In the dungeon, Issei left his Soul Subspace as he was done training the Sun Breathing. With sword in hand, Issei decided to increase the rate he was descending the dungeon.
Seeing monsters flocking him, Issei dashed forward and did a vertical slash along with his Heavenly Flames of Transmogrification to create the visual effect of Sun Breathing: Dance.
Looking around his surrounding, Issei saw various monsters surrounding him. This was the perfect chance to use one of the Sun Breathing forms. Issei spun his body horizontally three-hundred-sixty-degrees and delivered a slash. This was Clear Blue Sky. All the monster that was touched by the Heavenly Flames of Transmogrification was turned to dust instantly.
Since there were countless monsters in front of him, Issei decided to unleash a continuous fast and powerful sword attack that seemingly took the form of a Japanese dragon made of solar flames. This technique is capable of decapitating multiple targets at once. This was Sun Breathing: Dragon Sun Halo Head Dance.
Issei rushed forward with a flaming sword and performed a five-move combo. A low-ended strike from the left, a low-ended strike from the right that lifts the user off the ground briefly, a spinning wave attack, a powerful forwards upward slash, and an overhead downward slash. This attack was Sun Breathing: Scorching Rush. It is usually an attack used on a single target. However, in Issei's hand, it was able to target multiple targets at once.
Having killed all the monsters on the floor he was in, Issei decided to descend to the fourteenth floor. With the Sun Breathing, Issei could steamroll the dungeon until the twentieth floor. Unfortunately, he told the girls that he would be back by nightfall. Therefore, he had to return to the surface.
Issei was too lazy to walk all the up to the surface. So, he used Eldritch Portal to get back to the surface. The location of the other end of the portal was the entrance to the dungeon. Hence, people freaked out when the portal was made. Even though Issei made a commotion, he didn't care. He left the place as if he did nothing to shock the people.
Issei went to the inn that he, Serafall and Raynare were staying at, but the girls were not there. So, Issei ended up walking around Orario in search of the duo. That's when he felt his ring heat up. This was an indicator that he was being summoned by one of his wives. Issei touched the ring and accepted the summon. Immediately, Issei disappeared from his location and reappeared in an office room.
On his left, Issei saw Raynare and Serafall sitting on a couch eating snacks inside the room. There was a table with a woman sitting on a chair at a desk in front of him. She had short red hair. Even with the eye patch, no one can deny that she looks beautiful. On his right, Issei saw another couch. It had another woman with an eye patch.
When Serafall saw Issei, she immediately dropped the snack in her hand and spoke.
"Issei! You're here!" Serafall said. She jumped from her seat and onto Issei. She hugged him. "Show these two women that you're the best blacksmith. They didn't want to believe that you were capable of creating magic swords that wouldn't break in a single usage!".
"Magic Sword? Single usage? What the hell kind of a magic sword breaks in a single usage? Can such a thing even be considered a sword? From the sound of it, it's more like a consumable," Issei said. The woman on the couch on Issei's right had her eyes twitch. "Those who can only make a sword that can be considered a consumable is a failure as a blacksmith".
Hephaestus was looking at Issei. She was observing him. If she considered Serafall and Raynare strong, then the person she was looking at was a monster among monsters. There were no other words to describe Issei. Hephaestus can feel the power coming from him even though he sealed most of it with the Loop of Binding.
'Where did this kind of person come from? I've never heard of a person as powerful as he is,' Hephaestus thought. She knew that Issei wasn't a God as he didn't have any Divinity. Every God/Goddess has a Divinity that identifies them as a God amongst mortals. 'He's a monster…but why do I feel my heart beating faster when I look at him? I've never felt this way before. Stop beating so much! I want to see if he can really make powerful weapons, as Raynare and Serafall said'.
Hephaestus took a deep breath before she spoke.
"Hoh…So, you're the man they said could make weapon and armour more powerful than the blacksmith that I have nurtured," Hephaestus said. Issei looked at her and raised his eyebrows. "Your wives told me that you have armour that emits an aura of superiority, and they also told me that you can make weapons that can wield the elements without breaking. I'm curious, is anything they said true? Or are they lying?".
Hephaestus already knew that Serafall and Raynare weren't lying, but it could also be because they believed it to be true, even if it wasn't. Hence, she wanted to see it in person.
"Armour that emits an aura of superiority? Are you talking about my Robe of the Sage? I was not the one that created that robe. However, when it comes to the weapons that can wield the elements without breaking, that's true," Issei said. He then took out more than a dozen swords, spears, halberds, etc., from his inventory for all to see. "These are but a few of the weapons I've forged over the years".
Hephaestus and the other woman in the room dashed forward towards all the weapons taken out. They inspected it with their skill, and they were shocked. All of them were magic swords. However, it can't be considered in the same category. The magic sword made by a blacksmith from Orario could only be considered trash compared to Issei's weapons.
"This is astonishing! I've never seen a collection of magic swords with this much power. And to think they aren't a one-time use weapon," the other woman said. She was looking at the weapons in front of her. Then she remembered that they had guests. "Ahem, sorry for showing you such a sight. I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Tsubaki Collbrande. Can I ask, did you really forge all this weapon?".
