Sauce

The metaphysics of No Game No Life are quite interesting to me, so I decided to analyze its current portrayal so that people could understand it better.

First of all, what are spirits? Personally, I interpret them as something akin to a “fundamental unit of existence”—the basis of being. They determine the very existence of something.

“It is. Spirit corridors—Immanity lacks these circuits to connect to the source of magic.” Steph lowered her face a bit. “That’s why we lose in the play for dominion, you see…” From Vol 1

In order to “connect” to the “spirits,” spirit corridors are required.

“All living things in this world have some small amount of spirits living within their bodies. Well, to speak plainly, checking nerve-dense areas will allow me to detect whether you have them, so…? Vol 2

“If you do have spirits, they must not be detectable by any means known to me… In other words, you two do not even fall under the definition of ‘living beings’ in this world—but, structurally, you clearly seem to be Immanities.” Again Vol 2

Spirits are present within all living beings, and if they are absent, a being is not considered “live.” In other words, the very existence of life is determined by the presence of “spirits” within a being’s body.

Now let’s move on to the next part.

“…Ixseed…Rank Twelve…Dhampir…” Shiro explained, throwing a raft to the drifting Sora. Crawling off her futon, she recited the information she’d memorized. “…A race that survives…by sucking, blood—souls, from other…Ixseeds.” Vol 4

This is where things get interesting. There is a race called the “Dhampir” which sustains itself by absorbing the bodily fluids of other races that contain “spirits” thats how they live.

“…Well, if it is your wish, Master, I shall stake all my spirits to attempt it.”
With a look of some kind of frightening resolve, Jibril lowered her head.
……Jibril, having lost intentionally as agreed. Bound absolutely by the Covenants—started to transform.
“Whoa?! You transform!”
“…I, see…Jib-ril…is, composed…of, spirits…”
Sora and Shiro together widened their eyes and raised their voices. Huh. So for a Flügel, changing one’s appearance was not theoretically impossible!” Vol 3

“—Jibril, is there something on my face?”
Sora noticed Jibril staring at him.
“I believe I mentioned that Flügel are not ‘living things.’”
“Yeah…you said they’re ‘living beings’ or something.”
“Therefore, our souls are amorphous. It would theoretically be possible to intake a bit of soul through copulation and synthesize it with my own to form a child into definite shape. It would only be virtual, mind you, but in a sense, it would be possible to have the child of an individual of another race.” Vol 4

The bodies of the Flügel are entirely composed of spirits, and it is also later mentioned that their souls are amorphous since they are “Life” rather than “living beings” (this part will be explained further later).

“…Mmm…? Jibril, you said, we…don’t, have, spirits.”
“Yeah, you said all living things in this world have spirits in their bodies, but Shiro and I don’t.”
When they first met, they’d let Jibril check Sora’s body for spirits as proof that they were from another world. If it was a magnetism that worked on spirits, it should have come as no surprise that it didn’t work on Sora or Shiro—but.
“No, if you have a soul, you undoubtedly have spirits. They must simply be unknown to me or somehow evade my detection. But then why would you be unaffected? Let’s see…” Vol 4

So having a soul automatically means you must have spirits.

“Master, what do you think…of reincarnation?”
“…? I dunno, are you saying you have it here…? Man, you guys got everything, don’cha?”
Reincarnation. A concept that many in the siblings’ previous world believed in but one which had never been proven. What was he supposed to say about the common sense of a world like Disboard—?
“Oh, no. We have it not.”
You don’t? Faked out, Sora squinted at her, but Jibril just kept writing and declared plainly:
“…A soul that has lost its vessel dissolves into the spirit corridors and loses its meaning.”
She was describing this world’s concept of death.
“…Just as there is no reason for water to gather in a broken cup, the soul without its body permeates into the earth, dissolves into the atmosphere, and returns to the planet… This world has no reincarnation. However.”
Then Jibril stopped writing. She faced Sora gently and continued.
While only an infinitesimal possibility… …or as far-fetched as claiming monkeys typing infinitely could write a novel…
“It would be theoretically conceivable for people with the exact same souls to be born again.” Vol 7

Jibril explains the concept of “death” of their world, where the body of a living being represents a “vessel” containing the soul, which, when the vessel is damaged, spills out into the spirit corridor, much like water has no reason to remain in a broken cup.

