The Hollow Ones
Some predators feed on flesh.
Others on fear.
But the most dangerous feed on potential—
Stealing the future before it's born.
---
Lyle stepped through the cragged gap of the perimeter gate just after midnight.
He was alone.
Not by order—by choice.
Quinn's mission briefing had been minimal.
> "Eight disappearances. All near the Gray Hollow perimeter. Low-tier Codex users. No remains. Just… emptiness."
But Lyle had read between the lines.
No bodies meant no warnings.
And no warnings meant the creature feeding out there wasn't just a beast. It was intelligent.
The Gray Hollow spread out before him—half-ruined structures, abandoned watchposts from a forgotten war, now covered in ash and creeping black moss. The kind of place most would avoid on instinct alone.
He didn't avoid it.
He walked straight in.
---
The Codex hovered beside him in silent scan mode.
> [Environmental Integrity: Degraded]
[Residual Mana: Drained]
[Warning: No active life signatures within range]
He activated Night Eye.
The shadows shifted.
Now he could see the residue—trails left behind by those who had vanished.
They didn't fight.
They didn't run.
They simply... stopped existing.
The Bone Claw pulsed faintly in his ribs.
> "It's still here," it whispered.
> "Where?"
> "Everywhere."
Lyle didn't like that answer.
---
He reached the old supply depot thirty minutes later.
The doors were ripped off their hinges, claw marks running deep through the metal—but only on the inside.
Something had broken out, not in.
He crouched near the doorway, tracing one of the marks.
A fragment of something stuck in the seam—a crystal sliver, dulled but familiar.
Codex chimed.
> [Fragment Identified: Hollow Core Residue – Type Unknown]
[Warning: Core Fragment Suggests Post-Codex Predation]
Post-Codex.
Something was eating active users—not their flesh, but their systems.
Lyle stood slowly.
He was no longer hunting a beast.
He was hunting a system killer.
---
He barely had time to brace when the attack came.
From above.
A blur of bone, muscle, and empty light slammed into the ground beside him, claws raking stone where his legs had been.
Lyle spun, drawing the Bloodsteel blade, and struck low.
The creature moved like smoke.
Too fast.
It moved between seconds.
Only his vampire-enhanced agility saved him from a fatal strike.
> [Codex Alert – Unknown Entity Engaged]
[Shadowstep – ON]
[Bloodsteel Sync – Increasing]
He ducked, activated Shadowstep, and reappeared behind the creature.
What he saw made his breath hitch.
It looked like a man once.
But the eyes were hollow. The Codex core in its chest flickered with stolen light. Its body was rebuilding itself even as it lunged again.
Lyle deflected two strikes, then jabbed his palm forward.
> [Crimson Thread – Activated]
The blood tether latched.
He caught a glimpse—its mind—
A swirling mess of broken system code, fragmented identity, the echoes of voices from stolen cores.
It had devoured dozens.
And it was learning.
He cut the link before it pulled him in.
Too late.
It copied part of his blood signature.
> [Warning: Codex Impersonation Detected – Entity Mimicking Shadow Glyphs]
The creature blinked.
Then vanished.
Shadowstep.
His own ability.
Lyle pivoted—too slow.
A claw raked his side.
Blood hit the ground.
The Bone Claw howled inside him.
> "Give me full reign," it demanded. "Let me fight."
> "No. Not yet."
> "You'll die."
> "Then I'll die as me."
The creature lunged again.
Lyle threw one of the Level-Up Crystals at the ground and crushed it underfoot.
His Codex flared.
> [Codex Surge – Stat Threshold Increased]
[New Ability Unlocked: Blood Echo – Triggers backlash on system impersonation attempts]
The moment the creature mimicked again, its stolen glyphs shattered.
It recoiled, hissing.
Lyle lunged with the Bloodsteel blade, driving it straight through the creature's flickering chest.
But it didn't die.
It smiled.
"You're like me," it rasped, voice a collage of the fallen. "You just haven't been emptied yet."
Then it dissolved.
Not dead.
Escaped.
---
The following morning, Lyle returned to Veinhold covered in dried blood and ash.
Quinn didn't greet him.
He was already waiting in the war chamber.
"So," he said, "how many did you kill?"
"One."
"Only one?"
"But it's enough to worry me."
Lyle dropped the crystal shard he retrieved on the table.
Quinn's eyes narrowed.
"System predator," he muttered. "Didn't think they'd evolve so soon."
"They're targeting Codex users now," Lyle said. "Draining cores. Feeding on abilities."
"Then they're ahead of schedule."
"Schedule?"
Quinn looked at him.
"They're not natural. Someone made them."
"Why?"
"To wipe the board clean."