Want to read ahead? Join my Patreon for just $7 to get early access to all upcoming chapters!
> Patreon/NegativeTranslations
─────
Truth be told, Hephaestus rarely ever entertained the idea of cheating.
Even without her divine power, and even while restricted by the mortal environnt, she could still effortlessly forge weapons that utterly eclipsed anything else in the Lower World. She was a staunch conservative when it ca to interfering with mortal developnt; she was terrified that a careless divine intervention might prematurely sever the infinite potential of her mortal children.
But Lucian was an anomaly. His growth rate was so absurd that he might actually leave her in the dust eventually. For him, utilizing divine power wouldn't be violently pulling a sprout to make it grow faster—it would just be giving him the necessary fuel to match his natural pace. Still, Hephaestus wasn't entirely sure if his ntal world could withstand the sheer density of her Arcanum. She cautiously released a miniscule fraction of her divine power to test the waters.
"You can use your divine power in this world?" Lucian noticed the shift instantly. He sensed an energy source operating on an entirely different dinsional level than his own magic, his eyes widening in surprise.
Does this an I have a limitless energy reactor now? He had originally planned to steal the Fla of Heaven from Olympia to power his larger projects, but having Hephaestus serve as an advanced substitute offered significantly more benefits. The Fla of Heaven was corrupted, chaotic, and difficult to control. As the Goddess of the Forge and Fire, Hephaestus could effortlessly suppress and control the flas once he brought them here.
While the Fla of Heaven was devastatingly powerful—capable of unleashing destructive force on par with a deity—it still paled in comparison to the refined control of a living, breathing god.
"I can," Hephaestus confird, staring at her hands. "Your ntal world operates on a completely different dinsion from the Lower World. I don't know if it's due to the Paradox State, or if your ntal realm officially qualifies as an entirely separate world."
By physically bringing his real body into his own ntal construct, Lucian had created an existential loophole—a Paradox State that completely isolated the space from external interference. The mind originates from the spirit, and the spirit originates from the physical body. Because the ntal world was still tethered to him, inserting his physical form inside it looped the causality, creating an unbreakable paradox that reality couldn't pierce.
He had drawn the inspiration for this concept from the paradox gas in 『Problem Children Are Coming from Another World, Aren't They?』—specifically, the infamous Omnipotence Paradox. Typically, even the deities of Little Garden who used the universe as their stage didn't bother trying to solve the paradox itself; they just eradicated the person who created it. Therefore, as long as Lucian programd a hard rule into the [Ga Board] stating, "In the event of total soul annihilation or cessation of thought, instantly recall to the respawn point," it was practically impossible for him to truly die.
"Let's test it out," Lucian suggested. With a thought, he teleported them both back to the Danmachi world. A mont later, he brought them right back into the Divine Court.
"Still fully operational," Hephaestus confird, looking around in awe. "It seems... even the world itself acknowledges the reality you've 'forged'."
When gods descended, the world's systems registered their specific divine signatures. The mont they utilized their Arcanum, they were instantly flagged and deported. However, deities always felt an instinctive warning—a cosmic pressure—right before they crossed the threshold of breaking the rules. Hephaestus felt absolutely none of that pressure here, which was why she dared to channel her power so freely.
This strict deportation system was agreed upon by the gods thousands of years ago when they collectively decided to seal their powers. Because of this tiline, items dropped before the rule was established—like the Fla of Heaven Protheus brought down three thousand years ago, or the Spring of Life Bheara abandoned—were exempt from the restrictions.
There were also ergency exceptions. If mortals encountered ancient, apocalyptic horrors they couldn't possibly defeat, the gods were granted temporary clearance to unseal their powers. For instance, when Artemis investigated the ruins in the Great Tree Labyrinth, she was ambushed by the newly awakened Antares. She imdiately unsealed her power and summoned the Arrow of Orion from Heaven, only to be overwheld and absorbed by the beast.
Normally, outside of dealing with world-ending threats like the Assassin of the Gods, any divine intervention in the Lower World would be violently scrubbed away by the World Correction Force. Trying to unleash a massive attack right before being deported wouldn't work; the world would simply rewind the damage as if the attack had never happened. This World Correction Force was the ultimate proof of the gods' absolute, innate authority over the foundational laws of reality.
"You are the primary contributor to all of this. Without your guidance, the Divine Court wouldn't exist in its current form," Lucian said with a warm smile. "So, you really should refer to it as 'our' Divine Court."
"Even without , you would have figured it out eventually, wouldn't you?" Hephaestus replied, returning his smile.
"Maybe, but that doesn't erase your contribution," Lucian shrugged, choosing not to argue the semantics. He smoothly transitioned to his main objective. "Hephaestus, I want to use your divine power."
"Do you want to use it to expand the ntal world, or to generate more World Bubbles?" she asked seamlessly.
"Both, eventually. But right now, I need it to finalize a specific function," Lucian explained, his expression turning serious. "You know I ca from another world. Based on that logic, the multiverse likely doesn't just consist of my original world and this one. There are bound to be countless other universes completely unconnected to this reality."
"You want to build a portal to other worlds?" Hephaestus deduced instantly.
He hadn't even reached the apex of this world yet, and he was already plotting his conquest of others. What shocked her even more was that he had actually found a viable path to achieve it.
"Three thousand years ago, Protheus cast the Fla of Heaven down to the mortal realm," Lucian said. "I originally planned to capture it and use it as my core energy source. But plans rarely keep up with changing circumstances. Ever since I arrived in this world, my progression has been absurdly smooth."
As a core aspect of Greek mythology, Hephaestus was intimately familiar with the Fla of Heaven. But no matter how fast Lucian's ntal power grew, she knew it was impossible for him to safely contain and harness the Fla in the short term. However, this isolated ntal dinsion provided the perfect containnt zone. And compared to the chaotic Fla of Heaven, a living, breathing god acting as a direct power source was infinitely more stable and potent.
"Destiny, huh," Hephaestus sighed softly. "Alright. What do you need to do?"
"Just passively release your divine power into the atmosphere of the Divine Court. I'll construct a magical array to systematically dilute the dinsional density of the energy, converting it into highly concentrated ambient mana," Lucian instructed. "On top of that, I need you to help design the World Teleportation Gate itself. I may have traversed dinsions, but I don't actually understand the chanical principles behind it. Finally, I plan to build a specialized altar deep beneath the Divine Court designed specifically to house and siphon the Fla of Heaven."
That is a massive amount of work... Hephaestus rubbed her temples.
Assisting with the portal and building the altar were well within her purview. After all, Lucian's magic operated purely on 'I think therefore it is' conceptual logic rather than replicable technological advancent. Giving him a personal power boost didn't violate her principles as the Goddess of Forging, because his thods couldn't be mass-produced or learned by the general populace.
As for the Fla of Heaven... separating it from the pure environnt of Heaven and leaving it in the Lower World was always a ticking ti bomb. With the establishnt of Orario and the descent of the gods, the Fla's original purpose was completely obsolete. Rather than leaving a localized weapon of mass destruction lying around, letting Lucian use it as a battery was a far better outco.
"I understand," Hephaestus agreed.
Despite the sheer volu of work dumped onto her lap, she lived for the forge. The opportunity to actively participate in the 'forging of a world' was a monuntal achievent—a true feat worthy of the gods. There was absolutely no reason to decline. Plus, the infuriating man asking for her help just so happened to be the man she had acknowledged as her own.
─────
Support this fanfict by leaving Positive Review, Comnts, and Power Stones.
For Advance Chapters:
> Patreon/NegativeTranslations
User Comments
0 comments from readers