No Game No Life - Volume 3 - Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3 
KILLING GIANTS 
INDUCTION 
Elkia Royal Castle—Presence Chamber. The two monarchs of Immanity resting on the throne, sprawled out as if melting. 
“Hey, this is frickin’ weak… When the hell is the Eastern Union planning to tell us when our game is?” 
“…So, bored…” 
Already almost five days had passed since their exchange with Chlammy and Fiel. After getting their groove on like that, now they were being made to wait until they lost it entirely. Even Steph, usually in the position of chastising them, could say nothing. In the back of the mind of the nervous-looking Steph, a certain possibility flashed. 
“C-could it be they’ve forgotten—or we haven’t got their letter…perhaps?” 
—At Steph, who spoke remembering that previously the letters they had been sending had never arrived. The melted Sora picked himself up and formed a grin more sadistic than ever before. 
“…Ohh? If that’s the case, then someone’s gonna have to be taught a little lesson—ya know?” 
In the back of his mind spinning history’s greatest prank, which he’d saved as his final trump card — 
“Master, I’m sorry to intrude.” 
Jibril apologized, appearing from thin air. Their gazes locked on the cylinder in her hand. Sora and Shiro sat up violently. 
“Whoa, Jibril! Is that what I—?” 
“Yes, it is a letter from the Eastern Union, indicating their acceptance of the game and the appointed date.” 
Beaming, Jibril continued. 
“It seems it was being suppressed within the Elkia Royal Castle so as to stop the game with the Eastern Union. You see, there was a fellow who started acting suspiciously each time he witnessed me—” 
“Uh… You didn’t…” 
This was Jibril. She couldn’t have killed— 
“Please be at ease. I persuaded him in the most courteous and peaceful manner. Simply looking gently into his eyes and admonishing him lightly was enough for him to moisten his lower body, weep, sob, tell me everything I needed to know, and give me the letter.” 
“I-I see…” 
—The Ten Covenants didn’t cover intimidation, huh? Wait but, then, wouldn’t withholding the letter from them amount to plunder or—But Steph said, holding her head: 
“…I should have known… After all, Immanity’s life is at stake… Someone in the government who hadn’t taken part in the covenant not to make false reports would still have been able to use a game to lift someone’s right to deliver the letter and—” 
…Huh, so Steph really did have a head for politics. Secretly thinking to himself that he should raise his estimation of Steph a bit, Sora continued. 
“— It wasn’t specified when they had to deliver it , I guess. Hey, Immanity, you’re pretty sneaky when it comes to things like this. I wish you’d just use those brains for something more useful to the country.” 
“For now, you are the enemy of Immanity. I think they are applying them perfectly?” 
Steph’s sarcastic reply passed epically over Sora’s head. 
“Let’s seee, then, what does it ? Hey, Shiro, what’s today’s date?” 
“…Twenty-seventh.” 
Strained-faced Sora’s confirmation was answered immediately by Shiro. 
“—D00d, that’s today; today’s supposed to be the game!” 
“Huh?! Uh, um, what time—” 
To a flustered Steph, Sora howled. 
“Starting in the evening—we don’t even have half a day! Come on, everyone get ready fast!” 
“A-all r—” 
“Your humble servant Jibril is ready anytime.” 
“…I’m…all, good…” 
“And her brother, Sora, is also all clear to go anytime! So all of you, let’s go!” 
That Sora and his crew were prepared for takeoff just by standing up stressed Steph out. 
“E-excuse me! Look, th-this is an official battle of nations! At least you need to dress—” 
“What? This is my official regalia. You got a problem with that?” 
Perhaps it was the way of the world that a normal person among weirdos would always be called the weirdo. The three stared at Steph as if to ask, What are you on? to which she replied— 
“—F-fine! Very well, we’ll go as we are!” 
“And so, Masters and little Dora, please clutch onto me. We shall shift to the embassy—” 
“Oh, Jibril, nope.” 
Refusing the maximum-speed mode of transport proffered by Jibril and turning to face Steph, Sora ordered: 
“Steph, prepare a carriage at the front of the castle—we’re gonna go out in style, from the frickin’ front .” 
As Jibril failed to grasp the meaning of his suggestion, Steph was dumbfounded. 
“Wha… D-do you realize there’s a riot out there?!” 
“ That’s why —look. Why do you think I started this riot?” 
 
The grand square before the Elkia Royal Castle, mobbed by demonstrators, a hurricane of invective. Before it, the enormous main gate of Elkia Royal Castle slowly opened with thunderous noise. The rally was ready to launch a barrage of bile upon whosoever should appear—but. At the four who stepped out, silence fell. 
At the steps of the four, the crowd in the square, draped in stillness, parted and made way. Walking at the center with black hair and dark eyes as deep and cold as night was the king—Sora. At his right, with eyes more bewitchingly ruby-red than ever before, the queen—Shiro. Walking a step behind, with amber eyes twinkling quietly, their servant—Jibril. Each of their eyes with their own glow, each filled with an uncommon resolve and a confidence that seemed absolute—that forbade the people to form words. 
…Well, that’s overromanticizing it a little. Mainly it was Jibril’s gaze and placid smile that said it: If you would like to disparage my master, please feel free to do so in exchange for your life. Her overwhelming presence stopped people from even breathing and stole all words from the crowd. Far behind, aquamarine-eyed Steph awkwardly scurried to catch up. 
—In the end, the steps of Sora and his companions allowed not a single word of abuse. 
Steph, having clambered onto the carriage, out of breath, interrogated Sora as she caught her breath. 
“Y-you started the riot—what do you mean?” 
But Sora said to Shiro as if the query was unexpected. 
“Huh, Shiro didn’t explain?” 
“…?” 
As Shiro tilted her head, Sora realized just as he’d said it. 
…It was a stupid question. There was no way Shiro would take the initiative to explain something to one other than Sora. 
“Ohh, it’s like. When I bet the Immanity Piece, I was aiming for—three things.” 
Sora raised three fingers and turned to face Steph. 
“One, it goes without saying, was to drag the Eastern Union into the game. Another, which you probably know, was to lure in Chlammy and draw her to our side. And then the third—” 
Sora, having counted down to his last finger, smiled mischievously. 
“—was the distrustful eyes of the masses .” 
“Huh…?” 
“Who needs a bunch of suckers who just trust that we’re definitely gonna win? What we need is a bunch of assholes who are going to watch the match with bloodshot eyes, wondering if we’re gonna throw it. Effectively, what this will do is to prevent the Eastern Union from cheating blatantly. There’s no spectator you can trust more than one who doesn’t trust you.” 
Sora grinned gleefully. Disregarding Steph’s bewilderment, he called to the coachman with abandon. 
“So get that carriage out. Our destination—Izzy’s house! 
“…Onward!” 
 
At the outskirts of the capital, Elkia, a towering, giant building positioned just on this side of the border. The embassy of the Eastern Union in Elkia. As Sora’s party got out of the carriage, they were greeted by an aging, white-haired Werebeast in garb resembling Japanese formal wear. The deputy ambassador of the Eastern Union in Elkia—Ino Hatsuse. 
“…We have been awaiting your arrival.” 
“Dude, you’re the ones who made us wait. Come on, you ready for this?” 
Despite Sora talking smack the moment he got down from the carriage, Ino seemed nonetheless to take caution as he answered briefly. 
“…Please, right this way.” 
Guided into the building—the embassy—Sora’s party walked behind Ino, who said nothing. 
“Hey, the old guy’s pretty reticent, isn’t he. What’s his deal?” 
To Sora as he muttered, the guy knew how to get smart with us before. Steph answered with a tired face. 
“After you swindled him into betting the entire continental territory of the Eastern Union, that’s what you have to say? 
“For heaven’s sake—,” said Steph, holding her head. “To be so carefree right before a game played with the Immanity Piece at stake, aren’t you the ones who have something wrong with you?” 
Jibril scanned the scene giddily (despite this being their second time here), practically drooling in fascination at everything she saw. In contrast, Shiro yawned softly, messing with her phone, while Sora folded his arms behind his head and yammered flightily. Meanwhile, Steph desperately tried to suppress the pain in her stomach. 
“You okay there, Steph? Relax your shoulders. You’re never gonna be able to keep it up like that.” 
“Thank you for your concern. However, the cause of my stomachaches, in 100 percent of cases, is you two…” 
They were led to the same reception chamber as before. 
“…If you will, please wait here for a bit until the appointed time for the game.” 
“Sure thing. And make sure you let in all our spectators, just like we said, okay?” 
Upon Ino’s single bow and wordless departure, Sora spoke as he unhesitatingly stretched out on the sofa. 
“So, Jibril, wake me up when it’s time.” 
“Your wish is my command. Please enjoy your rest.” 
“…Me, too.” 
…and, on the stomach of the supine Sora, Shiro unhesitatingly curled up and closed her eyes. Within only a few seconds, the siblings were breathing with the comfortable sounds of slumber. 
“…I cannot believe this. What kind of sense do they have?” 
In a few short hours would begin a match that would determine the fate of all humans. Given that Steph had been fighting nausea and stomachache since the moment she’d been informed of the game schedule, Jibril, seemingly as at ease as Sora and Shiro, suggested: 
“Dora, why don’t you get some rest as well? According to my masters’ literature, the Immanity brain is at its peak function in the few hours after rising?” 
“If I had the nerves of steel to sleep in this situation, I’d like to—” 
“I understand. Things must be difficult if my masters consider it necessary to do so .” 
“……!” 
These words made Steph’s face contort. 
“It appears that this game demands the full capacity of even my masters. Should this be the case, I suppose I shall have to take it a bit seriously as well.” 
Steph felt her stomachache get even worse. And so—for Steph, the few hours until the start of the game passed as a series of trips between the restroom and the reception room. 
 
“… Yawn … Oh, Steph. Looks like you’ve lost weight in the last few hours?” 
“ Grown haggard , I think is the phrase that might apply…” 
Approaching the game’s appointed start time, an exhausted Steph answered a freshly risen Sora. 
“Great. Shiro, how you feeling?” 
“…All, green.” 
Shiro answered Sora’s question with eyes glowing several degrees brighter than usual. 
“You, Jibril?” 
“A Flügel’s condition knows no variance. I am always ready to devote all my spirits at your command.” 
Yet even Jibril answered with a restless expression swept clean of her usual laxity. 
“Steph—well…yeah, I guess there’s no hope there.” 
With that, Sora spoke slowly. 
“By the way, Steph, you remember the game we played the other day?” 
“…Which game do you mean?” 
“The game where we guessed when the pigeon would fly off.” 
“Oh, yes…the day you turned me into a dog; what of it, Sir?” 
“You remember how we made that wager, and I— still haven’t specified what I want ?” 
“—Huh?” 
“Jibril, can you make it so the Werebeasts can’t hear us here?” 
“Certainly, Master; I shall envelop you and little Dora in spirits so that sound cannot escape.” 
Jibril nodding once, revolving her halo. Sora turned back to Steph. 
“’Kay, Steph, now I’m gonna perform a very special charm on you…” 
With a very, very sweet smile, but approaching rather creepily, Sora inspired in Steph only the worst of expectations— 
 
—The game’s appointed start time. Shown in by Ino, the party arrived at one floor of the embassy. The vast, right-angled hall gave the impression of taking up the entire story of the massive building. A single giant screen filled each wall, across all four sides of the floor. Amidst this, come to watch the game that would determine the fate of the human race, crowded several hundred—no, perhaps even a thousand Immanities, watching the stage with looks full of suspicion. On the stage, before the front screen, was a black box—and upon it were situated five chairs. 
“……” 
Demurely seated in one of those chairs waited their opponent. Ambassador of the Eastern Union in Elkia. A black-haired Werebeast with ears as long as those of a fennec fox—Izuna Hatsuse. With her eyes closed as if focusing her mind, the girl showed no trace of the warmth she had exhibited the other day. 
“…If you’ll each be seated here, please.” 
At Ino’s urging, Sora sat next to Izuna. Then, in order to the right, Shiro, Jibril, and Steph followed. Having checked that they were seated, Ino, standing beside Izuna, read from the document he held. 
“Now—if you will, the review of the covenant shall commence.” 
Someone could be heard to swallow. 
“The Eastern Union wagers all it possesses on the continent of Lucia. The Kingdom of Elkia wagers its Race Piece—in other words, all rights, all territory, and everything else possessed by Immanity. Under these conditions, a game specified by the Eastern Union shall be played by a total of five players, comprising the representative of the Eastern Union as well as the two monarchs of the Kingdom of Elkia and their two attendants— one on four .” 
Seeing that all of his demands—including that it be one on four —had gone through, Sora smirked. 
—Of course they had. They hadn’t given them a choice . 
“Moreover, per the Eastern Union’s standard practice, a concomitant demand shall be made that all memories of the game be forgotten. This demand applies to all Immanities including the players and spectators.” 
Ino continued neutrally. 
“Also, the rules shall be explained after the game begins . Therefore, should the game be refused after hearing the rules, the match shall be ruled invalid, and the memories regarding the rules shall be forgotten solely—is this truly acceptable?” 
—It was bullshit. You wouldn’t find out what the game was until after you bet? And then he spelled out what a heavy demand it was and bothered to ask, “Is this truly acceptable?” Acceptable, my ass , was the collective thought of all in the audience. But, responding all too carefreely: 
“Sure, no problem . But I just want to clarify two things.” 
Eagerly, the king of Immanity—Sora. 
“Even if we withdraw, all that we’re gonna lose are our memories of today’s game. If you’re hoping you can make us quit by hitting us with an impossible game and then take all our memories , forget it. Don’t waste your time.” 
Then, peering deeper into Ino’s eyes. 
“And here’s the second thing. ‘If cheating is discovered in a game, it shall be counted as a loss’—as long as you’re not forgetting this fundamental premise of the Ten Covenants, there’s no problem . Come, then, let’s get started.” 
…At Sora, who so easily—too easily—struck down one of the traps laid by the upper brass of the Eastern Union. At Sora, who seemed not to consider in the slightest the possibility that he might lose. At his actions, which appeared to onlookers unsurpassably rash. Even Ino and Izuna, who knew that the game had been laid bare . All grimaced for different reasons. 
“…Then, taking this as a sign of agreement—let us declare the covenant.” 
At Ino’s announcement, Sora and Shiro raised their hands. Jibril, unhesitatingly, and Steph, hesitantly. 
“ Aschente .” 
“ Aschente , please.” 
The agent plenipotentiary of Immanity, Sora and Shiro, and each of the players. And the agent plenipotentiary of the Eastern Union, Izuna Hatsuse. 
—Each pronounced to one another the word of oath under the Ten Covenants. 
“Okay, Shiro, don’t let go of my hand, all right?” 
“…You too, Brother.” 
