Ethan felt a sense of determination; in order to be of more use to his goddess, he needed more power.
At his current level, he knew he couldn't be compared with Monica or any of the other high-ranking members.
'If I can't even surpass them then... I doubt I'll ever be able to surpass that man.' Ethan thought. As a certain black-haired man appeared in his mind.
The man who was once known as 'Ruler of the battlefield' And 'Right-hand sword of the goddess', Ethan clenched his fist in frustration.
'Damn it! Even in death you're still hailed as the strongest!' He thought.
[Will you stop with the sentimental feelings already! You're giving me a headache!] An annoyed voice sounded inside his head.
'Oh, did I wake you? I'm sorry about that.' Ethan apologised to his spirit sword.
[Sigh, I can understand your feelings, but your low opinion of yourself really is starting to bother me, you know.] The spirit sword sounded really worried about the mentality of its partner.
'... Sigh, once this meeting is over, let's go back to training.' Ethan suggested.
[Heh, that's more like it. Keep that spirit of yours blazing, and you'll be strong in no time.] The spirit sword responded.
Meanwhile, the conversation between Monica and Udea was proceeding smoothly. "We investigated the dungeon you asked us to. However, we weren't able to find the 'eyes of truth '; perhaps that artefact was destroyed with the river of time?" Monica said, expressing her opinion on the matter.
"Hmm... that's impossible. The eyes of truth were an indestructible artefact; even if I had used my most powerful attack, there wouldn't be a single scratch on that artefact." Udea explained.
"Eh, really? Even you wouldn't be able to destroy it?" Monica's amethyst eyes widened slightly in a show of surprise.
Monica nodded; all of Udea's loyal followers had unconditional trust in her. Their level of trust was so vast that even if Udea were to say, "The clouds from the sky will fall today", they would believe her words without even thinking twice about the veracity of such a thing happening.
"J-Just how durable is that artefact?" She couldn't help but ask.
Hearing her sudden question, Udea brought her hand to her mouth and chuckled pleasantly.
"Fufufu... that artefact was created by my sister and myself when we were one, you know. It had absorbed a large quantity of our divine energies. So, its durability is nothing to scoff at." Udea explained, her purple lips widening into a small smile.
"I- I see... then maybe someone had taken it before we could arrive," Monica said, pondering to herself.
"... That is a possibility; those bastards were already there from the beginning, maybe they were the ones who took it." Ethan Interjected.
"Hmm... I doubt that." Monica said, shutting down Ethan's theory. "Wh-Why?" Ethan asked, confused.
"They didn't seem to know what we were searching for, and they also seem to be searching for something else... Also, that guy, Isaac, didn't seem to know about the treasures lying dormant there." Monica exclaimed, as she narrowed her eyes slightly.
"I agree with Monica on this... I don't see any reason why my sister would be interested in the 'eyes of truth '; for me, it's an artefact I must obtain no matter what, while as for my sister it was a useless piece of junk." Udea leaned back onto the backrest of her throne as she explained.
The 'Eyes of truth' Was a powerful artefact with the ability to see everything about the souls of others. While both Eva and Udea could see souls, they couldn't access all its information.
Udea wanted the 'Eyes of Truth' To find the reincarnated soul of her most beloved knight, Ellard.
If Ellard still had Udea's divine blessing, then it would be easy for her to find him, but unfortunately, when someone reincarnates, their soul is cleansed through the cycle of 'Life and death '. So the divine blessing that she had bestowed onto him was all removed completely from his soul.
For her to find him, she needs the 'Eyes of truth '. Eva, just what were your intentions of visiting that place?' Udea frowned; she couldn't fathom the reason behind Eva's visit to the dungeon. Even when they were one, they never bothered to go near that place. Udea could feel a strange energy coming from the dungeon.
Whatever that energy was, her instinct was telling her not to go near it; it was too dangerous.
Even though they were goddess, there were some things that they should never play with, and that dungeon was one of them!
"... Do you really believe that man will return? And even if he does, will he really be of any use to us?" Ethan asked dubiously.
"I do believe he will return someday; if I'm not wrong, he should have reincarnated by now... Probably trying to get used to his new body."
Udea smiled gently at the thought of her most trusted knight. Seeing the dreamy look on her face, Monica brought her hand to her lips and chuckled to herself.
