She didn't answer him right away. For a few seconds, the silence stretched heavy between them. Then, slowly, she lifted her head and looked straight at him.
"It worked."
Kaiden blinked, frozen.
But she didn't sound happy. Her voice carried no excitement, no pride, just a kind of flat calm that made his chest tighten. He didn't even feel relief. Something about her tone was off.
He sighed and lowered his gaze. "I must've awakened a weak soul ability, huh?"
The words came out half as a joke, half as a bitter truth. For a second back there, he really thought he did it. That maybe this time, luck had picked his side. But hearing her tone… yeah, no way. It must've been bad.
He exhaled deeply, shoulders sinking. "So that's it then. Guess this is where I die."
He tried to laugh at his own words, but it came out dry. Maybe it wasn't such a bad thing. After all, he'd been through worse than death. Maybe this would be the peace he'd been waiting for.
"Quite the opposite."
Her calm voice sliced through his thoughts.
His head snapped up instantly. "What did you say?"
The goddess' tone didn't change, but he could swear he saw her shadowy form shift slightly, almost like she was… intrigued.
"You awakened a very strong power," she said slowly. "I never thought humans had it in them to awaken something like this."
He furrowed his brows, confusion knotting up his face. "What are you talking about?"
For a long second, she didn't reply. Then she tilted her head slightly upward, the formless darkness that made up her face turning toward him. A faint smile, one he couldn't see but somehow felt, spread across her unseen lips.
"What I mean," she said softly, "is that you will die."
"What!"
Kaiden's eyes widened, his voice almost cracking.
Was she serious? He'd heard the word "die" so many times today he was starting to think it was her favorite word. Did everything with this woman have to end with his death?
His heartbeat quickened as his face twisted in disbelief. "Are you messing with me right now? You just said I awakened something strong! How the hell does that mean I'm gonna die?"
"Let me explain what I mean," she said, rising slowly from where she floated. Her tone had changed, less cold now, more serious, like even she wasn't entirely comfortable with what she was about to say.
"You awakened a very strong power. In the other realms, they call it Void. It has only appeared three times since the beginning of the universe."
Kaiden froze.
For a moment, all he could do was stare at her.
The way she said "other realms" didn't even surprise him that much anymore, he already figured this world wasn't like Earth. But the way her tone dropped when she said the word Void sent a chill crawling down his spine.
"Every time someone awakens the Void soul," she continued, "they are hunted down by different forces until they eventually lose their life."
Her words landed heavy, like cold stones falling one by one.
Kaiden gulped, his throat suddenly dry. "D-Different forces? What kind of forces?"
When she said it, she said it with weight, real weight. The kind that made the air feel thicker. And if she, a goddess, called them that, then he could only imagine what kind of monsters she meant.
His hands trembled slightly as he stared at her shadowy figure. If those kinds of forces would be after him, then he was basically ruined before he'd even started.
He didn't even know what "Void" meant yet, but he was already sure of one thing, whatever this power was, it wasn't something normal.
And from the look or the feeling coming off her, he could tell she wasn't exaggerating.
The room felt colder suddenly, like the shadows themselves were whispering. Kaiden tried to open his mouth, to say something, anything but no words came out.
He was in trouble. Big trouble.