No Game No Life:Volume 5 Bagian 3

Bab 3: Belajar

Part 1

(…Aku keliru.)

Bagaimana bisa dia tidak memperkirakan ini - dia pergi berbelanja untuk menyiapkan sashimi seperti yang dijanjikan, dan saat Steph membawa Izuna ke kota, dia merasa sangat bersalah pada kecerobohannya.

Ketakutan, pandangan kebencian, hinaan, ejekan - persaan negatif menghujani Izuna yang berjalan bersama-sama Steph.

Dia tidak mungkin dapat tidak menyadarinya dengan indra Werebeast-nya.

(Meskipun kita adalah 「Federasi」, benar-benar tidak semudah itu untuk menerima perbedaan ras, tapi meski begitu…)

Dia memiliki gambaran yang jelas di pikirannya.

Sungguh benar bahwa Izuna - Si Werebeast adalah penakluk dan tiran pada para Elkian.

Namun itu hanyalah karena 「Sepuluh Ikrar」.

Kesulitan dan penderitaan semua Imanity berasal dari fakta bahwa mereka telah kalah dalam permainan.

Jika itu adalah kebencian pada hasil akhir yang telah disepakati kedua belah pihak, itu berarti mereka hanyalah pecundang sejati -

“Mengapa Steph-kou tidak membenci Izuna, des?”

“Huh -?”

“…Izuna yang mengambil benuamu, des; jadi seharusnya sangat masuk akal bagimu untuk membenciku, des; tapi Izuna menyebabkan kakekmu dipanggil sebagai raja bodoh juga, des; jadi mengapa kammu tidak membenci aku, des?”

Izuna melihat ke atas pada Steph dan bertanya, dan tangan Steph di dalamnya sesaat membeku. Izuna looked up at Steph and asked, and Steph’s hand in hers momentarily froze.

Bagaimana bisa dia begitu kasar - Steph merasa marah pada ketidak-sensitif-annya sendiri.

Izuna terlalu pintar.

Dia telah menghadapi Sora dan Shiro, dengan benua - takdir Imanity dan Werebeast dipanggulnya, dengan tanggungjawab semacam itu.

- Dia tidak mungkin tidak membaca apapun tentang itu di perpustakaan raja terdahulu.

Efek dari tindakannya pada Imanity, dan bagaimana dia diperlakukan setelah itu, dia telah memprediksikannya dan menarik kesimpulan atas itu, dan satu-satunya yang tidak menyadarinya -

(Lagi-lagi hanya aku…)

Melihat ke belakang, sejak Steph terbangun - yang berarti setelah Izuna mempelajari bahasa Imanity, dia menyelimuti Steph dengan jubah saat dia tertidur, yang mana adalah perubahan sikap yang besar.

Mengapa dia tidak menyadari mengapa sikapnya berubah - Steph marah pada diri sendiri sekali lagi, meski dia menggelengkan kepala saat melihat tatapan tidak nyaman seorang gadis kecil.

Karna dia menanyakan sebuah pertanyaan - dia memiliki kewajiban untuk menjawab.

Berjalan di jalan seperti ini, menghadapi semua tatapan benci itu seperti ini.

Izuna mungkin mulai heran apakah Steph mungkin membenci juga - dia butuh menyapu habis semua pikiran yang tak terbayangkan itu dari kepalanya.

(Ya…benar, kalau tidak salah…)

Jika mereka marah pada bangsawan yang meremehkan kakek tercinta Steph, mereka pasti membenci apa yang menjadi penyebabnya, Serikat Timur - Steph tidak tahu. Dan walau dia tidak tahu mengapa - dia dapat memastikan bahwa itu bukanlah hal semacam itu.

Tiba-tiba, sudut mulut Steph melengkungkan senyum.

“Mengapa? Aku juga tidak tahu ♪”

“Apakah Steph-kou seorang idiot, des.”

“Heh, mungkin, tapi – Aku pikir bukanlah macam itu.”

Steph mengatakan ini sambil melihat dalam mata besar Izuna.

- Dia adalah seorang gadis muda berambut hitam dengan telinga dan ekor yang benar-benar jelas yang bahkan lebih muda daripada Shiro.

Dia telah nyaris seimbang saat berhadapan 『　 』, dengan keberlanjutan negara terbesar ketiga di dunia berada di pundaknya - dia memiliki potensi tak terbatas.

Dia pintar, rajin, polos dan penurut, dan dia memiliki kedewasaan dan kepandaian dalam jumlah besar juga.

Steph tersenyum bahagia pada gadis itu, dan tersenyum makin lebar.

“Karena Izuna anak baik, dan kamu juga manis.”

Steph mengeluarkan pikirannya, berpikir bahwa itu adalah cara paling sederhana untuk mengekspresikan perasaannya.

Izuna membelalakkan matanya terkejut, setelah itu rambutnya berdiri dan dia mengalihkan pandangannya tanpa ekspresi.

Dia menundukkan kepalanya rendah, tidak membiarkan Steph untuk melihat wajahnya dan berbicara lemah:

“Steph-kou seorang idiot, des.”

- Walaupun dia mengatakan ini, dia menggenggam tangan Steph agak lebih erat.

Steph tersenyum agak pahit pada kelakuan Izuna yang mudah diabaca, dan saat dia akan melangkah maju sekali lagi -

“Ah~ itu Izuna!”

Keduanya berbalik pada suara yang begitu keras.

Beberapa sosok memotong melalui kerumunan, dan menyerbu ke arah mereka - mereka adalah anak-anak kecil.

“A-apa -!?”

Saat Steph membeku sejenak dalam keterkejutan, anak-anak mengerumuni mereka.

Setelah itu mereka mulai bersorak-sorak dengan keras.

“Itu Izuna! Luar biasa! Itu benar-benar orangnya!”

“Hei, Izuna, ayo bertarung! Kamu benar-benar kuat kan?”

“Kamu idiot, kamu benar-benar idiot, kamu butuh orang tua menemani, kamu monyet botak!”

“Siapa orang-orang ini…des?”

Izuna bertanya kebingungan saat dia kewalahan menghadapi kerumunan anak-anak.

Saat Steph mempertimbangkan bagaimana menghentikan anak-anak itu - tiba-tiba saja, dia menyadari telinga dan ekor hewan di kerumunan - Werebeast di antara mereka, dan dia buru-buru bertanya:

“Apa yang kalian semua lakukan?”

“Kami bermain! Bersama!”

Salah satu anak-anak - seorang gadis muda dengan sepasang telinga seperti rubah membalas seakan baru belajar berbicara.

“Apakah kalian…berteman? Dengan anak-anak Werebeast juga?”

“Tentu!”

Dia langsung bertanya dalam kebingungan, sembari gadis bertelinga rubah bertanya kebingungan dengan kepalanya sedikit miring juga.

Dan anak laki-laki Imanity di sebelahnya berkata dengan gembira:

“- Kami berteman melalui permainan!”

Mendengar kalimat sederhana namun polos ini…

Steph merasa, entah emosional.

Dalam waktu itu, anak-anak yang mengerumuni Izuna masih berceloteh.

“Ayo bertarung, Aku jelas~ tidak akan kalah darimu!”

“…Aku lapar, des. Kami sedang pergi membeli ikan, des. Aku sangat sibu, des.”

Izuna melihat dengan tidak sabar pada anak laki-laki yang memegang bajunya dan memintanya untuk bermain dengan dia dan berkata -

“…Aku akan menghancurkanmu dengan menyakitkan di lain waktu, des.”

Mulut Izuna melengkung dalam senyuman.

Anak laki-laki yang jelas menjengkelkan itu memukulkan tinjunya ke udara dan bersorak mendengar itu.

“Bagus sekali! Jadi janji ya! Izuna! Kamu sebaiknya menepatinya!”

“Aku sudah berkata kita butuh orang tua juga, kalian gumpalan idiots! – Izuna-sama, Aku meminta maaf.”

Begitu saja, beberapa anak-anak tiba-tiba menghilang seperti saat mereka datang.

Bahkan setelah semua keributan telah menurun, amukan emosi dalam Steph masih belum, dan tetap seperti abu di perapian.

“Heh…jawabannya hanya begitu saja…”

…Atmosfir di sekitar mereka berubah menjadi kebingungan tanpa mereka menyadarinya.

Mungkin masih terlalu awal…

Tapi tidak lama lagi, saat anak-anak itu telah menjadi dewasa… fakta bahwa ras-ras dulunya saling membenci satu sama lain sepertinya akan diperlukankan sebagai candaan.

Steph tersenyum dengan harapan itu berdiam di dalam dirinya.

“Tidak begitu sering kita bisa bermain game – Aku yakin akan lebih menyenangkan seperti itu.”

“…Steph-kou, kamu ternyata bukanlah seorang idiot, des. Kamu kemungkinan cukup pintar, des.”

Steph terlihat seakan dia baru saja melihat dewa setelah mendengar perkataan itu.

“Ah, Izuna! Kamu satu-satunya yang tidak memanggilku seorang idiot!!”

“…Tapi kelakuanmu seperti itu, des.”

