Hephaestus lowered his head slightly, shadows deepening the lines on his weathered face.
His voice ca out rough, gravelly with exhaustion.
"I had no other choice."
The forge felt colder, the embers’ glow dimming as if in sympathy.
"For my last creation... for a weapon suitable for soone like you... soone who can use powers no one else can..."
His tired eyes lifted toward Alex, holding a flicker of desperate hope.
"I needed sothing unique."
"Sothing no one else could even dream of wielding."
Alex sighed softly, arms crossed, the weight of the revelation settling in.
"So what did you use?"
Hephaestus looked at him and smiled faintly, a ghost of his forr pride.
"A soul."
He paused, letting the word hang heavy in the smoky air.
"A soul so corrupted... and so cursed... that even death could not fully claim it."
Alex let out a low whistle, eyebrows rising.
"Yeah... I’m going to need more detail than that."
Hephaestus t his eyes.
And for the first ti, there was sothing almost regretful in his gaze, raw vulnerability cracking his divine facade.
"In the past," he began quietly, his voice steadying into a storyteller’s rhythm, "there was a world where I had countless followers."
"I had temples in every major city. Sects built in my na. Entire bloodlines devoted to , their lives woven into my worship."
His fingers tightened around the empty bottle in his hand, knuckles whitening.
"In one of those sects... there was a girl."
He paused, mories surfacing like ghosts.
"She was born to the sect leader."
"The leader had many wives. Many heirs, all vying for power."
"But her mother... was the cult leader’s favorite concubine. And that bred jealousy among the other wives."
"Her mother was falsely accused of infidelity."
"Accused by the other wives who feared her position, scheming in the shadows."
"The sect leader did not investigate, as he believed the false evidence presented to him."
"He did not defend her."
"He did not protect his daughter."
Alex remained silent, leaning in, taking more interest.
Hephaestus continued.
"They were thrown out."
"Cast onto the streets like trash."
"The once-revered wife... and her child."
The forge seed quieter, as if the flas held their breath.
"The mother begged for rcy."
"No one helped. Forr allies turned away."
"The sect that once praised her... spat at her feet."
The faintest bitterness crept into his tone as he continued.
"They wandered the streets for months."
"No shelter from the biting rains."
"No food beyond scavenged scraps."
"No rcy from the world they’d served."
"And eventually..."
He closed his eyes briefly, the mory cutting deep.
"The mother abandoned her own daughter."
Alex’s eyes sharpened slightly, a chill running through him.
"The girl had beco a burden for her."
"She left her in a forest."
"Alone."
"To die amid the thorns and beasts."
"As the mother eventually remarried soone else."
Silence stretched, thick and mournful.
"That child survived by eating leaves, tough and bitter."
"Roots clawed from muddy earth."
"Sotis even dirt, when hunger clawed deepest."
"She slept under broken branches, shivering through endless nights."
"No one ca for her."
"No father to claim her."
"No mother to return."
"No god to answer her silent pleas."
Hephaestus’ voice grew heavier, laced with sorrow.
"Years passed in that forsaken wilderness."
"And one day... she returned to that world."
Alex tilted his head slightly, curiosity piqued.
"Returned how?"
Hephaestus’ gaze darkened, shadows pooling in his eyes.
"As sothing else entirely."
"She had learned demonic arts, black magic, and forbidden techniques."
"No one knows where—from what abyss."
"But I suspect..."
He exhaled slowly, breath ragged.
"An Outer God, a powerful one, chose her as an avatar or gave her its blessing."
"Because even I could not comprehend the energy she wielded."
He looked directly at Alex, intensity burning.
"It was not mana, familiar and ta."
"Not spiritual energy, refined by cultivation."
"Not even divine energy, pure from priests."
"It was sothing superior."
"Sothing alien, devouring all it touched."
"She called it cursed energy."
"Like what you use."
Alex’s curiosity increased even more.
"Another unique type of energy, huh?"
Hephaestus continued, montum building.
"She did not beg for justice."
"She did not demand answers from her betrayers."
"She simply delivered judgnt as the carnage began."
"Entire sects were erased overnight, reduced to smoldering craters."
"Cities burned under skies choked with ash."
"Clans vanished without a trace, whispers of her na the only epitaph."
"No one was spared."
"n in their pri."
"Won fleeing with babies."
"Children caught in the fighting."
"Guilty or innocent."
"It did not matter to her."
"The more she killed... the stronger she beca."
"Her energy grew denser, a vortex of night."
"More terrifying, warping reality around her."
"Her followers gathered like moths to a fla."
"Monsters from the depths."
"Outcasts shunned by all."
"War criminals seeking redemption in blood."
"They called her ’The Asura Queen,’ kneeling in rivers of red."
"The world descended into chaos."
"War spread everywhere, uncontainable."
"Kingdom against kingdom, banners drowned in gore."
"Sect against sect, ancient rivalries exploding."
"Blood beca currency, spilled without end."
Alex smirked, impressed despite the horror.
"Wow. She’s really sothing, isn’t she?"
"What happened next?"
Hephaestus’ expression hardened, lines etching deeper.
"Even the lower-ranked gods began to notice her rise."
"They sensed the blessing of an Outer God clinging to her like a shroud."
"They realized sothing terrifying."
"If this continued unchecked..."
"She would co for them too, her hunger endless. And I was held responsible for all this."
The silence felt heavier, the air thickening with dread.
"The world stood on the brink of total destruction."
"And when everything was nearly lost..."
Hephaestus’ voice dropped lower, confessional.
"The strongest existence in that world stepped forward."
"He was known as the Heavenly Demon, the pinnacle of martial might."
Alex’s eyes narrowed, pieces aligning.
"And?"
Hephaestus’ gaze did not waver.
"He was also her father—the very man who had cast her out to survive on the streets, the one responsible for turning her life into a living hell."
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