Chapter 16 — Hollow
The wind howled through the broken skyline.
Kazuo hovered midair, coat fluttering slightly, massive blade resting casually over his shoulder. Below him, shattered concrete and frozen debris littered what remained of the Australian battlefield. Alan's body — no, Kang's vessel — stood opposite him, wings of black energy stretching wide.
Seraphiel lingered for only a moment.
Their eyes met.
No dramatic speech. No farewell.
Just understanding.
"I'll clear Russia," she said quietly.
Kazuo didn't look at her.
"Mm."
That was enough.
She took off like a streak of gold across the horizon.
And then it was just the two of them.
Kang smiled through Alan's face.
It was unsettling — seeing a human's jaw move with an ancient ruler's expression.
"Tell me, brother," Kang began conversationally, brushing dust off his shoulder as if they were standing in a garden rather than over a ruined city. "Why exactly did you kill yourself all those years ago instead of fighting me?"
Kazuo shifted his grip on the sword slightly.
"Didn't you once claim all Rulers were equal?" Kang continued. "Or was that arrogance?"
Kazuo tilted his head slightly.
"Mm… I barely have my memories," he replied lazily.
His voice wasn't mocking. It wasn't defensive.
It was honest.
Kang's smile sharpened.
"How convenient."
Kazuo rolled his shoulder once and lowered into a fighting stance.
"But," he continued calmly, "I do remember one thing."
He vanished.
The shockwave cracked the air as he reappeared in front of Kang and swung.
Kang barely blocked, wings crossing as steel met divine force. The impact flattened everything within a hundred meters.
Kazuo pressed forward.
"Nothing in this world is equal."
He kicked Kang downward, chasing him through three buildings before driving the blade down.
"The only thing equal to all… is death in its gracious embrace."
The sword pierced through Kang's chest.
Pinned.
Through the heart.
For a moment, there was silence.
Then Kang screamed.
"Ahh—! My heart!"
Kazuo blinked slowly.
"A heart?"
He leaned slightly, staring down at the blade lodged in the vessel's chest.
"What is that?"
Kang snarled.
"Don't pretend ignorance!"
Kazuo raised an eyebrow.
"If I ripped open my chest," he asked casually, "would I find one?"
And before Kang could respond—
Kazuo stabbed his fingers into his own chest.
Serious.
No theatrics.
He tore it open.
Skin split. Bone cracked.
But there was no blood pouring. No organ pulsing.
Just hollow space.
A clean, empty cavity.
Wind passed through it.
Kazuo looked down at himself with mild curiosity.
"Look through," he said.
Kang's eyes widened slightly.
"I am empty."
Kazuo glanced back at him.
"I have no heart. So I know not pain."
That statement did something.
Not physically.
Psychologically.
Kang's expression changed.
Not anger at first.
Recognition.
Then rage.
"Enough!"
His aura exploded outward violently.
Cracks spread across Alan's enhanced body as Kang poured more power into it.
The output climbed.
3%.
5%.
7%.
8%.
The vessel warped. Muscles bulged unnaturally. The black wings thickened. A golden halo formed, fractured but burning.
Kazuo watched calmly as the transformation finished.
The ground beneath them disintegrated.
"You think emptiness makes you superior?" Kang's voice deepened. "You were always defective."
Kazuo closed his chest with one hand. The flesh sealed instantly.
"Maybe."
He swung again.
This time the clash was violent.
Kang matched him.
Each impact sent shockwaves across the continent. The air screamed. The ocean several kilometers away rippled violently.
Kang moved faster now.
He grabbed Kazuo by the throat and slammed him into the earth hard enough to form a crater.
Dust rose.
Kazuo lay there for half a second.
Then sighed.
"You talk too much."
He grabbed Kang's wrist and twisted.
Bone shattered.
Kang punched him through a mountain.
Kazuo's body tore through stone, disappeared inside rock, then walked back out like he'd just stepped through a curtain.
No wounds.
No emotion.
Kang landed in front of him.
"For someone without a heart," Kang said coldly, "you still protect humans."
Kazuo paused.
That was the first real pause.
"…Do I?"
"You stayed behind," Kang pressed. "You let your General go alone. You defend cities."
Kazuo's eyes flickered faintly.
"I'm just bored."
Kang laughed.
"You always lie to yourself."
Before Kazuo could respond—
---
Russia — Siberia
Seraphiel stood amidst the remains of fallen Rank 1 Angels.
Her breathing was heavier than she liked.
She wiped blood from the corner of her mouth.
Human form.
No transformation.
Arthur could only access 9% right now.
That placed her at General Rank.
Enough for Rank 1.
Not enough for a Great Angel.
And then she felt it.
The pressure.
The sky shifted.
Snow froze mid-fall.
Amornachi descended.
Her wings weren't wings — they were layered structures of divine light. Rotating. Watching.
Seraphiel's spine stiffened.
"Amornachi," she said calmly.
The Great Angel's gaze swept over the battlefield.
"You've grown," Amornachi observed.
Seraphiel said nothing.
"You were not originally Rank 1," Amornachi continued. "You were a Great Angel."
Seraphiel's jaw tightened slightly.
"When your ruler fell," Amornachi added softly, "you fell with him."
A small smile.
"And now you cling to a reincarnation."
Seraphiel straightened.
"I do not cling."
"Then what do you call it?"
"I serve."
Amornachi stepped closer.
The air thickened.
"You abandoned us."
"I chose him."
"Over your origin."
Seraphiel's voice didn't waver.
"Yes."
Amornachi studied her.
"You fight for another world?"
Seraphiel shook her head faintly.
"I fight for my reincarnated master."
There was silence.
Then—
"Survive ten seconds against me," Amornachi said, almost pleasantly, "and I will leave this country intact."
Seraphiel knew she couldn't win.
Not like this.
But she could endure.
"Ten seconds?" she repeated quietly.
"Yes."
Amornachi vanished.
Seraphiel barely reacted in time to block the first strike.
Her arm shattered on impact.
She didn't scream.
Second two.
She rolled aside as light spears obliterated the ground.
Second three.
A kick sent her skidding across frozen earth.
Blood filled her mouth.
Second four.
She stood again.
Amornachi appeared in front of her.
Hand around her throat.
Lifted her effortlessly.
"Your devotion seems thin."
Seraphiel coughed, struggling to breathe.
But she smiled.
"You misunderstand."
Second five.
Divine pressure increased.
Her ribs cracked.
Second six.
Her vision blurred.
Second seven.
She whispered through blood:
"I do not fight for this world."
Second eight.
"I fight because he exists."
Second nine.
The ground trembled.
A distant surge of power echoed across the planet.
Kazuo's aura flared violently.
Amornachi glanced east briefly.
That distraction—
Second ten.
Seraphiel dropped to the ground, gasping.
Amornachi stepped back.
"You endured."
She turned away.
"Tell your master… the Rulers are stirring."
And she vanished.
Seraphiel collapsed to her knees.
"…He better not lose," she muttered weakly.
---
Australia
Kang and Kazuo hovered midair again.
Kang's vessel was cracking under 8% output.
"You're awakening," Kang said softly.
Kazuo's eyes narrowed faintly.
"Am I?"
"You're starting to feel."
Kazuo swung again.
This time with intent.
And for the first time—
Kang blocked with both hands.
Because the hollow inside Kazuo…
Was no longer just empty.
It was beginning to remember why it became empty in the first place.
---
The end.....