Does the mechanical girl dream of the Messiah?

"Happy birthday, 'Witch of the Azure Abyss' Enel."

……

"what?!"

This unbelievable scene made Lunicia, who was suspended in the air, scream out in surprise. She instinctively wanted to twist her body, changing her posture in less than a blink of an eye, and then strike out again, using the attack to buy time for herself, but she didn't expect that the opponent was one step faster than her.

There are only two arms, so there is no extra part to fight back?

Never mind, that's not a problem.

Wow————

Like a huge wave stirred up by a strong wind, the originally calm sea surface suddenly boiled over. One, two, three, no, countless wrists burst out from the featureless torso, and along with the splashing black ink, they grabbed the meaningless and non-threatening flying insect from all directions, like a pure black net blocking the view.

"'With my body I have pleased the punishment, with my blood I have sealed the corruption'."

Because of the distance, it was not very clear what was heard, but the only thing that was certain was that the voices coming from the left and right sides, although from different people, were reciting the same words, sentences, and forbidden incantations.

The world seemed to slow down and sluggish in an instant, only the wrists that burst out were not affected, but their speed was originally slow and inconsistent with their strength, so for Asheselyn and Ella, as long as they could complete the preparations at hand, they would be fine. The dark sword was deeply stabbed into her body, and the shadow in the hand of the mechanical creature sucked greedily, completely sucking the bloodless body dry, turning it into fragile and withered debris. Blood gushed out from the slender girl's torso, but not a drop splashed on the ground, but all flowed over the blade of the sword.

The silver rapier was getting closer and closer to the essence of "time" that was shining with mysterious brilliance.

The purple sword lit up with an eerie and charming glow, as if it were the delicate brilliance of a blooming wisteria, making it even more eerily dazzling.

There was no communication, no exchange, but Ashlee and Ella both grasped the tacit understanding of "what to do".

The body was disintegrating inch by inch like it was carved out of sand, as if it could not withstand the invisible wind blowing in the circular prison. As a sacrifice, it could not sacrifice its life, so it had to use double the magic power as compensation. Even Asheselin, who had an extremely powerful regeneration ability, could only barely maintain the balance between recovery and disintegration at this time, and could not completely repair her body. The degraded replica of "punishment" not only had more terrible side effects, but also produced effects far inferior to the original. But it didn't matter, this was enough.

Along with the sound of breaking through the air and the wonderful buzzing sound of tearing through the air, "Shadow" raised his right palm, as if to stop the rain, and casually blocked the silver-white sword that was coming through the air.

puff--

Contrary to expectations, the "Rest" did not lose its power the moment it touched the dark palm. It fell to the ground, and the silver meteor pierced through the black fluid, running through it like a long nail, and black blood splashed from the wound.

"—turn back the clock."

If it were any other enemy, such as the "actor" shadow or the dragon Rose, when the cold voice of the mechanical girl sounded, the hour hand, minute hand, and second hand would all be turned back, and when the gears clicked, their status would also be reversed due to the influence of the "rest". Nothing could remain "unchanged" in front of this fake that partially reproduced the power of Alexander the Great, not even the legendary strong. What was happening in front of him was the first time that Ashlee had been able to reproduce the "rest".

There was no "reversal" as announced, no turning back of time.

The dark and featureless "shadow" paused only briefly.

The sound of the gears rolling back was like a creaking sound as if something was wrong. Within the vaguely visible dial shape, the hour hand, minute hand, and second hand first trembled continuously, and then all broke into pieces - there was no turning back, no backflow, but as the price of a brief pause, a replica of the "rest" that was enhanced with Ashatherine's own magic and was extremely close to the original lost its sharp and mysterious luster in an instant, and crumbled and shattered like rusty iron.

That's enough.

The blood spurting out from the wound drew a scarlet trail in the air due to its original owner's extremely fast speed.

The twin priestesses laughed, laughing at the sweetness of the sacrifice, mocking her slowness and stupidity in not wanting to offer her heart, and whispered in her ear - their existence was annoying, but there was no possibility of not using their power. Ella Hepper was used to this kind of thing, so her will would not be shaken by the whisper, her eyes would not be shaken by the pain, her blood overflowed the purple and black double blades, and her figure flashed in the air.

"A cruel curse".

