Does the mechanical girl dream of the Messiah?

Lunicia's reminder was a step too late after all, or even if her reaction could be faster, she could not prevent what happened. Ella Hepper's cold appearance concealed an extremely impulsive nature. Even though she did not understand what was happening there, she still drew her sword, rushed forward, and swung it. The curse sneered like poison, but failed to touch anything.

She stood there, empty.

The fallen pieces of steel shattered and collapsed under the sweep of the white blade, revealing something behind it. It might be something that hit the bridge of the Duke of Candiano, but Lunicia had no way of judging its true appearance. All she could see was the dark cavity, the rough walls inlaid with gray crystals, something that looked like a corridor, and something that looked like the mouth of some creature. There was nothing there, and there was no touch from the blade, and nothing was cut, at least there was no body that should have been cut in half.

There she stood, behind Ella Hepper.

Launching an attack - How to launch an attack?

Reach out, and then touch.

Is that a kind of attack? Lunicia didn't know. If it was just like it looked, it was indeed just a very common "touch" action, which happened almost every day, dozens or hundreds of times, without hostility, let alone murderous intent. Beings driven by the desire to kill would not use such a plain and gentle method. But only one thing was true. When "she" stretched out her hand, when the fingertips of "that thing" touched the white-bladed sword, Lunicia's whole body was covered with goose bumps. An indescribable chill swept through her body in an instant, as if to evoke the emotion that was suppressed in the deepest part of her soul, the emotion called "fear".

That's why she fought back so anxiously.

Although "fear" was not ignited, Lunicia felt "fear" right away. It was not some kind of illusory, elusive thought that could only be confirmed bit by bit. She knew, she knew very well what she was afraid of - she was afraid of the thing hidden under the long hair, the front of the head, where the "face" should be. If she continued to persist, she would see it, she would definitely see it.

And now, "that thing" was behind Ella Heper, reaching out and reaching behind her unprotected back.

"What do you want to do?"

Before Ella made a defensive move, before Lunicia turned around and rushed over, the mechanical girl named "Aishelin" had already landed between "that thing" and Ella. The golden lake in the mechanical girl's eyes shone, and she looked at the hand holding her left wrist with emotionless eyes. One was intact, and the other was broken, smeared with blood and meat residue. Ashelin didn't mind at all. As for the thing that stained her arm, she just raised the "Conqueror Marduk" in her right hand and aimed it at the upper body——

Then, the golden lake suddenly shrank.

Buzz————————!!!

The things swept by the pure white light were not only the half body of "that thing", but also Ashlee's own left wrist. She placed a part of her body under the lock of the heavy artillery without hesitation, dissolving and collapsing. The slender black iron wrist dissipated in the heat flow in an instant, leaving only a cross-section that was red due to the high temperature.

But in the blink of an eye, the lost left wrist was restored again, but Ashlee continued to stare at it, moving the metal joints as if she was unsure.

As if mocking her efforts, "that thing", the figure once called "Martina", reappeared, standing intact on the other side of the dark cavity, close to the isolation wall. What just happened seemed to be an illusion shared by the three of them, a fleeting butterfly dream. Only the severed metal and dissolved wall proved what had just happened.

"What should I do? That thing is not undead. I don't have any good solution."

"do not know."

Ella rarely looked confused and at a loss.

"I don't know... what was that? Were we really fighting something just now...?"

"some."

Ashlee continued to stare at her wrist, as if the enemy did not exist.

"Indeed, the feeling of being touched by 'that individual' is like 'not being touched'. Perhaps it is some kind of characteristic, but 'she' does exist there, at least she still exists there now, there is no way out."

——Isn’t there no way?

Lunicia couldn't help but let out a bitter smile.

I don’t know what the enemy is, and I don’t know what abilities the enemy has. The ghostly thing is still just standing there, and it doesn’t look like it is thinking. It seems that it is just pausing for no reason and without any regularity. What should I do against such an opponent?

"I have an idea that doesn't count."

The body took a step forward.

"As long as it is implemented, you will definitely understand what I want to do - at that time, you must prioritize your own safety, at least make sure you don't fall to the bottom of the sky."

The corpse's broken head tilted, and her long hair scattered on her forehead swayed and slid to the other side.

"--coming!"

Then, the "face" hidden underneath was revealed.

Is that really a face? When you first see that "face", everyone will have this question. There is a nose, two eyes, and a mouth, arranged in the right place, and there is no missing or deformed due to accidents, but no matter how you look at it, it feels wrong. It feels different from the "human face" in your cognition. A strange sense of disharmony rises as you look at it for a long time. It is not so much a face as a layer of skin draped over something. It is weird and awkward, just simply stuck there. The skin, eyebrows, and facial features are all fake, just a virtual image that exists to show you an empty smile and turn your empty eyeballs to you.

In the next moment, the face shattered like the blurred moonlight.

