Chapter 52: Death.
[Warning!]
[A Higher Being is initiating "God’s Whisper" upon The Special User 007.]
The crimson notification appeared before Roman’s eyes.
For the briefest instant, his thoughts came to a complete halt.
The crushing pressure bearing down upon his soul hadn’t lessened in the slightest. Instead, it continued forcing itself deeper into his consciousness, as though an invisible existence of incomprehensible magnitude had fixed its attention upon him alone. Every heartbeat felt heavier than the last, his vision blurred around the edges, and a sharp metallic taste filled his mouth before another mouthful of blood escaped his lips, splattering across the wooden table.
"Cough...!"
The room erupted into chaos.
"Tribal Chief!"
"Brother Gre Ka Go!"
Several Magnari instinctively sprang to their feet, but before anyone could reach him, Gre Ka Chu threw herself forward, pulling Roman tightly into her embrace as she positioned herself between him and everyone else. Her eyes swept wildly across the room, every Magnari instantly becoming a potential threat as her claws extended with a harsh scrape, carving deep grooves into the wooden floor.
"BACK OFF!"
"I’LL KILL ANYONE WHO COMES ANY CLOSER!"
The roar echoed throughout the wooden house.
She had no idea what had suddenly happened to Gre ka Go. She couldn’t see the pressure crushing his soul or the crimson notifications hovering before his eyes. All she knew was that the person she treasured above everything else was suffering, and instinct alone demanded that she protect him.
[Character’s Mental Stability is deteriorating!!]
The gathered Magnari froze.
Confusion spread across every face. Only moments ago, Gre Ka Go had been calmly guiding them through questions about the world. Now he was coughing blood while Gre Ka Chu looked ready to slaughter anyone who approached.
"W-What are you doing, Sister Gre Ka Chu?" Gre Ma Go pleaded, carefully raising both hands. "Please... let us help him."
"Help him?"
Gre Ka Chu’s voice trembled with emotion as she tightened her hold around Gre ka Go.
"How am I supposed to trust any of you when one of you could be the reason he’s like this?!"
Her gaze darted from one Magnari to another, searching desperately for an enemy that didn’t exist.
[Character’s Mental Stability is deteriorating!!]
Roman barely registered the panic unfolding around him.
His entire focus remained fixed upon the crimson notification suspended before his eyes.
’A Higher Being...’
Despite the unbearable pressure crushing his consciousness, his breathing gradually steadied.
’What is this idiot trying to accomplish...?’
This hadn’t been part of his calculations.
From everything Roman had observed through their brief exchanges, Volcano wasn’t the sort of person who would recklessly invoke God’s Whisper even after witnessing what it was capable of doing to a first generational intelligent Magnari. He could be impulsive, certainly, but he was also overly considerate. Even without the ability to directly interfere with this era, he had always come across as someone genuinely supportive of his civilization. protective, emotional, and perhaps a little naive.
For him to resort to this.Something unexpected must have happened.
’Did he discover something...?’
Roman replayed every action he had taken since descending into Volcan, searching for a mistake he might have overlooked.
’I was careful...Wasn’t I?’
Another surge of agony crashed through his soul, forcing him to grit his teeth as his vision blurred even further.
"Tsk!"
’Damn it...’
’This idiot is being unusually forceful today.’
His gaze shifted toward the final line of the warning.
[Prepare for cognitive overload.]
Roman’s expression finally became serious.
If this continued much longer, he would have no choice but to abandon his first descent altogether without achieving anything.
Whether Volcano was acting intentionally or merely out of ignorance no longer mattered. His current vessel simply couldn’t withstand this much longer.
Without another moment’s hesitation, he extended his consciousness toward the Dao governing Volcan itself. His will merged with the world’s laws before carefully redirecting that power inward, reinforcing the very soul that was beginning to tear apart beneath God’s Whisper.
[Initiating Soul Strengthening...]
[100 Karma Points will be consumed every second.]
The response was immediate.
Roman felt the world itself acknowledge his call.
Countless invisible threads seemed to emerge from every corner of Volcan, intertwining around his soul as though the planet itself had reached out to protect one of its own. The fractures spreading through his consciousness gradually stabilized beneath the reinforcement, and although the agony refused to disappear, it finally stopped growing worse.
For the first time since the warning had appeared...
He could think clearly again...
At the same time, fragments of a voice began reaching him through the unbearable pressure, as though countless layers of distortion separated the speaker from his consciousness.
"Hey... █████..."
"Tell me... ███████"
"Who... the ███ are ███?"
"...Why are █████████ Gre Ka Go?"
That clarity and fregmanted words, however, brought with them a realization far more troubling than the pain itself.
With his current divinity, The Dao could strengthen his soul.
It couldn’t strengthen the body housing it.
Every beat of his heart now echoed violently through his chest, each one heavier than the last. Blood continued trickling from the corner of his mouth while dark veins slowly spread beneath the skin of his neck, his mortal body straining to contain a soul that was rapidly exceeding its limits.
Roman immediately understood the inevitable conclusion.
If this continued his soul would survive but his body wouldn’t.
A bitter smile tugged faintly at the corner of his lips.
’Wonderful.’
’I survive a cosmic interrogation... only to die from my own heartbeat.’
Before the thought had fully settled, another violent wave of pressure tore through his body.
Crack.
The sound was almost imperceptible that even Gre Ka Chu could hear it.
Her entire body stiffened.
"Gre ka Go...?"
For the first time since the chaos had begun, she called him by his name instead of his title. As the years passed by and Gre ka go became the first tribal chief, he had been calling him by ’My Chief’ instead of his name in front of others.
This time However, Roman barely heard her.
His vision had begun dissolving into darkness while the crimson notifications flickered erratically before his eyes.
[Warning!]
[Soul strengthening exceeding Vessel Tolerance.]
[Catastrophic feedback imminent.]
Roman slowly closed his eyes.
There was only one solution left.
If the body couldn’t endure the strain...
Then it simply had to stop fighting it.
Already connected to the Dao, his consciousness turned inward, passing through flesh, blood, and nerve until it reached the steady rhythm beating at the center of his chest.
His heart.
Without hesitation, he placed his will upon it.
’Rest.’
The next heartbeat never came.
Everything became still.
The warmth draining through his veins vanished almost instantly, and the pulse beneath Gre Ka Chu’s trembling hands disappeared without warning. Roman’s pupils gradually lost focus as every trace of tension left his body before he collapsed forward.
Gre Ka Chu caught him before he struck the floor.
"Gre ka Go!"
Her scream shook the entire settlement.
[Character’s mental stability is deteroting!!!]
She frantically pressed both hands against his chest, desperately searching for the familiar rhythm she had always taken for granted.
There was Nothing.
No pulse.Not a heartbeat.Neither any movement.
Her breathing became ragged.
"No..."
"No... no..."
"Wake up..."
She shook him once then repeating it several times.
"Wake up!"
Silence swallowed the room.
Gre Ma Go stood frozen, his face drained of color, while even the tribe’s elders stared in complete disbelief.
This wasn’t a hunter returning from a failed expedition.
This wasn’t another tragedy the tribe had learned to endure.
This was Gre Ka Go.
The Magnari who had transformed their world.
And for several horrifying seconds...
He lay utterly lifeless in Gre Ka Chu’s arms.
Outside, the volcanic wind continued to sweep across the settlement as though the world itself had yet to realize that the Anamoly that descended had just stopped breathing.