In order to become a Heroic Spirit, I had no choice but to cause trouble in history.

“You…” Hermes suddenly remembered something.

The person in front of me, who is nearly three meters tall, seems to be only ten years old this year?

“...Alright.” Without saying much, Hermes activated his divine power and flew towards Hermes’s dwelling.

Oshin gazed at Hermes in the distance, silently wiped his nose, and then landed on the sea.

......

As Ruslan watched the clouds rushing past him, his heart pounded wildly despite the divine barrier protecting him.

Why did this god take me away? Did I expose myself? Have I been acting strangely these past few days?

No, if I'm discovered, those two will immediately find me; they won't let this foreign deity take me away!

What on earth happened?! What on earth happened?!

Ruslan's thoughts seemed tangled together, fear, tension, and confusion intertwined in a chaotic mess, yet still churning within his skull, stimulating his cerebral cortex.

Suddenly, the scene before him changed, and Ruslan felt as if he had been thrown to the ground.

Just as he was about to get up, a face suddenly appeared in front of Luslan.

Hephaestus's imposing features came into view of Ruslan.

Ruslan's body froze instantly.

The surface of his skin reminded Ruslan that he was about to be burned, but Ruslan, locked in by divine power, was unable to move at all, and could not even speak.

Hephaestus's gaze remained fixed on Ruslan.

Suddenly, as if he had remembered something, he slammed the forging hammer in his hand hard against the ground, which resembled a steel deck.

This is to create a barrier, the purpose of which is to block the exchange of information between the inside and outside.

With their gaze returning to Ruslan, Hephaestus finally spoke.

"What are you?"

"Huh?" Ruslan's brain went blank.

What did he mean by that? Was he insulting me? Or was he testing me? Or did he realize that I'm not actually human?

Hephaestus seemed to realize that his words were somewhat inappropriate, so he coughed twice as if nothing had happened and asked again.

"What exactly are you?"

"H-Hephaestus, what do you mean by that?" The burning sensation on his skin had disappeared, but Luslan did not relax at all. Instead, he hid his vigilance and asked Hephaestus in a daze.

“My blacksmith’s intuition tells me that you—are not human.” Hephaestus’s eyes gleamed with a crimson, flame-like light. “When you were hunting with the son of the sea god, a trace of your presence was revealed in the moment you lost consciousness.”

"That's not human aura."

Ruslan's heart clenched suddenly.

------------

Chapter 571 A Clash of Gods at the Pinnacle of Intelligence

"Speak, what are you?" Hephaestus's face showed no emotion whatsoever, his crimson eyes staring straight at Ruslan, as if trying to see right through him.

Fine beads of sweat began to appear on Luslan's forehead, and he seemed to be frozen in place.

"Don't you want to answer?" Hephaestus frowned slightly.

He found this human to be very strange.

That day, this human was caught completely off guard and was directly hit by the white chimera's mental attack, causing a momentary leak within him.

It really was just a fleeting moment, less than 0.01 seconds.

Hermes' attention was focused on Ocean and he didn't notice anything unusual about Ruslan, but Hephaestus, who was keeping a close eye on the situation, sensed that something was wrong.

That aura, that feeling, was definitely not human; rather, it was more like... something undergoing forging?

Based on what Hephaestus himself called "blacksmith's intuition," he chose to bring the item to his residence.

He reached out to grab Ruslan, but sensed something was wrong.

What's going on here?

Luslan, mouth agape, seemed to have... fainted?

Hephaestus scratched his face.

It seems I forgot to turn off the divine pressure, which created a kind of mental intimidation field, and then because I was too close, I stunned this thing?

Hephaestus felt a little embarrassed. What was he going to do?

Let's wake him up first...

With a large finger touching Ruslan's brow, Hephaestus unleashed his divine power.

Luslan's rolled-back eyes reopened, and he saw Hephaestus's face.

"Ughhhhhh!!!" Luslan lay down on the ground and backed away like a reptile.

Hephaestus stroked his chin; that was an interesting gesture...

Although I did sense something was off, they seemed to be just ordinary humans, reacting normally, and the test results were normal.

This put Hephaestus in a difficult position.

Could it be that it's been parasitized by some strange thing without its knowledge? Or is there some other reason?

Hmm... let's make him lose consciousness again.

If I lose consciousness again, it might bring out that inexplicable thing again?

Hephaestus moved closer and gently tapped Ruslan on the head with his forging hammer.

Before Ruslan could react, he fainted again.

"No......"

Hephaestus fell into deep thought, continuing to tap and bang on Ruslan, occasionally waking him up before knocking him unconscious again.

But after half a day, they had gained nothing.

Luslan: Hmph, do you really think I would make the same mistake twice? I almost lost it the first time I made it, how could I possibly do it again?

Hermes, who appeared at the door of Hephaestus's forge, was deeply puzzled as he watched Hephaestus squatting on the ground, hammering at the human lying on the ground.

He closed the door and then reopened it.

What we saw was still the serious Hephaestus and the bruised and battered Luslan.

That doesn't make sense.

"Hermes, what are you doing?" Hephaestus looked at Hermes standing in the doorway, his expression still serious.

“That’s what I should be asking… Brother, what are you doing?” Hermes’ face twitched.

When did my brother, with whom I rarely communicate, develop this hobby? It feels a bit unbelievable...

"As you can see, here are the investigation materials."

"...You want to forge weapons using humans?" Hermes looked at Hephaestus in disbelief.

“No, no, no, he is not human.” Hephaestus looked at Hermes seriously.

“…What is this if it’s not human?” Hermes pointed at Luslan, who was lying on the ground, barely clinging to life.

"This... is some kind of material I've never heard of before, and in short, it's definitely not human."

Hermes silently picked up Roslan from the ground and observed him.

Ultimately, he came to a conclusion.

"This is what humanity is like!"

"So you really are going to use humans to forge weapons, aren't you!"

Looking at Hermes, who was staring at him with an unwavering gaze, Hephaestus felt as if something within him had vanished.

"This is not human."

Hermes pointed at Ruslan: "Come on, tell me, what makes you realize this thing isn't human?"

"this......"

Hephaestus was stumped by the question.

I've been thinking about this myself!

How am I supposed to explain this now?

Let's just tell the truth.

“I am also looking for places where he is not human.”

Silence fell over the forging room.

"you......"

“Wait a minute.” Hephaestus stretched out a hand, interrupting Hermes. “The conversation was all about me, but there’s something we should figure out, Hermes: why are you here?”

“This person is Oceanus’ childhood friend, someone he grew up with. Now that you’ve suddenly appeared and taken him away, that demigod is almost going crazy. Why do you think I’m here?” Hermes sighed.

"Growing up with that demigod?" Hephaestus felt like he had found a blind spot. "Do you have any information about his birth? Let me see."

“You—oh well, fine, here you go.” Hermes pulled up footage of Luslan’s birth that he had taken while observing Doris years ago and showed it to Hephaestus.

In the video footage, Ruslan was born as an ordinary baby boy, crying loudly, without any distinguishing features.

"This...is this really a human?!" Looking at the information about Ruslan's birth, Hephaestus was completely dumbfounded.

Could it be that I was just imagining things back then?

But I am the supreme deity, how could I possibly have a misconception for no reason?

But there's no other explanation right now...

"Brother, is there anything else? If not, I'll take this kid and go." Hermes picked up Roslan and placed him on his shoulder.

“Uh, wait a minute.” Hephaestus snatched Roslan from Hermes’s hand.