Chapter 21: The Olympian God Forging a Divine Artifact
Boom!
As Shirou's body plummeted to the ground, it instantly sent dirt and stone splinters flying. Cracks blossomed across the earth, spreading outward in an arc-shaped spiral.
In front of Shirou stood a magnificent, colossal palace. Within that palace resided a stone statue that faintly emitted a golden glow; it was incredibly blurry, its true visage long lost to time. The statue was covered in cracks, its luster dim and its colors mottled.
At the entrance of that resplendent palace stood a man with a burly physique.
The man held a hammer, striking a piece of steel placed upon an anvil over and over again. Every strike was incredibly heavy, causing the very earth to tremble.
Clang!
The man seemed entirely unaware of Shirou's presence, continuing to strike the steel with singular focus. As the number of strikes increased, the steel on the anvil gradually began to emit a peculiar, pure white radiance.
His arms and shoulders were powerfully built, yet his stature was like that of a dwarf, and his right leg appeared to be lame. Behind him stood a row of massive metal giants, each at least five meters tall. These metal figures remained motionless, standing silently as the sunlight reflected off their bodies in silver glints.
"God of Fire and Craftsmen... Hephaestus, is it...?"
Shirou looked thoughtfully at the man who ignored everything around him, focusing entirely on swinging his hammer to forge the steel.
Hephaestus was the God of Fire, Smithing, Masonry, and Sculpture in ancient Greek mythology, and one of the Twelve Olympian Gods. As described in the Homeric Epics, he was the son of Zeus and Hera (or born of Hera alone) and the husband of Aphrodite.
Hephaestus was adept at building palaces and crafting various weapons and metal goods. Possessing superb skill, he was hailed as the ancestor of craftsmen and the patron god of forging. On islands like Lemnos and Sicily, he was originally worshipped as the God of Terrestrial Fire. It was said that when the earth rumbled and volcanoes erupted, it was simply him at his forge.
"So that's it... The tremors I heard earlier from the earth were produced every time he swung his hammer to forge..." Shirou suddenly realized.
But then, a question arose in Shirou's mind. It was impossible for Hephaestus not to sense his arrival, so why was he not reacting at all, continuing to forge that piece of steel?
Shirou fixed his gaze on the steel upon the anvil. Under the countless strikes of Hephaestus's hammer, the steel had already taken the shape of a Greatsword, and the blade was radiating a pure white light.
After staring for a moment, Shirou looked at the Greatsword in surprise.
"That is... a Divine Artifact!?"
No wonder Hephaestus ignored his arrival from start to finish. He was forging a Divine Artifact, a process that allowed for no distraction; a single mistake could lead to failure. Shirou could feel that the power possessed by that pure white Greatsword had definitely reached the level of an EX-rank Noble Phantasm.
"I can't let him continue forging!"
With that thought, Shirou's silhouette lunged forward. In mid-air, a pale blue light flickered as countless sharp blades manifested, forming a vast net that descended like a sudden torrential rain!
Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh!!!
Even for a Heretic God, taking this hit head-on would result in heavy injury once Shirou activated "Broken Phantasm"!
However, to Shirou's astonishment, Hephaestus did not waver in the slightest even in the face of this descending rain of swords, continuing to swing his hammer. Just as those Noble Phantasms were about to strike Hephaestus's body, the silver-reflecting metal giants behind him began to move.
They opened their steel arms, using their own bodies to block the entire rain of swords.
Clang, clang, clang—!!!
These metal giants were far from ordinary. Because they were crafted by the God of Craftsmen, their bodies were as hard as A+ rank Noble Phantasms, allowing them to endure the rain of sword-type Noble Phantasms without taking any damage.
However, the primary way Shirou used these Noble Phantasms was never through simple projection like the "Gate of Babylon," but through "Broken Phantasm"—exploding the Noble Phantasms after projection to deal massive damage.
Although the projected weapons were currently being deflected by the metal giants, detonating them would still cause significant damage. Without hesitation, Shirou raised his right hand toward the giants and suddenly clenched his fist.
"Broken Phantasm!"
The swords that had fallen to the ground and seemed harmless suddenly glowed white-hot. Tiny cracks appeared on the blades and expanded rapidly. The massive magical energy stored
within the swords broke through their physical constraints, releasing a total discharge that swallowed everything in the vicinity!
BOOM, BOOM, BOOM—!!!
This time, even Hephaestus could not ignore it. He looked up in surprise and immediately slammed his hammer violently against the ground. The heavy strike shook the earth, causing the ground to split open. From beneath those fissures, endless terrestrial fire erupted.
Under the fierce baptism of these earth-fires, the intense shockwaves generated by the released magical energy of the Noble Phantasms were swallowed up. Surrounded by his metal giants, Hephaestus remained completely unscathed.
However, those metal giants were entirely destroyed in the process.
As the billowing smoke cleared, Hephaestus looked at his broken metal creations, and his face instantly twisted in rage.
"Ignorant mortal! How dare you destroy the things I have made!"
Hephaestus's face turned red with anger. He panted heavily, his beard fluttering with his breath. Then, he picked up the Greatsword that had just finished cooling on the anvil. The pure white light on the Greatsword flickered, occasionally revealing a blade as bright as silver.
Hephaestus swung the pure white Greatsword, unleashing a fierce slash toward Shirou! A crescent-shaped white shockwave lunged at him.
"This is—!?"
Shirou's brow furrowed, and his body retreated violently, narrowly avoiding the slash. After he dodged by a hair's breadth, the white shockwave instantly split a distant mountain peak in two!
Pulling his gaze back, Shirou stared at the pure white Greatsword in Hephaestus's hand, his eyes narrowing.
"A Divine Construct... "
A Divine Artifact that could not be analyzed, could not be copied, and could not be understood. Without a doubt, this was a sword comparable to an EX-rank Noble Phantasm!
Read ahead (60 chapters) by supporting me on buymeacoffee com/varietl or ko-fi edwriting