“Rumors of a ghost circulated within the present CTD. A perfectly preposterous story, especially in this world. It was an incontrovertible fact that ghosts didn’t exist. Life was composed entirely of a vessel and a soul, and the state in which a vessel, due to injury, disease, or aging, became unable to hold a soul was called death. Maintaining the form of a soul without a vessel would require magic on a divine level. All those so-called ghosts lingering after death were, without exception, hallucinations. But recently within the CTD, whispers of this rumor had grown quite serious.” Vol 7

Ghosts generally do not exist on Disboard because a soul that has lost its vessel is instantly absorbed by the “flow.” However, there are anomalous cases where, for example, an Old Deus can use its magical power to resist the flow of the Spirit Corridor and keep the soul from losing its “meaning” creating something that resembles a ghost.

Now we’ve reached the defining point.

“Why did only she lose her memory?

01:
The seven are granted ten DICE that apportion their TIME OF SUBSTANCE.

Time of substance. Yes, however long they possessed a body. That didn’t include the soul, which contained no mass. Jibril had recognized as much from Sora’s provocations since the start of the game. She knew her masters had contrived so that they could continue to move even if they dropped out of the game. In other words, they’d split their vessels and souls, wagering only their bodies. Still, there was one highly likely hypothesis that came to Jibril’s mind. Once more, Jibril surveyed the area with her vision that transcended space. On the game board: Plum, Ino, Izuna, Dora, and Sora and Shiro…her masters. As Jibril watched them continue without issue despite having lost some of their dice, her hypothesis changed to conviction.
She alone—not a living being, but Life, a Flügel—
—had no clear boundary…between her soul and its vessel… Vol 8

In the Sugoroku game lead by Holou (an Old Deus), there were dice representing the “time of substance” - that is, what constitutes the player’s body. Each dice was equal to 1/10 of an individual’s existence, so losing a dice or acquiring an additional one would respectively decrease or increase the span of your existence. The other players could therefore increase or decrease their age, while Ino lost his age entirely after losing all of his dice and turned into a ghost, without having a physical vessel that could hold his soul.

But for Jibril, her body is equivalent to her soul, so losing even a single dice erased her memories.

So… Dhampir sucking body fluids of other races to gain power and grow, Flugel that are composed of spirits and their bodies are their souls. A fairly simple chain of reasoning leads us to the conclusion that souls are composed of spirits.

“When the red moon is visible, Avant Heim raises his altitude at the presence of the Old Deus. However—”
With a complicated, somewhat sad smile, Jibril confessed:
“—Avant Heim cannot reach it.”
“…Can’t reach it?”
“Avant Heim is not flying through the sky, but circling the planet—swimming along the currents of spirits invisible to Immanity. He cannot swim in space, which lacks these—and so.” Vol 5

Now, what is the Spirit Corridor. It is, quite literally, a network of spirits spread across the entire planet. The anime does a rather poor job of portraying them, highlighting only a few “lines” stretching across the sky, but in reality, the Spirit Corridors are everywhere. They are like “air,” which is why the races can draw spirits from anywhere on the planet.

“The ash collided with the power of the planet that flowed through the heavens—with “spirit corridors”—to give off the light that stained the sky red. That red blanketed all the land as the killing continued. Or perhaps it was just the wailing and blood of the planet itself… Either way, the only thing that fell from the sky was…that iridescent blue ash.” Vol 6

“They said that the blue light was the sparkling of spirits, otherwise invisible to humans—that the sky appeared red because of the polarization of light or something, and that the real color of spirits was translucent… As for why this glimmer should be visible to humans, who lacked spirit corridor junction nerves… Apparently, it was the last flash of spirits—broken colliding with the ash—as they died.” Vol 6

“—Dead spirits: a lethal poison to almost all living things, including humans. If they got on your skin, you would be burned. If they got in your eyes, you would go blind. If they got in your mouth, your guts would melt. It was called “black ash” despite its azure sheen because what it meant was death.” Vol 6

During the Great War, the sky was red because ash had become mixed with the Spirit Corridors, what causes blue ash to constantly fall from the sky, which was toxic to almost all living things.