As they gripped each other’s hands, Sora leaned back in his chair and said: 
“Come—let’s begin the game.” 
“…Very well, I shall do the honors.” 
Ino, thus muttering, manipulated the black box—probably turning on the power. The giant screens covering the walls lit up. 
—This was it: the game for the human race itself. And for the entire continental domain of the third largest country in the world. Amidst a whirlpool of countless emotions: tension, doubt, despair. The hall was crammed with as many as a thousand spectators yet went as silent as the bottom of the sea. Beside Izuna, viewing the screen, Sora spoke. 
“Hey, Izuna.” 
“—What, please?” 
Words from the enemy just before the start of the game. For a moment, she doubted whether she should respond to them. But his query, delivered as he faced the screen without any special excitement or emotion— 
—were words Izuna would come to regret having asked for. 
“When’s the last time you felt a game was fun?” 
Before Izuna could process the question, the display went black, and— 
— their consciousness was swallowed into the screen . 
 
As his consciousness dived, still Sora considered calmly. (We’ve found out the game from the info the old king left us and the intel we’ve gathered.) It was, indeed, a video game , just as Sora had uncovered. The one discrepancy was that this game was taking place virtually, with a full-consciousness dive . The previous king had written that “it takes place in another world,” but that must have been as far as he’d understood. 
(At the time, he was playing Ino Hatsuse. The old dude.) It was written that the game was a “shooting game”—in other words, an FPS. But now that time had gone by since the last game, the role of the player had been handed down to Izuna Hatsuse. It was probably safe to assume that the game itself had changed… but —(Considering the properties of Werebeast, the cheats they’re likely to use, and the fact that this is a public match under the eyes of spectators, we can also assume that they’re not gonna change the fundamental type of game.) Indeed, under these conditions . No other genre could be imagined to provide Werebeast with “certain victory.” (But they are gonna mess with the detailed rules, change up the map, definitely. This is a game of how we’re gonna respond quickly to things we expected and things we didn’t and adapt our strategy—) But as loading finished and the world assembled before his eyes, Sora’s thoughts crashed, and his eyes opened to their maximum. It was ? 
“ ? No, way.” 
“…… ? ” 
The siblings cursed their folly. They’d anticipated countless rule sets, countless maps, and prepared countless strategies. But—this was the one map they hadn’t thought of at all. It definitely was. They knew it…they’d never thought to see it again. Oh, that dear and dreadful place, so chock-full of their trauma— 
There was no mistaking it if they tried—it was Tokyo, Japan . 
“…Sorry, Steph, Jibril.” 
“Uh, what?” 
“ ? Hh! Ah, eh, did you call?!” 
To Steph, spacing out, and Jibril, drooling at the unfamiliar scenery, Sora spoke. 
“We can’t do this. Sorry, Immanity is done for.” 
“ Chatter chatter shiver shiver ” 
“Huh…wh-what now?! After you said all that—” 
“Sorry forgive me I never even considered it might be in Tokyo we can’t do this our home field is not to our advantage we’re no more use so I really apologize but you’ll just have to figure something out—” 
“Chatter chatter shiver shiver” 
As the brother blathered away with his eyes rolling back in his head and the sister crouched and trembled with her head in her hands, Jibril stuttered. 
“—Do—do you mean to say this is your world?” 
Then the narrator’s—rather Ino’s—voice resounded. 
“Was it a shock? Welcome to the game world.” 
“…Game…world.” 
“Indeed. This is the setting of the game. The game will take place in this fictional—” 
“Wait.” 
“—Yes?” 
“Let me check. You said—it’s fictional, a place that doesn’t exist , right?” 
“Yes. Is this a problem?” 
Looking around at the signs, Sora checked objectively. Crowded in countless glass-sided buildings, a world built out of asphalt and concrete. 
…Indeed, it looked quite like downtown Tokyo—but. The signs dotted around clearly were not in Japanese, and there were shrine gates here and there, more of a sense of nature… Looking carefully, it wasn’t exactly the Tokyo Sora knew. 

“—So you’re saying this is an artificial virtual world that you guys imagined and created ?” 
“Yes. How quick is your understanding.” 
“ ? Shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit, don’t troll us like that!” 
Sora’s mighty roar echoed throughout the game’s “Tokyo.” 
“—Aaaah, shit! You just triggered goddamn flashbacks! I almost ripped out my arteries… Don’t make such confusing crap, you damn old fart!” 
At the wildly raging Sora, Ino’s confusion only increased. 
“…What is it that angers you so…? Are you dissatisfied with this stage?” 
“I’m dripping with dissatisfaction! What possessed you to use this stage?! What is this, psychological warfare or griefing?” 
“ Sir… It is simply because the young of late have become enamored of science fiction stages such as this. There is no deep intent. ” 
“Uh…uhh? Science…fiction?” 
—O-oh. Calm down. You gotta calm down, Sora, virgin, eighteen. This is a world that has elves and dragons—just like we all imagined them in our old world. Just like Disboard is fantasy in our world. For these guys, a world like present-day Earth is the product of fancy—that’s all it is. This is a game our consciousness has dived into; it’s a fictional world; it’s not Tokyo. Sora breathed deeply, reassuring himself. 
“ Hhh…Hhh… Okay, I’m good. I’m calm now.” 
“…Chatter chatter shiver shiver” 
“Shiro, calm down. This isn’t Tokyo. It just looks like it. It’s an imaginary place they made up.” 
“…… Hig …uh?” 
Perhaps just too traumatized. Shiro apparently hadn’t even heard what Ino said until Sora repeated it to her. 
“Yeah, it’s just a game anyway. We can walk around if it’s in a game, right, like Pe*sona or Ste*ns;Gate or Akiba’s *rip . We’re inside a game. It’s okay inside a game. And offline we’ve still got a good grip on each other’s hand. Right, yeah?” 
“…In a, game…mm…hmm, o…kay…” 
With eyes still somewhat vacant, Shiro got up. 
“Ehh, well, with that—shall we proceed with the game?” 
—Come to think of it, this game was being observed by the human race. Sora couldn’t see them, but, feeling gazes colder than glaciers fixed on him, he cleared his throat. 
“A’ight. We’re ready. Let’s do this.” 
“Ahem, in that case, let us start with the opening movie .” 
“Pardon? What is that?” 
“Is it necessary?” 
Sora and Shiro, long since having adopted a kneeling posture, replied to the doubtful Steph and Jibril. 
“If you skip the opening movie, you fail as a gamer. If you will, ladies, shut up, sit tight, and watch.” 
“…Nod, nod.” 
Thus urged, Steph and Jibril reluctantly joined their masters in a kneeling position. And in the skies of “Tokyo,” a giant screen was projected. 
“You are—popular with girls.” 
…One second into the opening, Sora was already pretty sure this was going to fail as a game. But his pride as a gamer just barely kept his tongue. 
“You are so popular with girls from all over the world, you lead a life of constantly being chased… But you yourself, in your heart of hearts, have just one girl—one love of whom you dream.” 
Projected along with the ridiculous narration. The image of Izuna, dressed up in cute, florid clothes, as if she weren’t already angelic enough. 
“But even so, surrounded by such masses of temptation, there is only so long your feelings can stay pure—” 
A graphic of a figure chased by hordes of animal-girls and hugged once captured. 
“Can you fight through the masses of temptation—and deliver your love through to your one and only?!” 
Living or Dead Gaiden 
Love or Loved 2: Get Her with Your Bullet of Love 
—The opening ended. Or, shall we say, it had ended. Sora holding his head as if trying to contain something. Shiro unspeaking. Beside Jibril as she drooled in fascination, Steph stared puzzledly. 
“G-Gramps, do you mind?” 
They sure picked some game for a contest on which rested the fate of the nation and the human race. To Sora, about to let slip a snide remark (or nine), Ino apologetically pleaded… 
“…Please, could you not say anything? Izuna had us make this game because she dislikes gory content.” 
…You’re pretty fairy-tale after all, aren’t you, Izzy? 
“More importantly, everyone, please look at the boxes at your feet.” 
As everyone looked toward their feet, now each had a little box there. The kind of box in which you find ammo in an FPS. Opening it up— 
“What is this, a gun ?” 
“…Weird…shape.” 
“The shape does indeed seem to differ significantly from the ‘guns’ which appear in your literature.” 
“What is this? How are you supposed to hold it?” 
To the siblings, confused at the bizarre shape of the weapon, and to the two who had never seen a gun, Ino continued. 
“Now, please let me explain the rules.” 
Ino proceeded in a monotone as if reading off the instruction manual. 
“Please use the gun provided—to shoot the NPC girls who chase you.” 
“You shoot them?!” 
“At times you will shoot them, at times you will bomb them—to make them fall head over heels for you.” 
“What is this, Ga*Gun ?!” 
“Once they fall head over heels, they will realize the strength of your love and disappear, leaving you with their power of love.” 
“…Uh, okay.” 
“The ‘Lovey-Dovey Gun’ fires the power of love—technically termed Love Power .” 
Sora looked down at the bizarre gun he had. 
“—This is called a Lovey-Dovey Gun?” 
“…Lame.” 
“It is indeed a thoughtless name. The infantile sensibility of this game comes through in spades.” 
“Excuse me, please, what is a gun?” 
“Your team wins if you shoot your ‘one and only,’ that is, Izuna, with the Lovey-Dovey Gun—Lovey Gun for short.” 
“…Rrright.” 
“However, if one of you is shot by Izuna, then her victim will become her ‘slave of love.’” 
“—Um…can you just say ‘turn on you’?” 
“In a world in which all girls adore you, except only for your one true love, the object of this game is to get through to her with the power of love and make her fall head over heels with lovey-dovey feelings—so explains the instruction manual .” 
Ino’s implicit assertion being, This was not my idea , prompted a— Hmm, okay —from Sora. Summing up the rules in his head, he opened his mouth, eyes squinting. 
“…This premise pisses me off. Basically you’re saying we go around rejecting every girl in sight. What kind of dickhead are we supposed to be?” 
So they all had charisma times, like, a million now, right? Get gibbed. Thrust of it was, everyone was hyper-ultra-popular, but for the four on Sora’s team, Izuna was their “one and only.” For Izuna, though, they were all her “four and only.” 
“So, basically, Izuna’s going for the harem ending with all four of us in love with her while we’re each gunning for Izuna alone.” 
“Well, yes, that is how it’s set up.” 
“…That’s, like, what. It’s…” 
Through a haze of emotions, Sora searched for words. 
“I can deal with this ’cause Izzy’s a cute animal-girl, but, say if it were you, Gramps? Right now I’d imagine myself logging out, taking a running start, and smashing your eyes with my fingers.” 
“I can thoroughly appreciate how you feel, but please remember that you were the one who requested that the game be one-on-four .” 
—Ino reemphasized that they were the ones responsible for this obnoxious premise. But he continued, now rather showing sympathy toward Sora. 
“These days only cutesy games like this are popular… When I was young, we were serious—” 
—Sora felt oddly moved to see that there were retro posers in every world. 
“…Okay, sure. I want to confirm the rules, so let me ask you a few, Gramps.” 
“Please ask anything you like.” 
1. Firing your Lovey Gun or Lovey Bombs uses up Love Power. 
2. You can replenish Love Power by shooting down girls. 
3. The girls are drawn by Love Power, and when they touch you, your Love Power decreases. 
4. If you run out of Love Power, girls won’t come to you, and you’ll effectively be knocked out. 
5. If you get shot by Izuna, you lose control of your character and become Izuna’s “slave of love”—an enemy. 
6. Allies whom Izuna has shot to turn to enemies can be brought back by being shot again by an ally . 
7. The method in #6 can also be used to bring back a player who’s run out of Love Power. 
8. All character stats reflect players’ abilities in real life , except that magic cannot be used. 
“—So, yeah, is that how it is?” 
“Your quick grasp of the rules is a pleasure to see.” 
…Sora put his hand on his chin and thought. The foreseeable issues and concerns were countless but posed no problem. It was just—really just barely but—within the expected parameters. 
“Ah well, it’s just a cross between Le*t 4 Dead and Gal*un , basically.” 
Tidying up the rules in his head, still Sora had to say. 
“But this is really a stupid-ass game…the kind oinking otaku buy…” 
“…Like…you, you mean.” 
“Yeah. This stage and protagonist are shit, but it takes some balls to use a game this dumb for a battle for dominion. And I can’t really argue with being chased around by animal-girls.” 
Sora, starting to leer and wheeze, suddenly asked: 
“Gramps, this ‘Lovey Gun’—if you shoot an ally, they recharge; how’s that work?” 
“Very simply. It is because it fires Love Power.” 
“…So it has the same effects as being shot by Izuna?” 
“Yes, although only temporarily, the party shot will become a ‘slave of—’” 
Powww! 
Before Ino even finished his sentence, Shiro unremorselessly pulled the trigger on Sora . The pink bullet that flew out struck Sora’s arm at sonic speed, sending up countless little hearts— 
“Oh, my sister—my dear sister! To think all this time, a woman so lovely and adorable was so near me and I didn’t realize… Oh, these eyes! I want to tear them from my face!” 
“…Hey…Brother, no…we’re, siblings…” 
Shiro squirmed, flushing, in response to his melodramatic gestures. 
“Ah! But what of it? You are right that the world would not condone it, but what indeed has become of our world ! This is Disboard; this is a game! A world where everything is determined by games—whatever anyone may say, let us go—to a place beyond censorship boards!” 
“Hey— I have something to say!! Have you forgotten that people are watching?!” 
As Steph butted in, not getting what was going on but panicking, further, Jibril broke in. 
“Then, if I may speak as well.” 
Powww. Jibril’s point was made with a bullet raining hearts toward Shiro. 
“…Jibril…I love you… ? ” 
“Aaaaaah, Shirooo! Will you deny the love of your brother?!” 
“Ahaaugh! This is an example of a ‘love triangle’ or ‘ netorare ,’ as described in my masters’ literature! I see—even to me, who lacks the emotion of love, there’s something about it—!” 
“— Hh! ” 
…Sora abruptly came back to his senses. 
“Mngh… So you stay conscious even in the ‘slave of love’ state… It’s pretty scary to lose control of your character when you’re virtually in the game… I was about to lay hands on Shiro and go beyond the ban…” 
Shiro, coming to a little after, glared at Jibril with half-closed eyes, saying: 
“…Jib-ril…I’ll, punish you…later…” 
“Ohh! Forgive me, Lord Shiro! I could not contain my curiosity!” 
Having grasped the nuances of the rules, Sora started building a strategy in his brain. The first concern that popped up was— 
“Ummm… Steph, we just explained the rules, but did you get it?” 
“Heh, I shall not have you underestimating me— I understood not one whit of it! ” 
Da-DUMMM. Steph held her head high, proud, and defiant, leaving Sora to explain. 
