I am a mindless machine.

After that flash of light, which seemed to burn the heavens and the earth, appeared.

"Hahaha! Is that so? They've arrived earlier than I expected. So, the ones who wanted to kill me!"

The continuous laughter shook the entire Abant Heim. At the same time the laughter rang out, all the Skywing races that had been rushing towards Yun You with full fighting spirit fell silent and stood still with respectful expressions, as if they didn't care at all about the possible attack from the Mech race girl.

Everything must give way before its master. Even one's own life.

"......."

Yun You did not choose to launch an attack at this moment, nor did she take this opportunity to escape. She simply remained quietly in place, her calm, crimson eyes fixed on the direction emanating the strongest power.

The laughter didn't stop; the speaker continued speaking.

"I see. To be able to stand up to me, who is the strongest, one must be the weakest. Monkey, you did very well."

The voice, seemingly knowing everything, praised without reservation. Although none of the Skywing races understood the meaning behind Altshu's words, Yun You knew exactly what the other party was referring to. The dialogue was just as described in the original work; the God of War knew that it was the will represented by Riku, the weakest among them, that had guided the entire war to its current state.

However... what happens next is completely different from the original story. Yun You, a time traveler, plans to take over the foundation built by the protagonist of the original story and steal the victory that should have belonged to him—that is, to steal destiny.

No matter how noble the cause, such an action is no different from that of a shameless thief. Moreover, what inspired Yun You's thoughts wasn't any grand idea, but rather a degree of selfishness—she merely wanted to change the tragedy of the original story and, within that premise, still end the great war, allowing the setting sun to truly witness the clear, azure sky.

It's meant to tell that kind girl who's always been insecure—dreams really can come true... Happy Endings aren't just something that happens in fairy tales.

And I will prove it for her.

However, Yunyou didn't know if such actions would anger the God of War who had always been eager for challengers to appear, or if he would be killed for disturbing his interest.

As expected, Althu's voice continued to resound through the sky.

"And then—you thief trying to seize the victory, you seem to be worrying about something meaningless—"

Yun You seemed to see the golden eyes of the voice's owner, Artes, through that voice, and the hint of contempt and mockery within them. The voice seemed to see right through Yun You's worries and genuinely looked down on a girl who would be troubled by such things.

"Because, so what? — Everyone, get ready!"

That was an unparalleled power capable of making all things in the universe bow down in submission. At this moment, all the Skywing races simultaneously gathered their full strength, entrusting their strongest power, Heavenly Strike, to their master. This power that could destroy heaven and earth had only one name worthy of its name...

That was—a divine strike.

Altshu is going to prove with his actions that when faced with the petty cleverness flaunted by the ignorant, there is no need for words. As a strong person, all you need to do is utterly crush them at will!

"......[Understanding]......Is that so? Oh, I see."

Yun You lowered her head and looked down.

Since the goal is to engage in a duel (game), how can you allow yourself to be gripped by fear of your opponent before the game even begins?

She had unknowingly forgotten the first requirement for being a gamer—

"【Confrontation】Since that's the case, then I will also go all out—and seize victory."

The girl opened her eyes, and a dazzling array of colors flashed across them in an instant.

—It means having the unwavering belief that I will definitely win!

If you doubt that you will lose, you will fall into a difficult situation even in battles that you could have won.

Then, her delicate face returned to its usual calm.

"[Strategy] So next, we must take the most important and most difficult step."

Softly murmuring, the girl slipped into the gap in the space and, taking advantage of the moment when no one was paying attention to her, flew away from there as fast as she could.

...

...

[Guide—As you stated, 1200 combat units were summoned and launched an attack on the Federation from behind Avant Heim. And as the calculations predicted, the Federation reacted to this.]

From the communication device worn on his head—a device whose workings Yun You still couldn't comprehend—came the cold voice of the male mecha Ras Ein.

[Then, the power actively gathered by Alsht became the final trigger. It was estimated that in another 932 seconds, the immense energy that combined the Roaring Roar, the Void Zero's Protection, the Marrow Explosion, and the opposing Divine Strike would be directed entirely southwestward due to the twenty-four traffic control points that had already been set up.]

