When Eva appeared, the reaper showed no noticeable reaction.
Technically, it was impossible to see the reaper's face, as its hood completely hid it, preventing any kind of recognition.
All that could be seen beneath its hood was pure darkness; it was as if the reaper had no face at all.
"Why have you come back here?" The reaper asked, its voice sounding ominous as though three persons were speaking at the same time.
"Why am I here, you ask? Isn't it obvious I have important business here to deal with, also there is something I wanted to show you." Eva explained.
And with a small snap of her fingers, a stone tablet appeared and fell to the ground with a thud!
"Do you by any chance know what this thing is?" She inquired.
The reaper observed the stone tablet with some curiosity.
The stone tablet had old and ancient-looking writing on the surface; the writing was so old that even the goddess of death, Eva, an ancient existence, didn't understand what the writing on the stone tablet was. Eva came across this stone tablet while she was exploring an old dungeon.
Initially, she thought that the stone tablet was nothing but a piece of old rock that someone carved these writings on in ancient times, but just as she was about to leave, she felt a strange energy emanating from the words written on the surface. Her curiosity was piqued, so she tried discerning the meaning behind the ancient writing many times but failed.
What interested her the most was that the unfamiliar energy wasn't mana nor was it spiritual energy, the two types of energies that exist in this world.
"... So, do you know anything?" Eva asked impatiently.
The reaper said nothing as it kept observing the stone tablet. After a moment of silence, the reaper raised its head and spoke.
"This energy, it's the same as the forgotten ones." Eva looked confused as she tried to process the meaning behind the words of the reaper.
"F-Forgotten ones, who are those?" Eva asked, curiously.
"The forgotten ones, also known as the fallen, were once a race of powerful beings that conquered half the universe a long time ago. They killed hundreds of races and enslaved those whom they deemed to be beneath them." The reaper explained.
Eva's eyes shone with a strange light as she thought of something, 'They conquered half the universe. Huh, strange how come I didn't hear of this?' Eva wondered.
Before she became the goddess of the afterlife, she was one with her sister, Udea, the goddess of vitality. They both came into existence millions of years ago.
If this event happened before then, it would make sense.
'I guess the universe holds even greater secrets than I thought.' She thought to herself.
"Little reaper... could you tell me when this event occurred?" She inquired, curiously.
"It happened roughly 50 billion years ago or possibly even longer than that." The reaper explained.
"... I see. That long. Huh, no wonder I never heard of this." Eva nodded her head in understanding.
However, "The story of this race was erased from history a long time ago." The reaper continued.
"Erase... what do you mean?" Asked Eva.
"The ones who defeated them were known as 'Higher existence' In other words, they are gods who couldn't allow the universe to fall. They fought against the fallen and successfully managed to kill them; they also erased all traces of their existence, effectively erasing the evil race known as 'fallen' from history." The reaper explained.
"I see... wait, does that mean there are other gods aside from my sister and me?" Eva asked, her eyes widening in shock. She had always thought they were the only divine entities that existed.
The reapers before her were thousands of times older than her; even before they came into existence, the reaper, the personification of 'death ', had been here since the beginning of the underworld.
"... Of course, there are other gods. In terms of ranks, you and your sister would be nothing more than lower-rank goddesses when compared with the beings known as 'Higher existences'; they are the true monarchs, the ones who govern the universe." The reaper said, its voice sounding scornful as it explained.
"Oh, and can you tell me more about these so-called higher existences?" Eva asked, ignoring his scornful tone.
"Unfortunately, I can't. I signed a contract with those beings long ago; I'm not allowed to say anything about them... If I break the contract, then my soul would be destroyed." The reaper explained indifferently.
"Sigh, how harsh... I'm surprised you would agree to such a contract." Eva said, her luscious red lips wrinkled.
"I made that contract because I had no other choice; it was either that or being destroyed by their hands. I'm an undead; if my body comes into contact with divine energy, it would be impossible for me to be reborn." The reaper explained, in a displeased tone.
