An hour and forty-seven minutes since the game’s start… The Girl-on-Girl Alliance had reached the off-pink castle—they’d infiltrated Black Shiro’s base. They were approaching the throne room, where Black Shiro, and probably Sora, were—however. “Wait—how are we losing this many units when we’ve made it this far?!” “Common Sense: Siege warfare begins after penetrating the enemy fortress. Our enemy’s defenses are focused in the castle keep. Numeric advantage means nothing here.” “She has no reinforcements, though, so keep flooding her castle with troops, Dora. These are the basics of warfare. ” “Unlike you two, who lived during the Great War, I was born in a peaceful world!!” The Girl-on-Girl Alliance was met with Black Shiro’s meticulously placed infantry. Ignoring the casualties that fell to the onslaught of bubbles, the trio’s armies forced their way into the throne room. Once inside, the Alliance was under attack yet again. One unit’s final visual showed Shiro’s last line of defense—a group of snipers that blasted away anything that made it through the door. Behind them was the figure they were guarding. “What are we going to do?! We can’t make it into her room!! Wait, what if we destroy the wall—?” If they couldn’t make it through the door, they could just create their own. “Negative: Forced entry.” Emir-Eins, however, simply had her own infantry push through. The snipers’ rate of fire couldn’t keep up with the influx of units, and they had a limited amount of soul ammo remaining. Emir-Eins continued flooding the throne room with infantry, only to see them blown away by Shiro’s snipers. This went on until the snipers inevitably ran out of ammo. Emir-Eins waited for the right moment to send in snipers of her own, which all fired in tandem. The paint cleared, revealing that Black Shiro’s snipers had been entirely decimated. The assault had splattered paint everywhere, reverting more than half of the throne room into its original field of flowers. The girls found Black Shiro in one corner of the room. She was slumped over, no more soldiers at her disposal. “…It took us more than forty minutes to get here with a combined army of seven hundred fifty thousand… I would expect nothing less of Lord Shiro.” “Agreement: The level of damages sustained far surpassed this unit’s calculations. However—this is the end.” Pshplat. The sound of soul paint being fired. It flew through the air—piercing Black Shiro in the chest. The impact sent her flying backward, where she lay motionless on the ground… ……… “We—we did it!!” We’ve saved this world’s ethics—and world peace!! Steph cheered and turned around to share this triumphant moment with her allies, and that’s when— No—it happened before she’d even finished cheering. She heard more shots fired. The two shots of soul paint slammed into Steph. She collapsed, still smiling as her face hit the floor. “Pardon?” What happened? Steph had no idea what was going on, so of course she failed to realize… …that Jibril and Emir-Eins had shot her from behind. Getting hit by another player disqualified Steph; she had been defeated. And thus, her flower screen—along with her entire army—disappeared into thin air. All Steph could do from the floor was watch as Jibril and Emir-Eins dodged each other’s fire. “What’s this? What are you doing, you heaping pile of junk? ” “Self-Evident: Exactly what Irregular Number is doing. A pointless question. Another testament to your stupidity. Pffft.” They pitted their remaining units against each other and began bickering… “…Ummm. My apologies, but could either of you explain what’s going on? If I remember our pact correctly, we were going to defeat Black Shiro, take Sora back, then start over—” Steph finally realized—she’d been betrayed. She was starting to get used to all the deceit when her mind caught up to the turn of events. The only thing that still confused her was how Jibril and Emir-Eins had managed to break their pact despite having sworn on the Covenants. “I’ll be honest, I actually quite like the way you can be a total doofus sometimes, little Dora. ” “Um… What? I…” Steph blushed at Jibril’s snide comment. Emir-Eins proceeded to explain things. “Confirmation: We formed an alliance. We swore on the Covenants to the following terms: She who captures Sora and Shiro one hundred and eighty seconds before the game ends will be deemed the winner. Losers will surrender unconditionally. Winner dictates which two couples will form—that’s it.” “Anything else was nothing more than a promise. ” And promises are meant to be broken. Steph didn’t need to hear Jibril say as much for her to understand. “Our alliance ended the moment we defeated Lord Black Shiro—we are once again at war. Haven’t you learned from Master by now that timing means everything when it comes to betrayal?” Ohhh, I see. I knew there was something strange about how unconcerned they were with me amassing all those troops. They needed to turn on each other as soon as they defeated Black Shiro. The three ladies had all the time in the world to rescue Sora once the other two were out of the picture. This was why Jibril and Emir-Eins went to Steph’s