“Hmm. Okay, then, first, this gun, this is how you hold it.” 
“Mm, like this?” 
“Right, right. And you put your index finger into this hole.” 
“Yes, yes?” 
“Then, try pointing it straight down and gripping with your index finger.” 
“Like this?” 
Steph pointed to the ground as she was told, and pulled the trigger. A powww sound. It blasted the pavement—and ricocheted . 
“…O-ohh…How wonderful you are, Ste-pha-nie—eh-heh-heh, I’ll never let you go!” 
Steph, now her own slave of love, started hugging herself and squirming around. 
“Hmm, so they do bounce. This must be the key, Shiro.” 
“…Mm, I…know…leave it, to me.” 
Surveying Steph as she squirmed with serious eyes, making arrangements that only had meaning to them, the siblings articulated their strategy. 
“’Kay, we’ll call this Point Alpha for now. We’ll stay in a line until we figure out the game balance. According to the rules, no one but Jibril should have physical stats worth shit. If the girls have Werebeast stats, we might even have trouble losing them. Jibril, you take the rear. Mow down all pursuers.” 
“…Yes, sir…” 
“Understood, sir—but is it all right to leave little Dora like this?” 
At this, staring at the writhing throes of Steph, Sora said: 
“Nah, it’s no big deal if Izuna shoots her. She’s just Steph.” 
“You speak truly, my lord. She is but little Dora.” 
At Sora’s decisive dismissal, Jibril abandoned Steph eagerly. 
“Now, you two , let’s go! The fate of the human race depends on this battle!” 
““Yes, sir!!”” 
“Eh-heh-heh, how wonderful you are, Ste-pha-nie… Ohhh, why are you so cold?” 
Leaving Steph behind as she writhed against her reflection in a pane of glass, the three ran. 
 VIEWING FLOOR ? 
The game had begun. Amid the crowd aghast at the stupidity of the game. A girl, exuding caution, a shadow cast over her dark eyes by a black veil. 
—Chlammy was there. 
(…Fi, can you see?) 
[Yes, reading you nicely, Chlammy; why, I can see through your eyes perrfectly.] 
The Elf outside the building—Fi—was synchronizing with Chlammy’s vision while conversing with her telepathically. To Chlammy, born in Elven Gard, this was natural, but… (For other races, really, this kind of magic must be unbearable.) 
— Twitch went Ino’s eyelid. 
(—Is this…the presence of magic?) Lacking, like Immanity, nerves to connect to spirit circuits, Werebeasts were unable to use magic. However, at the presence picked up by his superhuman senses, Ino glanced over. 
(…Chlammy Zell! Why is she here…?!) Was she not a spy of Elven Gard sent by Elf into the tournament to decide the monarch—? 
(— So they invited her …as a monitor from another race.) 
—The conditions of the covenant applied only to the memories of the players and Immanity . If Chlammy was here reporting to a remote race—Elf—by means of magic, that would mean this whole game was exposed to Elven Gard. Glaring at Sora as he pranced through the virtual world, Ino thought. (This man—just how far ahead does he prepare…?!) 
— Just try and use an obvious cheat . Then all your shady game tricks are going on display. That was what was being said by the man’s thin smile as he closed his eyes. 
[Hee-hee, acting like he doesn’t notice… Why, his ears have perked at magic.] 
Fi laughed at Ino as he kept looking forward while obviously shifting his attention. 
—It appeared that everything was going just as Sora had planned. 
(Fi, the game they’re playing is just as Sora anticipated . A fictitious world, called cyberspace , in which magic cannot intervene. It doesn’t look like there’s anything we can do—) 
[Why, I’m quite aware; the important thing is that we’re watchiing .] 
—That was Fi for you. She must have figured it out the day she heard Sora’s demand. 
(Now the Eastern Union won’t be able to pull any too obvious tricks …) 
The game aside—were the truth of their trickery to become known to Elven Gard, whatever Werebeast tried to do from then on…this would be the Eastern Union’s downfall. That was why, exploiting a loophole in the covenant, Fi had been assigned as a monitor whose memories wouldn’t be erased even if they lost. 
(…Well, not to say I’m interested in overlooking any tricks. Fi, help me out.) 
[Mmm, well, this rite is very difficult to maintain, you know. But, why, I’ll do it for you.] 
—Once more looking back at the strategy to beat this game that had been in Sora’s memory. No matter how many times she reconsidered it, it was too thin a tightrope, the vital parts all smashed up against each other to form the solution. Yet, just as it was in Sora’s memory, it sparkled dazzlingly with the words certain victory . What gave him this confidence—what made Sora believe in human potential? Through this game, Chlammy wondered if she herself would be able to touch it. 
“…Let’s see what you’ve got—Sora.” 
Yes, in the eyes of Chlammy, through the veil, was Sora, running across the screen. 
 IN-GAME ? 
The team dashing between buildings in the concrete jungle of the fictional Tokyo. 
—Sora, deftly dodging the animal-eared NPC girls who swarmed him. His eyes were sharp as he ran through his thoughts. Since the girls were supposed to be Werebeasts, their running speed and other physical stats were extremely high—but. Their movements were such that Sora could somehow manage. Perhaps it was because even Werebeasts had individual variances in physical abilities, and because their movements were predictable, always going straight for the hug. But such things were not important — the crucial thing was that there was something funny about these NPCs he’d been taking out with head shots, the habit of a hard-core gamer. 
“I think there’s a momentary lag—between when the girls disappear and their clothes disappear!” 
The eyes of the anal-retentive gamer who wouldn’t miss a single frame caught it. You could, after all— destroy individual parts ! Sora aimed his gun and fired. With a muzzle flash followed by the sound of an explosion, his pink bullet flew, grazing the skirt of one of his pursuers—and while the girl didn’t disappear in a flurry of tiny hearts, her skirt scattered into the breeze! 
“You actually—you actually can!! This is it! This is the true pleasure of this game!” 
—Then could you? No, he would. To take out the part that was as close to the body as could be—namely. The panties alone—it must be possible!! 
“Cloth thickness—assuming cotton panties, on average 1.5 millimeters.” 
Sora, staring at the target, her skirt lost, yet charging at him for a hug at a speed far exceeding the human. 
“Allowable impact error under one millimeter…but I can do it—!” 
The arms of the NPC coming to embrace Sora swept over his head with the roar of reaped air. Having slightly crouched to let the arms of his assailant pass, Sora let his center of balance fall on as he stepped with his right leg. With the minimum movement required, just two steps, he targeted her rear end. At point-blank range, Sora’s muzzle aimed—at striped panties! 
“—This is it!” 
The shot he fired cut into the panties—and disappeared. However, at the same time, the gal herself scattered pink hearts as she vanished and turned to Love Power… 
“Shiiiiiit! What, you can’t make them go commando?! God daaaamn it!!” 
 VIEWING FLOOR ? 
At Sora’s failure to eliminate the panties, the crowd that filled the room. A collective cry of dissatisfaction: Ohhhhhh…… Forced to bear witness, Chlammy desperately twisted her wrists, trying not to look away. 
(It’s a tactic, a tactic; there’s got to be some meaning behind it; there’s something he’s trying to find out; hold on, Fi!) 
[Why, I’m quite fine…except that your gaze is going all over the place; why, you’ll make me sick.] 
“Yeahhh, bra destroyed! Cover ’em with your hands; you know how to do it!” 
This time, at Sora’s words audible from the screen, a cry of glee arose: Oooooooohhhhh! 
(…Forget this stupid race; let it go where it will…) 
Chlammy stopped thinking deeply about it. 
[Ah, Chlammy, don’t close your eyes; open your eyes, Chlammy!] 
 IN-GAME ? 
(—Cool, now time to check the last thing.) Chased by animal-girls, weaving through alleys in deep satisfaction, Sora glanced over. Unhurried, marching along with little steps, yet sticking to Sora like glue, Shiro. Launching herself between buildings, amusedly blowing away the girls behind Sora and Shiro, Jibril. Exchanging looks with the two, he nodded once. 
“Shiro, gun performance report.” 
“…All, approximate…units, meters…” 
With this preface, Shiro drew in a deep breath. 
“Bullet speed three hundred per second, range about four hundred, no wind or gravity effects, linear, elastic collision, number of rebounds limited only by range, rebound angle proportional to entry angle, simple—” 
Completing this lengthy catalog, Shiro sighed, hff , and commented. 
“…So…tir-ing…” 
The sister apparently referring not to the measurement but the speaking, Sora mussed her hair. 
“Awww, yeah, good job, that’s my Shiro!” 
And verifying that her mood had improved a bit, he shifted his attention. 
“Jibril, what kind of physical stats do they have for you?” 
True to the explanation, Sora’s and Shiro’s bodies were just as normal. Running made them pant. But what kind of constraints had they put on Jibril? 
“To not be able to use magic, after all, makes me feel as if I am not myself. It seems my abilities are set at physical limits. Why, how very inconvenient is a physical body.” 
What’s so inconvenient when she’s wall-jumping between buildings… But Sora asked with yet greater caution. 
“You mentioned that Werebeast physical abilities approach physical limits . So right now you’re on even terms?” 
“It distresses me deeply to admit this is a reasonable assumption.” 
However, she went on. 
“As I mentioned before, certain Werebeast individuals can use ‘bloodbreaks.’ If this is incorporated into the game—it may be best to assume that I may even be surpassed for an instant.” 
—Bloodbreaks… Among the Werebeasts, whose physical abilities approached physical limits, a power possessed by a yet further subgroup, which might even break through physical limits for an instant. This was a game prepared by Werebeast; of course they would incorporate it. 
“Man, there’s you, and there’s Werebeast… The dudes in this world are crazy.” 
Hff , sighed Sora—but whatever. They’d got their info together. 
“So, basically, the enemy intends to seal us off from magic in a virtual space and smack us with what they’re best at, combat that showcases the summit of physical abilities— and they think that’ll teach us ?” 
Sora involuntarily cracked a chuckle. 
—“  ”, who’d stood at the top of over 280 games in their old world. There was a truth they’d demonstrated to hold for all such games, and it was— 
“No matter how complex the game looks, ultimately there are just two things you can do.” 
“Namely?” 
To Jibril’s query, Sora responded with a wicked smile. 
“— Tactical action and coping action . Basically, it’s play or be played.” 
In other words—the one who seized the initiative would win. It was a truth that applied to all kinds of games. And— 
“They don’t realize. This is the game humans have been best at since antiquity.” 
The name of the game—was hunting . 
“Shiro, you’re good, right? Make sure you keep the running to a minimum —’kay?” 
“…Roger…” 
“So, shall we get started?” 
 ……On the eighth floor of a building several hundred meters from Sora’s crew, Izuna hid in a storeroom with just one window. From the window, made opaque to Sora’s team by the reflection of the sun, she observed them using her Werebeast vision. The enemy were four, and she was one. However bulletproof the game was, if she dropped the ball, it would be over in an instant. Especially considering the enemy had a Flügel. Izuna figured that before attacking, she’d better analyze the enemy’s capabilities thoroughly. Meanwhile, watching the three messing around giddily destroying girls’ clothing, she furrowed her brow in displeasure. 
— When’s the last time you felt a game was fun? At Sora’s words, Izuna ground her teeth. (Who would ever think this shit is fun, please.) Games were a struggle . A means to kill each other indirectly. 
…If she lost, many would suffer. For their sake, she had to win at any cost. But if she won, she would debase her fallen opponent and perhaps even take their lives. You called that “fun”? All you could feel was— guilt for those who lost. (What’s that asshole laughing about, please?) Growing irritated, Izuna’s eyes as she glared at Sora sharpened yet further. 
—And then she noticed a “bomb” appear in Sora’s hand. The hurled bomb flared pink. With a moment’s delay, a roar, and vmm —the impact from the shock waves. 
“—?!” 
It shook the building where Izuna was hiding . Jumping up like a startled cat, Izuna watched her surroundings closely, her ears pricked. 
(…They identified my location, please?! Don’t shit with me, please!) After the game started, Izuna had immediately taken her distance from Team Sora and watched them carefully. Without Werebeast senses—no, even if they did have them, they shouldn’t be able to find her. But Izuna’s hearing—her ears that picked up everything in a hundred-meter radius like a radar. Did in fact catch footsteps, slowly coming up this building . (Those footsteps—are Shiro’s, please.) Constant pace, small steps, light weight. The player Izuna had judged the most inconsequential. No—not just Shiro. Sora and Steph, too—the Immanities hadn’t even been a factor in her battle picture . The reason Izuna hadn’t attacked right at the start was just her wariness of Jibril, the Flügel. No matter how much they excelled in games, no matter how much they’d uncovered about the game, it wasn’t possible that an Immanity could approach her or sense her approaching—there was just no way their response could be quick enough. 
—And yet. What was it about that bomb and these approaching footsteps that gave her the creeps? Suddenly, something felt off. She knew from the sound that this building was crawling with girls. Meanwhile, the footsteps were jogging through them at a calm, even pace …? 
“—!” 
Izuna jerked, flapping her kimono, thrusting her barrel toward the door of the cramped, dust-filled room. The one entrance and exit of the storeroom where Izuna hid. Outside the slightly ajar door ambled a mass of girls. The little light footsteps, heading straight up to the eighth floor and reaching it, then. Ft —stopped. 
(—?) Izuna raised her ears suspiciously and searched into the situation—and, the next moment. The footsteps went faster all at once. The speed an Immanity child could run shouldn’t pose any threat—shouldn’t, but— 
(—What the hell, please?!) The girls ambling outside—on her floor. Went away, one for every gunshot , without exception. A chill ran down her spine. The footsteps, shooting again and again with stark precision, still, without the slightest hesitation or disorder. Without dropping speed, only dropping countless girls, went straight—(Bitch’s coming here—please?!) 
There was no longer any doubt about it: her location had been compromised—! How they’d figured it out—at this point, who cared? Working her Werebeast senses to the max, out of the storeroom—toward Shiro, running down the floor beyond her vision. She pulled the trigger. With a bang and a flash, the bullet that flew from the muzzle, with stark precision, threaded through the crack of the slightly askew door, flew into the wall, scattering hearts, and bounced. To pierce Shiro’s forehead without fail—Yes, an acrobatic shot using the rebound, even accounting for Shiro’s movement, from a spot invisible to her. But—this starkly precise bullet. Whizzed by Shiro’s cheek as she just moved one step to the side and went past. 
(—This is bullshit, please!) Yes, bullshit. To be able to dodge a bullet fired at the subsonic speed of three hundred meters per second. For an Immanity, even if her awareness could keep up, her body—her movement couldn’t possibly be fast enough. To say nothing of the fact that we were talking about the physical abilities of an eleven-year-old girl—but. That’s talking about dodging . Shiro’s footsteps, which had so far come running through countless girls without breaking pace. Led Izuna to the answer . (Could it be—!) Just to check, she fired another bullet, this time rebounding twice , toward Shiro—but. 
