The battlefield became silent.
Thousands of beasts stood behind Kael, their heads lowered in respect.
The new Beast Sovereign had finally been acknowledged.
But Kael did not feel victorious.
He looked at the enormous rift in the sky.
Beyond it was the truth he had been searching for.
The origin of his power.
The secret of the First Sovereign.
And the reason the Void Hunters had feared his awakening.
The Abyssal Fenrir moved beside him.
"You cannot trust the Void Monarch."
Kael looked at the ancient beast.
"I know."
"It will try to control me."
The Fenrir nodded.
"Worse."
"It will try to make you doubt yourself."
Kael remained silent.
Because he understood.
The greatest battles were not always fought with claws and weapons.
Some were fought inside the heart.
The Void Hunter approached slowly.
His body was still damaged from the corruption spreading through him.
"You should not go."
Kael glanced at him.
"Why?"
The hunter looked toward the rift.
"Because no one who entered the Void returned unchanged."
Kael smiled slightly.
"Then I will be the first."
The hunter studied him.
"You really are different from the previous Sovereigns."
Kael turned toward his companions.
"Lyssa."
She immediately stepped forward.
"Master."
"You and the others will stay here."
Her expression changed.
"No."
"This is my order."
A long silence followed.
Kael looked at all of them.
"The Void is targeting me. If I bring you with me, you will only become their weakness."
Lyra clenched her fists.
"But what if you don't return?"
Kael looked at the rift.
"Then protect this world until someone stronger appears."
Nobody answered.
Because they all understood.
This was not a normal battle.
This was a journey into the unknown.
Kael stepped forward.
The Primordial Beast's power surrounded his body.
The rift reacted immediately.
A path of darkness formed.
The Void Monarch's voice echoed.
"Come, child of the ancient beast."
"See the truth buried beneath creation."
Kael entered.
The moment his foot crossed the boundary...
The world disappeared.
No sky.
No ground.
No time.
Only endless darkness.
Kael floated through the Void.
Strange memories surrounded him.
Ancient battles.
Lost civilizations.
Sovereigns who came before him.
One by one, he saw them.
The first Sovereign.
The second.
The third.
All of them fighting the same enemy.
All of them falling.
Then Kael saw something impossible.
A vision of the First Sovereign standing before the Void Monarch.
But he was not fighting.
They were speaking.
The First Sovereign said:
"You know the cost."
The Void Monarch replied:
"Yes."
"You will sacrifice your own existence."
The First Sovereign looked at the world behind him.
"I will."
"Because one day..."
"The final Sovereign will appear."
The vision changed.
The First Sovereign turned.
And looked directly at Kael.
As if he could see him through time.
"You."
Kael froze.
The ancient Sovereign spoke.
"If you are seeing this..."
"Then the seal has failed."
A cold feeling entered Kael's heart.
The First Sovereign continued.
"Remember this."
"The greatest enemy of a Sovereign is not the Void."
"It is the desire to stand above everything."
The vision disappeared.
A figure appeared in front of Kael.
The Void Monarch.
Now fully visible.
A gigantic being covered in black armor, with countless eyes across its body.
"You finally understand."
Kael stared at it.
"You were waiting for me."
The Void Monarch smiled.
"Not just waiting."
"Creating."
Kael's expression changed.
"What?"
The Void Monarch raised its hand.
A strange symbol appeared.
The same symbol that existed within Kael's Beast Sovereign power.
"You were never chosen."
"You were designed."
The darkness around them moved.
"And now..."
"The final piece has returned."
Kael's eyes narrowed.
"Returned to what?"
The Void Monarch answered:
"To the original throne of the Void."
For the first time...
Kael felt the Primordial Beast inside him become afraid.