Arin's body stiffened.
The Goddess' question echoed in his mind.
"Do you know what you are carrying?"
The air felt thinner.
He swallowed.
His fingers curled slightly at his side.
He forced himself to breathe.
In.
Out.
"My Lady…"
His voice was steady — barely.
"I don't know what Cutie is."
"I don't understand it."
That was the truth.
For the first time since he arrived in this realm—
He chose honesty without calculation.
The Goddess studied him.
Then—
She asked something unexpected.
"Do you wish to know?"
The question struck him harder than any command.
She was asking.
Not ordering.
Arin blinked.
Even Caelum's gaze shifted slightly.
Arin inhaled faintly.
"…Yes, my Lady."
The hall grew quieter.
The air thickened.
Even light seemed to slow.
Then—
She spoke.
"The thing you carry…"
Her voice changed.
It was no longer merely regal.
It was ancient.
"It is older than the divine guard who stands beside you."
Caelum's eyes sharpened.
"It existed before his birth."
The space trembled faintly.
"It existed before many of the current pantheon took form."
Arin felt a chill creep down his spine.
The Goddess rose slowly from her throne.
Golden radiance flowed softly around her — not overwhelming, but immeasurable.
"Long ago…"
Her voice resonated deeper.
"There was an entity known as the Hollow Sovereign."
The name itself felt wrong in the air.
Heavy.
Hungry.
"As its title suggests…"
"It was not a king of land."
"Nor ruler of a domain."
"It was sovereign of absence."
"Sovereign of void."
Arin felt Cutie tremble faintly behind him.
"It did not conquer."
"It did not speak."
"It absorbed."
The hall darkened slightly as she continued.
"Light."
"Power."
"Memory."
"Existence."
"Everything it encountered… diminished."
"Warriors fell."
"Demons dissolved."
"Lesser gods were erased as though they had never been."
Even Caelum's expression tightened.
"This was not destruction."
"It was subtraction."
Silence pressed down like gravity.
"Many brave beings stood against it."
"They were not defeated."
"They were consumed."
Arin's throat went dry.
"And so…"
She continued calmly,
"The divine coalition was formed."
"Gods."
"Ancient spirits."
"Primordial forces."
"And I."
The faintest hint of cold authority entered her tone.
"It could not be killed."
"For it had no core."
"No heart."
"No ego."
"No ambition."
"It simply was."
"An endless hunger."
"So we sealed it."
"Layer by layer."
"Divine law upon divine law."
"Reality binding reality."
"With each seal, its power diminished."
"With each seal, its presence fractured."
She paused.
Her golden gaze shifted toward Arin.
"When the final seal was to be placed…"
"The Hollow Sovereign had been reduced to almost nothing."
"A dying echo."
"A fading fragment."
Then—
Her eyes sharpened.
"And then…"
"You arrived."
The words felt unreal.
Arin's heart pounded.
"You were not meant to exist within this equation."
"You were an anomaly."
"A foreign variable."
"When you entered this realm…"
"The final fragment of the Hollow Sovereign sought survival."
"Instinctively."
"Desperately."
"It attached itself to the nearest compatible vessel."
Silence.
Her gaze pierced him.
"That vessel was you."
Arin felt his knees weaken.
"The final seal was completed."
"The Sovereign was bound."
"Almost erased."
"But its last remnant…"
She looked at the faint glow behind him.
"…remained."
Cutie trembled softly.
"It no longer possesses its former will."
"It no longer holds its former power."
"It is not the Hollow Sovereign."
"It is merely the last surviving instinct of its existence."
"A fragment."
"A spark of the void."
Arin's voice barely emerged.
"…You're saying Cutie is… that thing?"
"No."
Her answer was immediate.
"It was that thing."
"Now it is something else."
Her gaze softened — only slightly.
"It has been weakened beyond recognition."
"It should not be able to resist me."
She looked thoughtful.
"And yet…"
"It hides."
"It speaks."
"It expresses remorse."
A faint, dangerous curiosity entered her eyes.
"How fascinating."
Caelum finally spoke.
"My Lady… does this fragment pose a threat?"
She was silent for a moment.
Then—
"Not in its current state."
"But fragments grow."
Arin's chest tightened.
She stepped closer.
Her presence felt overwhelming now.
"Human."
"If that fragment regains even a fraction of what it once was…"
"It will not consume this realm."
"It will begin with you."
The words landed cold.
But then—
She added calmly:
"Unless…"
Her gaze sharpened again.
"You shape it first."
Silence.
Heavy.
Transformative.
Arin stood frozen.
Behind him, the small glow pulsed faintly.
No longer just adorable.
Not just a companion.
But the final echo of something gods once feared.
And for the first time—
Arin understood.
His survival was no longer just about obeying her.
He was carrying something that could one day challenge even divinity.