Chapter 3: Learn
Part 1
(…I was wrong.)
How could she not have expected this – she had went out to get
groceries to prepare sashimi as they had promised, and as
Steph brought Izuna to town, she felt extreme guilt at her
carelessness.
Fear, hateful gazes, scornful insults – those negative feelings
rained down on Izuna who was walking alongside Steph.
She couldn’t possibly not have noticed them with her
Werebeast senses.
(Although we are a 「Federation」, it really isn’t all that
easy to accept different races, but still…)
She had a very clear image of it in her mind.
It was true that Izuna – the Werebeasts were conquerors and
tyrants to the Elkians.
However that was only because of the 「Ten Pledges」.
The troubles and suffering of the Imanity all stemmed from the
fact that they had lost in a game.
If it was hatred towards an end result that both parties had
agreed with, it meant they were just being sore losers –
“Why doesn’t Steph-kou hate Izuna, des?”
“Huh -?”
“…Izuna was the one that took away your continent, des; so it
should be perfectly logical for you to hate me, des; but Izuna
caused your grandfather to be called a foolish king as well, des;
so why don’t you hate me, des?”
Izuna looked up at Steph and asked, and Steph’s hand in hers
momentarily froze.
How could she be so rude – Steph felt angered at her own
insensitivity.
Izuna was too smart.
She had faced off against Sora and Shiro, with the continent –
the fates of the Imanity and the Werebeasts on her back, with
such responsibilities on her.
- She couldn’t possibly have read nothing about it in the late
king’s library.
The effects her actions could have on the Imanity, and how she
would be treated after that, she had already predicted and come
to terms with those, and the only one who didn’t realize it –
(It’s just me again…)
Looking back, since Steph had woken up – which meant right
after Izuna had learnt the Imanity language, she had covered
Steph with a coat as she slept, which was a rather large change
in her attitude.
Why didn’t she realize why her attitude had changed – Steph
got angry at herself once again, although she shook her head
upon looking at the young girl’s uneasy gaze.
Since she was asked a question – she had the obligation to
answer.
Walking on the streets like this, facing all those hateful gazes
like this.
Izuna might begin to wonder whether Steph might hate her as
well – she needed to sweep away those unimaginable thoughts
from her head.
(Yes…that’s right, normally speaking…)
If they were angry at the nobles that had belittled Steph’s
beloved grandfather, must they hate those that had been the
cause of it, the Eastern Federation – Steph didn’t know. And
although she didn’t know why – she could confirm positively
that it wasn’t like that.
Suddenly, the corner of Steph’s mouth curled up in a smile.
“Why? I don’t know either ♪”
“Is Steph-kou an idiot, des.”
“Heh, maybe, but – I don’t think it’s that way.”
Steph said this while looking into Izuna’s large eyes.
- She was a young black-haired girl with stunningly obvious
ears and a tail that was even younger than Shiro.
She had faced off at an almost equal standard against 『 』,
with the orders of the third largest nation in the world on her
back – she had unlimited potential.
She was smart, diligent, pure and obedient, and she had a
stunning amount of maturity and intelligence as well.
Steph smiled cheerfully at that girl, and smiled even wider.
“Because Izuna is a good kid, and you’re cute as well.”
Steph spoke her mind, thinking that was the simplest way to
express her feelings.
Izuna widened her eyes in shock, after which her hair stood on
end and she averted her gaze expressionlessly.
She bent her head low, not allowing Steph to see her face and
spoke weakly:
“Steph-kou’s such an idiot, des.”
- Even though she said this, she clutched Steph’s hand
somewhat tighter.
Steph smiled somewhat bitterly at Izuna’s easily readable
attitude, and just as she was about to step forward once more –
“Ah~ it’s Izuna!”
The two turned around at the sound of that loud roar.
Multiple figures cut through the crowd, and rushed in their
direction – those were young kids.
“W-what -!?”
As Steph was frozen momentarily in shock, the kids
surrounded them.
After which they began cheering loudly.
“It’s Izuna! How awesome! It’s her in person!”
“Hey, Izuna, let’s have a showdown! You’re really strong
right?”
“You idiots, you stupid idiots, you need adults to come along,
you bald monkey!”
“Who are you people…des?”
Izuna asked confusedly as she was being overwhelmed by the
crowd of children.
As Steph was considering how to stop those kids – all of a
sudden, she noticed an animal ear and a tail in the crowd –
Werebeasts were amongst them, and she hurriedly asked:
“What are you all doing?”
“We’re playing! Together!”
One of the kids – a young girl with a pair of fox-like ears
replied as though she was just learning to speak.
“Are you…friends? With the Werebeast kids as well?”
“Of course!”
Steph asked immediately in confusion, while the fox-eared girl
asked confusedly with her head slightly tilted as well.