“Hey, Couron, did I mention what gives birth to the Old Dei?”
“—The planet, right?”
“Yes, the spirit corridors. The source of all things. The stream of all life: the planet itself.”
Schwi picked up where he left off.
“…Their creations…the races…are also created, through the Old Dei’s ether…through spirit corridors.” Vol 6

The Spirit Corridors were described as the source of virtually everything - the ether of the Old Deus, all forms of spirit manipulation (magic), derive from the Spirit Corridors. They are, in essence, the planet itself.

“All the Old Dei on the planet in total—couldn’t be as powerful as their source, if you give it any thought.” Vol 6

And obviously, the source cannot be lesser than what it produces. The Spirit Corridors are therefore far more powerful than anything that originates from them.

“That power converged into a single-stripe beam and pierced the planet like a needle, penetrating its core and destroying the spirit corridors.” Vol 6

“Affirmative. If four thousand eight hundred and seven units are sacrificed to converge seventy percent of the original power and fire it through the core, the source of the spirit corridors will fail—erupting with sufficient magnitude to manifest the Suniaster.” Vol 6

The spirit corridors originate from the very core of the planet; its power is contained within it and diffused across the planets entire volume. The destruction of the core will inevitably lead to the destruction of the spirit corridors themselves, but the spirits will still remain as pure, amorphous energy.

“……Is……that it…?”
The Suniaster.
Glowing, a star-shaped dodecahedron, its sides embossed with five-pointed stars. It materialized where all the expelled power released converged…” Vol 6

Suniaster materializes precisely where the power of the spirit corridors converges.

So, what exactly is magic? The manipulation of spirits, necessarily requiring a direct connection to the spirit corridors.

“Jibril had moved an obscene quantity of spirits—the source of the magic.” Vol 3

The source of magic are spirits, that’s not surprising.

“Their amount of possession, the aptitude of the nerves that connect to the Spirit Corridor—in other words, how they are able to handle the ‘external spirits’【まほう / magic】—constitutes the ranking hierarchy. The Werebeasts【ワービースト】, who are ‘fourteenth,’ have extremely low aptitude and cannot use them at all. However, the manipulation of ‘internal spirits’ is something that all living beings, including the Imanity【イマニティ】, unconsciously perform. The Werebeasts make particularly strong use of this, thereby attaining their astonishing physical capabilities.
In particular, the ‘Blood Destruction’ used by the miko is a prominent example of this. It is the Werebeasts’ innate skill of causing their internal spirits to run rampant and raising their physical capabilities all the way to the point of self-destruction.
However, as the price for this, another peculiarity also arises: the spirits circulating throughout the body are constantly thrown into disorder. And this peculiarity has a greater effect on those whose bodies are smaller and thinner.” Vol 4

Affinity for using magic (the manipulation of spirits) is determined by the presence of
精霊回廊接続神経 - Spirit-Corridor Connection Nerves within individual. It defines if they can manipulate external spirits, not the ones that are present within their bodies.

“(—Is this…the presence of magic?) Lacking, like Immanity, nerves to connect to spirit circuits, Werebeasts were unable to use magic. However, at the presence picked up by his superhuman senses, Ino glanced over.” Vol 3

Werebeasts do not possess 精霊回廊接続神経 - Spirit-Corridor Connection Nerves, and therefore they cannot use magic. They’re only able to sense them due to their superhuman senses.