“…No, use…” 
A bullet Shiro had already fired— intercepted it, after rebounding four times . (It really—is true, please?!) At this late hour, Izuna’s understanding was revised. 
—With certainty. 
This Immanity—this eleven-year-old girl. Was moving with a total grasp of all objects around her. 
—Neither bullets nor NPC girls would suddenly come out of thin air. In the case of a bullet, one would check the position of the target, extend one’s arm, line up one’s sight, and pull the trigger. In the case of a girl, she would see you, then move, and then try to hug you. They attacked with a series of countless steps—through a process, deterministically . Which meant—you didn’t have to dodge. All you had to do was not be there . 
—As a matter of fact, the gamer “  ”, who had become an urban legend in their old world—in other words, Sora and Shiro—in the FPS genre, crushed with hard-core gamers from around the world. The one who had set the unbeatable records—was not Sora, but Shiro. Her grasp of enemy movements thanks to her diabolical powers of calculation , combined with her deductions therefrom regarding their movement patterns and firing opportunities, gave her target-leading and attack-dodging abilities approaching precognition. She truly gave her opponents the illusion that the bullets were dodging her and chasing them. 
(—I can’t believe this shit, please!!) Of course, Izuna had no way of knowing such stories of Sora and Shiro’s old world. What led Izuna to this conclusion was her Werebeast sense—yeah, right. It was her game sense that told her—this girl is more dangerous than that Flügel. Panicked, she looked around. She was hiding in a narrow space buried in stock. Facing an opponent who had intercepted Izuna’s launched-from-out-of-sight ricochet— with a ricochet . This position—was bad. 
(—I gotta beat it, please!) To open her escape route, Izuna threw a bomb through the crack in the door. 
—But before it could even fly out. A bullet that penetrated from outside —exploded it! (Wha—?!) 
Booooomm —it went. From the blast roaring through the room, she quickly hid behind the stock and made it through a perilous moment. But the interception—that could only mean it had been known beforehand she would throw the bomb. Shiro’s running footsteps, unfazed by even this, finally approached the storeroom, as Izuna’s hair stood on end. (Bitch’s coming, please!!) Still running, she leaped—and kicked the door. Slicing through the smoke, Shiro flew into the storeroom. But, as a nearby rack crashed as she pulled it down at the same time, Shiro’s landing was obscured from Izuna’s ears. Listening for breathing—none. 
(—No choice but curtain fire, please!) Still under the cover of the stock, she took rough aim and fired madly. Countless bullets flew. Ricocheting, they made the room a force-field hell. But—shortly. 
She heard Shiro slowly exhale—and a chill jolted down her spine. Izuna jumped immediately. Kicking off from the floor with crushing force, she smashed through the little window and flew into the air outside the building. Looking back, in the room obscured from vision by bomb smoke, Izuna sensed. The sound of her entire bullet hell having been intercepted. And beyond that, the sound of bullets that bounced back and converging upon Izuna’s hiding place. 
(—W. T. F., please?!) If she’d waited to flee another moment—even one second—the bullets would have rained straight through her body. But Izuna’s eyes were opened farther. Not by Shiro who had pulled off this series of events. 
— But by something approaching overhead. 
“Welll, it’s a pleasure to see you. ? ” 
(The Flügel—Jibril, please?!) Timed to irrefutably suggest that she’d known Izuna would jump, an aerial ambush . 
—When did she get on the roof?! Wheezing with astonishment. She might be a Flügel, but in this game, she was bound by physical limits. She couldn’t use tricks like magic, and she shouldn’t be able to fly, either. But, if she’d walked with her own two feet, there was no way she could have failed to hear—! In consternation, still, Izuna kept her thoughts and senses moving. She caught that a bomb was descending from Jibril’s hand. 
(—It’s for cover ! Please!) She decided on the spot. Even if she were to intercept the bomb, bullets would assail her from the cover of the explosion. Which meant—never mind the bomb. Shoot Jibril first and take it out second! In a judgment that took an instant literally too instantaneous to be called a moment, she pulled the trigger. But. 
“Your aim could use some work.” 
Though her magic might have been sealed, the physical prowess of a Flügel still was neck and neck with a Werebeast. The bullets were fired in midair at short range, but Jibril dodged by sight , twisting her body. The bullets grazed Jibril’s belt and scattered hearts as they shredded and vaporized her clothes. The bomb intercepted next exploded with a flash and a boom. Jibril’s eyes, lining up her sight to fire a bullet through the smoke— 
—Recognized the approach of a third bullet and went round. The bullets Izuna had fired—were three. The gunshots heard had been two—but the first had been to lead Jibril in evasive action. The second had been to take the bomb Jibril had thrown for cover and use it for cover herself . And the third was the real one— 
“So—ah? Oh, right, I can’t fly?!” 
Jibril, abruptly flapping her wings to dodge, yet her wings freewheeled in vain. Unable to right her posture, she took an inescapable strike to the forehead— 
Just before that. Jibril definitely saw it. Izuna, disjointedly— turning her eyes in panic to a faraway building . 
Suddenly—Izuna twisted her body and took evasive action as profound as was possible. Her hanging sleeve billowed and was pierced by a bullet from afar —which destroyed it. A hair’s breadth later, a second bullet from the same direction stabbed Jibril, who had just been shot by Izuna. 
—This fact worked her beastly intuition. A blow that took back Jibril immediately after she’d been shot. (What if they planned this all, please?!) Fp —she lifted her head. To see Shiro, in the window of the building Izuna had burst out of, pointing her gun. But—(This posture is useless for attacking, please!) Just like Jibril just now, Izuna, forced to evade by the first shot, had no way of intercepting. 
—However fine Werebeast’s physical abilities might have been, she couldn’t fly. To dodge a bullet in the air with no foothold—to accomplish this absurd feat, she’d “pulled out” her center of gravity. That was all she could do—it was too late to right herself. As she tailspinned down, Shiro’s barrel aimed coolly. Counterstrike: impossible. Evasion: impossible. Then—! Detonation. At the bullet rushing on through an inescapable trajectory, Izuna (—!!) grit her teeth loudly and flung up her arm. Her second hanging sleeve that she flapped up in the way of Shiro’s bullet was sharply pierced and annihilated. But, at the point of entry, the bullet scattered hearts—and disappeared. 
“…That’s…you can, use clothes…as a shield …” 
Never heard anything about that rule, Shiro muttered, impressed. Ignoring the girl, Izuna, using all four limbs, finally touched the ground. In the same motion, she bounded away in a sprint in the manner of a true four-legged animal. And Jibril, who’d been shot in succession, crashed headfirst into the asphalt. 
—A moment’s silence. But she bounced up as if nothing had happened. With a gaze turned to hearts, Jibril looked afar. 
“ Master … Ahh, my lord…please be by my side! ? ” 
Then she charged, smashing the asphalt in her wake. Charged— the three hundred meters toward the place from which Sora had sniped her . 
—The exchange took place in only eleven seconds from Shiro’s original attack. 
“…Hff…hff…” 
In the storeroom, still clouded with smoke, Shiro was terribly out of breath. 
—No matter how much like a precision machine she moved, how much she put a computer to shame with her calculations, her body was still that of a mere eleven-year-old Immanity girl, nothing more. All her real stats were reflected in this game as is, including her stamina. And on top of all that, just like her brother, she was a shut-in. Cursed by her eternal lack of exercise—her stamina was devastatingly weak . Going limp to speed up her recovery even by a little bit, just waiting there for something, she whispered. 
“…I didn’t… hff …finish…her…” 
“It’s not your fault. Anyway—” 
Responding, three hundred meters away just a minute ago, was Sora. It had been exactly fifteen seconds since Sora’s bullet had hit Jibril. Jibril, having come to her senses, carried Sora into the storeroom on the eighth floor of the building where Shiro waited. 
“Looks like it’s fifteen seconds until you regain control…also…” 
Descending by Shiro’s side, Sora asked. 
“…Jibril, did you confirm it?” 
“Yes, with these very eyes.” 
Ffp— Jibril bent by Sora and spoke. 
“That she turned in your direction before you fired , unmistakably.” 
Sora answered this report with another question. 
“Hmm, I was lying still in wait, and I fired under the sound cover of the bomb’s explosion while holding my breath. But she dodged. A shot that took her completely by surprise, a subsonic projectile from a blind spot, during a diversion—” 
“Jibril—could you dodge that?” 
It was pretty much one of those Zen questions: Can you detect an unknowable attack? 
“—That would not be possible. Might this be Werebeast’s sixth sense ?” 
But Sora smirked at this. 
“Don’t be ridiculous. If they could do that, that wouldn’t be a sixth sense—it would be precognition .” 
The so-called sixth sense was just advanced intuition made possible by the combination of five senses. If they could detect things about which they had no foreknowledge whatsoever, they wouldn’t have to lie that they could read minds. They’d be able to hold their own with Elven Gard without playing games like this. 
“—In that case…” 
“Yeah, no question about it— cheats .” 
Sora scratched his head. 
“Man, these are some lame-ass cheats they’ve got built in here. If we coulda finished her off in one blow while she was treating us like cake, that woulda been sweet—oh, well. All troops to Point Gamma. Jibril, grab Shiro so she can rest. I’ll go by a different route.” 
“Yes, my lord.” 
 VIEWING FLOOR ? 
“—Wha…” 
Ino and Chlammy were dumbstruck at the sight on the screen. The crowd that exceeded one thousand, even forgetting their suspicion of Sora and Shiro, let out a great cheer. It was true they hadn’t finished her. But it was clear to see—Team Sora was owning the girl of the Eastern Union. 
(What…was—that?) 
But Chlammy was beyond surprise, doubting the spectacle before her. Taking a game the opponent presented and spinning it as if it were their own. With movements and tactics calculated too deeply to fathom, they’d led their opponent just as they liked. 
(Shiro, the one the enemy was worried about the least, overwhelmed her in a head-on fight . They forced her into emergency evasion, then used Jibril, the one she’d been most worried about, as a diversion , and then, after getting her off-balance in the air without a foothold, sniped—) 
[…Wow… Why, it’s just incredible…] 
Even Fi, sharing Chlammy’s vision, interjected as if moved from the heart. 
—Yes, tactics so perfect they were scary. But this raised innumerable questions. Though the answers might be somewhere in the countless signs that were in Sora’s memory but whose meaning escaped her— 
(—How did they identify the enemy’s location? How is Shiro so overwhelmingly skilled in combat? And they acted as if everything went according to their plan. How did they grasp—no, control the situation so…?) 
But more important, most important— 
(—How did that Werebeast evade that…) 
[Just as Sora said, why, that must have been an unknowable attaack.] 
Yes, even if she had predicted she might be attacked at that time, to know the position—The words Jibril had spoken to Sora. 
( She reacted before the shot …did she?) 
[—It’s a “cheat.” A trick—why, they’re playing foul.] 
(I see, cheating you can’t prove… They can just say it’s a “sixth sense,” and that’s that.) 
[So, this sort of trick is what defeated Elven Gard four times … I see.] 
Fi’s statement expressed how impressed she was while, with just a twinge of hostility, Chlammy quietly checked out Ino. No expression could be divined from his face—but it had to be the case he was shaken. But still, no sign to indicate that he was playing foul. 
(I knew it—they knew this game. More than we do! ) Still expressionless, Ino howled inside. How they could have known it so well? How they could have strategized so far in advance? It shouldn’t have been possible for anyone to know the Eastern Union’s game better than the Eastern Union—the questions had no end—but. 
(…Calm down… Even so, it’s no use.) Yes, even so. It wasn’t as if they had a chance. 
 IN-GAME ? 
“…Still, I must say.” 
Jibril offered. 
“—To corner the enemy with mathematics … Quite the novel approach.” 
Point Gamma—i.e., the park Sora had found with a bad view. The park, surrounded by buildings, closed in by barriers entirely except for the sky and the front, was their new base camp, and Shiro was using its ground as her blackboard, furiously scribbling out equations. She screened through the locations Sora had uncovered where Izuna was likely to hide, applied curves of pursuit and backpropagation to calculate Izuna’s location probabilistically, estimated the diffusion using the Dirac delta, and then made generous use of particle filters and linear discriminant functions to further deduce even her expected movements. Jibril’s comment was praise from the heart for Shiro’s equations and Sora’s tactics, which had cornered Izuna. But Sora shook his head with a frown. 
“…It isn’t some bold trick or anything. It’s necessary. ” 
“Could you elaborate?” 
“…The reason Izuna didn’t come supering at us from the beginning was probably that she was worried about you. If that’s the case, then Izuna must be about on your level when we’re just talking about basic stats.” 
Sora inserted with a deep sigh. 
“Just for your reference, it takes me about fifteen seconds to go one hundred meters. Shiro will probably run out of breath if you ask her to do it in twenty. So, Jibril, how many seconds would it take you the way you are now to go a hundred meters?” 
Lightly kicking at the ground and angling her neck as if thinking, Jibril came out with: 
“… Two steps , I suppose?” 
“Your units are quite odd!” 
“Frankly speaking, that’s all I can do with this heavy body… Masters, every day you live despite such inconvenience… So stalwart you are… Truly I can only bow my head in admiration.” 
“…Please don’t forget that our stats are still like fifty times lower than yours.” 
At Sora’s sarcastically expectorated words, Jibril looked to the heavens with a tragic mien. 
“—W-with such a fragile life, like glasswork, still my masters would challenge me and Werebeast, and even the God! Oh, what courage, what brave souls!” 
“Could you shut the hell up, please?” 
Sora sighed at Jibril, whose respect was deepening now that she’d glimpsed his and Shiro’s powerlessness. 
“Well—that’s just how outmatched we are in specs. If Shiro had miscalculated a single bullet in that hell, she’d be out. For me, if she even gets close I’m toast— if we don’t use math, it’s not even gonna be a fight .” 
Yes, to the crowd, Sora and Shiro must have looked overwhelmingly superior. But in fact—if they so much as let Izuna get near, it would be checkmate for them. Even with Shiro’s diabolical shooting, were her aim to wobble from accumulated fatigue, that would be the end. 
…In which case, finally there would be no meaningful force left but Jibril. 
—Advanced tactics meant that a single error could wipe out everything. To have to rely on an elaborate strategy—looked at the other way, meant that you had no way other than to rely on it . 
“However, once you just guess what kind of cheat the enemy is using, next time you can formulate a new strategy—and then finish her off, can you not?” 
Jibril asked this blithely, but Sora, his a face not relaxed in the slightest, declared: 
“No.” 
“—Pardon?” 
In place of Shiro, who was fully engaged in bashing out formulas on the ground, Sora explained. 
“The uncertainty principle…ahh, no, I guess I shouldn’t go off on things I don’t really understand.” 
