Reincarnated as an SSS-Ranked Blacksmith Who Refuses to Forge Weapons-Chapter 200. Divine Silence
Greg looked at Lylia, who was staring at the ground as if it held the secrets of the universe. He asked quietly, "Is this true?" knowing already that Lylia once confessed to him, he just wanted to make sure so that Marina could hear it from her.
Lylia took a deep breath and looked him in the eye. "Yes. I love you. I’ve been in love with you for a while."
"I know you’re with Marina, and I’m not trying to break you up or make things hard for you. I just couldn’t go without you and didn’t want to. Being close to you makes me happy in a way that nothing else does."
The silence that came after was terrible. Marina then began to laugh. Not in a mocking way, but in a real way, like when the tension finally breaks. "Oh gods, look at your faces."
"Greg, you look like someone just told you that the sky is really orange. Lylia, you look like you’re getting ready to die! Please relax, both of you."
"What are we supposed to do to relax?" Lylia asked. "You made me tell you how I feel in the middle of a busy street!"
"And I’m glad I did," Marina said, still smiling. "Now we can stop being so careful about it."
"I’m not mad, Greg. I don’t feel jealous, wait... okay, I’m a little jealous, but not in a bad way."
"For weeks, I’ve known how Lylia feels. To be honest, Seraphine and Elwen also have feelings for you. You’re building a harem without meaning to, and at first, I was going to fight it because you’re mine."
"But then I saw Lylia save your life in the fight. I saw her stand next to you when things went wrong. I saw her cry when we thought you were dead."
"And I thought that maybe letting someone else love you as much as I do isn’t the worst thing in the world. Especially in a world where we’ve seen how short life can be."
Greg’s brain was still having trouble. "Are you saying what I think you’re saying?"
Marina made it clear that she was willing to share. "If you want to be with both of us. Lylia is your second girlfriend."
"We talk about how that works together, like grown-ups do. If you don’t want that, that’s fine too. You can just be with me."
"I’m tired of seeing Lylia suffer in silence, but she needs to know where she stands."
Lylia looked at Marina with an expression of awe. "You’d really be okay with that? Sharing him?"
"Honestly?’ Marina said, "I don’t know."
"It’s strange and hard to understand, and it will probably cause problems in the future, but I’m ready to give it a shot if you are. The Brotherhood is already like family to us, and maybe we can be something more too."
Greg said, "This is crazy," but he couldn’t help but smile. "We just made it through the end of the world, and now we’re negotiating a relationship in front of a carriage."
"Life is crazy," Marina said. "Why not just accept it?"
"So, Greg Greyson, Champion of Peace and Blacksmith Who Forges Bonds, do you want to date two women at once like a harem character, or are you going to be boring and stick with just me?"
Greg said, "That’s not fair. You can’t put it that way."
"I can do that," Marina said with a big smile. "What do you say?"
Greg looked at Lylia and saw the hope and fear fighting in her face. He thought of all the times she had been there for him, all the little things she had done to show she cared, and how she had made him laugh even when things were at their worst.
Then he looked at Marina, the woman who had been his first real love in this new life. She had accepted him completely and stood by him through everything.
He said slowly, "If we do this, we do it right."
"No secrets, no jealousy, and no picking favorites. We talk to each other, help each other, and figure things out as we go. And if it doesn’t work or makes anyone unhappy, we stop and think about it again."
"Deal?"
"Deal," Marina said right away.
"Deal," Lylia said again, and the smile on her face was so bright that it could have been the sun.
"Great," Greg said. "Can we please get in the carriage now before this conversation gets any more awkward?"
"One more thing," Marina said, and her smile turned into a sly grin. "We should probably tie the knot. All three of us must make it official."
Greg’s brain short-circuited again. "What?"
"You heard me," Marina said again, clearly enjoying how he reacted. "A real ceremony, with witnesses and everything."
"We saved a kingdom, so we should celebrate by getting married."
"What do you think, Lylia? Want to get married to this thick blacksmith?"
"I just told you how I feel five minutes ago, Marina," Lylia said, laughing despite herself. "Maybe we could go out for more than a day before we talk about getting married?"
"What’s the fun in that?" Marina complained, but she changed her mind when she saw how scared Greg really was. "Okay, okay. For now, let’s not discuss the wedding, but I’ll mention it again in a few months, so get ready."
Greg said firmly, "I’m not ready for marriage to anyone."
"Can we just focus on getting home and dealing with the fact that we made it through the end of the world? Please?"
"You’re a spoilsport," Marina said with love, and then she got into the carriage. "Come on, lovebirds. If we don’t hurry, Bork will leave without us."
Greg and Lylia looked at each other, still trying to figure out what had just happened. Then they got into the carriage with Marina.
There wasn’t much room inside because they were all crammed in there, but it felt right. It was known to be not dangerous because this is where their family was—messy, complicated, and perfect in its flaws.
Bork cracked the reins, and the Eternal Engine came to life, smoothly pulling the carriage forward. The city of Meridian started to fade away behind them, slowly disappearing into the distance.
They were heading home.
Finally.
Greg sat down, with Marina on one side and Lylia on the other. Both women leaned against him in comfortable silence.
Felix was already asleep across from him, exhausted from saying goodbye. Seraphine was reading a book she had somehow gotten her hands on and writing notes in the margins.
