"Lord Kakabhushundi, what are you saying? He's already drowning in grief. We shouldn't turn that grief into anger!"
Queen Nirjadevi said anxiously, trying to calm Kakabhushundi down. In all the years she had known him, she had never seen him this furious before. That was exactly why she was afraid. The being standing before them was not an ordinary divine creature—he was a god who could travel through time itself. In his rage, she feared he might erase Om from the timeline altogether.
"Stay out of this, Your Majesty. This boy is not the only one at fault. All of you are equally responsible for believing that leaving him alone would somehow heal him!"
Kakabhushundi snapped, glaring at Queen Nirjadevi.
The moment she looked into his eyes, her entire body trembled. She was the queen of a race of demigods, yet the being standing before her was something far beyond that—a deity who moved freely across the river of time.
"Sir, I respectfully ask you to stop right there," Om said as he turned around, his voice filled with anger. "You have no idea what state of mind I'm in. Don't try to provoke me. Maybe I can't defeat you, but I won't back down either."
The tension in the air became almost unbearable.
Everyone present could practically feel the heat rising around them. Two immensely powerful beings stood face to face, staring each other down. The clash of their gazes alone was enough to make everyone around them nervous.
"You? Fight?" Kakabhushundi scoffed. "If only you actually could!
My friend Dhoomketu sacrificed himself so that you could fight. So that you could save this world. Not so you could waste your days drowning in sorrow!
Do you even realize what's at stake because of your weakness? The fate of the entire universe hangs by a thread, and you continue wasting precious time.
Do you have any idea how dangerous your enemy truly is?
And you're talking about your mental state?
I'm the fool here! I'm the fool who listened to Dhoomketu. He told me, 'My grandson carries my spirit. I trust him. He'll fulfill his duty.'
He knew his death was inevitable.
Yet because of his faith in you... because he trusted someone as useless as you... he sacrificed his own life!
Disgraceful...
Is this how you repay his sacrifice?"
Om froze.
His eyes widened in shock.
For the first time, the truth struck him like a blade.
His grandfather...
His father...
Both had died protecting him.
Both had placed their faith in him.
Before Om could even react, Kakabhushundi suddenly appeared right in front of him.
Placing both hands on Om's head, he activated a power unlike anything Om had ever felt.
A green light burst from Kakabhushundi's eyes.
The next instant, Om's eyes began glowing green as well.
And everything around him disappeared.
Om found himself standing in another world.
A battlefield.
A nightmare.
The war raging before him was beyond anything he could imagine.
Corpses covered the ground as far as the eye could see.
Entire cities had been reduced to rubble.
Far away, Om saw himself kneeling on the ground, holding his aunt's lifeless body in his arms while crying helplessly.
Everywhere he looked, destruction ruled.
Massive monsters roamed across the world, slaughtering people without mercy.
The more they killed, the louder they laughed.
And all Om could do was watch.
Another vision appeared before him.
This time he saw himself failing to control his powers.
One mistake.
One failure.
That was all it took.
His weakness became the reason the world fell.
Small innocent children were being crushed to death with a single punch.
Monsters drank their blood and danced over their bodies.
Unable to bear the horrifying sight, Om shut his eyes tightly.
His entire body trembled.
This couldn't be real.
It couldn't...
Then a voice echoed through the void.
"You are responsible for this."
Om immediately opened his eyes.
Standing before him was his grandfather.
Dhoomketu.
They were no longer on the battlefield.
Instead, they stood inside a strange realm filled with endless white light.
Both of them wore pure white robes, resembling the garments of heavenly sages.
Dhoomketu looked at him with sadness in his eyes.
The moment Om saw him, all the emotions he had been holding back came crashing down.
Falling to his knees, he cried out,
"Grandpa... why is all of this happening to me?
Why me?
Why does it always have to be me?"
"Because you still refuse to accept that this is your duty," Dhoomketu replied quietly.
"I explained it to you before.
Yet after everything, you've become the same person you were before we ever met.
You've let grief consume you again."
Tears streamed down Om's face.
"But I don't want any of this!
I don't want powers.
I don't want destiny.
I just want a normal, happy life.
I want to live peacefully with my family."
Dhoomketu knelt beside him.
"Power doesn't come and go based on what you want.
Power comes because you have the ability to carry it.
You want the strength.
You want the gifts.
But you don't want the responsibilities that come with them.
Why?"
"Because responsibilities take away the people we love!" Om shouted.
"They put them in danger!
The moment you become special, everyone around you becomes a target!"
"True," Dhoomketu answered calmly.
"But every power has a price.
You think your life has been painful because you've suffered since childhood.
Then tell me...
What about us?
Do you know what sacrifices we made?
Instead of spending my final years peacefully with my beloved grandson, I spent them fighting to keep you alive.
An old man spent his last days at war for his grandson.
Your father could have remained in Heaven in peace.
Instead, he returned to this world just to protect his son.
Son...
No one has ever asked you to sacrifice anything.
We were the ones who made sacrifices.
Everything we did was so you could live.
So you could grow stronger.
So you could survive.
But looking at you now...
It feels like all of those sacrifices were wasted."
Om lowered his head.
For the first time in a long time, he had no answer.
Not a single word.
Silence was all that remained.
Dhoomketu slowly stood up and stroked his beard.
"I won't be able to come and guide you again and again.
This conversation is only possible because of Kakabhushundi's merits.
This is our final meeting.
He thinks I'm a fool because I still believe in you.
And perhaps you've proven him right.
That's why he hates you.
The danger that's coming is far greater than you can imagine.
Even all the hidden powers scattered across countless worlds won't be enough to stop it.
And the one person who can stop it...
is wasting his time crying over his pain.
You still have time.
Pull yourself together.
Otherwise, it won't matter.
Many worlds have already fallen.
One more won't make any difference.
The only thing you'll have left is regret.
Because you'll know you could have saved them...
and chose not to.
And if you truly want to understand what your negligence can lead to...
ask Aditya.
Ask him what happened to his world because of one mistake."
The moment Dhoomketu finished speaking, his body dissolved into the endless light.
And suddenly—
Om opened his eyes.
Reality returned.
His legs gave out beneath him.
Right in front of everyone, he collapsed onto the ground.
Kakabhushundi silently watched him.
No longer angry.
Just watching.
Om slowly lifted his head.
He looked at the people standing around him.
Then his uncle hurried toward him and bent down, trying to help him up.
But Om's eyes had already found Aadi.
Staring directly at him, Om asked in a trembling voice,
"What happened...
to your world?"
The moment those words left his mouth, Aadi froze.
Shock spread across his face.
And so did the faces of everyone standing around him.