I am a mindless machine.

"Phew, phew... I finally made it."

The petite, dark-haired girl was panting heavily, her face pale. She supported herself on her knees with her hands, and the sweat streaming down her face and soaking her clothes revealed just how exhausted she was. This supporting character, forgotten by the two of them and even the entire world, had now become the center of attention.

The setting sun gave Yunyou a weak smile, like that of an ordinary, adorable little girl hoping for praise.

"Lord Yu... I've completed the task you assigned me."

Chapter Thirty-Seven: A Frail Girl Wants to Challenge the World

The azure sky was crystal clear, with only a few wispy white clouds drifting softly in the distance. The battlefield beneath their feet had transformed from blood-soaked earth and stones into a green expanse covered with soft grass, and the air was filled with the delicate fragrance of blooming flowers. Not far from them lay a clear lake, where horses leisurely drank water on its banks.

It felt like a paradise in a dream.

"This is..." Godorn remained silent for a long time before finally managing to squeeze out a sentence. Clearly, he still couldn't accept this extraordinary situation. He could feel that the massive spiritual power he had previously gathered had dissipated—no, it should be said that the authority to control it had disappeared, so it was normal that he couldn't feel it anymore.

The scene before him seemed somewhat familiar. Rather, in his knowledge, only that person could manifest such a peaceful illusion without any harm in this world.

He quickly realized this possibility, his eyes widening as he stared at the girl who was so exhausted she was almost collapsing to the ground. He shouted in disbelief, "You didn't steal control, did you?! No, how could that be?!"

"...Father."

Startled by Godorn's roar, Sunset's slender figure trembled, and she lowered her head, avoiding his gaze. However, she did not refute Godorn's hypothesis. Beside her, a blurry spatial distortion could be vaguely seen, as fresh and elegant as a flowing poem, soothing to the mind and body.

That was the core spell that had finally been completed in the previous instant, and now it was slowly fading away.

As Godorn stared at the disappearing spell, he discovered something even more absurd—this spell was not the core spell he knew!

Although it is still based on the original core technique, some modifications with personal style can be clearly seen on it. Although the technique is a bit immature, she actually modified the technique left behind by the ancestor!

"Impossible... This shouldn't be possible." Godorn couldn't help but mutter to himself. If it were that machine race, it wouldn't be so bad, since their ability to imitate is well-known. Besides, Yun You only obtained one percent of the permissions.

And what about Sunset? First, Godorn was certain he had never shown her any books about the core spell of this great barrier. Despite her exceptional talent from a young age, matters concerning the survival of the race required extremely careful data preservation. Secondly—where did she get the manipulating energy? This was a spell only vampire nobles were qualified to use!

Godorn wasn't the only one stunned; Yun You was also completely bewildered. She had given the largest amount of blood to Xi Yang without hindering their operation, a seemingly insignificant move, her highest expectation being that Xi Yang would only steal some usage rights. But now, she had clearly seized the entire world. How did she manage to do that?

However, it would be foolish to waste time analyzing these things now.

If the other members of the vampire species react and immediately cut off the electrical connection of this forest elf branch, the situation will be reversed again.

"【Question】Sunset, are you able to carve out a path through Yelenochini that will leave without being tracked?" she asked calmly.

"No, no problem. I can do it right now." Sunset hurriedly nodded, her eyes gleaming as she spoke. Soon, a large black hole, similar to the portal they had traversed, appeared in the sky. She also made sure to place the exit in a safe location. Otherwise, if the two exhausted individuals were ambushed by a large group of forest elves, things would get really messy.

Yun You nodded slightly. After being idle for so long, she had finally regained her most basic flying ability. Even walking became unsteady, but she stepped forward and took the girl's cold little hand, then planned to leave this dangerous place immediately.

"Wait!—Sunset! Don't forget your name! Your race! Your identity! Do you know what your actions might lead to?!" Godorn shouted angrily, his tone filled with disappointment and frustration. Sunset was his daughter! A vampire who once bore the noble surname Nicholas, and her actions were treason, an unforgivable crime!

Upon hearing her father's words, Xiyang trembled again and stopped, looking at Yunyou with pleading eyes.

Yun You nodded silently and stopped walking as well. She could tell from the girl's eyes that she had some things she wanted to say before leaving her hometown completely.

Although time is of the essence and every second counts, and every extra second could bring them one step closer to death, this is what Yunyou promised Xiyang—that she would bid farewell to everything from the past.

"You possess such unparalleled talent. If you could simply set aside those hypocritical thoughts, you could lead us vampires to a better place, just like the first patriarch! Perhaps we could escape our current predicament of being forced to hide and stand in a more powerful position—"

"And then be killed by those who are even stronger than us?"

For the first time in her conversation with her father, Xi Yang refuted him. A rational light shone in her beautiful, purplish-red eyes, indicating that her words were not spoken in anger, but rather a conclusion reached after careful consideration.

—The large bag of blood that Yunyou gave her was not enough for her to complete the analysis of the core technique. Although she did have the ability, she lacked the time and resources, and she wasted a full ten years.

