer.

He had encountered a similar problem before, and that was in the world view of "Ultraman Tiga".

Thirty million years ago, when the flowers of Zijella blossomed all over the earth, the old humans, facing the dark doomsday, chose to immerse themselves in a happy dream and usher in their destruction.

This is not wrong... Until today, Jiang Liu is unwilling to stand on the moral high ground to accuse these people.

If faced with irresistible destruction and unbearable pain, then escaping is not a shameful thing.

The world commends strong will, but it should also allow weakness to exist.

"This is their own choice" - it is for this reason that the Giants of Light stood idly by.

Only one person... Only Jiang Liu made a different choice.

Maybe many people don’t understand what he did, maybe many people resent it, maybe even the people he saved won’t be grateful... but he still did it, and he has no regrets.

Interfering with other people's lives with one's own will is definitely not something to be praised - but he couldn't turn a blind eye.

Perhaps, it is because he is still essentially just a human being, not a "God".

Since they are human, they can be controlled by emotions, can make irrational decisions, can be impulsive, angry, sad... they can also go berserk and burn all the Zijera flowers!

Thirty million years later, the young man named Dagu, just like he did before, chose a path that went against the will of all mankind.

Even after Zijella was destroyed, there were still many people who were unable to return to society. They hid in the fantasy world under the anesthesia of drugs and alcohol as a substitute, and they resented Tiga until the end.

Jiang Liu didn't know whether what he and Da Gu did was right or not, but one thing was certain: this was what a "human" should do.

Back to the present, this life, which is equivalent to being in captivity, may not be sad for them, but as human beings, they cannot experience the most precious things - that is, dignity and family affection.

Maybe some people think that just being alive is enough, but Jiang Liu feels that losing these cannot be considered as truly "living".

When humans look at domesticated animals, how often do they realize that they are living beings rather than "moving meat, eggs and milk"?

Seeing Jiang Liu remained silent, Ortlinde opened her mouth, but in the end said nothing.

She is naturally quiet and gentle, even a little introverted. If it were her sister "Hilde", she would probably debate with Jiang Liu endlessly, but if it were "Slude", she would just be dismissive of Jiang Liu's ideas.

Although she couldn't understand Jiang Liu, she couldn't comment on anything.

Because she has always gone with the flow and has never shown a strong "self", even among the Valkyries whose thinking circuits are generally more mechanical, she is one of those with a weaker self.

“People change.”

Jiang Liu suddenly spoke up and said, “Indeed, they have no doubts about their current lives, and they don’t think there is anything wrong with living sacrifices.

However, I feel that this is simply because “it has always been this way”.

The world they know is only this big, so they have never thought of other possibilities. However, this does not mean that they have no expectations for those beautiful things.

Only when you have seen and experienced it, will you have yearning and longing, and this will become an opportunity for change... Valkyrie, you probably don't understand..."

Jiang Liu spoke slowly and firmly, as if he was talking to himself thirty million years ago.

“People change!”

Ortlinde followed his gaze and saw a group of huge life forms appear on the vast white land, gradually approaching the five adults who were being sacrificed.

The so-called "wild elves" are actually large magical beasts that have adapted to environmental changes, but there is an extremely special existence among them.

They are neither monsters nor humans, but fantasy species that exist in ancient legends, and still have bloodlines in this world of twilight embers.

That is the "Giant".

He is at least ten meters tall, has ice-blue skin, wears animal skins that can barely be considered clothes, and holds a spear made of solid ice. He plays the role of a "hunter" on this land.

They are top hunters and can easily kill even mammoth-sized monsters. Even when accepting human sacrifices, the giants will enjoy them first.

This time, only a 13-meter-tall giant noticed the five people. He walked with a pace that seemed slow but was actually very fast, and soon arrived at the destination.

Although they were puzzled by the fact that the sacrifice this time was a living person rather than a corpse, the giants did not hesitate, because they were powerful but lacked wisdom, not even enough to have the thought of "doubt".

Slowly extending his big hand towards someone, the ice-blue giant exuded an extremely powerful oppressive force, making that person feel suffocated and his body began to tremble involuntarily.

Even though the monster had appeared, Jiang Liu did not make any move and just watched silently.

As the big hand got closer and closer to the human being, Jiang Liu's eyes showed a trace of disappointment and sadness.

But at this moment, the sacrificial ceremony was finally interrupted!

However, it was not the man targeted by the giant, but the man next to him. That man pounced on his companion and knocked him to the snow, leaving the giant's big hand empty.

"Brother, brother?"

The person who was knocked down was terrified and confused: "What are you doing?"

The two people are actually brothers!

"No...don't do this!"

The elder brother quickly stood up, pulled his younger brother's hand hard, stared at the giant's movements, and backed away. The other companions also panicked, not knowing what to do.

"I can't do it! I can't do it! Watching you get eaten by a giant... How can I bear it!"

"But, this is a blessing..." The younger brother panted and said with an expression that was about to cry, "Everyone in the village is waiting for the goddess to forgive..."

"I don't care!"

The older brother roared in self-abandonment, his eyes were bloodshot, and it seemed that he was about to cry.

"I... I want you to live... What is this "other world"? No one has ever come back from it. We don't even know if it exists! I don't want to lie to myself anymore... I want to live too. These days... my child smiled at me for the first time!"

The man almost choked and yelled.

