Does the mechanical girl dream of the Messiah?

If she could make a sound, she would definitely ask this.

But for her, there will never be such an opportunity again.

"The game is over~"

"...Yes, the game is over."

It was not until this moment that Rose finally realized what she had just overlooked.

Looking back, all she could see was an incredible sight. The bones in her hands were broken, her internal organs were shattered, and her legs were barely recognizable, but the girl still held her sword and stood up from the ground. Rather than admiring her willpower and praising her tenacity and perseverance, Rose actually had only one question in her mind: How did she do it?

However, this is not important anymore.

The girl's figure looked like some kind of puppet being pulled by silk strings. Her eyes had long been broken, but she was still staring ahead. Her hands had long lost their strength, but she was still holding the sword tightly and holding it up.

Hold it up - and then cut it down.

why?

Yes, why do you do this? To find a way to die that satisfies you, or to make the greatest contribution to your savior in the end, or simply because you can't rest easy if you don't do this? Even Ella Heper herself couldn't answer the answer that Ashlee didn't give in the end.

Her body fell forward, just like the half-dragon girl she had taken away with her.

Before she collapsed, Ella Hepper had stopped breathing.

The blood gathered under her body, forming a delicate, bright red rose.

Until this time, the wall of force slowly dissipated, and a deafening roar followed. The rubble and dust buried the bodies of the girls, as if covering them with a cloth called eternal sleep.

……

None of this has anything to do with Lunicia anymore.

He propped himself up almost instinctively and walked towards the deformed door almost instinctively.

Although she shared the so-called "life" with Ashlee, she was not a mechanical creation like Ashlee. She could only obtain regenerative resources from Ashlee and share some properties unique to Ashlee. Bleeding and severe pain would affect consciousness, and death would still occur if the brain and heart were destroyed. Trauma such as blindness or broken limbs would require a lot of effort to recover, which was completely incomparable to Ashlee's "immortality".

It was still far from enough, far from being able to move. The reason why she could still maintain a hazy consciousness and barely move her body was because of her unwillingness to admit defeat. She couldn't fail, she couldn't allow failure, she had to end everything quickly, and then go find Ella and Ashlee. A strong sense of uneasiness chased her, as if something had happened that she didn't want to see no matter what, but she couldn't think about it anymore.

The only thing in her mind now was the command "forward".

The sword swung down, and the already dilapidated door seemed unable to withstand any more damage. It fell to the ground with a bang, shattering into shapeless debris. In the back, the smoke-filled place must have been the ritual site. It was probably a ritual site. You could see charred ritual vessels, burnt limbs, and broken altars. Compared with the explosion here, the explosion in the corridor was like the difference between a first-ring spell and a ninth-ring spell. Even Lunicia didn't know how many traps Ella and Asheselin had set up here to make such a big noise.

What happened?

She didn't know, and she couldn't be sure. From this scene, it was almost certain that the ceremony had failed. Among the debris left by the explosion, many were things she hadn't seen here yesterday. They should be props brought to decorate the ceremony site. This place was probably exactly as the group had originally imagined, with a temporary but carefully prepared altar, and the ceremony would be completed at twelve o'clock.

Lunicia could not tell what kind of ceremony it was. After all, the scene was destroyed in such a terrible state that there were almost no intact objects. There was no way to tell whether it was for the evil god or something else. Lunicia looked around blankly until his eyes quickly glanced at the center of the altar.

On the stone altar, the girl lay quietly on her side, curled up.

A golden scales hung around her neck, her black gauze skirt was embellished with jewels and silver ornaments, and the black and white hair accessories seemed to have nothing to do with the ceremony, but were just her last preference, like piano keys intertwined on her forehead. Compared with the gorgeous and elegant dress, her appearance was more distinctive, making people know who she was at a glance: after all, apart from her, who else would have such long black hair and such a striking tuft of silver on her forehead?

Colette H. Caroline, her eyes were closed, and at first glance she looked like she was asleep.

But Lunisia knew that she was already dead.

Blood flowed from between her pale lips. From an unknown wound, all the blood in her body flowed out, overflowing from the altar and forming a pool of blood under the white stone.

She would no longer open her eyes, call out other people's names, or sing songs anymore.

"well……?"

why?

I don’t understand, I don’t want to understand, and I instinctively refuse to understand.

