What Do You Live For?

"What... what happened?" Sylvania was speechless.

The events that transpired were too absurd.

'Did she just go to the Divine realm and turn all the Gods into meat paste?'

While Stella was violently thrashing everyone, she kept Sylvania locked into place floating in the air. She promised her a good show after all.

Sylvania saw Stella break and detach their limbs, break their spine, cut out their hearts, disfigure their face, powder their bones, twist their body until they were turned into nothing but unrecognizable balls of flesh and blood. Yet, she didn't allow anyone to die.

They were Gods, powerful enough to decide the fates of countless mortals... they were turned into glorified punching bags.

"So, are you happy seeing your old friends?" The voice of a little girl sounded out.

Sylvania trembled. What was she supposed to answer? Did she enjoy watching this brutal scene of her enemies turning into pulp? She didn't know.

"I....." Sylvania couldn't answer.

"Oh. You're no fun. I did heal them before we left. So, they got the same treatment as you. Albeit a bit more violent." Stella shrugged her shoulders.

"A.... bit more..." Sylvania's mouth twitched.

They were back in Stella's sub-dimension. And she was in a good mood, but Sylvania was a bit terrified.

But she tried to calm down. "Why did you beat them up miserably if you don't want to kill them?"

"What? Do you mean I can't beat up people if I don't want to kill them? I just crushed their bones and severed their limbs. It's not like they'll die just from that. I've made sure they would experience everything properly, wide awake." Stella replied nonchalantly.

"So you did all this for... fun?" As the War Goddess, Sylvania always upheld her dignity in conflicts and battle. She never resorted to underhanded methods and always gave her opponents a swift death. But she felt Stella was the exact opposite.

"What? No. I just found their actions disgusting." Stella sat down on a chair made with elemental energy. It was slightly warm because she commanded the materialized elemental energy to output heat at a constant rate.

"You just met them for half an hour..." Sylvania couldn't understand.

"It's about... Vena..."

"...What is it?" Sylvania felt her heart clench. She knew what Stella was going to say, but she didn't want to hear it.

"She's...dead. She was killed 15 years ago. And... her death wasn't a graceful one like you. She was betrayed, and she suffered till her last breath." Stella spoke quietly with her eyes closed.

Sylvania clenched her fists and lowered her head. Now she understood what Stella meant by saying she was disgusted by their actions.

"Sit down." Stella created another chair for her.

Sylvania slowly sat down on it, but her head was still lowered. She was deep in thought.

"How much do you blame yourself? For her death..." Stella asked.

"I.... it was all because of me. She was the only one who stood up for me all those years ago. Even in my dying breath, I knew she was going to suffer the same fate as me because of her stance. But I guess I was wrong. She suffered more. Those bastards..." Sylvania felt her eyes moisten.

"So, what do you want to do?"

Sylvania kept quiet for a while. But then her eyes cleared up with determination as she looked up, "Same as always. I'm going to make them pay."

"How do you plan to do that? That white light from the orb was very mysterious. It made the entire Divine realm unstable, and its passageways were sealed off because of it. So we had to leave in a hurry." Stella lied through her teeth.

"No.... I'll... find another way. I won't rest until I finish what I started." Sylvania was determined.

"No. It's impossible to make a passageway by any means." Stella shook her head. The divine realm was closed until she decided otherwise. "You'll have to delay your attack on the Divine realm indefinitely."

Stella inwardly sighed. She had no choice but lie to Sylvania and seal off the Divine realm herself. 'Her willpower and determination is astounding. But sacrificing your own soul for revenge... is too much.'

"But... I gathered forces from many factions for this. If I can't even get access to the Divine realm, if I can't even face the Gods to wage my war, what is even my purpose? I'll lose everyone's support." Sylvania couldn't stop at this point.

"Who said you need them? They're barely as strong as you in your mortal form. Can they kill even ten of the Gods? And what was your plan? Sacrifice your soul for the power to bring them all down with you?" Stella tilted her head.

Sylvania stayed silent. 'That's right, they won't be able to kill even ten. But they can hold back at least a hundred. And that'll give me enough time to....'

She was prepared. She knew she wouldn't be leaving the Divine realm alive. Probably half of them won't. But her death won't be in vain as long as she kills those tyrants.