"I did. I started blacksmithing when I was eleven years old," Issei said. Back then, most of the weapons he created looked great but lacked power and durability. Issei took out more weapons from his inventory. He then re-arranged the swords according to the time of creation. "I re-organised the weapons here according to the time of creation. This sword is beautiful but lacking in everything else. The few swords beside it look quite crude but emit power like no other. Over the years, I've perfected my smithing by balancing power, durability and design to try and reach the level of a God/Goddess".
While Hephaestus was looking through all the weapons that Issei had forged, something inside of her was excited. Hence, she blurted out her heart's desire.
"Have a duel with me?!" Hephaestus shouted. She didn't know why she was saying this. However, she wasn't stopping it either. "You and me, a full-on smithing duel, no holds barred. You're greatest against my greatest!".
"Heh! Interesting, you're a Goddess, are you not? You want a duel with me in your speciality? No problem!" Issei said. Hearing Hephaestus challenge him in blacksmithing got him excited. He wouldn't have another chance like this to challenge a goddess in blacksmithing. "You're interesting. Let's do this! When do you want to hold the match between us?".
"In a few days," Hephaestus said. She needed to speak to Ouranos about using her Godly Power in the match. Hephaestus felt that if she didn't use her Godly Power, she would lose the match against Issei. "Using my Godly Powers without permission would breach my promise. Hence, I would be forced back to Heaven".
"I have no problem waiting," Issei said. On his left, he heard Raynare and Serafall laughing at him. "What are you girls laughing at?".
"He-he! Nothing!" Raynare and Serafall said. Issei already knew what the duo was thinking. He wasn't that dense to not realise the way Hephaestus was acting.
Looking at Hephaestus, he realised that something was wrong with the right side of her face. It had a curse on it. Since Issei felt a connection with Hephaestus, he decided to give her a little gift before leaving. He used, [Detect Origin Connection], [Sever Origin Connection], and [Divine Healing]. The three magic was able to detect the origin of the curse, sever the connection of the curse from its caster/origin, and heal the damage done by the curse.
"I'll be seeing you in a few days," Issei said. He gestured towards the girls that they were leaving. Issei then handed a piece of paper to Hephaestus with the address of the place they were staying at. And lastly, Issei spoke a few words to Hephaestus. "By the way, I hope you like my gift".
As Issei said those words, he gestured to his right eye. Hephaestus felt as her right eye started to feel hot and uncomfortable. She removed her eye patch the next moment, and Tsubaki gasped in response.
"Huh? Tsubaki, what's wrong?" Hephaestus said. It wasn't the first time she had seen her deformity. So, her action was weird to Hephaestus. Seeing that Tsubaki wasn't responding, Hephaestus started to snap her finger in Tsubaki's face. "Hello? What's wrong with you? What's with the shocked face?".
"Hephaestus-sama! Your face!" Tsubaki said. She ran to the next room to get something. It was a mirror. Tsubaki then made Hephaestus look at the mirror. This made the Goddess gasp in shock. "What happened? Your eye, it's normal".
How did her eye return to normal? Hephaestus didn't know. For a moment, she was thinking of something. Then, she remembered how Issei asked if she liked his gift and gestured at his right eye. Hephaestus laughed like a maniac.
"Ha-ha-ha! He's amusing! How did he do it? Not even the Gods or Goddess can remove the curse of my right eye, let alone heal it," Hephaestus said. She was touching her eyes as she looked in the mirror. Tsubaki, who heard Hephaestus, realised that Issei was why her Goddess' eye was back to normal. "Tsubaki, tell me what you think of that man?".
"Issei? He didn't seem like a special person," Tsubaki said. She saw Issei as a handsome man, but that was all. She wasn't even sure if all the weapon he took out was truly forged by him. "Other than seeing him as a handsome guy, I don't have anything to say about him. I couldn't tell if he was strong or not. I couldn't even say if he was the one that forged the weapons".
"Everything he said was true. None of them was a lie," Hephaestus said. Seeing weapons made by Issei made her blood boil. Hephaestus saw a few first-class weapons within the pile of weapons Issei showed, but that's nothing for her. The ones she was interested in were the weapons beyond first-class. "I already knew that Serafall and Raynare were not lying, but to see all those weapons in person was truly eye-opening. Never would I imagine mortals are capable of forging such weapons.
Then again, they didn't feel like a mortal to me. The energy in their body is different from others. I felt the power from Serafall and Raynare and thought they were strong, but when I saw Issei, he was beyond anything I've seen before. I couldn't use any words other than monster to describe him".
"Really? How strong is he?" Tsubaki asked. She felt no power from Issei, but she didn't doubt her Goddess. "How come I didn't feel anything from him. He did arrive here by teleporting, but I thought that was Serafall's power".
"I don't know how strong he is. All I know is that his power felt boundless," Hephaestus said. She felt as if there was no end to Issei's strength. "However, I don't have any interest in his boundless power. All I want is to have a smithing duel with him. Thinking about the duel is making my heart beat faster".
Tsubaki looked at Hephaestus. Does her Goddess not know she looks like a girl in love right now? She wanted to say those words to Hephaestus, but she couldn't. Looking at her Goddess, she was admiring the eye that had been healed. Tsubaki shook her head and made her exit.