Izuna menyenyumkan senyum pahit saat Steph memeluknya terharu.

- Dunia akan berubah, sedang berubah, dan akan terus berubah.

Jika tidak terasa bahwa dunia sedang berubah - itu berarti - kamu hanya tidak memperhatikan -

Part 2

The world around them had changed completely.

“Waaaaaahhh, what is this!?”

Sora and others that were flying about in the night sky yelled as they plummeted from the impact of the explosion and the strong winds.

But compared to that – the one that was screaming the loudest among them at that turn of events was Plum.

“W-what is going on!? This Spirit power – it’s impossible even for the Flügel!?”

The burst of energy was so strong that even Plum could feel it behind the guise of her scarf, and she shivered in fear.

If it was someone who could use magic, he would feel abnormal upon seeing that – this force that shook the earth, this force that was from another dimension entirely, bent the world to its desires with its power, switching about the scenery forcefully – no, it repainted it entirely.

“Ah~ Plum, is the situation that bad?”

They didn’t restrict 「Changing the stage」…Sora asked with that in mind, while Plum replied with a panicked moan:

“It’s not just bad -!! T-this power is from an Old Dei, if not –“

As Plum was halfway through her sentence – she suddenly stopped as she remembered where they were flying over.

- The Phantasma that were ranked second among the 「Sixteen Races」- Avant Heim…

“…I don’t understand, we can’t comprehend it.”

- Azrael was floating in thin air.

On her face was no longer that angelic, perfect – overly perfect smile.

It didn’t even have that sensation of「Impending death」one would experience when being stared at by a Flügel…no…

Sora felt a trickle of cold sweat run down his body, and he smiled bitterly, for he was facing an overly powerful force – he couldn’t even feel anything.

A power beyond comprehension and imagination, a power that made Sora and Shiro’s skin riddle with goosebumps.

The existence that had Azrael’s appearance – spoke slowly:

“「Final Unit」- we cannot understand what kind of ideals you all possess.”

She then spoke in a hollow, emotionless voice:

“- Thus, we bequest of you to tell us the answer directly.”

「The existence」 declared to them as the scenery finally settled down. Sora and Shiro were speechless at this turn of events.

The broken skies were dyed blood-red, the swirling sands had reached even the stratosphere, and the cracked soil stretched across the horizon.

The skies and earth were all cracked, the seas were dry – everywhere was full of death.

Countless splinters of rocks floated around them – those were the remains of the earth.

The Flügel that had participated in the game, and the countless battleships that emitted a menacing aura all appeared like a weirdly shaped fleet of airships –

“W-what exactly is this?”

Sora asked as he recovered from his shock, however neither Shiro nor Plum were able to answer.

The Flügel that were still flying about in the air – they had pained expressions on their faces, seemingly familiar with this emotionally scarring scene unfolding before them.

- Six thousand years ago – which was the final stages of the 「Great War」.

The Old Deus that had created the Flügel collected the combined energy of the 「Airstrikes」 of the Flügel, and unleashed a single blow.

And that blow that crushed the earth, split the skies and even destroyed planets and stars –it was a truly 「Divine Strike」.

They were standing in the very aftermath of that strike, and Azrael spoke with the apocalypse behind her:

“- Previously we fought, and we lost.”

And behind that apocalyptic world – a huge piece of sinister-looking land appeared.

Could it be that this was – Avant Heim’s appearance before the 「Great War」.

That slab of land looked just like a floating whale – and this flying fortress was not made of cubes, instead it was riddled with countless cannons and it had a pair of blue eyes that were filled with killing intent.

“- Our Master released his most powerful strike – however it was 「Reflected back at him」, and we were completely annihilated, which was how our Master died.”

- What had changed Jibril?

“Why did we lose? Why did we lose our Master? Why did we survive? Why –“

- What had allowed her to discover the reason why they were living?

Plum frantically attempted to keep herself conscious when faced with this violent interrogation –

“Why did we survive, as empty weapons of a dead Master? Answer me –“

“”- 「野砲 (ヤホウ yahou) 」-“”

A bolt of light pierced through Azrael’s chest.

In an instant, a glow of light lit up the evening, and the immense explosion that came slightly after made even the atmosphere tremble.

“…Huh?”

Plum croaked dumbly, and the reply –

“You! Talk! Too! Much! Dialogues must be kept within forty words, or else you have to include a setting to skip the text!”

“…Don’t underestimate…the impatience of...an STG player…”

Sora and Shiro blurted impatiently –

When exactly had they landed on the ground and combined their 「Word Spirits」- the two were clutching onto a metal tube.

Plum didn’t know…no, more correctly speaking she wasn’t looking at them.

The two had used three characters to materialize a five-millimetre Howitzer which spat fire and released a bullet which travelled at a speed even greater than the speed of sound, piercing through Azrael, after which the fifteen pounds of Composition B explosives contained within it blew her body to bits with an explosion that propelled the pieces at eight thousand miles per second, which then turned into smoke and scattered –

“- Huh~~ WHAT ARE YOU DOINGGGGG!?”

Plum cried out as she realized what had just happened, while the two glared at her and replied: “Skipping dialogue.”

“…That guy looks like a prick…disgusting…”

“D-d-do you know who that was? That’s –“

“Of course, that was Azrael – and the Phantasma Avant Heim right?”

“…H-huh?”

Sora sighed impatiently, shook his head and continued:

“Azrael is different from the rest of the Flügel, she has horns, so I’m guessing that’s why – essentially speaking she is the full representative of the Phantasma Avant Heim as well, although I don’t quite know the full details.”

“…Which means…Azrael is the same as…a Phantasma…”

The two had figured out the situation completely unlike Plum, and spoke in a rather bored fashion:

“…Jibril said it earlier, the Phantasma Avant Heim is an entirely different world.”

Sora recalled her explanation she made as they arrived, and continued:

“Changing the scenery means changing the entire world, but if it’s an independent world of its own, I don’t think it can affect the outside world entirely. Which means – it changed its own world (within Avant Heim), but when that happened she who should have been 「On top of」 Avant Heim appeared in front of us – which is to say, that was an illusion.”

- The fact that they were able to deal damage to her proved that she was an illusion, as if she was the real thing the 「Ten Pledges」would prevent them from touching her.

“…Alright…Plum…here’s the question…”

Why do they look so happy? Plum didn’t seem to understand.

Sora and Shiro were truly overjoyed, while Sora continued:

“The stage just changed drastically, a scene that looks like some sort of fortress for a final weapon appeared in front of us, and we just listened through some long final boss-like speech – and among the 「Hour」 allocated for the game there is only -?”

“…Nine minutes and forty-four seconds left.”

“What could this possibly mean? You may now answer!”

- Plum didn’t have the knowledge Sora and Shiro possessed from their world, so this was a rather demanding question for her.

But – as she saw the approaching thing.

Plum with an expression of despair on her face, by chance – spoke the 「Correct answer」.

“…Does it mean it’s The End?”

“Huh? I’d never thought you’d guess it.”

The huge, violent 「Binding Curtain」 fired at Avant Heim…

Sora and Shiro clutched each other’s hands and said with a smile:

“Basically it’s the 「Final Stage」- the ending’s near!”

“…Climactic scene…great performance…♪”

The two stamped on the ground, flapped their wings, left the huge burst of noise generated from their 「Acceleration」 behind them, then smiled as they flew towards the curtain of binding lights.

“HOW CAN YOU STILL BE LAUGHING IN A SITUATION LIKE THISSSSSSS!!”

They sped forward at extreme speeds towards the curtain of light that spread across Avant Heim.

- Their numbers were large, but the lights didn’t have the tracking ability that the 「Binding Light」 fired by the rest of the Flügel had, so it was a curtain that merely relied on its numbers and speed to crush its opponents – the two smiled bitterly.

“Shiro, have you figured out the pattern of the curtain?”

“…Almost there…Nii?”

“You know it right? I’m the kind that - 「Dodges by pure passion」!”

Sora flapped his wing once more, while Shiro flapped according to his beat without faltering.

They were like aerial dancers, weaving through the countless approaching rays of light while whistling a tune, proceeding naturally –

“Compared to Touhou this really makes me wanna yawn, can we really rely on Jibril?”

“…If this is what the final boss is like…we won’t…the Flügel…are harder to deal with.”

They nimbly dodged the curtains of light with actions Plum couldn’t comprehend.

Sora and Shiro could even look down at their hands to make sure as they dodged the lights.

“…Total of 「Forty-six characters」.”

“…We’ve collected 「Forty characters」…”

“We’ve used 「Twenty-two」?”

The characters floating on Sora’s wrist were - タ（ta）•シ（si）•テ（te）•キ（ki）•ル（ru）•エ（e）•イ（i）•ツ（tsu）•へ（he）-

The characters floating on Shiro’s wrist were - レ（re）•ヨ（yo）•セ（se）•二（ni）•フ（fu）•ノ（no）•ン（n）•リ（ri）•コ（ko） -

They were stocked up well enough, but Sora said instead:

“Hmm~ ハ（ha）、コ（ko）、ミ（mi）、ヲ（wo）、チ（chi）、ヒ（hi）…we haven’t got these six ones.”