As if it were an illusion, Yun You seemed to hear a faint tremor in that cold, mechanical voice.

So, what do we do next?

Yun You stood alone on a distant hill, the strong wind ruffling her silver hair. The girl lowered her head and sighed helplessly.

She miscalculated again.

To prevent her plan from failing, she meticulously memorized every detail of the original work and adjusted it as much as possible according to the personality traits of each character, all in an effort to achieve the future she envisioned.

but......

No, that's enough. You don't need to do anything else from now on—just lend me all the resources available for calculation and analysis. I can handle the rest myself.

The girl responded so calmly in her heart, as if victory was already assured.

While Yunyou could use the superior advantages of his mecha to infiltrate the interconnected networks of the mecha races, this is different from the concept of computing resources. Just as the unparalleled Lu Bu cannot be compared to an army of 100,000.

If Yunyou were connected to the computing resources of the machine races, his combat power would be at least a hundred times greater than it is now.

[No, according to the calculations and analysis of all the machine-type creatures, even if all the resources were lent to the Guide, your chances of surviving under that kind of energy are less than one in ten thousand. Furthermore, even if you did survive such an attack, with all your capabilities, you could at most replicate 53.7% of the attack's power—and that kind of power is insurmountable, let alone surpassing Altshu to obtain the Star Grail, it wouldn't even be able to pierce through the Elf Corridor.]

However, the calm voice refuted Yun You's feigned words with irrefutable evidence. Although hesitation could still be detected in his voice, he maintained a mechanical, emotionless demeanor as he spoke.

Yes, even if Yun You's current strength were multiplied by a hundred or even more—it still wouldn't be enough.

Such insignificant strength is far, far inferior to an attack capable of annihilating half a continent.

Yunyou understood this principle in her heart. But she still had no other choice.

【.........I know】

The girl replied softly, her petite figure standing on the high mountain appearing incredibly lonely against the backdrop of the vast, blood-red sky.

She tried to anticipate everything, but in the end, she overlooked the biggest uncertainty—her own heart.

Chapter Sixty-Five: Decision (Part Two)

Yunyou doesn't consider herself a good person.

No, it's not that I think it's true—it should be the truth.

Five years, three months, and eleven days have passed since the girl arrived in this world. Although she hasn't killed many people during this time (initially, no one bothered her because of her identity as a machine race, and later she refrained from killing to abide by the game rules), she would not hesitate to kill if necessary.

Moreover, during this long period, she witnessed firsthand the destruction of hundreds, even thousands, of lives from different races. After all, in such a great war, the loss of life was not an uncommon occurrence. And even if those people died just a few steps away from her, she would not have the thought of intervening to help them.

Because it's pointless—in such a large environment, even if you can occasionally save one or two people, how can you possibly save everyone?

Therefore, Yunyou originally thought that she should be a more cold-blooded person.

[Rebuttal, Guide—Your goal is to obtain the Star Grail and give Sunset a perfect ending. If that's the case, then you cannot die here. Otherwise, the conditions for achieving a perfect ending will not be met. Sunset will not accept world peace without you.]

When Yunyou transmitted her emotions, to ensure they truly served their purpose as a bond, she transmitted all her objective memories to all the machine races without reservation, in addition to her subjective feelings. Therefore, they were all able to understand the girl's wish—and for whom she wanted to do it.

Although Yunyou herself seems to be still unclear about this relationship, for all the Mechs who have objectively accepted the memories of Yunyou and Xiyang's time together, based on their shared logical calculations, they seem to have already arrived at their own answer.

[Continuing on, there's no need to feel guilty. Guide, just stick to your initial plan and treat us Machine Race as emotionless tools to be consumed. We were originally just lifeless tools; you gave us the opportunity to understand the unknown (the heart)—now it's our turn to repay you.]

The machine-type named Rais Ein—no, it should be said that there were a total of 15,903 machine-types connected to his mind—said this to Yun You.