base and hid their troops there. And now that they’d taken out Steph and Black Shiro, the two armies were at a standstill… “Deep Regret: Ambush has failed. But no matter. We will regroup at our bases and resume fighting as planned. Bring it on.” “That sounds like an excellent idea. I’m so glad we can finally cut the buddy-buddy routine and just—kill each other. ” After a brief exchange of hostilities, the two turned on their heels and started heading back to their respective bases. Now out of the game and without her flower screen, Steph was nonetheless certain: The two armies were about to engage in all-out war. “…It always ends this way…” “What’s wrong? We’re going back to our bases now, just like we promised.” “Okay, but one problem: I’m the only one whose promise was broken!!” “Prediction: Lady Dol would not have lasted this long anyway. This unit believes it’s fair to say that this is within the realm of our promise.” “It most certainly is not!! Just because the results are the same doesn’t mean it’s okay!!” Steph heaved a sigh as she watched Jibril and Emir-Eins leave. “I guess it’s fine… At least I was able to prevent one man from shacking up in a love hotel with an underage girl. That was my original goal…after all…” I also won’t have to struggle with deciding whose hand to hold. Steph convinced herself that this was the best possible outcome. However: “There is one thing bothering me, though…,” she said absentmindedly. “Shiro was wearing Sora’s shirt… Was that a coincidence?” Jibril and Emir-Eins stopped in their tracks and looked back at Steph. “What did you just say, Dora?” “Hm? Well, I mean…when a girl wears a boy’s shirt, it tends to suggest that a certain something occurred… So I just wondered if we might have been a bit too late… What? Am I overthinking things?!” Jibril and Emir-Eins instantly replayed the scenario in their minds. Yes—Black Shiro was wearing a shirt. They remembered—the words written on it before they fired the killing blow. All too late, they realized it read I PPL. “No—it can’t be—?!” “Confirmation: …Shock: Impossible.” The two ladies scrambled to their screens, only to fall speechless at what they saw. Every single unit they’d sent into Black Shiro’s base had been obliterated. Jibril and Emir-Eins both determined that the moment their paint hit Black Shiro would signal the start of their battle for Sora’s hand. It goes without saying that their units in Black Shiro’s castle were the first to receive their new orders. And if Black Shiro was in the throne room, then Sora also had to be nearby. The two ladies needed to capture both Sora and Shiro—they obviously couldn’t let their opponent get a head start. However—Jibril’s and Emir-Eins’s armies had been completely decimated. This was virtually impossible! At least one of their armies should’ve had some units left, even if only a few. There was no way both sides would lose every last soldier during the final battle! In other words: Somebody had taken out their remaining units. And who was that somebody? It was obvious. This person had ambushed the leftover forces in secret as Jibril and Emir-Eins duked it out in the throne room; they’d likely waited for this very moment when the two factions realized who was behind everything. “Um, I’m starting to get tired of asking this, but what’s going on?” No longer able to access her screen, Steph didn’t know what had Jibril and Emir-Eins so shocked. Although…I probably would’ve asked the same question even if I still had my screen, she thought. “…Foeniculum, was it? Allow me to confirm something, if you would.” Jibril ignored Steph’s question and spoke to her screen. “Hey, hey! What’s up? ” “…Can Lord Black Shiro hear this conversation…?” “I’m not tellin’ her anything, and you guys can’t contact each other. C’mon, you know that already.” Jibril bowed to Foeniculum. “Yes, I was aware. I was merely confirming so that I could give appropriate praise where praise is due.” She sounded strangely happy, then closed her eyes with a look of deep respect. What’s going on? The answer to Steph’s question was clear as day. Black Shiro’s army was still in the fight. She must have faked getting shot. The meaning of this was similarly self-evident: Black Shiro had predicted that the three of them would team up against her. She’d placed her soldiers in such a way that the Alliance would be forced to take her out of the game with sniper fire. Once that happened, the trio would betray each other. Black Shiro’s units had lain in wait, concealing her remaining firepower…until they were dispatched at the precise moment to annihilate the trio’s armies. All this without a lick of enemy intel. Somebody had pulled this off without knowing the terms of the Girl-on-Girl Alliance. Shiro? No, it wasn’t her. Steph and Jibril alike knew there was only one person capable of pulling this off. Even Emir-Eins, who was still just partially acquainted with the group, knew who this person was. Someone behind—no, next to—Shiro. Where he always was. This could only be his doing… “My master is indeed wise. His brilliance quite honestly has me speechless.” “Respect: He defeated