Does the mechanical girl dream of the Messiah?

Unlike the cemetery in Lunisia's understanding, this cemetery was built in the town, not in the woods outside. It was a spectacular underground tomb surrounded by a huge and wide square. A stylish marble building was built on the ground for people to stay and rest. The stairs leading to the underground were lit with eternal lamps, and the ground was covered with flower petals, which looked like a celebration of something.

Lunicia couldn't help but think about what day it was.

The 13th is the Day of the Resurrection.

The road leading to the Corridor of Reincarnation in the cemetery will be opened, and the souls of the dead who have not yet been reincarnated will temporarily return on this day.

She couldn't help but feel a chill, but reality didn't give her time to tremble.

A grand massacre is unfolding.

A huge gap was torn in the brick and stone wall, and hooded cultists holding decaying blades lined up one after another from the gap. They seemed to be following an inexplicable order, which completely collapsed when they actually entered the town. They waved their weapons, chasing the fleeing townspeople, and suppressing the few guards here with their numbers. There was no language, no dialogue, and they waved their weapons up and down in silence, just like every time they were seen, letting one living life after another lie in a pool of blood, turning them into moving corpses, and then chasing those who were still alive.

They didn't have any weapons like cannons, so how did they break through the seemingly insurmountable city wall and get in?

The answer is self-evident.

Monsters with huge sharp teeth, smooth skin like rubber sheets, and faces like a combination of humans and dogs were wandering around, tearing houses apart with their pale claws, grabbing people who were caught off guard, and then stuffing their bodies into their mouths and tearing them to pieces.

The blood flowers bloomed one after another.

Lunicia was moving in the opposite direction of the crowd, holding a sword in one hand and a shield in the other. Her expression became cold, which was completely opposite to her burning soul. She was like a ball of frozen flame.

Chapter 23 Year after year

She made little attempt to conceal her actions.

The townspeople saw her, the black-haired knight in silver armor, a figure that seemed to have nothing to do with all the chaos, fear and nightmares. Even though her armor was stained with blood, and one blood spot after another was splattered on her face, she still looked so reassuring and reliable, and yet it also made people feel that she was carrying too many things that did not fit her slender body.

The guards saw her, and while they were fending off the overwhelming human wave attack, they wanted to kindly remind her to quickly seek shelter. But when they saw her firm and precise steps as if measured, and her hand tightly gripping the hilt of the sword, they all chose to remain silent and to fight harder, regardless of life or death.

Likewise, the intruders saw her.

Lunicia's figure had no special meaning to them. In their view, it was just one of the countless lives that should be sacrificed. Since she was willing to come forward on her own initiative, it meant that she was ready to return the glory to the family.

In that case, let's start hunting.

A cultist rushed forward silently, swinging the rusty blade in his hand and slashing at Lunicia at the angle that he thought was the most threatening.

Snapped--

He didn't even realize what was happening.

The next moment, the part above his chest had slid to one side of his body, and the sword, black robe, and flesh were all cut in half along a neat horizontal line.

This was not the first time the cultists had suffered a defeat. Under the fierce resistance of the defenders, many of the cultists' bodies were spread on the ground, mixed with the bodies of civilians and guards. However, this was the most decisive defeat they had seen since they entered the town. They were slashed by the enemy's swords before they even exchanged weapons!

Driven by fear and anger, three more cultists responded. They had just killed several defenders with the tactics of divide and encircle, and were now full of confidence.

One came from above, one from the right, and the other tried to come from the left rear. The rusty hand axe, long sword and pitchfork stabbed from three places at the same time, which was not only difficult to defend against, but also left only one retreat route as a trap. As long as the opponent wanted to retreat in the predetermined direction, he would be hit immediately by the subsequent pursuit.

Lunicia showed no fear and did not back down.

No, that's not right. That's not it.

