"That is unlikely to happen," Graves said with a raspy voice that was more whispering than actually speaking. "We have more of us on our side. When the world does get overturned by monsters, we will emerge victorious in the end with the Apostles we have gathered."
"And what about the millions, even hundreds of millions of people that will die in the end because of the monsters? Are you willing to let so many thoughts, so many minds just disappear?"
"A small sacrifice that we're willing to make," Noraxis said.
"That's a small sacrifice to you?" Ning asked, anger visible in his eyes. He knew he hated these Constellations for what they did, but he didn't know he would hate them so openly.
"Hundreds of millions of people is nothing to you?" Ning asked.
"We only care about our own survival," the squid-faced Helus said. His tentacles slopped around the ground, moving unnaturally.
"What if you could save those lives from disappearing? Wouldn't you rather have so many more people thinking about you?" Ning asked.
"But they will die when the monsters attack," Thalaxus said. "We cannot stop that."
"Why not?" Ning asked.
"Stopping the monsters ourselves means that we place ourselves against the others who have been waiting for that moment. They will attack us," Graves said.
"And you are worried about being attacked?" Ning asked. "Aren't there like 90 of you against mere 45 others? You outnumber them 2 to 1."
"Yes, but there is a chance we may die when fighting the others. We cannot afford that," Yemis said.
"You are cowards," Ning said. "You have the number and yet you fear them. Fight and emerge victorious. You will be remembered far more than doing any of this."
The Constellations thought about it, but it was clear that they weren't giving it the serious thought it deserved.
"Fine, if you don't want to fight them when the Apocalypse happens, then I have a better idea," Ning said. "How about stopping the Apocalypse from happening altogether? What do you think?"
"How do you plan on doing that?" Thalaxus asked.
"By destroying every single dungeon in this world," Ning said. "What do you say?"
The Constellations quickly shook their head. "No, we cannot accept this. We need those dungeons as the source of fear that makes humans look up to the Apostles we have chosen. Without those, they will forget about us soon enough."
Ning frowned. They weren't wrong about that. There was no reason for them to help him clear the dungeons when it meant they came out worse than they started in the situation.
"Fine then," Ning said. "Not all dungeons, just the ones that are SS-ranked. What do you say?"
The Constellations looked at one another to make a decision. "What do we get out of that," they asked.
Ning smiled. "Exactly what you want," he said.
"What do you mean?" they asked him with an unsure voice.
"Every time I destroy the dungeon, I will make sure to say that I was able to do it due to the powers vested in me by the 5 of you. Humanity will soon do nothing but praise you for making me an Apostle," he said. "How does that work for you?"
Ning had learned from Hi-Ah that people were already calling him an Apostle because of all the feats he had been able to accomplish. No normal human being should have that sort of power otherwise.
Since that was the case, he had decided to play along with it, and right now, that made the most sense.
"I get to go around doing what I want without people questioning me, and you get to make a name for yourself, far more than what your apostles can," Ning said. "How's that for an alliance?"
"That sounds… good," Noraxis said. "I don't see how this helps you though."
"How does it not?" Ning asked. "All I want is peace in my world. Destroying those dungeons makes me feel safe."
Of course, that wasn't the only reason. Having 5 constellations behind him helped keep some others off of him just out of fear of having all of them get mixed into any sort of conflict.
These constellations hated conflicts, so even with the tiniest bit of chance there being a threat of losing their life, they would back off.
"Does that answer your question?" Ning asked. "Unlike you four, I don't have anything to gain, and neither do I want anything like you. All I care about is protecting the people of my world. The question now is, do you accept my offer to work together so you can start getting benefits from what I do?"
"I accepted," Graves said without any more consideration. "I won't do anything else to help you. I won't fight any battles that may come your way."
Ning grunted a little. "Fine, what about the rest of you?" he asked.
"I… see nothing wrong with this," Helus said. "I accept as well.
"I would like to reap the benefits of what I haven't sowed as well," Yemis said, blinking her 6 eyes.
"I see no downside on this for me, so I would like to accept as well," Thalaxus said.
"I shall join you in this as well," Noraxis said.
"Great, we are all in this together then," Ning said. "I will start using your name starting now."
He stood up to leave. "Also, stop staring okay? All of you. I don't like it. If you want to talk, just contact me. I can come anytime you want. See ya."
Ning opened a portal and teleported away from this separated space to arrive back inside the director's room.
"Where did you go?" Ely asked with a curious look on her face.
"To talk with a few gods," Ning said and turned towards the director. "I have some good news."
"Oh, what's that?" the director asked.
"Contact the German Government, I will be destroying their SS-ranked dungeon, just as they want."
