Chapter 45: Saint, God, or Devil

"Stelaria... do you really not notice anything strange?" Ryu speaks to Stelaria while both are at the top of the church in the theocracy, on a balcony gazing at the starry sky.

"Ryu, why have you been trying so hard to make me think about Nio... there’s nothing wrong with her." Stelaria stops speaking before saying there’s nothing wrong — her hesitation is everything Ryu needs.

"There clearly is something!! Just look... just pay attention!"

"Ryu, you speak as if you know something I don’t." Stelaria implies that Ryu is hiding things, which makes Ryu take a step back metaphorically, rethinking what to say.

’Of course I know!! That thing is dangerous!! But how the hell can I just say something... if that thing hears, it could put the theocracy at risk...’ Ryu thinks for too long.

"Tell me, Ryu, why do you want me to pay attention to Nio so badly? She’s just a saint — intelligent, but naive in many ways. Seriously, can you believe she fell asleep underwater a few times while I was bathing her—"

"You bathe her?! Stelaria, look at the things you’re saying! I’ve known you for years, since you were a child, and you would NEVER do a servant’s work, let alone for someone who diminished your political power."

"Seriously, do you think that’s normal?"

"...It’s fine..." Stelaria’s head begins to ache from Ryu’s questions, which makes Stelaria clench her hand so tightly that drops of blood begin to trickle.

"You know, Stelaria, I’ve seen many saints. I’ve been in the theocracy for a very long time — like, I’ve seen about four saints, which is a lot. That’s two hundred years. Do you know how long that takes? Two hundred years. That’s almost four times the average human lifespan."

"I serve the theocracy to the best of my ability, but that girl — who came from who knows where, has no family, yet acts like a noble, doesn’t care about her own body to the point where, as you said, she falls asleep underwater beside you."

"But she seeks out confidential military information. That girl..."

"That girl what, Ryu?" Stelaria’s gaze turns aggressive. Instead of fighting the headache, she redirects it — if she becomes aggressive toward whoever questions her, the headache lessens. What is a mechanism meant to force Stelaria to protect Nio ends up feeling like a help to Stelaria, who is deeply deceived.

"She’s doing excellent work, Ryu! The communication devices we started trading have increased the treasury’s coffers. We’re growing! A—"

"And those suspicious ruins? The ones Nio has been trying to get you to cordon off and restrict access to?" When Ryu says this, Stelaria stops speaking.

"Couldn’t Nio be someone who came from there? Several people disappeared there, right? What is Nio? Have you ever seen a dragon like her?"

"I’ve seen many dragons, but NEVER in my entire life have I seen a dragon with horns, wings, and a tail bearing a pattern that resembles the universe and stellar constellations."

"Is Nio even a real dragon? Or could she be a monster—"

"Watch your mouth, Ryu. Are you calling a proven saint a monster?" When Stelaria says this, Ryu realizes the blasphemy. However much Nio unsettles her, Nio is still a true saint.

"No... she is a saint... but being a saint doesn’t make her right, does it? It’s... complicated." Ryu almost says that saint is just a title, but if she said that, she could face serious problems and even lose her position for such blasphemy.

"Look, I’m keeping an eye on her. Nio is just a strange girl, but there isn’t anything too wrong with her—"

"And the prisoners from the underground who vanished? All killed, right after she arrived... I’m not accusing her of anything, but can you really not see that something is wrong?" Ryu wished she could be suspicious of Stelaria. ℴ

But through magic, Ryu knows this is Stelaria and senses nothing wrong. She is incapable of noticing Nio’s magic in the saint’s brain before her because it is too deeply rooted.

"I can’t understand you, Ryu... just do your job..." Stelaria tries to leave, but Ryu holds her back.

"Do you know how unpleasant it is to see this? You... you’ve changed. Why? Is that stranger truly worth more than what you’ve built over the years? I..." Stelaria falls to the ground as Ryu holds her, confused by this.

"You hurt my heart, you know." Ryu looks up to see Nio sitting on top of the roof. The fact that Ryu didn’t notice her makes her shrink back and take a step backward, only to bump her back against Nio’s clone. Both Nios wear a very dark gaze.

"...I didn’t... I... I was just having a conversation with a friend."

"I heard everything. No need to pretend. An interesting response — since you don’t dare challenge me, you try to make Stelaria see what’s around her. But this does not please me."

"..." Ryu bites her lips as she gently sets Stelaria on the ground.

"What do you want here? Are you even a real dragon? Are you not some kind of evil god?" When Ryu boldly questions her, Nio smiles.

"I am indeed a dragon, a true dragon, and I am no evil god." Nio really is a dragon, but her race is Nightmare Dragon, which is the reason for her traits that resemble the universe.

"Dreams and the cosmos have always been linked. We sleep during the night, so the night and the stars have always become the veil of dreams." Nio speaks a sentence that sums up the reason for the color of her dragon parts.

"The pure white is the void to be filled by creativity." Alongside the universe-like patterns, her wings and tail have white markings, representing another layer of dreams.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Ryu moves her hand subtly toward her clothes while her back presses against the balcony’s safety railing.

"Ryu, you are quite strong, and since you are strong and of the religious type, let me teach you something. Gods are symbolically represented. A true divinity is abstract, and everything tied to it carries unique symbolic abstractions." Nio draws this knowledge from the game, and believes it applied to the reality of this world.

"And that should be?"

"It means I am not a god, but it also means I can be a god." The blasphemy of Nio’s words makes Ryu turn red with rage.

"You dare profane our faith like this?"

"Ryu, what are God and the Devil if not representative choices of humanity? Names, appearances, symbolisms — all imposed by humanity. Not because they don’t exist — I do not deny the existence of such beings — but because limited humanity reduces everything to symbols when it does not understand."

"If I were to demonstrate absolute power capable of molding reality, bringing the dead back to life, curing any disease, and bringing peace to the world by ending wars with a single finger, would I not be the image of an almighty god? Would humans themselves not make me a god?"

"And if in the same way I sadistically decimated armies, wiped countries off the map, and tortured millions while threatening to destroy the world... would I not be the devil?"

"..."

"Everything is perspective. In your perspective, am I a Saint, God, or the Devil? Choose wisely..." Ryu perceives the threat, and despite everything, she also understands just how "sacred" Nio truly is — far more than she appears.

"You... you are not God... but... you are also not the devil..."

"Then I am a saint. How about you bow and kiss my feet? Prove your loyalty to your own faith and doctrine." Nio’s clone sits on the support railing, extending her leg.

"..." Ryu looks at the fallen Stelaria and then approaches Nio. She bows, delicately taking hold of her foot.

Not out of loyalty or acceptance of her, but because she understands. Nio is truly a pillar of the church. Even being a suspicious outsider, she is a saint whom her religion adores, and if Ryu does not give her the due respect, it means Ryu does not follow the very religion she claims to believe in.

After all, she serves Stelaria herself, who is a saint, so she kisses Nio’s foot respectfully despite her fear, proving she follows the faith she claims to follow — because she must respect what she herself says she believes.

Even though she fears that Nio has the power not to be God, but to be the Devil. Madmen who want to be gods are easy to deal with, but someone who chooses to be the Devil is the worst of the worst scenarios when they have the power to sustain that choice.