Chapter 6: The Birth of the Hollow King

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The Hollowed Ones knelt before me.

Dozens of them, their hollow sockets fixated on my every movement. Not out of fear. Out of reverence.

I should have felt disgust. Terror. I should have screamed.

But all I felt was clarity.

The hunger inside me had changed. It wasn't just an absence anymore. It was power.

And it was waiting to be used.

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The man stood beside me, silent. Watching. I could feel his tension, his unspoken question hanging in the air.

"What are you now?"

I didn't answer.

Because I didn't know yet.

But I was about to find out.

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I stepped forward, and the Hollowed Ones shuddered.

Their bodies convulsed in unison, something shifting beneath their skin. Responding to me.

I felt them.

Not just their presence. Their very essence.

Like I could reach inside and—

"No." The man's voice cut through the silence. "You don't understand what you're playing with."

I turned to him. "Then tell me."

His jaw tightened. "They're drawn to you because you're like them now. But worse. You don't just belong to the Hollowing. You command it."

His eyes darkened. "And if you give in—there's no coming back."

I stared at him, his words echoing in my skull. No coming back.

But wasn't it already too late?

I could barely remember my own name.

I had already lost my past. My self. My humanity.

So what was left to return to?

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I turned back to the Hollowed Ones.

They were waiting.

I could feel the weight of their expectations. Their need for something more.

And I had the power to give it to them.

I raised my hand.

The air shook.

A low, thrumming vibration rippled through the streets, crawling up my spine.

The Hollowed Ones twitched.

Their bones snapped—twisted—reshaped.

They weren't resisting.

They were welcoming it.

I watched as their forms melted, split, multiplied—bodies bending into grotesque shapes beyond human recognition.

And yet—

I understood them now.

Their pain. Their emptiness.

Because I was the same.

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The man stepped back. "You don't have to do this."

I met his gaze. "I already have."

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And then the screaming began.

Not from the Hollowed Ones.

From the city itself.

The buildings groaned. The streets twisted, cracks splitting through concrete like veins.

Something old and furious stirred beneath the surface.

I had changed the balance.

And the world had noticed.

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The sky darkened. Not with night. Not with clouds. With something deeper.

A presence. A watching eye.

The man cursed under his breath. "You woke it up."

I barely heard him.

Because I could feel it now.

Something vast. Endless. Hollow.

And it was looking directly at me.

The Hollowed Ones turned their heads in unison. Silent. Waiting.

Something deep inside me called back.

And the presence answered.

"Welcome home."

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TO BE CONTINUED…