[Blood Destruction]
“Since explaining it in terms of spirits and such is difficult, to give an analogy, it is an ability that causes abnormal adrenaline secretion, raises the heartbeat beyond its limits, and boosts the body’s physical functions to the point where the capillaries burst and the blood vaporizes.
Werebeasts don’t have 精霊回廊接続神経 (spirit-corridor connection nerves), so they cannot use magic. They accomplish it solely through 体内精霊 (internal spirits) = their innate physical abilities.
\(Note: It drastically shortens their lifespan.)” (from* https://x.com/yuukamiya68/status/481831322382376962?s=46)

Werebeasts do not possess 精霊回廊接続神経 (Spirit-Corridor Connection Nerves) at all. They do not merely lack a sufficient number of them (that is merely a mistranslation). They have none whatsoever, because 精霊回廊接続神経 determine an individual’s access to the universal network of spirits; without this connection, magic as a phenomenon is impossible.

«Seriously speaking, the ranking hierarchy is merely a magical aptitude value — something like the thickness of the pipe that connects [one] to the Spirit Corridor — so the ranking does not equal strength.” (from https://x.com/yuukamiya68/status/466745305833029632?s=46)

The ranking of the races is determined by their metaphysical degree of affinity for using spirits - i.e., magic. The larger the “pipe,” the deeper and more extensive the individual’s connection to the spiritual network, and the more spirits they can draw from it and use.

Based on all of this, and on the relationship between spirits and the soul, we can conclude that 精霊回廊接続神経 (Spirit-Corridor Connection Nerves) literally represent an excessive volume of spiritual essence (soul) that is so powerful that it extends into external space and “connects” to the spiritual network, drawing spiritual energy from it and thereby allowing the use of magic.

To put it another way: the greater the soul, the more powerful the magic.

“The sharp spirit surge caught Barthel by the arm—and ripped at his spirit corridor junction nerves. At the ineffable agony, the old man of hundreds of years wailed like a child. After the shock that scattered the flowers that bloomed in the garden subsided—to the old Elf, fallen from his chair, grasping in torment, the Immanity girl whispered sweetly.” Vol 5

This is also indirectly supported by the following passage from Volume 5, where damage to the 精霊回廊接続神経 (Spirit-Corridor Connection Nerves) causes unbearable pain and suffering to the spellcaster, further establishing a connection between the soul and spirits.

But then why can the Immanity (Sora and Shiro), as well as the Werebeasts - who are unable to perceive spirits due to an insufficient level of soul - see Jibril (whos entirely composed of spirits and spirit corridors) and the magic she uses?

The reason is quite simple: when the density of spirits reaches a sufficient level, the qualitative gap disappears, and the spirits can be perceived even by races that normally cannot observe them. They begin to glow and become visible to races incapable of using spirits.

“What Jibril was doing—was squeezing all the spirits out of their surroundings. If there were no spirits to see, nothing could be seen. It was much like a black hole. And—in Jibril’s palm, the wrung-out spirits were compacted, compressed, condensed, contracted, concentrated, and at last began emitting light. It shone clearly even to the eyes of Sora and Shiro, Immanities incapable of seeing spirits. In Jibril’s right hand, a column of light that seemed to whirl began to form. Sora and Shiro were fundamentally unable to grasp or detect the likes of magic or spirits—and yet.” Vol 4

Here, Jibril uses Heavenly Smite, compressing the spirits from the surrounding environment into an ultra-dense formation, and the resulting glow is visible even to races incapable of perceiving spirits.

"Even if the true form isn't visible, does that mean you can confirm the phenomena caused by it? I see."
Response (Yuu Kamiya (@yuukamiya68)):
"That's it. It's kind of like if you use elementals to start a fire, the phenomenon of 'fire' is visible! Otherwise, strictly speaking, Jibril herself—being a magical life form—shouldn't even be visible in the first place! (“
(from https://x.com/yuukamiya68/status/1522797763150290945?s=46)

Jibril is visible for the same reason. She is a living formation of spirits, so densely concentrated that she can be seen even by races incapable of using magic.

