As the conversation in the Mist Realm came to a close, the scene shifted to the world of No Game No Life. Inside a human settlement, a young boy named Riku, serving as the second-in-command to humanity's highest leader, was stationed at the entrance on guard duty. But truth be told, this sort of "guarding" was largely meaningless against the higher-ranked races. To the powerful, the disguises of humanity were like ant hills—rarely noticed, even less frequently disturbed. Only curious children might poke at ants; adults usually had no such interest. And given that the various races embroiled in war had endured countless brutal battles, there were hardly any "children" left among them.
This was precisely why the humans didn't need to concern themselves with the more dominant races. Their only threats were the weaker, more commonly encountered species—the lower-ranked races.
Beastkin, for example, were one such threat. They were known to treat humans as emergency rations. If their food stores ran low, they might decide to wipe out an entire human village in one go. Then there were the demonic races—even the lowest-tier demons were absolutely insurmountable foes for ordinary humans. That was the grim reality of human existence in this world—precarious, surrounded by danger on all sides.
Fortunately, they hadn't detected any immediate threats in the vicinity of their settlement. After scanning the surroundings with a telescope, Riku allowed himself to relax a little.
"All clear on my side," he reported. A few minutes later, his partner, who was surveying another direction, also gave the all-clear.
"Same here. No threats in sight." Their task was simple: periodically scan the surroundings to ensure the environment remained safe. Once their sweep was complete, the two of them sat down back-to-back to take a short rest. Riku took a sip from his canteen, then bit into a steamed bun. His partner, Ivan, chewed blissfully on his food, a look of pure contentment on his face. "As expected of Lord Su Mo's creation—this food is just too good!"
At the mention of Su Mo's name, his eyes lit up with reverence, his voice tinged with admiration. It was the sort of awe usually reserved for kings—or gods. Riku didn't find it odd. In this human settlement, Ivan's reaction was perfectly normal. In fact, there were countless who worshipped Su Mo even more fanatically. Take Ivan's young daughter Nona, for instance—she had set her life goal from an early age: to become the personal maid of their leader, Su Mo. Riku himself wasn't the type to express such fanaticism, but his respect for Su Mo as their leader was no less sincere.
"It's all thanks to Lord Su Mo teaching us how to cultivate and tame crops," Riku said, taking a bite of his own food. "Intensive farming suits our small, mobile communities perfectly."
"If it weren't for Su Mo increasing our crop yields, we wouldn't have enough food to make these buns." Steamed buns were delicious, but they weren't very filling. If food were in short supply, even with the knowledge of how to make buns, they would have chosen dense, dry flatbreads that filled the stomach better. Survival came first. But ever since Su Mo had taken leadership and spread his agricultural methods, food production in the settlement had increased dramatically. Though they hadn't reached the point of abundance, they had at least eliminated the threat of famine—an extraordinary achievement in itself.
Talking about this, Ivan scratched his head. "Even with the harvests going well, Lord Su Mo never seems all that pleased with the results." To Ivan, it already felt like a miracle—a divine gift. But Su Mo never seemed fully satisfied.
"Probably because he sees more than we do," Riku replied, shaking his head. Smart as he was, Riku often assisted Su Mo with various matters and had learned that their leader wasn't particularly happy with the current crop yields. From time to time, Riku would overhear Su Mo grumbling—
"If the folks back home saw how bad my farming skills are, I'd be a laughingstock." That offhand comment had made Riku deeply respect Su Mo's homeland. If this level of productivity wasn't even up to standard, just what kind of people lived in Su Mo's home?
In truth, Riku had always been curious about Su Mo's origins. Take the telescope he held, for instance. Designed by Su Mo himself, it was made by shaping glass into two convex lenses and sealing them in a tube—instantly becoming a device that could see for miles. It was simply unbelievable.
The precision of Su Mo's telescope rivaled that of salvaged dwarf tech, and more importantly, it could be mass-produced. For hunters and scouts, it was practically a divine artifact. And it wasn't just the telescope. There was also the upgraded waterwheel, the refined steel-smelting process, the boosted crop yields—every single invention drastically improved human life.
