I am a mindless machine.

Feeling the icy wind from supersonic flight cutting through her skin like a knife, and witnessing the white explosion around her caused by the sonic boom, she was enveloped in a ring of silence after the sound subsided. Shubi bit her lip, constantly revising her calculations, her thoughts swirling and intertwining like countless streaks of light. But no matter how much she tried to think positively—the chances of survival were still 0%.

But—I cannot accept that outcome—!

Shubi vehemently denied the conclusions she, as a machine, had deduced. A resolute look flashed in her red, glassy eyes.

Liku said...probably...it's impossible for 0 to occur! Therefore—!

"I say, isn't it about time we stopped this boring game of tag?"

Jibril spoke in a utterly bored tone, then leaped into space, appearing before Shubi who was flying at near-instantaneous speed. Then, with a mocking air, she casually swung a slash of light powerful enough to split mountains—not a skill, just a simple gesture to launch the massive spirit.

"!!!"

Hughie's eyes widened, and then, with a narrow escape, she used her spirit to create a rope in front of her, pulled on it, and forcibly changed the direction of her body, dodging the glowing attack that would have evaporated her if it had just grazed her.

But Jibril clearly wasn't going to give her any more time. Shubi could sense that the unimaginably large number of spirits were gathering again, and an even more terrifying attack was about to strike.

—If you want to escape, you must first hold off your opponent!

Shubi was certain of this in her heart, and then prepared to seize the opportunity to unleash the strongest weapon she now possessed, reproducing the dying attack of Yanlong, one of the three kings of the dragon spirit race—the [Pseudo-Scripture? Yanlong Roar] with 43% power.

However, at that very moment, the world itself suddenly underwent a strange change.

"...!?"

The two of them stopped what they were doing simultaneously. Or rather—the enemy, who should have been so close, had vanished.

Not only that.

The towering valleys, the winding cliffs, the land blasted into deep craters by immense energy—all vanished in that instant.

—In its place was an endless darkness, so dark that one could not see their own hand in front of their face, as if it had swallowed up all the light in the world, and was like an endless darkness where countless wailing souls of the dead gathered.

This scene was like the endless nothingness after the end of the world.

"This is......?"

Jibril stopped the scythe-shaped energy she was about to swing, a hint of surprise and wariness flashing in her amber eyes. Her previously passively extended elven sensory network, stretching fifty kilometers, could no longer detect her surroundings; it was as if an ordinary person's eyes had been blindfolded. The sudden darkness that had enveloped her clearly possessed a powerful ability to conceal everything.

Faced with this incomprehensible situation, her first action was to surround herself with a completely protective magic spell to prepare for any potential massive attack. Only then did she begin to consider the current situation.

—Who made this? Could it be that piece of scrap metal?

This was the first thought that flashed through her mind, but she immediately dismissed it. Although the combat techniques Shubi displayed severely violated the usual fighting style of the Machine Race, the most fundamental element—the intensity of power—remained unchanged. The capabilities of an Analytical Body are extremely limited.

But this endless darkness, which seems to have expanded to encompass the entire world, is far beyond what that scrap metal could achieve, not to mention anything else, in terms of energy consumption alone.

Jibril closed her eyes and skillfully used the spirits to begin exploring her surroundings. First, she needed to grasp the current situation.

After a while, she looked puzzled and stopped exploring—because she couldn't sense anything.

No matter how far she extended her senses, all she could see was an endless expanse of darkness.

It felt as if she was the only living being left in the world.

"I see, so it's some kind of unknown situation~?"

Finally, she understood, and a radiant smile appeared on her exquisitely crafted face.

This is probably some kind of special ability of a certain race, and it seems to affect her five senses rather than the external world. Otherwise, there's no way to explain why she can't sense anything even though she can extend her perception. Since this is the first time encountering such a special situation, even Jibril couldn't find a solution immediately.

However, during the great war, faced with this unknown situation, she, as a member of the Skywing race, had a unique way of dealing with it.

In the next instant, almost endless elves seemed to be torn apart by a vacuum, converging towards her hand! If that amount of elves were truly released—it could at least evaporate a small mountain.

"I don't know exactly what happened, but as long as we destroy the world itself, everything will be fine, right?"