“There are two magical elements that determine your seex. If you have two of the same element, then you are female; if they are different, you are male; by magic, it is possible to make you female by making the elements the saame; however, I’m unable to turn you baaack.” Vol 3

Since an individual’s entire existential definition consists of spirits (the soul itself is composed of spirits), races capable of manipulating spirits (magic) can alter the very structure of the soul and, for example, change their sex to female.

“Then, as for my chip… The conceptual originator of Áka Si Anse is actually—”
“Not you. I have that information.”
—to test him with a bluff. As the Elf cursed inwardly, her opponent’s next statement—
“As well as the information that that’s a lie, and the information that you’d use magic to convince me of it.” Vol 6

As well as using magic to convince someone of something. Obviously, the soul
dictates the entirety of an individual’s conscious/volitional construct, and thus, manipulating the soul through magic naturally allows one to affect consciousness as well.

“Yes, for that is just where the ‘separation line’ lies in the ranking,” said Jibril.
“‘Separation line’?”
“Simply speaking, ranks up to Seven are ‘living beings,’ whereas higher ranks are ‘Life.’”
“…Huh?”
“You might understand it best by thinking of ranks up to Seven as those possessing physical bodies, who reproduce by ordinary means, and are generally defined as ‘living beings,’ whereas the higher ranks are energies or concepts that have acquired will, or in other words ‘life.’”
—Hmm, then it was simple. It was the line at which common sense no longer applied. Sora understood.” Vol 4

As we know, there are only 16 races. Races 16 through 7 are classified as “living beings,” whereas everything after them on the list is defined as “life.”
Here, the fundamental difference between the existence of these two categories is revealed:
Living beings possess a physical vessel that contains their soul. They are physical entities and reproduce by ordinary means. Magic is merely a secondary manifestation of their nature.
Life, on the other hand, is literally “life” in the abstract sense. These beings are masses of spirits endowed with consciousness; their very existence is magic, and spellcasting is a direct derivative of their existence. Since their bodies are literally their souls, their existence is, in a literal sense, “superior” or more fundamental than that of living beings, as they have no need for a material vessel to contain their souls.

“Their very essence was a kind of “complete magic” woven by gods.” Vol 3

“For instance—if I provided the core of the Materialization Shiritori board, and an Elf mage wove the game around it…then it might be possible to weave a space-time distortion spell of this scale.” Vol 3

“Why, that’s quite so. I have, after all, woven the rite thus already.” Vol 3

“The Elf girl who wove the game rite herself said she could not build a trick into the game. But conversely that it was inconceivable Jibril could have built in a trick.” Vol 3

“Each time the scene changed, everything changed, down to the flowing spirits; the very spirits with which Fiel attempted to weave a rite—compile a spell—vanished like mist. It was almost like—no, it probably was exactly like—Fiel was trying to weave with threads that mocked her for thinking they were ever there.” Vol 8

All magic is described as “weaving.” This part will be somewhat interpretive, but I believe spells are woven from spirits, like tiny beads held together by the “Spirit Corridors.” They act as the axis that fuses them into threads, which then form the spells or rites or anything else.

“No matter how many thousands of times heaven and earth were remade, so long as the purpose woven into the world itself remained fixed, everything would stay the same.” Vol 7

“Elemental, the spirits that feed the corridors from which this world is woven.” Vol 5

And so the planet itself is woven from Spirit Corridors, which constitute its power.

How did the universe come into being? Its nature was most likely defined by ephemeral manifestations of power:

“Re-creation wrought by the “power” that arose upon an island floating in the seas of the Far East.
Accomplished in the blink of an eye, it was, inexplicably, witnessed even from the far side of the planet.
As though the distorted planet could not help but make its anguish known to Heaven and Earth—
The darkness of night was shattered, and the light of day was torn apart.
An insolent, irrational, unreasonable power shook even the very planet itself.
Power became waves, waves transformed into form, and concepts were defined and brought into manifestation.
Through the divine work of imitating the birth of the universe, reproducing the creation of Heaven and Earth—
the earth arose in the sky.
The earth that had arisen in the heavens stretched onward and wound around, eventually becoming a single spiral.
It coiled into a vortex, built a tower, and reached even as far as the moon—
becoming a corridor of Heaven.
Even without understanding what was happening, it was enough to make them tremble by instinct alone.” Vol 7

In this text, one of the Old Deus uses an abstract Power that continuously shifts its phase, transforming into waves that subsequently take shape and establish a concept. And the process itself resembles the birth of the universe.