“…But we have…the trump.”

Shiro indicated that was more than enough.

“- I’ve said it before, I’ve figured out the 「Word Spirit」 I’m going to use on her, so I’m short of three.”

“…Under these circumstances…collecting characters is…impossible…”

The fact that they could dodge and weave about the rain of light was already beyond Plum’s comprehension.

But if they were to deal with the Flügel under these circumstances, it would probably be too impossible for even them.

“…We can’t go on like this, Shiro, I’m sorry, but we’ll have to use the trump.”

“…Nii, how many characters will you need?”

“Fourteen.”

Shiro widened her eyes, which was a rare sight, and she examined her brother’s face closely as though to read his intentions.

“Fourteen, that’s the least amount of letters we need, however we lack three of them.”

However on Sora’s face – was an expression of pure seriousness.

- A 「Word Spirit」 that needed fourteen characters?

The 「Trump」 that Shiro mentioned – it was probably a 「Word Spirit」 that could tide them through any disaster.

Although it could only be used once – it really should be used as a last resort. However –

“…Mm, I understand…”

Since her brother said he 「Needed」 it, it meant that 「They needed it no matter the risk」, so Shiro nodded her head in agreement.

Since she herself had no way to decipher her brother’s true intentions, which meant her brother was correct – that was all there was to it - !

- Sora’s left hand and Shiro’s right hand, the two intertwined hands – four characters slid and fell off those hands.

After which – Sora arranged them and formed a 「Word Spirit」.

He raised his hand high, and –

“-「切断 (セツダン setsudan) 」- !!” (TL note: Cut, split open)

He violently swung his arm horizontally – and in an instant…

The infinite curtains of light that were hovering over Avant Heim’s airspace were suddenly cut in half as if by an invisible sword.

- Making imagination reality was a rule of this game, which was the 「Word Spirits」.

「Barrier」 and 「Cut」 were two words that could easily be made reality as long as they were spelled out.

An omnipotent word that could attack, defend, and even both, one that could deal with all possible situations – that was their trump.

Also the importance and usefulness of the letter 「ン (n) 」 in word games like these was common knowledge.

The consequences brought about by them being forced to use that omnipotent 「Word Spirit」- according to Sora’s plans –

- Everything before him was just like a bad joke - 「Split into half」.

Space, scenery, everything including Avant Heim itself was sliced into half – even the cannons.

- After that? Just as Plum was about to ask, Sora and Shiro – decelerated.

“- Huh!?”

Plum cried out in surprise, as amongst the crumbling landscape and the interrupted curtains, the Flügel were approaching.

“…Nii…coming.”

“…Eighteen – more than I thought, how many of them have characters on them?”

“…Six…all present…but…”

- The real question was how would they collect all of them?

Since they had used cut earlier, they had only 「Fourteen characters」 left; and according to what Sora had said, the last「Fourteen」had already been reserved.

He had also said, among the 「Six」 they had not collected, 「Three」 were important.

Even if they did collect them all, they could only use three more, and now all they could use on them were「Three」.

“- Alright, this is our final bet, let’s go, Shiro!”

As they said this, the two did a backflip and landed in a parrying stance – facing the oncoming Flügel –

They were just about to flap their wings, but –

“- H-huh?”

Plum cried in surprise, no, Sora and Shiro felt the same way as well.

Because the oncoming Flügel, just before Sora and Shiro – they stopped.

One of their numbers bowed respectfully towards them just as Jibril had when they had defeated her.

“The two of you need this one right?”

…As she said this, her palm was cupping the 「ハ (ha) 」 inscribed on her chest.

As though in imitation, five more that had characters on them revealed them as well.

Sora and Shiro felt confused as they didn’t understand their intentions, while the Flügel simply smiled and said:

“Because we’ve already had a lot of fun spectating –“

“To be honest it’s really disappointing that we won’t get the handshake, signature, date and sleepover vouchers though~!”

“But since we’ve got the chance to play games with you both, we’re all content ♪”

“- So, please.”

They heard the last one say –

“We’ll leave Azrael-neesan to you, in the near future – our future Masters.”

- Finally…

Sora and Shiro understood the trap Jibril had laid within the game.

Both of them stretched out their hands towards the characters while repressing the urge to laugh out loud.

“…Hahah, Jibril’s got a few tricks up her sleeve now!”

“…Jibril…omega good job…♪”

Sora and Shiro said teasingly, and touched the final six characters.

“…U-um, what’s going on here?”

Plum asked, being the only one not understanding the situation, while the Flügel laughed and replied.

“Did you forget, little bug, that we’re –“

“We are the Flügel, and although we are under the command of our sister Azrael.”

“But more than that we are huge fans of Sora-sama and Shiro-sama!”

They were all smiles – beating Plum down mercilessly with their words.

Sora and Shiro smiled bitterly as they sent them off, and once again – flapped their wings and accelerated.

They flew towards the split open Avant Heim – towards the place where Azrael was.

Part 3

“…It appears others have understood as well…now are you still going to call me special?”

Jibril said with a bitter smile.

Azrael remained emotionless, although underneath that mask was torment and bitterness.

- What was that? What just happened? I don’t understand at all.

Azrael continued to ponder the scene that had just occurred in front of her.

Amongst the slowly crumbling Avant Heim, the two were gracefully dodging the debris.

They were heading directly straight – at them, as though they knew her exact position!

No, they did know! They had used a cannon to dispel her illusion, then cross-referenced the 「Original landscape」 with this broken and crumbling land, then deduced her and Jibril’s original positions, assuming they didn’t move – no, they were sure of it!

- A bitter memory flashed through Azrael’s mind upon realizing that.

Artosh was killed in the same fashion back then.

All his defenses were overcome, all his actions were saw through, all his barricades and obstacles were slipped past by the enemy, and in the end – her Master was murdered.

Why did we lose? Why did we survive! Why are we still alive!?

……….

“WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!”

“Plum! You’re being too noisy!!”

As Avant Heim slowly crumbled around them, they weaved about the countless debris faster than the speed of sound.

If they were to miscalculate even the slightest, they would die – under those circumstances, the two flew at breakneck speeds, causing Plum to cry out.

“AAAAAH-ARE YOU TWO CRAZY-AAHHHHHHHHH!!”

“I’M TIRED OF HEARING THAT LINE! SHIRO!!”

The scenery in front of them crumbled, countless cubes fell, tunnels were blocked, and turning around was impossible – at this rate they would crash.

“WAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!”

Plum cried out once again, while Shiro calmly assembled a 「Word Spirit」 beside her.

“-「ミニ (mini) 」…”

Eighteen characters remained.

The 「Word Spirit」 activated as it came into contact with one of the cubes in front of them.

One of the cubes shrunk, creating a small gap, but the crack was just too small for two to fit through –

Sora who was assembling a 「Word Spirit」 at the same time, immediately pointed at the hole and yelled:

“-「ヘル (heru) 」!!”

- Sixteen characters left.

The two continued soaring after passing through that gap as small as a pinhole.

As Plum was beginning to be astonished by their astounding adaptability, Sora suddenly said:

“Plum, could you stick out your teeth for a sec?”

“No! I have a bad feeling about this, so no!!”

“Really? How disappointing – I wanted to give you some blood –“

“Sorry, I was wrong! I will place my teeth on Sora-sama’s shoulder, you’ll be able to tell from the sensation!!”

“-「血 (チchi) 」”

- Fifteen characters left.

The blood flowed out from his uncut fingertips, dripping onto Plum’s teeth.

Plum managed to absorb blood without even biting with her lips.

“Oh, what is this stuff!? This thick, rich, sweet yet bitter texture and a smooth, refreshing tone, the bewitching sensation of a soul is flowing through my body! If a comparison needs to be made, it’s like a turtle shedding tears after giving birth under a moonlight night ♥”

- Sora smiled bitterly as Plum began yelling out some rather incomprehensible food review.

“Are you energized yet?”

“Of course~! My strength is coursing through me! Now I feel like I can do anything!”

Plum – no, huge amounts of flowers began blooming on the scarf, and floated about in the air.

Sora and Shiro smiled evilly at her cries of joy.

“Isn’t that great, so –“

“…You can do…anything right…”

“- Yeah…that’s what I thought as well…”

Part 4

Six thousand years ago – Artosh was being conquered.

The Flügel were desperate at this unbelievable yet inarguably true turn of events.

They were god-killers created by Artosh – a sword to eliminate other races.

They would give the throne of the One True God to Artosh – a sword for this very purpose.

But as they saw their Master murdered in front of them, his lifeless body with no purpose of existence, the one and only sword lost its meaning to live.

They were a sword that was always swung by the command of others, so they never needed to make any decisions, although then – questions surfaced.

The race created by Artosh and its acolytes had come up with a conclusion in their desperation – which was to stop thinking.

She did not know who started it, but she had concentrated all her strength – and pierced through her own body.

They were a tool created to fight for the throne of the One True God, and since their Master whom they would give it to was gone, the tool had no reason to exist.

As she saw her sisters piercing themselves through one by one, Azrael – the first unit, in pure desperation, told a lie.

