Does the mechanical girl dream of the Messiah?

"Lady Luna, retreat!"

"Um...how—"

"Luna!"

——As long as we keep moving forward... the Kingdom of Nasaran... will be restored, right?

“Ugh…Ugh…Ugh…!”

"Not dead yet! This monster...!"

"Ashe?! Are you okay?!"

"Luna..."

"Okay, you, the glorious paladin, and the other actors, all step back!"

"You are……"

——Use all your strength to kill every traitor, purge the forces, rectify the internal situation, crush the enemy, and end the chaos. When Marie is pacified, you can go north and capture Mulande where the traitors are. The Principality of Lanmen will also be burned, and the other principalities are no exception. In this way, every piece of land will return to Nasaland, right? Then Nasaland will be restored, right?

"Don't worry about who I am, just be prepared for defense! Supporting fire is coming!"

boom--! ! !

“GAAA ...

"Then let's have another volley!"

——If Nasaran is liberated, will we be able to have such a life...?

——Anyone can live in the floating city, everyone is a virtuous citizen, can eat white bread, vegetables and beef, have foreign servants to serve, there are books and knowledge everywhere, everyone is a powerful wizard, everyone can use a variety of magic, everyone can mix potions, there is no disease and pain, no hunger and aging... That is the Kingdom of Nasaland... Isn't it...? As long as all the traitors are killed, as long as there is no existence that does not belong to the Kingdom of Nasaland, as long as the purge continues, the Kingdom of Nasaland will be restored... Is that right...?

——Answer me.

——Answer me...

——Answer me!!!

The body of the Archlich struggled, moving forward step by step. Even though one of its arms was broken by a sniper rifle and the other was completely weathered by a black sword, its legs were still intact, allowing it to continue moving forward. Even though its skull was split in half by the "Avenger" and blasted into a pile of charcoal that was unrecognizable by the holy light, its broken soul had already driven its body to move forward, forward, forward.

"Salvo, keep going!"

The Opera House held the Arbitrator in one hand and swung down the other arm. In an instant, several mortars opened fire from a distance. They had been separated from Lusa Efayeret's command with the transfer of command. Even so, the adjutants who took over her authority still understood her better than anyone else, and cooperated with her actions better than anyone else, delivering artillery fire at the right time.

boom! boom! boom!

There were roars of cannons, flying dust, accompanied by intense fire and explosions. The area below the Wall of Erumu was immediately engulfed in flames. The accelerant burned selflessly, and was about to turn the great lich into ashes along with it.

However, the humanoid figure appeared again in the firelight.

It was burned beyond recognition, and even the robe of the archmage that once held a legendary status could not be seen at all. The charred skeleton was still moving forward on its own feet.

"how come……!"

Even Ella found it difficult to control her emotions at this point and couldn't help but exclaim.

"Why, it seems that you also feel that this situation is not right! - Keep suppressing it!"

While directing the battle remotely, Lusa chatted with Ella.

"That's a lich... With the current damage rate, a normal lich would have already abandoned its body, returned its soul to its phylactery, and chosen to be reborn... But..."

Obviously, things are not going that way now.

"Its soul..."

"Mrs. Luna?"

Ella turned her head nervously and looked at Lunisia beside her.

She was being supported by Ashetherin and Ella, barely standing next to the "Opera House" - even though Ashetherin was directly hit by the counterattack of the Great Lich, she still quietly supported Lunicia's body, only because the latter's injuries were more serious than hers - and Lunicia was now looking at the fire and the blurry figure in the fire, muttering to herself.

"When the Holy Slash struck it, I saw... its thoughts... its soul... its soul did not leave, it did not return to the phylactery. Its soul was there."

Pointing at the direction of the Archlich with her only remaining arm, Lunicia said:

"Its soul and body are completely integrated, so... it can continue to move like this now..."

"..."

Ella dropped her eyes slightly.

"... Obsession..."

