Does the mechanical girl dream of the Messiah?

Holding Ella Heper's hand and putting her arm around Lunicia's shoulders, while facing two pairs of gazes full of doubt and vigilance, Ashlee still had that calm expression, making it hard to figure out whether she really didn't care or just didn't want to make any expression.

"If it were just Ashe, she would probably do nothing at this time. Based on Ashe's current experience and memory, it seems that going with the flow is the most common behavior pattern of this machine. After all, Ashe does not need to fear the arrival of dawn. Even if she is torn apart by the cruising golden light, the night will still return after the next dusk. You are different, the young bluebird and the melancholy little painter. You are the invisible morning dew that disappears when you disperse. Too strong sunlight will only destroy you. When Ashe opens her eyes again, she will only see things that are similar to you but not quite."

"what happened?"

Ella Hepper put her hands on her waist, and the purple and black scabbards suddenly appeared in the empty space, as if they had never left there, but just disappeared. In this way, she was ready for everything. She was a magic swordsman who never left any belongings behind. Her luggage was always in the dimensional bag, and her armor would not affect her combat effectiveness. When the situation required, she could put on her "surgical clothing" at any time. She was always an adventurer ready to go, and the sword of Lunicia.

She immediately understood the meaning of Ashlee's words, and that was why she felt nervous.

"It's okay. I can handle some injuries. Please take care of Ella."

"Ms. Luna..."

"That won't do."

Ashlee just shook her head slightly.

"Even if you have a certain degree of regenerative ability, if you fall from here, your mortality rate is 100%."

"Well, falling..."

Lunicia couldn't help but clench her fists.

Due to the decline of the air transport industry, fewer and fewer people choose to use airships as a means of transportation. That is why there are so few passengers on this flight. Even so, including passengers and crew, there are at least hundreds of people on this airship. It seems that Ashlee can only protect Lunicia and Ella at most. She has no ability and no mood to care about the lives of others. Ella only has Lunicia in her eyes. For Lunicia, this choice seems too cruel.

"Ashe, is there no way?"

"What do you mean?"

"Like, try to stop this ship from crashing or something."

"Is there such a solution, Ashethelyn?"

"do not know."

In response to Lunicia and Ella's questions, Ashlee only gave such a brief answer. When she saw their confused looks, she added, "Just from the shaking and the atmosphere, this 'well-equipped' and 'well-made' airship can't hold out for too long. As for what happened specifically, how could Ashlee, who has been here admiring the sunset, know? Of course, there is no way to stop these things."

"That is to say, Lady Luna, we'd better go find the crew to confirm the situation first, and then decide on a strategy."

"so be it."

"Is it all right, Ella?"

"What's it this time?"

"Luna is now planning to take the initiative to take risks, but not only did you not stop her, you are instigating her to go further."

"Ashe, this is too hurtful anyway. It sounds like I'm going to do something bad..."

"This is Lady Luna's decision." Ella reached out and took Ashlee's wrist, pulling her into the group. "Even if we continue to stay here, our safety cannot be guaranteed. In this case, I have no reason not to act according to Lady Luna's wishes. Of course, you too, are not allowed to stay here and be lazy."

"Okay, as you wish."

"Oh my, I feel like I'm the superfluous one now."

"That's not the case. Lady Luna is the first, the most important, and the most necessary. She is completely different from that mechanical doll that can't talk at all."

……

The violent shaking added some trouble to the journey that should have been smooth sailing. Perhaps because of this, there was not a single person in the spacious aisle - the crew members were probably at their own posts, and as for the passengers, they generally would not like to meddle in other people's business like Lunicia did.

The safety belts in the room can at least ensure basic stability, but not everyone needs them. In other words, perhaps most of the passengers on this ship do not need them. Those who can take this luxurious airship are either rich or noble, or have special identities. They will have received at least enough professional or even adventurer training to protect themselves. Among them there may be a few apprentices from the Bard Academy or the Mage Society, but they generally cannot - or it is almost impossible - have the same level of perception as Ashetherin. They cannot see the fluctuations of the prayer words, the waves outside the porthole, or hear the terrifying sound as if countless mouths were rubbing their teeth. Naturally, they cannot immediately recognize the existence of danger.