No, to be precise, it wasn’t a lie.

It was just that as she witnessed her sisters piercing themselves through and losing the lights in their eyes, she couldn’t bear to tell them.

- The orders of the Master were not yet completed.

It was impossible, but if, just if, he were to fall in combat – you must replace me and find out why I, the god of war, fell to an unknown power – that was the final order of the Master.

- It was a command given to Azrael alone – an order.

However she lied and said it was an order for all Flügel, after which she continued:

- After we attain this goal, the final order of the Master would be complete.

- So when that time comes please let me decide whether or not we are still of use.

…It was a lie of convenience.

And despite this – the Flügel began pursuing the 「Unknown」 that had defeated their Master.

At the same time as the war ended, they had gathered all their knowledge, as though they were going to transform all the unknowns in the world to their knowledge.

And as time passed, after six thousand years – they still had not found the answer.

Azrael had thought that if there was one person that would be able to find the answer, it would be Jibril.

Those were the Master’s final words, the Final Unit is a special Unit.

But…

- I’m already…tired-nyan…

Part 5

Sora and Shiro reached the main hall where Azrael may have been.

…It was very dark, so Sora assembled and activated a 「Word Spirit」.

“-「ヒ (hi) 」!”

- Fourteen characters left, just nice.

Now they just had to use up the final fourteen, and they could finish the level with all forty-six perfectly used.

“But, we can’t use any more 「Word Spirits」 until then…sorry, Shiro.”

“…As long as it’s Nii…if your judgement deems it…Shiro believes it.”

Along with this line that made the brother unbelievably blissful - 「Light」 lit up the floor.

“- We searched for six thousand years, but we were still unable to find the 「Answer」.”

There was an empty throne in the lit floor.

Azrael stood in front of it, and –

“Who is ‘we’ referring to? Aside from you, it seems that a lot of people have understood already!”

Sora said while looking over at Jibril who was sitting next to her with her eyes closed.

“Searching for a non-existent 「Answer」, I’m already tired of floating around without a purpose in this boring world.”

That was Azrael – and the Phantasma Avant Heim located within her.

The two – no, a puppet and an illusion’s confession.

“- If the 「Answer」 of the 「Final Unit」 is the same as our lies.”

After a short pause, she looked at Sora and Shiro with a gaze of despair deeper than a crater and said:

“We will consider the cause for the Master’s death to be 「Simple coincidence」- and end the entire Flügel race.”

“That would be a problem.”

“…Jibril is…our…comrade.”

The two replied nonchalantly in a relaxed manner, intentionally avoiding the subject while Sora slipped into thought.

“I see, so you guys crammed huge amounts of knowledge into your brains just for your so-called 「Answer」, I understand that part. To be honest, I don’t understand the meaning and emotional drive behind that, but could you just let me ask one question?”

After which, in the exact same manner as he had rejected Azrael originally.

- He looked at her with eyes that clearly revealed he was truly bored with the subject matter, and said:

“…Have you ever relied on yourself to think and write anything -?”

“- !?”

Azrael widened her eyes, and beside her Jibril bent her head low. Jibril was holding onto a book that she treated as a bible, a book that garnered fans even in Avant Heim.

It was a hand-written – observational diary of Sora and Shiro – detailing the story of an incomplete future…

“But, I see now. If Shiro and I win, you will help to collect books for us, and if we lose we have to do an autograph session, but you’ve actually made other wagers beyond our knowledge other than this one. Jibril actually bet her life without discussing it through with us, so we’ll have to punish her later, but –“

- Sora grabbed Shiro’s arm tightly and spread his wing.

“Do you really not know why Jibril would agree to a bet like that?”

“- Because she believes that you can reveal an 「Answer」 we will be agreeable with –“

“Look, you idiot! You’re really a huge idiot!! You even dare to call yourself a sister!?”

Sora yelled – his face filled with 「Pure rage」, and Sora – yelled again:

“- It’s because she believes in you! She put her life on the line because she trusts that you, as a sister, would be able to understand!!”

…

……

Sora and Shiro focused their strength on their legs – assembling the final 「Word Spirit」.

“You can’t even understand something as simple as this, and you dare to ask her to call yourself her sister!?”

“…It’s just too hilarious…sleep-talk should be said when sleeping…and…!”

At the same time – the two kicked the ground and jumped.

- So fast.

It was a jump boosted by the acceleration 「Word Spirit」, and the two approached at an astonishing speed.

However Azrael had the power of a Phantasma within her, and to her – their movements were as slow as a snail.

“…I see, Jii-chan believed in me so much that she even bet her life…”

She realized that she had failed to understand something as simple as that, and she wasn’t even able to deduce her intentions – so…

“- Yes, just end everything…”

Azrael said this as she kicked the ground and lifted off as well.

Within the hall where the ceiling was barely a few hundred feet high, the two would clash in but an instant as they were traveling at supersonic speeds.

- The ending was predetermined, Azrael would stretch out her hand and grab them, and everything would be over.

She really couldn’t find the answer in the end, but someone found it – so – that’s enough.

Just end in like this – this six thousand – meaningless years –

“AAAAAAHHHH I’M SORRY I’M SORRY PLEASE DON’T KILL ME~~!”

…

“- What?”

Azrael bent her head down, and a loud cry echoed throughout the room as she grabbed onto her target.

She should have caught Sora and Shiro, but the one that was yelling was – that, um, what was her name again?

…Huh? Had she ever asked for her name in the first place?

- It was some Dhampir girl she didn’t know.

- It was a 「Deception Spell」- she understood this just a little bit too late.

The deceiving magic of the Dhampirs – it was a race-exclusive magic that could fool even the Elves or the Flügel at its maximum ability.

If it was just after absorbing a powerful Spirit – blood – maybe it might even fool an Old Deus?

But if so, Sora and Shiro’s wings were – where did they go after they accelerated -!?

- Azrael’s mind began racing.

She felt a presence swooping by her at a terrifying speed, and in an instant it was almost as if time had stopped.

Everything became slow-motion, and Azrael saw it.

Without Plum – without the scarf – the Imanity without their wings –

As they met briefly, Sora’s fist landed upon Azrael’s shoulder.

“- 「縛りプレエデこの世を生きろ」-“

- Zero characters left.

Azrael widened her eyes in shock, but what she was surprised at wasn’t the 「Word Spirit」 she was hit by.

It was – the two who were flying at high speeds – managed to remove their wings and allow Plum to disguise herself!?

“「No restrictions on magic usage」- right?”

After that brief exchange, Azrael heard a voice that should have been impossible for her to hear – as she turned around she confirmed that it was indeed Sora who said it.

But – at that sort of speeds, if a human body were to lose its wings – and hit the ground, they would definitely die –

A sentence that utterly stunned Azrael and yet answered all of her doubts rang in her ears.

“- Approximately sixty minutes…game…over.”

- Without any clocks nor other tools.

Just as Shiro recited the numbers that existed only in her mind –

Jibril teleported, and gracefully…respectfully caught her two Masters.

That turn of events made Azrael feel extremely distant, while the 「Word Spirit」 previously placed on her activated.

「Forever burdened」. Within Azrael, even Avant Heim’s strength was sealed as well.

As the colossal amount of energy that could rewrite worlds was released, the hall and even the landscape began shattering like glass.

Freefalling under such circumstances, Azrael’s eyes remained wide in shock.

She didn’t need to think hard to remember – no doubt, this feeling was the same as when Artosh – her Master was conquered – a true sensation of 「Fear」.

…She didn’t understand.

There were too, too, too many things that she just couldn’t understand.

Scary, how scary, how much do they actually know, they actually could make such a dangerous bet.

No matter how much I gather knowledge, make battle plans, how much I prepare, in the very bitter end it’s still an unknown –

Within the darkness of all these variable elements, how could they – how could they possibly step on a silk wire like this without hesitation?

She had seen so many extraordinary things in quick succession.

The freefalling, continuously descending Azrael lost consciousness –

Part 6

In her dream, Azrael saw her Master Artosh’s memories.

The everlasting chaos would only bring strength to the 「God of War」 Artosh.

The Old Deus that fed on battle hunger, hostility, hatred and blood – the God of War Artosh.

And now he and the splinters of his eighteen wings – the feathers (the Flügel) and his follower the Phantasma (Avant Heim), with such a small army, one god, one Phantasma, and one race – waged war on the entire world, and had achieved a crushing victory.

The throne of the One True God was in Artosh-sama’s grasp…it was unquestionable.

A Master like that, had only ever mentioned the possibility of defeat once.

“There’s a chance I might be defeated.”

- You’re joking.

“I’m very strong.”

- Of course.

“Nobody’s strength is greater than mine.”

- Of course.

“That’s why there’s something I just can’t understand.”

Something you can’t understand?

“I can’t understand it, because only the weak are able to. It’s the unknown possibility that I may lose to one stronger than I.”

- ……

“That’s why I wanted to create – a unit that has the 「Imperfection」 one strong as I am does not possess.”

- Imperfection?

“The imperfect unit will use its full power – whether or not it can exert its power and overcome adversities, I won’t understand it.”