"?!"

A layer of cold sweat broke out on Ella Hepper's forehead.

She did "cut" something. She blocked the two swords in front of her and when she pointed the blades at the empty area, she did touch something. However, the strange touch made her shiver and forced her to swing the swords at nothing in front of her. She did cut and dismember something, something invisible but extremely dangerous. The twin priestesses were laughing happily. This was the evidence of what had really happened.

Ashetherin did not say a word. She just set up two "Conqueror Marduk" cannons and then shot at the faceless corpse. The dazzling white light beam tore through the air, shredding and melting everything in its path, and once again completely engulfing the twisted and grotesque body. But at the moment when the light dissipated, "that thing" was still standing there, stretching out its hand as if to grab something, and gently grasped the air in front of it.

"Well--!"

Lunisia's expression was twisted in pain.

In the shadow under the white blade, her right arm was twisted into a twist-like shape, her skin and muscles exploded, and her bones broke and shattered because she could not bear it. She could only immediately hold the hilt of the sword with her left hand again and abandon the original best answer. She could not go there, and could not go there with her companions. The road leading to the interior of the airship, "that thing" was standing in front of the passage. Obviously, the place looked very normal, but Lunicia was very sure in her heart that if she really walked in there, she would definitely die, and die unclearly.

There was only one thing she could do now.

The giant sword was raised high, and the whitest light wrapped around it, mixed with some orange flames. The dazzling holy light dispelled all the darkness and shadows, and then, it was swung heavily downwards.

The stream of light expanded and surged, with unspeakable sharpness, cutting the part that used to be the bridge in half.

Chapter 8 The Girls' Struggle

"Is it really okay? We can take the airship to Zelhar like this?"

"Of course there is no problem. I don't know why this flight is so luxurious, but as long as the route is correct, there will be no problem."

"Well... since Andy said so, then there should be no problem."

"Right, I said - we have an official identity in the local area, although it seems best not to show that kind of thing now, and it is also best not to return to the Divine Court in a swagger. We can only sneak across like this. Without an identity, we still have money. Without money, we still have luck. Even that 'Black Summoning Blade'..."

"But Andy, was it shaking just now?"

"Uh."

"Andy?"

"Didn't the broadcast just say that? It's about the air currents and the like."

"You still lack experience."

"What? What does this have to do with experience?"

"Look, it's starting to shake again - didn't you hear something wrong in the broadcast just now? With the noise, the sound of electricity, the white noise, that voice sounded like a living person talking to you?"

"...Don't scare me."

"I shouldn't look like I'm kidding."

"Well, April is right."

"Instead, you've already seen ghouls, so why are you still afraid of the undead?"

"That's not the same thing at all. This ship - huh?"

“…Did it shake again just now?”

"Well, it's still shaking. It seems to be getting worse."

"Ugh?!"

"Jesse!"

"Ugh...don't let go, you'll hit the container."

"Andy, Jesse, are you okay?"

"I'm fine. Andy bumped his arm and is a little unsteady. Are we floating?"

"It seems like there are some... some, no, this can't stand at all, what's going on?!"

"April! The ship looks like it's cra- ...

boom!

"Andy, hey, Andy! Did you pass out after hitting your head?!"

……

"Ella!"

"Ashe got her - hold on tighter, Ella."

"You'll fall down like this!"

"Ashe can fly, don't worry, at least you won't fall because of your light body."

Lunicia inserted the giant sword deeply into a large piece of metal, using it as a fulcrum to hang her body, so that she barely did not fall downwards - "Holy Slash" not only cut off the huge bridge, but also caused the hull structure, which had already become dilapidated due to the impact, to begin to collapse. For some reason, the "Duke of Candiano" airship, which seemed to remain relatively still and motionless, began to move again at the moment the bridge was cut off, as if it was about to escape the reach of something and fell downwards.

Collapse, separation, falling, the pieces of hull fragments that were disintegrating with electric sparks, as the "Duke of Candiano" fell, seemed to have built a long ladder made of fragments in the gray and foggy sky.

Unable to see what was below, the Duke of Candiano seemed to have sunk into the deep sea. Only the hazy and vague shadows under the gray sea and the wreckage of the closed bridge could be seen. Falling, falling involuntarily, the gravity of the star was particularly vivid only at this time. All Lunicia could do was to step on the debris that fell with her, and use the reaction force to let her body jump up again and again, inserting the giant sword into the new platform, so that she could keep approaching the dark corridor that seemed to have never changed its position. Where was it, what was it, and what was it part of? This question might have been important and worth pondering, but now it was completely unworthy of mentioning. In the face of the foreseeable ending of falling, even if it was the huge mouth of a ferocious beast, Lunicia could only choose to jump there.

However, in this case, Lunicea can only take care of her own safety.

"Ashe! Can you come over here!?"

"Trying."

