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Chapter 70: Thank you, Fake Hero.
🕑 Added 2025-05-04 19:27:12 +0000 UTCLioro smiled when he saw Hestia and Hephaestus.
Getting up from the bed, he proudly took several steps forward and stopped in front of Hestia.
Looking down at the small goddess, he spoke with a smile.
"I told you, didn’t I? I’d win."
Goddess Hephaestus looked curiously at Lioro.
Was this really their hero?
Why did he come across as... a bit childish?
Hestia, on the other hand, smiled and gently nodded.
Placing a hand over her chest, she spoke in a sincere voice.
"I apologize for doubting you... child."
Lioro’s smile faded as he stared at her in silence.
"You've done well. Truly... thank you."
Hestia’s lips curved upward into a faint smile.
Lioro narrowed his eyes.
He could tell.
That smile was fake.
Letting out a small breath, he asked in a calm voice.
"Have you truly decided? To ascend?"
Hestia trembled and lowered her head.
Goddess Hephaestus looked at her friend with quiet sorrow.
"You know, there are plenty of interesting things in the lower world. There’s a desert, a vast ocean, the wilderness..." Lioro said, listing off reasons with quiet hope that she might reconsider.
But his words might as well have been spoken into a void.
Hestia kept her head bowed, not even looking at him.
"It seems you’ve made up your mind."
Lioro stopped. He no longer tried persuading her.
He wasn’t the protagonist of some story who could change hearts with grand speeches. At best, he could offer a few meaningful suggestions. The rest was up to them.
Goddess Hestia of Danmachi 2.0 had no more interest in the lower world. With her familia gone and the Black Dragon slain, she wished to return to the heavens to once again reunite with her children.
Ironically, the Black Dragon was the cause of her familia’s demise, and also the reason she remained here, waiting to see its end.
Now that the calamity was gone, her decision was final.
Raising her head, Hestia looked at Lioro with sad blue eyes and spoke softly.
"I'm sorry."
Lioro stared at her expression, then suddenly raised his hand and flicked her forehead.
"Ouch!"
Hestia clutched her reddened forehead, looking at Lioro with an indignant pout.
"Since you've decided to leave, you’d better get going quickly or else..."
Lioro smiled and finished.
"I'm afraid Goddess Freya will drain even Bell’s soul dry."
"Freya!"
Hestia instantly forgot her pain and looked at Lioro with blazing eyes.
"You should’ve seen her during the battle. I bet Freya ascended the moment Bell died, just to take his soul and do who-knows-what with it..."
Hephaestus wiped away imaginary sweat just imagining the situation.
"No! I won’t allow Freya to take my Bell!" Hestia shouted, jumping up and down like an angry chihuahua.
"Then you’d better move fast, goddess!" Lioro encouraged her.
"Yes! I’ll go right now!"
Hestia’s twin ponytails bounced in the air as she bolted toward the exit.
Watching her retreating figure, Lioro’s expression relaxed.
It seemed Hestia was finally back to her usual self.
Which was good, because he didn’t really like the serious, gloomy version of her.
Hestia should be Hestia.
Dumb and cute.
That was enough.
Just as he was about to turn to Hephaestus, Hestia suddenly stopped and hurried back.
Under Lioro’s confused gaze, Hestia stood before him again, looked him straight in the eyes, and spoke in a serious tone.
"You’re a true hero. So don’t doubt yourself."
Lioro blinked, then shrugged his shoulders and replied.
"I’m a fake at best, and you should know whether I’m lying or not."
A fake hero.
That was what he believed himself to be.
He did things based on his own likes and dislikes.
Goddess Hephaestus raised an eyebrow. She could tell Lioro wasn’t lying.
Which meant... the hero himself believed he was a fake?
She wasn’t quite sure what to make of that.
Then suddenly Hestia placed her hands on her hips, leaned forward, and smiled mischievously.
"If you’re a fake hero... then I’ll be your fake goddess."
Lioro paused for a moment.
He couldn't help but give her a deeper look.
Then with a knowing smile on his face, he said.
"What the hell does that even mean?"
"Go and figure it out yourself!" Hestia shouted, spinning around and this time leaving the abandoned church for real.
Lioro shook his head.
It seemed she had realized he was from a parallel world.
A clever Hestia really was no good. A dumb, clueless Hestia was far better.
What did they say again? Big boobs, no brain? Yeah, that’s the one he preferred.
He turned toward Hephaestus.
He was also into tall ones, come to think of it...
"I feel like you’re thinking something disrespectful," Goddess Hephaestus said, raising an eyebrow.
Lioro stayed silent.
He knew better than to open his mouth in front of a god.
Then a curious thought crossed his mind...
Wouldn’t his mind immunity negate the gods’ ability to discern lies?
If so, then...