- ……

“But no matter whether I win or lose – in the end they will all be 「Causes」.”

“The first feather of my eighteen wings, first unit Azrael.”

…Yes.

“When I fall in combat, please be my witness as the loser, and mourn for me.”

- Azrael doesn’t know what Master saw.

But at the same time as he hinted at the possibility of defeat, the Master wasn’t scared, instead he had appeared like a true God of War –

Anticipating the appearance of an unknown enemy – and despite this he strived to overcome this unknown –

A smile of simple courage yet of true happiness.

“So, let’s now create this special unit…her name shall be –“

Just like that, the Master Artosh…

He finally produced his last work – the 「Special Unit」 who became the 「Final Unit」- the imperfect unit.

In the end, it was also the unit that was able to witness the answer at the end of the horizon where even the Master could not.

The Master called out her name.

- Jibril.

Part 7

“…Senpai, are you finally awake?”

- My body is so heavy, that was Azrael’s first thought as she awoke.

My wings can’t move, and I just can’t seem to be able to use force – no!

She realized that she had never known how it felt to use the strength of her own body.

How does my body move? Isn’t it just like teleporting?

The so-called earth – is this how it limits the presence of my being?

Raising her head that felt heavy as a rock, Azrael looked down at her own shadow.

And looking down at her was Jibril – and the two Imanity Sora and Shiro.

The lowest ranked among the 「Sixteen Races」, the weakest species looked down at her and said.

“You attempted to play a game with the status of 「I’m the strongest」, then you decided it was a crappy game just after a single loss, now that’s just ridiculous.”

Shiro smiled as well as she heard Sora’s words – however Azrael couldn’t understand what they meant –

“Now you’re going to replay the game with the status of 「The weakest」, and if you still think it’s a crappy game –“

“…We’ll play with you…as many times as needed…”

She understood that the 「Word Spirit」 that used on her – limited her abilities to that of an Imanity’s.

The very smiles of the siblings told her this – Azrael bent her head down and smiled bitterly.

- So, she couldn’t fly, she didn’t have magic, and she wasn’t even able to see spirits.

Distance, gravity, all these concepts that she had never experienced were now tying her down.

She rolled to the side, focused her energy on her restricted arms and stretched towards the sky.

- So high, the skies are so high, and the earth so wide.

The power that was acting on her body was as if an infinite wall had been built up between her and the sky and earth.

She couldn’t even imagine what it felt like to 「Fly」 anymore.

Even if one were to tell her she could fly, she didn’t have any intention to. And that scared her.

While the two Imanity that were restricted in the same way – laughed as they soared through the skies, and had said they had tricked her.

“…The taste of the earth…isn’t that bad…right?”

“If you don’t crash to the ground, you’ll never have the urge to fly again.”

They had soared in the skies so freely, and yet they were able to say that crashing once wasn’t bad.

“- Right, you can climb up after you fall down, so there’s a next time, isn’t it?”

Sora smiled as he stretched his hand towards her – for that was what they had done all this time.

- Finally, in Azrael’s mind, everything connected seamlessly and she couldn’t help but smile.

Too late, she was just too late, it was but reasonable that they called her an idiot, Azrael thought as she grabbed onto that outstretched hand.

“…Senpai’s brain is just too stubborn.”

Jibril looked at her with her eyes half open yet caring, and welcomed Azrael as she stood up.

Artosh’s final work – the imperfect unit. She was the 「Special Unit」, and the 「Final Unit」.

Her imperfections merely meant that – she would strive to be perfect.

Because she was imperfect, she would naturally strive for the unknown, the future and hope.

- Azrael finally understood – the reason why Jibril insisted on campaigning alone.

“…Jii-chan’s brain is too active-nyan…”

She had destroyed the Elves’ city and brought all those books back with all smiles even without being ordered to.

She had conquered all the higher ranked species alone despite being told it was impossible, and had returned near death every single time.

She had deserted the council, left her hometown, and even brought new Masters as she returned –

It was exactly because she was imperfect – that’s why she would – become stronger than anyone.

“…I see, so there really are things that can’t be understood just through reading-nyan…”

The so-called understanding wasn’t just reliant on memorization and increasing knowledge.

It was through actualization, personal experiences, it was only when it assimilates into your very soul that one can truly understand something.

The thing that neither Artosh nor Azrael could understand -「The unknown」.

That was the 「Possibility」- the characteristic that could turn the impossible into possible.

It was exactly because they were the strong ones, exactly because they absolutely couldn’t fail, exactly because they couldn’t lose – that they were unable to understand this.

While –

“It’s obvious that when one becomes a loser one is no longer perfect…however I…always feared that-nyan.”

Only Jibril had slowly understood that every single time as she neared defeat/

- Whenever they lost, no matter the Flügel or Avant Heim, they were unable to grasp this imperfection.

While – never once faltering in her footsteps, it was no surprise that Jibril had left.

The Flügel – Azrael and the others could only gather knowledge.

Only Jibril freely pursued her curiosity, created knowledge, and left behind everything she needed to know.

She was a truly strong person, yet she was always striving towards an even greater goal – she even had respect towards the 「Unknown」.

- That could only mean one thing.

“Nyahaha, nyahahahaha…how boring, I’d never thought that it would be this boring after I understood it.”

She looked down, and she could only laugh – which meant…

“Have you finally understood?”

“Yes, I get it now – there’s nothing particular to be understood-nyan.”

- How could she not laugh at that?

The answer that they had been searching for over six thousand years – in the end there was 「No answer at all」-

“The unknown will definitely never be reversed into knowledge, because our knowledge will eventually transform into the unknown, there is no end to this as what may be common knowledge yesterday may not be common knowledge today.”

It was because that she had never lost, so after her first loss, she was truly able to fear – the unknown.

The more she tried to understand it, the further it shrank away from her.

“So the important thing is not to 「Memorize」, it’s to 「Learn」- and even enjoy the risk that comes with adapting to the situation.”

Thus – the only way was to continuously strive forward –

“The reason why we lost in the Great War was because we were unable to accomplish that. Azrael-senpai, when I lost to the Masters and kneeled in front of them to acknowledge my subservience, Artosh’s final order – was completed.”

Azrael looked down and mumbled:

“…Artosh-sama…did I accomplish your final orders as well?”

- Did she not have to lie anymore?

Azrael looked up at the distant skies once again as she wiped away her tears.

She had never realized that she had the ability to shed tears – was this enough to appease Artosh-sama?

Sora looked at her face.

“…I’m not really sure what you’re getting at, but that expression isn’t half bad.”

Finally – Sora spoke to Azrael with a smile on his face.

“…May I ask you four questions? Imanity – no, So-chan, Shi-chan.”

- There was no answer in the first place, they merely had to go back to square one – which meant that she had some things to confirm.

“You both…what do you live for?”

“For Shiro, of course.”

“…For Nii.”

“What if one of you were to die?”

“If we die we die together, so there isn’t much of a big deal.”

“…Together.”

“Why…what keeps you living?”

“I have no idea!”

“…God knows!”

“We don’t have time to be considering this sort of thing, we’re different from you anyway, life is short.”

“…Busy…”

- They didn’t hesitate throughout, Sora replying with a smile on his face while Shiro replied rather seriously.

But – those weren’t the answers she was looking for – she could only reference them.

So at last – Azrael asked:

“Can I…can I be like Jii-chan as well?”

“That’s impossible, you can only be yourself.”

- They replied without hesitation as well, which was to be expected.

She had known that since long ago, but as Azrael began looking increasingly melancholy, Sora instead –

“But what’s wrong with that?”

Completely cheerful – his smile was, without a doubt –

“Your expression now is excellent, I love it when you’re like this.”

- He spoke with a smile as wide as the skies.

…

…Nyahahaha.

“The answer that we’d searched for over so long turned out to be 「Going back to square one」, I can’t take this, even people who can live forever get tired you know-nyan.”

Yes – thinking for oneself, which was their – reply.

She had to look for it herself, then find her own answer that belonged to her and her alone just like Jibril had.

- As long as she knew she could accomplish it – it was enough.

Azrael said tiredly, however –

Suddenly, she heard Jibril apologizing to Sora.

“…Masters, I put my own life on the line on my own accord, and even had to rely on your strength in the end…I offer my sincerest apolo –“

“Ah~ about that, Jibril.”

Sora scratched his head, seemingly not knowing where to start and said:

“This fellow over here doesn’t have the rights to order all Flügel to commit suicide!”

“-------What!?”

Ignoring the speechless Jibril, Azrael said bitterly:

“Huh? The cat’s out of the bag!”

She stuck out her tongue evilly and laughed.

“Banning the act of suicide without permission – doesn’t actually mean I can order you all to commit suicide! Hmm~ I’d never thought that this lie would go unnoticed for over six thousand years, nyahahaha ♪”

Shiro continued even more directly –

“…And even if she did…Jibril belongs to…Nii and Shiro…”

-

She had dragged her masters in, and had prepared to die –

As Sora noticed that Jibril’s shoulders were beginning to tremble in anger, he sighed and said:

“- But if it’s just Azrael alone, she can do it.”

Jibril inhaled sharply as she heard that, while Azrael immediately erased her smile.

