Does the mechanical girl dream of the Messiah?

Does the mechanical girl dream of the Messiah?

Author: Jiushiyiwenji

Tag: adventure, otherworld, battle, magic

Summary:

Those who seek a savior, those whose hearts are filled with emptiness, those whose hatred has molded them, those who are attached to what they have lost...

The gods have perished, the Lords of Chaos have arrived as expected, the world is inevitably heading towards doomsday, and its saviors each have their own thoughts.

The savior named Lunicia holds the hand of the mechanical girl and walks in the collapsing world.

With all kinds of worries in their hearts, the girls embarked on a journey from which they would never turn back until the end.

Volume Zero Setting

Glorious Temple

Glorious Temple

With "Zerhar" in the northwest corner of Mu Continent as its core, the United Church dedicated to the three main gods of light, night and stars. The followers of Zelti, Levina and Shahar gathered here. After a long period of religious integration, they have become like the three main gods that constitute the "Covenant Triangle", and they are inseparable. The barriers they once had have disappeared in modern times. Today's Glorious Court is more like a group that is not as powerful as before, but more harmonious.

The sphere of influence of the Glorious Temple is centered on the theocracy Zerhar, which is mainly located in the west of Mu Continent, that is, west of the Anda Brun Mountains, in a country in the north-central area. Most of the people in this land are believers of the Three Glorious Gods.

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Administrative division

The most common administrative divisions are as follows:

(I.e.

The most basic religious group is mainly composed of four parts: priests, deacons, and believers.

parish

It is composed of a plurality of churches governed by priests.

Zhili Diocese

A diocese with status equivalent to that of a holy province, governed by the high priest.

圣省

It consists of multiple dioceses in the same country, governed by a high priest.

archdiocese

It is composed of multiple dioceses in different countries, or multiple holy provinces in the same country, and is governed by the Sword Priest.

Patriarchate

Specifically refers to "Zerhar", which is directly managed by the high priest.

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Volume 1: The Place Where Destiny Meets - Mariai (Part 1)

Chapter 1 The journey begins at night

On the empty official road, the motor carriage was running smoothly.

The driver does not need to pay too much attention to driving, as the well-trained hybrid horse is obedient and professional. All he has to do is pay attention to the road conditions and remind the passengers in the car "when necessary."

Even so, the middle-aged driver looked completely uneasy - he checked again and again the sides of the road, the forests full of mushrooms, the places covered with dense and strange bushes. His heart was restless, and a sense of uneasiness was swelling in his heart, even though he had no idea where this uneasiness came from.

It was like there was something wandering in the forest, passing behind me from time to time. That thing was silent and invisible, but it could take my life. Just looking at it would put me in an eternal nightmare.

It's not like he hasn't traveled this kind of quiet road before, and this place is not like places further north - although the sky is much weirder than when it was covered with dark clouds, it is at least much brighter.

The carriage was branded with a holy emblem based on the combination of the sun, moon and stars, and with those exquisite silver ornaments that ordinary people would never consider using, all of which showed that this carriage belonged to the Glorious Temple that served Zelti, the main god of light and thunder, Levina, the goddess of night and tranquility, and Shahar, the god of stars and fate. Such a carriage was naturally used by the high-ranking officials of the Temple, but even so, there was no guard beside such a carriage.

The steam engine was operating noisily inside the carriage, and steam and electricity flowed through this convenient thing that was born in Arkham, the "heavy machinery city" and "the source of steam engine technology", which was different from magic creations, supplying energy for various facilities in the carriage. Of course, the carriage could not talk, and the passengers in the carriage had no intention of talking to the driver for the time being, so the driver had no way to seek comfort.

As for the horses - those sturdy giant horses that were hybrids of alien species did not look much calmer than the conductor. Although they were still pulling the cart diligently, the experienced conductor could tell their condition just by listening to their breathing.

Very anxious.

……

"Is this the world outside...?"

Lifting the curtains of the carriage, Lunicia had the opportunity for the first time to take a closer look at this place, this world where she was born but had never carefully observed.

Trees, bushes, grass, and of course rocks and mushrooms, are all you can see on both sides of the road. At first glance, it looks a bit novel, but after watching it for a long time, these scenes seem a bit boring.

Of course, this did not prevent the curiosity in her eyes.

Pure and flawless black, a color that has not been polluted by anything and cannot be polluted by anything.

To Lunicia, who grew up in the Central Cathedral and had never set foot outside, the world had always been bright and warm, surrounded by kind and friendly people, wrapped in gentle sunshine and warm winds. Her eyes were once full of flowers and colors. Until now, the world had shown her another side for the first time, a side that made her feel novel, confused, and even a little scared.

