Chapter 117: Passive Strategy

"...I see...so...Nio died?" Stelaria murmurs as Azalea, sitting on her bed, drinks a fruit juice. Azalea had been explaining everything that happened during the fight.

"That’s right, Nio died. I’ve already told you this multiple times. Asking again and again won’t change that fact, you know? It’s inevitable now." Stelaria looks out the window. The Raid that ended not long ago had been extremely costly, and now they’d lost a Saint.

She wonders what to do, trying to hide the horrible emotions she feels over losing the girl who had occupied such a large space in her heart.

"W-Why are you so calm about this? If you were really Nio’s servant, you should be sad!! Besides, you said there are a bunch of Level 100 abominations that are now going to spread across the world trying to dominate as much territory as they can." Stelaria turns sorrow into anger so she won’t cry again.

"Hmmm...I think we’ve reached the point that actually matters. Death is not the end." When Azalea says this with conviction, Stelaria’s expression changes.

"What do you mean?"

"Nio has items that allow people to be revived, but they wouldn’t work on her for several reasons, so that can be ruled out. There are also revival spells and rituals, but many of them are difficult, I don’t know how to perform them, and they’d depend on us having Nio’s body."

"Which is also unrealistic because that depraved, cowardly pig has Nio’s body and won’t let anyone take it. But there’s one option, and that’s simply to wait."

"Wait for what?" Stelaria moves closer to Azalea, who radiates an overly confident aura.

"Nio will come back. I know it. She has the power to return to life on her own, but it will take time. And our duty is to prepare for her return. We can’t let other apostles take over the world."

"...Wait, so you only came here for that? To try to create a safe area while we wait for Nio to come back?" Stelaria finds this complete insanity.

"Yes, in short, yes. We need to give Nio room to do whatever she wants when she returns to life."

"...Are you kidding me? Do I look like a clown to you? I let you stay and said I’d help thinking you could actually help—"

"Watch how you speak, human. I’m not having some delusion here. Nio really can come back to life on her own. I suppose I need to explain this to an inferior human like you." Azalea sets her cup aside and stands up, pulling a chalkboard out of her inventory.

"See, Nio is without a doubt going to hell. That’s obvious. If she died without her soul being destroyed, the only place her soul could go is hell." Azalea draws several stacked circles.

"..." Stelaria doesn’t deny it or say anything, because at this point she knows Nio hides a lot of things, so she just accepts that yes, she probably would go to hell.

"But hell wasn’t made to be a complete prison. It’s divided into layers. These layers are floors that rise upward. Each layer has a certain number of portals to escape from it, and those portals increase in number the higher you go."

"So Nio will undoubtedly try to climb upward to get out of hell, and I’m certain she can do it. I don’t know that much about hell, but I do know there are beings that guard those portals, which is why almost nothing ever leaves hell."

"But Nio is powerful. Being powerful, she can force her way through whatever portals she finds!! And when she escapes hell, she’ll return to life in this world. And with that, she’ll definitely see the problems."

"However, the other apostles won’t just accept going back under her command. She’ll need to deal with all the chaos each apostle causes. So we’re going to need to help Nio. We have no way of knowing if she’ll come back with the same strength or if she’ll return weaker." Azalea scribbles several things on the board as if explaining to a child.

"How do you know hell exists, that Nio went there, and that she’ll come back?"

"First, because it’s obvious. I’ve seen beings that returned from the shores of hell, mainly spirits. They’re leaving hell all the time. Second, I know Nio. I know she would definitely go to hell."

"And third, I know she would never accept staying dead after being cowardly killed and robbed!! Especially by a worm like Yomo. But we need to wait...and..." Azalea bites her lips.

"The others know this too. They know she’ll come back. It’s obvious to all of them. They’re confident enough to try spreading chaos even knowing she’ll return, all because they’re confident they won’t have to submit to her without being killed."

"Especially Yomo. I bet Yomo allied with other apostles to kill Nio if she comes back."

"But if Nio is going to come back, wouldn’t that make her invincible?" Stelaria doesn’t quite understand why they’d try to defeat her again if she always comes back.

"No, understand something, girl. The physical body and the soul are separate things. When someone dies, their soul leaves and the body stays behind. But when a being falls into hell or heaven, only the soul exists."

"The soul is immortal while inside hell and heaven. However, when a soul leaves hell, it becomes one with its physical body. It basically becomes something physical. If that new physical body dies, the soul also dies permanently. It’s destroyed and vanishes."

"If Nio dies again, she dies forever. That’s why all the apostles are so confident. Because Nio died once, another death would be the end of her, which will force Nio herself to be cautious." Azalea bites her lips in anger.

"..." Stelaria realizes just how serious all of this is, and she even feels somewhat frustrated that they betrayed Nio like this.

"Alright, I’ll help you like I said before. We just need to defend the theocracy from other apostles, right? That shouldn’t be too hard—"

"Don’t underestimate them. This current peace is momentary. As soon as they establish their domains concretely, they’ll try to crush each other, and I’ll be one of the main targets...because I’m one of the weakest, unfortunately...I lack a lot of experience and strength..."

"And unfortunately, Yomo is one of the strongest, so they won’t make him an immediate target. They might even ignore him for a long time." Stelaria thinks for a few seconds before speaking.

"How long?"

"...I don’t know. There’s no way to know when Nio will return. Maybe tomorrow, maybe in a few months, maybe in years, maybe never. If she doesn’t find a portal, she won’t be able to come back, I think...I don’t know all the exits from hell. She’ll have to take care of herself down there and find her way back..."

"...Alright, I’ll...try to figure out how I can defend the theocracy with your help..."

"Perfect. Let’s start by trying to make a good barrier. It’s the first pillar of defense we need." Azalea tosses a book to Stelaria.

"I have several items that Nio gave me. They’ll help a lot. Let’s hope the others take their time deciding to start expanding their territories."