Elwen was looking out the window with a thoughtful look on her face. Mira had become solid enough to curl up in a corner, and her spirit form was finally stable.
This was his family. His Brotherhood.
His love life was so complicated that it would probably give him headaches for years to come. He wouldn’t trade it for anything.
The System notification showed up then.
Greg was so used to the interface being quiet and not saying anything during the battle that it was almost shocking to see the familiar golden text scroll across his vision. A soft chime played with each window that opened, one after the other.
[ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED: DEFEATED CALAMITY OF WEAPONS]
[REWARD: 50,000 EXPERIENCE POINTS]
[ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED: FREED 10,000+ TRAPPED SOULS]
[REWARD: TITLE - LIBERATOR]
[ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED: EXPOSED SYSTEMATIC CORRUPTION]
[REWARD: SKILL - TRUTH’S WEIGHT (Legendary)]
[ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED: FORGED LEGENDARY WEAPON]
[REWARD: PERMANENT +50% TO ALL CRAFTING SKILLS]
[ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED: MASTERED THIRD PATH]
[REWARD: CLASS EVOLUTION - HARMONIOUS ARTIFICER (Mythic)]
[ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED: SURVIVED DIVINE DISPLEASURE]
[REWARD: ???]
The notifications kept coming, a stream of achievements and rewards that would have made Greg happy in normal times. New abilities. New names. A class change to Mythic tier, which he didn’t even know was possible. But it was that last thing that made his blood run cold.
Survived Divine Displeasure.
The System had never done this before. It said the reward was three question marks. Greg paid attention to it and tried to find out more, and a new window opened. What he saw made his stomach drop.
[DIVINE NOTICE]
[The Gods are DISPLEASED with your choices]
[The Gods are DISPLEASED with your defiance]
[The Gods are DISPLEASED with your rejection of their purpose]
[You have refused to forge weapons]
[You have exposed the systems they established]
[You have chosen bonds over power]
[You have survived what should have killed you]
[You have taught others to question divine will]
[The Gods have voted: 3-0]
[Commentary privileges: REVOKED]
[Divine observation: SUSPENDED]
[Direct intervention: AUTHORIZED IF NECESSARY]
[You are on your own, Greg Greyson]
[We will be watching from a distance]
[We will not intervene again]
[We will not comment again]
[We will not guide again]
[But know this: Our displeasure is noted]
[And gods have long memories]
[Good luck]
[You’re going to need it]
The window shut, and the system stopped working for a second, but he can still use the smithing and crafting. It was completely and utterly quiet, like it had never been before.
No comments. No snide remarks. No hints, help, or even helpful notifications. Just an empty space where the gods used to be.
Greg sat there, staring at nothing, thinking about what he had just read. The gods were not content.
The beings who had reincarnated him, given him the System, and watched him closely for years were so angry that they stopped talking to him. And even worse, they had given the go-ahead for "direct intervention if necessary," which sounded very much like a threat.
"Greg?" Marina’s voice broke through his racing thoughts. "Are you okay? You just turned really pale."
"I’m fine," he lied, but then he changed his mind because they had just agreed to be honest. "No, actually..."
"I just got a message from the system. The gods are mad at me."
"They’ve stopped watching and commenting, and they’ve made it clear that they’re not happy with my choices."
Lylia said firmly, "The gods can be angry."
"They brought you back to life to make weapons, but you said no. They wanted a tool, but you turned into a person."
"That’s their problem, not yours."
Marina said, "She’s right. Since day one, you’ve been going against the gods, and you’re still here and alive."
"You are still making the world a better place. No matter what they say they’re going to do, we’ll deal with it together. That’s what family does."
Greg wanted to trust them and to feel better by listening to what they said and putting the warning from God out of his mind, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that something had changed at its core. That he had gone too far and couldn’t go back, and the results would be bad.
Marina and Lylia were right about one thing, though. He was no longer alone.
No matter what happened next or what the gods had in store for him, he wouldn’t have to face it alone. He was a member of the Brotherhood. He had a family. He had love, even though it was hard and messy.
That would have to do.
The carriage rolled through the countryside, taking them to Ferndale, their home, and whatever uncertain future awaited them. Greg made a promise to himself in the quiet where the gods’ comments used to be.
He would keep making connections instead of weapons. He won’t tear things down, but he will keep building. He will also chandlee and family and the messy, beautiful connections between people over power, fame, and God’s approval.
Even if it meant going up against the gods themselves.
Even if the cost was more than he could have imagined.
Even though he was really alone in ways he had never been before.
He would not be sorry for what he did. He wouldn’t turn into what they wanted him to be.
His name was Greg Greyson. He was now the blacksmith who made connections, unlike the one who had previously refused to make weapons.
The Peace Champion. And he would deal with whatever came next the same way he had dealt with everything else.
With his family by his side. With hope in his heart. With the belief that some things were worth fighting for, no matter what.
The divine silence went on and on, heavy and scary, but Greg closed his eyes and leaned back against the two women he loved, feeling their warmth, their presence, and their unwavering support.
Let the gods get mad. Let them make threats, act tough, and plan.
He had found something more important than their approval. He had found a place to fit in with purpose and love.
And he would do everything he could to keep it safe.
No matter what.