An excellent ability for both attacking and evading attacks. As long as the cursed target is used as an anchor, it can be used as the center of a circle to teleport around it at a close distance.

Only now, this ability is used for "rescue".

"Ms. Luna!!!"

There were so many shadow hands that it made people feel sick. They grabbed the paladin's neck, arms, waist, shoulders, calves and ankles. With a slight tear, they could turn these annoying flying insects into countless cracked pieces of flesh, which was no more difficult than for an adult to tear a mosquito into pieces in his hands.

However, before it could put this "idea" into practice, those black wrists were broken.

Different from the fake "Resume" and the powerful "Avenger", what Ella Heper holds in her hands is the "Crime and Punishment" with completely liberated power - as long as she is willing to pay the price, she can gain power in return. As for how much she will be given, it depends on how much she can use and how much her masters are willing to give.

"Hold on to me, Lady Luna!"

Ella had almost no time to prepare. The disturbed Shadow Hands once again enveloped her from all directions. In response, Ella just hugged Lunicia tightly while holding the hilts of the swords in her hands. For someone who holds this kind of weapon for the first time, it would probably feel disgusting and creepy. The long swords in both hands no longer seem like independent weapons, but like an existence that is attached to one's own hands. The hilt, guard, and blade seem to be full of blood vessels and nerves. It is an extension of one's limbs and a part of one's body. But Ella has long been accustomed to it, and she has become particularly good at using this "intimate" relationship.

"Door to anywhere".

The surging shadow magic distorted and blurred the boundaries of space. Before the jungle of Shadow Hand crashed to the ground, Ella and Lunicia's figures had disappeared from the spot and reappeared at the edge of the spherical space.

This place is quite far from the center of the circle where the "shadow" is located, but for Ella and Lunicia, this distance is not reassuring at all. Perhaps there is some restriction inside this space, which makes the teleportation magic unable to connect the inside and the outside, and even in this circular space, it feels sluggish, but after all, Ella never planned to escape from the beginning. She now knows very well that if they can't solve here - or at least delay - "that existence", their possibility of survival will be infinitely close to zero.

It’s just that it’s difficult to do so right now…

Even though Ella Heper had been in battle for a long time, had escaped from the brink of death time and time again, and had witnessed many terrifying existences including legendary strongmen, she still couldn't help but sweat on her forehead. Even though her expression didn't change obviously, her brows were still twisted together. This was not only because she instinctively felt the danger, but also because she couldn't judge the opponent's strength.

With her knowledge, she had no idea what that thing was, which was not a good sign.

“Luna-sama…Luna-sama, cheer up! Luna-sama!…Damn it, what the hell is that?!”

"------"

Lunicia really wanted to say something, at least to tell Ella "I'm fine", but she really couldn't do it now. Even if she forced herself to speak, all that came out of her throat was an unsettling gurgling and leaking sound. Although Ella cut off Shadow's wrist as quickly as possible - at the cost of serious injury herself, the hole in her chest was still bleeding - the other party did not seem to have a strong intention to attack, but even so, Lunicia's throat was torn open after a brief contact, and arterial blood kept overflowing from the crack. Her vocal cords and trachea were all broken. Even without the severe pain that almost burned her brain, Lunicia lost the ability to speak for a while.

Not to mention other places.

The armor cracked like a plastic plate, the muscles at the shoulders were almost torn off and completely deviated from their original position, the wrists, arms, calves and ankles were twisted in strange shapes, and you could tell without a careful inspection that the bones inside were completely shattered. The condition of the soft tissues was not optimistic either, and blood was constantly oozing out of the skin. In addition, the internal organs in the abdomen that was touched were probably greatly dislocated, and the severe pain from all parts of the body almost made Lunicia's face covered with cold sweat. Even if she wanted to scream, no decent sound came out of her throat.

The brief contact at least made Lunicia understand a few things.

First, the enemy is impossible to defeat.

It is easy to understand that Lunisia has not figured out how to defeat such an opponent. If the "Opera House" did not provide wrong information for some reason, "that thing" has actually fought with Systine. According to Systine himself, both sides had to give in because of some damage. Regardless of what Systine is like to "tie" with such a thing, it at least shows that the opponent's fighting power is not in full strength. Even so, Lunisia does not think that she, Ella and Ashlee can defeat the opponent.