Scrabbling at his hair, Sora laid it out in his own way. 
“…See, broadly speaking, there are two ways to win in a game. Either smash them one-and-done, or keep losing until at the end you flip it all over and run away with the victory. Those are the two.” 
Sora, explaining while raising fingers, yet shook his head and lowered his fingers. 
“But a condition to do the second is that you keep acting like an idiot and get the enemy off guard.” 
…Yes, just as the previous king did, for example. 
“When our opponent knows that we’re capable of overcoming her, the second way isn’t gonna work anymore. Then our opponent’s gonna change her hand to adapt to ours. And then it gets pretty much impossible to make an absolute mathematical prediction…” 
Having said this, Sora plopped down by Shiro and sighed. 
“Now we’re going to have to just play by the rules .” 
Beside Shiro who bit her nails and bashed out equations, Sora himself, seemed uncomfortable. 
“—I’m counting on you, Shiro. Now that we didn’t manage to take her with the rush, from here on—we’re winging it .” 
“…Mm!” 
—Play by the rules? Against a cheater with deep knowledge of the game and overwhelming physical ability? So basically what he was saying—was that it was more or less a hopeless— 
“…Jibril, please help me keep watch. In a game like this that has the concept of stamina, even though Shiro can move like a precision machine, if she gets tired, she won’t be able to hold her aim steady—she hasn’t got that many shots in her like the ones you saw before. Let’s protect her so she can focus on calculating.” 
To Sora, interrupting Jibril’s thoughts with orders, Jibril responded reverently. 
“Yes, my lord, it shall be done.” 
“…Damn, maybe I should exercise a little more on a daily basis…” 
With this crack, Sora stood and stared down the oncoming NPC girls boldly, but with a line of sweat running down his brow. 
 VIEWING FLOOR ? 
Watching the screen, Ino sharpened his hearing. He could hear the heartbeats of Sora and his friends, sleeping by Izuna on the stage, perfectly. Their pulses told him that Sora’s words audible from the screen were not lying. But still the heartbeat of a person whose chance to win had withered away—neither was it this. 
—They still had something, muttered Ino subtly at a frequency only Werebeasts could hear, so as not to be detected by the watchful Chlammy. 
—Indeed, using the same method by which he had reported Sora’s sniping . 
 IN-GAME ? 
[Izuna, they’re at the west park. They’ve still got an ace up their sleeve. Watch out.] 
Yes—this was the Eastern Union’s first cheat . If they put a blatant cheat in the game itself in a public match and it was revealed, they were done. But on the stage, able to see everything in the game—basically, a God’s-eye view —could only be detected by those able to hear the frequencies he produced…that is, Werebeast. 
“… Hff, hff …” 
Izuna’s ears, hidden in a multiuse building a few hundred meters from Team Sora, picked up Ino’s report. 
(—Ya don’t have to tell me, please.) 
There was no way a bunch with strategic skills like that would bet it all on one rush. 
(It’s still just scouting, but I’ve got something ready, please.) 
How they’d deal with it…would be a sight . 
[Izuna, are you all right?] 
—Izuna, unable to fathom what he was talking about. All right? Of course she was all right. It was true they’d startled her a little, but actually beating her was a whole different— 
[…Ah, never mind. I suppose you were just quite startled.] 
Look—what are you— 
[Your face is tense. Let go.] 
 ……? Having had it mentioned, she touched her face. He was right; it was tense. But what was this— 
(…I’m smiling , please?) 
—What was that about? What was she smiling about? What was so funny? What was this face?! 
(…And, since a while ago—my heart needs to shut up, please!) 
How long did it plan to keep beating? She hadn’t exercised so much it should be like this. What was she so giddy about? What was she so happy about?! 
— When’s the last time you felt a game was fun? 
( ? !!) 
As Sora’s words flashed through her mind, she pounded the wall. The building shook, and Izuna withdrew her fist from the broken wall and stood up. 
( …Hff…hff… ) 
[Izuna.] 
(Shut up, please!) 
This couldn’t be fun; she couldn’t acknowledge her feeling that this shit was fun. 
—She had to finish off those bastards quickly, quickly. She had to get this over with— 
 …… 
“Maaan, I like that they’re animal-girls, but it sucks I can’t touch them.” 
Sora, as he spoke, picking off every one of the girls who furiously came to embrace him. 
“Why not, Master? You have such a reserve of Love Power, I had assumed that a bit of energy drain would be no impediment to your indulging a bit more your desire to touch them and such.” 
Jibril, guarding Shiro, chatted non-chalantly with Sora as he just barely dove through a pack of girls. 
“That’s true, or it would be if they weren’t Werebeasts! I mean, if they grab me, I’m not sure I can get them off, and—” 
He dodged the hands of a gal flying to hug him. The clutches he’d avoided—crunched into the ground. 
“Hey, yo, old fart! In this game, if Shiro or I falls from a building or gets hugged by one of these bitches, aren’t we gonna die? What’s gonna happen then!” 
To Sora’s cry, the announcer—Ino’s voice—responded. 
“Ah, that is not a problem. You cannot die in this game.” 
“Oh, really? Okay, then, I’ll go ahead and—” 
“However, please note that the pain will feel as if you are dying.” 
“Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah, Jibril! H-help me!” 
Sora, having allowed himself to be embraced in the hope of some sexual harassment, cried out in agony as bones snapped here and there. Immediately, Jibril took out the girl who had embraced Sora, fretting: 
“Master! A-are you all right!” 
“ Hff…hff… S-sure…I’m fine…” 
Sora sprawled on the ground, enduring the intense pain and even raising a thumb and smiling. 
“I did it… I got in a squeeze… Honestly the pain numbed me to all other feeling, but it wasn’t bad, yeah…” 
“At your iron will, Master—your humble servant can only bow in admiration…!” 
—Then. Suddenly, there was a discordant something that wasn’t an NPC girl, at which Jibril and Sora swished their guns together. It was—looking at them with eyes devoid of light— 
“……Oh, it’s just Steph.” 
With that, Sora unhesitatingly fired eight rounds. Each one hit right on the mark. And Steph’s clothes—all of them, except her underwear, were blown away. 
“…Jibril.” 
“Yes.” 
“You take the handicap.” 
“Understood.” 
Solemnly carrying out her lord’s orders, Jibril shot through Steph’s forehead. 
“Ohhhhhhhh, Jibril, not faiiiiiir! Where have you been, going away with everyone and leaving me behind, I’ll never let go of you agaiiin! ? ” 
“…Maybe we screwed up bringing her along…” 

 VIEWING FLOOR ? 
[I-Izuna…] 
As Izuna began to watch for the moment for her next attack, Ino’s report echoed in her ears. 
[Ehh…how do I put it…? It appears they show no mercy even to their allies .] 
That was all Ino could report. At the unbelievably unbelievable treatment of an ally, both the crowd and Chlammy widened their eyes. 
(…That girl, she’s too… Must be rough.) 
To Chlammy, who’d touched upon Steph’s treatment in Sora’s memory and felt inclined to sympathize from the heart, Fi remarked: 
[Chlammy…I have a feeling you and Stephanie should get along welll.] 
—Chlammy decided not to pry into what she meant. 
 IN-GAME ? 
…Almost two hours had passed since the start of the game. Team Sora’s fourth raid had yet again ended abortively, so back to Point Gamma once more. But this time— 
“…So now we’re finally stuck on the defensive, jeez.” 
The muttering Sora, already having lost one of his shirts, watched his surroundings with keen eyes. Was his success in only taking one bullet so far thanks to his prodigious powers of judgment? Or was it the work of the conviction that no one wants to see a man naked? Shiro had already lost her uniform’s coat and dress and was down to her shirt, knee-highs, and shoes. Jibril, who didn’t wear many articles to begin with, had lost a few of the fasteners on her clothes. Were they to take much more damage, the team would be too exposed. 
—By now they were practically an illustration of the word “screwed.” As Izuna snuck in from time to time among the NPCs assaulting them, they couldn’t help but be on edge. 
“…Seems our attacks have stopped working, too… Just a matter of time now?” 
“Lord Shiro, what is our next—” 
“…Jibril…shut, up…!” 
Jibril was likewise showing stress, yet Shiro, pulling at her hair restlessly before the equations that had already spread to fill the ground of the park, bit her nails. 
—It wasn’t working. No matter how much she calculated, she couldn’t find the last thing she needed. Her calculations were perfect, but it wasn’t enough to complete the picture—Seeing Shiro’s expression, clouded with irritation, Jibril broke a sweat and whispered to Sora. 
“…Master…could it be this is futile? Even for Lord Shiro…” 
“No, she can do it.” 
Strongly, with no trace of doubt, Sora, looking around diligently, shot her down. 
“In games, Shiro can do what I can’t . That’s the way it’s always been, and that’s the way it will be.” 
—With those words. Within Shiro flashed a method to complete the formula. But it was—just too. Faintly, Shiro mumbled. 
“…Brother, do you…trust, me?” 
“Huh? You think your brother has ever doubted you?” 
Slipping past a groupie flying at him and shooting her down in a smooth motion, Sora spoke. 
—Yeah, come to think of it. Shiro remembered, in that Othello game —the one they’d played with Chlammy. There had been something she still hadn’t told Sora. 
“…Then, Brother… This, time… it’s your turn …okay.” 
“Uh, what?” 
Shiro subtly turned up the corners of her mouth. And in the formula that filled the park, with a hand raised vigorously, she smashed down—the last variable. 
— B . And the next moment—a silhouette flashed across the sunlight for an instant. Between and from the walls of the buildings surrounding the park, Izuna’s bullet ricocheted to descend on Sora. 
“Oh, shi…! Jibril, follow up—!” 
Evasion was impossible. Sora braced for impact, immediately ordering Jibril to shoot him back. But before the onrushing bullet could hit Sora— 
“Wha—” 
Into the trajectory of the bullet headed to pierce Sora—leaped Shiro. 
 ……A bullet, obstructed by the sunlight, launched from the air while jumping from building to building. A forced attack. But a shot she could clearly feel bite. Unable to watch it to its mark, Izuna landed on a building roof, fracturing it, and pricked up her ears. 
“No, bounce sound—I did it, please?” 
To her words which implicitly requested confirmation from Ino—that is, that he check Sora’s pulse—without delay, Ino’s voice responded. 
[Shiro’s flatlined…in a completely relaxed state. No longer in control. You got her, Izuna.] 
 ……And, seeing Shiro turn her barrel on Sora with lifeless eyes. Sora, Jibril, the whole crowd watching from beyond the screen everyone shared the same thought. 
— Here was an enemy…worse than Izuna. Swiftly getting some distance from Shiro—his instinctual response but one he repressed, Sora stood his ground. Toward the flash of Shiro’s muzzle, he stuck out his wrist , and his wristband took the bullet. 
“Jibril! Above!” 
Would Izuna miss a chance like this? It was obviously time to go in again to attack—! Stating his prediction as fact, Sora threw a bomb into the air, and Jibril shot it. The flash of a blast. Toward the shadow she saw for an instant, Jibril fired rapidly while rolling. But she didn’t have the luxury of a look. Shiro’s muzzle flashing again. But this time Sora stuck out his left foot toward the barrel. In a shower of hearts, his left shoe was ripped apart—and it disappeared with the bullet. (If she shoots— there’s no way I can dodge ! Don’t let her fire!!) 
—But. Shiro moved her body to the side half a step and lowered her barrel toward the floor. 
“Oh, cra—?!” 
Grasping what it meant in an instant, Sora howled softly. She’d sidestepped—to attack from a position Sora’s shot-blocking couldn’t cover . Expecting that her bullet, fired at the floor, would bounce three times, or maybe eight times, or maybe more—that it would ricochet surely and accurately, rendering any timing Sora could choose for a counterattack meaningless and drill into him, an inescapable attack, her unswerving conviction drew the blood from his face. Dropping his balance, he took off his remaining shoe on the floor and kicked it. The bullet struck Sora’s shoe, scattering hearts, and both disappeared. 
—He’d blocked it. But. He’d lost his balance and his shoes. Blocking the second round that would be shot in succession—was beyond his reach. 
“Jibriiiil!” 
To Sora’s summons, Jibril responded on the spot, crossing the distance of ten meters in one step and lifting her master. Then with her second step, she launched them fifty meters all at once. But the bouncing bullet Shiro had unleashed had possibly taken Jibril’s entry and flight into account. It tore away a bit of one of the metal accessories Jibril wore on her arms. 
—The attack based on diabolical calculation, of the kind Izuna must have experienced, gave chills even to Jibril, holder of the finest combat abilities among the Ixseeds. She managed to land and deposit Sora, but Shiro meanwhile had already turned calmly to begin her next assault. 
“…We are finished, it seems.” 
Experiencing it herself for the first time, Shiro’s shooting… Now if someone said that was a cheat, Jibril couldn’t have argued the point, the Flügel muttered as she trembled. Without Shiro’s equations, after all, they had no hope of winning this game. 
“…Master. Lord Shiro’s decision to shield you escapes my understanding—” 
“Yeah— I understand it , so don’t worry about it.” 
But Sora’s expression as he stared intently at the equations scrawled all over the park… 
“The variable B —it’s Brother , i.e., me .” 
…consisted of merely a cold sweat and a strained smile. 
“In other words, even accounting for Shiro becoming our enemy, the variable of me completes the equation—this magical formula that will take us to the promise of victory…that’s what you’re saying, right, Shiro?” 
As Sora let out a dry cackle at this fact, he found himself targeted by Shiro’s barrel once more. 
…Shiro’s phantom bullet, controlling space to bounce and strike from anywhere, aimed for Sora. There was only one way to avoid it. To read Shiro’s attack completely—was what Shiro’s attack would anticipate, so he’d have to go beyond that—in short, he’d have to win in a race to read the optimal solution . Surely you jest—it’s as simple as impossible . To challenge Shiro on her own terms and win was about as likely as an apple falling up. 
“…Jibril, engage Izuna for me.” 
Sora answered with a gulp. In this situation, even a slight error in judgment would not be tolerated. He had decided he should cut himself off from Jibril, their strongest force. 
“…Are you certain?” 
“I’ll have my hands full with Shiro. If Izuna butts in now, we’re screwed. You’re the only one who can rival her head-on—buy us as much time as you can.” 
Of course, this carried the risk of letting Jibril, too, become Izuna’s slave—an enemy. If that happened, then everything would really be over. But— 
“If that is your wish—” 
And Jibril smiled. 
“—but you wouldn’t have a problem if I went ahead and destroyed that thing…I suppose?” 
“…Damn, you learn the wisdom of our world quick, don’t you? Of course that would be ideal if you can, but let me say what needs to be said. That’s where you die.” 
“Goodness… Well, let me go and destroy her normally , then.” 
