Little Sun and Little Sun

Even after seeing the "shrunken" moon, Duncan still found it unbelievable when he saw and touched this tiny Ancient Star with his own hands.

It now lay in his hand, giving off a warm glow. The flames on its surface harmlessly brushed over his fingers, bringing only the faint sensation of feathers gliding across his skin.

But Duncan knew that, in some distant past, this little sphere of dazzling light had once illuminated the skies of the Senjin people and sheltered a civilization.

"...The followers of the Black Sun want this thing. One of the 'offspring' was even willing to risk itself for it. What do you think they want to do with this 'sun'?" Goat Head asked curiously, sunlight from Duncan's palm reflected in its eyes.

"Whether they're Sun Offspring or the Sun Remnants called 'survivors,' their sole objective has always been to 'resurrect' their 'mother'—the Black Sun, which is on the verge of death," Duncan said without looking up as he carefully turned the "miniature star" in his hand. "This inconspicuous little sphere contains 'information' from before the Great Annihilation. To the Black Sun, in its terrible condition... it may be some kind of crucial material for self-repair."

He paused, then slowly voiced some thoughts that had been gradually taking shape in his mind since earlier—

"Within that golden crystal, I saw the homeland where they once lived. They possessed an immense technological construct built around a star, and their entire civilization existed upon that construct. When the Great Annihilation occurred, that colossal structure must have suffered 'contamination' from other worlds as well, warping and mutating into its current form...

"I have a bold hypothesis. The so-called 'Black Sun' may be some kind of 'hybrid'—an entire civilization born around a star, collapsing together with that star and mutating