She whispered so quietly that no one could hear.

Obsession. It is because of the existence of obsession that the great lich Alexis can continue to take steps and move forward. It is because of the existence of obsession that the being named Alexis Pentellier can roar and rage, letting his voice resound through the heavens and the earth.

Its body had long been shattered, as had its soul. What remained was no longer the strong body and soul of the great lich, but only charred bones and shattered spiritual essence.

Only obsession pulled its body, allowing this skeleton without hands and head to move forward.

"Hello, you...Alexis Pentellier."

It was still a polite but distant voice.

Even though the two sides were so far apart, Ella's voice still crossed the plowed marks, reached the firelight, and reached the footsteps of the "Great Lich" that were still moving forward.

The Opera House glanced at her and said nothing, but raised its arm again - the signal to stop the shelling.

"The Kingdom of Nasaland no longer exists."

"..."

The "Arch Lich" remained silent - its spiritual essence was shattered, its structure collapsed, and it had lost the ability to speak. Only the vibrations between its spiritual essence allowed it to barely make a roar that could be called a sound.

"Look there."

Ella sheathed her sword and pointed behind the Wall of Erumu.

"——The Kingdom of Nasalan has been destroyed by your own hands."

Following the direction of the fingertip, the "Great Lich" turned the completely shattered skull towards that direction.

The last wisp of will-o'-the-wisp was floating in the place where the eye sockets originally belonged, as if it would go out at any time. Even so, it still took in the scenery in front of it.

There was no floating city, no wizard tower, only scorched earth, broken walls, and ruins of houses.

There were no mages or foreign servants there, only bones, corpses, and broken undead.

There were no treasures, magic items or potions, only broken swords, rusted armor, pus and blood.

There are no lights there.

There was only deathly darkness.

The ghost light fluttered and swayed, and suddenly, it went out.

——Ahh, I see.

The Archlich's skeletons cracked and disintegrated. Without the traction of the spiritual essence, they could no longer maintain their shape from their completely charred state.

——I destroyed the Kingdom of Nasaran.

Its knees fell to the ground and its body fell over.

Never got up again.

Chapter 37: The Road Before Dawn (Part 1)

Inside the city walls, in the distance at the end of the darkness, one could feel something expanding, bursting, and agitating.

It was an inexplicable feeling, just like humans have an instinctive fear of darkness, death, and hunger. Humans also have the same fear of such things. The air was as smooth as water, but one could feel a sharpness coming from afar, as if as long as one took a step forward, the five parts of the body would be cut, the limbs would be torn apart, the living would turn into the dead, and the dead would return to dust.

The roar was deafening, it was the explosion caused by breaking the sound barrier. Just from this, we could draw a conclusion: someone was fighting, fighting in the deep and silent darkness.

Even in the dark night, you can see the black light rising into the sky. It is something deeper than shadows, older than eternity, and richer than darkness - something that tears the darkness apart. It is a sword, a sword, and then another sword. The city walls stood firm in the storm of sword wind, but the scorched earth behind the walls was not so lucky. Those mundane cities built by mortals were destroyed by the undead, trampled by liches, turned into ruins, turned into charcoal, and finally divided by the giant sword of the legendary Black Knight.

Divide - literally divide. Just one sword can split a ravine as wide and deep as a canyon. After a few swords, the entire city was torn into an intricate chessboard composed of canyons.

The sound of gears meshing gradually drowned out the roar, and the consciousness that dived below the sea of ​​​​mind also ignored the sharpness in the air.

………………………………has been connected to the local area network…………

...Has entered the communication channel...The command module is not operating...The command authority has been entrusted...

...Do you want to start communicating now? ...Yes/No...

……yes……

——"Next, the mission will continue——No, forget it, the mission will be modified. There is no need to go inside Tweek, and I will contact the mission target, Sestine, myself."