us all without uttering a single word. He turned the tables on us in one fell swoop. Master is incredible… I’m in love.” The two began singing Sora’s praises, a cycle Steph broke with a scream. “Whaaat?! Sora helped Black Shiro?! But if she wins, he’ll never be able to get a girlfriend for the rest of his life! Wait, doesn’t that mean—?!” No… But that essentially means… …he’s…made his decision… “That is correct, Dora. Go ahead and cry if you need to; it’s all right.” “Presentation: This unit’s shoulder. Temporary access granted to Lady Dol. Shall we cry together…?” They would’ve had the slimmest chance of victory had they been up against Shiro by herself, but a game against Blank was a lost cause… Not only that—the girls had lost more than just this game. Steph took Emir-Eins up on her offer and cried on her shoulder. The trio had guessed right. Back at the off-pink castle, Black Shiro’s fortress… “Mwa-ha-ha… Ha-ha-haaa, AHHH-HA-HA-HAAA!! Pitiful. Look at how tenuous their bonds are without a common cause!! So weak—so easily manipulated!!” It wasn’t Shiro who was tapping away at the screen but her brother—Sora. He executed a stunning series of maniacal cackles as if he were a real Demon Overlord. Sora indeed had no knowledge of the Girl-on-Girl Alliance. However: I knew things would turn out like this, he thought with a dastardly smile. “There is but one way to build such a vast army under these circumstances: Create separate conditions to pick a winner before the game’s end, and the victor chooses who holds hands with whom. This made it possible to amass tips from the girl-on-girl shippers—am I right?!” Sora’s declaration wouldn’t reach the girls. But since he knew the viewers were listening, he let them in on his secret. “I deduced the terms of their victory were to capture either me or Shiro—maybe even both of us.” In which case, it’s simple, really: We just need to pretend that we’ve run out of units…when we’ve actually hidden them. The players don’t know how many soldiers are in their opponents’ possession. Piece of cake, then. “All we had to do was make it look like Shiro had been taken out of the game… That one move put an end to their alliance! Then, we simply waited until the Alliance members defeated each other before ambushing them. Wham, bam, thank you, ma’am!! Bwa-ha-ha-ha!!” Sora laughed out loud once he’d finished explaining. Making it look like Shiro had been hit was the only real gamble he’d made. Without any concrete proof that his method would work, he’d based his gamble on the slimmest evidence. That evidence? Something Foeniculum had mentioned: Our soul paint can’t destroy your personal belongings. Were this true, then Shiro’s shirt would act as a paint-proof vest, which meant— —even if paint got on his shirt, it wouldn’t touch the player wearing it!! They tested the theory beforehand with one of Shiro’s soldiers—and indeed, the paint was unable to penetrate Sora’s T-shirt. Granted, they couldn’t test whether that would take the player out of the game. Not only that, but should the enemy’s paint hit her anywhere other than the shirt—which was particularly likely if the final blow was made by any soldier other than a sniper—it would most definitely mark Shiro as out. Thus, it was imperative to lure the enemy into using a sniper for the killing blow. There still remained a chance that, despite pulling this off, the enemy would check the point of impact as well—this would spell the end for the siblings. This gamble of his was high-risk, high-reward. Sora grinned from ear to ear. “Here’s where things get interesting!! They’ve already taken Steph out of the game—it’s just Jibril and Emir-Eins left, the couple the viewers want to see most!! So who are they gonna support this time?!” Steph was the only person in the Girl-on-Girl Alliance who could make the Flügel × Ex Machina couple come to fruition. However—this was no longer the case now that Sora had sussed out the terms of said alliance. “I bet they’re gonna support Shiro—which means me!! Hope you two ladies are ready to be dominated by overwhelming skill and numbers!! MWA-HA-HA-HA-HA!!” Thus, in a single move, the tables were turned from inescapable defeat to total victory. Sora was acting more like a Demon Overlord than his sister—and speaking of whom… “…H-how…?” Shiro had followed her brother’s directions with the paint-proof shirt and listened to his entire spiel. She stared at him in astonishment before stammering a single question: “…How…did you get out of the cage, Brother…?!” Shiro had put Sora in a cage before the game started. She’d even had him handcuffed and gagged. And yet—he’d suddenly appeared behind her and started tapping away at the controls while explaining his strategy. She questioned where Sora had learned this Houdini act—but his answer shook her to the core. “I just walked right outta there. You never locked the cage or the handcuffs.” ……What……? “The gag was really loose, too. You made sure I could escape at any moment, didn’t you, Shiro?” The Demon Overlord candor now gone, he’d reverted to his usual kind smile, which made Shiro think. I didn’t mean to do that. She wasn’t