Chapter 86: Show of Power

"...I’m glad you all decided to gather here with me!! Azalea should have already informed you of the basics of my plans!!" Nio speaks to her Apostles, most of whom have assembled to hear what she has to say and receive their orders.

Azalea, Vesta, Melissa, Moros, Yomo, and Haruna are all present. The rest of the Apostles are busy on their respective floors, and Nio saw no need to summon them, since these current ones are all the Apostles most active in the situation.

"Nio, what’s the plan again? I didn’t get it" Moros raises his hand. He’s currently transformed into the appearance of a young human teenager wearing light noble attire—an appearance he’d been using to find out something about runes with some people in the Kingdom of Ortyr to impress Nio.

"It’s simple, Moros! I’m going to give all of you some Raid items!! I want you to activate them in various kingdoms! I’ll activate one in the Theocracy, Yomo will activate one in the Kingdom of Ortyr"

"As for Melissa... I’m giving her a vote of confidence. She’ll fly to the Empire and activate one there, then return to the palace immediately—no sightseeing, no trying to put children into the world, just go and come back when the mission is done"

"Vesta will activate them in smaller kingdoms she finds suitable, and Haruna will activate them in small villages and settlements of monsters and demi-humans she finds!!"

"There are the elves... but let’s ignore the elves for now! I’ll tell you your mission later, Moros! It’s special and I’ll tell you in private" Nio states where the portals should be placed. She isn’t going to help even half of these people—her only goal is to help the Theocracy, the Empire, and the Kingdom of Ortyr, which are the world’s greatest powers.

"Nio, I disagree with this plan. It will expose the palace" Azalea speaks in a serious tone to Nio.

"Cool, did I ask?"

"..."

"No, right? Then don’t question it. I made it clear that I want to expose the palace, so whether you like it or not matters little to me. Either way, this is my home"

"Also, I need you all to fix up the ninth floor. I’m bringing a visitor and I don’t want her seeing anyone who looks... like Melissa" When Nio says this, Melissa shrinks back, humiliated. She’s the one who least resembles a human in every aspect.

Yomo lets out a mocking little laugh at Melissa, who was indirectly called ugly.

"Also—

"Hey! Hey! Hey!! This isn’t cool at all" Haruna steps forward. Nio looks down and finds it kind of funny how extremely small she is with such an arrogant expression, but she avoids laughing about it because she’s also relatively short herself.

"What are you talking about?"

"Why the hell is the palace still on the ground?! I’ve been working hard discovering new things with Cristina, and I still ended up noticing something—why haven’t you raised the palace back into the skies?" Haruna’s question is met with expectant looks from most of those present.

"..." Nio glances at Melissa, who is easily the one most likely to betray her quickly if she judges her weak.

’[Nio, be careful what you say. Most of them will bring you trouble. No one is trustworthy...]’

"Could it be that you can’t?!" Nio looks at Haruna and grinds her teeth. She’s still missing two items before she can create a new battery for her palace, but it’s obvious the NPCs’ dissatisfaction was going to start showing.

The palace being raised is a form of "Power" for Nio. This palace isn’t just a pile of earth—it’s a structure so complex and monumental that raising it would be equivalent to lifting a small planet.

Obviously, Nio doesn’t have anywhere near enough magic to keep something of that magnitude in the air—not because of the weight, but because of everything it contains within it, since it uses a dimensional system so that each floor is immense.

"Of course I can. Actually, I’d already planned to raise it again soon. I was just... adjusting to some things" Nio says something she isn’t yet capable of doing.

"Hmmm... I feel like that’s a lie. Could it be... you’ve gotten weaker, Nio? I don’t feel that heavy aura that used to emanate from you anymore" Nio realizes this little meeting has veered into problematic territory.

"That’s it, isn’t it? You got weaker!!!" Haruna’s assertion is problematic.

’[Nio, resolve this now!! NOW!!]’ Nioh starts getting nervous about this, because she doesn’t know what Nio will do. If Nioh dies, they both die, and these people could kill her if they unite.

"You’re right, Haruna. I am weaker" When Nio agrees, most of the Apostles grow confused, but Melissa gains a dangerous glint in her eyes while Haruna gives a massive smile.

"I knew it! You—" Before Haruna can say anything more, Nio is already on top of her, stomping on her face. Nio drives her face into the ground and crushes her head. A hollow, wet sound followed by a crack occurs as the skull breaks and crumples. She keeps stomping, crushing her body until it becomes a deformed mass of flesh on the floor.

Haruna, who didn’t expect this and wasn’t ready to defend herself, can’t do much. The sword on her back moves to try to strike, but Nio bites the blade, devouring an enormous chunk, which makes the eyes on the blade shed tears and recoil.

"Haruna, me being weaker doesn’t make me weaker than you. Know your place" Nio partially opens her mouth, preparing an attack, but Azalea approaches, touching Nio’s arm and kneeling before her.

"Nio, please forgive Haruna’s insolence. Killing her now would be a waste when we’re on alert... You are still our great Nio, and this demonstration made that clear to everyone here" she says while Melissa loses that instinct to attack, seeing that she is still weaker than Nio.

"..." Since the attack hasn’t formed yet, Nio closes her mouth, canceling the nightmare flames by the narrowest of margins. She knows this attack wouldn’t kill her—actually, Nio knows she didn’t even come close to killing Haruna considering her base "HP."

But no one else knows that, not even Haruna, since the visual reality is grotesque and almost oppressive. From everyone’s perspective, it looks like Nio held back and still completely crushed Haruna, who isn’t weak at all, when in truth she used all her speed and strength in those blows.

’That was all my physical strength, and even so, the sword on her back wasn’t crushed along with her body when I stomped the first few times...’ Nio holds back a sigh, realizing how dangerous that was.

’[Clever... that was far too close, Nio... you handled it well... but now you’ll have to solve the problem of the palace being on the ground. You’ll have to make it fly somehow... but... I genuinely congratulate you on your decision as a leader]’ Nioh shows respect to Nio, who sits back down on her throne, her body now stained with blood.

’This still isn’t enough... I need more power...’