And the Imanity boy beside her said happily:
“- We became friends through playing games!”
Upon hearing this simple yet pure sentence…
Steph felt inexplicably emotional.
In that time, the kids surrounding Izuna were still blabbering
on.
“Let’s have a showdown, I definitely~ won’t lose to you!”
“…I’m hungry, des. We’re going to buy fish, des. I’m very
busy, des.”
Izuna looked impatiently at the young boy that was grabbing
on her clothes and was demanding her to play a game with him
and said –
“…I’ll destroy you painfully next time, des.”
Izuna’s mouth curled up in a smile.
That especially obnoxious boy punched his fist into the air and
cheered upon hearing that.
“That’s great! So it’s a promise! Izuna! You better follow it!”
“I already said we need adults as well, you bunch of idiots! –
Izuna-sama, I apologize.”
Just like that, the bunch of kids disappeared just as swiftly as
they had come.
Even after all the commotion had subsided, the raging
emotions within Steph had not, and remained like ashes of a
hearth fire.
“Heh…the answer turned out to be just like that…”
…The atmosphere around them had turned into that of
confusion without them realizing it.
It may be too early…
But in the near future, when those kids turned into adults… the
fact that the races used to hate each other would probably be
treated as a joke.
Steph smiled with those hopes residing within her.
“It’s not very often that we get to play games – I’m sure it’ll
be more fun that way.”
“…Steph-kou, you aren’t an idiot after all, des. You’re
probably pretty smart, des.”
Steph appeared as if she had just seen a god after hearing those
words.
“Ah, Izuna! You’re the only one that doesn’t call me an
idiot!!”
“…But you act like one, des.”
Izuna smiled a bitter smile as Steph hugged her tearfully.
- The world would change, was changing, and would continue
to change.
If it didn’t feel like it was changing – that would mean – you’re
just not paying attention –
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 sinisterlooking
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) 」-“” [1]
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…” [2]
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 fivemillimetre
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 – [3]
“- 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?” [4]
“…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 Shirosama!”
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!?
……….
“WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
H!!”
“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 CRAZYAAHHHHHHHHH!!”
“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) 」!!” [5]
- 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) 」” [6]
- 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) 」!” [7]
- 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」-“ [8]
- 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, Shichan.”
- 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」 toonyan?
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 Artoshsama’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.” [9]
- 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.
Chapter 3: Learn
Part 1
(…I was wrong.)
How could she not have expected this – she had went out to get
groceries to prepare sashimi as they had promised, and as
Steph brought Izuna to town, she felt extreme guilt at her
carelessness.
Fear, hateful gazes, scornful insults – those negative feelings
rained down on Izuna who was walking alongside Steph.
She couldn’t possibly not have noticed them with her
Werebeast senses.
(Although we are a 「Federation」, it really isn’t all that
easy to accept different races, but still…)
She had a very clear image of it in her mind.
It was true that Izuna – the Werebeasts were conquerors and
tyrants to the Elkians.
However that was only because of the 「Ten Pledges」.
The troubles and suffering of the Imanity all stemmed from the
fact that they had lost in a game.
If it was hatred towards an end result that both parties had
agreed with, it meant they were just being sore losers –
“Why doesn’t Steph-kou hate Izuna, des?”
“Huh -?”
“…Izuna was the one that took away your continent, des; so it
should be perfectly logical for you to hate me, des; but Izuna
caused your grandfather to be called a foolish king as well, des;
so why don’t you hate me, des?”
Izuna looked up at Steph and asked, and Steph’s hand in hers
momentarily froze.
How could she be so rude – Steph felt angered at her own
insensitivity.
Izuna was too smart.
She had faced off against Sora and Shiro, with the continent –
the fates of the Imanity and the Werebeasts on her back, with
such responsibilities on her.
- She couldn’t possibly have read nothing about it in the late
king’s library.
The effects her actions could have on the Imanity, and how she
would be treated after that, she had already predicted and come
to terms with those, and the only one who didn’t realize it –
(It’s just me again…)
Looking back, since Steph had woken up – which meant right
after Izuna had learnt the Imanity language, she had covered
Steph with a coat as she slept, which was a rather large change
in her attitude.
Why didn’t she realize why her attitude had changed – Steph
got angry at herself once again, although she shook her head
upon looking at the young girl’s uneasy gaze.
Since she was asked a question – she had the obligation to
answer.
Walking on the streets like this, facing all those hateful gazes
like this.
Izuna might begin to wonder whether Steph might hate her as
well – she needed to sweep away those unimaginable thoughts
from her head.
(Yes…that’s right, normally speaking…)
If they were angry at the nobles that had belittled Steph’s
beloved grandfather, must they hate those that had been the
cause of it, the Eastern Federation – Steph didn’t know. And
although she didn’t know why – she could confirm positively
that it wasn’t like that.