Perhaps the convoy she was in had passed by some interesting and refreshing places. Those large cities with large populations that still maintained order were certainly refreshing to her, but as a team carrying out a secret mission, they could not draw the curtains on the carriage until they were close to the destination. Supplies were provided by special personnel, and they could only eat and sleep in the back carriage of their carriage. These few carriages were the only places they could set foot on.

Fortunately, the carriage prepared by the Glorious Divine Court was spacious enough, with mixed-blood horses and steam engines, so there were enough things to do even in the carriage - bathing, reading or meditation. If you can't swing a sword and want to be responsible for your martial arts, the only solution is to verbally duel, or simply polish the sword day after day.

Such a life is no more interesting than the daily life in the Central Cathedral.

"But, Captain, there are indeed some differences."

"At least the trees planted in the temple won't grow in a mess..."

The man waved his hand: "No, no, that's not what I'm talking about. Isn't it...no daytime outside?"

Although nominally assigned to her team member, Lunicia and the knight named Willy Perry had only known each other for less than one round of pilgrimage, which was seven days. In fact, not only Willy, but all the knights sitting in the cafeteria car had only known Lunicia for a short time and naturally did not know her actual identity.

To them, Lunicia was just a temporary captain, a paladin who had as little experience as they did but whose martial arts were much stronger than theirs.

Of course, they didn't ask all of this proactively. Although Lunicia was very willing to answer the questions of her temporary teammates, as if she was fulfilling her responsibilities as a captain, their chivalrous beliefs made them feel that it was not a good idea to ask a woman they had just met for a short time.

To put it bluntly, as long as you see that giant sword - that exaggerated weapon that is longer than Lunisia's height and is said to be able to turn into a large shield and a one-handed sword - and see those bright blessings visible to the naked eye, you will know that she is a holy knight who has surpassed the trial and is far beyond the reach of knights like them who can only wield weapons.

The sword was undoubtedly obtained after passing the trial of the Way of the Holy Knight, which was not surprising. However, if it was paired with the exquisite heavy armor that had a ceremonial feel and was much more gorgeous than that of an ordinary knight, people would inevitably speculate about her identity and whether she was a noble person with a higher status than an ordinary Holy Knight.

"So... is it night now, or daytime - or something else?"

Thinking back carefully, Lunicia did feel that the light outside was somewhat unusual. It was neither like the simulated daylight seen in the temple nor like the ordinary wilderness.

Everything seemed to be shrouded in a dim light, neither as bright as during the day nor as bright as moonlight.

"I seem to have heard someone say that this is called a solar eclipse..."

"Solar eclipse?" "What is that?"

The knights who had finished their meals gathered around as well. They all seemed quite interested in these anecdotes. After all, they were all fledglings who had never left Amblissburg, and Amblissburg had normal sunrises and sunsets, and day and night.

"Solar eclipse, it seems to mean..."

Just when Willy was about to tell what he had heard, the carriage suddenly stopped. It was not very stable, so much so that the knights, who were in high spirits, could not help but stagger.

"I'll go ask the captain."

Lunicia waved her hand to suppress the discussions among the knights, took the giant sword from the seat, slung it across her back, then pushed open the door and climbed down from the carriage.

There were still trees, bushes, and grass outside. According to the Twelve Gods Calendar, it was almost time for the eleventh Snow Moon to enter the twelfth Yin Moon. The cold north wind was sweeping through the woods. In such an environment, it was natural for plants to wither. However, whether it was a Snow Moon or a Yin Moon, plants should not reveal such a bright red color after withering.

Is it some special breed?

Lunitia wasn't sure.

She had seen many flowers before, but they were all varieties grown in the greenhouse of the Central Cathedral. They were all beautiful in their own way, but none of them was as enchantingly bright red as the one before her.

——It’s too quiet here.

Another gust of north wind blew, and this time she couldn't help but cover her nose. There was an indescribable strange smell in the wind. She didn't know what the smell was, but she felt it was pungent and nauseating. This made her alert. She put one hand on the hilt of the giant sword and moved towards the front of the car with a vigilant posture.

Nothing happened, or rather, the weirdness was over.

The door of the captain's cabin was wide open, and the captain was nowhere to be seen. There was only a clothed body rolling down the open door. The horses with reins were nowhere to be seen, and all that was left were the horse corpses with reins on, lying on the ground.

"Well……!"

Her eyes widened at the strange sight.