A bloodthirsty smile crept across her face. She decided to ignore everything else and unleash 50% of her Heavenly Strike's power before considering anything else. Regardless of the spell, its working principle always involved manipulating spirits. Therefore, as long as the flow of spirits around her was completely disrupted, most spells would be automatically broken. This method was essentially the most commonly used countermeasure among the Skywing race.

There is nothing that violence cannot solve; if there is, it is because violence is not strong enough.

However, before she could actually do so, the darkness that had shrouded the entire world vanished as quickly as the morning mist. Just as it had come silently, it had gone without a trace.

When the darkness dissipated, what awaited her was no longer the machine race (Shuvi) who was fighting desperately to survive.

Instead, she was a pure white girl with a jewel-like, translucent appearance. From the two tails hanging down behind her, it could be determined that she was also a machine race.

However, Jibril subconsciously abandoned her previous playful attitude and adopted a posture of serious readiness. She didn't release the power she had gathered, but instead compressed it into the shape of a spear, preparing to launch a counterattack instantly.

Because if she didn't prepare in this way, Jibril believed the battle would end in the next moment.

The pure white-clad girl possessed an overwhelming presence. She was like a blank sheet of paper thrown into a chaotic and mixed darkness, making her seem out of place.

The girl gave Jibril a friendly smile, as gentle as a spring breeze.

Then, she gently parted her delicate pink lips.

"【Statement】So, shall I take over the next battle? In other words, let's switch players."

Chapter Fifty-Seven: Battle Spirit

The girl, with her mechanical wings spread, stood in the sky just like Jibril, her long white hair tied up in a bun, fluttering wildly in the cold wind at this height.

"Who are you?"

Jibril spoke in a deep, solemn voice. Her battle instincts were screaming alarms, trying to warn her master not to get involved in this dangerous fight. The wings on her back also instinctively emitted a faint, divine light, a manifestation of the Skywing species circulating a large amount of energy within its body. At this moment, she was like a taut bowstring, ready to be released at the slightest movement!

The surrounding scenery had returned to normal, the only change being that the scrap metal had vanished or been hidden in some way; at least Jibril couldn't detect any elven energy from it within a fifty-mile radius. Instead, a snow-white girl appeared before her. Jibril's winged senses and vision clearly told her that the girl was also a scrap metal, but this heavy sense of oppression...

Wait! —A powerful machine-type appearing alone? Could it be—?

As if she had envisioned some possibility, Jibril stared at the girl with wide eyes.

The girl seemed to have seen through Jibril's inner thoughts.

"【Introduction】Nice to meet you. My name is Yun You—or perhaps the name Evil Spirit sounds more familiar?"

The white-haired girl resumed her expressionless demeanor, perfectly natural and harmonious, as if this was the expression most suited to her.

It really was her!

Jibril's eyes narrowed, and she quickly retrieved the other party's information from her memory bank.

The unique Machine-type individual, Yunyou, has appeared on the battlefields of the great war like a comet over the past year or so, displaying even greater strength with each appearance—likely due to the Machine-type's corresponding imitation. It most frequently appears in important locations of various races or on battlefields where two armies clash. There are currently no reports of kills; it only incapacitates its opponents before gracefully departing.

The girl's logic and purpose were completely incomprehensible. And yet, her ability to escape was unparalleled, almost like a ghost.

The term "evil spirit" is a code name that has recently circulated among various races to refer to each other. It encompasses meanings such as evil, malice, wickedness, and ferocity. However, its primary meaning is simply a shortened form of "ghost" or "mischievous spirit."

Now, according to intelligence among the Skywing species, the opponent has probably gained the strength to fight a Dragon Spirit species one-on-one.

Rather, this is what makes it so great!

"Oh dear, I guess I'm in luck today." Facing the expressionless girl, Jibril's face showed no fear as she said, "I only first heard about you three days ago when I emerged from the healing spell. I originally wanted to challenge you to a fight right away. Unfortunately, Senior Azriel had already issued a prohibition..."

She sighed, seemingly disappointed. Then, a joyful smile bloomed on her face, her eyes burning with fierce fighting spirit. She transformed the over-condensed, jet-black elf in her hands into the shape of a scythe, clenching it tightly in both hands.

