The deeper they moved into the Eastern Wilds, the more wrong the world became.
Once-verdant woods stood silent, branches twisted into unnatural angles as if recoiling from something unspeakable. Trees bled sap as dark as ink. Wildlife was absent—not even insects dared to whisper. The birds had vanished days ago.
Kael walked ahead of the strike team, each step calculated. He held Skybrand in his left hand, Dawnrend across his back, both weapons wrapped in faint celestial aura. Behind him followed Arin, her staff glowing with containment wards, and five elite Skyforged warriors in mirrored armor—mage-knights trained to resist corruption.
[Location Discovered: Corruption Halo – Zone classified "Tier II: Collapse-State"]
• Ambient Reality Instability: High
• Visibility Penalty: 30%
• System Assistance: Limited
• Mental Resistance Checks Every 60 Minutes
"Should we cast a beacon?" one knight whispered. "If something happens—"
"No," Kael said sharply. "Any signal may attract it."
They kept moving.
Hours passed.
Then… the smell hit them.
Not rot. Ash. Burnt bones and something else—soul residue. The kind that meant something had been erased, not killed.
Kael knelt near a broken stream. The water was black.
Arin joined him. "That's not water anymore. It's essence—drained from the living. This is… this is Sovereign territory."
[Passive Trait Triggered: Skyforged Ascendant – Your aura resists ambient essence decay]
Kael stood and turned to the others. "From here on, stay close. You stray even ten meters, and you may vanish without sound."
They continued. The map in Kael's interface no longer rendered terrain—only static and the faint outline of their team. Even the System, it seemed, was uncertain here.
Then the fog came.
Thick, gray, and strangely cold. Not normal fog—this one hummed, like a living thing.
Kael stopped. "Hold formation."
From the fog, a voice emerged.
Not loud.
Not human.
Just… whispering.
Repeating the same thing again and again:
"Why do you wear His skin? Why do you wear His skin? Why do you wear—"
The warriors flinched. One fell to his knees.
Kael's eyes narrowed. He activated his Dreamforged Trait, and the fog shimmered. The world flickered—and then he saw them.
They were not alone.
Figures moved in the mist.
Not monsters. Not demons.
Them.
[New Entity Identified – The Hollowed: Tierless Echo Constructs | Form: Spectral | Weakness: Anchored Will + Light Damage]
Dozens surrounded them. Not alive. Not even truly dead. Just… fragments, walking in forms they had never been born with.
The mist echoed again.
"He comes… He comes… He comes…"
"Break through!" Kael ordered, slamming Skybrand into the ground.
[Skill Activated: Heavenflare – AoE Light Eruption]
A pillar of white flame exploded outward, evaporating the nearest Hollowed. Their whispering stopped—but only for a moment.
They charged.
The strike team fought back with discipline—runed blades, barrier spells, and coordinated synergy. Arin's flame devoured shadows in bursts. Her newest spell, Phoenix Rift, left a trail of incinerated footprints where the Hollowed dared approach.
Kael weaved between the chaos, cutting down the creatures with swift, fluid movements—each strike deliberate, fueled by training, instinct, and his ever-growing bond with the System.
But the Hollowed kept coming.
Not to kill.
To delay.
[System Alert – You are being corralled: Entity "The Hollow Sovereign" is directing zone-based echo pressure.]
Kael gritted his teeth.
"It's herding us."
"Toward what?" Arin shouted, eyes flaring with heat.
"Let's find out."
They emerged from the fog into a clearing carved in the shape of a massive symbol—runed earth glowing faintly. An ancient ritual site, now desecrated. Bones lined the edges. At its center stood a stone obelisk, and bound to it was something alive.
A man—or what remained of one.
His body was covered in runes, skin flayed and patched with divine script. His eyes were hollow sockets, his mouth sewn shut. But when Kael approached, the man's voice entered their minds like a whisper carried on moonlight.
"System-bearer… you've come too far."
Kael stepped closer, ignoring the heat rising in his veins. "Who are you?"
The being looked up—or at least lifted its head.
"I was once like you. Before the Sovereign taught me truth."
Arin flinched. "It's infected."
Kael frowned. "No. It's merged."
[New Identity Scanned: Null-Disciple: First System-Bearer (Fragmented)]
• Alignment: Null-Class
• Status: Suspended Between Realities
• Threat Level: Dormant (for now)
Kael's System flashed red.
[Warning: The Hollow Sovereign has marked you for Assimilation.]
[System Override Challenge Incoming – Entity Projection Imminent]
"Kael," Arin said, voice breaking, "look at the sky."
He looked.
And saw it.
The sun blinked.
Not a cloud.
Not an eclipse.
The entire sky twitched—like something pulled a veil across reality for a second.
And then, from the sky, a massive figure stepped into view, as if walking through dimensions like curtains.
The Hollow Sovereign.
Towering. Faceless. Wearing a crown of reversed stars. Its chest cavity showed a dozen screaming faces caught in silent agony. It moved not with footsteps, but with gravitational pull.
[WORLD BOSS ENCOUNTER: The Hollow Sovereign – Classification: Tier Unknown]
• All abilities suppressed within 50 meters
• Entity radiates Passive Fear: "Heart-Silence"
• Time until direct manifestation: 3 Minutes
Kael couldn't breathe for a moment.
Even Skybrand trembled in his hand.
[Passive Trait Triggered: Heavenforged Will – RESISTED System Collapse]
[Optional Objective: Withstand 3 Minutes in Presence of the Sovereign to Complete Core Awakening Sequence (Stage II)]
Kael whispered, "It's a test."
Arin turned to him. "Then let's pass it."
The Sovereign raised a single hand. Around them, the ground split open, and from the fractures rose four colossal humanoid statues of obsidian—wielding spears, each thirty meters tall.
[Sub-Bosses Manifested – Sentinels of Silence]
• Objective: Survive
• Optional: Destroy 1 Sentinel to gain Sovereign Blessing (Risk: Permanent System Mutation)
Kael stepped forward, blades crossed.
"Everyone… back."
He faced the nearest Sentinel as its eyes flared red.
Then he charged.
⚔️ System Combat Summary – Kael vs. Sentinel
• Strike Combo Initiated: Heavenstep → Crossrend → Flame Fang (Arin-assist)
• Status Effect Applied: Burn + Light Vulnerability
• Sentinel HP: 42%
• Counterattack: Void Crush Slam – Kael HP -760
• Trait Activated: Dreamforged Reflex – Dodge Improved by 15%
• Special Trigger: Synchronization Spike – Temporary access to next-tier skill
[Mythic Skill Accessed: Starshatter Spiral]
• Executes 7 hits in .8 seconds; gains +10% critical per successful chain
The Sentinel cracked and shattered, imploding in a wave of light.
[Optional Objective Complete – Sovereign Blessing Acquired]
• Effect: ???
• Risk: ???
• Mutation: Pending
The Sovereign turned its head, slightly.
Watching him.
And then… it vanished.
So did the fog.
So did the pressure.
[Entity Departure – The Hollow Sovereign has withdrawn temporarily]
• Status: "Interested"
• Remaining Time to Conflict: Delayed by 72 Hours
Kael collapsed to one knee, chest heaving.
The others stared in silence.
Arin knelt beside him. "What did you just do?"
Kael looked toward the broken sky and whispered, "I made it curious."