Being able to listen to the voices of all things seems to mean enduring the torture brought by the invisible sound. How can this rotten sea of ​​clouds make friendly sounds? It can only scream, make shrill wails and the most vicious curses.

In the end what happened?

The more I tried to figure this out, the more uneasy I seemed to feel. If it was a normal disturbance of airflow, would the cabin really shake like this, with a weird and uncomfortable rhythm? It seemed that the more I paid attention to those tiny details, the easier it was for my thoughts to slide in a bad direction, and I constructed disturbing scenes in my mind.

And if you look outside, all you can see is still a thick, unchanging black.

Following the maps posted everywhere in the ship, they groped their way towards the bridge. Just as they were moving forward steadily, they suddenly felt dizzy. They barely put their feet on the ground and used the cracked metal to stabilize their bodies, thus avoiding crashing into the wall behind them. It was not until the light flickered that Lunicia realized what had just happened.

Shaking - or rather, shaking dramatically as if it had hit something.

Chapter 5: The Dark Waves in the Sky

The only thing to be thankful for is that with a map, the location of the bridge is not difficult to find.

However, the scene before one's eyes was not enough to make one feel happy.

The isolation wall in the corridor has been lowered, and the reinforced iron wall completely divides the two sides. The wall that was originally used to prevent the spread of fire is now used to block something unknown. The lights in the corridor are brighter than usual. In a world where most disasters are related to darkness, the more critical the situation, the more important the existence of light is.

Wounded people, flowing blood, when Captain Tiano Zianiello raised his head, he saw three faces he had never expected, those women who were called "Heroes of Muirand".

"Mr. Tiano! What happened?"

Faced with this kind of scene, Lunisia was naturally surprised - she had never thought that there would be such a scene near the bridge. The captain's right hand was seriously injured, fixed with a wooden board and bandages, and it looked like a broken forearm. Others also had more or less traces of injuries, some were scratches, and except for being frightened, they did not look serious, while others were in much worse conditions. Lunisia could see at a glance that a communicator had fainted on the ground, and her left arm had completely disappeared. Although the priest on the scene gave her emergency treatment, her face still looked pale due to blood loss.

It didn't look like something had just happened here - it seemed like quite some time had passed since the accident.

"You are... the Holy Knight Lunicia?"

He pinched his nose, and when Tiano Zianiero opened his eyes again, the three figures still did not disappear. Only then did he completely believe that what he saw was not an illusion, but three real guests. When Muirand was walking on the edge of the civil war, the old airman was on vacation in his villa, so no matter how many shells the garrison and the city guard fired at each other in the center of Muirand, he was completely unaware of it. It was not until the next day that he learned the news. It was precisely because of this that he was not actually very familiar with the group of people in front of him who were called Muirand heroes. He just knew that there was such a group of people on the flight he was responsible for, and he knew their appearance and characteristics.

It was not until he saw these women who were dubbed "heroes" with his own eyes that he was surprised at how young they were.

"Can you explain the situation? See if there's anything we can do to help."

What Lunicia meant by "being able to help" did not include other things, only everything related to the battle. Before the captain and other crew members responded, she had already started to use magic to heal the wounded around her, and by the way, she called Ella Heper and asked her to give some healing potions to those who were more seriously injured.

No matter how serious the injury was, even if their expressions were distorted by the pain, as long as they were still conscious, the crew members receiving treatment would still struggle to get up from the floor and salute Ella or Lunicia. This seemed to be some kind of etiquette of Myuland. No matter how Lunicia persuaded them, they refused to give up. The former could only let them do what they wanted - as long as they could be guaranteed to receive treatment.

"What brought you here? We can't put the passengers in danger."