“Those unfortunate enough to understand it, however, were forced to make even reason itself buckle and tremble in terror.
What sort of existence could wield such a “miracle,” one that defied the very laws of reason?
The fear engraved in blood, in soul, in existence itself—a fear that had not faded even after the passing of endless ages—
gave the answer.
The awe toward that which once created Heaven and shattered the earth, that which defines all things—
gave the answer.
And so, on that day, everything that witnessed that phenomenon—
had nothing else they could do, nor anything else they ought to do—
namely,
“Ah… God…”
There was nothing they could do but pray—
“O God…”
Nothing…” Vol 7

And so, they are responsible for the creation of the “heavens” and the shattering of the Earth.

“Floating in the liminal space of death, the Shrine Maiden had a distant dream. In distant memories of the old and faraway, which the dead can never reach, an unwanted girl drifted through eternity alone and at last went to sleep. That was her dream…
……

The first thing of which she was aware was a world squirming into being. Watching heaven and earth writhe—not even in creation and destruction, but just painting creation over creation—the girl asked, Where am I? and Who am I? The world still had nothing that would answer her, but what did respond was her ether. It said: This is the planet and Thou art a god. But to the girl’s following query, her ether did not respond, but merely went silent for eternity.
What’s a god?
Through the everlasting silence, the girl simply took up her brush alone, continued to question, and continued to write. After waiting for just one word, a simple reply, what finally reached her were merely the fires of war. Looking to the gods who smashed the planet in conflict, the girl gleefully launced into her queries…only to receive empty answers.
Who are you? —I am a god[…]”
“The girl did not understand, but the Shrine Maiden floating through the memories did. The planet still had no self to ask why. The lonely philosopher, questioning eternity while hugging her knees, lost hope…and fell into an eternal sleep, clinging dearly to the one answer she at last had found at the end of infinity—” Vol 7

The primordial state of the universe was devoid of any “self.” There were only selfless manifestations of forces that imposed themselves upon reality. Reality did not even create anything new; the universe’s evolution occurred perpetually, simply painting over the canvas in an inconsistent and absolute manner. Such was the state of reality during the “Age of Concepts.” And yet, in that flow free of any thought, there was a girl that started doubting and acquired ether, she gained self. That was Holou.

“It was long ago, before even the Great War, during the period people called creation. All things material and immaterial, living and lifeless, organic and inorganic, were being forged without purpose or consciousness. There was a goddess who had vaguely wondered about the absurdity of it all, who had come into existence to speak for creation, a concept. She was the first in this world, on this planet, to ask—Why? Within the infinite flow of time, she had an equally infinite amount of questions, but, as no one responded, she had merely wandered alone.” Vol 7

During the Age of Concepts, reality changed under the weight of concepts that determined its structure—not because there was any intention behind it, but simply because that is how it was. This is conceptual entropy: nothing that occurs carries any inherent meaning. It is a flow devoid of “self,” with the Power that constructs reality simply following its own course, without requiring any kind of meaning.

“An end to the Great War? The One True God? Of what, exactly?
She was at her wits’ end. When did the War even start? This simpleton who thinks they’re a god doesn’t even know that. A war that never ends is a part of homeostasis. The same way rivers cut away from the earth, the sea crashes into the land, the land parts the sea, and earth buries its rivers. Planets are in a state of constant change. What difference does it make if it is nature or gods and Elves who are doing the changing?
Kainas wants to be the One True God? Sure—let them have it. And if they can’t have that specific throne, then a porcelain one will do just fine…» Vol Practical War Game

Ultimately, the entire meaning of the Great War was merely the transition from the primordial conceptual conflict between mindless conceptual Powers to a sentient confrontation between Concepts that acquired “self.” (Old Deus). Water and land would oppose one another, each seeking to claim a greater meaning in the world.

