Does the mechanical girl dream of the Messiah?

"The misanthropic one".

The black iron spike popped out from the hilt and pierced through Systin's palm. Then, thorny black iron thorns grew out from the spike and wrapped around her palm layer by layer. Even with the protection of the gauntlet, her entire palm still became bloody and torn.

There was no change on her face, as if she had long been accustomed to the pain.

Without waiting for Lunicia to regroup, she casually swung her sword.

boom--!

First the swords collided, and then the sound came slowly.

Lunicia had now completely lost the ability to think. No matter how her soul cried out in her body, she was only fighting on instinct and driven by the rage in her sword. She raised her sword to block instinctively, using all her strength - even so, that seemingly light blow of the sword still pressed her entire body to the ground, leaving a deep human-shaped dent in the broken brick and stone ground.

Her arms lost consciousness almost instantly. There was no doubt that if she was attacked with the same force again, her arms would be dislocated and broken. If "The Avenger" was not a sister sword of the same level as "The World-Wearer", with unimaginable hardness and sharpness, Lunicia would have been split in half from the front with the sword.

Things behind her were not so lucky.

Snap - behind the position where Lunicia was originally standing, countless houses were split in half by the aftermath of the sword, and the cracks went straight into the ground, as if the entire street was torn apart by this sword, but did not collapse because the cross-section was too flat.

"Empty anger, all strength but no conviction..."

Sestin whispered, stabbing the ground beneath his feet with a sword.

Along with flying dust and loud noises, the stone on the ground where Lunicia was embedded was lifted up with a bang. Before Lunicia's body could react, Setin had already arrived behind the stone in an instant, and slashed with a sword diagonally upwards.

Ding!

The boulder was instantly cut into two pieces, and the cut surface was as smooth as a mirror. Just when her body was about to be cut in half, Lunicia finally regained some mobility. She blocked her side with the giant sword and barely blocked the sword that was still coming at her at will.

"Is this the best you can do? It really doesn't make me feel satisfied."

Lunicia, whose body was controlled by anger and who swung her sword only by fighting instinct, undoubtedly used her fighting style that emphasized quick attacks and sword skills that emphasized frontal suppression to the fullest. However, this fighting method seemed ineffective in front of Systin. No matter how fast Lunicia swung her sword, no matter how much strength Lunicia put into her arms, the sword she swung with all her strength could not shake the black giant sword at all.

Systin either dodged or blocked, blood kept flowing from her palms. Even so, she could force Lunicia to defend with all her might by just casually swinging the sword, leaving her no room to move or dodge, nor any room to launch a counterattack immediately after blocking.

Is Systin too powerful?

She was indeed very strong, but both Lunicia and Cestin knew very well that she had not yet tried her best. She had only been dodging, moving, blocking and swinging the sword, using only speed and strength. She had not used any sword skills, her abilities as a black knight, divine arts or the power of the "Misanthrope". It was impossible for her to suppress the angry Lunicia so easily.

Is Lunisia too weak now?

Not entirely - indeed, as Systine said, she now had nothing that could be called "will" to support her, and was simply swinging the sword with brute force and fighting instinct. But Systine herself frowned secretly, as Lunicia's performance was much worse than she had expected.

Only Lunicia herself knows the reason.

……

"why?"

The girl's voice is pleasant to the ears, but it makes people feel restless.

"Why reject me?"

In the dark and lightless world, Lunicia stood quietly, and opposite her, a "Lunicia" made of orange flames was looking into her eyes.

The voice of "Lunicia" made of flames is exactly the same as that of Lunicia, but there is a clear difference: her tone is more suppressed and low than Lunicia's, as if it had been washed away by endless years, with unspeakable fiery emotions buried in the deepest part, like a volcano that looks calm and peaceful, but may erupt at any time.

It was she who was controlling Lunesia's body, throwing away her thoughts and fighting only with anger and instinct. For her, perhaps a normal conversation like this was a completely unusual thing.

