No Game No Life - Volume 9 Chapter 2.5

“I’d think that they have a severe mental disability and decapitate them out of pity── ah…” Jibril

answered with a smile, but then, she hung her head as if to apologize, and continued:

“It looks like the severely impaired one is me… There’s no way they’d accept that game”

──That’s right. The Ex-Machina had no reason (bait) to accept.

They are willing to go extinct ── It was precisely because they have nothing to lose that they were able

to entrap Sora in a game he’d surely lose. It was because they were confident that they’d certainly win

that they were able to blow off Sora’s demands. If Sora wanted to demand that again ── he’d have to

entrap them back

.

He’d have to make them accept a game according to Sora and Shiro’s specifications; a game Sora and

Shiro would certainly win. And also make them swallow this demand: ‘forget everything about your past

love and reproduce.’

Against an opponent with nothing to lose? Plus, they are the Ex-Machina you know? ── Is there even a

way to do that?

── Even if Sora made babies with them it’s ‘checkmate’

Even if Sora doesn’t make babies with them it’s still ‘checkmate’

What’s more, he couldn’t think of a single way to ‘avoid a checkmate (to entrap them back)’── no, he

even doubted that such a way existed at all.

“What’s up with this excessively troublesome race! Even being troublesome should have some limits!”

Sora couldn’t take it anymore and screamed again. What he was trying to say was that even if the

Ex-Machina had challenged Sora as enemies it would have been better; Sora would have a way to deal

with them then. But suddenly──

── *beep beep*

“Eh!? Ah, eh, hi, I-Imsorry…”

“…aie… w-we’ll get out… of the way… right now… “

When they heard that car horn, Sora and Shiro moved away like scared deer. Apologizing too readily,

they retreated to the back of the alley and huddled together.

“… M-Masters? … What’s wrong?” Jibril said, bewildered.

Those two answered while hugging each other and making themselves look small:

“Hm, Jibril… what would happen if you told someone with a communication disorder to ‘move’?”

Sora and Shiro kept trembling, but in contrast, their voices were proud and strong:

“They’d answer ‘Imsorry’ as if it were a single word, and move away as fast as possible!

That

is the way

of the communication disorder!”“… You must never… cause trouble… for the neighborhood…”

── Jibril. Surely you haven’t forgotten what kind of persons are your Masters, right?

No matter how haughty we act, in the end, we are like this! Two hikikomoris with a communication

disorder!!

When she heard that solemn, incredibly majestic answer, Jibril fell to her knees, and trembled in a

mysterious awe.

“… I-I’m terribly sorry… Please forgive my stupid question──”

Thus, both Sora and Shiro nodded enthusiastically, thinking they were satisfied ── and then they noticed.

A little bit too late.

………….Hmm.

“Hey Shiro… were there any cars in this world? …. Actually…”

There was a white van advancing a little but too naturally beside them… no,

“… Actually, that isn’t just any car… it’s a High Ace32…”

High Ace. A very well known type of vehicle specialized in transporting light cargo.

That specialization was the same regardless of what you loaded. Since it was made for home deliveries,

refrigerators were a given. Therefore you could also transport thin books about Touhou, AK47s, RPGs,

little girls ── it looks like this particular question would cause great damage to his reputation.

Inevitably, the problem right now was: ‘what is loaded in it?’

“Lesen: Successful courtship scenario creation weapon. Liebe Erfolg Situation Forme── ‘True

Sora Seducer: Check Martyr’ ── Prototype 0010”

For now, it seems like Emiline was sitting in the driver’s seat as if it were the most natural thing in the

world.

── It looks like by analysing Sora’s treasures (hentai manga) they were even able to emulate a car.

That was very impressive in and of itself, but that wasn’t the problem. The Ex-Machina are so crazy that

at this point, Sora wouldn’t even be surprised by something like that.

What are they going to use that for?

── Sora had a bad feeling about that, so he thought to ask them.

“Wh──why… I severed the spatial fissure ── it’s supposedly impossible to reopen severed space──!?”

However, it looks like for Jibril, this was a lot more than ‘something like that.’

Emiline smiled after seeing Jibril gasp at how the Ex-Machina found their whereabouts so quickly.

“Affirmation: tracking through severed space is impossible. However, that hole was clearly too much for

simple long distance teleportation.”

32 Truck-kun basically

 

“…………………”

“Paradox: The teleportation destination is close by. Plus, the Irregular is very extreme. If it’s close by, it

must be in this island

. Moreover, it must be outside the Ex-Machina’s enemy detection range. An address

satisfying all the previous conditions ── can only be here

. This was estimated without even knowing the

map.”

… In summary, all of Jibril’s machinations were completely seen through.

Emiline said that with her doll-like eyes, but they were clearly ── full of pity.

“… Well-known fact: The Irregular’s intelligence is pretty low. A simple fool.”

“────────♥”

Wordlessly. And with a smile.

There was a sudden burst of killing intent, and Sora and Shiro… could swear that they had seen it.

Jibril and Emiline glared at each other and soon it became a critical situation, but the one who stopped

them was neither Sora nor Shiro──

“Come now, my beloved Spieler! I kept you waiting for 1503.017 seconds! But now, let’s go on a road

trip to deepen our friendship!!”