Promptly, Jibril thunked down a step and took off. 
Ascending to a tenth-floor wall surface in one step, floating up a hundred meters in the sky with the second. In the same beat, a shot flew keenly toward Jibril’s back—but she dodged it. 
“You attack as expected—I am grateful that you save me the time of searching.” 
Catching a glimpse of the enemy—Izuna—at the other end of the trajectory, Jibril sneered. She and Izuna, who lit down upon the roof of a fifteen-story building and readied her gun restlessly, faced each other. Jibril, with a proper curtsy, spoke. 
“Good day, doggy .” 
“……” 
“My, a sense of déjà vu overcomes me… Could it be that the one I faced when I challenged the Eastern Union and lost—was you?” 
Taking Izuna’s silence for a yes, Jibril narrowed her eyes. 
“I see; I had always been puzzled as to why I would lose to a mere Werebeast, but now I understand.” 
Jibril. With the smile, indeed, of an angel. 
“The conclusion you beasts were able to wring from your intellect was ‘Let’s invite them into a place where we alone can cheat all we want,’ was it? As my master has said that this is a perfectly valid strategy, I have held my tongue, but surely I can say this between you and me.” 
Her clear and lofty voice—smudged with lethal hostility. 
“I suppose it is unreasonable to expect shame or pride from curs such as you?” 
Izuna dropped a bead of sweat and stepped back slightly. 
—Rank Six, Flügel. The beings beyond the clouds, whose presence, before the Ten Covenants, would have spelled ruin. Izuna had been startled by those Immanities, Sora and Shiro, but the one she’d been most wary of from the beginning was now in front of her. The instincts remaining in the blood of the Werebeast shrieked. Drop your weapon. Weep, wail, and beg for your life. What stands before you—is death , they said. Hushing these instincts with reason, Izuna gripped her gun tighter. 
“Well, I have been told by my master to buy time, but we might as well have fun.” 
Jibril delivered this line with a smile like the sun but with eyes as if she were gazing upon trash. 
“Please feel free to expend all the cheats you have and further shame yourself to your satisfaction.” 
The two launched from the floor, splitting the concrete into the air. Firing with godly speed—their Lovey-Dovey Guns. The two races with the greatest physical power among the Ixseeds, do or die. 
—LOVE or LOVED: they cross—!! 
 
—A bullet whizzed by Sora’s temple as he ran through the alley. It would be too easygoing to say he dodged it. It was fired by Shiro. Even if he dodged it once, it would only be expected for it to bounce several times and come for him again! Think. What action would his pursuer not be expecting as she aimed through multiple rebounds?! No time, no room for error, but answer in one decisecond! 
“Hrrrrg, this is it!!” 
With a roar, Sora dared to backstep in the direction from which the bullet came, toward Shiro. Next moment. The bullet that had bounced back sliced past in front of Sora’s eyes. 
“—Shit, you read everything, even this!” 
The only reason he’d managed to escape it was that his decision speed and jump distance had minutely exceeded Shiro’s expectation…or something like that. But—next time, an attack correcting for that would come. He knew it: he didn’t stand a chance against his sister when it came to reading this kind of thing. 
“Aaagh, whaddaya want me to do, Shiro?!” 
Thus screaming, Sora kept running. He had so far made it through Shiro’s attacks only because of his superior physical capabilities. Shiro had no stamina. So she couldn’t run. If she ran, she’d get tired out, and her shooting would lose precision. The advantage of distance and stamina gave Sora the slightest margin in which to think. 
(Can’t bluff; useless to intimidate; predicts her opponent’s actions mechanically and mathematically and blocks them off… If a game came out with an AI like this, the devs would get their asses flamed for making it impossible!) Escaping from the lane of multiuse buildings, he leaped into the next building he saw. What kind of building it was couldn’t be answered without asking the Eastern Union, who designed it, but—(Weird entrance, so many curved surfaces—the more curves there are, the harder it’s gonna be to—) But his intuition warned him. He ran past and knocked over a nearby table. Bish —the bullet hit the table. He’d blocked Shiro’s attack, but he felt fear before any kind of relief. 
“—?!” 
He dropped his posture and leaped, rolling forward. Next moment, a bullet hit a curved lamp on the ceiling and landed behind him. 
“You can effortlessly calculate ricochet angles off curved surfaces? I know you’re good, but, cripes, Shiro!” 
He found himself wanting to shout, You may be my sister, but you’ve still gotta be kidding me! 
“Shit, it’s hopeless. This is beyond fixing with a different playing field…” 
—Run. Fast, but with small steps, irregularly! Rule out the expected patterns and then rule out the patterns that would be expected then and then rule out again! Make it to the roof! If you get to the roof, you can narrow down somewhat the places the bullets can— 
(—And she’s gotta be expecting that, too. If she’s operating continuously in an uncontrolled state using the optimal solution—) In Sora’s heart, where feelings of despair now wandered—a question popped up. (Wait, isn’t it weird…?) So far, Shiro had never run . When Sora had threatened to escape her range, she had closed the distance by blocking his exit. She’d gone on with her precise shooting, without using up her stamina, without tiring, but— 
(…If she was really trying to do me in, there must have been a time she coulda got me if she ran…) The one who’d ordered Shiro not to run—was him , wasn’t it? Because she’d need to save her shooting precision to face off with Izuna. But if her goal was simply to finish him, what difference would it make if she ran out of breath a little? If it were Jibril, then all the more, so— 
(…If I’m wrong about this, that’s gonna smart…but hey.) Sora decided: no choice but to do it. 
He kicked down the door and got on the roof. 
“ Hff, hff… Sooo, Shiro? Your brother’s about at his limit. How can you treat a shut-in like this… hff …?” 
Tailing him, Shiro showed up on the roof. In her eyes, still—no light resided. Walking, swaying, she gently aimed her muzzle toward Sora. (Tenth story above ground. No tall buildings nearby—) 
“Uhh, Shiro… If I’m wrong about this—” 
Sorry, he was about to say, but he changed his mind. He couldn’t afford to be wrong about this. He wasn’t wrong. This was the right answer. When they’d played Chlammy, he’d left Shiro to take care of a follow-up of that magnitude. This was no time or place for her big brother —to fail! 
“ ? Rrrraaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!” 
He kicked the concrete floor and dashed. Shiro’s finger pulled the trigger. He swung out the long sleeve of his remaining shirt. She was unmistakably aiming at his forehead—he put his sleeve in its trajectory. Impact. His last shirt flew away, exchanged for hearts and bullets. But blocking the bullet to his forehead had shut off his vision for a moment. What he should do in that time was clear. Several shots rang out. He couldn’t see. But conviction told him. Shiro was aiming to ricochet them off the sides and the entrance to the roof to create a horizontal bullet hell force field …! If there was a zone of safety—it could only be the result of an action Shiro wouldn’t expect. If there was something that wouldn’t occur to Shiro, it was: 
“— Not trying to dodge at all , yeah?” 
With that. Sora flew straight toward Shiro’s body. Momentarily, Shiro’s eyes bugged out. He went on to embrace Shiro and fly over the fence and off the roof while countless bullets whizzed by his back. And while falling, Sora stuck his gun toward Shiro. 
“—Don’t worry. They say you don’t die when you fall. I’ll be on the bottom for you.” 
Point-blank range. Pulling the trigger, Sora grinned. The shot rang through the cluster of buildings—and landed. 
“…Brother…I love you. ? ” 
Squeeze! Shiro hugged Sora, who reciprocated. 
“Yeah, your brother loves you, too.” 
[ Izuna, now. ] 
—In response to the whisper in her ear. Izuna crashed through a window and sailed out from a building across the street. Her gaze and muzzle fixed on the falling Sora and Shiro. It was a reenactment of the scene that had been imposed on Izuna in the first raid. Sora, holding a non-player-controlled Shiro, in free fall from the roof of a ten-story building. Unable to reorient. Unable to—escape. 
(—You bastards have given me enough trouble, please.) 
But Sora, not even looking at Izuna as she came to greet them. 
“…Ha-ha, seriously, it’s just pathetic.” 
Smiling with pleasure from the bottom of his heart, in his hand—a bomb. 
“—?!” 
The haphazardly released bomb was shot down reflexively by Izuna—who in an instant regretted it. (No—I screwed up, please!) The flash that came immediately burned Izuna’s retinas. At the boom that assaulted subsequently, her eardrums went numb. Her hearing was sealed off. In her flickering vision, bullets cut through smoke and flew, and she just barely dodged them—by dumb luck, Izuna admitted, awestruck. (He figured it out, the bastard…no, that’s not it, please.) How he’d seen her attack coming was of no interest. The real question was—(How’d the bastard shoot with such damn precision, please!) Holding a non-player-controlled Shiro, unable to see, and yet shooting precisely from midair. Sora may have been one hell of a gamer, but how could an Immanity possibly—But Izuna’s thought was force-stopped. Her senses, still unsteady from the bomb blast, even so detected it surely. In the falling Sora’s arms. Shiro, supposedly non-player-controlled, calmly, mechanically, and accurately—pointed at Izuna. Shiro’s eyes, clearly paragons of sanity, fixed straight this way — 
“That’s why— you saved your energy instead of running , right, Shiro?” 
“…Brother…I love you.” 
Shiro with a grin. The same line as before, but drily this time. 
 VIEWING FLOOR ? 
“Impossible—?!” 
At this spectacle, at last, Ino cried out. Ino had been relaying the exchanges of Sora and his friends to Izuna the whole time. He thought he’d given the timing and instructions for raids perfectly. And of course, he’d been listening all along to the heartbeats of the fleeing Sora and the pursuing Shiro. The rule was that being shot by the Lovey-Dovey Gun would rob one of control for fifteen seconds. But it hadn’t even been two seconds since Shiro had been shot by Sora. Sora’s shot had definitely hit Shiro. He’d even heard it. But then…how?! Then—at that moment, Ino and Izuna both hit upon the same possibility at the same time. 
 IN-GAME ? 
(The bastard faked it by having it hit her clothes, please?!) Shiro, falling in Sora’s arms. If they had faked the impact, she should have some article of clothing missing—but it didn’t look like… But then, in a blink, she felt something off about the clothes billowing in descent. The line from Shiro’s hip to her leg penetrated into Izuna’s eyes. And she remembered the shit Sora was pulling early—(No way—really—) On the eve of this decisive showdown on which Immanity’s fate depended. 
(—The bastard really just went for the panties, please?!) 
It was an absurd conclusion—but, still, that wasn’t enough to explain the situation. If the shot Sora’d just fired was a sham, Shiro should still be Izuna’s slave. But the fact that Shiro was sane and pointing her gun at her led to—just one conclusion. As if jeering at Izuna’s thoughts, Sora spoke. 
“You finally get it? From the beginning— Shiro’s never been on your goddamn side .” 
The shot when she’d shielded Sora—truly, it was a fine performance; it had even deceived Sora. Looking down at Shiro’s dress shirt, flapping in the wind, there was one… Spot the difference: Just one button was missing. Back then, Shiro had blocked Izuna’s attack at the cost of just one button . Only Shiro, who could read the trajectory of a bullet in units of millimeters—could pull off such a divine performance. 
 VIEWING FLOOR ? 
(That—that can’t be!) Unconvinced by this fact, Ino screamed inside. (Sora was sincerely panicked! And Shiro’s heartbeat had none of the tension of plotting something!) Shiro’s pulse, since being shot by Izuna—and even now. She was relaxed body and soul. Her heartbeat pulsed as flat as could be. But then that would mean— 
(She deceived even her brother ?!) That she’d deceived her brother, without tension, or worry, or excitement—without a trace of unease. With no prior arrangement, entirely ad-lib, they’d coordinated…! 
 IN-GAME ? 
—But Izuna, in the field, didn’t even care about that, either. No matter what kind of trick they had pulled, this situation could only mean one thing. ( The bastards got me —please.) It meant that a painstaking web of intrigue had caught her once more. Having lost her balance dodging the initial barrage—the one she aimed for was that “Shiro.” There was no way she could miss, and the clothes that once served as a shield remained hardly at all. 
(But— that’s all , please.) The window of the building Izuna had crashed out of—beyond it. From the darkness, a figure brandishing a firearm was lit by a muzzle flash. The one whom Izuna’d defeated—the turned Jibril. The bullet released sprinted keenly through the sky to attack Sora and Shiro. (Looks like they laid a hell of a trap—but this is the end, please.) Izuna was one step above them. That was all, and now it would end—As Izuna thus assured herself of her victory, her body— 
—now convulsed with a violent, irresistible throb that enveloped her. Shiro pulled the trigger, and light spewed from her muzzle. At the same time, Izuna realized—the child wasn’t aiming for her . She felt all the skin on her body crawl. It was…Werebeast’s unmistakable—“ sixth sense .” Shiro’s muzzle and her eyes both had been fixed from the start beyond her . At Jibril . 
—But, having grasped that, who could anticipate? That, as Jibril fired her own bullet— 
— Shiro’s bullet was aimed to ricochet off it at Izuna —what a ridiculous idea. 
Outguessing and plotting, layered thick and knotty. The counter to the counter to the counter to the counter was impossible to predict—no, even to imagine. The bullet landed at Izuna’s rear—and bounced. To attack Izuna from her blind spot. A fatal blow impossible to respond to or even see coming. The attack Shiro had launched, deceiving her brother, deceiving Ino, deceiving Izuna, and even incorporating Jibril’s defeat. With such godly—no, diabolical calculation , there was no way it could be dodged. No, definitely no way. 
—Under normal circumstances. 
“— Now it’s getting fun , please!!” 
Crowing. Izuna bared her teeth and sneered. At the same time, blood pumped out of control throughout her body. Her capillaries bursting, her eyes and fur were stained scarlet with blood. Her nerves heated up, her cells boiled, her muscles erupted, the laws of physics roared. 
— Bloodbreak. The crimson form said to shatter the limits of physics— 
Izuna’s arms, wet with blood—disappeared without a sound. It was beyond the abilities of the two Immanities, Sora and Shiro, to even comprehend. Izuna’s arms, swung down at a speed no one could perceive— grasped the air . Her hands, outrunning sound, generated enough friction against the concentrated air to catch her falling body for a moment. And with a subsequent “kick,” she leaped. While Izuna subjugated inertia and gravity with brutal force, below her the instant-kill bullet—slid…past. 
—What kind of nonsense was this? The impossibility of this feat, which defied everyone’s comprehension. But to those who were intimately familiar with games, the phenomenon could be explained in a single phrase. Izuna’s muzzle tracking from a new position, her beastly eyes awash in crimson. Feeling them aimed directly at his forehead, Sora could only—chuckle. 
“—A double jump ? Give me a friggin’ break, ya big cheater.” 