She didn't even look at the cultists who attacked her. Her eyes were always fixed on the monsters wandering around and the empty spire of the tower. She just shook her hand and drew a neat silver circle beside her. With three sounds that were so slight that they were almost inaudible, the wooden handle, the sword body and the human body were cut into two parts, and blood flew diagonally in the air.

One, one, and then another.

The cultists first rushed forward without fear of death, and then were killed on the spot by Lunicia one after another.

At the beginning, they were able to maintain their morale and continued to rush towards Lunicia like adding fuel to the fire. However, when the number of corpses behind her increased from a few to more than twenty, both the defenders and the cultists seemed to be overwhelmed by the aura emanating from her and could not help but stop what they were doing.

Tick. Tick.

Everything quickly fell silent, with only the sound of blood dripping and the crackling of the house that had been accidentally set on fire. In the light of the fire, Lunicia looked just like the vengeful ghost in the minds of the cultists.

She saw that the huge monsters had stopped slaughtering the townspeople and were now wandering in the ruins of the houses, circling around her, as if they were on guard and afraid of her. She watched the monsters out of the corner of her eye. With the bright firelight, she could clearly see their tense muscles and extended claws. It was obvious that if she showed any flaws, they would attack her mercilessly.

"Oh, wow...wait, wait, everyone, don't do anything yet."

As if they had heard an absolute command, the monsters instantly retracted the power that was about to burst out, and instead half-knelt on the spot in a solemn posture like stone statues, like a group of pale marble sculptures.

It was an overly strange voice, young yet old in some aspects. His words were clearly understandable, but the voice itself did not seem clear. On the contrary, it sounded like it came from a throat filled with mucus, twisted, sticky and distorted, making people feel creepy.

Even though she had only heard it once, Lunicia recognized the voice.

"I didn't expect to meet you here again... Although I don't know how you found this place, a place full of memories and irony, but... it doesn't matter." The voice laughed dryly a few times. Even though he used honorifics in his conversation, Lunicia could still hear the unreserved mockery and arrogance. "You must be very curious about what's going on here..."

As the sound got closer, the figure emerged from the shadows.

From some features of the figure, Lunicia recognized the figure almost immediately. It was undoubtedly the enemy she had fought with swords in the woods, the huge and hunchbacked monster.

At that time, Lunicia could barely see it as a deformed human being, but now it is completely impossible.

It has a huge mouth that is almost open to the roots of its ears. Its face is like a combination of the ugliest features of humans and dogs, with long, sharp, saliva-covered teeth. Its hands have turned into claws, and its feet have turned into strange hooves with long claws. Its back is high and bulging like a rubber-covered bow.

It has completely turned into a monster.

"Ah... You must be confused by my appearance..."

It laughed and uttered strange sounds slowly and steadily.

Lunicia did not reply, but simply grasped the hilt of the sword with both hands and pointed the tip of the sword at it.

It pretended not to see it, and just answered to itself: "As you can see, after leaving there, I got the gift from our great God as I wished... Now, I am also a member of the Holy Family... In view of my contribution, my sacrifice, and my resentment, God made an exception and allowed me to obtain the status of a senior member..."

After a short pause, it continued, "Haha... we've strayed off topic... let's talk about this.

"This is one of the pillars of the Kingdom of the Dead...at least it used to be...it was run jointly by the Goddess of Night and the Goddess of Death. It is for this reason that this place has a special place in the operation of life and death, which is the origin of the so-called...Thirteenth Day Resurrection Festival.

"On the thirteenth day of the Snow Moon, at a certain time, this place will experience the cycle of life and death, so the dead who have not yet understood where they are will return here... and repeat their actions in their lifetime. In the illusion created by the fragments of the Kingdom of God, in the form of physical dead souls..."

The more it spoke, the more a frightening expression appeared on that strange face. If Lunicia understood correctly, that expression was indeed a "smile".

