Chapter 54: A stupid Mistake.
[Warning!! The targeted lifeform has entered a Vegetative State due to excessive forced usage of God’s Whisper.]
[Severe soul damage detected.]
"What...?"
"Wh-What have I done?"
The last fragments of suspicion quietly shattered inside Volcano’s heart. The crimson warnings, the desperate inquiry, the anger he hadn’t even realized he was carrying... all of them suddenly felt meaningless. No matter how many times he replayed those moments in his mind, the conclusion remained unchanged.
Only one scene continued returning to him.
Gre Ka Go collapsing beneath the unbearable pressure of God’s Whisper.
Blood flowing from his mouth.
The terrified faces of the Magnari watching helplessly.
Gre Ka Chu desperately holding onto his unmoving body, screaming at everyone to stay away.
And finally...
The notification informing him that Gre Ka Go had entered a Vegetative State.
The images refused to disappear. They repeated endlessly until, at some point, Volcano found himself lowering his head, his teeth unconsciously pressing against his thumbnail. His breathing had become irregular, yet he barely noticed. His entire mind was trapped by a single realization.
He hadn’t discovered an imposter, nor had he exposed a hidden enemy threatening his civilization.
The person he had nearly destroyed was the very same Magnari who had carried Volcan from a primitive tribe into the civilization it was becoming today.
"No..."
Without even realizing it himself, Volcano uttered the word.
Unlike before, Volcano knew exactly what God’s Whisper could do. After all, the first time he had used it, he had already witnessed the unbearable burden it placed upon a soul. He had watched Gre Ka Go cough blood and endure pain that no mortal should ever have experienced.
Yet when doubt entered his heart, he reached for that same method again — attempting to confront the very root of the problem before fully understanding whether there was truly a problem at all.
Because he was impatient.
Now that the haze had completely cleared from his mind, Volcano couldn’t help but wonder...
If Gre Ka Go had truly been an imposter all along, what exactly would he have done?
Would he have killed him?
Or would he have tried to understand the reason behind his actions?
After all, when he looked at the situation objectively, Gre Ka Go’s actions had actually been benefiting Volcano.
But none of that mattered anymore.
With a long, shaky breath, Volcano stared down at his own hands.
These were the hands that had promised to nurture Volcan, protect it, and guide it toward becoming a world capable of standing beside the countless civilizations scattered throughout the universe.
Yet those same hands had almost killed the individual who had contributed more to that dream than Volcano himself ever could.
"Why am I like this? Why am I such an idiot when it actually matters?"
A bitter smile briefly appeared on his face before fading away.
"No... I can’t let it end here..."
He shook his head vigorously.
Whether Gre Ka Go recovered tomorrow or never woke again would not erase what had happened. For those terrifying moments, his heart had stopped because of Volcano’s own actions.
That truth would remain forever.
His gaze slowly returned to the crimson planet floating beneath him.
Volcan continued drifting through the endless Void exactly as it always had. Volcanoes erupted. Rivers of magma flowed across the surface. Life continued moving beneath the sky.
From this distance, nothing seemed different.
Yet somewhere on that tiny world, inside a simple wooden house, lay the person responsible for almost everything Volcan had become.
"...I have to fix this... Somehow..."
Volcano clenched his fists.
"It’s a game built upon magic and science! A revolutionary creation of all of humanity... surely there has to be a scientific or magical cure for this..."
The moment those words left his mouth, he reopened the Universal Marketplace. His eyes moved frantically through every category available.
Recovery.
Medicine.
Soul Restoration.
Divine Treasures.
Anything.
Anything that could repair a damaged soul.
Thousands of items appeared before him, each one carrying descriptions that promised miracles beyond mortal understanding.
Soul Nourishing Dew.
Spirit Reconstruction Elixir.
Divine Nectar.
World Heart Essence.
For the first time since the realization struck him, hope appeared within his heart.
Then his eyes drifted toward the prices.
12,000 Faith Points.
31,500 Faith Points.
87,000 Faith Points.
The hope disappeared a mere moment after it appeared.
Volcano remained staring at the marketplace for several seconds before finally closing it.
"Why the hell is this... shit so expensive?!"
It wasn’t that he didn’t know how to save Gre Ka Go.
It was that he couldn’t even afford the possibility of it.
His fingers hesitated before opening Universal Chat.
Pride no longer mattered.
A God begging strangers for help would have once been unthinkable.
Now, if lowering his head could save Gre Ka Go, he would do it without hesitation.
Volcano: Emergency. Please... does anyone know how to heal severe soul damage? My civilization’s leader entered a Vegetative State after God’s Whisper, and I want to help him. Please, I don’t have enough Faith Points, and my worship system hasn’t even... opened yet. I can trade if you have anything that could heal a mortal soul.
The moment he sent the message, Volcano was forced to watch it appear and disappear beneath an endless flood of other conversations.
«Kingsfolk: Buying Mana Ore.»
«Ashenheart: Selling World Fragments.»
«SilverRoot: Purchasing High-Grade Spirit Seeds.»
«EmberLord: Need Fire Essence.»
Volcano kept staring at the chat window, refreshing it again and again despite already knowing what would happen.
And just as he expected, no one answered.
His plea disappeared into the endless stream of transactions, forgotten before anyone even noticed it.
Only then did he finally understand something he had never truly considered.
For all the authority a Lesser God possessed...
For all the miracles he could create...
For all the lives he could influence...
When it came to protecting the one person who mattered most...
He was still powerless.
"Tssskkk..."
He bit his lips hard until they bled as he helplessly turned his gaze toward the spinning world.
Inside that world, several months must have already passed by.
Merging his consciousness with it, his divine sense trembled slightly in shock.
"Wh... what is this bloodbath?"