The first man to speak laughed, his voice echoing through the dark, cave-like chamber. "Let's see who breaks first," he said, his gaze sweeping across the imprisoned hollows.
Sam strained against his bonds, muscles tensing with effort, but nothing happened. The chains wrapped around him held firm, unyielding. All five thousand hollows tried to break free, their collective struggle filling the air with the rattle of metal, but they were too weak—far too weak.
"Edward, a little help here?" Sam called out, desperation creeping into his voice as he looked toward his companion.
Edward met his gaze, his expression grim beneath the shadows. "You know I'm chained up too, right?" he said, frustration evident in his tone. "How am I supposed to help you? I can barely even help myself."
The man continued walking forward, red eyes gleaming in the darkness as he crafted a sharp needle from his own blood. The crimson weapon glinted menacingly in the dim light.
"You have to do something," Edward said, his voice tight with urgency. "I can't use any more portals. There's no other trick for me to get out of this—my energy is spent. Using all those portals at once when I was on that building wasn't such a good idea after all, was it?" He laughed bitterly, the sound hollow and defeated.
"Well, I guess we're done for," one hollow said, looking at Edward with resignation etched across his features.
"If you can't break out, what makes you think any of us can?" another added. The speaker's name was Cade, his voice carrying an edge of defiance despite their dire circumstances. "Not saying you're weak, but we can't break out of here. We're sitting ducks. I mean, it's going to take him a while to get us all, right?" He glanced at the approaching man, calculating the time they might have left.
The hollow beside him laughed, though the sound carried no humor. "You forget—hatred and grief can bring us back from any injury, right? He'll be doing this for the rest of his life, and we'll just keep coming back. Eventually, we'll become numb to the pain, and his torture methods will be effortless."
Cade's expression hardened, his jaw set with determination. "I'll be absolutely damned if I let some guy skin me alive as revenge for whoever killed me," he said, his voice low and fierce. "And if you think you can break my will, you're mistaken. I've experienced the worst."
The man looked at Cade, a cruel smile playing at his lips. "You've experienced the worst? Well, let's see how you think when all this is over, Cade. Let's see how all you hollows think when this is done."
Edward's eyes widened, shock rippling through him. How did this strange man with red eyes know they were hollows? The question burned in his mind, unsettling in its implications.
The man laughed at their surprise. "Why do you look so shocked? Did you really think you were the first hollows to ever exist? Oh, how pitiful." He paused, savoring their confusion. "There was a group of hollows that existed before you. They had their time, and the only thing that killed them was getting their revenge—then they just died, simple as that. But I discovered another way to kill you." He smiled wider, revealing teeth that seemed too sharp. "Allow me to demonstrate."
He grabbed a glowing red orb from his pocket, its surface pulsing with malevolent energy. With casual cruelty, he threw it at one of the hollows. The hollow tried to dodge, instinct overriding reason, but then remembered the chains binding him like every other hollow. They were sitting ducks after all.
The red orb struck the hollow dead center in the chest and began to expand, growing brighter with each passing second. Nearly all the hollows had to cover their eyes against the searing light, but Cade just stood there, unflinching. He was chained like the others, but blindness didn't matter to him. His revenge—the burning need to find whoever killed him in the first place—consumed his every thought. No matter what happened, he wouldn't let something as trivial as blindness take him out.
"I absorbed all of his hatred and guilt inside this crystal," the man said, walking over to pick up the now-dimmed orb. The hollow was gone, vanished as if he'd never existed. "Now all that's left is to crush it."
He destroyed the crystal with barely a punch, and all the hatred, guilt, and sadness of the dead hollow spewed out, flowing away and disappearing like embers in the wind.
"Those are the two ways to kill a hollow," the man explained, his tone almost conversational. "Either use that method, or let them get their revenge. Personally, I prefer the first method—it's easier, and I always have these crystals on standby. Just in case you break out." He paused, letting his words sink in. "And don't worry—if you're wondering, these crystals will automatically stick to whatever body part I throw them at. No matter what you do, you can't get them off. As soon as one sticks, your hatred, guilt, and sadness will be consumed inside the crystal. Your body will disappear, and I will kill you."
