Chapter 438: Hollow King
The man on the throne watched Caelus without answering. Even with his new Divine Body, Caelus could feel the weight of that gaze.
"Yes, I’m this generation’s Ender of Origin. What do you want from me?"
The Hollow King studied him for a moment before speaking.
"How pathetic. He shared his power across generations, hoping someone else could achieve what his nature prevented him from doing."
Caelus frowned, but the Hollow King continued before he could ask.
"Still, very few can bear the power of Origin. You must be special to wield it alongside the strength of a Chaos Dragon."
"What do you mean by something his nature prevented him from doing?"
"Oh? He never told you?"
The Hollow King gave a faint smile.
"I suppose that’s fair. He left this timeline, so how would he explain anything to you?"
Caelus fell silent as he remembered the First Ender of Origin fleeing through a portal.
Had that been when he left?
He wanted to ask more, but his people were still fighting outside. Whatever secrets the Hollow King knew could wait until the invasion stopped.
"Why are you doing this? I’ve seen your past as Hero Himmel."1
The faint smile on his face was quick to disappear when he mentioned his real name.
"You loved an Ender before the Gods and Enders killed her and the people you cared about. Why are you sending your army to do the same thing to everyone here?"
For several seconds, the Hollow King said nothing.
Then he rested one hand against the arm of his throne.
"Impressive. Axiom Origin must be working hard if it’s showing you all that to bring me to its side."
"You still haven’t answered me."
"My goal is simple. I will take control of Axiom Origin and reset this entire world."
Caelus stared at him as the Hollow King continued.
"The reign of the Gods will end, and the Origin Ascension Domain will end with it."
"And what makes you think you can do that?"
"I know I can, and I will."
The Hollow King’s gaze settled on him again.
"As for you, there is no reason to keep you alive."
Caelus reached for Origin Lock as the space around the throne began to darken.
"You’re only a seed of hope left by the First Origin. The chance of that hope becoming real was less than one percent, and you lack the potential to achieve it."
What the hell was this man talking about?
Caelus had barely understood the first part before the Hollow King decided he was a failure. He was getting tired of people judging him against a goal nobody would explain.
"The Tier 2 World resisted longer than I expected," the Hollow King said. "But with the upheaval in the God Domain, nobody is coming to save it."
Darkness spread behind his throne.
"Let my Hollow Realm absorb it. You can disappear along with everyone else."
Caelus smiled coldly as his eyes changed into dragon slits.
"Unfortunately for you, there’s very little you can do through those portals once I’m finished."
[Skill Activated: Origin Lock.]
The throne room flickered as his power reached toward the connection that had brought its image before him.
Beyond it, he could sense the Star King World.
Huge Hollow Beasts were forcing their way through the portals. One struck the edge of an opening with its horns, widening it as smaller Darkspawns poured beneath its feet.
"There are more coming through!"
"Get everyone behind the walls!"
The shouts reached Caelus as his awareness spread across the entrances. Sylvia and the others were still holding their ground, but new creatures kept joining the attack.
He could not let it continue.
𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞
"After today, you won’t be able to send anything through these passages again."
Caelus waved his hand and pulled at the concepts holding the entrances together.
BOOM!
The nearest portal folded inward.
A Hollow Beast tried to force its shoulders through before it closed, but the passage broke beneath it. The creature vanished into the darkness as the entrance sealed.
Immediately after that, the other portals began closing.
Caelus cut deeper than their visible openings. He severed the links that allowed those passages to reach this plane, making sure a "portal" could never be opened again.
The throne room shook before its walls faded from his sight.
Caelus found himself above the battlefield once more. The invasion was still moving below him, but nothing else could enter through the sealed portals.
Far away, the Hollow King remained seated as one of his servants rushed into the hall.
"My King, every passage into the Tier 2 World has been permanently sealed. We can no longer push through."
The Hollow King did not answer to him. He had fallen into deep thought.
He had watched Caelus for a long time and believed he understood what the young origin could do. That single act had overturned everything he thought he knew.
"Was I wrong about him?"
The servant remained silent as the Hollow King examined the severed connections.
"The power he just displayed was on the level of the first one."
Then he rose from his throne.
"Could he have met the requirements?"
Boundless power filled the hall as he raised his hand. Space split before him, opening a direct path toward the person who had sealed his army away.
Above the battlefield, Caelus felt something tear open in front of him.
CRAAACK!
He turned toward the sound and froze.
The Hollow King stood on the other side of a new opening.
"How?"
Caelus had severed the passages at their source. Yet the man before him had made another as though nothing stood in his way.
The pressure spread across the battlefield, forcing nearby fighters to turn toward it.
Gorn stopped beside a fallen Darkspawn and looked upward.
"Who the hell is that?"
Sylvia flew toward Caelus, but her eyes remained fixed on the figure beyond the crack.
"That’s the Hollow King."
The words carried across the communication channel.
Caelus heard people calling for the guards to withdraw as the Hollow King looked directly at him. The man remained beyond the opening, showing no sign that he intended to cross it.
"The entrance to the Abyss is on Earth. Go there, and let’s see whether you truly are the one."
Caelus tightened his grip on his authority.
"How did you break past my conceptual severance?"
"Your power isn’t enough to stop mine. I stand beyond the common ranks you understand."
Caelus remembered the Legendary Axiom Rank, but he could not tell whether that was what the Hollow King meant.
"Remember this, Ender of Origin. This world isn’t the only one out there."
The opening widened as the Hollow King continued.
"The truth lies in the Abyss. If you can reach it, you may be worthy of finding that truth."
Below them, the Hollow Beasts suddenly stopped attacking.
They turned toward the crack and began retreating. Darkspawns followed them in waves, abandoning the roads and city walls as they rushed toward their king.
Caelus held his position and watched them pass.
"My goal is world creation," the Hollow King said. "I won’t let anyone stand in my way."
The last of the beasts crossed the opening behind him.
"I will build a paradise for the new beings who live in my world."
Then the crack closed.
The pressure vanished with it, leaving the defenders staring at an empty sky.
"What did Big Brother Caelus do?" Freya asked.
"Did the Hollow King just stop the invasion?" Gorn said. "What were they even talking about?"
Caelus barely heard them.
Earth held the entrance to the Abyss, just as the earlier clues had suggested. Now the Hollow King himself had pointed him toward it.
He still did not understand why the man had changed his mind.
But he knew where they needed to go.
Sylvia reached him and took his hand. When he looked at her, she nodded with a small smile.
Caelus turned toward the others.
"I found the way to the Abyss."
Then he tightened his hold on Sylvia’s hand.
"We’re going to the Abyss."