No Game No Life - Volume 9 Chapter 1 Part 2

His hazy consciousness was clearing up… it was a very familiar sensation. Sora was relieved at the sensation of waking up. 

… Seriously, what a terrible nightmare. Had he been working too much? He should probably rest for a bit. However, right now:

“…………….Nii………..Nii, wake up…”

That’s right. Shiro was calling out to him.

He had to forget that stupid dream, and answer to his little sister’s voice. So, with a gentle smile, Sora slowly opened his eyes──　

Shiro would be there, probably Steph too, and…

“Honest opinion: I’ll say it one more time. Give up your authority. You are not suited for the present strategy.”

“No matter how many times you say it, I’ll always reject it. I will not give you my beloved Spieler’s chastity”

The man that had professed his love to Sora was arguing with a female model Ex-Machina.

── Ahhh so cruel. It hadn’t been a dream and his memories didn’t disappear either──

“I will not give it to anyone!! Ah, didn’t I just accidentally declare that I’d be a virgin for life?!!”

With a shriek that shook the entire castle, Sora sprang up and cursed those facts from the bottom of his soul.

“… phew… Nii, you… you are still… alive…”

“As if I’d die!! Having a heart attack because a man confessed to me would be the worst!! And you !!”

Sora embraced Shiro, who was crying tears of relief, pointed at Einzig and kept yelling:

“Serious, homo, handsome and android are too many traits! You should be more reserved──”

Sora cut off his sentence. He looked at the Ex-Machinas surrounding him once more── and continued:

“And on top of that, are you a butler?! Just how many features do you want to add? What kind of market do you want to corner!?”

The analysing gazes and intimidating air disappeared, and Sora could finally see the ones in front of him.

The troops of the god killing machines, dressed in black costumes similar to the grim reaper’s robes── that was not quite right.

… Well, the outfits were black, and they were costumes, but… more accurately, they were dressed in tailcoats and maid clothes.

In short… The troops were composed of one robot butler and twelve robot maids. What’s more, they were… how should I say it… completely… at ease.

The machines’ expressions and their, well, everything, gave off the impression that they were complete pieces of junk.

── Sora just wanted to scream: ‘give me back my stress!’. The homo butler, Einzig, answered his previous question:

“Hmm… if I had to answer, then I’d say I wanted to corner your market. There’s no other answer.”　

“I see, so it was a huge miss huh!? I don’t know what you came here for, but leave the robot maids and go back!!” Sora screamed, but Einzig just made a smile full of affection. 

Then, as if he had seen through the still smoldering Sora’s uneasiness, he said:

“Calm down, oh my beloved Spieler. We, the Ex-Machina came here to help you. We are your allies. ”

………….

So Einzig had said, but Sora was just perplexed.

── I’m already at my limit. I don’t understand the situation at all!

Not the reason why the Ex-Machina appeared, the reason why they are pieces of junk, or why they declared that they are our allies !

And more than anything ── I don’t understand why there is a handsome homo butler and robot maids here──!!

Thus, Sora finally couldn’t take it anymore, and screamed the magic words:

“Jibraemon , help me────!!”

── And almost at the same time:

“Yeees～♥ The one who always watches her master’s lives 24/7, Jibril, is here♪  What is your command? Service? Or perhaps an execution!?”

The Flügel that had been projecting Holou from the outside appeared.

She came out of nowhere in high spirits. She took a look at the surroundings, and immediately made a troubled smile.

“Oh? Are they… the Ex-Machina? As expected of Master. Your luck for rares is very high.”

── Both sides had no hesitation.

“So it’s an execution then ♥ Could you wait around four seconds ── oh?”

“Lesen: Activating ‘Irregular’ sealing sequence── Error. Specifying primary cause.”

Jibril made a blade of light, and the Ex-Machinas took out gigantic weapons all at once── then they both froze.

Curiously, everyone present had completely forgotten about the Ten Pledges.

“… hey, I might be asking too much, but could anyone give me an explanation?…” Sora petitioned.

He saw how the Great War had been forcefully canceled first hand. Then, he gazed into the distance and thought about… Tet: ‘Sorry I provoked you earlier.’

Sora and the others offered a thankful prayer to Tet-sama and the Ten Pledges once again.

── They heard someone clearing their throat in response.

“… The Ex-Machina are the ones who destroyed the God of War, Artosh. The god-killer race.”

Jibril said with a smile. She was trying to make her case.

“Plus, they destroyed half the Flügel too. They are horrible murderous monsters. Reaaaaaaaaally bad news♥”

──You’re one to talk.

