Miss Tokisaki, Are You Interested in Becoming the One True God?

Aley led Kurumi and Schwi through the dark crevices of the mountain, eventually arriving at a distant, desolate cave.

The cave was eerily quiet, completely empty inside.

Rick sat there motionless, staring at Kurumi and Schwi as they entered, greeting them hoarsely with a dry voice.

Kurumi did not like the hollow, lifeless look in his eyes. That gaze—devoid of hope, steeped in despair—was profoundly irritating to her.

Before Rick was a massive table, upon which lay a large map carved into countless grid-like patterns, accompanied by several chess pieces.

This map was a precious artifact salvaged from the ruins of a Dwarf-made aerial battleship. It comprehensively depicted the ongoing battles, the tactical positions, and the broader state of the war.

Rick, never one for pleasantries, got straight to the point, exchanging information with Kurumi.

"'The Void Zero Protection,' huh..." Rick adjusted the chess pieces, pointing to a location south of their current position on the Lucia Continent.

He deliberated for a moment before recounting recent events to Kurumi.

Two days ago, after Kurumi and Schwi had departed, the ongoing stalemate between the Elves' aerial fleet and the Dwarves' battleships escalated into a direct confrontation, with the battlelines creeping closer to the coastline.

Kurumi, considering the timeline, quickly pieced together the cause.

The Dwarves' rapid fleet likely detected the Elves' mage battalion and attempted to intercept them, only to encounter the Elves' ships along the way. This inevitably led to a skirmish.

During the exchange, a high-explosive stray shell struck the northern section of the mountain range. In an instant, the forest turned to ash. The trees in the distance were felled in neat rows by the shockwaves, and the northern mountains were leveled.

Because of the expanding frontline, Rick had already instructed Couronne to lead the settlement's inhabitants to a safer location.

This place was no longer secure.

"Was anyone injured... or worse?" Kurumi asked.

Although she didn't utter the final word, Rick understood her question: death.

"No one was injured..." Rick's fingers tapped softly on the map. "But people have died."

Kurumi froze for a moment, stunned, before Rick continued.

"Altogether, including myself, 180 members of the settlement have already died while evacuating," he said with a mischievous, almost playful smile.

"Miss Tokisaki... can you tell me just how strong you are?" Rick stood, pressing both hands on the map. His previously lifeless gaze now burned with a fiery intensity, shattering the deathly stillness in his eyes.

"How strong?" Kurumi repeated, hesitating. Why was he asking such a strange question all of a sudden?

"I still don't know what the Dragonia or Flügel are like," Kurumi said, "but when it comes to the Dwarves and Elves, I can do anything they're capable of."

Kurumi didn't overstate her abilities, but the arrogant smirk on her face plainly conveyed her true thoughts:

Even if it's a god... I could kill it for you.

"Then... would you be interested in claiming the throne of the One True God?" Rick stretched out his hand toward Kurumi, his expression both childlike and impossibly bold.

"I can't offer you much, but... do you want the Star Grail?"

"This world has no hope," Rick declared.

It was an undeniable truth he had long since realized but never dared to admit.

The gods were embroiled in an endless war for the throne of the One True God, annihilating each other in their quest to claim the Star Grail.

But... but... how long had this war lasted?

According to Schwi, this world had already been destroyed and rebuilt countless times due to the ceaseless conflict.

The Ex-Machina were a race that had survived through destruction after destruction, enduring for so long that they had even forgotten who their original creator was.

But could humanity possibly have that kind of endurance? Could they truly hold on long enough to see this war's end?

Rick didn't believe that the gods who had initiated this war could ever create a world better than this one.

Thus, the future had to be forged by his own hands.

To end it all... as a human.

Rick fixed his gaze on Kurumi's crimson eye and resolutely cast the chess piece in his hand onto the board.

"Miss Tokisaki... are you interested in becoming the One True God?"

The enemy was the gods—the ones who stood behind the chessboard, controlling the pieces.

To defeat them head-on was nearly impossible and entirely meaningless.

If this endless war truly had a purpose, it should have ended countless ages ago.

But... what if it could be guided instead?

Guided toward a conclusion—toward the end of it all.

Was it truly necessary to annihilate all other gods, leaving only one, to summon the Star Grail?

Rick posed the question to Kurumi.

The "Star Grail" was a conceptual device created by the gods to restrict the power of creation—power capable of forging entire species—to a single entity.

It was impossible for gods to create such an omnipotent device on their own, as the power of the One True God exceeded the combined power of all gods.

But... since gods were born of the Astral Plane—since the divine essence, the created species, and even the gods themselves originated from it—then the power of the "world itself" far surpassed the collective strength of all gods.

Rick gathered all the chess pieces representing the various races and piled them at the center of the board.

"What if we pierced through the Astral Plane?"

"If we could penetrate the core of this world—the Astral Plane itself—the energy released would surely surpass that of all the gods combined."

"That kind of power would undoubtedly summon the Star Grail."

"And when that happens... I only ask that you wish for a different future."

As expected... Kurumi observed Rick carefully. This guy really is the protagonist.

"No... I have no interest in something like the Star Grail," Kurumi replied with a smirk.

Rick's heart seemed to tighten, as if gripped by an invisible hand. He needed the power to advance this game.

"You can keep that thing and make your own wish," Kurumi continued.

"I'm just a traveler, after all."

"Well... but this game does sound pretty interesting."

Kurumi clasped Rick's outstretched hand.

"What's that phrase again? 'Swear upon the will of the fallen'?"

"No... this time, it's a vow upon shared resolve," Rick said, grinning as he swept all the chess pieces aside.

Rick moved the white king from its position on the Lucia Continent.

—This represents us.