"Because the turbulence was getting worse and worse, and the broadcast had been broadcast several times, I wanted to check out the situation... What on earth was going on? It didn't look like the 'little turbulence' mentioned on the broadcast."

"what?"

The captain couldn't help but turn his head and look at the crew members behind him with a surprised expression, even ignoring the fact that this was quite rude to Lunicia and others.

"What did you just say that was played several times on the radio?"

"Any questions?"

Ella seemed to have noticed something wrong and confirmed it out loud.

"It's not a problem, it's just..."

After a little hesitation, Captain Tiano retracted his gaze and continued, "In fact, we only broadcast the announcement once, and after that we were... as you can see, we were kicked out. The broadcast was not set to loop, so why was the broadcast constantly going on in the cabin?"

After giving this answer, Tiano paused for a moment and turned his head to where the crew members were gathered: "Is there anyone who didn't have time to evacuate from the bridge just now? Who is still inside now?"

"No, those who can be evacuated are all here. Those who cannot be evacuated..."

The crew member who responded was unable to continue.

"...That's it, ladies." Tiano turned his face back again, but this time, his face was more sad than before, "Next we need to move to the second bridge to organize evacuation and abandon ship escape... Everyone, go to the lifeboat first, it may become unsafe here soon."

"Because of the collision just now?"

In response to Lunicia's question, the captain simply shook his head heavily.

"No, sorry, I don't have anything to tell you."

"What do you mean by that...?"

"Because I don't know anything."

As if recalling what just happened, Tiano's thick eyebrows were almost twisted together: "All the crew members present don't know what just happened. At the beginning, we thought it was just a common air and sea air current, so we broadcast the previous broadcast, but after that...what happened? It seems that there was a huge turbulence, and we saw something, shaking far beyond expectations...Yes, we collided with something, we should collide with something, or touch something."

"Touch?"

"That thing doesn't seem to be a fragment of Sky Island, but why didn't the equipment detect it? The bridge must have collided with that thing, and some people died on the spot... There must be air leakage in the damaged area. There are not many adventurers on the scene, and it is difficult to stay in that environment for a long time. We don't even have a chance to collect the bodies of our companions. We can only escape like this and pull down the isolation wall to ensure that the pollution does not spread to the inside. We don't know how long we can hold out like this. The best way is to activate the lifeboat immediately and prepare to abandon the ship and escape. Sorry, I don't have any information to tell you, because I don't know what happened just now, what exactly did we collide with, and-"

"Dear passengers, due to the impact of the air currents, the ship will be more turbulent. Please - ziz, ziz - lifeboats have been released. All lifeboats have been released. Passengers who have not yet boarded the lifeboats, please - ziz - a new life, a new beginning."

The sound coming from the ship's broadcast seemed to be slightly different from before.

Severe distortion, a lot of electrical noise - and the sound that sounded particularly strange, not like the sound that ordinary people could make. Ashlee cast her eyes to the other side of the isolation wall, while Ella and Lunicia accurately grasped the words "lifeboat" mentioned in the broadcast just now. The mixed and weird broadcast that sounded like nonsense seemed to contain some practical content, like some kind of weird irony. As for Tiano and the crew members beside him, when they heard the broadcast so close, almost everyone's face changed, and some of them even covered their mouths to prevent screams from coming out of their mouths.

"Boss, that voice just now... that voice... seemed to be Martina's..."

"I know, stop talking about it!"

The captain's words failed to calm people's hearts.

At first glance, he was still calm, at least his voice was still so crisp and powerful, without the trembling of other crew members, but he could not hide his ugly expression and pale face. He had fought in wars, been to the front line, and was a retired air force with some strength, but he had never faced such a situation. His rich life experience seemed to be completely destroyed in such a short time today, and what was left was only the unknown, the unknown stained with darkness.

Lunisia saw all this clearly.

She did not say much, but took out the golden holy emblem of Zelti from her waist bag, held it in front of her chest, and walked slowly towards the group of crew members, chanting softly:

"Supreme Zelti, please wield the majesty of the thunder of heaven to keep people away from fear, away from the fear of darkness, and drive away the illusions of darkness."

