Chapter 9 Episode 14: My Unsavory Ideal 3

Things start with Hephaestus narrating his past as he describes it as unsightly. There was once a baby of fire who was discarded as soon as he was born, thrown away from the summit of Olympus. He’s sure it was because he was ugly since he was tossed by his birth mother to Okeanos, the sea at the end.

There he was picked up by the one he calls mother, she who was on the verge of vanishing from the world. Hephaestus learned how to build for her sake, and that is the only reason he discovered his talent. In an effort to make her happy, he desperately started making beautiful ornaments and whatever he could think of.

But eventually she left the world, and he in turn was summoned for his skills in building things. Not to another world, but back to the summit of Olympus. He saw a lovely palace there, filled with things that was considered beautiful by the world. He also says it was a place filled with lies, deceit, and love and hate like coal tar.

Hephaestus left that place and escaped to his work, choosing to only interact with machines. He figures that if his genius were to interact with other people, it would only blow up on him.

He then starts talking about his eye and how the fire in it can reveal the weaknesses of what he looks at. It can burn away the unnecessary lies and tricks, like someone is worth loving because they are blood related, or what’s beautiful is worth loving.

With that talent he figures it was natural he devoted himself to tinkering with machinery since they don’t lie or deceive. He says machines are great. You just touch them, and they respond. And as his talent developed, so did his building skills. He was sought out and made artifacts on request, like the thunder that strikes from the heights, the arrows that bring death, and a shoulder pad that can push away any enemy.

All his commissioners were pleased with his works, and he personally never cared about what they went to do with them. As a result, he feels he never needed the time on Olympus where he was called a genius.

But even so, he harbored a doubt: if I’m such a genius why did my mother leave me? If he was such a genius when he was young, why could he not make her happy? Why could he could he not keep her there? What does he need to do to bring her back to him?!

The question always burned within him. And one day, the rainbow of summoning came to answer him, leading him to Tokyo. It was there that he learned of the great war that affected many worlds. Weapons were flying everywhere incinerating the war zone. Among them were the ones he was asked to made, and here the life of his mother was washed up, only to repeatedly lose it.

Hephaestus says he should have known. He should have known what he made would become weapons of war. He just pretended not to see. He always did, that’s all there is to it. He just didn’t want to see that it was his creations that constantly took your life, over and over. He calls himself a genius in weapon smithing, and the most disgusting piece of trash ever.

Hephaestus says there was never any way his mother could return to him. It was a given that she would leave him behind. He’s the trashy weapon making genius. He could never be forgiven.

As such, he decided to build a replacement, one most suitable to him in the end. He’d be handsome, confident, and most importantly, someone who has never hurt his mother. He tells his replacement he should be loved in his place. And he himself will leave this world before she can get angry.

Back to the present you try to make sense of what’s happening, though there isn’t much room to think what with the searing pain going through you. As the heartbeat thumps continue, Hephaestus asks if this is the light of an Exception, the rampage of a concept that has lost its vessel. He doesn’t know why it’s happening now and seems to see something coming from your broken artifact.

The cracks from your sword unleash a harshly blinding light into the surrounding area, which Hephaestus is unable to keep his eyes open for. But still he tries to activate the power of his eye to reveal the seam.

When he looks, he sees Solomon for an instant to his shocked surprise. Narration also adds that for a moment he saw the 23 shadows of dragons/demons from the depths of the world’s seams and their tail. They are also referred to as being large. Hephaestus asks what that was, and you continue to scream. Your body feels like it will split to pieces, and you call out for anyone to help.

Upon hearing you scream Hephaestus throws all other thoughts out and focuses on trying to help. He turns to Talos and the robots and orders them to stop you. Specifically, he commands them to take your sword away.

They all move at once to try, but a flow of light blasts all of them back to the walls. Hephaestus calls out to you as you scream yet again, recklessly running towards you without any thought. The episode ends as Talos dashes faster, ever faster in his attempt to stop him.