She had been about to commit genocide just now, they just couldn’t take her seriously. Bathing in the reproachful eyes of the three Imanities, Jibril continued without missing a beat:

“However, that battle was more than they could handle. Eye for an eye, they were annihilated until only a few units remained.”

Then, nonchalantly:

“Maybe it was then that they lost the ability to create new units? In any case we haven’t been able to confirm the appearance of new machines”

“… Wait. The ability to create new units? Don’t tell me… Did they lose the ability to multiply ?”

She told them a serious piece of information too nonchalantly. Sora frowned and asked for confirmation, but Jibril simply nodded:

“Yes. Since the Great War ended, single units have been witnessed very rarely, and they have all been the same units we saw during the end of the Great War. A pathetic race with the title of ‘endangered machines’♪”

…………

In other words, they were the race that massacred her maker and comrades. But on the other hand, she had massacred them until they were about to become extinct. What’s more, it wasn’t their ancestors that killed each other… they were the very same persons…

“… well… so you hold a grudge, huh?…”

“……………….”

── The Great War had been a long time ago. Too long ago. Forgiving and forgetting was… If the same people you battled to the death appeared in front of you… He couldn’t just say it, as expected.

Sora, Shiro and Steph lowered their heads with darkened and complicated expressions, but:

“Hmm? It’s not like I lost to the Ex-Machina, and I don’t particularly hold a grudge you know?” Jibril deadpanned, so the three humans opened their eyes wide.

“I just wanted to show a worthy opponent some courtesy”

“But you said you’d exterminate them just now right?”

Jibril’s expression was as if she had just said something good, so Sora retorted reflexively,

“… We killed. It was inevitable that we’d get killed in return. There is no reason to bear a grudge.”

“But you said you’d seal her just now!?”

Einzig had the same expression as Jibril, so Sora counterattacked with another retort, however,

“…? Yes. Therefore, with great respect, I politely tried to kill them with my full power.”

“Calm down. Currently, we can permanently deactivate the irregular without killing her.”

“What’s the difference between permanent deactivation and death? ── No, forget it.”

── We bear no grudges, but even so we will fucking kill you.

When he heard the machines say something like that, Sora retorted, but he gave up halfway with a cramped smile.

“More importantly, we wish to make one correction, Irregular. We didn’t lose our ability to multiply. We had been simply waiting for ‘Someone Worthy’”

He proudly declared that he couldn’t get married because there hadn’t been anyone worthy of it. Einzig had a standard they felt they had heard somewhere before. He turned around:

“And that is the very reason we came here for…” Einzig declared with a serious gaze, so Sora and the other’s expressions became stiff.

── The Ex-Machina were on the verge of extinction. So why now? Why did they appear in front of Sora and the others? And what was the true motive behind their mysterious ‘Ally declaration’?

Depending on that answer… Sora, Shiro and even Jibril were on guard.

“That’s right, ‘someone worthy’. That would be the willful Spieler── currently, the one called Sora…”

Sora had been maintaining close watch over Einzig, he approached once more:

“That’s right, it’s you, my beloved Speiler!! Come now, let’s cultivate our love and manufacture new units (make babies)!!”

“Don’t go back to the beginning!! Also don’t undress! Aren’t you just broken!?” 

The perverted robot had started to take off his clothes, so Sora promptly covered Shiro’s eyes and screamed that, half convinced.

The Great War ── they were 6000 years old machines. They weren’t merely ‘antiques’, they were ‘artifacts’.

“… Certainly. This machine’s service life is already 5982 years past the limit. Even though I endeavored to preserve myself using sleep mode, degradation over time cannot be stopped ── However, be at ease, my beloved Spieler!”

When he heard what Sora pointed out, Einzig stopped undressing and grinned.

“This machine’s thoughts and love are very much normal!”

“If your thoughts were very much normal, that speech and conduct would be completely out of the question!!”

Einzig started to undress again after speaking, so Sora screamed at him desperately.

“How about it Masters? Would you consider killing him?”

“… permission granted… Jibril…”

“What do you think will happen if you give her permission!? A-anyways let’s all calm down──”

Jibril and Shiro had released their killing intent, and Steph tried to calm them down, somehow.

── Suddenly, after a sharp wind sound, a crushing sound interrupted her.

And instead of the stripper stuck to the wall like a nail:

“Vote: The discussion can’t continue like this. The relevant machine has been temporarily deprived of its authority, this machine shall take over.”

The one who stepped forward was the female model Ex-Machina that had been arguing with Einzig just before.