With all this knowledge, Su Mo wasn't just seen as a great leader—he was viewed as a god in all but name. Even Riku, who prided himself on being rational, saw him that way. Su Mo was the only one capable of uniting and leading humanity. How he wished it were literal.
"If only Lord Su Mo were truly a god…" Riku muttered. Why had humanity fallen to such a miserable state? It was because they had no god of their own.
The Forest God had granted the elven races their magic. The Beast God gave beastkin their physical prowess. The dwarf God bestowed the dwarfs with technology. The War God gave the Flügel their strength. Every race had evolved through the blessings of their patron deities—except for humanity. Despite once being the continent's original lifeform, they were now nearly extinct. The sole reason? No god. No blessings. No power.
Hearing Riku's quiet lament, Ivan nodded in agreement. "Exactly. Who wouldn't want to stand up and resist those who flaunt their strength so carelessly?" A life of hiding and running had eroded the will of the people. But even so, no one truly wanted to live that way. Did humanity deserve to suffer like this? Was the world doomed to be consumed by endless war? The more miserable life became, the more suffocating the despair. But people endured it all—just to survive.
"That said… things being like this already feels like a blessing," Ivan said with a bitter smile, shaking away his gloomy thoughts. Those who had survived this long were not the sort to indulge in delusions. "Honestly, I thought we were on the verge of extinction. I never imagined we'd be lucky enough to meet someone like Lord Su Mo."
"With him around, at least humanity still has hope." It wasn't exaggeration—it was fact. If there was truly anyone in this world who could lead humanity out of its dire straits, that person could only be Su Mo. Not even the gods themselves could compare. This wasn't blind worship, but the natural result of years of steady leadership and the firm trust he had built.
"Lord Su Mo shoulders the hope of all humanity. The burden he bears… it's beyond imagination." Riku nodded in agreement. He didn't think Iwan was being overly generous with praise. To carry the lives of the entire human race—that kind of responsibility, Riku knew he couldn't bear it. He didn't have that kind of willpower. Even if he cut off all emotion, at most he might be able to keep a few more people alive. But compared to Su Mo, who had in just a few short years expanded the population of their settlement to over three to four thousand, his own contributions were laughable.
It was precisely this vast gap in capability that made Riku believe in Su Mo wholeheartedly. He had complete faith that Su Mo would be the one to lead humanity out of this age of despair. He looked up at the crimson sky and recalled something.
"I remember Lord Su Mo once told me… that there used to be something called the sun. And the sky—he said the sky was blue, a truly beautiful color."
Despite how simple those statements were, Riku's tone was hesitant. The war sparked by the gods and their creations had turned the land to scorched earth and dyed the sky in blood. No one had seen blue skies or a sun in ages. Even someone like Riku, the most intelligent of the settlement, found it hard to truly believe Su Mo's words.
"I really want to see that sky—the one Lord Su Mo described," he sighed. Beside him, Iwan also showed a wistful expression. After a brief silence, he chuckled bitterly.
"To witness what Lord Su Mo spoke of… I think not even a miracle could make that happen. Maybe if a miracle occurred that even the gods would be astonished by… only then could we see such a sky." After all, the current blood-red heavens were the result of the gods themselves. To overturn that reality? That would take a miracle of miracles.
Hearing this, Riku also shook his head. Miracles? How could such a thing happen to humanity—arguably the weakest, most forsaken of all races? With such thoughts in their minds, the two men fell into a long silence. Several minutes later, the sound of hurried footsteps came from behind them.
"Papa! Riku! Lord Su Mo wants you to return immediately!"
"It's something important! He said it's a major announcement!" The young girl Nona—still a child—came dashing toward them, breathless but excited. After delivering the message, she turned and sprinted back toward the settlement. Clearly, she didn't want to miss the meeting with the person she admired most.
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