"... I see." Eva looked sceptically at the reaper as though thinking of something when the voice of the reaper resounded once again, getting her attention.
"... But what I can tell you about them is that there were ten of them in total. Five goddesses and five gods. Though their numbers had been reduced to nine as one of the goddesses disappeared during the war between them." The reaper said.
"Disappeared, huh." Eva brought her hand against her glossy red lips and pondered.
"Anyway, this stone tablet has traces of the strange energy that the fallen once used. I guess that whoever wrote this belongs to that race. I also don't know the language of their race, so I can't understand this writing." The reaper added.
"Why would the fallen be in this world in the first place? I found this stone tablet inside a dungeon... doesn't that mean they were here once?" Eva asked.
"Unfortunately, I don't have the answer to that question." The reaper shrugged its shoulders.
'In the first place, dungeons never originally belonged to that world; something must have happened for them to appear, but where exactly did they appear from?'
The reaper thought. In the past, he never really had any interest in the outside world, and only ever left the underworld when he had important business in the outside world. It had already been billions of years since he last left the underworld, so his knowledge was extremely outdated.
Seeing that he became silent, Eva sighed and played with the red strands of her front bangs.
"Forget it, I'm more interested in this energy of the fallen. Do you have any information regarding their abilities?" Eva asked, hopefully.
"Hmm... If I remember correctly, they used miasma as a source of energy," The reaper explained.
"Miasma, the corrupt form of mana, interesting. I've never seen it in person before. Those who possess the ability to use miasma are said to be incapable of using mana." Eva placed her hand beneath her chin and went into deep thought.
'A miasma type user. Huh, perhaps I should start researching miasma a bit more.' She thought.
'Wait, that overlord was also said to be incapable of using mana, if I remember correctly.' Eva thought. A frown then appeared on her otherworldly face as she remembered Ellard, the strongest knight of the goddess of vitality, Udea.
'Did that man have some connection to that race?' She wondered to herself.
"No, ridiculous." Eva sighed and shook her head. With a snap of her fingers, the stone tablet was engulfed by darkness and disappeared.
"... Well then I'll be off now, thanks to you I now learnt something very interesting," Eva said, turning her back and preparing to leave.
"If you want my advice, I'd recommend you don't go messing with something you shouldn't. You should already know the consequences of tampering with the laws of the world, right?" The reaper asked.
"Of course, I do... Little reaper, did you forget I'm also one of those natural laws?" After saying that, space twisted fiercely, and she disappeared.
"... The balance of the universe must be maintained no matter what, even if it's you, old friend; I won't show any mercy if you cause any inconvenience or disruption to the balance." The reaper uttered coldly.
The underworld is also under the influence of the laws of the universe; as a being living peacefully in this place, it couldn't turn a blind eye to someone causing trouble to its home.
....
Inside a beautiful-looking castle. The black-haired Monica and Ethan were explaining the course of events that happened while they were away.
The throne room was spacious and beautifully decorated, with the ceiling that held various chandeliers.
The walls hung various portraits that showed various paintings, and the floors were built with expensive-looking marble.
Sitting elegantly in her throne was the goddess of vitality, Udea. Her long silver hair cascaded down to her waist.
Her eyes were like beautiful amethyst, and her sweet little lips were painted a beautiful violet colour.
She was dressed in a beautiful purple gown that clung so tight around her body that it was easy to discern the curves of her body.
The woman, or rather the goddess, exuded a charm that drew others towards her.
"Now then... Can you guys explain?" Udea smiled beautifully as she asked, in a melodious tone.
"Yes, please allow me," Monica replied cheerfully.
"Y-Yes." In contrast to Monica, Ethan's response was a little stiff.
Despite serving Udea for years, he still couldn't get used to her beauty. Just standing before her was enough for him to go into a trance-like state.
'Tch, I have to do better... To be more useful to her, I have to get stronger!' Ethan secretly thought to himself.