"Hehehe... I guess even goddesses can't escape our leader's heroic charm."
She remembered that in the past there were many beautiful women who easily fell in love with Ellard, either deliberately or inadvertently. Ellard himself was not conscious of his charm and only cared about fighting and becoming stronger.
He didn't seem to care much about romance, settling down and starting a family. 'Well, his only purpose was supporting Lady Udea. So, I guess it's not strange for her to develop feelings for Ellard.' Monica thought secretly to herself.
Even now she could see the faint blush on Udea's cheek but decided against saying anything.
Even if they did, Udea would deny such a thing; she was also greatly inexperienced in the field of love.
"Well... I shall once again try to find the 'eyes of truth '; it is most essential to finding our leader after all." Monica placed her hand against the breast plate of her armour and bowed her head reverently.
"Thank you, Monica. I know it must be annoying for you to go back so soon after just returning so... please take a few days off before you go back inside the dungeon." Udea suggested.
"No, I'll rest once I find the eyes of truth," Monica replied with a determined voice, but just then...
Knock!
There was a knock on the door. Udea glanced at one of the guards standing in the back and nodded her head. The guard bowed his head and opened the door with a soft creak.
Once the doors were opened, the sound of footsteps became audible. Soon the silhouette of a woman became visible.
The woman had long golden hair that partially covered her left eye; only her right blue eyes were visible, and she wore golden armour and was equipped with a one-handed golden spear.
The woman ignored the looks of admiration she received from everyone and kept an indifferent expression on her face as she approached Udea.
"Well, look who is here. Have you been well, Lady Louisa?" Monica asked, good-naturedly.
"Mhm, Lady Monica, your back. You sure took your time." Louisa replied, her voice held no intonation.
"Ugh, I would have returned much sooner if I didn't have to face those jerks who attacked us," Monica said, in a weeping voice.
"Oh, so you were attacked. Hmph, you should have summoned me... I would have blown them all away." Louisa replied, waving her golden spear.
Green liquid slid across the length of the spear and dripped down from the tip of the spear and fell to the ground, staining the red carpet.
However, a strange energy came from the red carpet, and the green stain disappeared as though it had never existed.
"Hmm, hey, Louisa, what is that?" Ethan, who had been observing the spear sometime now, asked.
"... It's the blood of an evil dragon," She replied indifferently.
"Eh, you fought an evil dragon and survived?"
Monica's eyes widened in surprise. It was worth noting that evil dragons, also known as corrupt dragons, were said to have indestructible draconic skin capable of resisting almost any attack, and yet Louisa fought against such a creature and didn't sustain any injuries, at least visible ones.
'Well... you are the invincible spear of the goddess. I shouldn't really be surprised.' Monica thought.
"Unfortunately, I couldn't kill him... He ran away before I could land the finishing blow." Louisa said, shrugging her shoulders.
"Hehe he... I'm glad you enjoyed yourself, Louisa. But I wanted to give you an important mission, if you are interested." Udea suddenly said.
"Hmm, an important mission, you say. Could I hear more details about this mission?" Louisa asked, curiously.
"Of course, well, there is a remote village south of here that seems to be in quite a precarious situation. Apparently, undead keep attacking that village every night. While the undead there are lower-level creatures, I'm sure you already know how troublesome it is to be surrounded by them in large numbers." Udea said.
Her amethyst eyes stared deeply into Louisa blue coloured eyes. Louisa clenched her fist as she thought back to the past.
Before meeting Udea, she was a powerless orphan. A weak girl who couldn't even fend for herself.
The orphanage was attacked by powerful undead that night; many of her fellow orphans died that night as they were devoured by the other undead and turned into mindless undead. Destruction was left behind as everything was consumed by flames.
Until she met a man whom she would later call her "Hero", Ellard, the right hand of the goddess. A single swing of his sword decapitated hundreds of thousands of undead in an instant.
It was then that she decided she needed power! In the end, she became the spear of the goddess, Udea. And earned the title "Spear Queen." With a deep breath, Louise's eyes shone fiercely as she smiled.
"I accept. Please allow me to teach those fools their place." Louisa replied.
Seeing that smile of hers that wasn't much different from a wild beast itching to devour its prey, Udea couldn't help but pity those undead.
"Understood... I shall leave it to you, then." Udea replied.