Here it was, that “bloodbreak” thing Jibril had described. Among Werebeasts, who approached physical limits, one who could transcend them. 
A single gunshot was heard. But two bullets fired within the same instant bolted toward the falling pair. With nothing to obstruct their paths—the phantom bullets penetrated the foreheads of their targets almost simultaneously. Sora and Shiro, unmoving and helpless, crashed to the ground like broken toys cast away. Next, Izuna landed in the posture of a four-legged animal, and the asphalt cracked gigantically. 
“Hhhhhhhhhhhhhh…Hhhhhhhhhhhhhh…” 
The look of a beast, an embodiment of violence, breath fierce, raring for combat. Her bloodstained sublimity gradually blackening in the air— 
 VIEWING FLOOR ? 
“…—” 
Silence. The crowd watching through the screen was soundless. Even Chlammy, even Fi, who must have been watching the same scene, had no words. 
—This was Ixseed Rank Fourteen, Werebeast. Now, at last, Chlammy realized. So late she had no excuse, but—Why the Eastern Union had accepted this game. Why they had answered the call for a public match which would disable almost all cheats. It was true that Sora had laid countless traps. But there had to have been other ways to go about it. But the Eastern Union had taken up this game anyway for this plain and simple reason. No matter what kind of calculation or strategy they faced—all they had to do was sweep it aside with the ludicrous absurdity that was their overwhelming difference in power. Though only two ranks above Immanity—monsters too overpowered to comprehend. With this before her, Chlammy herself gulped and despaired. 
—There was no way they could win. Fi’s silence and Jibril’s defeat said everything. To beat these monsters in an arena from which magic was sealed off, was probably beyond the abilities—of any of the Ixseeds. Izuna herself—Werebeast itself, in this zone, was the worst cheat possible . (So this…is what the Eastern Union’s game is really all about?) An impossible game that defied reason. This was the truth behind the Eastern Union’s game. 
Ino, his head cool, momentary shock subsiding. Diligently checking Sora’s and Shiro’s heartbeats. 
—Both siblings, flatlined. Perfect head shots, impossible to fake. But at Izuna’s heartbeat beside them… At that explosive sound, beating as if to leap out of her body to echo through the hall… 
[You finished them, Izuna; it’s done; calm your blood!] 
Ino called to Izuna in a cold sweat. 
 IN-GAME ? 
“—Hhh!—Hhh!—Hhhhhhhhhh…” 
Ino’s voice didn’t make it into Izuna’s ears. But she didn’t need the report; she knew she’d definitely finished them. It wasn’t the bodies of the two, sprawled limp on the ground, but her intuition that decreed she’d gotten them. Izuna, who had taken action that bent the limits of Werebeast, wrestled down the very laws of physics. Her heart, spinning to make it possible, slowly revved down. As if just now remembering the laws of physics, agony assailed every inch of her. 
—Her body was terribly heavy. Though she struggled to steady her breath, it wouldn’t settle. Her muscles were shredded, her blood vessels had burst, her nerves had melted—For Izuna, literally broken, even standing had become heavy labor. But it didn’t matter. It had been worth it. She had had to. Now— 
“…I win, please…” 
Muttering painfully, Izuna stood up on two legs. Dropping her gaze to Sora and Shiro, sprawled and still, she opened her mouth to say something, 
 and, poof . 
All too unceremoniously. All too suddenly—Izuna’s arm…was struck by a bullet. 
“…Huh?” 
…Forget Izuna. Everyone watching…even Ino, even Chlammy, even Fi. All uttered a dumbfounded noise and turned their attention to where Izuna was gaping—the direction from which she had just been hit. And they saw… 
…clinging to the back of an NPC girl, eyes closed, arm, hand, gun extended— 
“So-Sora, is that all right? May I open my eyes now?” 
Steph. Yes, Izuna had indeed used her “sixth sense” to dodge an attack impossible to dodge. But—that still wasn’t enough . As Sora had said, the ability to know things of which she had no foreknowledge was not one possessed. To achieve that kind of cheating would require magic or superpowers. 
What Shiro had been furiously calculating on the ground of the park—was the strategy to take down Izuna by no means . It was—the wander algorithm of the NPCs’ meandering, but there had been no way to know that. That in reality— it had all been one formula , just to deduce how to lead the girls, while affecting them, as they ambled in search of Love Power. All the tactics Immanity’s team had deployed—from the first volley to their cornering. All had just been tactics that Shiro had calculated out, preparing countless scenarios before the game. Everything that had transpired during their match had done so according to Shiro’s design. 

*     *     * 
It had all been a formula purely to build this one moment. 
“…However much you might have some ‘sixth sense’…” 
In Izuna’s vision, display of the word DEFEAT signalled the end of the game. Everything over, Sora and Shiro stood and spoke. 
“The one Shiro was aiming for when she bounced that bullet off Jibril’s wasn’t even you —” 
“…Be-low…” 
“It was someone getting carried here on the back of an NPC girl with her eyes closed—you’d never guess it was Steph, would you?” 
At these words, Izuna’s eyes widened. The bullet that had been made to rebound outside her line of sight to attack her—was Jibril’s . It had ricocheted outside her vision not to mount an inescapable attack—but so that the bullet’s target would not be …obvious? 
Before the game, Steph had had a “very special charm” performed on her by Sora. Namely— 
“Obey the command Shiro writes on the ground. But forget about it—that was the covenant I bound her with.” 
Sora smirked wryly. 
“A formula to enable a roving Steph, drained of energy, mounted on the back of an NPC girl, whose only instruction was ‘Shoot ten seconds after you get a Love Power boost,’ to aim for Izuna and fire…it’s no wonder Shiro was struggling.” 
Feigning she’d turned to Izuna’s side and leading Sora. And then Sora feigning that he’d shot Shiro back . Izuna then attacking while getting cover fire from Jibril. An attack predicting and using all this being dodged—and being shot: Their strategy accounted for all of this. 
“No footsteps ’cause she’s riding piggyback. No sense of hostility ’cause she doesn’t remember. No consciousness, even, ’cause she’s already inoperable, but thanks to the Covenants, actions can still be executed . Steph, who’d gone off everyone’s radar since the beginning of the game—firing the one moment when Izuna had used up all her power…” 
If you could see that coming, let’s see it, Sora implied emphatically as he smiled. 
“—This is one thing that, even with a ‘sixth sense,’ would be unknowable , right?” 
Ino stared at the screen, his thoughts resounding as if howling in his mind. 
(Impossible! That’s not even on the level of “calculation”! That’s—) 
But Sora pulled up his lips as if to sneer at the Werebeast’s inner monologue. 
“‘That’s goddamn precognition’—ain’t that what you’re thinking, Gramps ?” 
(Wha—?!) 
Sora grinning ear to ear, and Shiro smirking likewise. 
“The whooole time, you were monitoring our heartbeats and reporting to Izuna, right?” 
—They’d caught it: No. It wasn’t even something so half-assed as that. Yes, this explained everything. 
“…I see, so you exploited it …” 
Ino’s understanding getting there: In other words, just as Sora had said— 
“That’s right—in a game, ultimately there are just two things you can do.” 
Namely, tactical action and coping action. All kinds of games, when you got down to it, were just a matter of wresting away the initiative. 
“The initiative was in our hands the whole time. That’s all there is to it. You thought you were playing, but you were just being played —the result is fate, not precognition. 
“By the way, Shiro.” 
“…Mm.” 
“What was that variable B you subbed in anyway? If you were conscious from the beginning to the end, then you saw the endgame in its entirety, didn’t you?” 
“……So, they…wouldn’t, catch on…” 
When her heartbeat was being monitored, though she might fake taking a bullet, she couldn’t cover up her psyche. Therefore—Shiro had to maintain a relaxed state while giving all she’d got. One whom she could know she couldn’t beat even fighting for real. One whom she could trust to see through to her intent. 
“…I, couldn’t think…” 
A variable that could fulfill these parameters. Since that day at the end of her infancy and up to the present. As far she knew, only one “magic number” so convenient existed. 
“…of, anyone…but, you…” 
Shiro could always do what Sora couldn’t. And so—naturally, the converse also applied. Thus, Sora said with a wry smile. 
“Yeah, we don’t have any obligation to bother with combat . 
“The weak have their own way of doing things. We’ll leave fighting lions with one’s bare hands to the lions .” 
 
As the audience erupted in cheers, all of the game’s players were coming to on stage. The siblings were holding hands tightly, and Shiro spoke as soon as their eyes opened. 
“…Anyway, Brother.” 
“Mm? What is it, my sister?” 
Sora responded as if reluctant to release her hand. 
—Inwardly, he’d realized that being forced to operate separately from Shiro—even in a virtual reality—had given him chills. 
“…Why’d you, go to the trouble of, leaving my shirt…and, shooting…my panties…?” 
“Wha?! Don’t ask something so obvious, okay, Sister?! You think I could let this huge crowd see you naked?!” 
“You speak as if I didn’t matter!” 
Having awoken a step behind, today’s MVP—Steph—howled. 
“Now, now, little Dora. No one can deny that your fine play made the day. Would you care to comment on how it feels to have been entrusted with such a decisive moment for the fate of Elkia?” 
“May I answer honestly? I have no interest in going through this again!!” 
The pressure of having been responsible for the fate of Immanity. If Sora hadn’t been so kind as to erase her memory , there was no way in blazes she would have accepted it, she screamed. Meanwhile at her side, rising together, Sora and Shiro. 
“So, we still waiting for the victory announcement, Gramps?” 
Sora prodded Ino. 
“—Winner: Elkia… By the law of the Covenants, the Eastern Union shall transfer to the Kingdom of Elkia all its rights on the continent of Lucia…” 
At Ino’s declaration, delivered as if chewing sand, the acclamation of the crowd rose to greater heights. 
—Who could complain about a king and queen who had taken down Werebeasts and doubled their domain with a single move? Yet despite the crowd’s unbridled enthusiam, what came next was enough to inspire a hush. 
“Likewise, by the law of the Covenants…Izuna Hatsuse…and I, Ino Hatsuse, both surrender all our rights—to these two, the monarch of Elkia…” 
“Yes, very good.” 
As Sora nodded decisively, Steph and the audience stared bug-eyed. Yes—their demand had been for all the Eastern Union had on the continent . That included all the resources and territory—as well as all the people and technology. 
“So now we pick up a scad of Eastern Union technology and get Izzy and all the Werebeasts on the continent all in one fell swoop—huhhh. Man, oh man…it was worth the effort we put in.” 
Steph shivered at her master’s happy-go-lucky tone as he stretched. What Sora had said the other day, “We’ll conquer the world. All of it—whabam—no two ways about it.” She’d touched upon his meaning—but at the same time, Steph caught sight of Izuna from the corner of her eye. 
“……” 
Face downcast, motionless. Ino, wringing out carefully chosen words but nevertheless doing what he could, attempted to console her. 
“Izuna… You bear no responsibility… It was a decree of our homeland, which I ordered…” 
—Having come this far, Steph finally understood what Sora had meant. What rested on those little (all too little) shoulders which shook as Izuna stared down… 
—The burden, all too massive, of the entirety of the Eastern Union’s rights on the continent. Having lost these, how many…of Izuna’s brethren would lose their homes, their jobs, be cast into the streets—perhaps even lose their lives? Steph recalled her own accusation. 
—“How do you intend to take responsibility?!” 
—There was no way to take responsibility. 
The agent plenipotentiary was entrusted with the lives of hundreds of thousands. One capable of bearing all the responsibility thrust upon this position could not exist. The one who’d made light of the title…was not Sora, but rather… (It was…me, I suppose.) Steph hung her head, but Sora carried on unaffected. 
“It’s not like that, right, Izuna?” 
“Uh?” 
“—It’s that it was so fun, you don’t even know what to do with yourself , right?” 
Ino and Steph gasped. At the very end, when Izuna had unleashed her bloodbreak… She had—clearly—said as much. 
—Her exact words: “Now it’s getting fun.” 
“…That’s, bullshit, please…” 
But. 
“Now that I’ve lost, a bunch of assholes are gonna suffer, please.” 
Izuna couldn’t admit it. 
“But—why is it, please?” 
She mustn’t admit it—and yet… 
“Why—why’d my goddamn face smile, please?!” 
Izuna’s mind flashed back to their final encounter in the air. The moment she’d clearly felt, this is fun . 
“Could I perhaps have won if I hadn’t been distracted by that bullshit then, please?! Now people are gonna die because of me, please?! ’Cause I—thought it was fun!!” 
“I-Izuna, calm down—you—” 
Izuna’s indiscriminate wailing—she knew no other response—silenced the floor. Ino, too, was at a loss, just holding her shoulders, trying to soothe her. But still there was Sora. 
“Relax, Izuna.” 
Approaching the frenzied Werebeast, Sora gently parted his lips. 
“No matter what you’d done differently, we’d already beaten you anyway.” 
Somehow uttering this yet beaming like daylight, Sora froze the entire assemblage. Is that the best this man can offer by way of comfort?! —thought Steph, aghast. Next to the trembling Izuna, though, Sora knelt, stroking her head. 
“Besides, it seems like you’re confused— no one’s gonna die, and no one’s gonna suffer .” 
“…Huh?” 
“ This world is a game. You’ve got it wrong fundamentally, all of you.” 
These words—the same that Sora had mumbled in the past both to Steph and to Jibril. But to this day, their true meaning remained obscure. 
“Looks like you’re not convinced. Then let’s do this.” 
And then Sora made an interestingly timed proposal. 
“No tricks. No cheats. You and me, let’s duel.” 
So he proposed, with a mischievous smile like that of a child. 
“If I win, I’ll tell you how I know. If I lose—let’s be friends, okay?” 
 
Displayed across the screen for the crowd’s viewing pleasure was the center of a street along which buildings were aligned. The audience watched in fascination as, not unlike in a Western, the breeze blew scraps of paper across the scene. The shadows of the opponents squaring off. Sora, king of Immanity. And Izuna, representative of the Eastern Union. 
Shiro, Steph, and Ino gazed intently at their images on the screen. Chlammy squinted hard at the display while Fi shared her vision. And—just as during the epic battle on which Immanity’s fate itself had been staked, the thousand-strong crowd peered transfixed at this match, which was nothing more than a silly wager. 
The game Sora had proposed was simple. Sora and Izuna would face off head-on, using their real physical abilities. 
—There was no way he could win. Such was the opinion of all who had seen that vermillion visage of Izuna. It was true that Team Sora had managed to conquer even that. But by no means had it been head-on. They’d just barely taken her down using wiles, tactics, and traps upon traps laid thick and countless. An Immanity, in terms of pure reflex and speed of movement, didn’t stand a chance against that scarlet devil. Now that all the Eastern Union possessed on the continent had been seized, Izuna and Ino, of course, were included in that. Sora’s possession of Izuna was a done deal. So this challenge could only be interpreted as some pedantic way of implicitly consoling her, “Let’s be friends.” But at the same time, everyone there wondered. Had this man, the king, one half of Immanity’s greatest gamer— this fraud —ever done anything just as he said? 