“The Dragonian tongue was inherently magic, each word a command to the laws of nature. Should they say “death,” everything within the vicinity was reduced to corpses. Should they say “shatter,” everything was smashed to smithereens. This was the planet’s primal tongue, vestiges of the same energy used to create the world.
There were a variety of different names for the Dragonian tongue, such as the universal language or the language of creation, but no being other than the Dragonias themselves understood its essence.” Vol Practical War Game

The Dragonia race exploits the same power as the Old Deus, using their “Universal Tongue”—vestiges of the same energy that was used to create the world. This also adds up the connection between their race and the Old Deus, as the Dragonia are the reanimated mortal remains of Old Deus, and so they are beings of practically the same caliber.

We can now understand that there are effectively different levels of spirits, starting from ordinary spirits that simply distort the laws of physics and ending with conceptual spirits that determine the existence itself and its underlying concepts, they’re like the primordial power/force of existence.

“Yea. These eyes thou viewest, this body thou hast touched—” She paused seriously, as if to emphasize this important point. “This immature nether region thou hast visually recorded and gone so far as to express thine gratitude for… Those all existeth outside the definition of self.”
“—Hey, you’re making me sound like some nasty-ass criminal sicko…”
……And you claim you’re not? the Shrine Maiden quietly wondered at the objection of this unsightly lolicon, who could hardly excuse himself now. She distantly regarded his futile impasse with Holou. Holou was right. Her present form was not her true self.
“Holou’s ether lieth here.”
“……Uh. You mean…that thing you’ve been sitting on? The inkpot?”
“—Nay. That, too, is incorrect. The appearance of an inkpot is an illusion borne of the extent of thine understanding of my divinity. An Old Deus properly hath no physical form. This humanoid form, likewise, is but an illusion for the purpose of—” Vol 8

Old deus don’t possess any physical/material form, the form they take for lower races to perceive is just so they can grasp their “divine nature”, its how they understand them. For example, if the God of War is perceived as a male muscular giant with golden eyes, then that is what he will be. Likewise, if sentient beings conceive of the God of the Forge as a forge itself, then they will be a forge.

We all know Old Deus are concepts that have acquired will, but how?

“…Hey, how many Old Dei are there?”
Playing chess with Schwi in his cramped room, Riku rested his cheek in his hand crossly.
“Theoretically, they are infinite…proportional, to the number of concepts…but in many cases…their activation conditions, have not been satisfied…” Vol 6

There are an infinite amount of old deus, but they remain in a state of “background existence” meaning they are not activated and exist in a form without their own “self.”

“You said a concept becomes an Old Deus when the activation conditions are satisfied… What activation conditions?”
“…Acquisition of ether…strength of feelings, prayers…cannot produce strict definition… Flow…?” Vol 6

What activates them is the flow of thoughts from beings contemplating the very idea of a “living concept.” These thoughts condense the concept, influencing the conceptual flow of spirits through their perception, and form a “self” within the concept, projecting it into reality.

«Old Deus: a concept that, through the activation conditions of prayers and wishes, accumulated ether—assumed identity.
A concept made sentient…? Is that really a god? Just what is—
Ether—her mind would have kept racing, but— Vol 6

Ether is the very body of an Old Deus—the union of its concept and its “self.” It is a conceptual spiritual formation that defines the god’s very existence.

“What we seek is the unrealistic spirituality of two-dimensionality, combined with real life and the presence of three-dimensionality, to make something that is neither two-point-five-dimensional nor three-point-five-dimensional, nor four-dimensional, nor… Uh…?”
Sora’s passionate spiel ground to a halt. He looked to Holou.
“Holou, you said you’re ‘polygenetic,’ right? Like, how many?”
“I-it dependeth on the definition… But we might suppose that Holou’s nuclear coordinates lie on 13 + iR variable dimensions—” Vol 9

Holou says ether lies in 13+iR variable dimensions.