“This fellow over here bet herself and only herself from the very beginning, as no matter the consequence she was prepared to die alone. What kind of sister would tell her beloved imouto to go kill herself? She’s Jibril’s trusted sister after all!”

- Azrael remained silent, then sighed and replied.

And that reply was more convincing than any form of protest she may have made.

If there was an 「Answer」, and if the Flügel could find that answer, even if she were to exercise her rights for all of them to commit suicide, no one would want to die. Even if there was no answer, with Jibril at the head of them, if they could all find a reason to continue living, they wouldn’t want to kill themselves as well anyway.

- At that time, Azrael whose purpose of living was to prevent anyone from committing suicide, would have completed her mission.

“…So-chan, have you ever pissed people off by not minding your own business?”

“Yeah, many times, and I pissed them off a lot as well. However I decided long ago that I won’t let anyone die in this world (game), so –“

- She heard a single clap.

“Let’s play a game.”

Sora clapped his hands and spoke while laughing.

“It would be a pain if we had to start from scratch, huh?”

- No doubt, so let’s play a game.

“So, things are simple now, anyway let’s switch a game first.”

- It would definitely be an extremely interesting game.

“We want to make this world – even more interesting.”

- A game that would never get boring.

“As for whether or not we can do it – so, which side will you bet on?”

…

-…..

“Nyaha…nyahahah, nyahahahahahhahahahah!!”

In six thousand years, no, possibly for the first time in her life, she laughed sincerely.

Maybe because her physical abilities were being restrained by the Imanity – she laughed too hard to the point where her stomach began to ache.

Azrael laughed so emotionally that she even started to cry, and she raised her head – and then -

- She grabbed onto Sora and kissed him.

“Ugh!?”

“…!?”

“What – M, Master!? A-Azrael-senpai!!”

…For a full few seconds, Azrael tongue-kissed Sora and stopped.

“Nyahaha~ if both sides bet that 「It’s possible」, the bet won’t be valid ♥”

“”…””

Sora appeared lost, while the other two looked at them with gazes that could kill, and Azrael spoke, ignoring them:

“We...as for me who wanted to die, you gave me a chance to have fun with you all, and so I’m extremely overjoyed at your request-nyan. But – I don’t yet have the right to walk alongside So-chan like Jii-chan does.”

She waved and turned to leave…she felt the gravity that restrained her body and continued forward.

Her sister worried about her, the Imanity worried about her, comforted her, and even prevented her from committing suicide.

No matter what you were to say – if this were to go on, I would be relying on them too much, and she smiled bitterly.

“But this is fine as well, since I bet it’s 「Possible」 too-nyan? Before the results come out – I’ll try my best to wait for it, since Jii-chan believes in me-nyan, I hope that you all can just wait for me a while more.”

Part 8

“…Nii…you let her kiss you.”

“Just wait a minute here, no matter how you look at it, she forced herself on me right?”

“You say that, Master, but because of the 「Ten Pledges」 it isn’t possible to abuse another’s rights, so unless the Master had allowed it subconsciously there was no other way that Azrael-senpai could have kissed you.”

“Wait a second, if I were to deny a beautiful lady like that unconsciously that would be disastrous to me as a guy!”

“…Nii is fine with anyone…as long as it’s a girl…”

“You’re just like Ino-sama.”

“Come on already, no matter how you look at it, I’m the victim! Right! Hey!”

Azrael’s mouth curled up in a smile as she heard the commotion behind her, and she spoke softly as she was leaving:

“…Speaking of which, Jii-chan-nyan.”

“…You finally added a –nyan to that. Ignoring the fact that you were rude to my Masters and that you’ve been lying to us for so long – even someone as tolerant as I am almost about to get angry. What is it? Azrael-senpai.”

Jibril teleported beside her and spoke unhappily.

Azrael asked her a question that she had thought of.

“Jii-chan-nyan, why do you think the Imanity had survived during the Great War?”

“It was because…”

That was a question that had nestled inside Jibril for an extremely long period of time, and it had begun to trouble her even more recently.

The Imanity were seen as too weak, so no one had paid particular attention to them and thus they had survived.

But after meeting Sora and Shiro, Jibril felt confused.

At the end of the Great War, the entire Elkian continent was the territory of the Imanity, was that just by pure chance –

The Imanity – Azrael attempted to guesstimate the source of their power.

“Let’s say that they keep losing until they can’t lose anymore – that’s the Imanity.”

- They continued 「Learning」 by using defeat or loss as their premise, not fearing the unknown, instead happily diving into it.

Because they were more imperfect than anyone, they were a race that strived to be even more perfect than anyone – if so…

Azrael smiled bitterly, and the reason behind it was not because of the reason they survived, but…

“…Why didn’t I take notice of a race like that during the Great War?”

- Jibril inhaled sharply.

Ignoring the two Masters for now, the late king that had exposed the Eastern Federation’s game, and Kurami who had collaborated with an Elf.

The potential they had shown was almost scary – Jibril had experienced this personally.

They were sometimes borderline insane, and at times even not afraid of death – despite this, they were able to bring in the next generation.

“A race that continued to learn continuously – why did I not take a threat like that into consideration –“

That would mean that no matter how weak one was, as long as one could keep on collecting knowledge, that person would become an unavoidable threat.

If she had noticed the full potential of that race earlier, what would she have done during the Great War?

It was obvious – they would be 「Too dangerous」, and she would have eliminated them immediately.

“- And all our records of the Imanity – they were completely erased, and why is that?”

Yes, all the records of the Imanity during the Great War had all been destroyed – it was almost unnatural.

“Nyahahaha~ I just thought of it randomly-nyan, maybe we –“

As Azrael said this, she looked towards Sora and Shiro.

“The battlefield isn’t just on the Elkian continent anymore.”

No doubt, that was something that looked like they would have done.

“The Ex-Machinae that killed Artosh-sama were acting suspiciously during the final stages of the Great War, if –“

Halfway through her sentence – she smiled without a trace of humour in her eyes, and concluded.

“Could they have been manipulated by the Imanity -?”

If so – the death of Artosh that was the ignition fuse for the end of the war –

- Was intentionally manipulated by someone - ?

“Just joking~~ I must be thinking too much? Nyahahaha”

As she said this, Azrael left behind Jibril who was standing motionless and continued forward.

- She should have had walked for a quite a distance, but she didn’t reach anywhere.

Jibril who should have been behind her long ago was still beside her nonchalantly, making Azrael feel rather awkward.

“Jii-chan-nyan, I’ll do as they say and live shackled temporarily-nyan – and then…”

She laughed.

“During the next council meeting I’ll propose for 「Avant Heim to join the Elkian Federation」-nyan.”

“…I don’t think that proposal will be approved for now.”

It was something that Jibril clearly desired –

As she considered this, Azrael smiled cunningly at her.

“Observing and learning from those kids (Elkia). The 「Answer」 that we found – it will merely be a 「Superficial Alliance」 created in order to allow everyone to fulfil Artosh-sama’s final order – how does that sound? Nyaha”

Her expression seemed to say: I didn’t lie for six thousand years for nothing.

“…That’s pretty hard to turn down…”

Avant Heim was originally a completely neutral faction, without land nor resources.

If it was a figurative alliance, and there was no moral duty for them to help out Elkia, they only had to participate when their own interests were at hand –

Also they would have the assurance of the Representative of the Winged that it was an alliance for Artosh – so they should have no reason to refuse.

…Her mind’s clearly so sharp, but why – Jibril sighed.

“But…”

Suddenly – Azrael looked at her solemnly in stark contrast from her previous appearance.

“All the Flügel including myself, before we judge whether the potential of Elkia (those two) is worthy for us to believe in, I won’t allow them to refer to those two as their 「New Masters」- understood?”

“Of course, everyone needs to understand this themselves, thus I’ll continue preaching from today onwards, don’t worry.”

As long as she were to continue preaching her Bible (observation diary), increase their amount of fans – disciples it would be fine, Jibril told herself.

Azrael smiled bitterly and turned towards her once again.

“…Before that, can I entrust those two to Jii-chan-nyan?”

Those two were a yet unknown combination, so Azrael could understand why they were so full of charisma.

But at the same time – she was afraid for them, as if they were to die before she were to make a conclusion, there would be a lot of trouble, after which she said:

“I’m not asking this as the Representative of the Winged, but merely as a friend – please?”

- Jibril smiled as she always had.

“I’ve always believed in protecting my masters even if I have to sacrifice myself – so I refuse.”

“- Really, now…nyahahaha…”

Which was hinting that they weren’t friends – which was but of course, after doing all those outrageous things, she still dared to call herself a friend –

“But if you keep dragging your feet like this, you’re going to miss all the most interesting parts -「Onee-san」."

- Jibril said this while smiling at her 「Sister」.

…

“N-no problem-nyan… I’ll hurry over to my cute imouto’s side as fast as possible-nyan/”

Nyahahaha, she laughed and walked away in an attempt to restrain her tears.

She had changed in the short period of an hour as well, so she figured it wouldn’t take long –

As she was leaving, she suddenly stopped and surveyed her surroundings – she sighed and waved.

