After receiving Jibril's agreement, Izumi immediately used the Third Magic to form a contract with her.
With that, she would forever belong to him.
The moment Izumi activated the Third Magic, Jibril's eyes sparkled with excitement.
This was yet another power she had never seen before.
When Izumi presented the contract to her, Jibril didn't hesitate for even a second.
She severed her connection with the rest of the Flügel and signed the contract with Izumi.
The instant Jibril's link with the other Flügel disappeared, the change was immediately noticed by the others—as well as by Artosh.
Seated upon the throne floating in the void, Artosh slowly opened his eyes.
Those eyes, filled with violent ferocity, turned toward the direction where Jibril was.
Sensing that gaze, Izumi looked up as well.
From afar, their eyes met.
The moment Artosh saw him, excitement surged through him.
"An otherworlder."
"How interesting."
"So… you are the one who will become my opponent?"
As he said that, his excitement only grew stronger.
How many years had it been?
Had the one capable of defeating him finally appeared?
Suppressing the battle frenzy boiling within him, Artosh withdrew his gaze.
At that moment, several Flügel flew into the hall.
Among them was Azriel, the very first individual ever born among the Flügel.
Flustered, she spoke.
"Lord Artosh, Little Jibril she—"
Before she could finish, Artosh interrupted her.
"I already know."
"Stand down."
With that brief command, he closed his eyes again.
Azriel froze.
"…We're not going to deal with it, nya?"
What was going on with their lord?
According to the usual script, shouldn't he be furious about Jibril's betrayal?
Yet he seemed unbelievably calm.
Artosh said nothing further, remaining with his eyes closed as if lost in thought.
Seeing this, Azriel chose not to ask any more questions.
Carrying a belly full of confusion, she left the palace.
Right now she desperately wanted to find Jibril and ask her what in the world had happened.
But their connection had already been completely severed.
She had no way of contacting her.
Left with no choice, she temporarily shelved the matter.
Perhaps someday she'd get the chance to ask.
...
Meanwhile, on Izumi's side.
After withdrawing his gaze, Izumi looked toward Jibril.
The girl was utterly absorbed.
She had completely immersed herself in studying Izumi's power.
"Hehehe… amazing, amazing…"
"To think energy can be generated endlessly, out of nothing."
"This power is simply miraculous."
"With this, I'll never have to worry about shrinking again."
"And this force that acts directly upon the soul…"
"Guhhehehe!"
Right now, Jibril looked like a complete maniac—like a pervert who had just discovered the most beautiful woman in existence—as she obsessively analyzed Izumi's blood.
Seeing this, Izumi could only sigh.
This girl didn't seem to care about Artosh's reaction at all.
Was she just incredibly carefree… or simply fearless?
As Izumi was thinking that, Mash Kyrielight tugged lightly on his sleeve.
"Senpai… there's a child over there."
Izumi blinked in surprise.
Following the direction Mash pointed, he looked toward a nearby ruin.
Standing atop the broken remains of a structure was a small figure.
A childlike robot with purple hair.
She was staring at Izumi and the others with clear curiosity in her eyes.
Seeing the robot, Izumi sighed again.
A Seiren—no.
A Ex-Machina.
And not just any unit.
Schwi.
His luck was something else.
First Jibril.
And now Schwi.
Seeing her, Izumi simply curled his finger.
Instantly, Schwi's body began drifting toward him against her will.
"Power… cannot be understood."
"Analyzing… data not present in database."
"Recording… new energy reaction detected."
As she floated toward him, Schwi continued muttering in a flat voice.
At this time, she was still connected to the Ex-Machina network.
Which meant—
Everything Schwi saw and experienced was being transmitted to every single Ex-Machina unit.
Across the world, the Ex-Machina began reacting.
All of their computational power activated simultaneously.
They began frantically attempting to analyze the unknown energy.
By the time Schwi reached Izumi, Jibril had snapped out of her obsession.
When she noticed the Ex-Machina, she frowned.
"Tch. What is it? Just a scrap heap."
As a Flügel, Jibril naturally looked down on the Ex-Machina.
Hearing that, Izumi spoke up.
"Be quiet."
"In the future, you're going to get thoroughly beaten by the Ex-Machina."
After saying that, he looked toward Schwi.
Schwi looked back at him.
More precisely—
Every Ex-Machina was now looking at him.
"Hello," Izumi greeted.
Schwi tilted her head slightly.
"Question. What is the energy surrounding your body?"
Hearing that, Izumi found himself at a loss for how to explain it.
Schwi's golden eyes were filled with pure curiosity.
Looking at the girl before him, Izumi thought quietly.
At this point, Schwi still hadn't developed emotions.
Which meant the Ex-Machina had not yet fought Ōryū.
Had Riku's hometown not yet been destroyed either?
The timeline was far earlier than expected.
After roughly figuring out where in the story they were, Izumi looked back at Schwi.
Then an interesting idea suddenly came to him.
In this world, the Ex-Machina possessed no emotions.
They couldn't understand what a heart was.
But in the EXE world, those mechanical lifeforms possessed emotions.
They even had desires of their own.
What would happen…
If he implanted some of that world's data into the Ex-Machina database?
And besides—
The Ex-Machina's abilities were truly incredible.
Once they analyzed a power, they could immediately replicate it.
And thanks to their network, that ability would be shared with every unit.
Thinking about it, a smile spread across Izumi's face.
Seeing that smile, Schwi couldn't understand it at all.
"Meaning unclear."
"Why did you summon me?"
She didn't sense any hostility from Izumi.
Therefore she hadn't initiated an attack.
The other Ex-Machina hadn't attempted to swarm him either.
Even Jibril was now curious.
Why had Izumi suddenly started smiling?
Was there something special about this scrap heap?
And there was something else bothering her.
Earlier, Izumi had said something she couldn't ignore.
That in the future, she would be beaten by the Ex-Machina.
Just thinking about it made Jibril unhappy.
She suddenly felt like firing a Heaven's Strike at him.
Izumi contacted Asagi Aiba, asking her to copy some collective data from the EXE world.
Before long, a USB drive appeared in Izumi's hand.
When Schwi saw it, she froze.
A series of question marks appeared in her mind.
Izumi casually handed the USB drive to her.
Then he explained.
"Trying to explain it in words would be difficult."
"This is a USB drive. It contains some information."
"Think of it as a gift from me to your kind."
"I'd like to see what happens if you Ex-Machina gain something called 'self.'"
After explaining the device's purpose, every Ex-Machina immediately understood.
In the next moment—
A data cable suddenly extended from Schwi's body.
Seeing that, Izumi couldn't help but feel speechless.
For some reason…
This scene gave him an incredibly strong sense of déjà vu.