"But I didn't come looking for trouble this time—after all, I was attacked. If it were a reactive counterattack, I doubt that annoying Azriel-senpai would have any reason to bother me anymore~"

A battle against the Dragon Spirit? Wouldn't that be wonderful? It wouldn't be fun otherwise!

"Let's fight, let's slaughter, let's battle until one side dies. Don't think you can be arrogant just because you have a little bit of strength—scrap metal."

"[Understanding] Since you say that, then it means you don't intend to leave, right?" Yun You said expressionlessly, a complex-looking red cannon barrel appearing in her hand as she slightly shifted her weight. Although she undoubtedly held an overwhelming advantage in terms of pure combat strength, her opponent was Jibril—an anomaly who had indeed accomplished the feat of single-handedly killing a dragon spirit.

Furthermore, her current ability to fight a dragon spirit in a one-on-one battle is based on the premise of possessing firepower capable of penetrating the dragon spirit's scales; in terms of defense, it's hardly outstanding. If she didn't activate her defensive spells and took a direct hit from a Heavenly Strike, she would probably suffer damage to over 90% of her body parts.

If she were even slightly careless, she might die. She should leave immediately to avoid unnecessary fighting—this was the conclusion drawn by the machine's logic system, but the girl didn't care. She simply thought that Sunset should have already taken Shubi to safety and hidden her away.

So......

She turned her gaze to the other person, a hint of fighting spirit appearing in her eyes.

If we can't even face such a small risk, how can we possibly execute the rest of the plan?

Let's just take this opportunity to avenge Hugh.

What's more—she's very strong now.

"[Sarcastic retort] If you want to fight, then fight—um... a little chicken?"

The girl frowned slightly, then replied softly with a blank expression.

"—Okay, I can declare you dead right now, okay?"

As soon as those words fell, the figures of both sides instantly turned into afterimages.

The battle that will cause significant changes to the surrounding map has begun.

...

...

Jibril believes she must revise her previous statements and perceptions.

To consider such an opponent as scrap metal is a profound mistake—she should at least be at an exaggerated level like superalloy enchanter refining steel.

Seeing the intense, dazzling white light rushing towards her—[Pseudo-Scripture: Sky Strike]—Jiburiel used Sky Shift to teleport five kilometers away without hesitation. Immediately afterward, a sound like a mountain collapsing behind her echoed, leaving a large hole pierced through it. However, while it was called a mountain, it was only higher than the surrounding terrain; in reality, in a world that had endured tens of thousands of years of war, naturally formed terrain no longer existed.

"Truly... a race adept at clumsy imitation!" Jibril's voice was filled with exhaustion and anger. The Winged Race were not actually living beings; they were a kind of compiling formula with their own will, and theoretically, they shouldn't feel tired. But now, she felt her limbs were weak and her vision was blurry.

This is because she used too much of the energy that constitutes her body.

At least three Sky Strikes were fired, although none of them were at full power, but the total energy consumption was still considerable—but most of it was spent on the normal attacks and normal defenses in between.

Jibril now truly understands the feeling she had when that dragon spirit attacked her many years ago.

The problem wasn't whether she could break through the opponent's defenses—it was that she couldn't hit them at all. Skills like Sky Strike, which require a casting time, had virtually no chance of hitting. Even if she tried to restrict the opponent's movement with attacks, it was pointless to try and predict their movements against a Machine Race. So, after three attempts, she realized this. That's why she switched to using normal attacks extensively; at least this way, she could still hit the opponent.

Then, what made her even more ashamed was that... the other party must have held back.

Jibril condensed the energy in her hand into a sword, used teleportation to leap behind Yun You, and slashed down with a whooshing sound. However, she didn't achieve the desired result; Yun You, as if expecting this, withdrew with his own sword. The two swords, almost identical in nature, clashed evenly, and after a spectacular energy explosion, the two separated again.

Again.

Jibril gritted her teeth in resentment.

No matter what methods she used, her opponent would always retaliate in the same way. But that wasn't the point. The point was that their attacks were always evenly matched! If it only happened once or twice, she might think it was a coincidence, but if it happened repeatedly, it would be obvious that her opponent was holding back.

She launched each attack with murderous intent, but her opponent wasn't putting in any real effort. It was as if he was deliberately toying with her.

So, you dare to fight me with that kind of mentality?

I will make you pay the price.