The Guide—this was the code name they gave Yunyou, representing the achievements Yunyou had made—guided these puppets, who had no purpose in surviving and could only react passively like walking corpses, to life.

All the machine races expressed their immense gratitude, even to the point that they, newly experiencing nascent emotions, were willing to sacrifice their lives. "If I hear the Way in the morning, I can die content in the evening..." This is the level of enlightenment they possessed.

【...I understand this very well too】

Then, you can simply follow the original instructions completely for the next steps.

With Yunyou's help this time, not as many people would die as in the original work. If everything had developed as in the original work, the number of people who survived would have been far greater than the twenty-eight people in the original work, reaching thousands... or even more.

Isn't that enough? It's more than enough, in fact, you could say it's done too well.

—Riku and Shubi didn't die either. They saved everyone they wanted to save, and Yuhi can now live happily in that beautiful world. Perhaps the struggle between intelligent beings will never end, but Yunyou believes that as long as she stays by Yuhi's side, she can handle anything.

—So, that's it? All you have to do is nod, leave, let thousands of lifeless artifacts take the place of the sacrifice, create the True Scripture: Star Killer, and then you can achieve the perfect ending, the victory...

[Definitely. In that case, let's get out of that position quickly. We still have time.]

The voice in my head said this, seemingly because it knew time was running out, and even carried a hint of urgency. Although most of the Machine-type Connectors had gathered nearby, without prior preparation, facing such a massive amount of energy could very well lead to everything going wrong.

However, I refused.

【————! ? 】

Sensing the surprise on the other end of the communication line, the white-haired girl's lips curled into a gentle smile, but it betrayed no genuine joy. Rather, it seemed she was using the smile to mask the complex emotions swirling within her.

It still didn't work. Riku, you're amazing, you were able to maintain that state until the very last moment.

Trying to deceive yourself into thinking these mechs are just props or something... how could you possibly do that...?

Time was still insufficient. Even if a plan was devised on the spur of the moment, the difficulty of achieving it was simply too great. Yunyou's original goal was to find the heart, but now, how could she possibly close and lock away the heart that had already begun to open?

Even if she could go against her conscience and sacrifice the lives of those machine-type beings here, the girl wouldn't know how to face the sunset or herself in the days to come.

This is a dead end. Whether we move forward or backward, there is only one path: death. A perfect solution seems to simply not exist.

"【Diankai】——"

Having connected to the entire Kai-type's computing circuits, Yun You raised her slender, snow-white hand. She could already see the enormous energy gushing forth from both ends in the distance. Even from such a distance, the world-destroying aura caused her sensory devices to issue severe warnings, and her skin felt a stinging pain as if being pricked by needles.

[Warning! The guide's obstinacy will ultimately lead to nothing; not only will they die, but they will also waste this hard-won opportunity. And most importantly, do you intend to leave the sunset alone in this world?]

The voice in their minds finally showed a noticeable change in tone, and their hazy feelings began to grow. They couldn't understand why Yunyou would stubbornly refuse such a simple, clearly advantageous and disadvantageous option.

Like an elder who wants to give guidance to a child who has finally grown up, Yunyou silently responded in her mind.

Only children make choices—as an adult, I naturally want it all.

The data she had gathered over the past year, traversing important facilities of various races, flashed through the girl's mind—the Void Zero Blessing of the Forest Elves, the Marrow Explosion of the Goblins, the Collapse Roar of the Dragon Elves—and, not long ago, the basic formula for the Winged Race—the basic formula for Divine Strike.

Just as you need an equation to solve a math problem, you need to understand the underlying principles of an attack to break through its defenses. Fortunately, for her, with her special mecha, as long as she's alive, she can do it.

The efforts over the past year have not been in vain.

And now—all the chips have been gathered together, like broth blending together, waiting to be simmered into the final perfect product.

"—True Classic, Decipherable Method"

As the girl's clear voice fell, endless ripples instantly extended from behind her to the entire world, reaching the sky in height and being impossible to measure in width—just like a transparent curtain was placed across the entire planet.

A vast amount of energy emanated from behind the curtain, like an arrow taut on a bowstring, ready to burst forth at a single command.