If Lunicia had not been trying to regain control of her body, hindering her fight with Systine, she would not have lost the opportunity to attack and defend again and again, and would not have been able to exert only 50% of her 100% combat power, and could only passively take the beating.

"Wouldn't it be easier for you to fight according to your anger and swing your sword according to your anger?"

It was more like a question than a suspicion, and there was no doubt that she was accusing Lunicia.

Compared to racking his brains to think about how to have the best of both worlds, how to keep everyone safe, how to solve the refugee problem while taking into account the difficulties of the city hall, and how to resolve Setin's past grudges without having to do things that he doesn't like and that Setin doesn't like in his heart.

There are so many problems to face, and for the young Lunicia, thinking of a win-win solution will only make her more physically and mentally exhausted, but she still can't find a way out.

In that case, what's wrong with giving your body to anger and letting anger make decisions for you?

This also comes from your inner judgment. After all, the anger also comes from deep within you.

"…I didn't intend to do such a thing…"

Lunicia spoke softly, as if arguing, or simply complaining.

“Don’t fool yourself.”

Orange flames flashed by, and the dark and empty world was filled with scene after scene.

The ruins of the waterwheel, the bodies of the townspeople, the little girl who died in her arms, the mutilated bodies of the knights, the photos of Elaine's family, the scenes of the refugee camp, the streets littered with corpses... Some scenes flashed by, while others stayed for a long time. These were all scenes that Lunicia had witnessed with her own eyes.

“Because you are angry, I respond to your anger.”

"..."

Lunicia turned her face away, her brows drooped, as if she was sad or in deep thought.

"Anger against the Holy Family, anger at their cruelty."

The burning fingertips touched the tip of Lunicia's nose. It was not as hot as imagined, but felt like clear water.

"Anger at City Hall for their inaction and inaction."

The fingertips are attached to the skin on the face, sliding from the tip of the nose to the cheek, and around the ear.

"Anger at 'Natha's Legacy', anger at their incitement and brutality."

Then, as if a burning hand pulled violently, Lunicia fell headfirst into the flaming embrace, and was forced to look into the eyes of the orange flame that looked exactly like her own, unable to look away.

"...Anger at Sestine, anger at her complicity in the evil, and... anger at your lack of response to my feelings."

The orange flame didn't say anything more, but Lunicia knew exactly what her hidden message was.

——Isn’t that what you think?

Chapter 34: Embers Belonging to You and Me

The pure white flawless giant sword slashed out from an angle that was unimaginable by common sense, and went straight to the weak point of Setin's posture. The power of this sword was not great, and it seemed that more strength was put into speed. It was already able to faintly create a sound barrier, but if it hit Setin, he would surely not be too pleased.

After realizing that her body was unable to exert its full strength, Lunicea, who was acting solely on combat instinct, actually changed her strategy on her own. She no longer relied solely on brute force to suppress, but instead made her sword path strange and unstoppable. She didn't look like she was fighting without reason and only out of anger.

However, her eyes were still not clear, burning with blazing orange flames.

Ding!

This lightning-fast sword ultimately failed to touch Setin's body. Setin raised his giant sword and drew a perfect circle on the side of his body. The sword of "The Avenger" was not powerful enough and was swept away by the touch, failing to shake the black sword at all.

This seemed to be a perfect defense, but a trace of doubt arose in Setin's heart - the feeling from his hand was not right.

The thorns pierce the palm, bind the flesh, and tear the skin apart. This form not only exists as a "price" to remind the user of the meaning of the "World-weary" inscription, but also has some practical effects: if the sword wielder can overcome the extreme pain caused by the iron piercing the hand and suppress the instinctive rejection of pain, then this black giant sword can become more integrated with the body, as if it has become an extension of the arm.