——"The show is almost over, curtain call... No curtain call today, it's time to prepare to leave. Tell the staff to pack up, don't worry about the Marie Principality Army and the undead extras of 'Legacy of Natya', let them handle the problems themselves. All troops retreat, I will... should be back later, don't worry about me."

——"Yes, sir."

——“…Who are you?”

——"Assistant Commander No. 001727. The main command authority is now entrusted to me and issued to other assistant commanders. Does your Excellency have any questions?"

——"No... What about number 1713?"

——"No. 1713 is offline. Please wait——After searching, No. 001713 auxiliary command puppet has been abandoned and its mind has not been recovered. Considering the battle situation, in principle, no recovery operation will be carried out. The main command authority has been handed over here by No. 001713."

——"..."

——"Excuse me, is there anything else you need to explain?"

——"No, nothing, nothing. The show went off without a hitch."

--"Yes."

——"Take everyone with you and prepare to leave."

——"Yes, sir."

...End of communication...

...disconnected...

…………Zizi…………Process aborted…………

Go forward and keep going forward. The holy light illuminates the surroundings, so there is no need to worry about encountering danger. In this black night, there is no danger other than the darkness - no foreign objects, no undead, no crazy residents. As long as you don't let yourself fall into the darkness, nothing will happen. Therefore, the group only needs to move forward as fast as possible.

"Sister Lusa?"

Leaning in Lusa Ephayet's arms, the "Arbitrator" couldn't help but ask softly.

There was no mental connection - only before, when the "Opera House" needed to use a sniper rifle to support Lunisia, the "Arbitrator" and the "Opera House" established a wired connection, and the "Arbitrator" performed auxiliary calculations on the "Opera House" to ensure the hit rate of the shooting - even so, based on an inexplicable intuition alone, Leah could judge Lusa's current emotional state.

"No, it's nothing, I'm fine, there's nothing wrong with me right now."

Although she was in a bad mood, Lusa pretended to be completely indifferent.

"Ah."

Since Lusa didn't say anything, Leah didn't ask any further questions. She just buried her head in the arms of "Opera House".

For the time being, she is unable to even act independently. She has lost her ability to move, her weapons, and her equipment. The current "Arbitrator" is not much stronger than an ordinary girl.

"But, if you feel uncomfortable..."

"Okay, okay, since Lusa said it's okay, then it's okay. The opera house collapsed, the theater closed, and the troupe disbanded. As long as the moon is still round and the sun is still in the sky, the performance will not stop, and Lusa Ephayeret will still be a healthy, talkative, inexplicable star."

Lusa shrugged helplessly.

"So? What exactly do you want me to do?"

"Oh, you mean 'you' instead of 'you guys'?"

Lunicia pointed at herself with a look of surprise.

Her injuries were much better than when the battle ended—not only had the acid erosion, burns, and the part pierced by the magic missile healed, but even the torn arm had grown back again, and looked basically the same as when it was intact.

Of course, the damaged armor could not be restored, which meant that half of Lunicia's travel expenses were wasted in less than a month.

As one of the required courses for paladins, "holy healing" is an effective way to heal injuries, especially one's own injuries, but it can never be as efficient and significant as it is now, otherwise paladins would probably be called immortal. As for where this regenerative power comes from, as mentioned before, even Lunicia herself is not quite sure.

"Why is it 'you' - the construct over there, the spell swordsman over there, aren't they all subject to your wishes? Okay, okay, let's not have such a useless conversation like this. You just talk, and I just listen. Whatever you say is what it is. Anyway, you have to speak first, right?"

“Since you said so…”

A group of four people ran in the dark and ruined city, passing through what used to be blocks, what used to be parks, what used to be squares, crossing over ruins and charcoal, crossing over corpses and bones, and moving towards where the battle was taking place.

There were not only familiar things there—black sword shadows, sharp auras—but also some unfamiliar things—things that were disgusting, repugnant, and made people feel restless just by feeling their presence.