sure if she’d forgotten to lock him in or if Sora was telling the truth. Whatever the case—Shiro grew even more desperate. “…Then…why didn’t you push me away…?!” “I’d never push you away,” replied a bewildered Sora, leaving his sister speechless. What’s he talking about? I don’t get it. What does he mean—?! “…B-but after all I put you through, after everything I said to you…don’t you find me repulsive?! I—I don’t even know…what I want, or what I’m doing anymore!! You should hate me for all this!! Why aren’t you pushing me away?!” Why are you being so nice to me…?! Why are you helping me?! If I win… “…You’ll never be able to get a girlfriend for the rest of your life!! Why are you on my side?!” Shiro shouted, her voice quavering in confusion. “Hm, I’d rather you ask one question at a time, but first of all—did you do anything that terrible to me?” Sora tilted his head, puzzled. For a second, Shiro felt as if she saw the light escape his dark eyes, and she froze. H-huh? “At least I don’t feel like you said anything particularly cruel to me. I am a loser—it’s a fact—and it was wrong of me to try getting a girlfriend. I mean, think about it. ‘Never get a girlfriend for the rest of my life’? Let’s not kid ourselves here; I couldn’t get a girlfriend even if I wanted to. Any Covenant-binding wager that prevents me from getting one is no skin off my nose. So, like, the way I see it is: no harm, no foul.” Wait. Did I actually break him…? Shiro began panicking internally just a little—when Sora answered her other question with a warm, gentle smile: “I’m always on your side, Shiro.” “” Shiro listened blankly…and at last, she understood everything. It finally clicked—something that she should’ve known all along… “No matter what you want to do or try, I’ll always be there for you. You wanna go to hell? I’ll gladly join you. Wanna destroy the world? Just tell me when and where.” In this world where the Ten Covenants exist… …how and why did she kidnap, imprison, and even whip her brother? Sora had already answered this question back when Shiro was crying in the bath. Doesn’t matter if you want to yell at or hit me. I’ll do whatever it takes to make you feel better. He accepted her for who she was. He would stick with her through thick and thin. Not only that: “If you really do hate me—if you really can’t forgive me—then that’s fine. If you want me to go away because you think I’m a loser, if you never want to see me again—I’ll do just that. I dunno how I’ll manage afterward…but… Yeah…” I’ll accept your feelings even if you can’t stand me. But… “Until then—I’m never gonna abandon you, and I’ll never leave you crying all by yourself.” This was the wish Shiro made when she cried to herself. Her brother was there to answer that very wish— “So, uh, your loser brother, who may or may not have been sexually attracted to you, this super-gross life-form mentally and physically at the bottom of the loser food chain in any dimension, will always be there for you, until the day you want me to leave.” Shiro told herself: That day will never come. Not in a million years, so— Sora joked the way he always did—but his next words were genuine. Just like always, the weight of his words was likely lost on Sora himself as he said them. And those words were— “You and me, Shiro. We’ll always be together.” —without question, an eternal vow… …………, They didn’t make her heart flutter. She didn’t blush, or tremble, or even tear up. Her maelstrom of tumultuous emotions abated until it almost felt like they’d been one big lie. Shiro gazed at her brother’s face—into his eyes—as she listened to him speak those words… …Ahhh… This… This is what I wanted… Yes… These words she’d heard so many times. Ones that didn’t make her anxious or giddy—they felt just like the sunrise at dawn. They were right in front of her face, so natural and familiar by now—so she just listened, as relaxed as could be. Suddenly Shiro had another fleeting thought. She recalled the first time she’d heard him say these words. It was the day they’d first met. At least that’s how she remembered things—but she knew that was wrong. She knew she’d felt just as she did in this moment. She must have felt a spark one time he’d said those words—but when was that? Shiro had no idea, no matter how many times she ran through her memory banks—so she smiled with relief. Ah… I knew it. I was right. Guess I was just a bit confused. This love of mine—started long before I was born. I was scared he wouldn’t like me, that he’d abandon me, that he’d get sick of me. I was so anxious, so scared… Lovers are so fleeting. It’s a relationship so ridiculously fragile, one that can end at any moment. Me and Brother… We must’ve finished all that business long before we were born… ………… With ninety seconds left on the clock, the game was quickly approaching its end— “Mwa-ha-ha-ha-ha!! At long last—it’s time for the viewers’ paid requests! Here’s mine: I order Jibril and Emir-Eins to hold hands!! Yo, Foeniculum!! Hurry up and give them my demands— Uh, wait. I’m technically not a player in this game, so I guess Shiro’s gotta do the asking. Whaddaya say, Shiro?!” Just as