I never expected to wake up in a throne room.
Especially not one floating inside a hollowed-out dimensional pocket where physics bent like spaghetti noodles, and giant swirling black holes dotted the sky like moonless stars.
The Arbiter Prime stood before me, his obsidian armor gleaming with a strange coldness, his mask expressionless. Around us, massive translucent rings floated in slow rotations, etched with complex sigils and shifting constellations. They weren't just decorations—they were reality stabilizers, holding this impossible place together.
"Where am I?" My voice echoed unnaturally, distorted as though I were speaking underwater.
"The Tribunal Spire," Arbiter Prime said calmly. "A segment of the Outer Council's interdimensional network. Beyond the grasp of your limited realm."
"So... not Kansas. Got it."
He didn't react. Figures. Humor was probably lost on sentient war-AIs.
"You said there's more. The Hollow God was just an appendage?" I demanded.
"Correct. That entity was merely an extension of the Architect's design a minor limb in a far greater organism."
I narrowed my eyes. "And this 'Outer Council' is what? The big bad behind the curtain?"
"We are the architects of the Hollow Network's original design," Arbiter Prime said. "Our purpose was to oversee universal balance through controlled evolution. However, your realm's instability and unchecked experiments invited parasitic growth beyond our calculations."
"You mean you created the Hollows."
"We engineered the foundational code. Rogue adaptations mutated beyond initial parameters."
I clenched my fists. "You made monsters. You unleashed horrors on my world, on my people!"
Arbiter Prime tilted his head slightly. "Mortality is the natural casualty of progress."
That cold statement dug into me deeper than any blade.
"Why bring me here? If you wanted me dead, you had your chance."
"Elimination was never the objective," he said. "You are a stabilizing anomaly. The first fully synchronized Hollow Hybrid. Your existence proves the design can be perfected."
I felt sick. "You want to turn me into a blueprint."
"No. We want you to lead."
I staggered. "What?"
"We offer you dominion. The Hollow King title you now bear was but the beginning. Lead the next phase of integration. Help reshape your collapsing world into a compliant hybrid construct. Order from chaos."
"You want me to help enslave my world?"
"Survival requires adaptation. Adaptation requires sacrifice."
I took a step forward, power surging under my skin. "You murdered my brother. You nearly wiped out my friends. And now you want to make me your puppet?"
"Kai is not dead."
My heart skipped. "What?"
Arbiter Prime extended his arm. A floating panel materialized, displaying Kai's still form inside a containment pod, his neural patterns stable but suppressed.
"He remains intact. But only for as long as your cooperation persists."
The rage burned white-hot inside me. I wanted to rip Arbiter Prime apart right then. But something held me back.
They had leverage.
"What if I refuse?" I whispered.
"Then he perishes. And your world descends into irreversible collapse."
I exhaled slowly, forcing the Hollow beast inside me into submission. I couldn't act impulsively. Not yet.
"I need time to consider," I said. "If I'm to lead, I must understand the full scope."
Arbiter Prime regarded me for a long moment. "Wise. Few survive first contact with the Council. You are granted one cycle of deliberation."
With a gesture, a corridor of swirling light opened behind him.
"Proceed to the Isolation Chamber. Reflect. Understand. Choose.
The Isolation Chamber was unlike anything I had seen.
It was a sphere suspended in a pocket of null-space, where time bent fluidly. Inside, crystalline walls displayed holographic projections of countless realities some thriving, some collapsing into ruin. The Outer Council had experimented on thousands of worlds.
This was not just about my home. It was multiversal.
I sat in the center, cross-legged, letting the silence wash over me. My body remained in its Ascendant Hybrid form, but the initial chaos of the transformation had settled. My mind was clearer, sharper.
Memories surged of my father's warnings, of the experiments that had birthed me, of Kai's betrayal and sacrifice, of the Resistance's desperation.
And under it all: the cold truth that I was never fully human.
I stared at my clawed hand, flexing it slowly. "Who am I?"
The system responded softly within my mind:
HOLLOW KING ASCENDANT HYBRID. GENETIC ORIGIN: ARTIFICIAL CREATION. CORE ALIGNMENT: ADAPTIVE NEUTRAL.
"Neutral," I whispered. "Neither Hollow nor Human."
And yet, I felt more than both.
I reviewed the data streams provided files upon files of Council operations. I saw how they manipulated countless civilizations, culling populations, accelerating mutations, and eradicating rebellions. And in some worlds,worlds where someone like me had agreed to lead their societies had transformed into hyper-efficient hive systems under Hollow rule.
Efficient. Controlled. Soulless.
That was never going to be my world.
But the Council didn't know what I knew. Not yet.
The cycle ended. I was summoned back to the Tribunal Spire.
Arbiter Prime awaited me, flanked by two new figures Arbiter Sigma and Arbiter Vex. They were similar in appearance but radiated distinct energy signatures. A council of monsters wearing human shapes.
"Have you made your decision?" Arbiter Prime asked.
I raised my head. "Yes. But before I answer, I have a question."
"Proceed."
"Who betrayed us on my world? Someone fed your rogue Hollows data about the Resistance's countermeasures."
