The silence in the chamber was suffocating. It was not the kind of silence that brought peace or calm, but a profound stillness that gnawed at the edges of Kazuki's mind. The air around him seemed to press down, heavy, thick with centuries of unspoken horrors. He could feel the weight of the Hollowborn, their hollow, empty gazes on him, staring through him. They knelt in front of him, each one twisted and scarred by the passage of time, by something far darker than mere corruption.
Kazuki didn't move. His body was stiff, rigid, as though the very sight of them—these monsters—had frozen him in place. They didn't seem human, not anymore. The flames that dripped from their ribs were not like the fire he knew, not the warm, cleansing flames of rebirth, but something… ancient. Something that devoured, something that burned without mercy.
And yet, despite their monstrous appearance, despite the clear, undeniable danger in their presence, they knelt before him. As if he were… their king. The thought made his stomach twist.
"My king."
The words were an echo, barely a whisper, but they felt like they were shaking the very foundation of the temple. Kazuki's blood turned cold at the sound of them, as though the Hollowborn had spoken not to him, but to the very core of his being.
"I am no king," Kazuki replied, though his voice sounded far weaker than he intended. The words were a lie, a denial, a desperate attempt to convince himself of his own humanity. But deep down, beneath the anger and confusion, beneath the shame and the fear, there was something else. A feeling, a pulse in his blood that responded to their words. He couldn't explain it. He didn't want to explain it.
But it was there. Like an ember, smoldering in the dark, waiting to catch fire.
The Hollowborn did not move, their hollow eyes fixed on him with that same empty reverence. They were not beings of flesh and blood anymore. Their bodies were mere vessels, the remnants of men long lost to fire and madness. Their minds, if they still had them, were twisted, warped by something far beyond his understanding.
Rin's voice snapped through the thick, oppressive silence, cutting through the tension like a blade. "Kazuki, don't listen to them. They're just using you."
Kazuki turned to her, his eyes darkened by the weight of his own thoughts. Her face was grim, her usual fiery intensity replaced with something colder, more calculating. She had always been a warrior, a fighter who lived for the thrill of battle. But now, there was a fear in her gaze, an uncertainty that unsettled him.
She stepped closer, her movements quick and sharp, like a wolf circling its prey. "We need to leave. Now."
But Kazuki stood frozen. His gaze never left the Hollowborn. His heart pounded in his chest, the sound of it deafening in his ears. He wanted to move, to do something, but it was as if the words, the presence of the Hollowborn, held him in place.
Rin's eyes narrowed. "Kazuki—"
"I can't," he whispered, his voice breaking. "I need to understand."
Her frustration was palpable. "Understand what? These things are monsters, Kazuki! They're not your family! They're not your blood!"
Kazuki didn't answer. He couldn't. The Hollowborn were speaking to something inside him, something buried deep in his soul. His hands clenched at his sides, his knuckles white, but he didn't move. Not yet.
One of the Hollowborn, the tallest among them, took a step forward. Its body was twisted, deformed, like a mockery of what it had once been. Its skin was cracked, its bones jutting out at unnatural angles. But its eyes—those eyes, burning with fire—held something that made Kazuki's heart skip a beat. They were filled with an understanding that he couldn't deny.
And then it spoke, its voice rasping, dry, like sandpaper on flesh. "My king," it said again, its tone both reverent and possessive, as though it knew something Kazuki did not.
Kazuki's throat tightened. His grip on the Hollowblade tightened as well, the familiar weight of it both reassuring and terrifying. The blade had always been an extension of him, something that burned with the same fire that raged within his soul. But now, as the Hollowborn whispered his title—his supposed birthright—he wondered if the blade was calling him, too.
His mind flashed back to the moment in the heart of the temple, the flicker of flames that had been more than just fire. It was a memory, a glimpse of something much older, much darker. The Hollowblade had reacted to it, hadn't it? It had pulsed with an energy that seemed to resonate with the Hollowborn's call.
His hand shook. But he did not draw the blade. Not yet. Not until he knew what was happening.
"You are the one," the Hollowborn said, its voice low, dangerous. "The blood that binds us. The flame that calls us."
Kazuki could feel the words like a weight pressing down on him, threatening to crush him under their meaning. The blood that binds us. He knew what they meant. He had always known, deep down, that he was more than just a man. But to hear it from these creatures—these twisted mockeries of humanity—was something else entirely.
And then the world shifted.
The chamber seemed to darken, the walls closing in around him, the air thickening until it was almost impossible to breathe. The Hollowborn's flames flickered, casting eerie shadows on the walls, and for a moment, Kazuki couldn't tell where the shadows ended and the flames began. It was as if the very essence of the temple was alive, pulsing with a dark energy, waiting to consume him.
Behind him, Rin's voice cut through the oppressive stillness, desperate and raw. "Kazuki, please, listen to me!"
But Kazuki was no longer listening.
The vision came crashing down on him like a wave.
The world around him dissolved, the Hollowborn vanishing into the void as time itself seemed to slow. He saw the gods—tall, regal beings with wings of fire, their faces carved from the essence of the sun. They stood in front of a throne of burning ash, their eyes filled with fury. And standing before them, kneeling in supplication, was his mother.
Her face was twisted in anguish. She was pleading with them, but Kazuki couldn't hear her voice. All he could see were her eyes—eyes filled with regret, with betrayal, with pain.
He reached out to her, but she didn't see him. She didn't hear him.
And then, the world shifted again.
Kazuki was back in the temple. The Hollowborn were still there, still watching him, still waiting. But something was different now. Something had changed. The air was colder. The walls felt older. The weight of the temple's dark history pressed down on him, filling his lungs with the scent of decay and death.
"I didn't… I didn't ask for this," Kazuki gasped, his voice shaky.
The Hollowborn did not respond. They simply stared at him, their eyes burning with that same, unrelenting intensity.
He wasn't ready. He wasn't prepared. But he couldn't turn away now. He couldn't ignore the truth that was staring him in the face. The Hollowborn knew something. They had always known something.
The truth about his bloodline. The truth about his mother. The truth about the Hollowblade.
A sudden tremor ran through the temple, and the air grew thick with an overwhelming pressure. The walls began to shake, dust falling from the ceiling, the floor groaning beneath his feet. Kazuki stumbled back, his heart racing. This wasn't right. This wasn't supposed to be happening.
And then, from deep within the temple, there came a sound. A low, guttural growl. The Hollowborn turned, their eyes fixed on the entrance to the inner sanctum, where a dark shadow was forming.
Something was coming. Something ancient.
Rin's voice was a whisper in the chaos. "Kazuki, get out of here. We can't fight whatever that is."
But Kazuki didn't move. He couldn't. The Hollowborn were already on the move, their bodies shifting, their flames flickering brighter as they gathered around him. They had always been here, in the shadows, watching, waiting.
But now, something had changed. Now, they were the ones waiting for him to make his move.
Kazuki raised the Hollowblade. It hummed in his hand, the dark power within it swirling to life, like a beast waking from a long, torturous sleep.
This was it. This was his fate.
The Hollowborn knelt again, their flames licking the air, their voices rising in unison. "My king."
Kazuki's heart pounded in his chest as the temple trembled again, as the ancient shadows loomed closer.
He couldn't run.
Not anymore.