Sora had predicted, all the soldiers came to a sudden halt when the two remaining players surrendered to the winner. He ordered the pair to become a forced couple for a day, and Shiro heeded his demands with a brief nod before taking out her phone. Returned to her senses, she glanced at the gate behind the throne—and then at the numbers displayed on her smartphone. The group had far surpassed five billion points. Shiro realized the true intent behind Foeniculum’s game. I see. So one of us can leave if we buy a key… We all thought that buying this key would be the hardest part—but we were dead wrong. The real problem was the other four members—they needed to pair up in order to pass through the gate. Foeniculum realized the group needed to make enough money to buy a key and win the game. So who would end up as couples, and who would use the key? If they formed two couples, that meant either Shiro or Sora would have to be paired with someone else. No way the group would be able to decide that peacefully—so this was Foeniculum’s solution to get them all out of the Spratul in one piece… Furthermore—Shiro had unwittingly failed to lock her brother’s cage and handcuffs. What was her subconscious intention behind placing the throne room in front of the gate? That’s obvious, Shiro thought with a small grin, thoroughly convinced. …She currently had both the smartphone and the tablet in her possession. I’m the only one who could possibly know that we’ve achieved our goal of five billion points. I need to take advantage of this situation—this is an opportunity. Shiro was back to her normal self. Employing her usual thought process, she devised a plan. True… I managed to remember that Brother and I are more than lovers. But still—am I fine with keeping things the way they are? Might as well take our relationship a bit further. Though Shiro was back to her regular self, she was still dressed as Black Shiro. “Hee-hee… Brother, I’m so glad you finally learned your place. You loooser. ” Shiro peeked at the screen from behind Sora. “Now you’ll never be able to get a girlfriend. You’ll be with your little sister forever. ” “Yup. Pretty awesome. You know what’d be even more awesome, though? If you’d turn back into your regular self,” he responded with a grimace. Meanwhile, Shiro’s brain groaned as it operated at full capacity. …How did I do it earlier? How did I speak so smoothly? Losing her mind had caused her to cease all thought and speak eloquently—so she was simply emulating those conditions. She kicked her brain into overdrive to do the impossible. Her head felt ready to split open. However—she didn’t care if it did. She was going to take this relationship one step further! Her brain was going a mile a minute to re-create her Black Shiro persona. “Okay, repeat after me: ‘I’m a perverted loser who’s been sexually attracted to his little sister.’ ” “Right. I’m a perverted loser who can’t deny that he may have been sexually attracted to his little sister.” “‘I’m a pathetic loser whose little sister is allowing him to stay by her side.’ ” “I’m an extremely lucky loser whose benevolent little sister was willing to look past how pathetic I am and let me stay by her side.” “‘I take responsibility for confusing my little sister and pledge to make a pass at her.’ ” “I take responsibility for confusing my little sister and pledge to make a— You want me to do what?!” Shiro silently approached Sora. He’d reacted just as she predicted. “Brother…I told you to repeat after me. ” With the same grin painted across her face, she crept closer—one step at a time. Overwhelmed, Sora tried to retort while he backed away from Shiro. “I’m not gonna do anything like that to you!! Talk about unforgivable!!” He kept backing up until he hit the wall—which was actually the gate. Shiro made her eyes tear up—it was time to finish him. “But Brother…you said you’d do anything I want you to… Were you lying…?” “I know I need to take responsibility for how much confusion I caused you due to how big of a loser I am!! I promise that, if you still want me to do something like that once you’re back to normal, I’ll consider maybe potentially doing something somewhere down the line!!” Sora saluted as he rattled off his knee-jerk response. …Mm. I can live with that. Shiro flashed a satisfied smile, and then— “Tiiiiiime’s up!! The game’s finished!! Our forced couple for the next day is—Jibril and Emir-Eins!! Yeehaw!!!!” —an announcement from her screen confirmed that the game was over. Her brother would remain a bachelor for the rest of his life. She also confirmed that the two of them could hold hands without becoming a forced couple. Shiro then tossed her phone aside before bodily throwing herself at Sora. “Whoa, what’re you doing?! I was being sincere, you kno?!” She grabbed his hand and pushed him through the gate behind him. Sora reflexively opened his mouth to speak… …but she kept him quiet by closing it with her own. The two were enveloped in light as they passed through the gate. Shiro slowly removed her lips from Sora’s and, with flushed cheeks, whispered in his ear: “You promised…okay? ”
Chapter 176
23 min read