That meant everything he said to a god would be taken as truth?
He decided he’d test this theory on a god sometime soon.
With Hestia gone, Lioro turned to face Hephaestus.
"Goddess Hephaestus, is there something I can help you with?"
"Can you tell me your name?" Goddess Hephaestus asked, watching him with curiosity.
Lioro paused for a second before responding.
"My name is Lioro... Bloodfallen."
He decided to test his theory now.
Elsa blinked in confusion.
Lioro had a last name?
How come she’d never heard it before?
Hmm... Elsa Bloodfallen...
"Lioro Bloodfallen. I’ll remember that name," Goddess Hephaestus said with a gentle smile.
It wasn’t a small thing—especially coming from a god, who had a memory that spanned eras.
But instead of feeling proud, Lioro was a little confused.
Did she know or not?
It was hard to tell.
But judging from her calm expression, it didn’t look like she suspected anything.
Knowing Hephaestus, she would have at least reacted slightly if she sensed the name was false.
It seemed he would need to explore this further over time.
Hephaestus glanced at Elsa.
Lioro introduced her.
"This is my companion."
"Hello, Goddess Hephaestus," Elsa stepped forward and bowed with graceful formality.
Hephaestus nodded back in greeting, then finally got to her point.
"You... want to forge equipment for me?" Lioro asked, confused.
"I saw your armor break during the battle..." Hephaestus replied, blinking as she noticed the disinterested look on Lioro’s face.
It was the kind of look someone gave when something didn’t impress them at all.
Was he looking down on her?
Hephaestus almost wondered if he even knew who she was.
She was the divine smith.
The Divine Smith.
So why did it feel like he didn’t take her seriously?
The truth was, Lioro really wasn’t impressed.
And the reason was simple.
Unlike him, who could fully access the power of his Epic Class, Hephaestus was restricted by her divine arcana.
He guessed half the skills of her class were probably sealed due to her status as a god in the lower world.
Which meant that, technically, down here, he was a better smith than she was.
More importantly, he simply didn’t want another smith working on his equipment—especially one who couldn’t match him.
You could call it a case of occupational pride.
"It’s alright, goddess. I can make my own equipment."
"Make your own equipment...?..."
A blank look settled on Hephaestus’s face.
"Yes. Just like my previous set, I can forge my own."
Lioro nodded firmly.
"Forge your own..."
For a few seconds, Hephaestus was too stunned to comprehend.
Then it hit her.
That white armor... had been his own creation?
It felt like a bomb had gone off in her mind.
A child who could create gear of that caliber?
In the lower world?
And he was also the one who slayed the dragon?
Hephaestus stared at Lioro, her eyes sparkling with fascination.
"What is it?" Lioro asked, noticing her odd expression.
Hephaestus raised her hand and coughed lightly before speaking in a hesitant voice.
"That... um, can I watch you forge?"
----
Ash still drifted through the air as the undead spread out across the shattered districts of Orario.
There was no need for orders from the living. The moment the flames died down and the last monster fell, the undead had already begun.
Night Liches hovered above the rooftops, issuing silent mental commands. Below, skeletal laborers moved in disciplined formations, lifting collapsed beams, dragging carts, and reinforcing weakened structures. Ghouls and zombies carried rubble from blocked alleys, opening paths for civilians to return to their homes or shelters.
“Reinforce the temple wall,” one of the Night Liches instructed, its voice cold and emotionless. “Stabilize the foundation before the second collapse.”
Dozens of skeletons obeyed instantly, forming lines to pass bricks and stones toward the restoration site. Their movements were coordinated, unnervingly efficient.
Near the market district, a Lich floated calmly through a line of injured civilians. Its staff glowed faintly as it cast stabilization magic and picked up the magic stones in his path.
“This unit will now assist in corpse removal,” the Lich said, without emotion. “Segregation of bodies: civilian, adventurer.”
Death Knights began lifting fallen bodies in silence, laying them out in neat rows. None of the townspeople flinched. They were used to the sight by now, the dead helping the living.
At the western gates, the Abyssal Dread Knight oversaw a construction effort. He pointed toward a mound of broken debris. “Clear this path. Fortify the barricade. Prepare fallback zone.”
His voice echoed like distant thunder, and nearby undead moved without delay.
The living worked alongside them without hesitation. A blacksmith barked instructions to a group of skeletons hauling lumber. Children handed out water to exhausted undead laborers, who, while they didn’t drink, accepted the gesture with mechanical nods.
A young girl stared as a ghoul carefully swept glass shards away from a shelter entrance. Its decaying hands moved slowly, precisely, as if trying not to startle her.
She didn’t run. She offered it half her bread.
The ghoul paused, tilted its head… then turned and walked on.
Little by little, and already parts of the city have started recovering their original view.
