The Goddess of Space looked like she wanted to explode.
Actually...no.
She looked like she wanted to lecture him for three straight days, smite him once, bring him back to life, and lecture him again.
But right as she opened her mouth to unleash that volcano—
She froze.
A flicker of awareness crossed her face.
She was a Goddess, and he was a mortal.
And here she was, grabbing him by the collar, shaking him like a rag doll, yelling at him until her voice cracked.
Her cheeks flushed pink in embarrassment.
She shut her mouth, closed her eyes tightly, inhaled—
In…
Out…
In…
Out…
She looked like she was following a divine-level yoga routine just to keep herself from screaming again.
Finally, with a graceful composure befitting divinity, she opened her eyes and spoke with a calm, controlled, terrifyingly gentle tone.
"…When I sent you down there."
She began slowly.
"I did not ask much of you, Luca."
Luca swallowed.
'Oh boy.'
'This was worse than the yelling tone.'
"All I told you was that the world you were entering was fragile." She continued serenely. "That it was…special. A very important place for us goddesses. That's why I told you—explicitly—that as an outer element, you were not to cause disruption."
Her eyes narrowed slightly.
"I warned you that chaos would break the balance. I told you to keep a low profile. To blend in. To avoid large-scale conflict."
She paused, letting her words hang heavy in the air.
"I asked you to remain calm, to restrain yourself, and to not cause any major incidents."
Then she leaned forward slightly, a dangerous smile curling her lips.
"And you remember that, don't you?"
Luca nodded slowly, feeling a bead of sweat trail down his neck.
"Uh…yeah. I remember."
"Good." She said before her lips twitched as she said, "Then you should also remember that I asked you not to be brutal, not to commit any unnecessary massacres, and not to draw too much attention to yourself."
Her voice hardened.
"Yet barely a few minutes after you arrived—literally minutes—you massacred over a hundred humans."
Luca blinked. "...ah."
"You also didn't just kill them. You pulled out their hearts..." She continued mercilessly. "...stacked them into a grotesque pile, and turned your very first moments in that world into a bloodbath so brutal that even the heavens turned pale."
"The mortals who found that battlefield vomited at the sight and you—single-handedly—created a scene that would make demons faint."
Luca looked away, guilt flickering in his eyes.
"…In my defense, they were trying to kill me first."
The goddess sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose.
"Yes. Yes, I know. I excused that. They were enemies, and you acted in self-defense. I understand that. I let it go. I didn't even bring it up to the others. I thought, 'Fine. He's adapting. It happens.'"
Her calm tone lasted about five seconds.
Then her eyebrow twitched.
But then…"
She exhaled slowly, her expression darkening again.
"Then you went to the royal capital."
Luca's stomach sank. "Ah. That…"
She pointed at him with a trembling hand.
"Yes, that! You didn't just 'defend yourself' this time—you wiped out an entire royal lineage!"
"You executed everyone in the palace except the king, who's still shaking like a leaf in his dungeon!"
"You cut down nobles, generals, ministers—anyone even remotely connected to the invasion."
"There were so many headless bodies that the mortuaries ran out of space and because of that, do you know what parents are telling their children down there now?!"
She threw her hands up.
"They tell their children, 'Behave, or the head-taking demon will come for you!' You've literally become a bedtime horror story!"
Luca winced. "…Okay, that's a bit exaggerated—"
"It's not exaggerated!" She snapped, before inhaling deeply again and trying to calm herself.
"In any case." She continued more steadily. "I forgave that too. It was brutal, but I could still justify it."
"The royal family were the masterminds behind the invasion, and removing them technically stabilized the border. It disrupted the balance, yes, but it was necessary. Manageable. It could stop future headaches."
"So, I defended you again." She sighed, pressing a hand to her forehead. "I pushed back the goddesses on the human side, convinced them it was all part of the plan."
"It was exhausting—but I managed."
Her eyes opened again, sharp and glowing.
"But then…"
The calm vanished. Fury returned.
"Instead of staying on the demi-human continent—where you could have rested, built trust, enjoyed some peace—you went on another rampage!"
She threw her arm out dramatically, her voice echoing like thunder.
"You tore through the human lands like a curse! Nobles, ministers, merchants, bandits—anyone who even looked corrupt—you slaughtered them all!"
"D-Do you know how many died because of you in a single week?"
She glared at him, her wrathful aura flaring.
"Sixteen thousand!"
Luca blinked. "Wait—sixteen—?"
"Yes!" She bellowed. "Sixteen thousand souls! In one week! Entire bloodlines wiped out!"
"Do you know what that looks like from the heavens? Like someone tipped over a bowl of glowing lights—all of them ascending at once! It was chaos! Total chaos!"
She began pacing again, her robes rippling with cosmic energy.
"And because of your casual genocide, the goddesses on the human side stormed my realm, banging on my gates!"
"They demanded explanations! They said I'd unleashed a catastrophe on their people! And the demi-human goddesses accused them back, saying it was divine retribution for the invasion!"
"It almost turned into a full-scale heavenly war!"
Luca stood still, completely dumbfounded.
"Wait, there's actually politics up there?"
"Of course there is!" She barked. "You think gods sit around drinking tea all day?!"
Then, sighing deeply, she pressed her fingers against her temple.
"Thankfully… my sister managed to calm them down. We negotiated, balanced the scales, and reached an uneasy peace. For now."
Her voice softened, but her eyes burned with quiet anger as she looked back at him.
"But make no mistake." She said coldly. "If you hadn't done what you did, none of this would have happened."
"The heavens wouldn't have been in turmoil. I wouldn't have been hounded, scolded, blamed for your chaos. I've been losing sleep over this, Luca."
Her words hung in the air like heavy thunderclouds before she took a small step closer, her tone quieter but firm.
"So tell me, hero. Why? Why would you do all that?"
"You could have lived peacefully, been adored, helped the demi-humans rebuild, and yet you decided to plunge the human realm into a river of blood."
"Why? Why would you do something like that caused me such a headache?"
Her gaze pierced into him—divine, furious, but undeniably curious.
And seeing her gaze and realising what he had triggered, Luca felt a wave of guilt and discomfort wash over him.
It was obvious she had gone through a great deal because of him—shouldering heavenly complaints, balancing celestial politics, and nearly igniting a universal war—all because of his actions.
He wanted to disappear back into the portal right then, to escape her blazing stare and avoid the scolding he so clearly deserved.
But that was impossible.
So, with an awkward cough and a hesitant glance, he muttered.
"Well… that's actually because I was trying to help the human race out."
The Goddess of Space blinked, her anger freezing for a second.
"What?"
She asked incredulously.
"Help them? Explain to me—how exactly is massacring sixteen thousand people supposed to help the human race?"
Luca gulped, visibly squirming before saying,
"Alright, I know it sounds bad when you put it like that, but let me explain, okay?"
She crossed her arms, unimpressed.
"Go ahead, mortal. Enlighten me as to how you think genocide is good."