“’Kay, ready? I’m gonna toss this coin, and it’ll be a battle to see who’s the quickest draw from the moment the coin hits the ground.” 
“…—” 
Sora took Izuna’s silence as acceptance. With a ting, the coin floated high in the air. In Izuna’s dark eyes, betraying no emotion, Sora’s face was reflected. 
—The only one who had defeated her. The one who had taken all the Eastern Union’s continental territory in a single move and cornered countless Werebeasts. The one who had dismissed all of that with“ No one’s gonna die ” and dangled the promise of proof before her. 
—The coin made a sound as it struck the ground. But…Izuna just cast her eyes down, making no move to draw. 
“Hm… Well, I guess you would choose that.” 
With that, Sora laxly drew his gun and pointed it toward Izuna. 
…Yes, if Izuna lost intentionally, Sora would show her the proof that no one would die. If it was reasonable, Izuna would be relieved the weight of responsibility she carried. Even if it made no sense, she’d be under no obligation to befriend the bastard who’d bested her. However you looked at it, the scenario was designed so Izuna would lose intentionally. 
—That was fine. All she had to do was allow herself to lose and then ask him for his damn reassurances. And then—and then— 
“…Hmm, can I tell you honestly?” 
Sora sighed. In a deep hue of disillusionment, Sora tightened his index finger, pulling the trigger. 
“I’m disappointed in you, Izuna.” 
 ! 
“—Don’t screw with me, please!” 
Then Sora’s muzzle flashed and bullet fired. Izuna lifted her face eyes stained scarlet . 
—Bloodbreak. The crimson beast’s movements, faster than the speed of a bullet. Her gun drawn at a speed impossible for an Immanity’s eye—for Sora’s eye—to follow. Powerful enough to shatter the shackles of physics. A draw worthy of being called divine. Though launched after Sora’s, Izuna’s projectile collided with Sora’s near the midpoint between the two , altering the trajectory of each. Izuna’s second round instantaneous. Dead on target—Sora’s forehead. The deed done—the trigger pulled—she wondered: 
(—What am I, doing, please?) Why was she trying to win? This was when she should be asking Sora—for the sake of Werebeast, for the sake of the Eastern Union—how he knew no one would die. And yet…how come— 
Irrespective of Izuna’s inner turmoil, her bullet barreled on. And as Sora tipped his head to the side slightly…it brushed harmlessly past. 
“ ? Huh?” 
As if—No. Definitely, just as he’d predicted . But by then…already. Sora’s second round . Even to Izuna’s Werebeast eyes—with the benefit of her bloodbreak —the bullet was so close to her chest that just noticing was the limit. 
—A shot made in the knowledge that Izuna would fire a second round. Timed to Izuna’s muzzle flash. In other words, discharged in the fraction of a second during which the Werebeast’s senses were obscured. As Izuna felt the bullet sink into her chest, she was sure she heard Sora’s voice in her ears. 
“Yeah, that’s what I’m talking about … That’s the real you.” 
Izuna’s vision as she fell was filled with a canopy that stretched out endlessly. 
“I’m sure you do care for the other Werebeasts who’d suffer when the Eastern Union loses. But there’s a deeper reason, way down at your core, why you’ve been crying, and it’s simple.” 
As Izuna drifted, unable to comprehend that she’d been bested, Sora continued. 
“— You were sad to have lost for the first time , right?” 
 …… 
“If you’re not sad when you lose, you fail as a gamer. But— 
“—that’s exactly why it was finally fun . 
“A game you go into knowing you’ll definitely win is just work. There’s no way you can find value in that, and when people’s lives are at stake over something so meaningless, it’s only natural you’d even feel like it’s a pain in the ass—you’ve been right all along.” 
But— 
“…How does it feel? Knowing there’s someone you can test your whole mind, body, and spirit against and still not beat.” 
An image of the little girl he’d met long ago flashed through Sora’s mind. 
“To think about how you’re gonna take on this hopelessly OP opponent and bring them down, how you’re gonna win, what you’re gonna do to defeat them.” 
The white-haired, red-eyed girl who held within her humanity’s potential, which defied imagination. As if recalling his shock at that time, Sora concluded with a heated smile. 
“To put it mildly— sky-high , right?” 
—That might be so. That might be the identity of the impulse that had prodded Izuna. He was the one who had beaten her, and that was the very reason…she didn’t want to let him screw with her. She wanted to win next time. That was the very impulse…surely… 
“If you understand that, we’re already friends. Welcome, Izuna, to our side.” 
Surely, for Izuna, this was the first game she’d played in her life, she thought. 
“So, lemme tell you that reason like I promised. Lend me that cute ear of yours.” 
What Sora whispered into Izuna’s flattened ear as he knelt, he did so with the manner of a child plotting some mischievous prank. But a prank that, once imagined, made you start getting excited, too. But at the same time, a caper so dubious in its sanity, so improbably grand in its scale—that it sounded like fun. Having heard the reason, Izuna, as if finally relieved, as if satisfied, closed her eyes with a sense of rejuvenation, saying with a smile. 
“Next time… You’re goin’ down, please…” 
 
At the scene playing out on the screen, the floor was enveloped in silence. Not a peep emerging from the crowd, Steph alone muttered: 
“How improbable…” 
To win against an opponent so vastly superior in response speed, physical ability, and even senses in a one-on-one battle of wits. Reading Izuna’s personality, predicting she’d go for the head shot. Reading the hatred of defeat bottled up under all the responsibility and pressure like magma. Predicting that, after intercepting a bullet, she’d send in a second. And in response, the moment she fired—shooting his own second round…an inescapable bullet. It was proof of what Sora had declared in a speech before. 
Chlammy chewed over the words she’d assimilated from Sora’s memory. 
“—Immanity, through learning and experience, gets wisdom approaching precognition, does it?” 
Murmuring this, she turned and walked off the floor. 
[Oh goodness, Chlammy. Why, are you leaving already?] 
(I’ve already seen everything necessary. The rest—is their job.) 
—Don’t believe in humans, but believe in their potential…how amusing. 
“Very well. I suppose I may as well give it a chance.” 
Casting off her black veil, Chlammy smiled with her face exposed. 
“Fi, after you get your memory altered for us by Sora , we’re going straight back home. There’s much to do.” 
 
Cameras okay, memory check okay, steam okay. 
“…Confirmed. Sufficient steam to judge wholesome, confirmed…okay!” 
And another day with Sora turning his back and welcoming. 
“Verrra well, m’dears, don’t stand on ceremony; come on in.” 
“…Why do I have to take a damn bath, please?” 
“For my master has determined that it shall be a ceremony to achieve understanding when we welcome new comrades. When my master says, let there be light , there is light. It shall be carried out in the name of honor.” 
“Anyway, Shiro, you seem in good humor today. Did you overcome your hatred of baths?” 
“…I’m, excited…to, wash…Izzy’s…tail.” 
Though noise abounded, no figures were seen—Nay, none could be seen. But through the self-restraint he’d tempered like steel, already the very desire to turn was gone from Sora. Owing to his success upon Chlammy and Fiel’s visit of capturing everything on video perfectly! 
“Heh, everything from the camera angles to the potential for lens clouding, from everyone’s entrance to where they’ll stand and sit—I’ve figured out everything using a tablet app, and though I can’t figure like Shiro—I know I have no blind spot here!” 
Yes, there was no need to rush, thought Sora. Though he might not seek the Peach Blossom Spring, he could at the least drink of its lees! He imagined Steph washing Shiro’s hair, Shiro meanwhile washing Izuna’s tail… 
…Though he could only go by the sound. 
“Baths can go to hell, please.” 
“…Epic truf… But, right, now…denied.” 
“Once we finish this bath, you bitches gotta take me on, please. You better not flake, please.” 
“…Don’t, worry; Brother…keeps, his promises…” 
“I wonder. We speak of a man more skilled at lying than breathing.” 
“Oh, little Dora, do you not know of the holy scripture which says that it’s your fault for falling for it?” 
“What sort of fraudulent cult holds such scripture?” 
“’Tis scripture of my very own, compiled in my days of observing my masters. In consideration of its undoubtedly imminent status as holy scripture, I cannot conceive of a reason not to assign it such an appellation from the present time.” 
“I can conceive of a reason! Observing those two is just a pervert watch log!” 
“……!” 
Bear it. Bear it, Sora. 
“Incidentally, sir, may I ask what you are doing?” 
“Whuuuuuuhhhhhhhhh—aaaaaaaaaaaghhhhhhhhhh!!” 
Popping up before Sora’s eyes—a—a singularly well-muscled old body clad in only a loincloth—Ino caused Sora to raise his voice. 
“Wh-what are you doing defiling the Peach Blossom Spring au naturel! There is no demand for geezer nudity!” 
Oh, God… After all, I did calculate the camera placement perfectly, could it be this fart—? Surely he couldn’t have been all big and bold right in front… If something like this was in the picture, any kind of hee-hee-hee clip would turn into a huh-huh-huh clip. 
“Hmm, I heard that this was a rite of passage you established for new members of your party.” 
“It doesn’t apply to dudes! Much less macho geezers! That’s out of the question! I mean, what the hell are you doing coming in here all in the buff?! Didn’t I say it’s R-18?!” 
“Well, I have been informed, but as of this year I am ninety-eight, which is eighty years older than the age limit.” 
“—Eh, uh, hmng? Wait, wha—?” 
Hold on—we’ve just found an issue you can’t overlook, Sora, virgin, eighteen. A certain issue, world-changing, yet too hot to touch— 
“By the way, the honorable Jibril described to me this ‘moral code’ you seem to adhere to, sir…” 
“Uh, yeah…” 
Sora, thinking inside, I would really prefer he kept this majestically imposing ripped body at a distance . Just barely managed to squeeze out his answer. 
“You see, I heard that you are eighteen years of age.” 
“Y-yeah, I guess.” 
“Then this would imply that you have the qualification to view materials that would be prohibited to those under eighteen years.” 
“Yeah, sure. And?” 
Hmm , Ino went, stroking his beard, seeming lost in contemplation. 
“Well, it occurred to me, if your concern is that you have Her Majesty Queen Shiro accompanying, would it not be the case that if you merely clothed and blindfolded Queen Shiro , there would be no need for shame were Your Majesty to enter into this scene freely?” 
 The world stopped turning. 
“Ah, aha-ha, aha-ha-ha-ha… Now then, now then, now-now-now wait a moment, lad.” 
“Yes, sir, what is it?” 
“Th-th-there’s no way I would overlook s-s-s-something so glaring; th-th-th-there’s got to be something wrong, some mistake here.” 
“Hmm, that was in fact just the matter of my inquiry… But it puzzles you as well, sir?” 
— Tsk. A soft but definite click entered Sora’s ear. No, it couldn’t have, not possibly. But he couldn’t have misheard it, even more not possibly. 
“E-excuse me, Ms. Shiro. I heard a click that said, ‘Mind your own business, asshole,’ but would you care to elucidate?” 
He couldn’t look at her. But Sora having addressed her based on a definite feeling that she was there, after a moment’s pause: 
“……I, didn’t say, anything…” 
“I’m sorry, Teacher, but I have absolute confidence that of all people I would not confuse your voice. I mean, come on, that click was totally you! Seriously, please, can I get an explanation—you thought of it?!” 
“Hah-hah-hah… Is this what you call an epic fight?” 
“Hey ? hold on, you old fart! I almost missed it as you subjected me to shock after shock, but just whose sister are you looking at naked, you son of a bitch! You wanna have your eyeballs pulled out?” 
“Oh, don’t worry. I sympathize deeply with your provision that nude minors shall be banned from view. It is my belief that this is important to the moral education of Izuna as well, and thus I have my eyes tightly shut,” said the old man. 
So he could grasp his surroundings just fine with his sense of hearing alone? God damn these mutant assholes! 
“…Mm, Izzy, you can’t, look…at the others, either. Okay…?” 
“? I don’t get it, but understood, please.” 
“Wait, Ms. Shiro, please don’t change the subject, yo—Wha—? I took countless Peach Blossom Springs and flushed them down the drain?!” 
Sliding down to kneel by Sora’s side, Jibril spoke. 
“Master, I beg you to ease your heart. Surely it is not too late.” 
“R-really?” 
“Yes, and with this knowledge, the solution is simple.” 
Spinning her finger around and around in space, drawing a circle of light, perhaps to perform magic. 
“I, your humble slave Jibril, can envelop you and myself in spirits and block the flow of sound. If we but have Lady Shiro refrain from looking this way, considering that this body, to its every extremity, belongs to you, Master, you are free to do with it as you—” 
“…Jibril…STF, U.” 
At Shiro’s brief command, as she jointly held ownership of the Flügel with Sora, Jibril’s mouth was shut. Right after, Shiro said sadly. 
“—Brother, would you…blind…fold me, and…do dirty things…right, there?” 
 …… 
“Haaaa-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! As if I’d do something so bad for my sister’s moral education aah-hah-hah-hah-hah God daaaaaamn shiiiiiiiiit buuurn it aaaalll dooowwwn aaaaaaaaaah!” 
Sora having finally broken, his voice rang out throughout the bath. 
“…By the way, sir.” 
“What do you want, old fart?! If you deepen the crack in my sanity any further—” 
“Well, as of now, I belong to you.” 
“—Yeah. Not that that’s a line I wanna hear from a macho old guy in a loincloth.” 
Having apparently been afflicted by goose bumps for a moment, Sora’s comeback was grim. Ino, nevertheless, gave no indication of breaking his smile. 
“And Izuna also belongs to you—having acknowledged these things, may I comment?” 
With a sunny grin, his eyes still closed, only his voice lowering, Ino asked. 
“—Just what in the hell did you tell Izuna, you hairless monkey?” 
…The “way so no one would die” Sora had whispered to Izuna. There was no way there could be anything so convenient. Toward the con artist who had dangled an empty comfort before his granddaughter, more important than his own life, yet as one whose rights had all been forfeit, to whom no resistance was permitted, this was the old man’s one small gesture of defiance. Without even turning, Sora dismissively— 
“…Just shut up, suck your thumb, and watch, Gramps. It’s not like you can do anything.” 
—picked the perfect response to get the old man’s goat, trolling him. At this, Ino’s already clenched his fists tightened, but at Sora’s subsequent words, instead of anger— 
“Relax— there’s still a surprise at the end . Once you see that, you’ll know the answer.” 
Sora teased with a bold smile—and it seemed to Ino, an eerie one. At the words of the man hinting at a plot even beyond what had come before, Ino, feeling now more fearful than angry, was left speechless…