After taking a deep breath to calm herself, Astraea looked at him seriously.
"Charlie, you must keep this a secret."
Her soft voice carried a firm warning.
"If people find out about the Immortality skill, countless problems will come your way."
"Those who crave eternal life will undoubtedly go to any lengths to discover how you obtained it."
"There are nobles, adventurers, scientists, and even secret organizations that wouldn't hesitate to resort to dirty tactics to get answers."
Her words didn't sound like an exaggeration. If news of the Immortality skill spread, the world would go mad.
Charlie looked at her in silence for a moment before asking, "Goddess Astraea, aren't you curious how I got it?"
Astraea smiled, shaking her head. She looked at him with understanding.
"Everyone has their own secrets. Besides, if a secret is told to someone else, it's no longer a secret, is it?"
"..."
Charlie fell silent for a moment before giving a wry smile. He hadn't expected such a simple yet profound answer.
Astraea not only didn't ask but also had no intention of forcing him to explain.
"Moreover, I'm not interested in immortality. Unless gods kill each other with Arcanum, we're already immortal from the beginning."
Her tone was casual, as if the concept of immortality meant nothing to Astraea.
Hearing this, Charlie felt a little embarrassed. He had briefly thought poorly of Astraea, imagining that she would surely be curious and ask further.
'I overestimated the value of Immortality in the eyes of the gods.'
For mortals, immortality is something many pursue. But for the gods, it means nothing. They are already immortal from the start and have lived for hundreds of millions of years, longer than the civilizations of the lower world itself.
◆━⊰✧⊱━◆
After finishing his conversation with Astraea, Charlie left the Empyrean Citadel.
As he walked through the streets of Orario, his thoughts returned to the Quest in the World of Gotoubun no Hanayome.
He had faced various types of Villains, but there was no doubt that the Evil Dragon Fafnir was the strongest. If it weren't for his infinite magical essence, which allowed him to use Dia Fratel without limits, and if it weren't for Aithra Athanatos, which could leave unhealable wounds, Charlie wouldn't have stood a chance of winning.
That battle had drained a lot of his resources—his Healing Potions and Elixirs were all used up.
He needed to replenish his supplies before Gaia and Alaya called him back to the Void Sanctuary. Plus, he was also preparing for an expedition into the Dungeon.
Level 5 was within reach. To achieve it, Charlie needed Excelia.
But monsters on the Upper and Middle Floors wouldn't provide enough Excelia for an adventurer like him at Level 4.
There was no point in defeating weaker monsters. So, Charlie planned to venture into the Lower Floors or even the Deep Floors.
If other adventurers knew that Charlie was going solo into the Lower Floors, they would surely think he was seeking death.
Even high-class adventurers wouldn't dare go alone to the Lower Floors for an expedition.
◆━⊰✧⊱━◆
Leaving the Goibniu Familia, Charlie let out a heavy sigh.
"Haaah... If Goddess Hera finds out, she'll definitely be angry, won't she?"
The Sword of Damocles wasn't an ordinary sword. It was a weapon given directly by Hera as a form of recognition and reward after he joined her Familia.
Yet, within just a month, the sword had turned into scrap.
Charlie still remembered Goibniu's reaction when he showed him the Sword of Damocles.
A look of shock and anger was clear on his face as he stared at the utterly destroyed condition of the sword. As a result, Goibniu claimed that even Hephaestus herself wouldn't be able to repair the Sword of Damocles.
"Whatever. When the time comes, I'll apologize to Goddess Hera for my carelessness in destroying the Sword of Damocles."
As Charlie walked through the streets of Orario, his mind was no longer filled with complaints about the Sword of Damocles. He had accepted the reality that the sword couldn't be repaired, and now what mattered more was replenishing his Elixirs and Potions at the Dian Cecht Familia's shop.
However, before he reached his destination, something strange happened.
The ground beneath him began to tremble. At first, it was slight, almost like the effect of a freight train passing in the distance. But within seconds, the tremors grew stronger, as if something was pounding the surface of the road hard.
"Hm?"
He stopped walking. Ahead of him, people were panicking and starting to run, some even colliding with each other in their efforts to escape.
Without hesitation, Charlie grabbed the arm of one of the men running past him.
"What's happening?"
"Monster! A monster suddenly emerged from the road! I don't know how there could be a monster in the middle of the city, but members of the Loki Familia are there! They told the citizens to stay away!" The man answered breathlessly.
'A monster? Again?'
Charlie was sure he had exterminated all the monsters that escaped during the Monsterphilia Festival. But if monsters were appearing on the surface again, there were two possibilities: first, some had been hiding and only now emerged. Second, someone had deliberately released monsters into the city again.
His instincts told him this wasn't just a coincidence.
Without wasting time, he turned around and started running toward the source of the commotion.
A few moments later, Charlie stopped at a distance, watching the battle unfold. From his position.
The monster looked strange—smooth, pale green skin covered its long, thin body. The bulge on the front of its body had no mouth, eyes, or anything to identify it as a head. In fact, its shape more closely resembled a sunflower seed.
"It seems I'm not needed."
Tiona, Tione, and Lefiya were already fighting the monster. Charlie felt that the lineup of two Level 5s and one Level 3 was enough to handle the monster.
With the combined strength of Tiona and Tione, this monster should have been easily dealt with. However, something unexpected happened.
As Lefiya began chanting her spell, the monster suddenly stopped attacking Tiona and Tione. Its faceless head turned, directly facing her.
"...!!!"
Lefiya's heart raced.
The monster shouldn't have noticed her. Since the start of the battle, it had only focused on the two Amazonesses constantly attacking it. But the moment she started channeling her magic, the monster immediately became aware of her.
Lefiya had only a fraction of a second to realize what was about to happen.
A pale green tendril as thick as her arm shot out from the road surface, hurtling toward her at an incredible speed.
*BAM!*
Without armor to absorb the blow, Lefiya felt the thick green tendril slam into her with tremendous force.
"—AHHH!!"
The air in her lungs was forced out, and blood erupted from her mouth, splattering onto the ground. She could feel an unnatural pain in her stomach as more blood dripped from her mouth.
"LEFIYA?!"
The panicked shouts of Tiona and Tione echoed through the air.
Lefiya's body was lifted off the ground and thrown backward with brutal force. She hung in the air for a moment before finally landing on her back, her body twitching.
Her feminine frame was far more delicate than Tiona and Tione's. A blow like that could be fatal. Lefiya stopped moving, lying still.