Not out of fear, but out of shock and surprise.

She had no idea about the decay of corpses, but even so she knew that the corpses before her, whether they were human or horse, were not decayed to the degree that could be expected of someone who had just died. The surface of the corpses was covered with burst blisters, their bodies were swollen, their abdomens were bulging, their eyeballs were bulging out, their tongues were swollen and sticking out of their mouths, and the whole thing was glowing a strange dark green.

Even if there were no rats or insects breeding, these corpses looked like they had been dead for at least dozens of days, yet the conductor had just talked to them a few hours ago.

——The carriage just stopped. What does this mean?

- Was the attacker still nearby, or was it the body that drove the vehicle for hours?

—A spell from the School of Necromancy? Or a curse?

She held the hilt of the sword and looked around with sharp eyes, but she saw nothing. Only those unremarkable plants were emitting a terrifying bright red color in the dim orange-red sunlight.

——Calm down, calm down, Lunicia. If the enemy is still there, just draw your sword and cut him down! Just follow the instructions of your seniors...

Another gust of north wind blew, but Lunicia heard no sound other than the north wind.

——Nothing…?

She turned her head quickly, but still saw nothing. There, only the captain's head was separated from his body by the north wind. His blood and flesh had stopped expanding and turned into a pool of rancid mucus without a trace. His bones also decayed and decayed, mixed with the corpses of the giant horses.

Lunicia couldn't help but raise her head and look towards the sky, but what was hanging there was not the familiar sun.

That thing was like a black hole, surrounded by a dark red halo, with its fangs and claws bared, which was terrifying.

……

"Everyone, pack your bags. Sorry, we can't use the carriage anymore."

"What's wrong, Captain? What happened?"

The elven knight April looked at Lunicia in surprise, and the latter did not seem to intend to board the carriage. She just stood at the door of the carriage, keeping alert towards the barren forest that seemed to have nothing. Although Lunicia had tried her best to control her emotions as a captain, the knights present could still hear the anger and frustration in her tone.

"The conductor was killed, and our only horse is also dead. The rest of the journey is not long, so we have to walk."

After hearing what Lunicia said, some of the knights present even slammed their heads in surprise, and drew their weapons from their scabbards, ready to fight.

"I looked around and didn't see any attackers..."

She stretched out her hand to stop the knights from drawing their swords out of excitement. She also cut the inner wall of the carriage to pieces because of a slip of the hand. Then she continued, "The current situation is that we have lost the mechanical carriage and the driver. Next, we can only rely on our own hands to transport the gifts to the water channel."

"Aren't you going to search for the attacker? He may have left, but he probably didn't get too far."

"Good question." Lunixia nodded. "We are not familiar with the forest here, nor do we know the strength of the attackers. If we need to search for the attackers first, we must leave some people behind to guard the luggage. In this case, splitting up the troops is obviously not a good idea. So my judgment is to transport the luggage into the waterwheel channel first, and then gather our forces to search for the attackers."

After saying that, she turned around and looked towards the end of the road in the distance.

There, you can see simple stone walls and sentry posts built for defense, as well as vague buildings and smoke from cooking.

There is no doubt that this is the destination of this trip. It is an ordinary village called Shuichequ, located on the border of the Lamenesia Peninsula on the east side of Mu Continent and the border of the Principality of Mariai, which we finally arrived at after traveling through mountains and rivers from Zerhar of the Vatican.

Voices from the past echoed in her mind.

It was her last day in the Cathedral, and she listened to the last and final words of divine revelation.

——Let’s go to the Principality of Marie and the Waterwheel Canal.

——There, you will meet your own destiny.

Those were the last words of Lord God Zelti.

Lunisia still remembered the voice that echoed in her heart at that time. As the main god of light and thunder, his voice, which was usually solemn and gentle, majestic and benevolent, seemed extremely weak at that time, like a candle flickering in a storm, intermittent and could go out at any time.

He is not a god who likes to speak in that way. Generally, only Shahar, the god of stars and destiny, would choose such vague and indirect words when conveying divine revelations. Zelti, in contrast, prefers more straightforward words, just like his teachings engraved in the scriptures.

His final words were so vague. Did this mean that He didn't even have time to give a clear statement?

Lunicia knows the answer, and she may even be one of the few people in the world who knows the answer.

——The gods themselves will eventually be unable to avoid the fate of extinction.

After The Black Fan Chronicles – I finally got the courage to start a new book.

The holy warrior Lunicia and the mechanical girl of unknown origin travel in the gradually collapsing apocalypse, looking for redemption.