So at that time, she met someone. And had a conversation with that person, and then received help.

And in that conversation, the girl also grew. She gained the courage to confront the idea that she had dismissed her past as foolish.

As the setting sun gazed at Yun You standing beside it, it triggered a renewed stirring in its heart, a feeling rekindled from years past. She didn't let go of their clasped hands, for only then did she feel the courage to defy her father.

"Father... if you only pursue strength and victory blindly—I think that's wrong!"

Although still somewhat timid, the girl finally dared to look directly at the man glaring at her. She spoke with a defiant tone.

Like a stubborn child who refuses to bow down to the world.

Indeed, it cannot be denied. Just as Godorn said, she possesses extraordinary talent. If she were to abandon the foolish idea of ​​not wanting to hurt people and instead be as realistic and sensible as the others in the great war, then she could certainly reach a higher level, right? Just how high, the girl, who has not yet tried, cannot see that scene. But at least, surpassing all the current vampires should not be a problem, because in her eyes, the current illusion magic has far too many flaws.

But—what happens after that?

As all those with common sense have said during this great war, this is a harsh reality, not the game of childhood fantasies. And since it's reality—there's no such thing as victory, is there?

The strong are defeated by the stronger, the clever are deceived by the cleverer, and the hero who slays the dragon will eventually become the dragon that gets targeted – this is a self-evident theorem.

So, one must wisely recognize this reality and say, "Ah, this is the real world after all, there's nothing we can do about it." "It's all for survival, everyone does it this way." "Want to survive without following the rules? That's laughable." — And then assimilate yourself?

But wouldn't doing that just be escaping reality?

A divine light reappeared in the eyes of the setting sun, and the world that was originally just a natural landscape was instantly transformed, with countless fragments of the world being indistinguishably linked together—just as Godorn had shown at the beginning, the girl was now capable of wielding such power.

"This is..." Godorn saw what Sunset had done and realized that the other party's mastery of illusion magic had reached a level comparable to or even surpassed his own.

"I will continue to grow stronger, but I will not use your methods, never! I will change this world without harming anyone!!"

Almost shouting, the girl resolutely uttered her vow. So what if it's an impossible dream? If you don't even dare to dream, what's the point of living in such a world?

Why do people accept assimilation into reality? Frankly, there's only one reason—it's because they're too weak, and therefore can only drift along. In this world, only the strong have a voice.

—Then the answer is clear—just get stronger, keep getting stronger until you can ignore the rules, create your own rules, and become the rules themselves!

But strength and victory are merely the process of achieving her goal; they are definitely not the outcome she seeks.

One day, she will transform this place (a fairy tale) that can only exist in illusions now into a beautiful landscape that can be seen in the real world.

"........."

Hearing the girl's naive yet resolute declaration, Yun You remained silent, simply listening attentively. However, a flicker of emotion clearly crossed her eyes, which were usually filled with data-driven information. The girl's words had indeed touched her heart.

As expected, my initial decision was correct.

After roaring loudly, the setting sun finally closed its eyes due to exhaustion and fainted. Its mental strain had long been nearing its limit. Yun You caught the girl's soft, falling body, held it in her arms, and flew away from this world.

Chapter Thirty-Eight: What is "Correct"?

"Hmm..."

With some difficulty, Xi Yang opened her eyes, her head throbbing with pain. The aftereffects of forcibly crossing the extreme to manipulate things hadn't disappeared. Even with the talent, the level she had crossed this time was simply too great. If it weren't for that person's help back then, facing that desperate situation, the girl probably would have chosen to sacrifice her own life as fuel to help Yun You escape that illusion.

"...Lord Yu, do you like this gesture?"

Opening his eyes, he saw Yun You's ever-calm face and her long, flowing silver hair. Perhaps he had already guessed this scene from the familiar soft touch on the back of his head, Xi Yang sighed softly and said with a hint of helplessness.

"[Question] What's wrong? Does this make you feel uncomfortable?"

"No... I should say the opposite is what's bothering me... What if I get used to this feeling..." Muttering to herself, Xiyang struggled to get off Yunyou's lap and sat up, her brow furrowing slightly from the pain in her head. But she first asked Yunyou with concern, "Lord Yunyou, are you... alright?"

"[Negative]... It was terrible. I really thought I was going to die there."

Yun You's current condition was far from good; in fact, it couldn't be worse. Her flat voice betrayed an unconcealable weakness. During the later stages of the battle, her overload rate had exceeded 300%. As a machine, it wouldn't be surprising if it broke down on the spot from such high temperatures. Therefore, various parts of her body suffered severe damage, and even her ordinary movements carried a sense of weariness, giving her the appearance of a sickly young woman confined to bed. She was now wearing her loose white hooded robe again, her thighs faintly visible beneath the white hem, adding to the mystery.

"I'm so sorry... Also, where is this...?" Sunset looked around at the cave-like landscape and asked in confusion.

"【Answer】—This is the former capital of the Forest Spirits."