Destroying the ceremony site and using the huge explosion to destroy the arrangement here would stop the ceremony, wouldn't it? Although she could kill the attacking enemies without hesitation, the young White Knight finally wavered at this moment. After all, she had never thought of taking the life of an innocent girl in this way.

Maybe someone would praise her for this, saying "well done". After all, if the sacrifice is not offered in the right place, at the right time, and in the right way, it will be meaningless.

But she still gets shaken by it because she never intended to do it.

"Why……"

Why? This question seemed to have been asked too many times today, so many that Lunisia herself didn't know how to count them, or how to answer them one by one. Why did it turn out like this, why did things develop into what they are now, why did Ashlee and Ella leave her side, why did Rose stand in front of her group... There were so many things she wanted to ask, so many that it had lost the meaning of asking.

——You should have known that, didn't you?

It was as if someone was holding the back of Lunicia's hand, as if someone was whispering in her ear.

——Be angry.

To whom? For what?

—Be angry at your own folly.

He raised his head blankly and looked upwards - on the high platform originally prepared for priests to preach, there were five figures standing, three of them were middle-aged men, one looked even older, and one seemed to be only in middle age.

One had a helpless look on his face, one had a frown on his face, one turned his face away as if he couldn't bear to see what was happening in the audience, one was looking down at her from above, and the last one - the middle-aged man, Lunicia was shocked to find that she was completely unaware of his existence until she looked directly at him.

"…So, you were the one who destroyed the ceremony?"

The old man who seemed to be the leader looked down at Lunisia expressionlessly. His voice was a little hoarse as if he had caught a cold, but it did not make people feel weak at all. Instead, he exuded the aura of someone who had been in a high position for a long time.

Lunicia did not give her own answer as he expected.

She just shook her head instinctively, not so much in denial as in expression of "unbelievable".

"She broke through the front line, but was seriously injured?" The middle-aged man with a frown turned his head and cast his gaze on the middle-aged man beside him. "Sandria, does she meet the requirements? We need a replacement now."

Hearing this, the black-haired middle-aged man who turned his head away trembled slightly. Without saying anything, the middle-aged man called Sandria slowly said, "Since it is the qualification recognized by Rose, there is naturally no problem. Moreover, there is more than one substitute. I can feel that there is another target who is 'ready to go'."

——What are you talking about?

Completely unable to understand, Lunicia could only listen to their conversation in a daze and confusion, staring at them intently, imprinting their existence in her memory.

She couldn't understand the meaning of the conversation at all, and only felt a chill creeping up her back.

"It's almost time." The expressionless old man took off the pocket watch in his hand and glanced at the hour hand on the dial. "The original sacrifice cannot be used, so these two will be used as substitutes."

"understood."

Sandria took a step forward and reached out his hand seemingly aimlessly.

Om-!

With a clear sound of breaking through the air, a rapier with a gorgeous decoration, a scale-shaped guard and a needle-like tip flew from the other end of the passage, and then he easily held it in his hand. It was the rapier that Rose had used to pierce Lunicia and tear Ashtherin apart.

He held the rapier upright, letting the blade point straight to the sky like a clock hand pointing to twelve o'clock, towards the sky that could never be seen from underground.

"——The maintainer of time, the ferryman of the long river, the practitioner of justice, please cast your eyes, please look at us.

Witness of the law, defender of the contract, guardian of the court, please whisper the words, please bless——"

His voice was solemn and dignified, like a real patriarch preaching here, and the rapier in his hand emitted a silvery-white glow, lingering around the sword, chanting a hymn that was too ancient and unknown.

--why?

Lunetia didn't understand at all.

She didn't understand what they were doing. She didn't know what the meaning of what they were doing was now that the sacrifice had died, the altar had been destroyed, and time was so short that it seemed impossible to make any arrangements.

There was only one thing she knew.

As the words flowed, her body seemed to become unable to move anymore.

“…Hmm…!”

I wanted to struggle, but in the end it was all in vain.

"——Alexander, the God of Judgement and Time, our majestic God!

Your subjects gather here again at the other end of the long river, and your servants offer everything at the end of time!

Alexander, the God of Judgement and Time, our majestic God!

Crossing the ancient wind, fulfilling the distant oath, today, here, calibrate the scales of justice again! ——"

Twelve silver stars appeared in Lunisia and on Ashetherin's body, like twelve permanent "anchors" that fixed time, space, phenomena, matter, and energy. The bright light was so dazzling that it seemed to reach from the dark and deep underground to the sky and the throne of God.