In this case, Sestin's senses were more acute than when using other weapons, and he could feel the unnaturalness when the blades met. Obviously, although Lunicia's sword was extremely fast, the direction of the force was subtly deflected, as if she had other ideas when swinging the sword.

Before Systine could think more, Lunicia's figure disappeared from her sight.

No - she did not really disappear out of thin air, but with the help of the unsuccessful sword just now and the power of Setin's backhand sword, her figure strangely came to the blind spot of Setin's vision, and then she swung the sword again with all her strength and speed!

when!

However, "The World-Weary" also swung at an unreasonable angle and collided head-on with "The Evangelist", and the sword happened to hit the weak point of "The Evangelist", so that the sword could not fully exert its power and had to stop barely - it looked no different from the previous confrontations, but from the sound of the collision of the giant swords, it can be heard that Setin's blocking this time was far less easy and comfortable than the previous ones, and it could be completed with just a casual sword.

"Not bad, you can do this just by relying on your fighting instinct."

She frowned slightly, her tone contained some approval and satisfaction, but more of it was cold, as if Lunicia had not disappointed her too much so that she felt it was meaningless to draw swords here and she could not enjoy any of the excitement and fun of fighting. However, she had not reached the height she wanted, neither up nor down, and could only be said to be half-baked.

"If I just swing the sword normally, I can still win..."

She didn't say the second half of the sentence, but her actions made her thoughts clear.

A tremendous force surged out from the giant black sword, pressing Lunicia's body downwards. Even though she tried her best, gritted her teeth, and used "Avenger" to block it with all her might, she could not avoid cracking the ground beneath her feet. Her feet were deeply embedded in the ground mixed with mud and broken bricks, and her body became much shorter in an instant because she was stuck in the ground.

Just when Lunicia had not yet recovered from this overly terrifying power, the "World-Weary" suddenly appeared in the corner of her sight, with a sharp and extremely fierce aura, occupying her entire field of vision almost instantly.

……

After a moment of silence, the human figure formed by the orange flame did not change as she wanted.

She was not able to further control Lunicia's body, but instead felt that the repulsion from Lunicia itself was a little stronger than before. Her expression was a little confused and a little angry, as if she could not understand why this change happened.

"Are you going to deny it? Are you going to say 'I didn't think that'?!"

Her tone was full of gunpowder - this was not the attitude that a "tempting and corrupting demon" should have in Lunisia's mind. Sweet, intoxicating, using all kinds of benefits to make people relax their guard, and occasionally using some intimidation, the "demons" in the records often act in this way to achieve their goals, and they would never put on an attitude like this.

She wasn't "talking about business", she was just "losing her temper", and from her tone, it seemed like she thought Lunicia was doing something extremely excessive.

This frank attitude made Lunicia burst into laughter, and she was no longer dissatisfied and wary of her like before.

"No... that's not the case either."

Lunicia's tone was no longer so anxious, with some complaints and anger, but instead a little gentle.

This made the figure formed by the orange flame startled. She was close to Lunicia, looking into her eyes with the same face, and she was living deep in Lunicia's heart, knowing the changes in her mentality and thoughts. It was precisely because of this reason that she found it particularly difficult to understand, not understanding what Lunicia had figured out that led to such a change in attitude.

"you……"

The anger fell on the empty space, making her feel quite depressed. If Lunicia had no intention of quibbling, the accusation just now would seem unreasonable. This also made her feel a little ashamed and annoyed, and she didn't know who to vent her anger on. She could only control Lunicia's body more vigorously and try her best to resist Setin's increasingly fierce attack.

"That anger is real, it's the emotion that lingers in my heart... I'm angry at the bloody deeds of the Holy Family, I wish I could tear them into pieces; I'm angry at Mariel's inaction, I'm angry at the despicable way that 'Legacy of Natya' incited others to die, I want to drag out their leader and beat him up; I'm angry at my senior for aiding and abetting, I want to punch her hard; I'm angry at my senior for leaving me like this, unable to respond to my feelings, I want to cry, I want to ask her 'why'..."