“Everyone~ can someone carry me~! Also we need to hold a meeting ASAP~! I’ll need at least a road to get home with or else it’ll be a big problem for me, so could you all please build some~ nyahahaha ♪”

Walking home with her powers sealed away from her.

She couldn’t even do that – that sensation felt overwhelmingly exotic.

Even something as stupid and boring as this – felt interesting, and she couldn’t help but laugh at herself.

Placing her feet one after another on the ground, with the same line of sight as those two had, looking at the world at the speed of an ant’s crawl.

- After living for twenty-six thousand years – this isn’t that bad for a change.

- ……..

- You want to have them as your new Masters?

“That’s not my decision-nyan, so spend a little time to think about it yourself as well, Avant-kun (Avant Heim).”

- …Although it’s a tough decision, I’ll try.

“To be honest I don’t think it’ll be all that bad serving under those kids for a while.”

- Because of their potential?

Azrael could only reply by flapping her wings that couldn’t lift her into the sky.

“Because it seems oh so fun-nyan! Nyahaha~!”

- You seem truly happy.

I wonder what I’ll play with them next time, she began thinking –

Part 9

- On the other hand, within the capital of Elkia, the late king’s library.

Izuna was tucking into a huge portion of sashimi, while Steph sat reading beside her.

Steph looked at Izuna who was enjoying the food prepared by her.

“…Izuna, you’re a really big eater.”

That made her smile – but as she remembered her grandfather as he was on the brink of death, Steph felt confused instead.

Izuna tries so hard, and she’s helped out so much – but…

Impossibly – from her expression she couldn’t detect any hint of urgency, anxiousness nor unease.

“About that, it’s hard for me to start but…Izuna, aren’t you worried for Ino-san?”

- Izuna paused momentarily…with a chunk of fish still lodged in her mouth, she replied without hesitation:

“Of course not, des. Why would I be? Des.”

“…You asked why…”

“Sora and Shiro will save him, so there’s no problem, des.”

- She once again replied without a single hint of hesitation, after which she continued eating.

Steph sighed and looked at the book in her hand again, then continued with a complaint.

It was a small question she was worried about since a long while ago –

“Why do both Miko-san and Izuna trust that 「Liar」 so much?”

It was true that Sora and Shiro would always end things off at the very end brilliantly.

But throughout the process they would lie and deceive, so one wouldn’t know when to believe them or not.

As Steph was thinking, Izuna tilted her head and said:

“…Sora and Shiro aren’t 「Liars」, des.”

“- Izuna can read the Imanity language now, but you haven’t 「Mastered」 it yet.”

If they weren’t 「Liars」, who would be – Steph smiled bitterly and said, but –

“The smell of a liar- the smell of someone hiding his true self, they don’t have that smell which I hate the most, des.”

-

Steph was speechless. Back on the day when Sora had said she would save Izuna’s grandfather.

Izuna smelt Sora by the seaside – Izuna smiled as she recalled that relaxing odour.

“Sora and Shiro have a good smell, des. They do tease people, deceive them, or even play pranks – but, the only thing they won’t do is lie, des – so Izuna likes Sora and Shiro, des.”

- Steph inhaled sharply as she realized she had been lectured by a young girl with her age still in the single-digit range.

It was hard to believe, but she somehow understood now – an impossible explanation flashed across her mind.

Sora – he told lies as easily as breathing, being a born liar.

But for some reason sometimes – Steph would unconsciously overlap his figure with her grandfather’s.

Upon thinking closely, there wasn’t anything that surprising about it.

If he could really lie that well…

Then why – would he want to act in such a way that people would believe he was lying?

- Why – why didn’t he just act like a kind person - ?

At this point, Steph noticed that Izuna was looking at her with her eyes half open.

“…Steph-kou smells nice as well, des. But sometimes you have the smell of a liar, des.”

“W-what!? W-when did I ever tell a lie!?”

“Whenever we mention Sora, you have the smell of a liar, des. I don’t like Steph-kou when you’re like that, des.”

“T-that was because Sora forced me to fall in love with him! Of course I have to reject him right!?”

Steph attempted to defend herself while still teary-eyed, while Izuna’s expression suddenly turned rather complex.

“You’re lying again, des…but your normal smell is good, so I forgive you, des.”

Izuna began eating again as soon as she finished, while Steph thought to herself”

- I see, let’s say I go back a hundred steps – no, a thousand steps, I trust that Sora isn’t a liar.

But despite that –

“That doesn’t mean he can use the pledges to restrain my love life! Isn’t that a twisted sense of logic!?”

Steph clutched her head and cried, while her gaze settled upon a single book.

It was slightly further away from her – an ancient-looking bounded book.

“…「The Treasure of the Prideful Princess」…is this a fairy tale?”

It was a book written in the Imanity language – a book with a rather childish title.

As she flipped it open, this was written on the inner cover page:

-「This is a tale that has circulated amongst the Elves」-

“Is this a translation? The translator is – isn’t this Grandpa!? Why would this book be…”

Steph mumbled to herself as she flipped to the next page, after which she suddenly inhaled sharply.

Because this was written on the very first page:

- This is a place even further than the sea.

A 「Fairy Tale」 further away than anything and anyone else –

After which she saw a familiar scrawl underneath…

Which meant the late king’s handwriting, and it read:

- According to my observations, the hibernating Empress of the Sea went into slumber after reading this story.

- The Empress is just like the Princess in this story, being loved by everyone, and has everything in the world.

- Thus she…wishes to pursue things unknown to her.

- It’s exactly because she has everything, she wishes for the unknown – a love she cannot acquire –

“I FOOOOOUUUUNNNNDDDD IIIIIIIIIITTTTTTTTT!!”

Steph yelled and kicked her chair to the side, while Izuna leaped up in surprise.

Part 10

- Avant Heim – within a slightly larger cube in the centre of it.

It was Jibril’s previous residence, which had been turned into a storage warehouse.

Important items, books and the like had probably all been moved to the Elkian library, so there was a lack of homeliness within it.

The Flügel didn’t appear to need sleep, so there weren’t any beds nor windows within the place.

There was a secret room that held things other than books, and for Sora, Shiro and Plum who didn’t like going outdoors, the place was just right for them.

“Ah, Masters, please don’t touch those, because there’s a possibility that, no, you will definitely die.”

After this warning, they made note not to take particular notice of all the trophies and skulls Jibril had collected during the Great War, which was a blessing in disguise, but –

“…Strange…”

Within the middle of the room, there was stacked a pile of books that had been collected from almost a hundred Flügel who had sworn on the Pledges.

Buried in that mountain-high pile of books, Sora felt exhausted and began mumbling to himself.

Shiro who was sitting on his lap began writing something in a notebook as well, after which she began drawing squiggly lines unhappily and groaning impatiently.

“…Masters, would you like to take a rest?”

The two were frustrated at the speed of their progress, while Jibril advised them to stop.

- After the game had ended, the two had begun reading the extremely large amount of books they had won over, looking for information in the process.

Jibril only suddenly noticed as she was writing in her Observational Diary (Bible), that the last time Sora and Shiro (Masters) had slept – was before Plum had arrived.

As she realised that was about five days ago, she advised them again, while Sora simply scratched his head as though he didn’t hear her at all.

“There are clearly nineteen types of 「Oaths」- but why isn’t there any difference between the awakening conditions?”

“Could it be…we came here…for nothing…?”

At the end of the game, Plum had activated a spell, deceiving even Azrael who had the power of a Phantasma within her.

Plum was extremely exhausted after that feat, so she moaned while lying on the floor and breathing weakly.

They had did so much, could it be that there was no meaning in it – Plum began to appear despaired, but instead Sora –

“…The problem’s even more serious than that…I’ll straighten it out for you!”

Sora sighed and turned to Plum to explain:

“The Empress of the Seirenes is their full representative, so the fact that she bet all her rights in order to enter a slumber to the Seirenes would mean that as long as someone else were to wake her up, their Race Piece would be taken which would be tantamount to death – so they hid the condition to awaken her.”

“Y-yes…that’s true…”

“The ultimate form of concealment is not letting anyone know, which is why Plum couldn’t find out the condition herself.”

- But…

“The current Empress had entered slumber before becoming the Empress, so the Seirenes should have tried all possible methods to awaken her already – which means, previously someone knew how to awaken her, but those conditions have probably been modified by someone now.”

Can you understand everything up to here? Sora asked, to which Plum nodded in confirmation.

“In the previous eight hundred years, there were of course people that played games in attempts to waken the Empress, among which nineteen of them were recorded by Avant Heim over five races, and they had found the 「Oath」 back then. As long as we can find that information and cross-reference it with everything we have, we can retrace back to the past and find the conditions to wake the Empress – that was my initial plan.”

Shiro let out a hnng~ a tiny moan, and collapsed on Sora’s knees – she had overworked her brain.

The 「Oath」 written in the languages of five different races, they had even cross-referenced the meanings of all the words – but…

“-「The person who can wake the Empress」- that’s the limit to which we can retrace.”

The person that could wake her – which would mean, 「It would be fine even if you don’t let her fall in love with you」.”

