Thanks to the explosion, Hephaestus loosened his grip, and Ryan freed himself. However, he paid a high price since he was so close to the explosion. His front body suffered some burns, and he rolled on the ground for quite a while, but despite the pain, he got up. He needed to heal himself and recover his mana. After all, Ryan was pretty sure that he didn't cause much damage. He aimed at Hephaestus' face, but the helmet was on the way.

When the dust and smoke disappeared, Ryan saw Hephaestus standing a few meters away from the explosion center. His hands were bleeding since he involuntarily moved his arm to use the hammer and protect himself, but aside from that, he was pretty much fine. However, the miasma was coming from the wounds in his hands.

​​

"You really did it, huh…" Hephaestus said while he looked at his hands. "With his, you certainly were able to damage Poseidon. You are lacking in power, but with some preparations, yes… it is possible."

Although it looked like Hephaestus was talking to Ryan, he only looked to the ground while he said that. It was really weird… seeing Hephaestus interested in the fact that Ryan defeated some elder gods without an army.

"I guess I should report this to my father, after all," Hephaestus said.

Ryan couldn't help but sweat cold when he heard that. It wasn't like he didn't consider the hypothesis of he facing elder gods and they asking for help, but if Zeus comes to that world. Then that truly would be the worst-case scenario. However, for some odd reason, Hephaestus didn't move from his spot. He just stayed there silently. He was already sending his message…

"Oh, shit…" Ryan muttered.

At that point in time, there was no point in trying to stop Hephaestus. Still, the idea that the strongest god of Olympus might target him in the future made Ryan sweat cold. Why only now? Shouldn't he be aware that was bound to happen once he killed Poseidon, who was Zeus' older brother? No… Ryan wasn't worried about the possibility of a fight; he was worried about the possibility that he wouldn't be the one starting. Ryan loved stealth attacks, but the idea of suffering one was kind of nerve-wracking.

"Oh, well…" Ryan shrugged.

Your dexterity has increased by fifteen points.

Your dexterity has increased by fifteen points.

Your dexterity has increased by fifteen points.

…

In the end, Ryan deactivated Draconic Transformation and used Wolf's Greed. There was no better moment than that since Hephaestus was busy. Fortunately, Hephaestus ignored Ryan's action for quite a while for some reason, so his dexterity increased by more than one thousand points. It wasn't nearly enough to make any difference in that fight, but it was better than nothing.

When Hephaestus prepared to attack, Ryan was already back in the game, hitting Hephaestus' hands. While he couldn't cause much damage thanks to that juggernaut of an armor, he could make the poison spread through the wounds and then make him unable to use that stupid big hammer. However, Hephaestus noticed what Ryan was planning and then changed his posture, making the hammer protect his hands.

"What an annoying guy…" Ryan said.

Despite that, Ryan insisted on attacking Hephaestus' hands. However, he had to stop when he got close enough and swung his hammer. Ryan used Teleport to move away, and when he saw Hephaestus finishing his swing, Ryan had an idea. At that very moment, Ryan used the summoner's crossbow. Naturally, Hephaestus ignored the few bolts that flew to his face. Still, then he regretted that when the magma Golems appeared and exploded. Even though they had no divinity or corruption, the self-destruct attack was bound to cause massive amounts of damage.

Hephaestus stopped moving while he was trying to get rid of the magma in his face, and then Ryan put into motion his next plan. When Hephaestus recovered his vision, he saw Ryan charging a massive spear of light. Hephaestus already knew what that could do, so he raised his guard. In the end, Ryan fired the projectile much sooner than imagined, and Hephaestus destroyed the projectile with his hammer. Light enveloped the area for a while, blinding him, but then he opened his eyes again. Hephaestus saw Ryan doing the same thing…

"What is he planning…" Hephaestus frowned.

That didn't make any sense… Still, Hephaestus understood that he couldn't let Ryan do whatever he wanted. He watched the fight between him and Tyr, and he knew that Ryan wouldn't do anything without a good reason.

Hephaestus only figured out what Ryan was planning when he fired the third light spear. After the light dissipated, Hephaestus heard a crack coming from his hammer. Right below the head, he found a small point damaged… Ryan used Power of Money like crazy to cause that small amount of damage. Still, it had been more than enough.

"Now things are a bit fairer," Ryan said, and then he began to create an ice hammer above him. "Wanna bet which one is the strongest?"

"A foolish question," Hephaestus said.

Although Hephaestus looked pretty annoyed since a human was trying to compare a single weapon created by magic with a real one, he looked strangely excited as well. Perhaps it was due to the fact that he didn't have the chance to test his weapons against others often. In the end, Hephaestus dashed, and Ryan made his hammer spin at fearsome speed to collide against Hephaestus'.

In the end, the heads of both weapons collided and caused a massive thunderous impact that cleaned the area around them. Not to mention, the noise caused by them could have been heard dozens of kilometers away. Ultimately, Hephaestus' hammer won the exchange, the ice hammer broke into pieces quite fast. However, the ice shards didn't fall around the area, they flew toward Hephaestus and pierced several parts of his body. Hephaestus' expression broke to one of pain, and then surprise, when he saw dozens of Hydra's bows above him.