The unique structures woven from trees mostly bear the marks of destruction and charring, with a bottomless hole left in the rock—a horrific scar inflicted on the world by a celestial strike. Yet, even in this damage, vibrant flowers still bloom all around, a blessing bestowed upon the forest elves by the forest god Kainas. Even though the forest elves are one of the main culprits behind the current state of the world, they still live in a tranquil paradise.

"The former capital of the Forest Elves... I see. After being destroyed by the Skywings, this place became an uninhabitable area. Moreover, due to its lingering influence, mindless demons would not come here... It is quite suitable as a temporary recovery base."

"..........Um."

Yun You simply nodded slightly at Xi Yang's deduction, without denying it. Because that was indeed one of the reasons. However, there was another factor—based on her previous deductions, she knew that the current era was exactly the same era in which Riku, the protagonist of No Game No Life, lived.

Since that was the case, Yun You decided it was necessary to meet the other party. This man was the one who had displayed an incomprehensible level of strategy at the end of this great war. He was also the first human to give a heart to a machine race. Such important observation material couldn't be missed.

The reason for choosing this location near where the two characters were in the original work is just a side effect. If we're lucky, we might run into them; if not, this is a good place to recover. Once we've fully recovered our strength, we can start looking for them later.

...

...

"Lord Yu... the reason I was able to seize the access to that illusion was not entirely due to my efforts, but mainly because..." After a while, seeing Yun You close her eyes and begin self-repair, Xi Yang finally couldn't help but speak up. She wanted to explain to Yun You that she hadn't been hiding any strength, nor had she intentionally put her in that dangerous situation.

"[Speculation] It's either a phantom or a spiritual entity of Dracula, right?"

"Huh...!? How...how did you know?"

Sunset stared wide-eyed as she replied, the scene flashing through her mind—back then, all the spirit energy in her body had almost been depleted due to overuse, and the bag of blood was also used up. She was making rapid progress, but she was still a long way from her goal.

But then she appeared—unlike the image that had always been passed down within the family, this vampire who called herself Dracula Nicholas was a petite girl with long, flowing black hair highlighted with blue. According to her, the image that had always been passed down within the family was a deception, a fabrication she created to maintain her authority and rule. She had deceived everyone for her entire life.

She seemed to have almost completely controlled the situation, yet she couldn't find a way to break the war, and ultimately couldn't stop the alliance of other races. In the end, she could only leave her spiritual remains in Yerenochini's illusion, waiting for a descendant who possessed both vampire qualities and genius to appear. Then, to quell the hatred of other races towards vampires, she calmly accepted death. And because it was only a spiritual remnant, she met the setting sun in this true form.

"【Reply】This is just a reasonable speculation. The correct answer will be what remains after eliminating all impossible conclusions. So, what you said to Godorn later was probably influenced by your conversation with that person."

As Yun You pondered where she could find repair materials nearby, she asked this question. She was also a little curious about just who this brilliant genius, who shone so brightly in the history of vampires, was.

"My ancestor said... I'm very similar to her in the past, both in my thoughts and other aspects." Xi Yang said in a somewhat dejected tone, "My ancestor said she hasn't seen anyone as innocent as me in a long time, I'm practically a carbon copy of her when she was young."

"After my ancestor understood that I was unwilling to change myself, she suggested that I hand over my body to her through memory transfer, so that she could continue leading the vampires forward, and I wouldn't have to continue facing this cruel world... But I refused this suggestion..."

As Xiyang spoke these words with a somewhat oblivious air, it seemed that she was under a lot of pressure because she had encountered the legendary ancestor that every vampire had heard about since childhood, and had even rejected his proposal.

"Even so, my ancestor still provided me with a lot of help, and even entrusted me with all her experience in using illusion magic... She said she saw hope in my eyes and felt that I might be able to do what she couldn't do back then."

Finally, she couldn't help but turn her gaze to Yun You. Most of what she had said to Godorn at the time was driven by emotion; now that she had regained her composure, she felt somewhat lost again.

"Lord Yu...is this decision really the right one?"

However, Yunyou had no way to answer questions like "What's happening at sunset?"

She herself wasn't sure of the answer to this question.

The girl had only been observing everyone until now, and her special treatment of the sunset was simply because she judged that there was a high probability that the sunset could restore her emotions. In order to regain her lost heart, she didn't care if she was in deep danger like before—without a heart, she wasn't even truly alive.

In the previous study, Yunyou was able to be certain of Xiyang's ideas because her past worldview told her that the way the world existed was wrong.

But things are different now. In the previous battle in the vampire settlement, she confronted another part of the reality of this world.

Godorn's willingness to sacrifice himself for his entire race, and the battles he witnessed in this world, made her question her own values. Her values ​​were shaped and cultivated in the environment of Earth—but now she was in another world. To simply impose her learned values ​​on this world and expect its inhabitants to accept them...

This is undoubtedly arrogance.

If Rick ultimately fails to transform this world into Disboard (the world on the chessboard)—then her worldview from her previous life will likely never manifest in this world.