To acquire everything -「Win all the rights」, that was the only victory reward the two could affirm existed, but at that point that meant nothing to them.

What was most important was – Sora said impatiently:

“Why isn’t there a 「Victory Condition」- they hid the wrong details!”

If 「All their rights」 were taken before the previous Empress had died, it wouldn’t cause them much danger to their survival.

They should have revealed the victory conditions in order to allow people to beat the game as fast as possible – despite this, there were no records…

“…The worst…possibility…”

“- Huh?”

As Plum heard Shiro mumble, she looked at her in despair, pleading for her to explain.

“…From the very beginning…no one…knew the condition…”

“…Even the Empress doesn’t know, the possibilities of a victory condition that isn’t specific – for example…”

Sora took a deep breath and spoke, almost squeezing his voice out:

“…「Amuse me. I don’t know how you’re going to do it, but you have to do it in a specific way.」- Something like that.”

- Plum’s eyes rolled up into whites and she collapsed, and to be honest, Sora felt just like her.

If that was the truth – the reason why no one could awake her, the reason why Plum was unable to find the condition – the reason why the love magic worked properly but was unable to wake her up, and –

Even the reason why they could completely hide the conditions – everything could be explained.

Since no one knew from the very beginning, there was no reason to conceal it.

Which meant they had to search for 「What was the Empress looking for when she went into hibernation」- back to square one.

“Ah~ dammit, what’s wrong with that woman!?”

Sora yelled out in a voice saturated with heavy frustration, after which he collapsed.

Even Shiro gave up and began yawning on Sora’s lap, while Plum – fainted.

This scene could be titled 「Despair」 and framed in an art gallery.

“…So for a change of mood, can I tell you all about something that happened in the past?”

Jibril snapped her fingers lightly, and instant the walls and ceiling of her home turned as transparent as glass.

Sora lay on the floor, and what he saw was a night sky – no, wrong.

They were on the edge of the atmospheric layer – the divide between the universe and planets.

Which meant that was the universe. As he understood that, he suddenly heard a calming sound, like the call of a whale.

“...That was…?”

“It was 「Him」- the sound of the Phantasma Avant Heim.”

As she said this – Sora recalled a huge whale-shaped slab of land during their game against Azrael.

…He was on his back right now, and as that was too ridiculous to consider, he figured he would forget it soon anyway.

“「He」 was a disciple of my late Master, the Old Deus Artosh.”

Jibril spoke with a nostalgic glow in her eye.

“Artosh died at the end of the Great War – but 「He」 couldn’t accept it, so he drifted from place to place in search for him, approaching any single presence of Old Dei he could find.”

Jibril looked at the sky – the red moon.

“The red moon (up there) is the dwelling place of the thirteenth-ranked 「Lunarians」, as well as the Old Dei that created them.”

- Maybe because it was bigger than the moon of their original world, or because they were closer to it, it was a gigantic red moon he had seen countless times before.

Sora had never considered that there might be 「Sixteen Races」 up there.

“- Whenever Avant Heim sees the red moon, he will attempt to raise his altitude upon detecting the presence of Old Dei, but –“

Jibril smiled a complex yet sad smile.

“Avant Heim can’t do it.”

“…Can’t do it?”

“Avant Heim doesn’t fly in the sky, he revolved about the planets – he swims within the Elemental Galleries that the Imanity cannot see, so he can’t go into space where there are no Spirits – so…”

Sora’s gaze shifted up along with Jibril’s, and he remained momentarily speechless.

- He had never seen the Milky Way up close.

But compared to photos online, it was way more epic than he thought it would have been, a glittering river of stars suspended in mid-air.

Suddenly a flash of light streaked past as though to cover the red moon up.

“He’s looking at the red moon…and crying.”

The light emitted an afterglow that shimmered faintly as it passed, and swam away.

Earlier they had heard the call of a whale as well, and now – it sounded rather lonely to them.

“…Do the Phantasma have feelings as well?”

- The 「Phantasma」 that were ranked second among the 「Sixteen Races」.

Sora then thought, it was of course reasonable that Azrael had called upon them so emotionally as she was ranked as well.

But it just seemed rather impossible to believe that a floating slab of land could have emotions.

Then – Sora remembered something all of a sudden, and he said sadly:

“…Even the Phantasma know 「Love」, but I don’t…”

“Huh? Why do you say 「He」 knows love?”

“He knows to cry for his Master, and he has a Master to love – even if it isn’t love, doesn’t that mean he knows love?”

“…”

- Jibril suddenly said thoughtfully.

“Master, is there a person whose absence would make you feel uncomfortable?”

“Shiro.”

“So the one you love is –“

“Shiro – ah~ so if I know love and I know how to love, does that mean I know how to fall in love?”

Love differs from person to person – what a troublesome concept.

What was the Empress searching for before she hibernated? If it was truly related to love, then he could do nothing – Jibril was thinking of something else at the same time.

“…Is it really like that?”

When Artosh had been conquered, Jibril had felt crushing despair along with the rest of the Flügel.

After that, the Flügel had begun gathering information, they didn’t know what they were searching for, but they still searched.

The reason to live, the reason to exist, the reason to not die –

Searching for those 「Answers」 that couldn’t possibly exist – but Jibril found it.

It wasn’t a common answer, but it let her find – her own reason to exist.

“…? What is it, Jibril?”

It wasn’t for knowledge, but instead for the 「Unknown」 ahead of her that confused her, if –

“M-master, forgive me for asking, but could you listen to a single request of mine?”

“Yeah, what is it?”

“Could you please say 「Jibril you useless fellow, I don’t need you anymore」?”

“…L-let me just say something here, I don’t get where this conversation is going at all.”

“Just don’t ask – please.”

As he saw Jibril press her forehead on the ground while bowing deeply, Sora accepted her request reluctantly.

“-「Jibril you useless fellow, I don’t need you anymore」- is that alright?”

-

“M-M-M-M-Master!!”

“- W-w-what!?”

She teleported so close to Sora that their heads almost connected, which caused Sora to cry out uncontrollably.

“W-why is this? I’m currently feeling the same sensation of my spine tingling as I licked the feet of that long-eared one under Master’s orders, and the time where I stole Shiro-san from you during the FPS in the Eastern Federation – and a feeling as if my chest is being constricted! What exactly is this unknown sensation!?”

“I don’t know! I don’t know, but aren’t you adding too much weird elements into this!?”

Sora replied with his face set in stone as Jibril looked at him while panting, blushing and almost drooling.

Although, Jibril suddenly seemed to have understood something – she nodded, and then –

“Master, in the six thousand, four hundred and seven years since my birth – Jibril has finally understood what it means to fall in love.”

“…Huh? Are you serious?”

“Yes, I can finally help Master out – and what love means is!”

Jibril kneeled down solemnly in front of Sora and reported.

“Master commanded Dora-chan to 「Fall in love with you」, and ignored her aside from that one time; as for Dora-chan that was a declaration of love, so! The feelings placed within me as the Master I’ve been serving under for so long with all my heart said he doesn’t need me any longer – which is pity, bitterness, relaxation and all other sorts of feelings that make chills run down my spine, that’s love -!!”

“Jibril, could you please just calm down, you’re just making things more complicated –“

Sora said with his expression still carved in stone, at this time – with a loud slam! –

Shiro stood up.

“Huh!? W-what was that, Shiro, my heart nearly leaped out of my chest!”

However she completely ignored Sora’s response.

“…Unknown sensation…I don’t know…can’t reach…yearning…Azrael couldn’t find it…Jibril found it…Steph felt it…the unknown…the future…「Hope」.”

- She was pretending to sleep earlier, so she had heard everything.

She mumbled a string of words – recited, as she suddenly began flipping through the books.

“…The Empress that deceived everyone… - the Empress…victory condition…wasn’t changed.”

She said.

She suddenly lifted up a book – and said:

“…Nii…I know…the condition…to awaken the Empress now.”

- As they heard this, Sora, Jibril and even Plum leaped up together and looked at Shiro.

And only Shiro – appeared happy, no…

“…Nii as well…judgmental error…you do that sometimes.”

Her expression was completely different from the usual, as she actually seemed happy and laughed.

“…Nii, Nii~ haha…Nii…messed up…♪”

Shiro shook her shoulders from side to side, her feet couldn’t help but swing about – and she smiled victoriously.

Sora didn’t get her meaning, but he did moan suddenly –

“W-wait a second, huh? I made a judgmental error? B-but situational decisions are…”

“…Yes, Nii’s…forte…but this time…Shiro won♪”

- She appeared truly happy.

In that game, Sora only felt dizzy as it was the first time Shiro had beaten him at it.

“H-how is this possible…I lost in judging situations, deduction, strategy, my reason for existence…”

-『　 』 - They were the strongest Imanity gamers, two in one, and if he as the strategist were to lose in terms of judgment –

Ignoring Sora who was almost in tears, Plum immediately asked Shiro:

“W-what is it!? What do we have to do to awaken the Empress!?”

As everyone bated their breath in anticipation – and as Sora looked at her tearfully.

Shiro – revealed the answer.

References

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