She even had an absurd feeling that even if all the legendary masters she had ever met, including the High Priest Sieli and the dragon Rose, were counted together, they might not be able to defeat "that thing" in an unprepared encounter.

Second, the enemy is not intelligent.

It obviously has a joke-like fighting power, but it also uses that power in a joke-like way. In Lunicia's opinion, the opponent has at least 10,000 ways to end the battle effortlessly. It can obviously use "howling" and other means to end the battle before entering close combat, and it can also use its unstable body to greatly increase the attack range. At worst, with the power displayed by that existence in the brief contact just now, it can use the shock wave generated by its limbs to turn her group into meat paste. The only explanation for her group's ability to survive the first round of attacks is that it is playful like a cat and mouse, and lacks intelligence. Otherwise, how can it defeat the enemy with pure melee? .

The nameless "shadow" remained silent from beginning to end. No matter how its surface churned, no matter whether it was attacked or attacked, it never made a sound, let alone words. Even if it laughed, even if it laughed in such a twisted way, it still remained silent.

The only good news is that the site here is solid enough. Perhaps the safety of the power core was taken into consideration from the beginning. Even with the aftermath of the battle, no cracks were produced in the spherical space - in this way, at least the entire ship will not be pierced halfway through the battle. Lunicia has no intention of exposing herself to the external environment at this height and then falling directly to the ground.

The rapid loss of blood should have caused the body to cool drastically, but the overly vigorous vitality healed the wounds and produced new blood. Even so, it was still a long way from recovering to a state where it could fight.

However, the other party did not seem to intend to give Lunicia time to recover.

The dark, lightless sea was churning, dragon wings, eagle claws, scorpion tails, mantis arms, snake mouths, human hands - countless limbs emerged on its surface like bubbles, and then dissipated. In the end, only countless human heads, arms, legs and feet were left surging in the black outline, stretching and elongating like inhuman creatures. Although they had the outline of non-featured humans, their postures reminded people of the legs and feet of centipedes, millipedes or centipedes.

The arms extend symmetrically and asymmetrically from its back, layer upon layer.

--demon……

That posture is like a plurality of wings.

——No, should I say gods?

What an irony.

When facing such a monster, the description that emerged in Lunicia's mind was indeed so inappropriate. However, she could not find any reason to deny this idea. After all, she was not unaware of the existence of those "kings of darkness" and "gods of darkness".

It is not intellectual.

But it does have malicious intent. Strong and rich, like a dark black ink stain, it makes people feel terrified from the bottom of their hearts.

call out----

The trajectory of black iron flashed by, the repair was completed, the function was not affected, and the meaningless armor and protection were abandoned. All energy was concentrated on the wrist, reproducing the shape of Alexander's silver. The "rest" was regenerated and stabbed towards the "shadow" entangled by countless wrists.

A broad and powerful energy beam is meaningless. When facing this kind of enemy, it is better to concentrate all your strength to make a breakthrough at one point.

Of course, this doesn't make any sense.

"……Well!"

The attack was cut off halfway. No matter how much strength was increased, speed was increased, or the silver-white rapier in the hand was sharpened, it was impossible to break through the spider-web-like forest of shadows. He was caught, captured, and pinched lightly as if playing a joke. The metal structures on his limbs made a harsh and teeth-grinding strange sound, as if it was not a wrist, but a massive object condensed into the shape of an arm.

There was no way to break through those layers of impenetrable shadows, even if the opponent had no intention of defending.

Even so, Ashlee still didn't give up. She took the initiative to disconnect from her damaged limbs, discarded the broken parts, broke free from the restraints on her wrists, tried to regroup, and then launched an attack once again - but before that, Shadow's palm had already grasped her head, and then "gently" crushed it.

Protecting and dodging are all meaningless.

But it doesn’t matter.

The broken limbs regenerated, the cracked head returned to its original shape, she was a mechanical puppet that would not break down. As long as she could buy time for Lunicia, being miserable or broken was just a price she could pay at will for someone who had no feelings, no pain, and was not even a human being.

"Luna-sama, I too——!"

I'll go and delay time too - before she could finish her sentence, she felt someone grab her shoulders.