"Oh... Thank the Goddess of Night..." It used its sharp claws to carve a half-moon emblem on the ground, and then scratched it with contempt, "It is precisely because of this characteristic that every thirteenth day of the Snow Moon, the souls of the dead here will return once... With some minor modifications, those of us who feed on the sweetness of death... Hehe... It's like we have obtained an inexhaustible supply of food. Being able to torture them again and again is simply the supreme joy..."

Therefore, every thirteenth day is like the resurrection of the dead.

It is precisely because of this that these monsters are able to kill again those who should have rested in peace.

No matter how they die, the fragments of the Kingdom of God will reshape their souls again and again, returning their memories to the origin. What was originally a design of blessing has now become a source of eternal pain.

"…Why are you telling me this?"

"Why... um... I heard that a brain that has been burned by anger will be more delicious than usual... Do you think this is correct?"

when!

Accompanied by silent rage, the sword has already slashed on the sharp claws!

Chapter 24 Corrupted Earth

when!when!when!

With almost no gap, Lunicia swung out three extremely swift swords, and each sword hit the weak point of the claw with incomparable precision, but in the end it was difficult to break through due to lack of strength and could only be bounced away helplessly.

She was not discouraged by this, she just adjusted her steps slightly, and then once again launched a series of continuous slashes like a raging wave.

"What the hell are you!"

The long sword slashed continuously, as if venting anger, and the nameless flame seemed to expand as the sword was swung.

"Why... can you... do such a thing with a clear conscience!"

She couldn't win quickly by overdrawing her strength like she had done before, otherwise her muscles would burst instantly. Before her body recovered to the point where she could deliberately overdraw again, Lunicia could only hope in her swordsmanship and the miracles she believed in.

She was angrier, and the angrier she was, the more refined her swordsmanship became. The results of her long training were displayed without reservation at this moment. Her sword power was as continuous as a long river, and she actually suppressed the monster, which was far superior to humans in size and strength, from the front.

"Oh...we are called ghouls...of course, that's what humans call them."

What was surprising was that even though it was being suppressed by the continuous attacks, the monster in front of him did not show any anxiety, annoyance or anger. Instead, it seemed as if it was the one with the advantage, and it was at ease and unhurried.

"Why...what a stupid question..."

It took a step back with its hind legs, dodging Lunisia's sword. Just before the next sword came, a strange, weeping-like laugh came out of its throat.

"...Of course it's to live better!"

Hearing the sticky roar, Lunicia suddenly felt something was wrong. She quickly stopped the attack, lowered her body, and put the shield in front of her as quickly as possible.

In the next moment, a strange light intertwined with ochre and dimness had condensed in the palm of the ghoul. It raised its huge claws high, but did not swing them towards Lunicia's body, but smashed them directly towards the ground under her feet.

There was no loud noise, no vibration, but she felt a tremor she had never experienced before, and an awkward feeling instantly rushed from the soles of her feet to her brain. In Lunicia's eyes, with the landing point of the ghoul's claws as the center, the ground within a radius of more than ten meters changed instantly. The neatly laid brick and stone ground collapsed and shattered inch by inch, and finally turned into dark red mud with blood. This mud looked nothing special, but it made Lunicia feel unable to move, as if her feet were stuck.

In her sight, the bodies left behind by the cultists and townspeople were sinking slowly into the dark red mud.

This strange ground sustains itself by devouring corpses!

This no longer seems like a spell, but an evil divine spell belonging to the followers of darkness!

She wanted to take out the scroll with "Dispel Magic" inscribed on it from her waist bag. This scroll, which was used to cut off the conditions for the establishment of a ritual to hinder a spell, could also be used to stop the influence of this evil magic, but she finally resisted the urge to do so.

This not only means the consumption of precious resources, but also means that one actively hands over the rhythm of the battle to others, and is forced to become the counterattacking party instead of the first-attacking party.

With this in mind, she swung out her sword again without hesitation, blocking the oncoming claw head-on!

"Oh..."

The hunched ghoul narrowed his eyes.