Suddenly, the corner of Steph’s mouth curled up in a smile.
“Why? I don’t know either ♪”
“Is Steph-kou an idiot, des.”
“Heh, maybe, but – I don’t think it’s that way.”
Steph said this while looking into Izuna’s large eyes.
- She was a young black-haired girl with stunningly obvious
ears and a tail that was even younger than Shiro.
She had faced off at an almost equal standard against 『 』,
with the orders of the third largest nation in the world on her
back – she had unlimited potential.
She was smart, diligent, pure and obedient, and she had a
stunning amount of maturity and intelligence as well.
Steph smiled cheerfully at that girl, and smiled even wider.
“Because Izuna is a good kid, and you’re cute as well.”
Steph spoke her mind, thinking that was the simplest way to
express her feelings.
Izuna widened her eyes in shock, after which her hair stood on
end and she averted her gaze expressionlessly.
She bent her head low, not allowing Steph to see her face and
spoke weakly:
“Steph-kou’s such an idiot, des.”
- Even though she said this, she clutched Steph’s hand
somewhat tighter.
Steph smiled somewhat bitterly at Izuna’s easily readable
attitude, and just as she was about to step forward once more –
“Ah~ it’s Izuna!”
The two turned around at the sound of that loud roar.
Multiple figures cut through the crowd, and rushed in their
direction – those were young kids.
“W-what -!?”
As Steph was frozen momentarily in shock, the kids
surrounded them.
After which they began cheering loudly.
“It’s Izuna! How awesome! It’s her in person!”
“Hey, Izuna, let’s have a showdown! You’re really strong
right?”
“You idiots, you stupid idiots, you need adults to come along,
you bald monkey!”
“Who are you people…des?”
Izuna asked confusedly as she was being overwhelmed by the
crowd of children.
As Steph was considering how to stop those kids – all of a
sudden, she noticed an animal ear and a tail in the crowd –
Werebeasts were amongst them, and she hurriedly asked:
“What are you all doing?”
“We’re playing! Together!”
One of the kids – a young girl with a pair of fox-like ears
replied as though she was just learning to speak.
“Are you…friends? With the Werebeast kids as well?”
“Of course!”
Steph asked immediately in confusion, while the fox-eared girl
asked confusedly with her head slightly tilted as well.
And the Imanity boy beside her said happily:
“- We became friends through playing games!”
Upon hearing this simple yet pure sentence…
Steph felt inexplicably emotional.
In that time, the kids surrounding Izuna were still blabbering
on.
“Let’s have a showdown, I definitely~ won’t lose to you!”
“…I’m hungry, des. We’re going to buy fish, des. I’m very
busy, des.”
Izuna looked impatiently at the young boy that was grabbing
on her clothes and was demanding her to play a game with him
and said –
“…I’ll destroy you painfully next time, des.”
Izuna’s mouth curled up in a smile.
That especially obnoxious boy punched his fist into the air and
cheered upon hearing that.
“That’s great! So it’s a promise! Izuna! You better follow it!”
“I already said we need adults as well, you bunch of idiots! –
Izuna-sama, I apologize.”
Just like that, the bunch of kids disappeared just as swiftly as
they had come.
Even after all the commotion had subsided, the raging
emotions within Steph had not, and remained like ashes of a
hearth fire.
“Heh…the answer turned out to be just like that…”
…The atmosphere around them had turned into that of
confusion without them realizing it.
It may be too early…
But in the near future, when those kids turned into adults… the
fact that the races used to hate each other would probably be
treated as a joke.
Steph smiled with those hopes residing within her.
“It’s not very often that we get to play games – I’m sure it’ll
be more fun that way.”
“…Steph-kou, you aren’t an idiot after all, des. You’re
probably pretty smart, des.”
Steph appeared as if she had just seen a god after hearing those
words.
“Ah, Izuna! You’re the only one that doesn’t call me an
idiot!!”
“…But you act like one, des.”
Izuna smiled a bitter smile as Steph hugged her tearfully.
- The world would change, was changing, and would continue
to change.
If it didn’t feel like it was changing – that would mean – you’re
just not paying attention –
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 sinisterlooking
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) 」-“” [1]
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…” [2]
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 fivemillimetre
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 – [3]
“- 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?” [4]
“…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 Shirosama!”
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!?
……….
“WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
H!!”
“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 CRAZYAAHHHHHHHHH!!”
“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) 」!!” [5]
- 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) 」” [6]
- 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) 」!” [7]
- 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」-“ [8]
- 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, Shichan.”
- 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」 toonyan?
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 Artoshsama’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.” [9]
- 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.