"Do you think your sacrifice will bring freedom to the world? Do you think this world will be better without those tyrannical Gods?"

Sylvania still didn't say anything. But she slowly nodded. She knew this world might not become a better place, but at least it would be free. "I hope so." She slowly muttered.

"If they fall, more will take their place. This world would never be free even if you sacrifice yourself." Stella reminded her of the harsh truth.

"Haha...I've reaped countless lives. Naturally, I have to pay for it one day or another. At least my death would be for the betterment of this world." Sylvania chuckled.

Stella shook her head. 'She's completely clueless. Nothing would change because of her sacrifice.' Stella needed to make her change this mindset. "So, what do you live for? Do you live for revenge? If you complete your task, yet live, will you be nothing but a purposeless soul?"

"Maybe.... maybe I do live only for revenge." Sylvania slowly answered.

"That's seems like a pathetic excuse for living."

"I know. But, at least Vena would rest in peace knowing her death was avenged." Sylvania felt her heart become empty.

"Don't you want to see her again?" Stella laid down her cards.

Sylvania widened her eyes as she jerked up from her chair, "She's alive??! Was she reborn here???! Why didn't you tell me when you said she died???"

"Yes, she was reborn in the mortal realm. But, I'm not going to tell you who she was reborn as." Stella sighed.

Sylvania took a deep breath and calmed down. "I'm sorry for screaming at you. Please don't do this. She... she's the only family I have left."

"So, now will you regret destroying your soul? Leaving without saying goodbye?" Stella tilted her head.

"I....." Sylvania felt her words get stuck in her throat.

"Living for revenge isn't living at all. Do you really need to die for revenge?"

"I... lack strength. I won't be able to kill them with my base power. So, there's no other way." Sylvania quietly replied.

"After seeing your old 'friends', your hatred seems to have clouded your judgment. You gathered forces from so many factions, yet you've completely forgotten to ask for my assistance. I can kill them easily if I wanted to. You don't need anyone else, nor do you need any sacrifices as long as you can gain my support." Stella was quite moved by her integrity.

"I feared, gaining your support would be impossible. And you would be offended instead. That's why I didn't try. You already said you won't intervene in this conflict, that was already good enough for me. And why would you even kill them? You have no actual hatred for them. If you kill them all, won't you get in trouble? Didn't you avoid killing them in the first place for this reason?" Sylvania quickly explained. She didn't want Stella to misunderstand.

Hearing Sylvania's explanation, Stella started to laugh. Her answer was quite amusing. "Really? Did you think I'm a Goddess of a higher existence? And someone will find trouble with me if I massacre all the Gods in a lower world?"

"Is...isn't that the case?" Sylvania was nervous. She was touching on topics she wasn't even supposed to think of. If Stella tells her something she wasn't supposed to know, she would probably be erased by the higher-existence God that will come down here to clean up the mess Stella made. She didn't want to die before she had the chance to enact her revenge. Vena deserved at least this much.

"Sorry to disappoint you, but that's not the case. I can do whatever I want." Stella replied.

Sylvania sighed in relief. But then her expression became bitter. "So that means.... you can help me if you want to. But, I cannot let you do this. I cannot ask you to kill in cold blood for my selfishness. I'm sorry. You're still very young, so I think you shouldn't let your heart be corrupted with bloodlust. I may have overstepped my bounds by saying this, so I ask for your forgiveness." Sylvania lowered her head.

Stella smiled and shook her head. "It's not what you think. I realized, I'm no saint. I don't want to change the world for the better, nor do I want to serve justice, despite having this much power. But that does not mean I cannot nurture and support someone who will do these things for me. And that someone is you. So, you don't have to feel bad about it. As far as I am concerned, I'm not staining my hands with innocent blood. I'm just giving someone the power to withhold justice."

"I see. So that's what you mean. In than case, I have no objections being your sword." Sylvania smiled.

"I knew you would come to your senses. From now on, you'll have my support. But before all that, answer a question...

"What do you live for, Sylvania?" Stella asked her the same question again with an amused smile.

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[A/N: I was a bit busy with my personal life, so the chapters were a bit delayed. Hopefully, the updates will resume normally from now.]