"You...it's good that you understand..."

When Lunicia said this, the human figure formed by the orange flame felt that something was wrong. She couldn't raise her head in front of the pure and gentle brown pupils, but she was unwilling to lower her head completely. She could only mutter a few words with a stiff mouth.

"But after thinking about it, I feel that it can't just be like this."

Lunicia paused, lowered her eyelids, and continued, "Indeed, I am angry about all this. I want to fight out of anger, swinging the sword with anger, and it seems that doing so will make things easier... But I also feel that I can't just do it this way. I feel that although it is easy to swing the sword with anger alone, if I think about it afterwards, I will regret it anyway."

"So what do you want?"

There was some dissatisfaction and curiosity in the tone, and the bright orange flame flickered, which could obviously fan the deepest anger in a person's heart, expand it, and make it burn all over the body, but it itself was as clear as a stream, attracting attention.

"There's probably nothing wrong with being angry, but you can't just be angry..." There was a hint of uncertainty in Lunicia's words, as if she herself couldn't guarantee the correctness of her words. Even so, she didn't pause for too long, as if the general idea had already taken shape in her mind, but just lacked organization. "When you're angry, you should also think, and you should also have other things in your anger, whether it's gentleness or justice."

"But why do you do this?"

The orange flames burned brightly, but they did not interrupt Lunicia's words. Instead, they asked questions as if to help her organize her thoughts.

"Because, a blade wrapped in anger alone won't solve any problems, right?"

Her sight penetrated the veil of the soul, and she saw the intertwined black and white blades, and the sparks produced by the collision and friction between the "Avenger" and the "World-weary".

That is exactly the "blade that can't solve anything".

……

when!

The white sword blade was once again violently swung away by the black sword, and this time, the "World-weary" did not give the "Avenger" a chance to fight back. In the gap between the two swords, Systin's free hand stretched out like a venomous snake, pressed on Lunicia's forehead, and then pushed it away casually.

This push came just at the moment when Lunicia had not yet regained her balance. Without much effort, her body fell backwards as if she had been hit hard and fell on the ground made of rubble and rocks.

Before Lunicia could get up again, Sestin had already stepped on her chest. With just a little force, a metallic whine came from Lunicia's breastplate. A mouthful of blood burning with orange flames flowed out of her mouth. Lunicia struggled in vain, but she could not get rid of the foot on her chest. The black metal wrapped around her legs and feet, revealing a beautiful yet strong curve. Although it was just a flesh and blood body, it seemed as heavy as a mountain to Lunicia now.

Systin didn't say much, just remained silent, looking down at the once familiar face in silence.

His thoughts were a little hazy, but his movements were not slow at all.

In her right hand she had already raised the Miranthem, with the tip of the sword pointing downward.

……

"That's your body..."

The orange flame turned away, seemingly unwilling to look at Lunicia any longer. It was unknown whether it was out of disgust, anger, or some other reason. Perhaps even she herself would find her current behavior incredible.

He has a body that is condensed from pure flames of anger, but he can show emotions other than anger and perform actions other than attack. How long has it been since he last did this?

"…If you really want to, then take control of it yourself."

It's like shirking responsibility, like saying "if you think you can do better, just do it yourself."

"Thank you."

Lunicia's tone was very sincere, but the orange flame didn't seem to buy it and was still unwilling to turn around.

The darkness is fading away, and everything is returning to its original position in the field of vision. This spiritual world used for communication has lost its meaning of continuing to exist, but in a moment it will collapse and disintegrate at the speed of thought and become part of the ocean of the mind.

Before that, before she could raise her arms again and speak again, Lunicia paused for a moment to move forward and regain control of her body.

"Although I don't know who you are, from your words and your emotions, I can tell that you must be someone with your own story."

Lunicia's tone was very gentle, without any smile or sadness.

"If possible, can you tell me your story later?"