Hollow Core

From the lingering veil of shadows, it stepped out.

At first, Kael couldn't believe what he was seeing. The tall, broad-shouldered frame. The worn-battle armor. The familiar, unshakable presence.

Drevan?

Kael's breath hitched in his throat.

'He's alive.'

Beside him, Rendrik let out a stunned exhale.

"No way… the old sack is still kicking."

Drevan stepped forward, his heavy boots crunching softly against the gravel. His movement was slow, but deliberate—too deliberate. His body should have been battered, torn, even, from fighting those Hunters, yet he moved with an unnatural ease, as if nothing had touched him.

Relief surged through Kael's chest like a tide. He didnt know how, but Drevan had survived. That meant there was still hope.

"Captain," Kael finally managed to choke out. "The convoy—what happened? Where is everyone?"

But Drevan didn't answer.

Kael frowned, stepping forward, however, he did it cautiously.

"Captain.... Sir?"

"....."

The strength of Rendrik's sudden grip on Kael's shoulder stopped him cold, reminding him of a protective father, a thing he had only heard about in the stories of his peers but had never known himself. Still it was unmistakable. Rendrik was saving him from making a grave mistake.

Kael turned to face him and felt a wave of warning as his gaze fell on Rendrik's darkened expression. Then, slowly, he returned his gaze back to Drevan's.

The shadows clinging to Drevan's body seemed to cling too tightly, shifting unnaturally as his chest heaved with every breath. Then Kael saw his face clearly for the first time.

And the world stopped.

Drevan's eyes—once sharp and weathered by countless battles—now glowed. A golden-red, the same unnatural hue as the Hollow Sun. The color pulsed and flickered like a dying flame, but worse were the cracks. Deep, jagged fissures spread from the edges of his sockets, extending down his cheeks like the cracked canyon walls around them. His expression remained unreadable and devoid of emotion.

Cold dread gripped Kael's spine like a vice.

'No. No, this isn't real.'

"Drevan…?" His voice wavered. He took another step forward, desperate to make sense of what he was seeing.

Then, without a word—Drevan lifted his sword.

The movement was slow and effortless. No hesitation. No recognition. Just intent.

Kael's chest tightened. He didn't move. Rather, he couldn't. He should have been running, raising his guard, doing something— but his body was locked in place. His mind screamed at him to think, to react, but all he could do was stare at the man who had once been their fearless leader.

"Kael," Rendrik's voice came from right in front of him.

Kael's eyes snapped toward him.

'Wait—what?'

Rendrik wasn't beside him anymore. He was—in front.

His stance was low, one foot pressed hard into the dirt, and his entire body braced. But a second ago, he had been standing at Kael's side. How had he moved so fast?

No. It wasn't just fast.

Kael's mind whirled, scrambling for an answer. Rendrik's movement—it had been instantaneous. One moment he had been still, the next he was there. At least 215 kilometers per hour. But that wasn't just above a lower B-Class Chosen's capabilities. That was—impossible.

The realization sent ice down Kael's veins.

But Rendrik just grinned, stretching his fingers.

"What took you so long, Captain? I was just telling my comrade here how bored I was getting."

Kael's heart pounded.

'What is he talking about? The captain isn't just exhausted or injured. Something had happened to him.'

'And Rendrik—how was he smiling?'

Drevan didn't respond. Didn't move. He simply stared at them with those glowing, hollow eyes.

Then, with a sound like cracking stone, his lips parted.

And Drevan spoke.

But the voice that came out wasn't his, not exactly.

"This is where... you die."

Drevan exploded forward.

His body was a blur. His sheer speed left behind flickering after-images between the swirling shadows of Kael's barley maintained barrier.

Kael barely had time to register the movement before the clash.

"BANG!"

Rendrik's flaming palms caught the monstrous swing of Drevan's sword with a single clap. The impact sent a shockwave through the barrier and nearly fractured the very ground beneath them from the force.

Kael staggered back, feeling the echoes hammering against his ribs.

'That speed. That power,' he thought.

Even for an S-Class Chosen, Drevan shouldn't have been this fast. But Rendrik...

Rendrik matched it.

For a fraction of a second, Kael saw his comrade's face--gritted teeth, narrow eyes, adrenaline-laced exhilaration?

'He isn't just reacting. He's enjoying this!'

Rendrik twisted, coiling his body to deliver a sweeping kick. The fire along his leg ignited into an inferno. But before he could finish--

Something lunged through the barrier.

A Lesser Hollow, snarling, and headed straight for Kael.

