The rooftop of the Hollow Sanctum was silent.
Silent in a way that felt wrong as if the wind itself chose not to breathe.
Lucere stood at the edge, hair drifting like majestic thing in the moonlight, coat snapping against the cold. His eyes serene, bored, deadly stared toward the distant north.
The direction of Kaom.
The direction of the next shard.
The direction of the world-ending future only he could carve.
One by one… shadows materialized behind him.
The Hollow Nine.
His "family."
His "weapons."
His "sins."
Lucere did not turn.
He didn't need to.
He could feel each one by the pressure of their existence.
K , The Tactician
Footsteps. Light. Controlled.
The orange-haired tactician adjusted his glasses, eyes sharp as winter knives.
"Lord Lucere," K murmured, bowing low. "We have confird the emotional tremor. The seal has weakened by 0.04%. Kaom is stirring."
Lucere closed his eyes, amused.
"K… you always talk in decimals. Does it soothe you?"
The tactician didn't flinch.
"It soothes results, my lord."
Lucere smirked, slow and approving.
"Good."
Because among all the Hollow Nine…
K was the one who actually thought.
Weak in raw power.
Terrifying in intellect.
The only one who could follow Lucere's mind at the fringes.
…
Miraku, The Clown Mask
A manic laugh burst through the rooftop.
"Hehehehehe I CAN FEEL HIM! THE GIANT! THE BIG ONE! THE SLEEPING ONE!" Miraku shrieked, dangling upside-down from a void tear like a puppet. His clown mask twisted as if breathing. "Hehehe… Kaom's emotions taste like iron. Like sadness. Like… ending."
Lucere didn't look at him.
"I did not ask for your interpretation."
Miraku flipped and landed behind him, giggling.
"But you think it, don't you? You feel it. Another shard for you~ Another step closer to—"
Lucere raised a finger.
Silence.
Miraku froze mid-sentence, void tendrils choking around his throat.
Lucere's voice was soft. Too soft.
"Finish that sentence… and I erase you."
Miraku smiled behind the mask.
"I loooove it when you threaten ."
….
duza, Shade of Temptation
A whisper of perfu.
A rustle of cloth.
duza slid from the shadows like a serpent, folding her arms beneath her chest, erald hair glittering.
"You called us while the moon is still young, Lucere," she purred. "Are we hunting a god… or a corpse?"
K shot her a cold look.
"Please stay focused. Your chatter lowers our average efficiency."
duza leaned in, lips brushing his ear.
"My chatter makes you look at , strategist."
K's eye twitched
the closest thing to fluster he ever showed.
Lucere exhaled, smile.
"You two can flirt later. For now… listen."
duza bowed, smirking.
"As you wish, my lord."
Her voice softened, only for K's ear:
"Try not to die again next ti. I dislike helping you."
…..
Bakuza, The Crimson Hollow
The rooftop shook.
Crimson flas burst from the doorway like an enraged beast being unleashed.
"HAH?! YOU CALLED FOR THIS LATE, LUCERE?!" Bakuza snarled, smoke rising from his shoulders. "I WAS TRAINING! DO YOU KNOW HOW MANY SHADOW EXPLOSIONS I CAN CHAIN NOW?"
Lucere didn't blink.
"Three."
Bakuza paused.
"…Four," he corrected with a grin. "But whatever. Who we killing?"
"No killing," Lucere murmured.
Bakuza scowled.
"Boring."
….
Kero, The Pale Wind of Dusk
A breeze flickered.
Wind scars shimred across the floor.
Kero erged behind Bakuza without a sound, long black hair covering his eyes, aura cold as empty skies.
"We are not being deployed for extermination?" he asked softly. "Then this mission must be delicate."
K nodded.
"Correct. We are retrieving a piece of our lord's destiny."
Kero tilted his head.
"…Then we obey."
He unsheathed his curved blade, a motion so smooth it barely existed and returned it to the sheath.
"I will prepare traps."
…
Seirath Eluron, The White-Blade Trickster
Silver knives glittered as a figure leaned against a railing.
Seirath, slicked-back white hair gleaming under the moonlight.
"Heard we're getting a new toy," he drawled. "If this Kaom guy wakes up, does he have family? Giants have family right? Always wanted to know one."
K glared.
"No. And why is that what excites you?"
Seirath laughed.
"Because everything else bores ."
…
Neir , The Whale-Tattooed Brute
A massive shadow stepped forward, blue hair tied back, the whale tattoo glowing faintly across his muscled back.
Neir cracked his knuckles, voice deep as a storm:
"So we're ripping open a tomb. Huh."
"Finally sothing my fists can break."
K pinched the bridge of his nose.
"You are not breaking anything. This is a stealth mission."
Neir stared blankly.
"…What's stealth?"
duza sighed.
"It ans don't roar."
"Oh."
….
Gaku, The Burnt Monk
Last ca the silent one.
The bald man with charred, cracked skin.
His steps were slow, each exhale rasping like burned wind.
Gaku bowed deeply to Lucere.
"No flas will awaken inside … unless you command it."
Lucere nodded once.
"Good."
…
The Nine Stand Before Lucere
The Hollow Nine ford a semicircle behind their leader.
Nine distortions of humanity.
Nine broken weapons made whole by a single will.
Nine shadows of a forgotten war.
Lucere lifted his hand.
The moon dimd.
The wind froze.
The rooftop itself felt as though it knelt.
"Kaom's seal weakens," Lucere said softly, silver eyes glowing. "The Guardian giant stirs. And with him… the shard I require."
K stepped forward.
"Our calculations place his tomb in the Northern Tearfall Range."
"Then that is where we go."
duza tilted her head.
"Will the giant fight us?"
Lucere smiled a small, soft, terrifying smile.
"No."
He turned his gaze to the stars.
"Kaom will listen to ."
A pause.
"And if he doesn't…"
Miraku's laughter rippled like cracking glass.
Kero's aura sharpened.
Bakuza ignited.
Gaku exhaled burnt air.
Neir cracked his neck.
Seirath spun a blade.
duza's eyes glowed serpent-green.
K adjusted his glasses.
Lucere whispered:
"Then we tear open the first era… and take the shard anyway."
He walked past them, hands in his pockets, coat fluttering with effortless confidence.
"Hollow Nine."
Nine figures straightened like soldiers before a king.
Lucere's voice echoed like a prophecy:
"We leave Tomorrow at dawn
To be continue
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