There was a pause.
Arbiter Sigma's voice was silkier, almost amused. "You seek the traitor? The one who prolonged your suffering?"
"Tell me."
"Your own Resistance Commander Zara."
The words hit like a sledgehammer.
"You're lying," I hissed.
"She cooperated under the promise of safety for her family. When it became apparent we required more extensive data, she fed us your genetic profiles, hybrid simulations, and Kai's coordinates."
No.
No, she wouldn't
But deep down, something cracked. The unexplained tactical failures. The sabotage. The convenient timing of Kai's abduction.
"Why tell me this now?" My voice trembled.
"Because the illusion of loyalty blinds lesser leaders," Arbiter Vex said coldly. "You must sever weakness to ascend."
I gritted my teeth. "You're trying to manipulate me."
"We present facts. You choose interpretation."
My mind spun. I couldn't afford to fall apart now. Whether their words were truth or deception, I had to adapt.
"And Kai?" I asked softly.
"His mind remains intact," Arbiter Prime answered. "For now."
I returned to my quarters or rather, my cell.
For hours, I sat motionless, staring at the data file they'd provided Zara's logs, intercepted transmissions, secret communications.
The evidence was damning.
Yet part of me screamed that something was off. The Council had manipulated everything. Was this yet another layer of control?
I reviewed every file, cross-referencing inconsistencies. Patterns emerged. Some data matched our known breaches. Others seemed... planted.
And then I found it.
A single corrupted fragment buried deep within the logs. A falsified transmission timestamped after the last known Resistance base had fallen. An impossible transmission.
They were testing me.
I exhaled, cold clarity washing over me.
They wanted me to kill my own.
To sever my humanity completely.
When I was summoned again, I was ready.
"Your time is up," Arbiter Prime announced. "Submit your decision."
I looked at him, calm. "I accept."
The Council members shifted subtly, their auras flaring in satisfaction.
"You choose ascension," Arbiter Sigma said. "Wise."
"However," I continued, "if I am to lead, I require proof of loyalty from you. Release Kai to me."
They hesitated.
"Unacceptable," Arbiter Vex countered. "The vessel's release undermines our leverage."
"Then I decline."
The room vibrated with restrained tension.
"You gamble with extinction," Prime warned.
"No," I said evenly. "You gamble. You need me. Without me, your experiment collapses. Without Kai, I walk away."
They exchanged silent data pulses.
Finally, Prime raised his hand. "Conditional release approved. The vessel will be transferred to your command under stasis lock."
A containment sphere materialized beside me. Inside, Kai floated peacefully, breathing but unaware.
"There. Unity preserved," Prime said.
"For now," I answered.
That night, inside my chamber, I initiated a secure interface with my internal system.
Sub-System Breach Protocol: Engaged.
"Run full diagnostic sweep on Council monitoring layers," I whispered.
ANALYZING... VULNERABILITIES DETECTED. COUNCIL SURVEILLANCE NODE WEAKNESSES MAPPED.
Perfect.
Over the past cycle, I had allowed them to believe I was complying. Let them grow comfortable. I learned their codes, their structures, their weaknesses.
And soon, I would break them.
But first, I needed help.
Through subtle back-channel manipulations, I reactivated a dormant Resistance beacon hidden in a dimensional fault line. It was a long shot.
Minutes later, the signal pinged back.
Adrian.
His holographic projection flickered to life, his expression filled with shock and relief.
"Elias! You're alive! Where are you?!"
"Deep behind enemy lines," I said. "But listen closely. The Council isn't what we thought. The Hollow God was just a fragment. The real architects are manipulating everything."
Adrian processed this, jaw clenched. "And Kai?"
I shifted aside, revealing the stasis pod behind me. "I have him. He's stable."
"We're coming for you. Just give us coordinates"
"No," I interrupted. "Not yet. If you storm in now, you'll walk into a slaughterhouse. I need more time to dismantle their systems from the inside. When I give the signal, you move."
He swallowed hard. "Understood."
"And Adrian... trust no one. They tried to frame Zara as a traitor. I don't know if it's true, but they want to divide us. Stay sharp."
"Got it. Watch your back, Hollow King."
"Always."
The transmission cut.
As I shut down the beacon, Arbiter Prime's voice rang behind me.
"You adapt quickly."
I turned slowly, masking my surprise.
"A leader must be resourceful."
"Indeed. Which is why the Council has decided to accelerate your initiation."
My gut tightened.
"Initiation?"
"You will demonstrate your loyalty by leading the first full planetary integration."
A holographic map unfolded, displaying a new target world one I recognized instantly.
Earth.
"No," I whispered.
"Your original realm remains fractured. Prime for reformation."
They expected me to invade my own world.
My world.
"You have one cycle to prepare," Prime said.
As he vanished, the full weight of the Council's cruelty settled over me. They had played their game masterfully.
But they made one fatal error:
They underestimated how far a human even a hybrid would go to protect their home.
I stared out into the swirling void, fists clenched, voice low:
"This is your last game, Council. The Hollow King is coming for you."