He gazed at the crowned piece—the king. The weakest piece on the board, yet the most important. The one whose death signifies the end.

We shouldn't even exist, Rick mused silently.

No killing, no letting anyone die.

Strategies, information, deceit... no matter the means, just bring an end to this absurd game.

With rules and conditions for victory already established, this planet is nothing but a game board in the eyes of the gods. So let the ants bring some surprises to these gods.

The map was already laden with white pieces symbolizing various species, along with a black king at the center.

That represented the location of the Astral Plane Core.

Rick reached for the black king, but as he did, another slender hand, veiled in shadow, pressed down on the piece.

"Are you truly content to hand over the throne of the One True God?" The shadow-cloaked figure lifted the king and gave it a slight shake. The voice was raspy yet childlike, inscrutable.

"What's there to be discontent about?" Rick retorted. "That thing holds no meaning for me. All I want... is for the settlement to endure until the great war ends, to give the children a chance to see the sun beyond the blood-red clouds."

He answered silently in his heart, mocking himself. If Couronne were here, she'd surely call him out for mumbling and daydreaming again.

As if hearing his thoughts, the entity before him responded.

"What if I told you that Ex-Machina was one of the culprits behind the destruction of your village back then?" The figure set the king back down, then picked up the white queen from the adjacent continent and nudged it toward Lucia.

That piece represented the Flügel, the most powerful species.

"With your cunning, such things should be within your reach."

Rick's shoulders trembled. "Those... those things, I've always known."

"Then..." the entity continued to coax.

"And so what?" Rick suddenly laughed.

"First, no one may kill."

Because if you kill, you'll be killed. No one wants to kill.

"Second, no one may let others die."

Because letting others die means you'll die too. No one wants others to die.

"That's the covenant I established, the rules of my game."

Rick declared this, his voice imbued with passion. These rules, rooted in sentiment and seemingly capricious, were ironclad principles between him and the shadowy figure.

"Is that so?" The child-like being shrouded in darkness chuckled gleefully, tossing the black king back to Rick. "Then remember everything you've said. Good luck."

The figure dissolved into the darkness, leaving behind the faintly glowing black king.

Kurumi groggily opened her eyes, finding a pair of clear, crystalline ones staring intently into hers.

For anyone else, waking up to such a sight would be enough to give them a fright.

But Kurumi was used to it.

"Schwi..." Kurumi sighed.

The girl's face was so close that Kurumi could feel her own breath warming her cheeks as it rebounded.

Schwi, with her ruby-like eyes glowing faintly, sat upright, perched squarely on Kurumi's waist.

This situation... had already happened countless times since their first night together.

For reasons unknown, Kurumi harbored an unusual tolerance and a special affection for Schwi.

Schwi's gaze remained fixed on Kurumi.

"Hey, Schwi... I've told you, 'heart' has nothing to do with kissing." Kurumi smoothly lifted Schwi off her and set her down.

"Onee-sama..." The soft, timid voice carried a touch of vulnerability that tugged at the heartstrings.

Kurumi thought of Sakura.

But unlike Sakura, who would obediently follow whatever Kurumi said, Schwi was—

"I'm sorry, I was wrong, and I'll do it again next time."

Heaven only knew which lolita template she was trying to emulate. Kurumi sighed in resignation.

"Schwi... can't you change your personality module?"

"Apologies, Onee-sama." Schwi murmured as she subtly erased a slew of error warnings. "Because of the effects of the Spell..."

"Alright, alright, I get it." Kurumi swiftly got up to wash her face, deciding not to dwell on it.

Actually, she could.

With her arms wrapped tightly around herself, Schwi watched Kurumi's retreating figure.

But... but this module... it made her want to monopolize everything, to keep it unchanged, to hold on forever... until the life of an Ex-Machina parsing unit ended, even if it was 800 years later.

Or longer, much longer.

She wanted to stay by her side until the war ended, until the clouds parted, and the skies cleared.

Schwi deployed her weaponry and carried Kurumi as they soared toward the warfront.

Unlike the black-gray ash that usually fell, pale green spectral dust now rained from the sky. Rick watched their figures disappear into the distance before extending his hand to catch some of the falling particles.

A searing pain shot through his palm, and he clenched his fist tightly.

The pain made him all the more alert.

Even if they looked different... the Ex-Machina were undoubtedly part of what had ruined this world.

Pulling his animal-hide cloak tighter around him, Rick carefully packed away the map and chess pieces, preparing to leave.

For reasons he couldn't quite understand, he kept the black king close to his chest.

"I will... abide by my covenant. No matter what."

Back at the crash site where Kurumi and Rick first met, within the wreckage of the Dwarven warship, Schwi was attempting to hijack the main controls—or more specifically, its communication system.

The infusion of magical energy powered the arcane batteries, a hallmark of the Dwarves' wholly magical engineering.

Then, a holographic phantom appeared in the underground Dwarven metropolis.

A bespectacled young man with a single customized monocle, Lóni Drauvnir, gazed at the projection with curiosity. He was the Dwarves' youngest genius and their youngest commander.

The exposed, mechanical clock-like eye of the phantom figure captivated the Dwarven engineers.

They desperately wanted to dismantle it.

But amidst their frustration, they quickly masked their thoughts.

"Well, young lady... may I ask what you're here for?" Lóni inquired. The stirring excitement—the thrill of meeting an equal—hadn't struck him like this since encountering the Elves' Eighth-Tier Mage.

He stalled for time, subtly signaling his engineers to trace the phantom's coordinates.

"Let's make a deal," the phantom said, smiling. Her fluent Dwarven, tinged with a Hardenfeldian accent, was astonishing.

"I propose a trade: Elf intelligence... for something of yours."

"Elves?"

That was an offer Lóni couldn't refuse.

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