He smiled, clearly pleased with himself. "It makes it so easy to kill you. If I honestly didn't have this method, I'd have a hard time killing you all. But unfortunately for you, I did discover this, and I've been killing hollows for centuries. Anyone who trespasses into my territory gets the same treatment. Instead of skinning you all alive, how about I just end you with a quick death? I'm sure you'll enjoy it—especially knowing you'll never get your revenge."
The man laughed, the sound echoing off the cave walls. "That will be the funnest part."
Suddenly, without any warning, the chains wrapped around a certain hollow exploded outward. Metal flew in all directions, and Cade stood free, hatred burning in his eyes like twin flames. He zoomed past all the other hollows with supernatural speed and grabbed the man by the neck, lifting him off the ground.
"You think I'll let you kill me without getting my revenge? You're mistaken," Cade said, his voice trembling with barely contained rage. From what it looked like, Cade was probably stronger than Sam or Edward combined. But strength wasn't what concerned most of them—revenge was what drove them forward.
Cade began to choke the man, his grip tightening. "You were in my way," he said, each word dripping with venom. "You're just as bad as the person who killed me. No—I'm going to treat you the same way I'd treat my killer. I'm going to—" Cade couldn't even finish the sentence. His hatred was nearly boiling over now, black aura surrounding him as his hands lit up with pitch-black smoke. "I've had enough. It's time for you to perish for good, old man."
The man grabbed a crystal from his pocket and threw it at Cade, but Cade dodged with ease. He laughed, a sound devoid of mercy, and grabbed the man's arm, twisting it backward until it snapped completely. He walked over to the other arm and did the exact same thing, the sound of breaking bone echoing through the chamber.
"If you're wondering, this is how my killer killed me," Cade said, his voice eerily calm now. He grabbed both legs and snapped them as well, leaving the man crippled on the ground. "Now that you're crippled on the ground, let's see—what else did he do? Oh yes, his words were 'here comes the fun part.'"
He grabbed a giant knife the man had intended to use on them. "If my memory serves me correctly, I need to put this knife in boiling water." Cade walked up some cave-like stairs, the trapped tile still right above him. He jumped up, grabbing the ledge and lifting himself to the second cave above the first. There, at the far end, he found a pot of boiling water. He walked over, lowered himself to the water's level, and placed the hot knife into it. The blade began to heat up, glowing red. When he thought it was ready, he took it out. "Now, time for my revenge."
Back in the mindscape, Sin had decided to reenter his body to test whether the telepathic connection would work between him and Elias.
"All right," Elias said, his voice resonating in Sin's mind. "Go back into your body."
Sin did exactly that. Since Elias's powers were restricted in the mindscape, they had both decided on Elias simply mentoring Sin to control blood. But something nagged at Sin's thoughts. If Elias was teaching him how to control blood, would the Shadow Demon version of himself teach him how to control shadow? Then again, he wasn't sure he wanted that thing teaching him anything—the first time he'd entered the mindscape, it had immediately attacked him.
Sin entered his body and found himself back in the apartment. "All right, let's see," he said, sitting up from his bed. While he'd been asleep, his consciousness had entered the mindscape. His body had rested, and so had his brain, while his conscious mind talked with Elias. Elias had taught him some things about blood magic—not much, but enough for him to at least know the basics of controlling blood.
Sin already knew how to control a lot of blood. He'd created the giant blood sword against the Shadow Demon version of himself in the mindscape. Outside of that, he'd used the blood fist once, though he couldn't remember when exactly. He didn't know if his control over shadow exceeded his control over blood, but he needed to cultivate both abilities.
"All right, sit down on the ground, cross-legged," Elias said telepathically through the mindscape into Sin's mind.
Sin complied, settling into position and trying to clear his thoughts.
"Now that you're focused," Elias continued, "I want you to try to control your blood—move it toward your fingertips. If there's any blood around you, control that too."
Sin tried, concentrating hard, but his blood only moved a tiny bit before stopping. Frustration welled up inside him.
"What's the big idea?" Sin said aloud. "I created giant blood swords against the Shadow Demon version of me in the mindscape, so what's up with me doing it out here?"
Elias, if he'd had a body, would have been smiling. He spoke within Sin's mind, his tone patient. "I think our powers are amplified when you're in the mindscape, but as soon as you go back into your own body, they diminish somewhat. That's why your blood control was phenomenal against your shadow version—just call it the Shadow Demon, by the way."