"——Use blood as the weight, sacrifice as ink, and flesh and blood as the pen tip, place them on one side of the scale, follow the principle of exchange, and exchange for the ancient blessing!——"

The clock ticked quietly, accompanied by the clicking sound of gears, and slowly turned to the dividing point marking twelve o'clock.

The emblem of the god was formed here, condensing into a dazzling silver star on the ground.

That is the mark of an ancient oath that no one has ever witnessed.

"——I am here to re-write the original myth!"

At this point, the clock is calibrated and everything is done.

Click.

All the watch covers were opened, all the pendulums swung, and all things that could show time could no longer be concealed in this city. Time, time, time, things that flowed like a long river, things that fell like sand, things that melted like ice, were revealed to the world unhindered between the sound of gears, heralding the moment from 11:59:59 to 12:00.

Dang——dang——dang——

Invisible bells echoed, and countless bells rang out along with the clicking of gears, turning into a roar that filled the entire world. Something was shattered, something collapsed, but no one cared - and no one could care anymore.

Dang-d ...

Something has descended, something has arrived, something has fallen, something has come into existence from non-existence, formless, turbid, dark, empty, decayed, decaying, great————

Death has come.

Chapter 50 Day 1: Please adjust the clock

Sitting on the bench, Lunicia couldn't utter a complete sentence for a long time.

In general, she was not as troubled as last time in adapting herself to the changing situations. She now quickly accepted the fact that she was back to the first day. However, this did not seem to be enough to save her much time. The excessive amount of information almost made her unable to think immediately, so that she could only be supported by Ella and Ashlee in silence and sit on the bench that she was so familiar with once again.

The last time she heard the sound of the sky train was three days ago, and the last time she heard it was six days ago. She had thought that it would not fail like this, but the actual situation was far beyond her imagination, so that she could only look at the gray sky and sigh:

"What the hell is going on here...?"

"What's wrong, Lady Luna?"

"..."

Lunicia did not answer, but turned sideways and hugged Ella Hepper tightly in silence.

"well……?!"

Thinking about it carefully, it seems that I did something similar three days ago. But so what, for them now, nothing has happened, and for me, it was already three days ago.

"Luna is really enthusiastic today——eh."

Without any intention of letting Ashethelin go, Lunisia hooked her neck while she was watching the show and pulled her close to her. That's right, these were not hallucinations, not unrealistic fantasies that she had just before her death. They were indeed still here, intact and healthy. Nothing had happened yet, and she had been given another chance to start over.

"…Why are you trying to be cool…You just ran to the rear without saying anything. What good is there in being tattered…"

Ashlee tilted her head.

"Individual Ashetherin will only do what is most appropriate in her judgment. So when is this incident referring to?"

"Ella too...!"

"what?"

“What do you mean by ‘I’ll wait for you to come back’…! In the end… we couldn’t see each other anymore… but you still called me ‘Savior’… I… I… who did I save… I didn’t accomplish anything and I didn’t save anyone… I just messed everything up again…!”

"Ms. Luna..."

She could not understand the words of the paladin. Even though she could hear every syllable clearly, it was difficult to figure out what they meant when put together. The black-haired girl felt lost and tired, as if she had just experienced a long night of dreaming, wandering in a building without doors or windows. It was an experience like riddles and songs at festivals, something that could not be understood with words alone. It was a three-day maze that existed only in one person's memory and could never be escaped.

But there was one thing that Ella Hepper knew very well.

That is the thing about which "she" is crying helplessly.

……

No matter how many times this happens, you'll never get used to it.

It is true that he adjusted his state after the last time, but so what? Last time he was inexplicably killed on the way to the tour, and this time he was killed after making so many preparations and burying traps under the temple. In a word, it ended completely unclearly, and it seemed that what he did was in vain. The point is still that his partners were killed, he died, and he couldn't even use his life to stop the completion of the ceremony.

If the emotion that filled Lunicia's heart the last time she opened her eyes was "fear".

This time, when she opened her eyes and saw those familiar people and things again, and saw the scenery from three days ago, the only emotion in Lunicia's heart was "regret".

Why can't I do anything?

Such questions seemed to have been used to question myself again and again "yesterday", what exactly did I miss, what did I ignore, what else I don't know, and most importantly - what should I do.

"……Well……"