They have no concept of family. After they are born, all children will only be raised by their parents for a period of time. Then the parents will give them a "blessing" and the children will be raised by the village together with other children.

This man was special, as he was about three years older than his partner. Therefore, although his wife had the opportunity to take care of the child for two or three years, he had to be sacrificed when the child was just a few days old.

Originally, this was not difficult to accept. In men's minds, babies were only noisy and ugly.

However, it was this blessing ceremony that was interrupted, giving him a few more days to see with his own eyes how the wrinkled skin of the newborn baby turned into pink skin and cute big eyes.

I have one more impression of the child, that is, a smile that is "holier than an angel"...

Perhaps it was because of his experience on the brink of life and death that made him cherish the days that followed and became closer to his blood-related relatives. In just a few days, he felt many touches that he had never felt before.

He is full of attachment to this world!

——I don’t want to die, and I don’t want my brother to die.

When he saw the giant reaching out his hand to his brother, he prayed from the bottom of his heart, but soon realized -

Who was he praying to?

No one will come to save him, no one will change anything, because this is the ending they chose themselves.

So, someone has to do something!

It’s not a god or a hero, someone just has to stand up!

"You! Back off!"

The man raised a small knife. It was something he had carried with him since he was a child and had not been used for a long time. He originally wanted to take it with him to the "other world", but now he was using it to reject the call of death.

But how can a small carving knife resist a powerful giant?

The ice giant, unmoved, reached out his hand to the man, ignoring the knife thrown out, and pressed down on the man in his desperate gaze.

hum!

At the critical moment, a piercing high note rang out in the atmosphere.

The invisible sword energy shuttled through space with an unavoidable speed and a sharpness that could cut through anything. In just a moment, it pierced through all the monsters surrounding the place!

hum-

The last note came to an abrupt end with a stream of golden light.

The Frost Giant's huge body swayed slightly, and he fell backwards to the ground with a distressed sound.

A sword overflowing with divine light was inserted into the giant's forehead, shining brightly in the sun. The man who escaped death held his brother and looked at the sword, and was unconsciously mesmerized.

Chapter 776: Ritsuka's Bizarre Adventure

"Damn it!"

Walking in the snow, shivering, Li Xiang was extremely annoyed.

"Why a miniskirt?"

Based on his "personal aesthetic", the magic costumes that Da Vinci prepared for Ritsuka are always pure, cute and energetic.

For example, this time, she wore a sailor suit with a short skirt, and looked like a high school girl from somewhere - in fact, after two years of saving Jinri, Ritsuka has already passed her "shelf life".

To be fair, this outfit is really beautiful, and it can also highlight Ritsuka's liveliness and cheerfulness, but the material... can only be described as very cool.

If it were summer, this outfit would be just right, but it would be quite uncomfortable in this icy and snowy weather.

The magic costume is not without the function of maintaining body temperature, but even after being severely weakened, the chill that penetrated into the bones still made Ritsuka shiver.

"Come on, Senior! We will definitely find a human village to rest. Until then, please be patient."

Mashu advised gently, lifting something from her chest and stuffing it towards Ritsuka.

"Okay, I'll leave Fufu-san to you, Senior. Look at the soft and warm fur... Are you starting to feel a little warm too? Fufu-san, Senior's job of keeping you warm is up to you, so make sure you work hard!"

"Fu——"

The furry white little beast was none other than Fu Fu, who had secretly joined in the spirit particle transfer for who knows how many times.

The fluffy and soft fur became Ritsuka's only comfort in this cold world.

Unlike Jiang Liu, who is extremely mobile, Ritsuka and Mashu have basically been wandering around for the past three days. They have not found any traces of humans, nor have they encountered any possible enemies. They only occasionally encounter magical beasts.

One reason is that the population of this world is too sparse. There are only a few thousand people in the vast land, divided into nearly a hundred tribes scattered all over the place. Trying to find them is like looking for a needle in a haystack.

In fact, due to insufficient information, Ritsuka and the others still cannot confirm whether there are any humans living in this world.

Second, they had lost contact with Chaldea. Without the technical support from headquarters, it was difficult for them to quickly scan the life activities around them. They could only rely on their eyes and legs to explore, and their efficiency was naturally extremely low.

Fortunately, they carried the "portable camping prop" developed by Leonardo da Vinci, a magical prop only the size of a flashlight.

Although it is not large in size, it is as magical as a prop of a certain cat-shaped robot. Once it is opened, a camping tent that can be built automatically will appear.

It should be the use of space compression technology, and a certain amount of clean water and compressed food are stored inside.

If it weren't for this, Li Xiang would have collapsed these days.

"Servants are just right..." Ritsuka looked at Mashu enviously, "I'm not afraid even if I'm wearing armor."

The armor on the sub-servant girl is exquisite and elegant, but the coverage area is not very large. Under the premise of ensuring that the girl's sense of modesty is not destroyed, it can be said that the curvy body lines are fully displayed, perfectly presenting Mashu's plump yet slender figure.

The difference between humans and servants is highlighted here. Mashu is dressed similarly to Ritsuka, and even exposes a larger area... After all, she is wearing a layer of steel in the ice and snow!

An ordinary person would have been frozen to death long ago, but Mashu remained calm and was not afraid of the changes in temperature, which made Ritsuka very envious.

"Damn it, since you don't need it, just lend me this ball of fat to keep me warm!"

“No, no… ah!”