The sound could barely penetrate the howling wind and cross the barrier of the sea of ​​black fog, but the situation did not seem as optimistic as Ashetherin said.

The corpse for unknown reasons has disappeared from sight. The tip of Lunicia's sword is pointing at the spot right under her feet. "That thing" fell one step earlier than everything in sight and fell into the sea of ​​clouds. For Lunicia, who cannot find a way to destroy or even touch it for the time being, this seems to be the only means she can use - perhaps when she asked the captain the question, she was already prepared to swing the sword, and under the guidance of her intuition, she cut off the safety of everyone and her own safety.

The only remaining danger is falling.

Unlike Lunicia who was luckier and was located near the deep corridor, Ashlee and Ella were located in a more fragile part of the bridge when it collapsed. This caused the ground beneath their feet to collapse earlier and they fell earlier. Even if Ashlee could fly, she had to hold Ella Hepper tightly while dodging the iron blocks that fell from above and could hit her at any time.

Ashlee herself might not care, but it was obvious that she was unwilling to consider the possibility that Ella would be intact even if she was hit.

"Ashe, up there!"

A huge piece of metal debris fell straight towards Ashlee's position. Perhaps it used to be a ceiling above the bridge, but now it was just a huge and dangerous piece of scrap metal. To Ashlee and Ella who were moving in the opposite direction, it was like a cannonball coming straight at them at a huge acceleration.

Ashetherin raised the barrel of the gun in her other hand, but paused before firing.

If she were alone, she could certainly choose to fire a high-energy particle beam to shoot through the huge iron plate in the middle, but if she really did that now, Ella in her arms would inevitably be covered in molten iron.

"let me."

Ella didn't say much, but just gripped the long black blade in her hand and gently slashed at the huge iron block that was rushing towards her.

Buzz————

With a slight hum from the air being cut, the falling iron block broke into two pieces, falling to the left and right, leaving a gap large enough for two people to pass through.

The nozzles on the soles of her feet spit out blue flames. The girl in the machine went against the winter wind and stretched out her hand toward the pure white holy warrior waiting above. In the space where she stopped falling, she tightly clasped her fingertips.

It seemed that only in this way could he suppress his body which was immersed in the black fog and trembling slightly as if falling into an ice cave.

……

"Well……!"

Ella couldn't help but cover her mouth, and when she looked at her palm again, it was already stained with dark red blood.

“Ella…”

I can see Lunicia's worried expression, and hear her voice, which is obviously tired but still full of worry and concern. Lunicia is still the same Lunicia as always. I want to smile at her, want to say "It's okay" to her, but no sound comes out of my numb throat, and only dark blood still flows from the corners of my mouth. My chest feels like it's burning, as if countless blades are scraping my lungs, cutting off blood vessels and lung lobes bit by bit.

Lunicia had no experience in dealing with this kind of situation, and with her experience she couldn't directly judge what was happening to Ella, but she roughly understood that this should be related to what had just happened - Ashlee's body was different from that of ordinary people, and without discussing her situation, Ella and Lunicia were both ordinary humans in a broad sense, and Ella's physique was obviously much worse than Lunicia's. In the fall just now, both of them were unprotected in the severely polluted sea of ​​clouds. Lunicia could resist with her strong physique, but Ella's respiratory system was severely corroded due to inhaling excessive polluted gases.

"Ashe, is the poison cloud made of prayer pollution or industrial pollution?"

The former is spiritual pollution, which is close to spiritual disaster or divine disaster in nature, while the latter is pure chemical toxin.

"Both. Ella's case should be the latter."

"I'll handle it."

"Please, Luna."

One hand was placed on Ella's back, using "holy healing" to repair the injuries on Ella Heper's body. Even if it was not an open wound on the surface of the body, but a damage to the internal organs, as long as it was within the reach of Lunicia's blessing, it could be repaired. At the same time, Lunicia's other hand was gently placed on Ella's chest, chanting a prayer for health while closing her eyes, concentrating her mind, and guiding the purer divine energy than before to neutralize the toxins that had invaded Ella's body bit by bit.

"Luna... Lady..."

"Is it 'protective toxin'?"

"Yes. If the damage is just industrial pollution, this magic is more appropriate."

"I just used the Holy Slash once before. Judging from its strength, it almost used up the amount of a second-level divine spell. If we encounter an emergency at this time, we might run into a problem of resource shortage."

"Don't worry." Lunicia shook her head. "The gods answered my prayers. As a reward for my journey, good deeds, and adventures, I am now stronger than before. In other words, I still have room to spare. How about it, Ella, do you feel better?"

"I'm fine, Lady Luna..."

"My face is pale and my body is shaking. Even if I'm used to the pain, I can't say this is okay."

Lunicia knelt by the wall, placed the lantern in her hand aside, and adjusted Ella's position so that she lay sideways on her thighs.