Chapter 434: The Evil Goddess is Gone
Beatrice then turned back to the others facing her. "The evil goddess is a divine being. A weapon that carries no divinity shouldn’t be capable of killing her."
"That is true," another man interjected. "But we already know the reason we’re capable of contending with the evil goddess in the first place. She’s at her weakest state."
He gestured toward Beatrice.
"Her reincarnation forced her into a human body. Regardless of whether the weapon carries divinity, a sufficiently powerful attack can still destroy that body and force her into another reincarnation cycle."
Beatrice turned toward him. "And on what makes you so sure?"
The man straightened slightly. "I am a Blessed of Harpalion, the God of Light and Fire. This is what his knowledge tells me."
The woman holding the lance then spoke. "I believe he is correct."
She looked down at the weapon in her hands before continuing.
"The evil goddess is currently in her weakest state. Although, Lady Beatrice, I don’t believe you’re wrong to question whether an ordinary weapon could kill her."
Her expression became more solemn.
"But at the end of the day, she is still an entity that cannot truly be killed. Whether destroyed by a divine weapon or something as ordinary as this, her death would only begin another cycle of reincarnation."
She looked toward the others. "And that is precisely why we were sent here....our purpose was never simply to kill her, but to eliminate her current incarnation and force another cycle, preventing her from ever regaining her former strength."
"if the man truly killed her, then we have succeeded...We can be certain that the evil goddess will not rise again in our era, and perhaps not even for generations to come."
She tightened her grip around the lance. "We may have just bought the world more time before her return."
The woman who just spoke was named Osmaria, a Blessed who genuinely believed in the righteousness of their mission.
Of all those gathered, she was among the more compassionate and morally driven individuals, and she sincerely believed that what they were doing was a service to the world.
Beatrice shook her head. "You all sound like gullible fools."
The words immediately drew several surprised looks from the people around her.
She continued, "You’re all prepared to believe that your mission is complete because some miscreant walked in here claiming so, when none of you have even bothered to verify whether what he said is actually true."
Her gaze swept across the room before settling on the lance. "Does anyone here know how to use divination magic?"
Osmaria nodded. "Yes I can... I know a few scrying spells."
"Then scry into the weapon in your hand, and find out the truth." Beatrice instructed. "It should be easy with her blood on it"
One of the men suddenly laughed. "You may have been chosen to lead this operation against the evil goddess, but your lack of experience in these matters is clearly showing."
Beatrice’s expression hardened. "What is that supposed to mean?"
The man gestured toward the lance. "Do you honestly think none of us considered using divination to confirm whether the blood actually belongs to the goddess?"
He shook his head. "Of course we considered it. But no one here is foolish enough to attempt it."
Osmaria immediately nodded in agreement. "Lady Beatrice, he’s telling the truth. If that blood genuinely belongs to the goddess, then using divination to investigate it would carry an enormous risk."
She glanced toward the lance.
"The evil goddess is an eternal being of immense power. If we attempt to divine through something that truly belongs to her, we could end up interfering with a consciousness far beyond anything we can comprehend, pulling us directly into the psyche of the evil goddess herself."
Osmaria shook her head. "That isn’t a risk we can take blindly."
Beatrice’s expression darkened as she stared at the weapon. Then she spoke in her thoughts, ’Goddess... how are we supposed to confirm whether the evil goddess was truly vanquished by this weapon?’
The voice of Atia immediately answered inside her mind.
[Use Perfect Deduction on the weapon...As for the danger involved, you have my protection]
Beatrice’s eyes narrowed slightly before she gestured for the lance to be handed to her. Once it was placed in her hands, she activated the skill of Perfect Deduction.
The moment the skill took effect, the world around her seemed to change.
She was suddenly pulled into a place of cold darkness that surrounded her from every direction.
It was darkness so absolute and sinister that the sensation seemed to bite directly into her soul.
Beatrice’s body tensed as an overwhelming sense of dread seized her consciousness.
Then, just as suddenly as she had been pulled into it, she was pulled out and released from the darkness.
Beatrice blinked a few times as she realized that she was back in the room, breathing heavily, with beads of sweat forming across her face.
Everyone stared at her in surprise as they could tell the effect of what had just happened to her.
Beatrice trembled slightly as she tried to steady herself, but two things had already been confirmed.
First, the blood truly belonged to Isabella.
The moment Perfect Deduction had been applied to the weapon, it had attempted to reconstruct the circumstances surrounding the blood’s origin.
But Because the blood belonged to a divine being, the inquiry had effectively brought Beatrice into contact with the psyche of the Mistress herself.
That was what had triggered the terrifying darkness.
However, just like Atia assured, the goddess had pulled her out before the connection could go any deeper.
But there was something else.
Beatrice had also discovered that Isabella was no longer in this world.
If she had still been present, Perfect Deduction would’ve been capable of following the chain of evidence and traced the circumstances surrounding the blood back to its source and ultimately revealed Isabella’s location.
Beatrice slowly raised her head and looked at the others. Her expression carried a dissatisfaction.
"The evil goddess is no longer in this world."