The first crack was enough to silence everything.
The hymn paused. The city above froze. Even the air itself seemed to hold its breath.
From the cocoon of gold came a line of light, thin but sharp, cutting through the chamber like a blade.
Then it split.
The sound wasn't breaking—it was tearing. Like fabric, like reality itself.
---
Elara staggered backward, clutching her lantern. The light in her hands flickered violently, almost extinguished under the weight of the cocoon's radiance.
Her timer screamed on her wrist.
[03 Hours : 00 Minutes Remaining]
The digits pulsed so bright she couldn't see anything else.
Her breath caught. "Aelric—my time—it's—"
"I see it."
He stepped forward, his corrupted arm twitching uncontrollably, tendrils snapping outward like whips. Smoke poured from his mouth, his eye entirely black now. But his grin—bloody, jagged, sharp—never faded.
"Good. Three hours is more than we need."
---
The cocoon split fully, light cascading outward. For a moment Elara thought she saw a figure inside—something vaguely human, but enormous, wings of molten gold folded against its back. Its chest rose and fell, each breath shaking the Hollow itself.
Then its head turned.
Eyes opened—vast, lidless, burning like suns.
Elara collapsed under their weight, clutching her skull, screaming. The hymn didn't whisper this time. It screamed directly into her mind.
You are fragments. Offer yourselves. End the hourglass.
She sobbed, trembling, unable to lift her lantern.
---
Aelric's corrupted tendrils lashed outward, striking the walls, the floor, even the cocoon itself. Black flame met godlight, hissing, screaming, tearing pieces away.
The god's tendrils responded. Dozens erupted from the cocoon, writhing, lashing through the chamber. They weren't just weapons—they were time itself, bending space as they moved.
One lashed toward Aelric. He dodged barely, but where it struck, the ground rewound—shattered stone fusing back together, then breaking again in reverse.
Elara gasped. "It's—rewinding reality—"
"Then we break it faster than it can fix." Aelric's grin was savage.
---
He threw himself into the storm.
Every swing of his corrupted arm left scars across the god's tendrils, black rot spreading over golden light. Every counterstrike from the god tore his body further apart, ripping skin, breaking bone.
> [Corruption Surge +5%]
Current: 99%
The system blared warnings in his vision, but he ignored them, laughing through the blood.
"Still standing!" he roared. "Still not yours!"
---
Elara forced herself up, tears streaming down her face. Her lantern flickered weakly, but when she held it forward, the tendrils faltered—hesitated.
She screamed through her fear, swinging the lantern in wide arcs. Each flare bought Aelric seconds, each second another strike.
"Aelric!" she cried. "It's working—just—just keep hitting it—!"
He grinned through blood and smoke. "Don't have to tell me twice!"
---
The cocoon screamed. A shockwave of light burst outward, hurling both of them against the walls. Elara's lantern shattered, fragments scattering like stars.
Her timer burned again.
[02 Hours : 45 Minutes Remaining]
She sobbed, curling into herself. "It's eating me alive—"
Aelric staggered, blood dripping from his jaw, his corrupted arm nothing but writhing black flame now. His grin was jagged, teeth broken.
"Good," he rasped. "That means it's choking on you."
---
The god's voice thundered, shaking the Hollow apart.
You cannot fight the clock. You cannot outlive the law.
Elara's body convulsed, her timer burning. "Aelric—please—I can't—I only have—"
He cut her off with a roar. His tendrils lashed outward, piercing directly into the cocoon. For a heartbeat, black corruption surged into the light.
The cocoon spasmed, the god's scream splitting the chamber. The hymn faltered.
Aelric laughed, coughing blood. "See? Law's only real if I don't cheat!"
---
But the price was clear.
> [Corruption Threshold Breached.]
Stabilization Impossible.
His corrupted arm tore wider, tendrils spreading across his chest, his throat, his face. His grin widened through blood and flame, terrifying and magnificent.
Still, he turned toward Elara.
"Listen," he rasped, voice broken with static. "Three hours, Elara. Just three. If you keep breathing, you win. You hear me? You win."
Her tears fell like rivers. "Not without you—"
He grinned wider, jagged. "Especially without me."
---
The cocoon split again. More light poured out, more tendrils lashed, the hymn deafening.
Aelric roared back, throwing himself at it with every ounce of himself left, corruption and defiance burning as one.
Elara clutched her broken lantern, her timer screaming, her heart breaking.
And the Hollow trembled, as though the god itself was unsure if it was truly winning.