*vroom* *vroom*!

It was Einzig’s scream. He opened the car’s side door and appeared with a smile.

── Aah, why won’t my bad premonition go away?

“… As expected huh? You are referencing the one thing I didn’t want you to refer to the most…”

Just as he had feared, the real problem was what was loaded into the van. Sora groaned and put both

hands on his head.

The van had polarized windows, so Sora couldn’t even begin to guess what was inside. But 9 out of 10

times… It’s loaded with little girls wearing immodest attires. Or perhaps little girls about to get in ── in

any case, that was completely out. Plus, this wasn’t like them. Sora took a big breath, and bellowed:

“A friendship with y

ou

hasn’t even sprouted yet. But more importantly! I don’t like f

orced

stuff!!”

── D

id I overestimate them?

Sora added in his head.

Up until now, the Ex-Machina have accurately uncovered Sora’s preferences, reflected on their previous

approaches and tried again. However this time, they had used the situation Sora likes the least ── that is:

A road trip across Japan kidnapping beautiful girls ── And incidentally, friendship sprouts while on the

trip.

They had unleashed a combo of 2 very unpleasant things at the same time, so Sora even clicked his

tongue.“Hm… Be at ease, my beloved Spieler. We Ex-Machina never commit the same mistake twice…”

However, Einzig bragged about the special characteristic of his race, and answered with a smile.

Hmmmm… But these guys just keep repeating the same mistake by assaulting me…

Perhaps they are not counting that as a mistake?

Sora was truly concerned, but in contrast, Einzig just continued explaining exaggeratedly:

“My beloved doesn’t like forcing others. He also doesn’t like to have his sexual preferences aired in

public!!”

── Ah. It looks like they are properly counting those, after all.

Sora sighed with relatively big relief, until he heard the next line:

── “However.”

A word that starts a sentence in opposition to the previous one:

“If he is the one g

etting

forced, then there’s no problem! Plus, this vehicle is a s

ecure and sound-proof

room!!”

Thus what they learned is below:

── Sora won’t be the one doing the kidnapping, Sora is the one getting kidnapped.

Sora’s reason is whispering to him… the Ten Pledges exist. They cannot do such a thing.

However, getting abducted by the perverted homo robot, Einzig… No. Getting killed. His fear was that of

someone about to be killed.

That, plus the countless hands peeking through the van, made his courage disappear. He didn’t have

enough courage left to believe in the Pledges anymore.

“Jibriiiiiiil! Help meeeee!!”

“… Nii is… Nii is getting… white vaned33!?”

Their screams left no room for doubt ── Jibril instantly took Sora and Shiro along, and jumped through

space.

■■■

She had no way of knowing that Sora and Shiro were screaming like that. Steph squared her shoulders,

and ran through the Elkian castle with enough force to break the floors. Sora and Shiro had left her ‘in

charge’ when they ran away, but her anger wasn’t directed at them.

“What is this!? Why did they change their attitude so quickly after making such a racket!?”

33 In the original it’s ‘High aced’ the model of the van, but I think ‘white vaned’ is a pretty good English equivalent.About one hour ago, the program for Holou’s debut liveshow ended safely. In and of itself, the show was

very successful. Steph was very amazed at that. However, the ‘handshake event’ that came after upset

Steph so much that she started screaming.

… Handshake event.

Steph didn’t understand what that meant at all ── No, the one who didn’t understand it the most was

Holou herself, but.

Sora had said that: ‘Some arrogant guys may commit sexual harassment, so I’ll leave the security to you.

Also, it’d be better if it wasn’t in the castle’. However, Sora and Shiro were the only persons in the world

brave enough to sexually harass an Old Deus.

Far from being sexually harassed… If one thought about it normally, of course it’d be like this.

──They are afraid of Holou, so far from coming to shake her hand, the crowd won’t even get close.

Steph thought.

That’s right. That is the normal reaction. That is normalcy. It’s supposed to be like that, and yet…

Next to Steph, there was a booth that said ‘handshake event meeting place,’ and sitting there alone was:

“… Thou… Ste… what is Holou doing?…” Holou asked helplessly. She was an idol with exactly 0

persons at her handshake event, so Steph──

“Holou worked so hard! And yet, they made you make such a face. They really don’t know who they’re

messing with, huh!?”

Unable to contain herself, she ran through the Elkian castle at full speed. She didn’t understand Sora’s

intentions. However ── it’d be too pitiful to leave Holou like this.

The people are gathered. The reason why they can’t approach is simply because ── the Old Deus are

scary. In that case──!

“They just need to understand that you’re not scary ── I’m calling an assembly of all the noble houses

with ties to the house of Dola!!”

She just needed to use the Dola faction’s connections to hire a bunch of people to fill the handshake

event.

Steph had just declared that she’d abuse the powers of the royal family, but she didn’t notice. She just

kept running at full speed ── when suddenly:

“… Hmm. What did my beloved Spieler not like this time, I wonder…?”

“Conclusion: First of all, he doesn’t like your very existence. Other units have a different problem.