This seemed almost unreasonable to it. It had thought that the other party would understand how great the impact of this spell was on them, and would therefore try to remove it first. For a novice paladin like the girl in front of it, it was almost impossible for her to cast a spell like "Dispel Magic" on her own. As for a formal member of the Divine Court like her who sat in a carriage and had official documents, the Divine Court would certainly prepare "Dispel Magic" spell scrolls for her, but the number would certainly be limited.

Assuming the number is three, this would be equivalent to consuming one-third of her important resources.

And for it, which has just become a ghoul priest, spells like "Corrupted Earth" can be used more than three times!

However, it never expected that the opponent would completely ignore the disadvantages in its actions and confront it head-on without using "dispel magic"!

But there's no harm in that.

A strange smile hung on the corner of its mouth that was split behind its ears. After one attack was blocked, it did not rush to swing its claws again, but instead swept past the side where Lunicia held the shield, and before the huge body had even stopped, it swung its claws heavily at Lunicia.

The power of "Corrupted Earth" has no effect on it itself, because ghouls are originally a race favored by the corrupted earth!

Lunicia subconsciously wanted to turn around and fight back, but the dark red mud stuck to the soles of her boots like glue, making her subconscious movement completely insufficient to lift the soles of her boots. This directly slowed down her movements, and she could only swing the sword at a barely angle, deflecting the sharp claws that were swinging towards her abdomen.

Even so, the claw still could not be completely blocked, but instead tore open Lunicia's shoulder armor with remaining force, causing broken flesh and armor mixed with blood to splatter everywhere.

The pain almost blurred Lunicia's vision. She had to grit her teeth hard to keep her attention from being distracted. However, the ghoul priest did not intend to give her more time to react. It raised its claws again, and Lunicia had just adapted to the stickiness of the "corrupted earth" and was barely able to move her legs and adjust her position.

The next attack still came from the upper side, which was difficult to defend against. If she had not tried her best to adjust her angle just now, Lunicia had no doubt that she would not be able to defend against this attack!

The claws and shield intertwined, and the familiar huge force almost made Lunicia lose her balance. Her entire arm that was holding the shield became completely numb in the impact.

This is not a solution. The opponent can move flexibly, but I can only adjust the angle with difficulty. If the stalemate continues, I can only delay the arrival of death a little bit!

Lunicia's eyes became sharp. She no longer held the shield in one hand and the sword in the other. Instead, she chose to use both hands to hold the hilt of the sword - even though her left hand was still numb from the violent impact, she could still exert more strength than when she held the sword with one hand.

"Oh...are you already giving up on yourself...are you planning to fight to the death?"

The location of the sound was constantly changing, and the figure of the ghoul priest was moving back and forth around Lunicia, circling around her.

She didn't answer, and the enemy didn't need her answer.

The next moment, the sharp claws swung out from below and headed towards her neck!

——Boom!

As the sword was swung, the sound of thunder came as expected!

The silver snake pierced through the bloody air, turning the rotten earth into charcoal. Amid the shock of thunder, Lunicia's figure flew backwards towards the sky.

Blood gushed out of her mouth, but there was a smile on her face.

Because her feet had left the corrupt land.

Chapter 25: Giants

"So, Andy, do you have any idea?"

"What clue?! How can I have the energy to think in this situation?"

While shooting the cultist rushing towards him through with a gun, Andy couldn't help but yell at April at an unprecedented volume, while Jesse remained silent, just kept knocking down the cultists rushing towards him with his huge shield. Those who were hit suffered fractures at best, and some died on the spot at worst. No one was spared.

"Regarding the situation of this place, we are almost forced out of town, you still have no idea!"

"That's right! Today is the Resurrection Day, and those residents became confused after being attacked. They didn't react even when the cultists rushed in front of them and bit them. I suspect they are not living people but ghosts of the dead!"

"Tell the important point!"

April clicked his tongue, then stabbed a cultist through the head with a sword.