His instincts screamed at him to move, but it was already too late.

Rendrik saw it. And in a single seamless motion, he redirected his kick.

His flaming boot whipped through the air, and the instant his heel connected with the Hollow's skull--

"BOOM."

The Lesser Hollow erupted into a rolling fireball, it's twisted body tumbling back out of the barrier before it could've ever reached Kael.

He tried meeting his gaze, but Rendrik wasn't looking at him. He was watching the Hollow.

Even with all the chaos around them, Rendrik had noticed something.

The Hollow hadn't looked at Kael. Not even once.

It had charged toward him, yes--but it wasn't tracking him. Not like it should have. Not like they always did.

That meant that Kael was invisible. And that meant--

The barrier worked.

"Oi, rookie! You seeing this?"

Kael swallowed hard.

"What?"

"They can't see you," Rendrik said, but his eyes flickered with something dangerously close to excitement. "The shadow barrier--it's screwing with their senses. It's not just blocking their vision--it's making us disappear!"

Kael's mind raced. That shouldn't be possible. His shadow abilities had never done anything like that before.

But it made sense. The Lesser Hollow had been moving in a straight line. No adjustments. No hesitation. It was a random attack, as if it was hoping it's target was there.

Rendrik's grip tightened on the Drevan's sword as he adjusted his weight to keep the captain off balance.

"Listen to me, Kael! You keep this barrier up no matter what. Without question?"

But by the time Rendrik finished--a sharp, wet sound filled the air.

Kael's stomach plummeted. He turned--just in time to see a jagged, bone-white spike sticking out of Rendrik's side. And as the protruding spike grew in length, Rendrik gasped. His eyes grew wide as blood spilled from his lips.

Slightly out of sight, in front of him, Drevan's arm was extended, the bone-spike growing out of his palm.

Kael barely had time to react before Drevan twisted his hand, ripping the spike free in a splatter of crimson.

Rendrik let out a sharp, choked noise, stumbling back and and clutching his bleeding side. And in an instant, he vanished, reappearing several meters away.

But he was coughing--gagging--on his own blood.

Kael's pulse pounded in his ears--not because of fear or panic but the cold realization that his best and perhaps only chance of surviving was badly injured and on the verge of dying.

Drevan tilted his head, watching Rendrik with cold, unreadable eyes. The sight of it made Kael's throat lock.

They weren't going to survive this.

The mission was over.

Death was imminent.

These were the kind of moments Kael feared the most. Not being alone in a world where everyone knew everyone. Not losing everything when he barely had anything to begin with. He feared dying on his first mission before he could prove everyone back home wrong. Shut up the bastards that taunted him on a daily basis, especially the cunt bastards at the academy. After his parents died in the 12th Hollow War, he became the walking embarrassment that he was now. But he swore, to himself, to become a force no one would dare mock.

That's why he refused to give up. That's why he wouldn't let himself die.

"Not today... I'm not dying today!"

Clenching his fists, he bared his teeth and stepped towards Rendrik.

"Get up, dammit!"

But Rendrik wheezed, barely able to hold himself together. So Kael filled his weak lungs with as much air as he could, and raised his voice to a deep bellow.

"Get up and fight, you idiot! You're a low ranking B-Class Chosen. The Blazing Pyrokinetic, Rendrik Vale. It doesn't matter if he's S-Class! Dying without a fight is unacceptable! It's damn right disrespectful!"

For a moment, Rendrik lifted his gaze, fire began flickering in his palm, and Kael believed...

Until--

A sharp cold bloomed in his chest, only growing colder as the seconds went by.

Kael froze. He never saw Drevan move.

Yet, there he was.

Towering over him--a demonic expression hidden beneath those fractured, Hollow eyes.

Kael tried to breathe, but the air wouldn't come. He didn't bother to look down. He didn't need to.

He already knew.

The weight of the massive blade--the sheer weight of it lodged into his chest--told him everything.

Instead, his gaze found Rendrik. Or what was left of him.

Kael watched in horror as his teammate's torso tipped backwards--

And fell.

It hit the ground separately from the rest of his body. And, in that moment, Kael felt something in his mind snap.

The world went cold.

Everything... went cold.

Everything--except the burning, haunting gaze from Drevan.

Kael should have been afraid. Should have felt something.

But he didn't.

Because he was already gone.

His eyes had slowly began to pull shut.

And just before the darkness took him, a voice--familiar and alien all at once--whispered in his mind.

[Chosen! You have unlocked the Hollow Core.]

[You will die in: 3... 2...]

"Wait--"

[...1]