As she spoke solemnly, a layer of faint golden light seemed to light up around Lunicia, enveloping the crew members who were in deep fear - Ashleelin was needless to say, and Ella seemed to have never been affected by fear. Now she was just following Lunicia's instructions, applying medicine to the seriously injured while watching the development of the situation - the expressions on their faces were as if they were startled, and the shell of fear cracked, shattered, and peeled off piecemeal, leaving only expressions of confusion and uneasiness.

That is the ability of the paladins to inspire courage in people's hearts. As long as they, as the beacon of hope, have not fallen, the cruel fear will not be able to grip the hearts of those around them. Even if people still feel fear and anxiety, they will not be completely immersed in it and be deprived of the ability to think by the dark emotions.

"You feel better?"

"Hmm...just now that was..."

"Who is Martina?"

Considering the urgency of the situation, Lunicia did not make many small talk, but chose to get straight to the point. When he heard the name, Tiano's brows, which had been relaxed, twisted together again, but he certainly understood why Lunicia asked this question, so he could only answer truthfully: "It was a communicator working on the bridge. When the collision just happened, she didn't seem to have time to escape. The voice that came over the radio just now... Although there was some noise, it was indeed Martina's voice."

"The undead..."

Lunicia nodded thoughtfully, then turned to Ella Heper and asked, "Ella, Ashe, do you plan to go to the Second Bridge with the captain and the others to seek refuge, or follow me? It may be dangerous--"

"With you, of course, Lady Luna."

"No matter how dangerous Ella and Luna are, Ashlee will not be in danger. There is no need to ask Ashlee's opinion on this matter."

"Ok."

"Wait, what are you going to do?"

The two sides were not far apart, so Tiano could hear clearly what Lunicia said, and he quickly understood what she was saying. This holy warrior named Lunicia, who was called the "Hero of Muirand", seemed to have no concept of "seeking benefits and avoiding harm". She had no intention of moving towards the possible safe zone, but instead planned to head towards the most dangerous position on the airship, the bridge that had hit something unknown.

"No, you - no, no, no, I can't agree to you doing this, it's just suicide! Who knows what's in there now? As the captain, I have the obligation to ensure the safety of you passengers, the lifeboat -"

"The lifeboat probably doesn't exist anymore."

Ella interrupted Tiano lightly.

"I'm sure you all have heard the broadcast just now. I think we can control the use of the lifeboats from this bridge, right?"

"…Yes. The lifeboats can be operated from the inside, or fired from several bridge controls."

Lunicia continued, "Although we are not sure about the situation on the lifeboat, time is urgent now. If we don't solve the problem here quickly, who knows what will happen. So I hope that all crew members will go to the second bridge first and ensure the safety of other passengers. My companions and I will stay here to solve the problem."

"Do not……"

"You don't agree?"

"This is not a burden you should bear, and this is not the time to force it."

"It is also the job of us priests to expel darkness and appease the dead."

"I can sense that you are all very capable and strong people who deserve your reputation, but who knows what is behind this wall?"

"At least this is better than the airship crashing."

"..."

Until then, Tiano Zianiero realized that he had no chance to convince the paladin in front of him. He didn't know how to summarize this idea. Should he call it reckless, confident, fearless or stupid? His sense of responsibility as the person in charge did not allow him to put the passengers in danger, but Lunicia's words convinced him that if those monsters that feed on despair are controlling the broadcasting facilities, they are likely to be able to destroy the only escape hatch on the ship, and they will definitely do so. Instead of wasting time to confirm back and forth, it is better to believe in the strength of these "heroes" in front of him.

"Okay...at least you have to keep yourself safe."

"no problem."

Lunicia couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

"One last question for you, Captain."

"What is it?"

"Just in case, if this airship loses the bridge part and only relies on the second bridge, can it continue to sail until it lands successfully?"

Chapter 6: Turbidity at the Border

"Is the situation urgent, Lady Luna?"