The Goddess in charge of Blacksmithing clearly heard the sound of the door lock opening, and her entire body trembled for a moment.
However, she turned her head with forced fortitude and composure, raising her hand: "Umm, good evening~"
Levi helplessly held his forehead: "It was Hestia who made you come, right?"
Hephaestus's eyes flickered slightly: "She is part of the reason, but I... I wouldn't say I was forced."
As she spoke, she recalled the words her friend had said a few hours ago.
——If you keep running away, you'll become a losing heroine, you know~
Levi was a hot commodity; Hephaestus, who had attended the Denatus a month ago, knew this best. In the current Orario, not to mention all of them, there were at least over a dozen goddesses who had clearly expressed their affection for the person before her.
If Levi wasn't powerful enough in his own right—capable of supporting a top-tier Familia all by himself—Hestia might have long since been chased down and forced into a War Game, just so others could snatch the young man from her hands.
As the third goddess to fall for Levi, only after her best friend and Freya, Hephaestus would obviously be joking if she claimed she didn't feel depressed facing such a situation.
But...
Compared to other goddesses with their gorgeous appearances, she, who was born with half her face hideously deformed, only dared to tease him with words, never truly able to cross that line.
Hephaestus was afraid.
Afraid of the alienation and disgust that might appear on the young man's face after her true appearance was seen.
Yet, if she were to truly just watch from the sidelines, she wouldn't be resigned to it. Thus, when she discovered that the Hestia Familia had returned, as a neighbor, she chose to visit immediately.
And when Hestia pushed her to make a choice, she went with the flow and stayed behind.
The purpose was to force herself through external pressure. To make that decision which she might regret for a while if she did, but would likely regret forever if she didn't.
Thoughts flashed through her mind in an instant, and the red-haired, one-eyed goddess inhaled slightly: "Levi Bright, do you hate me?"
Levi closed the main door. His right hand raised, tracing several Runes to temporarily sever the connection between the inside and outside of the room.
After hearing Hephaestus's question, he didn't respond immediately. Instead, he walked forward calmly and sat down beside the goddess.
"I like you very much, Hephaestus."
This was not a lie.
In his previous life, Levi held a considerable amount of affection for Hestia and Hephaestus. It was just that back then, it was out of love for a '2D character'. Now, however, he was genuinely attracted by the appearance and personality of the two goddesses.
Hephaestus raised her hand, her fingertips gently gliding over her eyepatch: "Even if... I don't look good?"
Levi shrugged: "Do you want to hear the truth or a lie?"
The red-haired, one-eyed goddess felt her heart skip a beat: "..."
"Tell me the lie first; at least let me be happy for a moment."
"Alright." Levi didn't refuse, his words full of seriousness. "No matter how ugly your concealed appearance is, I still like you, because what I value is your personality, your soul."
Hephaestus was stunned for a moment. The young man sitting in front of her was clearly supposed to be telling a lie, yet her divine wisdom told her that everything the other party said was true.
"Compared to appearance, do you really care more about my personality?"
Levi nodded frankly.
If one were to say that facing Hestia was, to some extent, lust at first sight, then his relationship with Hephaestus was more like affection growing over time.
Hephaestus's eyes flickered twice: "...I admit, your 'lie' is indeed heart-moving. Then, what about the truth?"
Hearing this, Levi smiled indifferently. Then, his right hand, enhanced with the attributes of the Valkyrie, rose rapidly.
By the time the goddess reacted, the black mask on her face had already landed in the palm of the young man before her.
"Ah!"
A scream escaped Hephaestus's mouth. She covered the right half of her face, her entire being no longer possessing her usual dashing coolness and composure, looking frail and weak instead. "Give the eyepatch back to me, quickly!"
At this moment, how could Levi possibly obey the goddess's order?
He directly opened his Inventory and put the mask inside. At the same time, he extended both hands, holding the cheeks of the person in front of him.
"Don't move, let me take a close look."
"..."
The current scene was clearly the image Hephaestus had expected for a long time. But when it came down to the moment of occurrence, she couldn't help but want to shrink back.
However, since the relationship between the two sides had already been spoken aloud, how could Levi allow the other party to flee on her own accord?
Hephaestus's body was trembling.
Nevertheless, she was, after all, a goddess who had existed in Tenkai for tens of millions of years. Understanding that she had no room to retreat now, she simply threw caution to the wind.
"If you want to look, I'll just let you look enough!"
After saying that, she moved her right hand away.
As [Transcendental Existences] nurtured by the world since ancient times, gods were almost all perfect. The reason for adding an 'almost' was because there were always one or two unlucky ones who encountered accidents while being nurtured.
Hephaestus, unfortunately, was one of those imperfect gods.
Her right face was not disfigured, but rather had not been fully formed from the very beginning. Strands of muscle fiber wrapped around the white cheekbone, yet unlike the medical cadavers Levi had seen in his previous life that maintained integrity, it was different.
There was also the eye socket, which was less of a hollow and more of a void. Merely looking at it felt as if it could suck in and shred one's soul.
From an objective perspective, Hephaestus revealing her true face was indeed very unsightly, and could even induce an inexplicable sense of nausea and alienation in people.
But Levi, at this moment, merely frowned slightly. Then, veins suddenly bulged furiously around his eyes.
After about half a minute passed, he exhaled a breath of turbid air and spoke words that left the goddess before him incredibly astonished:
"Hephaestus, your 'illness', I seem to be able to, um, cure it."
O_o?
Hephaestus: "Hah?!"
Thinking the other party didn't believe him, Levi raised his right hand. With a slight thought, his entire arm blossomed with a fluorescent azure light.
"Materialization of the Soul, the immortality plan I selected for myself," he explained. "Although it cannot compare to you all as natural-born gods, if my deduction is correct, this will be a path to the heavens for a human to ascend to godhood."
Hephaestus nodded. She didn't doubt the words of the person before her; after all, he was the greatest unknown in the Lower World.
But...
"What does this have to do with you saying you can help cure my illness just now?"
Hearing this, Levi smiled indifferently: "Gods and humans appear similar on the outside, but in essence, they are two completely opposite existences."
"Humans are composed of pure flesh and cells, or rather, the fundamental matter that constitutes the Lower World."
"While gods are aggregates of Divine Power."
_____
New Story: FGO: Building a Lostbelt from Scratch, the Winner is Canon
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