Blood flowed out from the bloody wound, staining the fingertips red, as well as the shoulder pads and clothes touched by the fingertips. However, what was reflected in Ella Hepper's vision was not the deep red of flesh and blood, but a blazing, cold orange flame.

"Me too."

The broken throat, the shattered shoulder, the severed limbs, every wound was burning, as if filling the lost flesh and blood, reminiscent of the image of firewood.

——Let me make it clear first… Even if you do this, you will never be able to defeat “that”.

——It’s only natural.

After all, even if all that power was released, it could only just suppress the giant dragon named Rose fa Alarie. The opponent was a being far superior to that, and even if there was a lack of will to fight, even if there was carelessness, that greed and malice could perfectly fill it, turning it into a taboo that even legends would not be willing to touch.

——I don’t care what happens...

--It doesn't matter.

——Borrowing forces other than your own to fight is just shirking responsibility.

--Yeah?

"Luna, sir..."

The twin priestesses' voices echoed in my ears, murmuring and making shrill laughter.

Under Ella's surprised—and even horrified—eyes, Lunicia slowly stood up and clenched the burning white giant sword with both hands.

——In that case, let me turn you into my own strength.

Does she really know what she is talking about?

The voice of "The Avenger" wanted to say something, but the response it gave in the end was only silence and a flame that burned even more vigorously and violently.

In front of the black cloud, it is like a small boat, a tiny and swaying flame.

Chapter 33 Writing

“Although the finished product does look good, it is definitely different from what we expected.”

"This……"

"Don't worry, this doesn't mean we will refuse to pay the agreed amount. For our troupe, this amount of money is nothing, and we will continue to purchase puppets for theatrical performances..."

"No, that's not the question, sir."

If it were an ordinary human, it would be difficult to hear the sound coming from the other side of the thick glass wall. Those who can do it are either gifted or have undergone rigorous training - of course, the woman does not belong to either of them. She can hear the critical conversation about herself on the other side clearly simply because she is not a human at all.

"Then I don't quite understand. If you don't deliver the goods, the money should be a greater benefit to you. Why are you so persistent in completing the delivery of the finished product?"

The strange man showed a confused look. There was almost nothing on him that could let people tell his identity at a glance, only the dark red handkerchief in his chest pocket was extremely eye-catching, but it didn't matter, just from their conversation, the woman could judge his identity. As for the one he was talking to——

The woman's amber pupils drifted to the other side of the glass wall.

That is a familiar figure.

He was obviously not good at dealing with such occasions, but he took the initiative to communicate with Party A because of the so-called "sense of responsibility". It was for such a strange reason that he wore a formal suit that did not suit him, trimmed the stubble on his chin, and stood here seriously. The woman couldn't help but judge in her heart that this was really terrible. It would be better to quickly free him from this embarrassing situation and let him put on his white coat and round-necked shirt again. Now this is so strange that people can't help but comment on it, using vicious and beautiful words.

"Do you think she can't do the job you expect her to do?"

"Yeah. Yes, that's it."

The strange man didn't seem to be a dedicated purchasing staff, but a higher-up - no, not a purchasing supervisor, but the person in charge of the group, a chairman or something like that. The current topic was meaningless to the purchasing staff, but seemed to be of vital importance to him.

"What do you think is wrong with her? It's fine if you still give up accepting her. Although it may be a bit rude, at least I want to hear your true thoughts."

"Hmm... your true thoughts, huh?"

"Please explain."

"Okay, whatever."

The man waved his hand.

The same was true for the woman on the other side of the glass wall—so she never stopped typing, tapping on the mechanical keyboard and watching the words appear on the paper in front of her, forming another line of familiar and gorgeous words.

"As we discussed before, according to my decision, our company originally planned to purchase a 'Script Writing Doll' that can replace the work of scriptwriters. As the person in charge of research and development, you should know this."

"Yes."

"Indeed, your company's technical strength is amazing. Although I don't know the principle behind it, through studying a lot of scripts and inputting the experience of famous playwrights in history, 'she' has indeed demonstrated excellent writing skills. I have read those words and can feel the grandeur of Bierhoff and the elegance of Olivia. It is indeed outstanding. At least in terms of the expression of words, there are not many people in the industry who can achieve this level."

"From your explanation, I still can't figure out the reason for your refusal, sir."