Kazuki Arin had never seen the world as it truly was. Not until now.
The Temple of Ash stood before him like a void made flesh. It was older than the gods. Older than the Empire. The forest surrounding it whispered of secrets buried in the very earth beneath their feet. The temple itself, a monolith of black stone and twisted metal, seemed to breathe — as if it were alive. Or maybe it was the Hollowblade at his side, pulsing with the echo of something ancient and dangerous.
Rin's voice broke the silence.
"Do you hear it?"
Kazuki didn't answer right away. His thoughts were still tangled in the memory of what had just happened—the god's death, the awakening of the Hollowblade, the way everything felt wrong now. He tried to push those thoughts aside and focus, but the air around them crackled with an unnatural tension, as if the world itself was holding its breath.
"Hear what?" he finally muttered, his voice rough, barely above a whisper.
"The calling," Rin said, her eyes narrowing. "The Temple of Ash is more than a ruin. It's a doorway. And it's calling you."
Kazuki's stomach twisted. A doorway. To what? What could lie beyond the crumbling stone walls that had stood untouched for centuries?
Rin took a step forward, but Kazuki hesitated. The Hollowblade on his back felt heavier now, like the weight of the world was settling on his shoulders. He could feel its pull, urging him to move, to unlock whatever dark mystery this place held.
He followed her, stepping into the shadow of the temple's vast entrance.
Blood Beneath Stone
The door to the temple opened without resistance, as if it had been waiting for them. Inside, the air was thick with dust and decay. The walls were covered in strange symbols that seemed to shift and writhe when he wasn't looking directly at them, as if the stone itself was alive. The ground was uneven, cracked in places, and littered with debris from long-forgotten rituals.
Kazuki's footsteps echoed in the silence, each one sending a shiver through the still air. Rin moved ahead, her eyes scanning the room like a hawk. Her hand was on the hilt of her blade, the Lightfang, ever ready. Kazuki felt the same tension building in him, though he had no idea why. It was as if the very stone beneath his feet was about to give way, as if the temple was more than just an abandoned place of worship—it was a trap, and they were the bait.
Rin paused and turned back to him. Her expression was unreadable, but there was something in her gaze—something that told him she wasn't just worried about the Hollowborn. She was worried about him.
"Stay close," she said, her voice low. "This place isn't just dangerous because of the Hollowborn. It's dangerous because of what was sealed here. What's still sealed here."
Kazuki's heart skipped a beat. "What do you mean?"
Rin didn't answer. Instead, she moved toward a set of stone stairs that spiraled down into the depths of the temple. Kazuki followed her, the faint glow of his blade casting a strange light on the walls. The deeper they went, the colder the air became. The silence grew more oppressive, heavier, until it felt like they were moving through the very heart of the world's darkness.
When they reached the bottom, they were met with a vast chamber. The walls were lined with sarcophagi, each one etched with the same symbol:
∇The mark of the Hollowborn.
Kazuki swallowed. His pulse quickened. The sarcophagi were ancient, their surfaces worn and cracked, but the symbol on each of them was unmistakable. This was a burial ground for the Hollowborn, the creatures who had once been the gods' enforcers.
And in the center of the chamber, sitting on a throne of ash and gold, was the one figure Kazuki had hoped to never see again.
Brother
"Look what the godfire dragged in," Kaien said, his voice rich with mockery. He rose slowly from his throne, every inch of him radiating power and confidence. "The prodigal pyromaniac himself."
Kazuki froze. His heart stopped for a moment.
"Kaien," he whispered. The name felt strange on his tongue. It had been years since he'd seen his older brother, years since they'd parted ways. Kazuki had been a child back then. Now, he was something else—a killer, a fugitive, a vessel for something beyond his understanding.
But Kaien—Kaien hadn't changed. Not really. His once-boyish face was now chiseled with sharp angles, his eyes colder, more calculating. His hair, once untamed, was now neatly tied back, and the white armor he wore gleamed with unholy light. He looked like a prince. A prince of ashes.
"I should kill you," Kazuki said, his voice low, dangerous. He gripped the hilt of the Hollowblade tighter, feeling its hum of power beneath his fingertips. "For what you've done. For everything."
Kaien's lips curled into a smile, but there was no warmth in it—just the sharp edge of something cruel. "You could try."
Rin stepped forward, her hand on her blade, eyes narrowed. "We're not here for games, Kaien."
Kaien tilted his head, a laugh escaping his lips. "Oh, Rin. You never did get it, did you? Everything is a game. Even this."
He spread his arms, gesturing to the sarcophagi, the dark chamber around them. "You think you've come to stop the Hollowborn? No. You've come to unlock them. And me."
Kazuki's stomach churned. "What do you mean, unlock?"
Kaien's expression hardened. "This isn't just a weapon, Kazuki. The Hollowblade… it's a key. The gods weren't afraid of its power—they were afraid of what it could unlock. And you, my dear brother, have just opened the door."
Kazuki's heart raced. "What have you done? What have you set loose?"
Kaien's smile twisted into something darker. "You were never meant to kill the god. That was just a distraction. You were meant to free what lies beneath. And now that you've done that, there's no going back."
The Awakening
A low rumble shook the temple, sending tremors through the ground. Kazuki's mind raced, his breath coming in short gasps as the air grew thick with tension. And then, from the sarcophagi, came a sound.
At first, it was a soft scraping, like claws against stone. But then it grew louder—heavier.
And then the first of the Hollowborn rose.
It was unlike any creature Kazuki had ever seen. A towering figure, its body wreathed in black flame, its face obscured by a mask of obsidian. Its eyes were empty pits of shadow, its limbs twisted and contorted as if it had never known a true form. It stood silent for a moment, as if assessing the room, and then, slowly, it turned toward Kazuki.
And then it knelt.
"My king," it rasped, its voice a guttural, broken sound.
Kazuki stumbled back, his mind reeling. "No," he gasped. "This isn't—"
But the Hollowborn's voice cut through him. "You have unlocked the bloodline. You are the king now."
The others began to rise, one by one, each kneeling in turn before Kazuki, their hollow eyes fixed on him, their voices a chorus of devotion.
"My king.""My king.""My king."
Kazuki's heart thundered in his chest. "What is this? What have I become?"
Kaien stepped forward, his eyes glinting with something unreadable. "You've become what they feared most. The last of the gods. The one who will bring their empire to its knees. You've become the vessel for the Hollowborn."
Kazuki's mind spun. The Hollowblade burned against his side, its power pulsing through him, drawing him deeper into the abyss.
And then the whispers began again. Louder this time.
The king has returned.The king has returned.The bloodline has returned.
And Kazuki realized, with sickening clarity:
There was no way out now. The Hollowborn had risen, and he was their king.