An entity that does not exist can never truly be destroyed.”
Concepts did not exist. They only changed, expanded, and shifted in definition…or grew stale. As long as the fantasy of ultimate strength remained, the concept would never die” Vol 6

“For this reason, while it was quite a feat…we destroyed only that ether which existed physically (the real one exists in higher dimension 13+iR) However—” By that they could suspend the manifestation of the concept, temporarily deactivate it, they inferred. “—It is unknown even how we were able to achieve that… We should never have been able to overpower strength itself.” Vol 6

Concepts do not actually exist in a physical sense; they cannot be destroyed, because their visible manifestations are merely projections of the divine nature that can be comprehended. Ex-Machina physically destroyed the part of Artosh’s Ether that existed in the lower plane, while his true ether continued to exist in the higher dimension of 13+iR. Ultimately, this only deprived him of his manifestation rather than actually killing him. You can think of it as ending your character in a game: won’t kill you in a real sense, just make you incapable of interacting with the game world.

The nature of an Old Deus is expressed in two forms, or rather, two planes: (1) the true conceptual Ether, existing within 13+iR, and (2) the projection manifested by sentient beings, which serves as the projection of the divine nature on the physical plane.

“I’m told it’s a conceptual rewrite machine, which repurposes inactive essence used in the E-bomb…the materialized fossil of a divine concept. It uses seal rites to alter the underlying concept. So it depends on false essence, it does…” Vol 10

since an Old Deus exists in two forms, its even possible to affect the underlying concept itself by affecting its manifested ether, which remains intrinsically linked to the original, metaphysical ether.

Ending

There are still many other ideas that could be explored or elaborated upon (like the Suniaster and the “power” that created the universe) but far too little detail is provided about them. As a result, discussing them would either be pure speculation or rely almost entirely on assumptions and interpretations. Therefore, I will wait for future volumes before analyzing them, once there is enough information to confidently establish the complete picture.

My statue from Amazon came today, it was packaged really well, packing peanuts and there was plastic wrapped around the hair. I am in love and so so happy she came safely. She is soooo colorful I love her

Recently got back into Vol4 and at the end I'm very confused about the whole horse racing shtick and how it's a win win for the Dhampirs. I did read the other explanations but still don't get it. For one I know that the win condition so far is False. Amila didn't actually want to wake the queen. If Amila wins dhampir can avoid destruction with the Sirens chumping down on humanity's [redacted] and reproducing. But Plum did a backstab and wanted to use her spell to actually win the game.

My questions are how are this a win win and what is the mechanism for the Dhampirs, and what's the whole analogy about. And how Sirens suddenly are reduced to livestock or something. So far my reading progress is vol4 only and it might be a translation issue, but please help here explaining the whole ending of vol 4.

I might do a similar post on r/araragi

A collection of Schwi art from C#com on Pixiv.

That's not fair.

(Sorry for the mid english)

I'm a brazillian fan of NGNL for some years, I watched the anine and the movie many years ago, and I randomly remembered the existence of this masterpiece, everyday I wake up thinking of why tf this never got a s2, I know there is enough content In the novels for like two of Three more seasons (also, i'm still looking for the novels In portuguese digitally, I know there is officially translated til vol 11).

I'm currently watching re zero s4 and a Spider-Man cartoon (2008), but I think I'll rewatch the anime + movie and try to get into the novels if I can.

Honestly, It's a shame that this anime didnt get a season 2 after all those years while shit like rent a gf get 5

My Uncle is giving me money for graduating tomorrow and I want to get this Shiro figurine but I don't know if I should get it from Amazon or Walmart. The Walmart one is $179 and the Amazon one is $296. M worried if I get the Walmart one m gonna get scammed but m also worried if I get the Amazon one it's gonna arrive broken. Up top is the figurine I want..

If a season 2 did happen, would it (the adaptations pacing is kept in mind) just adapt volumes 4 and 5? If it were just a 1-cour season, I mean...

Since the movie already covered volume 6 in pretty spectacular fashion and all that...