Completely unrelated.”

“Wh-What did you say…!? I-In that case, what do you think this unit should do──!?”

“Proposal: Vanish. You just need to follow these steps: 1 Initiate your self-destruct sequence. 2 Explode.

The biggest obstacle to identifying Master’s preferences is you.”

The machines’ voices resounded. They were very seriously making very pointless arguments.

What were they doing in the castle you ask? ── They were having a seemingly endless meeting about

seducing Sora. Then, each time they went and tried to seduce him and failed, the Ex-Machina returned to

the throne room and tried again──

“── and you!! Why did you even come here!?” Steph unintentionally raised her voice. Almost everything

was these guys’ fault after all.

… No, correction. The very first cause of all her troubles were the ones who made Holou an idol.

However, if Sora and Shiro were here, then, at the very least, it would have ended without Holou making

such a face.

“Courtesy: Sorry for intruding. Please don’t mind us.”

“We are also very bothered and desperate… Just how can I get my beloved Spieler to love me?…”

“If you are aware that you are intruding, and you have 13 people, why don’t you help!?”

And so, Steph wasn’t aware that she wasn’t acting like herself at all. The only thing in her mind was

Holou’s helpless gaze.

“If you have enough free time to think about such a p

ointless thing

, then help! You have more than

enough people to fill up the────” Steph suddenly noticed that she had been yelling ── and then.

“… Order: You concluded that it was ‘pointless’. Explain why in detail.”

“────────!”

──Once she saw all those inorganic eyes turning towards her all at once, Steph came back to her senses

and froze.

She had just been going along with the flow, but they were still the god killers that had completely

outwitted Sora ── and she had talked to them like that. Steph broke into a cold sweat. She felt as though

the Ex-Machina were analysing even her very insides ── but even so, she still asked herself:

── D

id I say something wrong?

“T-there’s no way that S-Sora’s heart will be moved by mere ‘lies’…!”

──Answer. There’s nothing wrong with what I said!

That was Steph’s resolute answer. However, contrary to her intentions, her voice was shaky and her legs

were trembling.

Even if the Ex-Machina said that they were acting according to Sora’s preferences or whatever to make it

sound pretty, what they were doing was ── a lie.

The Sora that Steph knows is not a man who’d be

tricked by such lies. Therefore ── it’s pointless. That’s what Steph had concluded, but unexpectedly:

“… I … see… Unless our words come from the heart, there’s no way our love will reach him… right?!”

Einzig replied as he looked up towards the heavens. He was both astonished and thoroughly impressed.“How foolish… To think that we have been overlooking something so obvious──！Hey you!”

“Y-yes!?”

“I thank you, nameless lady. Now I finally have a clue on how to have children with my beloved Spieler

── All units prepare for teleportation!”

“So you don’t have any intention of helping after all huh!? And I do have a name you know!?”

Were the Ex-Machina ignoring Steph, or did they simply not notice her? Either way, they were preparing

to teleport back to Sora as soon as possible when ──

“Forget about that clue nya. After all, it’ll be futile nya.”

── Suddenly, that voice echoed around them.

And at the same time, a soundless impact shook the entire castle── no, it shook the whole kingdom of

Elkia. Steph had no way of knowing what had happened. Only the Ex-Machina knew. They realized that

all observation and teleportation methods had been sealed by a severed space covering the castle.

“The simple fact that you pieces of industrial waste are still alive makes me feel disgusted. There’ll be no

reproduction or breeding for you nya♪” A certain girl who appeared out of thin air said. Steph gulped.

It was the representative of the Flügel ── The first specimen, Azriel.

However, the reason why Steph had gulped wasn’t because of her. It was because when she looked up

from the castle’s window, the heavens were closed shut as if someone had put a lid on them. Azriel must

have teleported to the skies above Elkia together with Avant Heim.

“Not all the girls are as understanding as Jib-nyan… right, scrap?” She said, both her eyes loaded with an

extraordinary amount of hostility

.

Whatever Jibril had exchanged with the Ex-Machina before was completely different from that.

“You are the damned dolls who made a disgusting imitation of the power that was granted to us by our

Lord, set us up with a dirty trick, launched a surprise attack, massacred my cute little sisters, and finally

killed our Lord──” Azriel said. She seemed to be in such a good mood that she even clapped her hands

as she approached Einzig. Then, she asked:

“── So if there’s a reason not to dismantle you right now, let’s hear it nya♥”

“……………………”

Einzig stayed quiet as Azriel stroked his cheek with a smile, but also with that

.

That made Steph realize that neither Jibril nor the Ex-Machina had been lying. They had said that there

were no hard feelings, and indeed, that was nothing like simple hard feelings. It was something more

mechanical than a machine, inorganic even, without a single trace of hesitation──

It was pure, unadulterated ── killing intent.

“W-wait, A-Azriel-san!? If you do that Sora, Shiro, and even Jibril won’t forgive──”

Even with the Pledges in effect, the malice in the air was so intense she believed that they’d start killing

each other right in front of her eyes. In the spur of the moment, Steph had raised her voice. She quickly brought it under control, but at that moment Steph──