"Yes, right—the Shadow Demon version of myself," Sin said, testing the words.
"It has phenomenal control over both blood and shadow," Elias explained. "If you can beat it in a one-on-one fight, then you're truly a worthy host of me. You can become a strong vessel. But remember, your powers are amplified inside the mindscape, so just because you get confident by beating the Shadow Demon there doesn't mean you'll be that strong in the real world."
"Wait," Sin said, a troubling thought occurring to him. "What if the Shadow Demon gets stronger alongside me? Maybe I'll never be able to beat it."
"You might be right," Elias admitted. "Here's another thing—I won't only improve your blood control. I'll also work on your mental state. We wouldn't want it to take control of you. Try your hardest not to let it. After all, what's the point of being strong if you don't have the mental capacity to use it correctly? If you can master yourself, overcome your Shadow Demon in the mindscape, and prevent it from taking control of your body while you're sleeping, awake, or knocked out, then you'll be set on the right path. Your next achievement, however, will be fighting me at one percent power."
"But you don't have blood control in the mindscape, remember?" Sin said, confused.
"Relax," Elias said. "Not only do you have to improve your blood control, your shadow control, and your mental strength, but you also need to improve your physical strength. I'll be training you on that in the mindscape. If I can't help you with blood control there, I can at least help you hone your physical abilities. Now, let's start training."
Back in the cave, Cade held the burning hot knife as he descended the steps toward the bottom chamber. He walked past nearly five thousand chained hollows, his gaze sweeping over Edward, then Sam, before finally settling on the man crippled on the ground.
"Let's see—oh yes," Cade said, holding the knife close. But as soon as he was about to place it on the man's chest, something unexpected happened. The knife shattered, breaking into glass-like fragments that landed on parts of the man's body, making him scream out in agony. Some metal shards embedded themselves into the cave walls; others flew toward some hollows, but Cade quickly intercepted those with supernatural speed.
"I'm going to leave you like that so you can suffer," Cade said, his voice cold. "But I'll make you a deal. If you let the hollows go and don't pull any tricks, I'll give you a quick death. If you pull any moves, I'll let you rot here."
The man gulped, fear finally creeping into his features. Either way, he was going to die—there was no getting out of this alive.
"All right," he said shakily, beginning to use some death magic he'd accumulated. The dark energy swirled around his hand as he fumed with absolute rage, though Cade's rage still burned hotter. The death magic began to heal his wounds, which was odd—death was supposed to end things, destroy them, but he'd learned to use it in a new light.
"Yes, it's going to heal you," Cade said, "but whenever I lower my concentration, your injuries will become catastrophically worse. So go on, get up."
The man stood shakily. He'd never experienced something like this before. Usually, he would just skin the hollows or kill them on the spot with his crystals. He'd never expected a rebellion—after all, most hollows were too weak to break out. But this hollow was something different, something new that he couldn't explain.
He got to his feet and thought, *All right, time to escape.* He bolted toward the stone steps, but as soon as he did, Cade broke his concentration. Nearly all of the man's bones shattered as he fell to the ground, screaming. He wasn't dead—his immortality wouldn't let him pass away. The only way he would actually die was if someone killed him directly, but he wouldn't die from his injuries alone.
"Well, looks like you're just going to sit here and suffer," Cade said. "And if you don't die, then you'll be in agony for the rest of your life. Good thing you tried what you did—I had a backup plan."
Cade began breaking all the hollows' chains. It took him at least nine hours total to free all five thousand. His hands were bruised, his strength had diminished slightly, but only slightly. The hollows were free, and now they had to figure out how to escape this place.
"Exit," Edward said, thinking aloud. "We got into this place through my portals. I'd be dead lucky if I could even spawn one big portal or one normal portal at all."
"No need for that," a voice said from behind all the hollows.
They turned to see a man with dark hair, circles on his waist holding various weapons, contraptions, and strange pills. It was the Hunter—the same Hunter who had fought the dead parasite monster, the same Hunter who had crippled Sin not long ago, the same Hunter who had been Edward's boss before Edward died.
"Descend's hands now," the Hunter said, his voice carrying authority and menace in equal measure.
Edward turned slowly around, recognition dawning on his face. He chuckled nervously. "You think I'll obey you?"
The Hunter smiled, confidence radiating from him. "Yes, I do think you'll obey."